Page 50 - Port Douglas Magazine 30

THE

GOOD

LIFE

WORDS by Sharon Timms
t’s all about the scent. The sweetness Oaks Kitchen & Garden offers South East “We only use produce that’s local and local
of the tropical heat laced with aromatic Asian cooking classes several times a week, fish that are line-caught. It’s an approach
herbs and jasmine never smelt so with the regional focus changing throughout that happens all the time down south, but
Igood. It’s mid-afternoon and the the year based on produce available from up here we’re still seen as kind of niche,”
gentle sea breeze takes the edge off the their lovingly tended garden. Today’s class says Ben. The property produces mangoes,
sultry high-Spring temperatures, stirring covers Vietnamese, Northern Thailand kaffir limes, an abundance of galangal,
the banana trees and heliconia leaves that and Myanmar recipes, all which tend to be purple basil and betel leaves. Organic beef is
fringe the outdoor kitchen as I arrive in simple, flavoursome and solely driven by sourced from John Bull Farming at Malanda
Oak Beach, a short 15 minute drive south fresh produce. The Oaks Kitchen is stocked on the Atherton Tablelands, chicken is
of Port Douglas. with vital supplies, including plentiful sourced from Bellasato Farm just south of
Part farm, part residence, part innovative bunches of kefir lime leaves, bush lemons, Cairns, and Carnivore – also on the Atherton
enterprise, Oaks Kitchen & Garden Cooking multiple varieties of chillies, coriander and Tablelands – supply interesting cuts of wild
School is located smack bang in amongst bunches of seasonal fruit. The shelves hold boar, venison and kangaroo.
a thriving tropical produce plantation Oaks Kitchen and Garden olive oil, chilli “We love the creative freedom we have with
bordered by an abundance of coconut palms. paste, vinegar, home-made spice mixes and our chef’s table dining and cooking classes,
It’s this spot here where Melbourne escapees a thousand jars filled with dried tea leaves, we’re able to do whatever want with the
Ben Wallace and his partner Rachael Boon all harvested from the garden. Our class is a menu, and change it based on what’s in
have set up a South East Asian cooking small group of four - myself and my good- the garden - having that freedom is simply
school, naturally supplied with home grown food-loving friend along with a surgeon and unparalleled.”
tropical fruit, vegetables and aromatic herbs interior design couple from Melbourne, here Rachael leads us on a kitchen garden tour to
and spices grown on their four-acre property. in the tropics for a holiday and who are both start our cooking experience, the surrounding
familiar with and excited by Ben’s restaurant
Meandering up the driveway, I’m warmly background. We have varying degrees of gardens opening up with a dense patch
greeted by Ben, Rachael and Sparkles. culinary expertise but we’re all here to learn. of eggplants, snake beans, aromatic herbs
“She’s a rescue chicken,” Rachael tells me, and shoulder-high lemongrass, and collects
as Sparkles fusses around my feet, leading He was a sous-chef at Longrain in Melbourne; handfuls of produce from her flourishing
us towards the converted outdoor kitchen. she managed Melbourne favourite diner veggie patch, handing us bits and pieces to
Sparkles is all fluff and cluck, quite obviously Lee Ho Fook. Over cups of locally-sourced taste as we go. “This is a real garden-to-table
much happier here than her previous battery Herberton honey and tamarind leaf tea, Ben effort,” says Rachael, who spent the best part
farm residence. And it’s easy to understand and Rachael describe their tree change and of a year tackling jungle weeds and planting a
why – the property exudes a comforting their aim to showcase regional abundance kitchen garden before opening Oaks Kitchen
and nurturing energy, the various crops through cooking classes and catering for and Garden in 2017. The property, originally
providing an abundance of produce, almost private dinners and functions. Anything belonging to Rachael’s restauranteur parents,
as if they were willing for their leaves, fruit that isn’t grown on property is sourced from has a kitchen garden history that Rachael
and roots to be picked and harvested as Rusty’s Markets in Cairns or direct from fondly recalls, unintentionally picked up
sacrificial offerings to their tenderers. farmers on the Atherton Tablelands. during her childhood.

50 tourismportdouglas.com.au