Moora Citrus summer feast with Fervor
We visited the country town of Moora on the weekend, a couple of hours’ drive north of Perth, invited by Moora Citrus to a feast set right in the orchard to celebrate the harvest of their Midknight Summer Oranges.
The degustation meal was prepared by Fervor, who hail from Busselton and travel around Western Australia, putting on extraordinary pop-up dining events in unique locations around the state. Their menus focus on locally sourced produce and Australian native ingredients foraged or supplied by specialist producers, and for this dinner, incorporated Moora Citrus oranges in many forms and textures. We attended a Fervor long table degustation event back in April as part of this year’s East Drink Perth – it was an enthralling, interactive experience, and I was excited to have a chance at another Fervor adventure.
It was a sensational citrus-infused feast that began in the late afternoon. Even before we took our places at the table for the 7-course dinner, we enjoyed orange mojitos with plenty of fresh mint; meaty strips of emu chorizo, little curls of whiting with orange gel, and bursty prawns sprinkled with orange powder. My favourite courses were the macadamia with lemon myrtle; quandong and ricotta with wattle seed crumble; Albany sardines with sour cream and sea celery – all with orange, of course, matched with wines from Olive Farm. I’ll admit now that I had secretly anticipated overdosing on oranges and feeling like I could never look at another orange again – but although orange was in every course, we never reached overload because we appreciated its diversity in exquisite, masterful disguises: bite-sized segments, fine zesty threads, fragrant oils, gels, powders, sorbet, wafer-thin crisps…
But the meal wasn’t just memorable because of Fervor’s virtuosity; it was special because we shared the experience with the Moora Citrus family. Their dream is to bring Moora Citrus to the world, and I reckon they’ll do it. Moora isn’t known as a food destination yet, but there’s definite potential – and it may well start with oranges.
The orchard was once a sheep paddock, with the first orange trees planted around ten years ago. It now covers 210 hectares, growing mandarins, Navel oranges, and Midknight oranges, a late season seedless Valencia variety that’s extremely juicy (I can attest to the juiciness). 
Moora Citrus began picking the Midknights only a few weeks ago and they should be available in shops (many independent grocers, IGA, Foodworks and Fresh Provisions) until around Christmas. The table setting included a Midknight Summer Orange for each guest. I love that these juicy beauties are seedless, and even better that they’re grown right here in Western Australia. 
Whiting
Prawns
Macadamia, lemon myrtle
Quandong, ricotta, wattle seed
Albany sardines, sea celery
Duck breast, salt bush
Plating the first dessert of meringue with Geraldton wax
Smoking the second dessert of honey ice cream and pepper berryMore information
- Moora is a town in Western Australia’s North East Wheatbelt, about two hours drive north of Perth.
- We were invited to the Summer Citrus feast by Moora Citrus.
- The feast was prepared and presented by Fervor.
- We stayed Saturday night at the Moora Motel on Roberts Street in Moora. It was basic, clean and comfortable (no complaints). Next time, we’ll check out the chalets at the Moora Shire Caravan and Chalet Park.
- On the drive to/from Moora, about an hour out of Perth is the Bindoon Bakehaus & Cafe, worth a stop if you like pies and pastries. The ‘royal-approved’ banoffee eclair was magnificent.