Producer Profile: Debbie Woodcock, Pure & Purple Garlic
It’s pure, it’s purple – and it’s the flavour sensation you need in your pantry right now!
We were delighted to welcome so many suppliers at our Producer’s Night at our Longford store recently. Amongst them was Debbie Woodcock of Pure & Purple Garlic, a small Tasmanian producer from Kimberley on the North-West Coast which makes a range of dried garlic, salt and spice mixes which elevate everyday dishes to gourmet status. The three original mixes - original (garlic and pepperberry), lemon myrtle and rosemary - have now grown to a range of six, all available in grinders and refill packs.
Debbie chatted with us about how it all began, her favourite ways to use her products, and a few other delicious additions to the Pure & Purple Garlic range.
Q: How did you start your business?
My sister-in-law Helena and I were out walking one day around our adjoining properties and started thinking about what we could do for a bit of pocket money. Both of us had taken early retirement and needed something to do. We decided on garlic and planted 10 kg of purple garlic in two plots, grew, harvested and sold it. We sold fresh garlic for the first few years and then one year when the crop was overwatered and split, we had to come up with an idea for how to use it and make it into a product. Our neighbour grew native pepperberry which we combined with our dried garlic, and our Original garlic and native pepperberry mix was born in 2016.
We developed a Lemon Myrtle mix and a Rosemary mix, and these became our three core products.
Over the years the product range grew and I bought out Helena’s share in the business four or five years ago.
Debbie Woodcock, Pure & Purple Garlic
Tell us about your business today.
Well we have a larger range now, with six mixes, as well as the Black Garlic and Honey Fermented Garlic, which are delicious served as an accompaniment to cheese. Our new product, Easy Sauce and Relish Mix, adds depth and spice to relishes and chutneys, and has become very popular since the discontinuation of the very well-known Ezy Sauce. It’s really taken off!
How did you come to work with Hill Street?
Hill Street Latrobe was one of our first customers. Trudi was there at the time; this was before Hill Street Devonport opened. Trudi loves Tassie products and took our grinders and pouches and they went really well.
What is special about your product?
It’s unique, there’s nothing else like it on the market. I say, you can grind your way to gourmet – add it to an ordinary meal and it just takes it to the next level. Grind it onto eggs, a steak or salad and it just transforms your meal. The Black Garlic and Honey Fermented Garlic, both Gold Medal winners at the 2021Sydney Royal Fine Foods Show, are really special and loaded with antioxidants. The Black Garlic is cooked on a very low heat for a period of six weeks and ends up so sweet and delicious!
What do you like most about being a producer in Tasmania?
I like the people you meet and deal with – especially at the markets. It’s where you get direct feedback from customers. It’s very rewarding.
How do you like to use your products yourself?
I love the Black Garlic and the Honey Fermented Garlic with cheeses of all sorts. I rub the Black Garlic on steak. The Original mix is brilliant on a simple green salad. The Original mix outsells all the other mixes five-fold. It’s become a go-to for so many people.
Is there a recipe you would like to share?
Yes, my most favourite thing is to use the Lemon Myrtle mix on salmon.
Take two pieces of salmon and then make a crumb crust as follows:
- ½ a cup of panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- Juice of 1 small lemon
- 1 tsp Pure & Purple Garlic Lemon Myrtle mix.
Mix these together and press onto the salmon. Bake in the oven at 180C for about 20 minutes and you will have a delicious crust.
You can vary this by using the Orange and Fennel mix and orange juice instead of lemon juice.
