By ROBERT WHITE

HOW does this sound for starters?
Herbed pikelets with pear and blue cheese.
And then followed up with …
Pesto chicken and butter bean on ciabatta or Turkish bread fingers.
Perhaps this may be more to your taste.
Smoked salmon baskets with creamy horseradish mayo
And then to finish …
Profiteroles filled with Italian custard and dipped in rich chocolate ganache.
Are your tastebuds starting to drool? Well there’s more, plenty more on the menu presented by Bel Gusto Catering.
And the smiling face behind the brand is MG supplier, Kristyn McAsey from Bamawm, near Rochester.
She and her husband, Shane, milk 220 cows off 80ha and dairying remains the key cash earner for the couple.
But the success of Bel Gusto (it means “Beautiful Taste in Italian) has seen her small business grow remarkably since she first decided to give it a go about 18 months ago.
Never did she believe that she would find herself catering for functions of 200 people or more.
And she does all the cooking herself in a specially built kitchen which is separate from the house.
It all started because she wanted something to do. Kristyn is a person who likes to be busy and although she has a role on the farm and is the mother of two children, Amelie, 9, and Nikolas, 7, she was looking for another outlet for her talents.
“My family has always been into food and wine. Perhaps it’s my Italian upbringing,” she said.
“My grandmother was an amazing cook … perhaps I got it from her.”
But it was one thing to think she wanted to start a catering business. It was another thing to know whether she would be able to cope.
Kristyn got a job in a couple of local cafes,working with food and meeting with customers.
“I first thought of opening a shop front and then I thought it would be much better if I could develop a home-based business,” she said.
“Being at home meant I was still with the kids at the important times and I just felt I would be much more content working from home.”
The next thing was to decide what sort of food she would prepare. She decided on finger food and buffet style menus which could be easily presented at functions and conveniently transported to venues.
She started out on a small scale, testing the water with clients and testing her own ability.
“I started out catering for school functions and other small community events,” Kristyn said.
“I was fairly nervous when I started out and then I was asked to cater for a wedding. Well, that really was a big day. Now I am doing functions for more than 200 people. Who would have thought I would do such a thing.”
Kristyn has developed an extensive menu which satisfies all tastes and she said she had limited her clientele to about an hour’s drive from the farm.
Shane also plays a role, albeit a non-cooking one.
“I wash the dishes,” he said.
But just the same he played a key role in building the special kitchen and then sourcing all the speciality equipment that was needed.
And then there’s the loading of the specially converted Bel Gusto van and the odd deliveries.
But Shane’s main role is running the farm on which he has been for most of his life.
He left school and trained as a sheet metal worker for five years but always thought that one day he would return to the land.
“Dad was having a bit of trouble with staff and I came home to help. And I ended up staying,” Shane said.
The farm, which also included a 155ha run off block, is run as a family partnership and includes Shane’s parents Rodney and Shirley who have now moved into Rochester.
They have recently bought an additional 20ha which was Shane’s grandfather’s original property and this has been sown down to lucerne.
Like most other dairy farmers in the irrigated north of Victoria, Shane and Kristyn have been re-thinking their roles over the past 10 years as drought took a firmer hold.
They were milking 240 cows before the big dry hit and were forced to cut back to around 190. The recent good seasons have enabled them to get back to around 220 cows.
“Dairying certainly has its moments and the drought made us re-think our position,” said Shane.
“We had considered leasing a farm at Mt Gambier but if we had sold up here, the price we would have got meant that we would have virtually given the farm away.
“We decided that we would get our mind focused on figures that were a worst case scenario and that if we could do better, it would be a bonus,” he said.
“In the end we are glad we decided to stick it out and stay here at Bamawm.”
Kristyn said she was also pleased that they had decided to stay. Not only has she since developed her business but she has realised how much she enjoys the community in which she lives.
She was working in Melbourne when she met Shane and admits it was a hard decision to leave the city where she had a good job with a major bank.
“I didn’t know anyone when I first arrived and I really didn’t know if it was for me. When I came I helped Shane with the cows and did the odd bit of milking. I wouldn’t say I loved it, but I did it.
“Now, 11 years on, I love it. I couldn’t imagine bringing up our children in the city. It’s such a great lifestyle.”