Tasmania, Australia
Wineglass Bay on Tasmania’s East Coast
Tasmania is Australia’s smallest and only island State. It has a population of approximately 540,000 ‘taswegians’ and a land area of 68.401 square kilometres.
A windswept and mysterious place it is known for its beautiful natural scenery and wilderness including more than 1.4 million hectares of Wilderness World Heritage Areas.
Tasmania has the commonly referred to nickname of ‘The Apple Isle’ because of its prominent apple growing industry (more on this in our delicious recipe below) some of the most commonly produced varieties of apple in Tasmania are Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, Royal Gala, Pink Lady and Jazz.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tasmania and South America may not have deep connectivity historically, however they were quite literally connected once with researchers believing the two formed part of the same land mass known as ‘Gondwana’ millions of years ago before continental drift shifted Tasmania to the Southern Hemisphere.
This can be seen in similarities with climate and nature with parts of South America.
The real Tasmanian Devil
TASMANIAN DEVIL
The cartoon Tasmanian Devil from ‘Looney Tunes’ is surprisingly well known by people in South America and in some cases may be the only association they have with Tasmania.
Of course, though, the real Tasmanian Devil is nothing like the cartoon. The unique marsupials are found only in the Tasmania wilds and whilst they are carnivorous creatures they are generally not dangerous to humans.
Sadly the Tasmanian Devil is endangered and at threat of extinction due to a devastating cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease which spreads between the animals like a contagious disease. A number of organisations are working to protect dwindling devil numbers in Tasmania.
RECIPE- TASMANIAN APPLE PIE
Ingredients
5 Granny Smith apples, quartered and cored
6 sweet apples such as pink lady, royal gala, jazz or sundowner
100 gm caster sugar
55 gm light brown sugar
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50 gm demerara sugar
Sweet pastry
280 gm butter, diced into 2cm cubes, chilled in freezer for 15 minutes
350 gm plain flour
80 gm caster sugar
25 gm (about 1) egg yolk (reserve white)
Flaky pastry
315 gm plain flour
120 gm lard, diced and chilled
30 gm caster sugar
180 gm unsalted butter, diced into 2cm cubes, frozen for 15 minutes to chill
Method
1. Cut apple into 1.5cm-thick slices into a large saucepan.
2. Add sugars, lemon rind and juice, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender but retain their shape (10-20 minutes). Set aside to cool, then strain.
3. For pastry, pulse butter, flour and sugar in a food processor until butter is the size of peas. Remove half the mixture and continue to pulse until coarse crumbs form. Return half-processed mixture and pulse 2 or 3 times just to combine.
4. Whisk yolk and 40ml iced water together in a small bowl to combine, then add to the flour mixture, pulsing just until the mix holds when pressed between two fingers.
5. Turn dough out onto a bench and bring together with the heel of your hand. Divide in half, flatten each into a 12cm disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest (2 hours).
6. Preheat oven to 220C. Stand pastry at room temperature for 10 minutes, then place one disc between 2 sheets of Go-Between and roll to a 30cm round, then refrigerate. Roll remaining disc to a 26cm round, then refrigerate.
7. Line a 22.5cm, 3cm-deep pyrex pie dish with 30cm round of pastry and refrigerate (10 minutes). Fill the dish with apple filling, then gently lift the pastry lid on top.
8. Trim the pastry to a little beyond the rim of the dish, then press and crimp the edges together.
9. Whisk eggwhite, brush the pie top with it, sprinkle with sugar and cut a few 5cm slits in the top.
10. Transfer pie to oven, reduce the temperature to 200C and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 185C and continue to bake, rotating the dish halfway through cooking, until pie is deep golden brown (40-50 minutes). Set aside to cool a little before serving.
Source: Adapted from https://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/browse-all/apple-pie-14211