Millbrook Winery chef Guy Jeffreys walks us through his approach to cooking and what’s on the menu this month and next.
What’s the food at Millbrook all about, Guy?
It’s what I’d like to cook for people if they were coming to our house: something that we’ve grown in our backyard.
How has access to the Millbrook Estate garden affected the way you cook?
I wouldn’t be the person, let alone the cook, I am if it wasn’t for the garden. When you put all that effort into growing something, you want to use all of it. It gives you a greater respect for all food, not just vegetables whether it’s using the lees and marc from winemaking in the kitchen, or getting whole animals in.
What are you looking forward to cooking up this summer?
January and February are going to be absolutely heaving: that’s when everything – and I mean everything – is in. I think I’m most excited about the tomatoes; we’ve saved seed the whole time I’ve been here. We just want to highlight them, so will be serving between 15 and 20 different varieties on a plate with estate olive oil and salt. We’ve also got some heritage chickens from Wagin that we’re doing as a fried wing, grilled breast and confit leg.
What’s on the table at the Jeffreys Christmas?
We incubate and hatch our own Aylesbury ducks so a few of the boys end up on the Christmas table, roasted like they do at Divido in Mount Hawthorn. We make up a caponata with vegetables from the garden and there’s usually some yellow plums kicking around that I can make a sauce from. I also use Christmas lunch as an excuse to go into the winery and pull out an interesting bottle that Damo [Millbrook winemaker Damian Hutton] has given me.
Millbrook Winery, Old Chestnut La, Jarrahdale, WA, (08) 9525 5796, millbrookwinery.com.au
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