Meet Dawn Tan - my illustrative superhero

Dawn Tan loves to draw vegetables and boy, does she do it well. Based in Yarraville, but an illustrator of the world, Dawn is the inner west’s Queen of Colour. I discovered her vibrant illustrations while reading one of my favourite magazines. I was first drawn to her watercolour drawing of a croissant, but a little research drew me to her sublime vegie sketches.

“I absolutely love vegetables. There’s something about the colours, textures, tastes and shapes. There are so many different varieties and ways of eating and cooking different vegetables. Growing up in Singapore, I was used to all the Asian vegetable varieties. I remember being in shock when I arrived in Australia – there were just so many new vegetable types that I had never seen before: Brussel sprouts, fennel, dill!

“My husband and I went to London recently and we were blown away by all the different salads at Ottolenghi. They were all filled with strange but new vegetables we’ve never seen or tried before. Vegetables are amazing!”

Dawn runs regular classes teaching food enthusiasts how to draw, paint and colour fruit and vegetables. Perhaps the perfect experience to expand your culinary horizons, but how do you choose what to draw as there are so many varieties to choose from?

“It’s so hard to pick what my favourite vegetable is, but I do draw a lot of corn. I love the colour yellow so it’s only natural that I like drawing (and eating) corn, right?”

“I do cook quite a bit and really enjoy the process of doing so. I find it so relaxing. I love cooking soup at this time of year. I swear by this amazing chunky vegetable and bean soup by Jools Oliver. I’ve cooked it so much my husband is sick of it already, but it’s so good for you with all that crunchy kale.

“I love my local Pompello in Seddon and the Village Store in Yarraville for fruit and vegetables. However, for most of my weekly haul, my husband and I head to the fruit and vegetable store in Highpoint or venture to the South Melbourne Market.

If you don’t bump into Dawn at your local fruit and vegetable supplier, you can find her teaching at one of her workshops or head on over to her website to view her work at www.dawn-tan.com

Don’t like your daily dose of fruit and veg, Dawn does a wicked sketch of house frontages too.

Images courtesy of Dawn Tan.

This profile first appeared in the May issue of The Westsider.

Pull on Your Pumpkin Pants this Season

Ahhh… can  you smell that? It smells pretty delicious doesn’t it? A blend of crisp chills, sunshine, wood fire and slow cooking all combined. Yep, it must be Autumn.

What an  excellent time of year it is, especially in the west. There’s something about this season that makes me want to cook. Hardcore cook, as in live off the fat o’ the land, tend to the rabbits and get all Steinbeck in the kitchen.

We are very lucky in the west to have access to so many great fruit and vegetable grocers and markets. But with access to all types of fruit and vegetables all year round in the major supermarkets it can get confusing knowing what is in season and what has come from a local grower.

Rino from Vari’s Organics in West Footscray suggests getting to know your local grocer and asking them questions about where the produce has come from.

He explains that in Autumn, grapes, strawberries and melons are coming towards the end of their season and we will start to see apples, pears and persimmons gracing our grocers. When the cooler months arrive we will start to see the citrus lines come in.

“We’re anxiously awaiting the start of the mandarins and navel oranges season. However biting into a crisp sweet apple is the best at this time of the year. Our favourite family dish is a homemade hot apple pie.

“It’s important to buy seasonal fruit and veg because you are then following the natural growing and planting cycle. Nothing artificial is added when growing organic fruit and veg, which of course is beneficial to our health and the environment.

“Less food miles means less pollution by transportation and organic growing methods ensure we are taking care of our planet and putting back nutrients into the soil which in turn benefits future crops and future generations.

“It’s also important to remember that if you buy local you are supporting local farmers, ensuring they have a fair go and are not being squeezed out by large farming organisations predominantly controlled by the supermarkets who then import and export fresh produce all over the world.”

While I’m a massive fan of Vari’s Organic produce (we purchase a fruit and veg box every week for $35 which covers our little family), I’ve become inspired by my neighbour who dropped two sweet pumpkins along with other garden produce on our doorstep the other day. There’s something so lovely about picking and eating food, knowing exactly where it came from. I’ve planted kale, chick peas (I’ve never grown these before), eggplant, beans and chillis in a newly developed vegie patch in our front yard (how much more Yarraville can you get). I’m so excited to swap my vegie goods for my neighbour’s lemons when the season kicks in.

It certainly ‘tis the season to get outdoors and explore the local farmer’s markets or take a sweet trip out to one of the sublime country towns within an hour of the west. It’s not just the produce drawing me outside, but the sensational colours of the trees and that delicious smell that winter is on its way.

Too cold? Grab a parka and some boots and get chomping.

