Interview * Sophie Hansen * Local is Lovely

Enjoy! {d} x

You have lived and worked in north-west Italy {sigh}. Now you live on a farm in Orange, NSW. Tell us a little bit about the path that led you to where you are now?

Well, I’m not sure how far back you’d like me to go but I suppose it started with me studying a BA at the University of Canberra after school with a print journalism major. After university, I traveled and worked in Europe for a couple of years then on my return I was very lucky to find a job as the editorial coordinator for Australian Table magazine (which sadly closed a couple of years ago). I was part of the launch team and found myself working with some really wonderful, generous women who encouraged me and gave me lots of opportunities to write about cooking, food producers and different ingredients. I eventually became the mag’s features editor and in that role came across a guy called Renato Sardo who was the then international coordinator for the Slow Food movement. At our meeting, I glibly asked if I could come and work for him one day and somehow, it happened! I was initially offered a three-month internship and worked in return for my accommodation costs but was then offered a paid job and ended up staying on for a few years. It truly was a dream job; I met and interviewed producers, cooks and winemakers from all over the world and was very privileged to do a fair bit of travel in my role and attend many events celebrating Slow Food’s mantra of good clean fair food.

Eventually, I realised it was time to come home. It had been an incredible experience but I was missing my family, friends and Australia so somewhat reluctantly I booked a ticket back to Sydney and packed up my Italian life. Back home, casting around for my next step, I found myself working in a policy role for the then NSW Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Duncan Gay MLC (now Roads Minister) and while that was a great experience, my 12-month foray into politics convinced me that Parliament House was not my calling! I then moved to take up a role as an editor with R.M.Williams Publishing and it was through that job that I met Tim! He was hosting a PR lunch for his business, Mandagery Creek Venison at Longrain restaurant and I was invited. We met for the first time that day and three months later we were engaged! I honestly never thought I’d find myself living in the country but it all happened very easily and naturally and now, unoriginal as it may sound, I can’t imagine living anywhere else!

So, now I live with Tim and our two children Alice (7) and Tom (5) on a deer farm about half an hour west of Orange, NSW. We are really proud of our business Mandagery Creek Venison; the meat we produce is consistent, tender, super healthy, completely grass-fed and free-range and just delicious. Naturally good for you! Tim does all the farm work, I help when I can, and he puts absolutely everything he has into making sure our animals and farm are healthy and happy.

In amongst all of this, I started writing a blog almost three years ago – initially it was a way to keep writing (I was missing my career in magazine land!) and also to share what was happening on our farm and those of friends in our area. Like everything though, it has grown into more than that and I have loved every step of the process.

While in Italy, you worked for the Slow Food movement’s editorial house. What role did you have and what was it like?

My first role was as an intern in the editorial offices, so I wrote short pieces for the website mostly and collected and collated pieces for the various english-language newsletters we put out. As I moved from an internship into a more settled role with the editorial house (and as my Italian improved!!) I took on more feature pieces for the website and various publications. It really was the most wonderful job; I was sent off to interview shepherds in the Maritime Alps as they made fresh cheese in-situ, covered festivals dedicated to offal, wine and various other foodstuffs (lots of cheese!) and helped host visiting english-speaking media around the Slow Food offices and its home town of Bra. During particularly busy times, like every second October when Slow Food hosts the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, I’d also work in the media centre helping visiting journalists and writing updates and press releases for the website. Yep – dream job!

Tell us about your gorgeous blog ‘Local is Lovely’. How did this fabulous creative project come about? What philosophies and ethics guide you in creating Local is Lovely?

Local is Lovely was born three years ago out of a desire to write and to share our farm and our beautiful produce with a wider audience. I was also meeting many amazing producers at the farmers markets we attend with Mandagery Creek Venison and wanted to showcase what they do too. I really love my blog and work pretty hard on it. That said – it’s really still a hobby and definitely doesn’t pay the (any) bills, so I have to be careful not to spend too much time on it instead of my freelance recipe and feature writing work which does (sort of!!). I’d love to work full time on Local is Lovely but can’t and get very frustrated at the many posts I want to write, the hours I want to spend creating new recipes and editing the hundreds of photos I have on my memory card and it’s a constant challenge to pull myself away from that and concentrate on my actual work (which I love too!). I suppose all bloggers (at least those who don’t do it full time) must feel the same way!

