What I learnt at the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival

How to cook pigs ear

From Charleston’s Sean Brock (he of the full-sleeve tattoo depicting his favourite heirloom corn variety Jimmy Red): cook one large pig’s ear in 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 1 ½ hours (he was raving about the KitchenAid pressure cooker he was supplied with). Remove, drain and refrigerate. When the ear is cold and gelatinised, cut it into thin strips and fry at 180 degrees until crisp. Now, where do I get a pig’s ear?

Farming is all about death

Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans of Tasmania’s Puggle Farm said it, Michael Stadtlander of Ontario’s Eigensinn Farm said it, and Magnus Nilsson of northern Sweden’s Faviken said it during the ground-breaking Theatre of Ideas session: the hardest thing about farming is the death of an animal.

One day we will need a licence to eat meat

The forward-thinking Magnus Nilsson again, who showed a short film of a horse being killed and skinned at a knackery. His message? If we don’t put a real value on eating meat, then someone is going to have to do it for us.

We eat better at home than in a restaurant

(Although I think a lot of people know this one already). Former restaurant critic Matthew Evans: “Chefs still write menus for the whole season. But the best food is what is around you day to day.”

Plates and glasses are so last century

Canadian chef/farmer Michael Stadtlander showed off his creative approach to eating outdoors, from building statues of wine god Bacchus complete with a wine-issuing penis, to making plates for an island picnic from a ship-wrecked suitcase, with bullet casings as handles. That sort of creative, make-do approach makes plates, glasses and even tables look so boring.

How to bone a whole pig

Martin Boetz of Longrain makes it look easy, with a sharp knife and a beautiful suckling pig from Melanda Park. “It does get a bit easier if you cut the little darling’s head off” he advises. “And without the head you can fit it into your oven quite easily.”

How to burn cream

Deliberately, that is. Magnus Nilsson once burnt a pot of cream by accident and is now hooked on the “buttery, rich” flavour. Pour cream into a hot, wide pan and bring to the boil ( do not stir). Simmer and reduce, removing it when caramelised on the bottom but not burnt.

Not everybody likes Vegemite

“I don’t eat Vegemite on toast because quite frankly, I find that disgusting” says Magnus Nilsson. “But I like it as a seasoning, it’s like using the yeast extract from our beer production”.

It’s never too hot for coffee

Melbourne, Australia’s newest tropical resort, was in the middle of a heatwave. The people may have been wilting, but not so the coffee plantation set up at the Urban Coffee Farm & Brew Bar at Queensbridge Square for the duration of the festival (1-17 March, 2013). A very cool initiative, with a clever rotation of Melbourne’s finest cafes, coffee roasters and baristas, changing daily.

The magic of a hangi

Who knew that massively overcooked, pork lamb, pumpkins, beetroots, potatoes and onions would taste so deliciously earthy, almost like fossilised, imploded versions of themselves? Everyone who’s been to a hangi, I guess. Big thanks to Ben Shewry, Matt Wilkinson, the Three Blue Ducks crew from Sydney (who really dug Melbourne), and all the brilliant volunteers and staff at the wonderful urban farm that is the Ceres Environment Park, who helped bring the cooking of a meal outdoors back to earth.

Read more Melbourne Food & Wine Festival tips here, and tell us any gems you discovered.