Wildwood Valley Cottages and Cookery School is on 120 beautiful acres of bush in Yallingup in the Margaret River region of WA – around three hours by car south from Perth. What with one thing and another, it felt like we hadn’t been anywhere for ages.
Our friends Deb (West Australian) and her husband Blaine (Canadian), have been coming to Wildwood Valley for 18 years. Initially, they stayed at the B&B that Chef Siobhan’s mum used to run in the main house before Siobhan took over that job. Later, Blue Wren cottage was built for Siobhan, Carlo and their young family, plus another three chalets.
The sprawling property has a distant but clear view of the cobalt-blue Indian Ocean, and it’s just a few minutes’ drive from Yallingup, Injidup or Smith’s Beach. (For some of my posts on previous visits to Yallingup and Margaret River, click here, here, here, here and here.)
Wildwood Cookery School
Siobhan Baldini is a serious professional in the kitchen. She apprenticed under Neil Perry, Oz’s iconic chef (of Rockpool fame) and also worked in Sydney’s top Thai restaurant, Longrain (closed in 2019). Then she pursued her career in Italy, where she met Carlo. She brought Carlo back here, and for some years, the couple split the year between Yallingup and Tuscany.
Together with their three kids, they spent the European summers running Tuscan tours. Carlo would drive the guests; she would give cooking lessons. And they’d come back to run the Wildwood operation during the Antipodean summer months.
So, you can choose from two cooking classes: Thai, or Italian. Siobhan runs two classes a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays, for ten students/guests at a time. We’d plumped for the Taste of Tuscany option – my choice this time, as Debbie and Blaine had previously done both options.
This Thursday, our group comprised Deb, Blaine, Roy and me; our lovely friend Kim who lives here in Yallingup with his wife, Lynn, on five lovely acres of bush (she had not yet been able to get back to WA, due to border closures); Kim’s friend Jamie from nearby Dunsborough; Matt and his wife, Kim, also from Dunsborough; plus Margaret from Perth and her friend Marion from Albany in southwestern Australia.
With Carlo no longer involved in the cooking school, Siobhan has taken on a young Roman sous chef, Maurizio, who’s an expert at pasta and much more.
The Menu – A Taste of Tuscany
Crostini with bresaola, cream cheese and fennel, rocket and Parmesan salad
After helping to pick the leaves from the huge bunch of locally grown Italian rocket that Siobhan had picked up from a friend that morning, I mixed up the Philly with Parmesan and chives and helped Marion spread it onto the crostini. They’d been made from an artisanal day-old loaf from Margaret River Woodfired Bread – drizzled with EVOO and oven-dried/toasted.
Topped with bresaola (cured and air-dried beef) and a pile of EVOO-dressed rocket and shaved Parmesan salad, the crostini were not easy to share politely.
Char-grilled cuttlefish with gremolata
Jamie from Dunsborough got the job of diamond-scoring the cuttlefish fillets with a seriously sharp knife – happily, before he’d had time to get stuck into the wine and do himself some nasty damage.
After a brief charring on the grill, Jamie’s cuttlefish fillets were dressed in gremolata (chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest) and passed around ten hungry sous-sous chefs. I’d guess that scoring them exposes more surface to the heat, getting the pieces to cook more quickly, curl up attractively and hold more of the dressing. (Right, Siobhan?)
Bonus course: Stuffed zucchini flowers, tempura-style
Highly subject to availability, zucchini flowers are a delicacy. Here, they’re deliciously stuffed with a blob of Philly, Parmesan and herbs (to the best of my memory), dipped in an icy tempura batter, deep-fried in oil and served piping hot.
Maltagliati with cream cheese, pomodori and capers
Luckily for me, my prayer not to be called on to make pasta was granted. It looked tricky, to say the least. What’s more, Roy and I eat mostly low-carb and largely gluten-free* – no bread and no pasta – except for the odd day like today, of course!
(And, in the interests of full disclosure: (a) the occasional soft-serve ice cream cone from the Cooey, it’s Bluey van; plus (b) the batter on the deep-fried barramundi – a monthly-or-so treat from Rocks Fish and Chips, a ten-minute drive from home and surely the best in WA!)
*Click here for my other blog, Living Long and Strong with Verne and Roy, and an explanation of my own Low Carb, No Crap® plan that helped Roy shed 35kg in 18 months. And keep it off.
Apart from the flat pasta called maltagliati (translated roughly as “pasta offcuts”), Maurizio demonstrated stuffed tortellini, some of which Kim and Roy then twisted into little hat-shaped cappelletti.
- Gluten-free note: We were asked well in advance whether we had any food preferences, intolerances or allergies; but this was Italian cuisine, after all, and I didn’t want to be more of a pain than was strictly necessary. (Fancy gluten-free pasta? I really don’t – and making it from scratch has to be even more troublesome than the traditional stuff.)
Pollo arrosto con pomodori, cipolla e aceto balsamico
Two big, fat chooks (Aussie chickens) went into the oven at about 200 degrees C for around an hour, plus resting time. None of your traditional gravy – instead, the sauce came from the natural jus, together with quartered onions and sweet baby tomatoes roasted in the same pan. A simple, hearty and easy-peasy main course.
Duck-fat roasted potatoes
Big, slightly waxy potatoes – did Siobhan say Royal Blues? – had been thoroughly steam-cooked and allowed to cool before roasting in duck-fat.
Shaved cabbage and parmesan salad with balsamic dressing
Roy shaved the cabbage for this yummy salad, and also produced a pile of zucchini ribbons that were subsequently mixed with some of the rocket – also very, very good. As soon as we got back to Joondalup, Roy went out and bought a julienne shredder for me; or perhaps for himself? (I remain hopeful.)
Zuppa Inglese with yoghurt, mascarpone and berries
Reminiscent of tira misu, but with a red, Campari-like liqueur instead of a coffee-flavoured one, and quite easy to make. No pics here either, sorry! I may have been distracted by the wine.
Wildwood Valley Cottages
Blue Wren cottage is a spacious, roomy dwelling with a big kitchen, dining and living room, an en suite master bedroom (shower, no bath), a second bedroom, plus a family bathroom complete with tub. That accommodates two couples, but there is also a third bedroom that would be made available if needed.
Margaret River is several degrees cooler than where we live in Iluka Beach, a far northern suburb of Perth. That makes it a great getaway during these hot summer months. Even without air-conditioning, we slept beautifully.
Time to Braai
Perfect for breakfast coffees, lazy afternoons and warm summer evenings, the wrap-around deck and alfresco dining terrace come with a good-sized barbecue.
When the Englishman, the Aussie and the Canadian got together around the braai, how come it was the Englishman who wielded the tongs? Well, Roy had brought his own from home… so that would explain it. Despite one or two conflagrations* that threatened to incinerate the lamb chops, he did a fine job.
*Said conflagrations had nothing to do with the chef, he insists; but everything to do with flammable fat trapped somewhere in the gubbins of the barbecue.
Epilogue
I’m always sorry to say goodbye to Margaret River. It has so much to offer, from sterling wineries to caves, superb surfing beaches, boutique shopping in cute villages and more.
I couldn’t leave without a quick stop at Yallingup Beach, and of course we had to drop in at Yallingup Coffee in Dunsborough to score a couple of bags of fresh-ground goodness.
It may be a while again before I have much travel to report. In the meantime, fingers crossed that – after further frustrating delays – the bricklayers will indeed come back to 543 Burns Beach Road next week to build our upper storey!
