Wildflower - Celebrating the food of the six seasons

Has he gone a bit odd I hear you say, or in some cases you'll be saying - has he got a bit odder! 😂. But no, only in some parts of the world and only in some cultures do people claim that there are four seasons - but here in Western Australia’s South West region the Noongar people know six seasons:

• Birak (December - January)
  
• Bunuru (February - March)
• Djeran (April - May)
• Makuru (June - July)
• Djilba (August - September)
• Kambarang (October - November)

Indeed this was apparent from one of the displays in the Bell Tower on Sunday.

 

So, we are welcomed here in Djilba the transitional time of the year, with some very cold and clear days combine with warmer,rainy and windy days mixing with the occasional sunny day or two or in our case three. 

Wildflower

As I didn't know anyone who had been to Perth, choosing Wildflower was an inspiration that came from as simple a search as 'Restaurants in Perth'. But as soon as I read the philosophy of the place, I was taken by it, and it was the first restaurant I booked for the holiday. 

As they say of themselves:

Our contemporary dishes revolve around the indigenous ethos of six seasons with farmer and forager-driven menus.

All good chefs will tell you their menus are tied to the season, celebrating the best produce that’s ripe in the season.  Here at WILDFLOWER we work with the indigenous Six Seasons.

Quite an ambition, but one which I now know they achieve with ease.

The restaurant is in the State Building with a range of other restaurants and bars. But it is on the fourth floor giving a great view over the Bell Tower and Elizabeth Quay. We were say at a table facing the window. Here is Drew ready for his dinner.

The meal, or treat as it really was, began with Duck liver tart with Davidson's plum and aboriginal foraged herbs. The earthy texture of the liver worked perfectly with the 'plum' which is a fruit of a rainforest tree in the north of the state of Western Australia, a great start.

The amuse was followed by a bread course of Alder Wheat with Wattleseed infused butter. The wheat is a local wheat variety with a very coarse grain, but strongly flavoured. Wattleseed is from the Acacia plant and played a large part in pre-colonial dietary patterns and adds a sweet herbiness to the butter. We ended up eating five courses of bread, which they generously kept bringing. So, much travel, especially the walking, is good for the digestion. 

We had opted for the non-alcoholic tasting menu and, like the food, it was focussed on locally sourced ingredients - it began with Lemon and asparagus with Nyoongar herbs (note the non-consistent English spelling of the tribal name, there are at least four variations in use, but English is a complicated language which often uses letters it doesn't need to represent a sound!). This first drink was fresh and refreshing, but who ever thought they would drink asparagus, well we are and it is delightful. 

The asparagus theme is continued in the food with asparagus mousse with spring vegetables in a traditional native spring sauce, local potatoes and pea jus. This is astounding and seasoned to perfection, it works very, very well with the drink/

Our second drink is non-alcoholic Chardonnay, infused with lime blossom, native honey and anise myrtle. This is sharp with a hint of sweetness, it will be interesting to see how it matches the food. 

This course is Pemberton Marron with Kent pumpkin, sunrise lime and pepita furikake - a delightful saltwater crayfish, very fleshy in a japanese dashi style soup. The pumpkin was a crunchy tuile which added good texture to the dish - absolutely delightful. Of and yes, I should have had no doubt, the drink matched the dish perfectly, the sweetness matching the pumpkin and the sharpness the dashi. 

Our third drink was made with Australian lemon massa leaf, this aboriginal healing remedy is also a tangy drink.

Our dish was Gold-headed Yellow Snapper with fried fish scales, local lemongrass and curry myrtle with a buttermilk reduction split with lemon verbena. Oh, I wish you could taste this with me. It brought tears of pleasure to my eyes. Such a firm, well cooked piece of fish with an amazing tangy set of accompanying flavours - again perfectly matched with the drink.

Our fourth drink was Red Back Australian Ginger native honey, Lemon twist, with beetroot kombucha over cubes of ice. Red backed ginger is ginger in flavour, but not in origin. It is Australian perennial often used as Tucker. It takes like a more potent ginger. 

Our next food was 24 hour cooked Duck, with yellow beetroot and carrot served with a duck reduction and apricot and native honey. I'll be having dreams of this dish for months. The duck so lightly, yet perfectly cooked - the skin crisped with a blow torch and the beetroot and carrot puree making the whole dish earthy and smooth. The complement with the drink is inspired. 

The fifth drink was Davidson's plum, tea and vanilla flower - a light, sparkling drink which refreshes the palette really well.

The next course, the main course, is Crestwick Lamb with celeriac and lamb jus, bush tomato flowers and local herb pesto. The herb pesto had such a complex flavour and brought out the richness of the lamb and it's jus - perfectly cooked and amazingly pleasurable to eat.

The six drink is a non-alcoholic Thai jasmine rice wine with lychee. This drink is made on the premises with the assistance of the chefs in the Thai Restaurant downstairs in the building - A weird colour, but a light and refreshing taste. 

Olive oil ice cream, yogurt tuile and lemon jel and lime. As a palette cleanser this did the job perfectly, fresh and refreshing, the match with the drink was that lemony freshness they both had.

The seventh drink is Beetroot kombucha, white chocolate and edible viola flower. This yellow beetroot kombucha has all the earthiness of beetroot, but without the darkness of purple beetroot - a slightly sweet, yet slightly acidic combination. 

The dessert to go with the kombucha is coffee and walnut cake with praline and wattleseed infused ice cream and white chocolate foam with coffee grains on top. This dessert is normally served with Bailey's on top, but not for us teetotal folk! Yet it loses none of its charm with a not excessively sweet taste balanced with the sharpness of the coffee grains. A perfect dessert someone like me who doesn't like sweet flavours.

Next comes the Cheese Course - and this pleases me so much. The board has on it a Tasmanian Cheddar, Victoria Blue and Margaret River Camembert. These three great cheeses are a real delight. Drew also eats the sweet bits, but they aren't for me. The cheddar was aged and crunchy, the blue had a stilton texture, but with a more subtle taste, goaty and mushroomy come to mind. The Camembert would rival any made in France. A wonderful treat.

The cheese was served with crunchy tuiles with black sesame seeds. A nice contrast with the cheese itself.

Our eighth drink is Hibiscus tea with Davidson's plums and a light tannin. The cheese arrived before it, so I was a bit distracted with that delight, but the tannin of the tea and the tart taste of the hibiscus held up against these complex flavours.

Our ninth and final drink was Deep red cherry juice and myrtle served over ice, myrtle appears in a lot of these drinks, but you can see why when you taste its versatility. This is a sweet end to a wonderful selection of drinks, like nothing I have expereinced before.

Our Petit Fours arrived and a plate decorated us welcoming us to Perth. They were Lemon and lime meringue, choix pastry with herby cream and on the top Vegemite and native healing juice with nuts.

We also received a packet with Wildflower Bush Tea bags. A blend of Jilungin, Gulbarn, strawberry gum and lemon myrtle all of which is to aid sleep. 

What a wonderful, wonderful evening with so many new tastes and a wait staff that were gentle, unpressured and extremely caring. 

If I am ever lucky enough to visit Perth again - I'd be back at Wildflower as soon as I possibly can.