Simply the best: Bush‘s humble burger is near perfection
At a little hole in the wall cafe in Redfern some very Aussie blokes using very Aussie bush ingredients are making a “one-hander” burger that’s near-perfection.
Sydney Taste
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The Mouth Review: BUSH, 55 George St Redfern, NSW
A few weeks ago in this space we talked about the various ways sandwiches can go wrong, and discovered you could get an entire Air Crash Investigations-style series out of the various ways people — particularly in Australia — can screw up putting stuff between two pieces of bread.
Today, it is the humble burger’s turn.
Now, even writing about burgers is a bit contentious given we are all still picking up the brioche bun wreckage from when the Great Burger Bubble of 2015-16 burst and Sydney Harbour was foaming with much special sauce.
But if the Australian sandwich has always been a case of too little, then the Australian burger has long tipped the scales in favour of too much.
The Mouth recalls once lunching with a Sydney friend who had just returned from the US who offered the usual complaint about Yankee portion sizes … as he made like a python eating a baby deer with his cafe burger stacked high with beef and cheese and the entire salad bar and a fried egg and a bun that could chock the wheels of a Cessna.
The story goes that the local form was developed in the 1950s by Greeks who’d made their way to Australia via the US, picked up on American diner culture, and spun it into local suburban milk bars.
But there is another school of thought that says a truly orthodox burger shouldn’t be an over-stacked wedding cake suitable for Instagram and not much else, but rather something tidy and simple and what The Mouth refers to as a “one-hander”.
And this has been hard to find in Sydney.
Which is why it’s just a touch ironic, though we are not by any means complaining, to find that a little hole in the wall cafe in Redfern, run by some very Aussie blokes who use very Aussie bush ingredients, is making a perfect “one-hander” that is Zen-like in its simplicity and near-perfection.
The setting is Bush, tucked away in a small space over the road from an eerily silent, menacingly razor-wired “economic and commercial” (sure, we believe you) outpost of the Chinese consulate.
It’s all pleasantly outbackish and a bit blokey — and not in a Wake In Fright sort of way. It’s sparse timber tables and iced tea with lemon myrtle and Dorrigo pepperberry (excellent), and native ingredients thoughtfully but not obnoxiously inserted into the menu.
But back to the burger: Simplicity itself. One very smashed patty, to maximise griddle contact and char. Cheese, melted. A tangy sauce. Pickles to cut through it all, served in a just-right bun. Not so big it falls apart on your shirt, not so small you feel cheated. For a cynic like The Mouth who assumes everyone’s got an angle, the honesty of this thing was like a cold drink of water.
You could imagine seeing this humble burger lovingly slid onto its plate in high definition on Netflix with a soundtrack of violinists furiously sawing away at Vivaldi’s Winter concerto.
Or you could be eating it on the road out of paper wrapping in a car somewhere outside of Abilene, Texas, listening to Waylon Jennings.
A bite of America by way of the Outback
There was also a tomato salad that was very good, too. But that’s not really what you’re coming for.
LICENSED: No
CARDS: MC, Visa, eftpos
OPEN: 12 noon to 10pm, Tues.-Sat
PRICES: Nothing over $20
VEGETARIAN: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
NOISE: Calmative
PRO: Less is more
CON: Hardish to find
MATT MORAN BACKS THANKFUL 4 FARMERS
Helping our farmers is not an overnight solution and requires more than cash donations or bales of hay — which is where Thankful 4 Farmers comes in.
The newly launched foundation aims to present a new approach operating loosely around the old adage: “Feed a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.”
Founder Kim McDonnell said issues facing farmers today are different to those faced 100 years ago, so the same approach to farming simply won’t work — especially amid an eight-year drought and changing consumer behaviour.
Thankful 4 Farmers aims to teach farmers new skills that can take them into the future, and also address issues surrounding mental health, wellness and the need for community.
Ms McDonnell said various reports and farmers’ first-hand experience painted a dire picture of the situation on the land.
She said the challenges facing the Australian dairy industry in particular, and the decline of farmers in general, were “shocking”.
“In 2013 there were 22000 dairy farms and today there are fewer than 6000,” she said.
“We have reports from the United Nations saying the world needs to produce 70 per cent more food by 2050 in order to feed the world’s growing population.
“In 2019 farmers are earning less than they were in 2013, yet the costs of production are increasing.
“We hear incredible stories of the challenges farmers are facing and in Australia those challenges include unprecedented climatic conditions, changes in expectations, lack of research in comparison to the size of industry, trade wars and tariffs that farmers can’t control and the mental health and wellness crisis which impacts farmers at a much higher incidence than the rest of the population.”
Many farmers affected by the drought are selling stock or buying water with money they simply don’t have, but these are not sustainable solutions.
Ms McDonnell said even farmers recognise that toughing it out is no longer an option and they need to try something new.
“Australians have a very typical view of what a farmer is but a lot of farmers are committed to doing things differently,” she said.
“There is a recognition that they can’t continue to do things the way they have been done for the past 100 years.
“There will always be climatic conditions that our farmers can’t control, but how do we help them to understand those better so they are more resilient and when the next drought comes or the next flood comes they are able to deal with it and diversify and cope from a financial and farming perspective so much better.”
Launched just a month ago, Thankful 4 Farmers is fundraising before its board, with community consultation, decides where to allocate funds — with ideas such as regenerative agriculture tipped to be a key funding channel.
