A Finger Lime Focus with Kiln’s Beau Clugston
We’ve long held a deep fascination and appreciation for Australian botanicals and the weird and wonderful world of native flora and fauna. The complex flavours of Australian native citrus lend themselves beautifully to our distillations, which is why the latest in our Harvest series shines the spotlight on native Emerald Green Finger Limes, grown by our producer partners, Mark and Vickie Shina of Marvick Native Farms in Red Gully, Western Australia.
Of course, we’re not the only ones experimenting with native citrus. These past few years, we’ve witnessed a considerable uptake of lesser-known Australian citrus on menus across the country, and we’ve loved seeing the myriad ways they can be used to bring out their versatility and punchy, unusual flavours.
What are some of the Australian native flora and fauna we would currently find on Kiln’s menu?
The main ingredients currently on the menu include lemon myrtle, Davidson’s plum, kangaroo, lemon aspen, green ants, paperbark, finger lime, saltbush, strawberry gum, eucalyptus, and quandong. We also use a lot of native herbs such as river mint, sea parsley, and native basil.
The finger limes we use in our gin travel to our distillery from Western Australia. Where do you source your finger limes from?
The finger limes we’re using at Kiln right now are grown in Bunya Park in Bellbrook, on the Mid North Coast of NSW.
What can you tell us about the leeks in the paperbark dish that’s currently on the menu?
I travelled through Arnhem Land with [Noma’s] René Redzepi to do some research and development for Noma Australia. We were hunting mud clams in the mangroves, and one of the Aboriginal elders we were with began preparing lunch for us. He tore some paperbark from a tree, wrapped a kangaroo tail in it, and buried it in the fire. I fell in love with the technique — how it steams and roasts at the same time, much like en papillote. That moment really stuck with me, and it’s something I’ve carried into my cooking ever since.
Which cocktail or drink would you personally pair with this dish to best enjoy citrus flavours?
I would personally order a gimlet based on native botanicals to cut through the intensity of the native citrus, or I might go for a skin contact white, orange or aged chardonnay.
What are some of the most interesting ways you’ve seen or experienced Australian Native Citrus prepared?
That’s a tough question, but some do stand out. There was a dish with lemon aspen in a butter sauce to which you would add fish eggs. Or salting the peel of finger limes, drying them and making a fine powder of it.
I remember burning desert limes like a Mexican chile to make a foundation for spicy pastes or hot sauces. One of my favourite dishes is a dish I developed for Noma Australia: a bowl of mixed native berries in roasted kelp oil, with native lime and Kakadu plum powder.
Shop the Emerald Finger Lime Harvest Gin, the latest release from our Harvest series, here.
