Feral Party by Pinbone at Young Henrys - Good Food Month 2015

Sourdough to the head really hurts. It was a lesson learnt in my first ever food fight on the weekend. We've all seen scenes from movies of food fights in American cafeterias, but nothing quite prepares you for the brain-rattling thwack of an artisan loaf smacking you square in the face.

Last weekend's Feral Party was always going to be mayhem, with the promise of wild plants and animals including camel, hare and feral pigs. It was all going to happen at the Young Henrys keg warehouse in Newtown hosted by Myffy Rigby and Mike Bennie (co-founder of Rootstock). Pinbone would be in charge of the food. How could I resist?


Pallet table and beer keg stools 

We arrive at the warehouse on Saturday, hand over $100 each, and are handed a plastic rain poncho. "I'd put that on. It's going to get messy!" says Berri Eggert with a laugh.

The set-up is perfect - beer keg stools and a makeshift table made from wooden pallets. On the table is an assortment of bread rolls and sourdoughs, pickles made by Pinbone, boiled peanuts, wild fennel and wild dandelion leaves. There'll be no cutlery today. The rubbish bin is the floor today. Everything will get hosed out afterwards.


Mike Bennie dispensing feral wine

Mike Bennie is the charming flannie-wearing host, making sure everyone is sorted with a glass of feral wine as we mingle.


The feral menu

The menu is filled with promise, including wild shot venison, water buffalo and possum. The graphic design is pretty darn cool as well.


Smokey the Bear

Littered across the table are Young Henrys long necks and growlers. Most are special brews including this brooding Smokey The Bear and a funky brew called Cherry Flanders, a cherry ale that they aged for another year. The cloudy cider is dangerously easy drinking.


Mike Bennie and Myffy Rigby 

Mike Bennie and Myffy Rigby kick off proceedings with short and sweet speeches before the food starts to flow from the makeshift "kitchen" in the corner.


Carp-accio

The carpaccio is the first snack to be served, spooned onto sheets of greaseproof paper. It's a case of use your fingers or fold the paper into a funnel and throw the whole lot into your mouth.

There's no description of this dish which has us pondering exactly what this dish has been made from. Rabbit? Raw chicken? We're perplexed until we find out it's carp-accio. Ha. The acid-cooked fish has such a plump bounciness to the flesh, soaking up the zingy dressing beautifully.


Possum-wurst

I reckon the possum-wurst is everyone's first time eating possum too. Possums are a protected species but landowners in Tasmania can apply for a culling permit where it can be proved to be required for crop protection. Once the possums are shot, some farmers choose to then sell the possum meat, rather than just dispose of it.

The distinct taste of possum isn't easy to discern among all the seasoning but the wurst itself is an impressive feat.


No plates required


Rabbit terrine

The rabbit terrine is probably one of my highlights of the entire meal. It's soft, sweet and thoughtfully seasoned, cooked with an even distribution of fat so that the slice falls apart in your fingers.


Wild shot venison tartare

We move onto wild shot venison tartare. The meat is silky in texture, enriched with raw egg yolks and tumbled through with chives.


Hare liver parfait

Hare liver parfait is also terrific, draped over a baguette slice with homemade jam and a sprinkle of sea salt. The parfait is enviably smooth.


Venison tartare, loquats, possum-wurst and carp-accio


Wild fennel, growlers and plastic beer cups

The food and drinks flow smoothly while everyone acts as though it's completely normal to eat lunch indoors with a plastic poncho.


Mike Eggert plating the roasted wild brown trout

Did I say the rabbit terrine was my highlight? Let me revise that and add this roasted wild brown trout to the list of favourites. Mike Eggert worked some serious magic with this fish, first brining it for an hour and then covering the entire thing in a sweet miso paste before roasting.


Roasted wild brown trout 

We have no choice but to use our fingers to grab chunks of this hot roasted trout, even though our fingers were burning at first.


Buttery soft flakes of wild brown trout

The trout was cooked so each segment flaked away with ease. We scored mini cardboard boxes for this course, bolstered with cooked wild dandelion leaves.


Camel kofta

Camel kofta arrives as a scrum on a slick of hummus. Camel is quite a lean protein but using this meat to make kofta is another clever idea. These are super flavoursome and juicy.


Mike Bennie looking for trouble

Throughout the day, Mike Bennie had been topping up drinks for people. He was also happy to accidentally splash you with beer and wine, double-checking the durability of the rain ponchos.


Food fight!

I'm not sure who threw the first bread roll but it happened in one of the prolonged gaps between courses. Suddenly there was stalks of fennel being flung, bread missiles and the occasional spray of wine and beer.


Sourdough missiles


Wild times

The food fight was intense but relatively brief. I copped several bread rolls to the head before I escaped to a safe distance both to protect my camera and to try and take photos!


Carnage

The table looked a sorry sight by the end of it, although - impressively - no glasses were shattered.


Curried goat leg

As everyone called a ceasefire, we continued with curried goat leg, served in cute paper bags with basmati rice and yoghurt.


Slow roasted boar neck

The slow roasted boar neck turns out to be another one of my faves. The succulent pork has a lingering smokiness to the flesh, ribboned with chunks of fat.


Water buffalo sirloin

The water buffalo has come from the Northern Territory, a massive slab that has been cooked to a rare pink.


Carving the water buffalo sirloin


Pink and juicy water buffalo


Berri Eggert with slices of water buffalo sirloin

Water buffalo is a lot leaner in fat than beef. It makes for a slightly chewier protein but here it's been cooked to rare to the meat is still relatively tender.


Wild loquats

We finish up with wild loquats for dessert. These are super refreshing, wavering between sweet and tart, with a flavour that combines passionfruit, guava and apricots.


The final damage

The drinking continues (shotgunning included) but a truce on further food fights has been called. Getting feral was wild but worth it.


Oscar McMahon, co-owner of Young Henrys




The Feral Party was held on October 10, 2015 at Young Henrys as part of Good Food Month. Grab Your Fork joined this event as an independent paying attendee.



Young Henrys
76 Wilford Street, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9519 0048

Tasting bar opening hours:
Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm
Sunday 12pm-7pm


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Rootstock Sydney 2014