Real Food Companion

Matthew Evans is a chef and food critic turned farmer-food activist. He lives on a mixed farm that occupies a one-time apple orchard in the Huon Valley outside Hobart with his partner Sadie Chrestman and son Hedley. He is nationally best known for his long-running SBS series Gourmet Farmer (six seasons), set on Fat Pig Farm's 70 acres, but also was the star of food documentaries What's the Catch? and For the Love of Meat. He has authored or co-authored 13 books on food, and is regularly interviewed on radio about all things to do with farming, growing, soil and eating. He has capitalised on his broad appeal hosting weekly farmhouse feasts and on-site cooking classes, which are often booked out months ahead. He is beloved of television audiences but also widely respected in the food world as someone who lives his truth - giving up the apparently coveted life of a Sydney food critic to create something real and meaningful with Sadie on their small parcel of land in southern Tasmania.

• Structured - alongside narrative that looks at ethical issues, a new food philosophy and a campaign for real food - this way: DairyGrains, Pulses and FloursPoultry and EggsMeatSeafoodVegetablesFruitSweet Foods

'Real Food is not just delicious recipes, it's a beautiful combination of important food education for our future and a reminder to sit around the table with our community to share nourishing meals and stories. This will be the book I gift my kids when they leave home.' Alex Elliott-Howery, Cornersmith founder, cook and author'The Real Food Companion is the book we all need in our kitchens not just to remind us of the truth we are facing, but also to give us hope.' Danielle Alvarez, chef and author'Matthew's real food philosophy is not aspirational, it is imperative in this age of climate action. To know Matthew and read his thoughtful approach is to be inspired. I challenge everyone to embrace 'soil to stomach' wholly, and just try - go ahead try - to read this compendium of food wisdom and not want to join us in this food movement.' Palisa Anderson, founder Boon Luck Farm Organics'Matthew Evans' Real Food Companion is a wise, warm and lovely book full of advice from a father to his child that any parent would be proud to share with their children. Food as a life lesson has seldom been so moving.' William McInnes, actor and author'Real Food was a revelation when it first emerged into the world, and in its new form, is just as relevant. The future of food and ourselves is rooted in rebuilding our relationships with the land we live on and with each other. It starts and ends with the way we connect and find meaning with one another through that thing we all love and need to survive: food.' Melissa Leong, Masterchef judge and writer'A salivating reminder on why what and how we eat can help shape a food culture that nourishes us and the earth.' Hannah Maloney, author, permaculture designer and teacher'The quintessential guidebook for anyone who cares about what they eat. A pillar of the Australian food literature canon.' Laura Dalrymple, Feather & Bone founder and author'Matthew Evans teaches without preaching. He writes without dithering. And he knows what great food is. You'll read this from cover to cover!' Nagi Maehashi, Recipe Tin Eats' founder, cook and author'This book is for the chef as much as the home cook. Matthew's talent for making the raw produce accessible to the reader is second to none.' Ross O'Meara, chef, game hunter and author'Country folk often gauge each other's kitchen skills over their batch of scones or seasoning of a humble roast chook, which are the first recipes I'm drawn to in these seductive pages. This book is packed with wise-old-bugger tips that all underpin Matthew's true commitment to agrarian living and cooking from the land.' Sean Moran, Sean's Panorama, chef and author'The Real Food Companion is a must read for anyone interested in how to ethically source, prepare, and eat real produce. A great resource that I always recommend to my team.' Peter Gilmore, Quay, chef and author'A rallying cry to eat like it matters, in a world out of balance. The glorious fundamentals of real food, coupled with the why and the how of cooking it with love.' Kirsten Bradley, Milkwood founder and author'A wonderful, gritty, generous gift to the world (and Hedley!) If we consider our role as current-day decision makers but ancestral thinkers, a book like this is just the tome to kick us into action.' Jade Miles, farmer, author and podcaster'What's old is new again! Knowing where your food comes from is more important now than ever, for the health of our planet and ourselves. Mathew and his book are an inspiring source of information on how to get started or keep going in the right direction.' Guy Jeffreys, Millbrook Winery, chef'Matthew Evans is the real deal. He talks the talk, walks the walk, and cooks the kind of food we could all use more of in our lives.' Alice Zaslavsky, author and broadcaster'In a world where so many people are completely disconnected from where their food comes from, this book offers a bridge of connection. It's exactly what the world needs, more now than ever.' Emma Galloway, My Darling Lemon Thyme founder and author 'Matthew Evans makes the kitchen a site of quiet protest and a space where we can all form new habits to create the future of food. It's the kitchen companion I've been seeking, and I know it will become a stained, dog-eared and much-loved book before I hand it down to my child. It is a joyful and urgent book.' Nicola Harvey, farmer, podcaster and author'A truly inspiring book to make you want to consider how you source your food, and cook beautifully achievable recipes with the seasons. Soil-to-stomach eating was the past but it is imperative that it be the future too. Food grown the right way to benefit the soil and your health.' Michael James, baker and author'Matthew Evans writes with the passion of a man possessed. Possessed by all the good things. A care for hospitality, a call for generosity and a plea to embrace the environmental and regenerative farming practices that can make a huge difference to our future.' Annie Smithers, Du Fermier, chef and author'I had the good fortune of having access to nothing but this book while camping in Gippsland, Victoria's beef country. Reading it in the wilderness made me think about my surroundings, of produce quality and of simple, yet well prepared, food. So much so that I ended up feeding the insatiable urge to cook a piece of locally sourced steak over my camp fire once I was able to put the book down.' Thi Le, Anchovy, chef'Matthew Evans is a big-hearted farmer, considered conservationist, witty philosopher and modern crusader. At best, The Real Food Companion will make you think about all that is important in our world and at worst, you will be extremely well fed.' Nick Haddow, Bruny Island Cheese Company founder and author