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A very country Christmas

Bring the farm gate to you this festive season with top produce for your table.

Richard Cornish
Richard Cornish

Free range ham: Lauren Mathers feeds her Bundarra Berkshires.
Free range ham: Lauren Mathers feeds her Bundarra Berkshires.Richard Cornish

I am lucky when choosing produce to cook for the family Christmas table. In our house it is a true feast and a time of the year when we really splash out and buy a lot of the very best food the nation has to offer. My work takes me across the country, meeting farmers face to face. I get to see the way they raise their animals, produce, package and transport their food and the incredible pride and joy they take in every step of what they do.

These are the artisan producers of Australia, farmers and food makers who adhere to traditional ways of land management, animal husbandry and food preparation. While their food may be more costly, you get what you pay for, and these food from these farmers and producers is some of the very best in the country.

Daryle Deutscher's turkeys are raised outdoors without prophylactic antibiotics.
Daryle Deutscher's turkeys are raised outdoors without prophylactic antibiotics.Richard Cornish
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Daryl Deutscher is a turkey enthusiast with a collection of rare-breed turkeys he raises alongside his commercial-breed flock on his farm out in the river red gum country under the shadow of the Grampians at Dadswells Bridge in western Victoria. He breeds and hatches baby turkeys, called poults, and raises them outdoors on pasture, moving them from place to place under the shade of trees. He doesn't feed his birds prophylactic antibiotics, but he does butcher his birds on-site, and has a farm-gate shop opposite the Giant Koala tourist attraction and sells to butchers across Australia's east coast. With all that foraging and free-ranging Deutscher's turkeys have slightly darker, more flavoursome flesh and sometimes some yellow fat under the skin, which bastes the bird as it roasts. As with all turkeys, a good soaking in a salt and sugar brine will ensure a moist and tender bird on the December 25.

Deutscher's Turkey Farm: four to seven kilogram turkey at $15 to $20 a kilogram. Stockists: Farm Gate, Dadswells Bridge, Victoria (opposite the Giant Koala); Chicken Pantry, Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne; Feather and Bone, Sydney; Griffith Butchery, Canberra; deutschersturkeyfarm.com

Ham

Mason Clarke Redcurrant Jelly.
Mason Clarke Redcurrant Jelly.Richard Cornish

With lovely moist, dense flesh, a generous outer layer of sweet fat and fine marbling of intramuscular fat, this year's offering from Bundarra Free Range Berkshire on the banks of the Murray in southern New South Wales has stepped it up a notch. The hams come from a herd of Berkshire pigs roaming about paddocks on the Murray flats, feeding on grass and a feed ration made up mostly of grains and pulses. The hams are brined in owners Lachlan and Lauren Mathers' own recipe and smoked over European hardwood. The flesh slices beautifully and that intramuscular fat helps it stay moist if you intend to bake the ham.

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Bundarra Free Range Berkshire Hams: six to eight kilogram ham at $40 a kilogram. Stockists: Kingsley Meats, Rose Bay; Mudgee Corner Store, Mudgee; Hams and Bacon, Brunswick East; Kennedy's – the Small Produce Store, Essendon; Stella's Pantry, Warragul bundarraberkshires.com.au

Chicken and duck

Peter Watson Pedro Ximenez Sherry Fruit Pudding and Butter Sauce.
Peter Watson Pedro Ximenez Sherry Fruit Pudding and Butter Sauce.Richard Cornish

Haydn and Beth McMillan raise some of the best poultry in the country on their farm near Stuarts Point on the Macleay River, south of Coffs Harbour on the mid-north coast of NSW.Burrawong Gaian birds are raised on pasture and the couple also raise

Burrawong Gaian chicken $18 a kilogram, duck $23 a kilogram. Stockists: Hudson Meats, Sydney stores and Toorak, Vic; My Farm Shop, ACT, myfarmshop.com.au

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Dried fruit

If you're making Christmas pudding or cake, start with the very best dried fruit. Most Australian dried fruit is preserved with sulphur and sprayed with vegetable oil to prevent it sticking, but these are procedures Cihan Paksoy from Happy Fruit rejects. His family originated from Turkey and now they grow very sweet and flavoursome fruit on their farm at Red Cliffs near Mildura. They sun-dry their fruit using traditional Turkish techniques that help develop the fruits'sweetness and underlying savoury flavours – great for a cheese platter. They grace Melbourne's farmers' market and sell their quality sultanas, muscats, muscatels, raisins, prunes and stone fruit online.

Happy Fruit: 500 grams of dried fruit is about $8. Stockists: VFMA accredited farmers' markets in Melbourne, and online at happyfruit.com.au

Nuts

The Christmas spread isn't complete without a bowl of nuts but the problem is they are generally an autumn crop, perfect for a snowy northern hemisphere Christmasbut – if not carefully stored – can be rancid by an Aussie summer. Australia Post's Farmhouse Direct service has some really good growers who store and pack their nuts exceptionally well. Order crisp and delicious pistachios grown by Eric and Kerryn Wright from Go Just Nuts on their Murray River farm at Nangiloc in Victoria. Try some pecans in shell from Bellbowra Organic Certified in the Nambucca Valley in NSW, some fresh organic Australian macadamias from Barenuts on the Queensland coast opposite Fraser Island or some roasted hazelnuts or almonds from Grampians Grove in Western Victoria.

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Nuts: 200 grams for about $8 to $10. Stockist: Order online at farmhousedirect.com.au

Christmas pud

Peter Watson is an Australian food icon, championing traditional recipes and preserving techniques since he set up his food provedore in 1999. This year he's bringing together Australian dried fruit and Spanish Pedro Ximenez sherry (PX) in a rich Christmas pudding redolent of fresh spice. The fruit has been soaked in a generous amount of the sweet and full-flavoured PX. As with all good puddings, it has already been cooked, and needs to be simmered again on the day to allow the sugar and fruit sugars to caramelise, deepen the colour and develop the flavours. Watson has made a Pedro Ximenez Butter Sauce to be poured over the pudding when hot.

Peter Watson pud: 1.2 kilograms, excluding bowl, for $58. Stockist: Peter Watson Phone 03 9417 0209, peterwatson.com.au

Jelly

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Mason Clarke is a range of exquisite, fine, clear and delicate jellies made by Mary Clarke, a woman with a self-confessed history of preserving. She moved to Dimboola in Western Victoria, bought the local theatre, opened a cafe, and sources fruit from the area's old-fashioned gardens and orchards to make excellent preserves. She makes her jellies without any pectin, adjusting the acid with a little lemon or orange juice or vinegar to make them set. She admits some of the berries she uses are frozen and imported – we don't grow cranberries commercially in Australia. Try the redcurrant jelly with your ham, the cranberry with your turkey, and apple mint jelly with your pork. Her business may be brand new but she delivers anywhere in Australia.

Set of three jellies for $23.50 plus postage masonclarke.com.au

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Richard CornishRichard Cornish writes about food, drinks and producers for Good Food.

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