Churn Online

A very Gundowring Christmas

2011-12-11T20:01:00.001-08:00

Christmas day at Gundowring is usually a swelteringoccasion, it is often in the high 30’s and the Crooke family does its best tokeep cool in a variety of ways, some in the pool, some in the Kiewa River, andsome retreating to the relative cool of the homestead to enjoy an afternoon kipor good book. There is however one way the family always gathers to take theedge off the summer heat, and that is with the now customary after lunch treat,the Ice Cream Plum Pudding.

Fresh berry season ties in quite well with our Christmas Ice Cream Pudding

For the past 37 years Sarah and Stephen have been soakingthe fruit, roasting the almonds and steeping the chestnuts and vanilla bean inmilk collected from the cows. The recipe they work to coming to them from the southof France, where they say their ice cream career started in 1974. While workingas cooks for a Scottish family on holiday in Cannes, Sarah stumbled upon asmall ice cream churn while shopping for supplies in the backstreets of Nice.Chestnuts being a staple in the region, the recipe was imparted top them by thelocals.

Stephen contemplates how many slices of Ice Cream Plum Pudding
he is going to eat this year. Lots.

Flash forward to 2003, the rest of the family had littlewonder that their Christmas favourite would make it into the newly christenedGundowring Ice Cream’s flavour line up. We have been making the specialChristmas treat ever since, using Ovens Valley chestnuts, fruit from SouthAustralia and of course lovely fresh Gundowring milk. From its time honouredplace on the Crooke family table, the last 9 years has seen our frozenChristmas favourite enjoy pride of place on the tables of households fromHobart to Sydney and Melbourne to Perth.

A few years ago, we decided to experiment with our otherdecadent Yuletide indulgence, Brandy Butter. Carefully folding brandy andvanilla in to our anglaise, we fashioned a truly delicious ice cream that canhappily sit next to any traditional plum pudding.

For the traditionalists, Brandy Custard Ice Cream does wonders for a heavy Plum Pudding

So what will your family be enjoying this Christmas?Something traditional or does your clan have a favourite that you can’t dowithout?

Market Minutes

2011-11-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

Taste 2011: the calm before the storm with our stall in the foreground

We started the market and festival season with a bang atTaste of Melbourne, and have settled in to our regular calendar of events thatincludes the Collingwood Children’s Farm Farmers Market (CCFFM) and theGasworks Farmer’s Market (GFM) (2^nd and 3^rd Saturdays ofeach month respectively). We are lookingforward to the Brown Brothers Wine and Food Festival (19^th and 20^thof November) which runs alongside the La Dolce Vita weekend in the King Valley.

Markets and events are a great way for us to meet theconsumer face to face and as we have been doing them for quite a few years now,we have a loyal group of regular ice cream aficionados who are all too eager totaste a new flavour and give us their frank appraisals! It is extremelyheartening to be able to chat with people who really know their products, andpeople who are taking their first steps in the brave new world of ingredientsthat can be found outside big supermarkets.

So we hope to see a few of you at the stall over the nextfew months as we attend some of the best markets and events on offer!

Spring has Sprung!

2011-11-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Make hay while the sun shines ……an old adage that stillrings true today. It has come to mean make the most of opportunities and thatis what we are hoping to do at Gundowring.

Spring is an exciting and hectic time on the farm; a goodspring sets us up for the year. Grass is the mainstay of the diet for cows atGundowring and when it grows very slowly over winter it is often supplementedby silage which is essentially pickled grass. Silage makes a better feed thanhay because the grass is cut much earlier in the season as has more protein andenergy than later cut hay.

2011 has seen a bountiful spring at Gundowring with idealweather for grass growth. The team has been making silage since mid-September,and are out on tractors again this week, conserving the abundant growth fortimes of need.

The grass is cut and raked, then chopped as it is picked upby a large wagon, before being unloaded into a pit where it is rolled to squashout as much air as possible. It is then covered to keep the pit air-tight.

There are black clouds approaching, so fingers are crossedthat the pit will be sealed before the next downpour. Nothing could be betterthan a shower of rain on the newly mown paddocks; the grass will grow againvery quickly, however it is not so good to have rain soak the carefully cut andstored silage.

The girls are going to love this when it is ready to be fedout!

Gourmet Safari!

2011-11-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

The Oxford English Dictionary defines safari as:

Noun (plural safaris):an expedition to observe or hunt animals in their natural habitat, especiallyin East Africa.

