In this week’s column: Tasting Australia announcements, Simon Bryant’s cola, new gelato, making fun of culinary culture, more Fringe food and what to do with blueberries.
Tasting Australia
SA-based food festival Tasting Australia will be held annually from 2016, it has been announced.
Chef Simon Bryant and wine expert Paul Henry are once again planning the successful program, with Maggie Beer acting as the event patron.
“Tasting Australia 2016 will again have both a farmer focus and a thinking focus,” says Bryant.
The program will seek to appeal to everyone from those with a “marginal” interest in food to those with “obsessive interests”, he adds.
“There will be a lot of farm gate [activities] where the producers work together to put on events.”
For more than 15 years, Tasting Australia has attracted around 50,000 people to each event, providing an opportunity for members of the public, food and drink professionals, and the international media to experience and enjoy the best produce, food, beverage, hospitality and tourism that South Australia has to offer.
The next Tasting Australia event will be held from May 1 to 8, 2016.
The real thing
Simon Bryant has also been busy experimenting with his own cola recipe and plans to serve it at the next Fork on the Road event, Fork and Blinc, at the Adelaide Festival on February 27 in Elder Park.
“I’ve been pissing around with Barry Beach’s organic coconut palm sugar and I thought it would be fun to make my own cola,” he says.
“It’s similar to the original Coke recipe, but the organic palm sugar has a lower GI and you use less of it. And I love using fresh aromatics, such as star anise, single-origin vanilla beans, shade-dried mandarin peel, cinnamon, lime zest, coriander and a little bit of clove.
“You also need to add some acid, such as citric or tartaric acid, but Maggie [Beer] has been on to me, so I’ve been using verjuice.
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“It’s all a bit of trial and error; once I’ve perfected it, I’ll carbonate it.
In the meantime, look out for Bryant’s iced teas at the Royal Croquet Club Fringe hub.
“I’ve been using T-Bar white and green teas, dragon eyes and quince sencha, and infusing them with to make peach white tea.”
Dining by Design
In other Bryant and Beer news, the pair will again collaborate in the kitchen this week at The Dementia Centre’s food school, Dining by Design Adelaide.
The school is designed to educate elderly and disabled people about cooking. Bryant and Beer will join HammondCare’s executive chef and food ambassador Peter Morgan-Jones in speaking and cooking at this week’s event, which will cover essential skills and ingredients needed to provide exciting and nutritious food, especially for people with dementia.
“The course will be repeated and is open to everyone – dieticians, chefs and home cooks,” explains Bryant. “The course is not just about cooking; it’s also about the psychology of the meal experience.”
Both Bryant and Beer are passionate about challenging and changing the approach to food for older people and people with dementia, with Beer recently setting up the Maggie Beer Foundation to focus on the issue. More information can be found here.
New gelato in town
Sydney’s Gelato Messina has taken gelato to a new level and is at the Royal Croquet Club until March 15, serving its frozen desserts in soup cans that reference Campbell’s iconic design. We hear the yoghurt and caramel is a must-try.
Holland Street Market also has a new gelato offering each Sunday: Live a Little’s certified organic and dairy-free artisan gelato. Mostly made with soy milk, flavours include: Fresh Mint with Dark Chocolate; Green Tea; Earl Grey; Espresso; Cinnamon Chai and Vanilla Bean.
And Bononia Gelato provides North Adelaide with a new frozen dessert offering. Just opened at 145 Melbourne Street, Bononia’s range looks to be some of the prettiest in Adelaide.
Food in the Garden
Also part of the Fringe Festival, the Garden of Unearthly Delights in Rymill Park is the place to go for food, even if you don’t have tickets to a show.
New stalls for 2015 are: Little Parwana (traditional Afghani street food); Moorish Bites (Halal-certified Moroccan food); Owens Noodles (Asian-inspired noodle dishes cooked to order); Papitos Pinchos (Spanish pintxos – snacks on toothpicks – with assorted toppings); Share (South Australia’s best produce on a platter to share); StreetADL (Jock Zonfrillo’s street food with an Australian flavour); and Truck Pressed Juice (cold-pressed organic juices).
Those returning include Garden favourites Adelaide’s Famous Poffertjes, Beyond India, Bushtucker Icecream, CocoLoco, CoffeeBranch, CornStar, Cuban, Greek Palace, La Cantina, Little Adelaide Pizza, Ozzie Gozleme, Sweet N Sour, Veggie Galley and Voodoo Burger.
