Vegetable Matter
The Age
Tuesday November 28, 1995
Max Allen reveals his secrets for a meat-free barbeque.
This might be a bit of a shock for true-blue Aussies, but it is possible to have a full-on, celebration-of-summer, outdoor barbecue without even a scrap of meat, fish or cheese in sight.
Think green. Find the biggest bowl you have and pile it high with young spinach leaves, rocket, semi-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and pine nuts. Dress it with hazelnut oil and verjuice and pull the cork on a seriously verdant and grassy sauvignon blanc from Marlborough in New Zealand, or the Adelaide Hills.
Wait until the barbecue coals are glowing and grill some corn cobs, slices of Spanish onion, thick chunks of zucchini and slices of sourdough. Sprinkle the vegetables with chilli- infused olive oil and serve them with a grapefruity chardonnay from the Yarra Valley.
Make a terrine with layers of roasted red capsicum, tomato slices, baked eggplant and basil leaves, and pour your guests glasses of a limey, crisp riesling from the Clare Valley. Or be a little more daring and serve vegetable tempura as light as air with a coriander salsa and a young, lemony Hunter semillon or even a chilled, nutty fino sherry. You might never want to look at a steak and a glass of cabernet again.
© 1995 The Age
