FOOD TECHNOLOGY TERM

TWO CULMINATING
PERFORMANCE
Korey Norris
 TASK ONE
When we began this unit, the fruit I wanted to research and put into my bush tucker dessert was the Desert
Quandong, a fruit native to Western Australia used by traditional Aboriginal people - a fruit known for its jams,
chutneys and nuts. However, due to the lack of availability for this fruit as well as the price for importing, I
decided to look for something more different and unique - a species of trees known as the Macadamia.
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This species was originally discovered in 1828 by Alan Cunningham, but it truly broke through in 1858, when
Walter Hill observed a child eating the nuts of the tree with no ill affect. Since then Macadamia Nuts were traded
and in use all across Australia - starting with the Logan River clan trading them, before William Purvis brought
them to Hawaii where they started gaining an international market which has expanded ever since. However,
Australia still remains as the original (and from 1992 - 2015 the biggest) producer of Macadamia Nuts.
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Macadamia Nuts have an abundance of uses - Macadamia Ice-cream is a massive dessert treat internationally,
Macadamia Oil is used in all sorts of dishes (as well as self-care) and Macadamia Nuts can be used in all sorts of
dishes.
 TASK TWO

When it comes to using the Macadamia Nut in dishes, there are plenty of things that you can make.
Macadamia Nut Ice-Cream is a dessert dish loved by hundreds around the world, which can itself be used in
many dishes like s'mores, tarts, and macadamia ice cream cookies.
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Many pies and tarts can also be made out of Macadamia Nuts, specifically dishes such as the Honey
Macadamia Pie and the Macadamia Maple Tarts, both dishes that have received massive awards in
competitions, including the Australia wide Women's Weekly Best Dessert award.
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Macadamia Nuts can also be added to other regular sweet desserts - they blend really well with any White
Chocolate, Coffee, Lemon and Coconut dessert and can be added very easily (or served on the side).
 TASK THREE

The dessert dish that I decided on was a Macadamia Rocky Road.

While originally I was going to do a White Chocolate Macadamia Rocky Road, I found that
(after doing multiple recipe tests) that the ingredients I intended to use did not pair as well with the
white chocolate than with the regular chocolate.

Because of this, I changed the chocolate that I used in my dish, however a few remnants of the old
recipe remain, including the Glace Cherries and the Coconut.
TASK FOUR

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TASK FIVE
 TASK FIVE
The feedback I got from my initial cook was mainly positive, with a couple of issues.
Firstly, the chocolate to ingredients ratio was too low, and I needed more ingredients to compensate
for the chocolate.
Secondly, there was less variety in the actual rocky road, with only mini marshmallows and the
macadamia nuts actually noticeable (the coconut and the chocolate chips added took a backseat to
the original dish)
Finally, the chunks felt small and underwhelming, and needed to be quite a bit bigger for my final
cook.
I took on board all three of those recommendations, and applied them to my final cook by ordering
more ingredients, as well as different sized marshmallows and adding slightly more chocolate
TASK SIX

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TASK SEVEN

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TASK EIGHT
 TASK EIGHT

The final dish was almost perfect, however was weighed down by a couple of factors that didn’t
paint it in the best light.
The Task Four net was not able to be printed (due to a lack of clear film and cardboard), so the
dish was served on paper plates.
The dish also couldn’t be cut into perfect squres, so the chunks of rocky road do look a little bit
strange and different to my original concept. Combined with the fact that they melted while being
cut and had to be put back into the fridge helped the dishes to look slightly worse than they could
have otherwise if the conditions were perfect.
Other than those two main flaws, the dish was perfect – the only thing I would change is more
variety of ingredients, specifically more berries and fruits that aren’t just the Cherries.