Pass the cheese please!
May 2017
There’s a chill in the air at long last, and it’s time to get cosy with some great South Australian produce at your favourite Eat Local SA venue. From Adelaide city and suburbs, to Coonawarra down south, and north to the Flinders, we’re all set for some fine feasting, plus our feature recipe from Taste the Yorke will get your creative mojo going in the kitchen.
New to Eat Local SA
Back 2 Basics Traditions
Traditional recipes, like Grandma used to make, is what inspires Back 2 Basics Traditions, both in their kitchen and for their food tours, which will personally introduce you to some of South Australia’s best local and regional food producers.
And look out for these guys at local markets too, where you will find their range of season-driven products including oils, preserves, almond bread and the amazing torrone (perfect with coffee).
Coonawarra Store
If you are within sipping distance of the famous terra rossa soil of the Coonawarra, make a stop at the Coonawarra Store for coffee, local treats and seasonal produce.
There’s even a ‘blend your own’ tea bar. The team here will be happy to organise a picnic basket for you to enjoy out in the autumn sunshine.
Joan’s Pantry
Joan’s Pantry, in the Adelaide foothills, may be nearing their 100th birthday but there’s no time for nana naps here. Joan used to make tea for the cricketers playing over the road. Now this licenced café is humming seven days a week and the kitchen amps up the menu with produce from the community garden patch behind the café.
Adelaide Hills Dips, Harris Smoked Salmon and Coro bacon are among the tasty names on the menu.
Store Fifty Four
Thinking of an autumn trip to the Flinders and wondering where to stop for all day breakfast? Drop into Store Fifty Four in Melrose and your brekkie (or lunch) dreams will all come true. Think Apex Bakery breads, meat from the Laura butcher, Orroroo kangaroo, Fleurieu milk products, and the delightfully named Beautiful Valley olive oil and Cluck Cluck eggs.
Tuck some local chocolates, honey and jam in your knapsack for later.
The Olfactory Inn
Petite is perfect at the Olfactory Inn at Strathalbyn. Head up the freeway for a scenic hour’s drive through the autumnal colours of the hills to find this little gem, where the menu riffs from France to Italy to Asia and the chef just loves it if you say “feed me”.
Let them work their magic with the likes of Coorong mulloway, sardines from Port Lincoln, Woodside and Section 28 cheeses and super-fresh walnuts from Myponga. If that doesn’t say autumn feast, we don’t know what does.
Specials Board
Festival of Food promotion
Check that letterbox of yours for a pamphlet on this year’s Festival of Food promotion. Eat Local SA venues participating in this promotion include Windy Point Restaurant, with Spencer Gulf seafood and fish on the menu, and Botanic Gardens Restaurant, where the team have been harvesting in the gardens again!
Plus there’s a $100 dining bonus on offer.
Signature Dish
Shop the season: from farm gate to your kitchen
When there’s a nip in the air, here at Eat Local we think about playing in the fallen leaves outside and picking up beautiful seasonal produce to play with in our home kitchens. Maybe it’s the new season of MasterChef starting, or maybe it’s just that the change of season is finally here, but we have a yearning right now to create our own comfort. And it’s high season for farm gate produce too, which suits us just fine.
Does it get any better than choosing from produce that’s just been picked by the folks that grew, raised or caught it? We don’t think so, especially if you make a weekend adventure out of the trip there and back. Here’s our Eat Local SA farm gate tour of this great state.
In the Adelaide Hills, Rio Vista Mypolonga have zesty olive oils, and Carnevore sell their 100% grass-fed beef in Mt Torrens, while Hahndorf’s Udder Delights and Woodside Cheese Wrights can’t be beaten for glorious cheeses. And who could resist a stop at Beerenberg Farm – the range of sauces, relishes and other treats is beyond scrumptious.
A day trip to the Barossa shouldn’t just be about the wine (no, really it shouldn’t). Not when the Barossa Farmers’ Market delivers so much flavour, including Hutton Vale Farm and Barossa Valley Ice Cream Company goodies. Stop in at Steiny’s for some old school traditional mettwurst made by experts and smoked using Riverland mallee timber.
In the Clare Valley, Four Leaf Milling’s Mill Door sells the organic grains and flours grown and milled right there, and at Patly Hill Farm the olives, preserves and sauces so beloved by South Australian chefs are yours for the asking. Want to go super-autumnal? Check out the pickled grapes.
If you are Fleurieu-bound, stop in at the Jetty Food Store at Port Elliot – it’s like a mini Farmers’ Market in there on weekends. Luxury dairy and cheeses can be found at the Alexandrina Cheese Company, and Wakefield Grange have some of the best beef and lamb, along with meat rubs, marinades, condiments (and great advice for home cooks about putting it all together).
This is also the home territory of Fleurieu Cherries. No, it’s not cherry season, but what’s to stop you jumping on their website to sign up for notification of when they open for picking and purchase when summer rolls around again? After all, we all need something to look forward to.
And if you are heading outback, a stop at Dew’s Meats could be in order for a passel of sausages, smallgoods and even a schnitty or two for your campfire, rounded out with a box of fresh fruit and veg in season from O’Reilly’s Orchard. Or go organic with bio-dynamic flavour from Taralee Orchards in the Wirrabara Forest.
Kangaroo Island is just about overflowing with local produce and it’s got to be one of the world’s most beautiful places to be. Make sure your itinerary includes Kangaroo Island Source (their cooking classes and long table dinners come with seemingly endless ocean views) and at Emu Ridge Eucalyptus you can pick up Kangaroo Island Ciders along with emu oil products to pamper yourself.
There’s still time to get to Kalangadoo Organics on the Limestone Coast – their farm gate is open til late May for fresh and dried apple products, eggs, juice and apple cider vinegar. Or seek them out at the Mount Gambier Farmers’ Market.
And if Spencer Gulf seafood is your thing, Gill Fisheries on Yorke Peninsula don’t dally with their catch – it’s available flapping-fresh at their store. The local catch is also available at Inland Sea, and there’s no better garnish for fresh fish than MBC’s range of salt products harvested right there in postcard-perfect Marion Bay.
If that list doesn’t get you thinking about a day trip and checking the cupboard for the right pots and pans, nothing will! Check our website, individual websites or phone ahead for more details for these great farm gate opportunities as opening times may vary. Happy autumn feasting!
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