Serafino executive chef Dan Armon on cooking with vegetables at work and home
SERAFINO executive chef Dan Armon on cooking with vegetables at work and home.
SERAFINO Restaurant’s new executive chef Dan Armonhas a deep appreciation for the value of vegetables and how they are grown.
His winter selection at the winery restaurant in McLaren Vale is packed with seasonal veg in complex dishes such as artichoke agnolotti with jerusalem puree and beetroot tortellini with walnut foam – and that’s before getting to his six-course vegan/vegetarian tasting menu.
At home, when he’s preparing a meal for his three young daughters, the thinking is the same.
“We fed our kids a huge variety of vegetables from a really young age and it has really paid off, as they all eat their greens – at least for now anyway,” he says.
“And it is critical for our kids to understand how and where our food comes from. The best kind of education for this is practical, hands-on experience, like growing vegetables at home in our garden bed and reaping the rewards when the produce is ready to be picked.”
Dan says that his girls, Mikaela, 8, Aaliyah, 6, and Skarlet, 4, all like to help in the garden and the connection they have with the produce means they are more open to having it for dinner.
“The girls and I pick fresh herbs for use in cooking, giving them a real task and a way to start being involved with meal times, other than eating.
“Allowing the kids to be hands-on gives them a greater interest in what is going on the plate. At the end of the day, as
a chef, it is my job to educate.” So Dan, who previously was at The Playford Hotel and Barton’s Restaurant, sees The Advertiser’s My Little Seed Garden collection as a great way to introduce children to the rewards of growing their own herbs and vegetables.
“Initiatives like this are brilliant,” he says. “They make it really easy for families to become involved with the seed-to-feed concept in a well-thought-out home kit.”
My Little Seed Garden, which starts on Saturday, is a
15-part collection including a range of herbs (mint, rosemary, basil) and vegies (spinach, tomatoes). Each day, readers will be able to buy a complete growing kit with seeds, dehydrated soil pellets and a biodegradable growing pot with the purchase of the paper.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
To collect My Little Seed Garden, cut out the token from The Advertiser or Sunday Mail across the promotional period and take it to a participating newsagent, Woolworths or Coles, along with $2.50, to get your growing kit for that day.