It's been a long time coming but Cooramook Produce now has a blog!
An Introduction on us...
It starts with two:
Michael grew up on a family farm in the dry Mallee and always had home-grown vegetables and fruit for family use. It was nice to grow a small veggie patch that wasn't so dependent on the weather as the crops were.
His grandma made preserves, mum made preserves, aunties made preserves and shared their knowledge with him. The hot climate meant lots of tomatoes, stone fruit and citrus to use in all of the classics. Grandma Rogers was infamous for exploding ginger beer...
Must be genetic, because Michael is also infamous for exploding an early batch of cider.
Family gatherings revolved around food and he grew up in a big family and a close extended family and as you can imagine, that meant a lot of food. His mum and auntie would have a big sponge duel and the kids would get to eat all the spoils.
Tatiana on the other hand, grew up in Romania in a small family. From a young age she dreamt of being a doctor, and her wish came true there and here, in Australia. As she started getting older, this career became more stressful. She needed some changes that could carry her safely and happily into senility😂, which is why she suggested this business. She is the fuel of the operation. We like to call her the 'whirlwind' (if you've met her, you know).
Tatiana lived throughout communist Romania in her very quaint apartment in Botosani. Everyone was striving for that little bit of green, an area for growing fresh produce. While space for gardening and cooking was limited, it seemed everyone made their own preserves to last the cold winters. In spring and summer when the trees and shrubs would bloom on the streets and communal areas, the locals would create jams and jellies and teas from their petals and leaves boasting the local knowledge about their medicinal properties.
Away from the city, Tatiana spent a lot of her childhood on her grandparent's farm which had a traditional Romanian style of farming: slow-paced, chemical-free, and small. Just big enough to provide nourishment to the family. Things were and largely still are sown by hand and carried by horses. A lifestyle that produces healthy food for body and soul with much less pollution and fuss.
Her heritage is where she gets the most inspiration for the direction of our business and she takes pride in sharing her family's recipes.
The pair met in Swan Hill and had a common interest in farming, traditional and gourmet foods, and simple living. Fresh produce, farm-grown meat, chickens, natural products. They've tried their hand at a lot of things: smoking meat, and making cheese, wine, spirits, and cider for themselves and the family.
They moved from the heat to the fertile green of Warrnambool in 2002 where they established a fruit orchard and veggie garden on their house block.
Their plot eventually became a little too crowded and in 2014 expanded to a small farm at Cooramook.
They traveled back to Romania regularly to see Tatiana's family, visiting quaint farms and restaurants, producing and serving local produce all throughout Europe. Eventually, they had worked their way through Asia, South America, and Polynesia too, eating a lot of delicious local and traditional food and gaining all sorts of inspiration for their products.
An Introduction to what we do...
We are a small family business, growing from the need for the mindful use of food resources- hence the preserving. We strive to keep things simple. Our business started with our dream to recreate the bucolic life we'd seen throughout our childhoods and travels.
We also want to be as inclusive as possible. We believe that things can be gluten-free or vegan, but delicious for everyone, and are dedicated to trailing lots of tasty recipes for all.
While we love making and selling jam, this is only part of our passion. The real fun begins in our garden or with our baking, cooking and our (often chaotic) projects.
Keep an eye out for recipes, product facts, updates, and whatever else might sneak its way onto the page. We have a lot of ideas on the go!
This might be tooting our own horn but we love our products, we think they're the bomb! That's why we're hoping to share all of the ways we enjoy using them with you, here, on our blog. So if you're looking for some cooking inspo, look no further than our page.
We might take a little while to get into the groove of things, but we hope you'll bear with us.
If you're interested in us or what we have to offer, subscribe to our blog and leave us a comment letting us know what you'd like to see. :)
Lovely blog, Michael!
Wow what a wonderful introduction to your business.. Very welcoming .. l will look forward to following your journey and your continued success. Congratulations on all you have achieved.. and thank you for sharing your families story.
A wonderful reminder of the importance of traditional farming and real produce.
Again Congratulations .
enjoyed this authentic piece of writing and lovely to learn of your background. I like reading about medicinal herbs and cake recipes. Thankyou, Jayne Harris
loved reading both family story beautiful.
Loved reading your story Michael