Regarding philosophies and ethics about the blog – I don’t really have a defined set of ethics that I write by, though probably should!. But that said, I just want it to always be a positive space, to look fresh and contemporary, to be pretty and bright and to concentrate on sharing the pleasures of simple, seasonal food and thanking the people responsible for growing and producing it for us.

I don’t have the breadth of knowledge necessary to make accurate statements about the politics of food production and distribution so keep well away from those things. There’s enough commentary about that on the net already. I just want my blog to inspire people to buy locally and/or seasonally as much as possible/feasible for them, and then share the spoils of those purchases with their friends and family.

You are a freelance food writer and published author of your newly released book ‘Local is Lovely’. Have you always been interested in food/cooking/food photography/styling? What influences this?

Yes, I have always loved working in food media and the process of putting words and images together to create beautiful stories. When I worked in magazines I’d loiter around the art department watching them put pages together and loved it when we, in features, were asked for our thoughts on cover images or anything design-related. So, when I started my blog, I was pretty excited to realise that for better or (often) worse I got to make every decision in my little corner of the web. Even if it was just my Mum and a couple of friends who end up reading my posts, I got to choose what images to lead with and so on. I also realised that I love styling and taking pretty photos of food. I don’t have any training at all in photography though so it’s frustrating sometimes, know exactly the kind of images I want to create but feel very hamstrung by my dire lack of technical knowledge. Am currently taking a few photography courses and hoping to improve with time!

Who/what do you turn to for inspiration?

I find cooks like Tamsin Carvan particularly inspiring. I love how she lets the ingredients do the talking and how beautifully simple her food is. She reminds me a bit of another food hero; Alice Waters who believes, as I do, that cooking simple food is an art. I love photographer Luisa Brimble’s work, am more recently inspired and excited by the photography and styling by Annabelle Hickson of The Dailys blog and think Molly Yeh of the blog My Name is Yeh is brilliant. Oh, and not forgetting Mimi of French/English blog Manger - it’s almost too beautiful. But, my all-time favourite food writer is M.F.K. Fisher. I think I have read The Art of Eating at least four times! Every time I feel a bit stuck or low in inspiration I re-read a chapter and am always struck with the empathy, economy and feeling she puts into her writing.

Your family owns Mandagery Creek Venison and your sister-in-law owns the beautiful 1803 Artisan Deer Design and your Mum, Annie Herron, is a wonderful illustrator. Tell us a little about your family collaborations?

Tim and I have been very lucky to have lots of support from our family in everything we do. Tim’s parents were instrumental in the birth of our business and themselves have farmed deer for over 30 years. They help at the markets, look after our kids often and because they have both run their own small businesses are a great source of advice on our own. Tim’s sister Penny has also been a big part of Mandagery Creek Venison; from day one she worked with Tim to establish the brand and because she is based in Sydney she is a great ambassador for us there. More recently Penny launched her own business 1803 Artisan Deer Design, which produces beautiful, hand crafted pieces using products from the farm; deer leather handbags, antler-handled knives and a range of homewares. She collaborates with craftspeople all over Australia and has worked really hard to create a range that is completely unique, contemporary and I think, a wonderful example of new Australian luxury!

On my side of the family, I was incredibly lucky to have my mum, artist Annie Herron, illustrate my book last year and we also work together at the art classes she runs at our family home near Rydal NSW. Every Autumn and Spring, Mum runs three five-day residential classes and I do the cooking for them. It’s a bit of an effort getting away and Tim is incredible the way he runs the show at home while I’m gone but also it’s pretty great to have all that time in the kitchen, often quietly myself, to cook and develop new recipes for each group.

What does a typical day in the life of the ‘Sophie Hanson author, blogger, cook, host, farmer’s wife’ look like; from when you wake to when you go to sleep?

Um, wow! I don’t think there’s such a thing as a typical day for us! But, during the week we start with the normal morning race to get everyone up, fed, dressed for school and in the car and into town before 9am. Then, I usually grab a coffee in town, hopefully run into a friend for a quick chat, check the post then head home and either hit the kitchen or my office (which is currently just a desk in our hallway!). I develop recipes for a few clients/websites then shoot and style them so that’s a big part of my working day. Which, I have to say is way too short! To make school pick up on time, I need to leave home at 2.30pm so it goes very quickly! Weekends we often host events at our Farm Kitchen so I’m either prepping for them or cooking for our guests. And on our days off – my favourite thing to do is just be home with the four of us, have a late breakfast then head out for a bushwalk and picnic on the farm. Heaven.

Do you consider yourself to be a ‘Countryphile’? Do you love country life? Why?