Looking for country inspiration?  Head to Trentham SpudFest on Saturday 7 May and celebrate all things potato. More info at www.trenthamspudfest.org.au  

Looking to purchase awesome in season produce? Vari’s Organics puts together delicious fruit and vegie boxes from $35 and delivers to the inner west or you can make your seasonal selection in store at 590 Barkly Street, West Footscray. Head to www.varisorganics.com.au

Photos by the ever-so-talented Paul Large.

City House, Country House

It only takes a few weekends away in the country to get that sweet air into your lungs, enough to inspire me to sell up the rad inner city pad and purchase a run down wreck of a Federation palace with a wrap around verandah deep within the bush, living off the fat o' the land and collecting eggs for my breakfast in the morning.

Oh the dreams.

Before Ali Webb from Melbourne there was Alison Murray from Yackandandah. A kid from the scrub who was raised on 10 or so acres, jumping into dams from the trampoline, helping mum bake bread, pod peas, collect eggs, shoo rabbits, water the orchard, feed the cow, milk the cow, pick the veggies for that night's tea and so on. You could say we were self sufficient.

So when I called mum the other night to squeal with excitement about baking my own bread, she laughed. Of course she did, she's been doing it for years.

But what a sense of achievement it is to make something for yourself. This week it was bread, pesto and hummus. All from scratch, every ingredient accounted for and the only numbers on the recipe was for quantities rather than preservatives.

While explaining this to mum in Beechworth over the long weekend, she got it straight away. "I could have told you all about this years ago, honey. But you wouldn't have been interested," she said. Mums are always right.

I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who has had a swift change in plans, craving the space and air of country living and that trendy little two words we keep hearing today: slow. down.

While a shift to the country might be a pipe dream at the moment, there's no harm in treating our city house like a country house.

We've chocked up our vegie patch out the front with snow peas, broccoli, eggplant, chillis, herbs and more. We've got seeds from Diggers on their way. A blob of bread dough is slowly rising on the bench and this evening Alfie ate the last of the strawberries straight off the plant.

Yesterday I traded some fabric for wool with my neighbour and I've already commenced a little crocheted blanket for my friend's babe.

Yes I know, all these things take time, but how nice is it to use your time making a lovely home for your family.  Insert smiley face.

It's excellent.

I didn't even swear once in this post. Perhaps all this country air has changed me.

Fuck,

Ali xx

My bread

Easter  Parade in Beechworth

Every country town must have a man with a cocky on his shoulder or a trolley full of ferrets

MY pesto and hummus smashed on Turkish bread

Thursdays

I love Thursdays. Heaps. The excitement of Thursdays fills our household every Wednesday night as we talk about all the things that happen on a Thursday:

1. Maureen Day

Maureen our cleaner comes and makes everything manageable. She even lines up Alfie's shoes and rearranges his toys to make them look like they have been talking to each other during the day.

I've never met Maureen, but our little kitchen bench notes featuring smiley faces, kisses and giggly messages filled with apologies, 'sorry our house represents a banana peel tip' or 'excuse the sultana squish, it's not rat poo' or 'sorry our house smells like poo fart today. It was a big morning'.
Her responses always make me smile as I walk into our fresh smelling house: 'it's ok about the poo fart, it looks like you have a very busy boy to look after. I took the bike out of the bath'.

We love Maureen.

2. Fruit and Veggie Day

By Wednesday night, we are either so cleaned out in the fridge department that we are eating eggs on toast with beans for tea or we have veggies to 'use up'. Either way, we have a task at hand because on Thursdays we get a big box of rad in season fruit and veg from Vari's Organics. It's so exciting to open the special box left on our doorstep (sometimes we get home in time to catch Vari at our door), we sort through the contents like hungry children and put everything neatly away in the fridge.

Thursday night always means best veggies for tea.

We love Vari.

3.Thursday Friday

Thursday is my Friday in the office. It's my day to get all my things done for the week. I'm lucky that I love my job, so I smash out some good quality publicity stuff in the office and aim for a 5.30pm departure, planning my three day weekend with my son on the train trip home.

Sometimes I take my shoes off on the train and walk home barefoot.

Sometimes I get to attend a super sweet classical concert for work featuring some of the most incredible music you have ever heard. This sound takes me right through the weekend. NB: I don't attend concerts barefoot.

I love Thursday.

4. Lunch order day

As Thursday is Friday, quite often I plan for it to be a lunch order day and don't bring a packed lunch. This is my treat, a little chance to explore some local Southbank cuisine with a colleague. I always buy lollies for the afternoon, because I'm really eight years old. My colleague always buys biscuits - but they have to be on sale. It gives us something to talk about on the walk back to the office. Sometimes I buy Chicken Crimpys to share with work mates if it has been a busy day.

I love lunch orders.

Are you a Thursday person?