While the East Africa bit is still a little perplexing, therest of the description fairly accurately depicts what Maeve O’Meara’s groupsdo in locations not just in Australia, but also around the world (although notEast Africa). This was the second time that the Gourmet Safari had been to Gundowringto observe the animals (read: ice cream makers) in their natural habitat (read:dairy farm/homestead).

The expedition gathers to savour the spoils of the hunt as an animal looks on with hope

We were delighted to host them again as they toured throughthe Victorian high country seeing the best the region has to offer. It is nowonder that the Gourmet Safaris team chose our region as it is brimming overwith incredible products and inspiring people producing them. The group wereknowledgeable and interested in not only the ice cream, but in the history ofthe homestead and the area.

Maeve tucks in to a Gundowring Sticky Date bambini

Thanks to the group that came to the farm and for Maeve andFranca for organising it all, and we are sure that you all enjoyed the entire trip!

Brasserie Bread visits Gundowring

2011-10-31T15:44:00.000-07:00

The Brasserie Team with their road trip van

It is always fantastic when like-minded people cometogether, which is exactly what happened when Brasserie Bread visitedGundowring on Monday the 10^th of October as part of their Wild SourDough road trip. You can read all about their epic road trip here. The crew atBrasserie are a lot of fun, which was plain to see when they visited KiewaValley Primary School, where a number of the Gundowring ice cream teams children currentlygo to school (and where Stephen and James went to school, albeit 30 years apartand some years earlier!), to teach the kids about making real bread . Allinvolved had a ball, and the kids are still raving about it!

Table laden with Brasserie bread and local goodies

Brasserie then made their way to Gundowring where we madesome ice cream, and tasted straight from the churn. We had a delicious lunchincluding what else? Bread and Ice Cream! Michael even whipped up somebuckwheat pancakes that had everyone salivating as the smell wafted from thekitchen. We got to talking about the benefits and challenges of Artisanal production, and came to realise that there are many similarities between making great bread and great ice cream, as well as some unique differences. It was a fantastic opportunity for us at Gundowring to hear the Brasserie team talk about their experiences and plans for the future.

Ice cream and pancakes... Michael looks content!

The Brasserie team invited us to attend the opening of their new premises in Melbourne, which is located in South Melbourne. It is quite animpressive set up, with brand new ovens that were already releasing the heavenlysmell of baking bread as guests were ushered into the production space. Wesampled the wares of not only the brand new ovens, but also of the producersthat Brasserie had visited as they heralded their mother culture on its voyagefrom Sydney to Melbourne. It was a great night, and it was a thrill to watchthe short film of the trip, which you can find here.

Stephen gets up close and personal with the mother culture

Thanks must go to the Brasserie team for the visit and for havingus down to the opening of their spectacular new venue in Melbourne, we are sureit will be a hit, and we look forward to getting some ‘Breaducation’ there (aswell as some great food) in the future!

Sarah goes in for a closer look at the Gundowring flavours

Jazz It Up

2011-10-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

For those not in the know, Wangaratta is the jazz capital ofAustralia. That’s right, forget the once smoky bars of Melbourne and Sydney,Wangaratta has consistently drawn the best and brightest to its annual Jazz Festival for the last 21 years.

This year we will see the likes of Barney McAll, Dale Barlowand Walter Lampe and the Australian Art Orchestra. This year will also be thesecond year Gundowring will be gracing the streets of Wangaratta soaking up theatmosphere and dishing out delicious ice creamy treats.

It should be a great festival, hope to see you there!

Taste of Melbourne 2011

2011-09-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again.... food and wine event time! This year we will be starting it off with a bang at Taste of Melbourne, which is held at the magnificent Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton. If you have never been to the REB then you have to check it out, it really is amazing. Last year Taste of Melbourne also incorporated the upstairs gallery which was less than perfect for some of the exhibitors, but fantastic for guests to be able to experience.

We love these kinds of events as they allow us to meet the public in a fantastic environment and chat about all things ice cream and food in general, as well as sampling some of the fare from Melbourne's finest eating establishments. This year we are at stand 34 scooping our mini cones, so stop by and say hello!

We were lucky enough to score 8 passes that allow entry to any of the sessions from Thursday to Sunday. We will be giving everyone the chance to win two of these fantastic tickets just by being one of the first four to leave a comment on the bottom of this blog post.