Yes definitely! From somebody who never ever thought they’d live in the country – I now can’t imagine moving back to the city. I love the space, that we get to live in such a beautiful part of the world, that we are so in sync with the seasons, that our kids can explore and be a bit wild in relative safety! I also feel very lucky to live in such a thoughtful, vibrant and fun community.

What aspect of country life are you loving MOST at the moment?

That we live in such an incredibly rich food bowl! Orange is home to wonderful orchards, vineyards, market gardens and farms producing beautiful meats. We are so lucky to have all of this at our door step.

What is the most CHALLENGING aspect of country life?

The weather! Last summer was horribly hot and dry and I find that whole business of waiting/praying for rain so stressful.

Do you prefer Coffee or Tea? Your favourite country café and why?

Oh definitely coffee. We are so spoilt here in Orange with loads of wonderful cafes to choose from. My current favourite though isn’t in Orange, it’s a little closer to home in the village of Cargo which is home to the most fantastic little cafe called Rustic Notions. They do great coffee and light meals, host regular afternoons of live music and have provided a wonderful meeting place for this little country town.

What and where was the last great meal you enjoyed/shared in the country?

Our Mandagery Creek Venison at Lolli Redini restaurant in Orange. One of the best meals I’ve ever had and I’m not just saying that because it was our meat!!!

Where would we find you on a typical Saturday morning?

Either at a farmers market in Sydney, behind our stand for Mandagery Creek Venison, cooking at our Farm Kitchen or preferably, catching up with friends for coffee in town before heading home to a lazy day in the garden with Tim and the kids.

What can we expect NEXT from you/Local is Lovely in the future?

I’m hoping to put together a really exciting program of events and workshops at our Farm Kitchen in 2015 so watch this space! Am also co-hosting the first Local is Lovely food photography and styling workshop at Rydal in a couple of weeks and am so excited about that. If all goes well we will be doing more of these next year too! In terms of the blog, I’m planning on introducing a few new elements next year and hopefully spending a bit more time organising a proper editorial calendar and sticking to it!

Can you list for us 5 specific things you turn to/do when you need of a ‘dose’ of city life?

I grew up in Sydney, so I still have family and friends there and we visit them often. The kids and I usually spend a few days there every school holidays and Tim comes too if he can get away. When we’re there, we usually try to do one or more of these things!
1. Catch the ferry to Camp Cove Beach at Watsons Bay for a swim then fish and chips for dinner.
2. Take the kids to a play at the Opera House or to the Powerhouse, gallery or museum.
3. Go out for dinner! My current favourite restaurant in Sydney is Honeycomb on Boundary St in Paddington.
4. Go to my favourite kitchen shop of all time, if only to window shop… The Bay Tree in Woollahra.
5. Catch up with my girlfriends for a few glasses of wine somewhere like 10 William St; a fantastic little Italian wine bar in Paddington.

A VERY SWEET + SPECIAL TREAT // TWO RECIPES FROM SOPHIE HANSEN

Peach or Rhubarb Almond Cake

This dense, nutty cake is based on a recipe from River Cafe Cook Book Easy, and is just beautiful. Yesterday we made two, filling one with rhubarb and the other with peach. Both were well received but the rhubarb slightly more so.

One thing to note; if you fail to line your cake tin properly (like I did) and then struggle to release it from said tin (like I did), you can always make up a sort of ‘plate trifle’ by cutting out chunks of the cake, arranging them on a platter and topping with whipped cream (like I did last night).

500g peaches (sliced thinly), rhubarb (cut into cubes) or any other seasonal fruit
1 orange
50g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod

cake
150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
180g freshly ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder

topping
Finely grated zest of one orange
30g butter
25g brown sugar
1/2 cup slithered almonds
Icing sugar, to dust

Finely grate the rind and squeeze in the juice of the orange. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a cake tin with baking paper. Place the fruit, orange rind and juice and sugar in an ovenproof dish and toss to combine. Bake for 20 minutes and then scrape in the vanilla seeds.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one. Fold in the buttermilk, almond meal and baking powder and spread into the prepared cake tin. Push the fruit (with its juices) into and over the cake and bake for 1/2 hour.

For the topping, finely melt the butter and stir in the grated zest and almonds. Spread this over the half-baked cake, lower the heat to 160C and bake for a further 20 minutes. Cool the cake in the tin and then top with the almonds and dusting of icing sugar before serving.

Orange & Rosemary Cordial

Grated zest of three oranges
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 long sprigs rosemary
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice