October was a busy month for me. The end of school, prep week for my dissertation, and of course, Tasting Australia. It was so busy, in fact, it took me more than a month to write this post. But I couldn?t NOT post about a food-filled event that lasted two weeks, could I? Let me get you up to date. Tasting Australia, as noted on their website, is ??a festival celebrating the very best Australia has to offer in food, wine and beer. It’s one of the most significant events of its kind in the world. Held every two years in Adelaide, Tasting Australia offers a number of events designed for the nation’s food and hospitality industry, local and international media and the public.? Yup, I was too busy to write that in my own words. Or lazy. Take your pick. Tasting Australia was a lot of fun, although I must say, in Adelaide at least, the advertising was minimal, if any. I didn?t see one single poster for the event or a commercial, even though it was open to the public. Ah well. I guess you have to be in the know to know. We started off at the Festival of Senses, a festival with food and liquor filled booths just waiting to jump into my belly. Wineries, local food producers, brewers, you name it; it was probably here, next to the picturesque River Torrens. We tried some mediocre naan from a tandoor oven to begin with, but had more fun watching the guy making it than eating it.
Oh, and apparently, Indian food in Australia also includes spring rolls and a bucket of chips. Who knew?
I also met my new best friend. She is small and green and filled with gingery goodness to keep me cool on a hot summer?s day while still giving me a nice buzz. Stone?s Alcoholic Ginger Beer! This is some great stuff?tastes just like American ginger ale, but with a hint of cardamom that gives it a nice exotic kick. I love me some girly tasting drinks. This was the first of six?in an hour?
We stumbled upon meat producers and platters, jello shots (because the wine and beer just wasn’t enough) and whole roasted piggys.
Of course, we couldn?t pass up a snag on the dag (sausage on bread) with Beerenberg Coopers Ale BBQ Sauce. Beerenberg is a jam and sauce factory located in a local German town called Handorf, and Coopers is a South Australian beer with no preservatives, making this a truly local sauce. Plus, the snag was only a $1. Total double score.
We hit up the Coffin Bay prawns next, served in garlic butter. I would just like to point out that anything served in fat and garlic is good in my books, and these prawns were delicious. Fairly fresh, no fishy aftertaste, and accompanied by bread to soak up the yummy fat-garlic prawny goodness leftover on the plate. Leftover goodness on bread rocks, don?t you agree?
We managed to find another ginger beer producer who also sold cider, my other most favorite drink of all time.
This is where my friend Bec showed me an important Aussie tradition?double fisting your drinks. I shall forever be indebted to this woman, who showed me that you can indeed consume two gingers at once. God bless you, Bec.
We ended with a plate of Limestone Coast lamb done three ways; I think there was a filet, a sausage, and maybe a kofta? Sigh, who knows? This is why I should really write posts directly after they happen. At least I got a pretty picture of it.
The next event we attended for Tasting Australia was a food tour of the Adelaide Zoo, thanks to the generous Linda and her husband John. Our entire class got to romp around in the zoo, learning what and how they feed the different animals. It was definitely food from a different perspective, and was incredibly interesting. Oh yeah, and I love petting zoos.
We started out talking to some prep chefs that worked with primates and lions. For the monkeys, the prep chefs taped popcorn onto random pages in magazines. The monkeys pick up the magazines and flip through to find the food bits and the audience thinks they are actually reading the magazines. Fun, huh?
Maybe I could get my partner to do the same for me?I mean, if you can put perfume samples in magazines, why the hell can?t you tape a ham sandwich inside?
The apes are so important, they get an entire freezer to themselves. I don?t even get that. So far, this tour yielded nothing but primate envy from me.
This giant paper mache ball is not really food, but they give it to the lions to pounce on and shred the hell out of. I didn?t get to witness this in action, but it is definitely on my list of things to witness before I die. I imagine it is similar to my cat Nugget attacking her tiny ball in the morning, only on crack. And steroids. So much fun.
From there, we moved on to the bird section, where we got to see various grains mixed with fruit and the occasional fish. The bird chef gave this long speech about what they feed certain birds, how they have to adjust their diets based on weather or species, etc. Sadly, I cannot say more about this, because I was mesmerized by a bucket of fish the entire time. I?m simple girl with a small case of ADD. Leave me alone.
The hippos came next, and let me tell you, if you ever want to feel skinny, stand next to one of these fatties (and I say that with love, people). Weighing in at two tons, these big boys can make anyone feel like Kate Moss. Although they spend most of their time under water, which can be highly deceiving to their size. Our guide threw a few carrots to them at the beginning, and we got to see their massive mouths.
Then, as he continued to talk for another ten minutes, these hippos kept their mouths open the entire time. We get it, guys. You like your food. So do I, but you don?t see me hanging out with my mouth open, waiting for someone to toss me something. At least, not in public. What I do in the privacy of my own home is my business, not yours.