Make sure we can contact you to send you your tickets, and best of luck!

Eat Thoughtfully

2011-08-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

A family weekend in Brisbane was a great chance to find Sourced Grocer and meet Louis and Jerome. It was even better than at we at Gundowring had imagined.

Sarah, Louis and Jerome

These two young men have gone to great lengths to source produce that meets their ideals of Thoughtful Eating, Pride in Provenance and Loving Local. Food produced by Australians with a passion for what they do.

And clearly, in a very short space of time, Louis and Jerome have drawn a like minded clientele that share their passion for good food.

Josie says "it's the best!"

I spent a wonderful couple of hours with the good people of Teneriffe as they enjoyed Saturday morning at Sourced Grocer. A large happy crowd that was very enthusiastic about sampling Gundowring ice cream. As a producer it is always fantastic to meet people who understand and appreciate what we are doing, and are interested to discuss the finer points of ice cream making, farm based production systems, dairy cows, fresh red rhubarb as well as concerns about climate and water.

I collected a delicious basket of goodies for our family picnic lunch, fresh multigrain bread, olive tapenade, fabulous boozy duck liver pate and a piece of luscious oozing brie. What a treat!

Thanks to the boys and everyone at Sourced Grocer for having me, and thanks to the people of Brisbane for stopping by and talking ice cream. We are sure that this will grow to be an institution and destination for all.

Hooray!

2011-07-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

On Monday night we were overjoyed to take out the 'From the Dairy' category at the Delicious Produce Awards. Held at Guillaume at Bennelong, the awards are aimed at recognising the efforts of Australia's top producers.

The field of finalists for the 5 producer categories read like a who's who of Australian food, and it was an honour to be amongst those who hold similar food values to us.

While we are all passionate about what we do, it is not easy competing against multinational corporations who strive to portray themselves as artisan, and inject themselves into the market space along with hard-working Australian businesses. That is what is so exciting about these awards, they are a celebration of all the gusto Australian producers put in and the exceptionally high quality that results from the effort.

The judging panels both state and national are made up of industry stalwarts, including chefs, media experts and icons like Maggie Beer (who loves our Licorice ice cream!). These identities embody the competition with a strong credibility, and we hope to be able to back up our success with a good showing in years to come.

Thanks to all involved in the competition, the producers, judges, and organisers and a special mention to all who would love to have been a part of it, but with all the fires, floods, locusts and everything else thrown at us over the last 12 months, were unable to.

You can find a list of the award winners and finalists here, congratulations to all!

Thanks to Lizette from Warialda Belted Galloway, here is a picture of one chuffed Gundowring member with the result of the night!

A bit of perspective

2011-07-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

It is a wonderful thing to be able to step away from the day to day, and literally get a different perspective on Gundowring.

The home of Gundowring Fine Foods from Waddingtons deck

Once or twice a year we make sure to turn of the churn, head out for lunch and talk about the challenges and the successes of the last 6 months. This year we are eating at Waddingtons! Restaurateurs Jan and Rod Waddington and their son Rhy, who now cooks in America, have long been friends and sources of inspiration for different ice cream flavour combinations.

The team hard at work choosing a dessert... not an easy decision!

We revel in the sweeping views of the Kiewa Valley looking across to Gundowring home base and great food and hospitality that never ceases to amaze us.

It is always great to see our ice cream used with flair

Thanks to Jan and Rod for having us, and to the team for a lovely day. Same time next year?

First things first!

Churning Online

2011-07-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

Imagine waking up to this view. Luckily enough, we here at Gundowring Ice Cream get to do just that, and year in year out, we never tire of it.

We use our own farm fresh milk to hand craft ice cream made from a traditional anglaise and ingredients inspired by the best regional produce. We also used to write a newsletter twice a year with news from the farm and information about new flavours and events. The reason we haven’t printed another edition is that it was primarily a newsletter that was made to hand out at Farmer’s Markets and events. By the time it was written, printed and picked up at the event or market, news was often 6 months old at least.

We decided that all that printing was unnecessary and that we could make better use of time and resources by doing something exciting, electronic and easily updated, hence…the Gundowring Churn Online!

We will be keeping this blog filled with all the fun stuff that normally goes into our newsletter, as well as news, reviews and recipes.

So join us as we bring a little of the Kiewa Valley to the internet!