FROM TREE - Louise is determined to not waste a tradition

Many years ago, fruit and vegetables were preserved to avoid waste and so they could be enjoyed out of season. Today they're a staple of our pantries and their flavours and textures have hit new heights.

Our preserving culture is headed in the right direction with people such as Louise Evenden, who is dedicated to producing the classic preserves we all love and new flavour combinations to please tastebuds, entice our senses and make us salivate.

Mumma Made is a small business with a big focus on flavour and a reputation for quality homemade relishes, jams, mustards and pickles. Louise launched it in January 2015 at Red Hill Market, where it took off like a house on fire, and she has never looked back.

What started as an experiment in her kitchen at home has grown to the point where Louise gave up her nursing career, put in a small commercial kitchen and now employs Lorelle to help her. Recently, Mumma Made opened a kitchen store where you can sample the entire range of relishes, jams, pickles and mustards.

When she moved into her house in Dromana on the slopes of Arthurs Seat in 2010, Louise planted an edible garden, including figs, plums, apricots, quinces, lemons and pomegranates. Louise loves using fresh local ingredients wherever possible, including homegrown figs that become Fig & Ginger Jam and Figgy Paste for your next cheeseboard, cumquats from local gardens that make superb marmalade, and bay leaves picked straight off her neighbour's tree.

Louise is obsessed with the colour, texture and sweetness of figs, and you'll find 11 fig trees in her garden with varieties including preston, black genoa, brown turkey, and green figs. One of the things she loves most about creating jam and preserves with figs and other ingredients from her garden is that no two batches taste exactly the same. The flavour profile changes slightly with each batch, depending on the variety of fruit picked and the time of year it was harvested.

When she can't find the ingredients in her garden or her neighbours’ gardens, Louise is dedicated to supporting Peninsula farmers and producers and shops for ingredients such as beer from Jetty Road Brewery for her Pale Ale and Peppercorn Mustard – a favourite among the restaurants and cafes that serve her punchy mustards and chutneys.

While her range has tripled since she began this journey and she has a customer base to be proud of, Louise still makes her products by hand in small batches using the best quality fruit, vegetables and spices, locally sourced whenever possible. Every batch is carefully watched and taste-tested to ensure it

meets her high standards in flavour and texture. She's known for her traditional recipes and her flavour creations, including Classic Tomato Relish, a traditional Country Women's Association recipe; Bloody Mary Tomato Relish, a delicious combination of tomato, apple and celery infused with vodka, cracked pepper, curry, fenugreek seeds, allspice berries and coriander; Kasundi Kick, a spicy Indian-style tomato relish packed full of chillies, ginger and garlic; Berry Christmas Jam, a festive special of strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, sour cherries and Christmas spices; Seville Orange & Whisky Marmalade, a sharp winter favourite; and her favourite flavour combination, Raspberry Pomegranate and Thyme Jam.

Mumma Made products make a lovely gift, especially at Christmas. Packs of one, two or three jars can be boxed in many combinations of flavours, and sample boxes containing six of the bestsellers make a very affordable gift for teachers, neighbours and extended family.

You'll find Louise and Lorelle at the Mumma Made Kitchen Store in Dromana, which is open from 10am-3pm on cooking days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Come along to smell what's cooking and taste anything you like.

Mumma Made products are also available at markets on the Mornington Peninsula, including Mornington Main Street every Wednesday, Red Hill and Emu Plains, as well as farmers’ markets around Melbourne, and gourmet food stores including Scicluna's, Hawkes Farm in Boneo, Houghtons in Mornington, Tully's and Palamara Village Fruits in Mount Eliza, and online.

Mumma Made

30 Manna St, Dromana

P. 0409 190 271

www.mummamade.com.au

FB: mummamade2

INSTA: mumma.made