There were a few interactive exhibits, one where we got to feed the Meer cats and one where we got to feed the otters. If you?ve ever watched Meer Cat Manor on Animal Planet, you understand how adorable these little buggers are. Guess what happens when you throw them bits of raw meat? Their adorable factor goes up ten points.
I got to feed the otters sardines frozen into ice cubes. I failed miserably. There were two otters, and two of us feeding them. So the first person threw their ice cube in, and the go-getter otter grabbed it and started eating. I threw mine in, and the go-getter otter got it too, while the other one just looked at me sadly and made the most annoying noise I have ever heard, a cross between a whale crying and a fire alarm. This is why I have chosen not to procreate yet, people. I can?t even feed a caged animal.
We ended Tasting Australia with a five-course meal made by celebrity chef Matt Moran (thanks again, Linda and John!). It was held at the Sebel Playford Hotel on North Terrace in Adelaide. Chef Matt Moran has been a chef in Australia for almost two decades. He started out as an apprentice at age 15 and by age 30, owned one of the top restaurants, ARIA, the overlooks the Sydney Opera House. I love a good excuse to dress up and eat fancy food. I clean up real nice.
The first course was one of my favorite?oysters served in a chardonnay dressing, served with NV Champagne Moet Hennessy. This was a great starter dish?light, refreshing and just a slight salty kick from the oysters.
Our next dish was Peking duck consomm?, served with D?Arenberg Feral Fox Pinot. This was a deliciously rich broth spiked with Asian flavors and topped off with a stuffed wonton, which really added to the dish. The wine was from a local winery in McLaren Vale, so I appreciated the fact that Mr. Moran was keeping it somewhat local.
The following course was scampi with celeriac and scampi bisque. This was basically a prawn served on top of a salad made out of celeriac and crab, served with Coldstream Hills Chardonnay from Victoria.
This was an okay dish for me. It was only okay because there was a long wait for the dish, and I felt like it was a bit small. Yes, we were eating five courses, so I didn?t expect the courses to be super sized or anything. But when you are serving small portions and there is a long wait in between courses, I hate it. I get hungry again. And then I eat an entire table?s worth of dinner rolls and have to hide all the crumbs under my partner?s plate so no one sees just how chunky I am behaving. I expected a bit more than a single prawn, but like I said, had it come slightly quicker, I probably would have enjoyed it more.
The main course came next, poached beef filet with foie gras and spinach, and served with a Penfolds Bin 138 Old Vines Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre. This was good. I mean, who doesn?t like a beef filet with foie? It’s a classic.
But?there was a 40-minute wait in between the last course and this course. I was starving by the time it arrived, polished it off quickly and felt like I could have eaten two. I also had an issue with it because Chef Moran (who came out to talk to the crowd before each course) had mentioned that he had to dumb down the menu for the Adelaide crowd, because apparently we are not as big of a culinary risk taker as his Sydney customers were, and the crowd was larger than he originally expected. Gee, thanks. I wouldn?t have minded this course at all if he didn?t tell us all that, I mean, do you really need to tell us you used tinned foie gras? Just let it be, man. Dessert came next, a chocolate delice served with a D?Arenberg Noble Riesling.
This dish came fairly quickly, and in relation to the rest of the courses, was HUGE. Like bigger than the beef I was served. Which is okay?it just didn?t make any sense to me. It was a rich dessert?the base was a chocolate shortbread, topped with a heavy chocolate mousse and then a layer of dark chocolate ganache. The construction of it was well thought out, I must admit. The shortbread crust was crisp and crunchy, and really held up well against the smooth creamy center. A nice contrast in textures for sure. The ice cream would have perfected this dish, but we were at the first table, and it was clear they had pre-scooped the ice cream and refroze it, but allowed it no time to defrost. It was rock hard and icy, so it didn?t even have a chance to contribute to the rest of the dish, which made the rich chocolate overwhelming. The dessert wine was excellent, sort of a sweeter Riesling, almost like Sauternes, but nowhere near as heavy. I hope I don?t come off ungrateful for the evening?it was a wonderfully different event shared with good friends, and I certainly appreciate that. But it was a little lacking, and the only person I can blame for that is the chef. He wasn?t prepared to have such a large crowd, he dumb downed the menu and told us, and the time in between each course was bordering on ridiculous. But it was food, which I love, so I can?t be entirely mad at the fella. And that was Tasting Australia, from my perspective! Sorry it took so long to get up?my posts in the following months may be a bit sporadic, but I promise to make each one worth the read, ok? I will earn this Masters Degree even if it kills me, people. 3000 words to edit, another 12000 to write. I think I can, I think I can? ~LTG