‘Great stuff’
InDaily reader Chris says there is some “great stuff” down at the Royal Croquet Club: “Andre’s Cucina is doing a thing called Mangia Mangia and it’s fantastic. The jerk chicken at the Jamaican Palace is good, too.”
All InDaily readers are welcome to post their favourite Fringe food tips in the comments section below.
Food comedy
Just in case you’ve not seen The Katering Show, Melbourne comedians Kate McCarney and Kate McLennan’s Pozible-funded YouTube series, here it is:
Stay informed, daily
The Katering Show is a spoof series described as “the journey of a food intolerant and an intolerable foodie” that flies in the face of pretentious food culture and food media.
There are six hilarious episodes of The Katering Show – the Thermomix episode has already had more than 700,000 views.
Farmers in the making
Following the success of the 2014 Young Farmers Scholarship, the Willunga Farmers’ Market is again running its program to help secure the continuity of the region’s food production.
The Young Farmers Scholarship is designed to encourage and support young people into creating a long and viable career in farming, providing $10,000 to the successful applicant to start their new food production enterprise.
Over 12 months, the scholarship provides $7000 start-up capital, $3000 worth of mentorship in small business management and farming practices, a guaranteed licence to trade and a weekly stall site to supply primary produce for two years, and assistance in locating land on which to farm on the Fleurieu Peninsula if required.
“Last year’s recipients – The Garden Farmers – started trading at the Farmers’ Market in June and have since had a turnover of just under $50,000,” says assistant market manager Billy Doecke.
The Garden Farmers grow vegetables on land owned by people who don’t have the ability to farm it themselves.
“They have now started farming on three more properties and it’s started a bit of a movement, as the applicants who didn’t receive a scholarship last year have started businesses anyway,” says Doecke. “It’s had a knock-on effect.”
The Garden Farmers also developed a green juice from the vegetables they grew and some of the fruit from two of other stallholders, which they sell at the Farmers’ Market.
“The juice was voted by shoppers as the most popular product in the market,” adds Doecke. “It’s an unusual flavour – sweet as well as grassy – you feel like you’re getting healthy by drinking it.”
Applications are now open for the second Willunga Farmers’ Market Young Farmers Scholarship.
True blue
The importance of food provenance and buying local has been highlighted with the recent press about imported frozen blueberry products being recalled and tested due to suspected Hepatitis A contamination.
In South Australia, the blueberry season is short, running from December until February, when you can make bulk purchases from local producers or pick your own at the farm gate.
Making the trip to where the blueberry crops are grown at Mount Compass on the Fleurieu Peninsula takes a little more effort that pulling a bag of frozen berries out of the freezer for your Sunday morning smoothie fix, but peace of mind will make for an even more enjoyable experience.
According to the Blueberry Patch, fresh berries will last up to four weeks in the refrigerator and up to 12 months in the freezer. Pick-your-own and farm-gate sales are now closed for the season at the Blueberry Patch, but its website states that blueberries will keep successfully for up to two years provided your freezer is cold enough, though it is best to make room in your freezer to put away fresh fruit each season.
Book now for…
The Dop & Chop Special Guest Chef Tour – Duncan Welgemoed’s series of food collaborations at Africola.
David Moyle, executive chef from Hobart’s Franklin, will make his Adelaide debut on March 2 at Franklin at Africola, with Adelaide Hills winemaker Ochota Barrels selecting the wines.
Jared Ingersoll, formerly of Sydney’s Dank Street Depot, will bring his new passion, Phyco Food Co – Australia’s first cultivated seaweed “kujee” – to Africola on March 8, with a film crew in tow to capture the food adventures for an upcoming documentary.
David Verheul, executive chef at Melbourne’s Town Mouse, returns to Adelaide to create a dining experience with his signature attention to detail on March 23.
Each event is a collaboration, with the creation of six courses shared between the guest chef and Welgemoed. Information and bookings here.
And don’t forget…
The Cellar Door Wine Festival this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, showcasing more than 170 local food and wine producers. Check out the What’s On section to discover masterclasses, cheese experiences, “Meet the Maker” sessions, vertical tastings, long-table brunch and lunch events and more.
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