Trevor Bird’s Side Hustle

These days everyone has a side hustle, including Chef Trevor Bird of Fable Kitchen. He’s ventured out of the restaurant and into the world of food production with a Fable favourite – Black Pepper Jam.  

Since day one the black pepper jam has been on the menu at Fable, which is known for its farm-to-table creations. He started canning it for special occasions, sometimes 500 jars at a time. Inspired, he decided to scale up and try making the jam commercially.

“It​ was pretty interesting kind of changing my perspective on things, because when I was younger I’d be like that’s so bullshit that people mass produce things and make things on a bigger scale,” said Bird. “I learned that you can still make really good products in huge batches”

Bird took about six years getting the jam to market, working on it when he had the time between owning a busy restaurant, opening Fable Diner and having a kid.

Then there’s the added complication of realizing that most people don’t know what is black pepper jam. Bird describes it as a condiment rather than a marinade, with concentrated flavours of pepper, soya sauce and sweetness that should be added to steak, mushrooms, a stirfry or anything else needing a peppy kick.

“It’s very unique,” said Bird. “Everyone knows what Ketchup and mustard is, but what’s pepper jam? So my biggest challenge is just getting it into people’s hands.”