George Biron

April 1998

Between now and the end of August, George Biron is doing some 60 country cooking classes at Sunnybrae, his restaurant and cooking school at Birregurra. It's a great place to learn about cooking and produce. George and partner Diane Garrett have a huge vegie garden around the restaurant which they started seven years ago. They serve weekend lunches and dinners in the charming old cottage throughout the year and are open right through summer. .

But Sunnybrae is about much more than restaurant meals. It's about a complete lifestyle and communicating knowledge about the pleasures of food and of how to prepare it. Both George and Diane have teaching experience and, at Sunnybrae, have a complete program for food lovers at all levels of knowledge and expertise. There are classes on antipasto, pasta & risotto, salmon, duck, coffee (with GianCarlo Guisti of Grinders Coffee on May18), seafood, bread, curries, cassoulet, winter desserts, stocks & sauces, classic one pot meals, the special dishes of the Aeolian Islands (with John Portelli of Enoteca Sileno on June 22). They also recruit some of Australia's finest chefs, such as Philippe Mouchel and Tony Bilson, as resident chefs for weekends.

But what do people really like doing? 'Getting dirty foraging for fungi' always books out. On April 25 you can still get in to the restaurant for the Feast at night but, the mucky part, out in the fields, under the guidance of Dr Tom May, fungus expert at the Royal Botanic Gardens, is already booked out.

Dr May hopes to be showing people how to identify saffron milk caps, slippery jacks and some field mushrooms. These are the only wild fungi which he recommends for eating. Although there are many other fungi out there, he warns people not to pick anything else. "It is too dangerous, you can't just go out there and pick what you think looks nice. The worrying thing is that there are people who think that varieties here are the same as in Europe and guess from their previous experience. This guesswork results in death. Two years ago a man died from eating mushrooms he collected from a nature strip in Sandringham." Dr May said that the man had not eaten a large amount, but that the variety, the Death Cap (pictured), is highly toxic. And what's worse, the symptoms are delayed. "You don't feel ill for about 24 hours. By the time you think you might need to see a doctor, the liver is irrevocably damaged."

The message is clear. Don't collect anything which you do not know with absolute certainty to be an edible variety. If you want to try fungi, go and eat with the experts at restaurants such as Sunnybrae 03 5236 2276 or if you want to cook it yourself, go to the market either to Cameron Russell at the Queen Victoria Market (9329 3909) or to Damian Pike at the Prahran Market (9824 0805). There's very little fungi around now, the weather has been too dry. Come May and there should be pine mushrooms, slippery jacks, shaggy ink caps, wood bluat, field mushrooms and, for a very limited season, the rare beef steak mushroom available for sale at these market stalls. Price depends on scarcity but count on at least $12 a kilo.

If you can't join the Sunnybrae Feast on April 25, you might get a place on Cameron Russell's Mushroom Tour (April 26, booked out, but probably another tour on Sunday May 3) which will travel from the city by mini-bus to an unidentified location (you won't be blindfolded but almost) do the picking and return to the Hotel Spencer where chefs Janelle and Peter will cook your pickings. (book for this on 9525 8263)

Then in May, you will have another chance to eat wild fungi at Sunnybrae. George Biron is giving two classes May 4 and 26 in which he will demonstrate a number of recipes for wild mushrooms. One of George's favourite recipes follows --

White polenta with braised leeks and saffron milk caps

Serves 6

2 Lt light chicken stock

300 f white polenta

12 small leeks, cleaned

350 gm fresh saffron milk cap mushrooms (Lactarius Deliciosus)

80 gm finely ground parmesan

20 gm unsalted butter

1) slowly braise the leeks whole in 1/2 litre of chicken stock.When soft, add well cleaned saffron milk caps, cut into rough pieces. Cook for about 10 mins. Reduce to a light unctuous sauce.

2) cook polenta by drizzling into the remaining stock slowly and stirring for 35-45 mins on very low heat (reserve some hot stock in case the mixture is too heavy - it should be light and fluffy and able to pour from the pot)

3) when the polenta is finished, add the knob of butter and Parmesan. Season.

4) pour into wide, shallow serving dish. Pour the leek and mushroom mixture on top and serve.

This dish is also wonderful with fresh Italian white truffle (Tuber Magnatum Pico)

George says this he uses saffron milk caps for this dish for their great nutty flavour and because they retain their crunchy texture with long cooking. The soft leeks are a good sweet foil and the colour is spectacular against the white polenta. Use only the best Parmesan and butter.