Thankful 4 Farmers has already partnered with Victor Churchill Butchers, Signature Wines, Vittoria Food and Beverage, Peter Bouchier Butchers, Apani Sparkling Mineral Water and Obe Organic Meat, with a portion of sales of co-branded products going directly to the cause.
“It’s not just a campaign, this isn’t just six weeks or a couple of months, it’s something we’re committed to,” Ms McDonnell said.
“At the moment we are making consumers aware that every time a consumer picks up a Thankful 4 Farmers product they know a portion of those sales are going to support ongoing sustainable agriculture.”
MATT MORAN BACKS THANKFUL 4 FARMERS
Anyone worth their salt in Sydney hospitality will tell you sustainability and provenance are two of the hottest topics in food.
More than ever, chefs and restaurateurs are developing relationships with farmers and a huge majority only buy produce grown in Australia.
This is an area of passion for chef, restaurateur and farmer Matt Moran, who recently signed on as an ambassador for Thankful 4 Farmers.
“Being a chef and a restaurateur, the most important thing in my life is the food we receive — if it wasn’t for farmers, I wouldn’t have a job,” he said.
He has developed a close friendship with Boorowa beef farmer Charlie Arnott, who is a trailblazer for modern farming — working with the earth instead of against it, which he and many experts believe is the future of agriculture.
Arnott creates his own super-potent (150g can fertilise 1ha) natural fertilisers from compost, manure and animal carcasses. He harvests water and focuses heavily on soil health — healthy soil, healthy grass, healthy animals.
He has become a figurehead for the future of farming in Australia and teaches others how they can implement some strategies to do the same.
“We’re all about helping farmers to use practices that are long-term,” he said.
“We’ve got to get away from support that is very short-term, which will get them to the next week or next month or even the next drought.
“What we’ve got to do is get farmers thinking about the next drought now, because there will be one.”
But despite how dry and barren farms become, how many cattle are sold or slaughtered to cut costs and how many farmers we lose to suicide, many in the industry will not change their practises.
Moran, a fourth-generation cattle farmer, well knows the farmer mentality when it comes to change.
“Being young and trying to get my father to go to a doctor he’d say ‘Nah, you’ve got to be tough’ but they need help now more than ever,” he said.
“Knowing farmers and how proud they are, they won’t ask for help.
“It’s not about failing or being embarrassed. We need to ask them and they need to speak up.”
Within family-run farms that have been passed down from generation to generation, that pride is intensified and making changes can be perceived as breaking family tradition.
Aged just 27, Lachlan McGuinness has taken over the family farm, neighbouring Arnott’s in Boorowa, and has found himself stuck between traditional and modern farming.
“On a family farm it’s going to be very difficult because of the generations and their different knowledge and ways of farming,” he said.
“(Trying to do something new) is hit or miss, they will say ‘Why are you doing that?’ There’s some that will never understand but it’s the same with anything, really.
“Us as farmers have learnt a lot about different styles of farming in recent times.
“I’m caught in between, I’m still doing traditional farming but starting to take on some of the concepts of regenerative farming.”
McGuinness said one thing that the general public can do is get out to rural communities and spend a day seeing the town and getting a feel for the lives of farmers and locals — a pint at Boorowa Hotel is a must.
As for everyone else, Moran pleaded for consumers to question where their food comes from, to buy local and set the same standard for shops and restaurants.
“If we don’t have farmers we don’t have anything to eat,” he said.
TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT OUR FARMS
OPINION | FIONA SIMSON
National Farmers’ Federation President
The face of Australian agriculture is changing rapidly. As it changes, the gap between the public’s romanticised notions of agriculture and the truth yawns ever-wider.
What we have in 2019 is a gaping chasm. A significant number of Australians have never visited a farm or met a farmer. On the whole, they are clueless about where their food and fibre comes from, and about the people who grow it.
With no direct experience to draw on, the public’s perceptions are a cocktail of dated stereotypes (often imported from the USA), and sympathy (fuelled by coverage of drought, fires and floods).
This matters a great deal to us as an industry. Not because we vainly obsess about what people think of us, but because public perceptions play a practical role in our success.
We’re currently seeing a new generation of farmers coming through who are highly educated, ambitious businesspeople. This new generation comprises more women than ever before — debunking the myth that farming is a bloke’s game.
This diverse crop of young guns is embracing incredible advances in technology, and bringing new energy to regional cities and towns. It’s with them that the future of our industry lies, and we need to expand this cohort.
That’s why perceptions are so important. We need people from all walks of life to look beyond what they think they know about farming and discover the reality of our dynamic, vibrant and growing industry.
We’re doing more each year, through initiatives like National Agriculture Day to reach out to the public. We want to show people that farmers look more like them, and less like something from a Banjo Paterson poem. We want to explain that we share the same values, and are motivated by the same priorities as any other Australian.
Most critically, we want people to join us. Either by coming to work in agriculture, investing in us, or simply being a champion for agriculture as a critical part of Australia’s future.
Public buy-in will play a central role in achieving the National Farmers’ Federation’s vision of making agriculture Australia’s next $100 billion industry. That vision is about creating sustainable prosperity for every Australian, so we all have a stake in its success.
I invite readers to forget what they know about farmers and farming, and take a closer look at the modern face of agriculture. I’m sure you’ll be surprised by what you find!