South Australia has
been at the forefront of culinary development in Australia since the early
seventies when the then Premier Don Dunstan started the ball rolling by
publishing a cookbook and admitting that being interested in food and cooking
is an OK thing to do.
Blessed with some
of Australia’s foremost wine areas, a ground-breaking spirit for expression in
the arts and an innovative and flexible government, South Australia is the
place for fabulous produce, glorious markets and committed food professionals.
It is the home of celebrity chefs such as Cheong Liew, Phillip Searle and
Christine Manfield, home to wines like Penfold’s Grange, Wendouree’s Shiraz and
Grosset’s Polish Hill Riesling, the working base for food and wine writers
Maggie Beer, Gaye Bilson and Phillip White, and with the University of
Adelaide, home to the Research Centre for History of Food and Drink, now
offering a Master of Arts degree in Gastronomy, coordinated by the inimitable
Dr Barbara Santich.
So where does a
visiting foodie or wino start to explore the treasures of this state on a short
visit?
Follow me…
Let’s start in
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia also known as the City of Churches.
Talking of churches, let’s go and worship at the temple of culinary fusion:
Cheong Liew’s ‘The Grange’ restaurant inside the Adelaide Hilton. Cheong is
credited with being the father of east meets west cuisine and his ever
astonishing pairing of flavours and ingredients never cease to amaze. An
absolute master of technique he follows his heart to come up with totally
unique and powerful flavour and texture combinations that enchant, surprise and
convince that fusion can and does work. Try his degustation with or without matching
wines, sit back and let the magic begin…
Renowned sommelier, “Maitre Licoriste” (and
architect in residence) Nick Stock, with partners Paola Coro, Roberto Cardone
and George Kambitsis, opened The
Apothecary 1878, Adelaide’s funkiest wine bar about a year
ago. Situated in two heritage-listed buildings at the seedier end of Hindley
Street, it offers style, comfort, warmth, a terrific wine list, (with 30 wines
by the glass) a great selection of top Cognacs and Pastis and fabulous, simple
bar food to the people in the know. Massive apothecary fixtures, imported from
England, inspired the name and lots of polished wood, exposed brick and wrought
iron complete the picture over three levels, including a very private
courtyard. Although Nick Stock has now left the Apothecary 1878 the place
rocks!
If you hunger for Mediterranean food, then visit
Chef Camillo Crugnale who is cooking exciting Italian food at the refurbished Enoteca, the restaurant inside the
Italian Club. His menu quotes Fellini: “Life is a combination of magic and
pasta”, and if you look at his wine list you know what he means by magic.
Adelaide’s Chinatown is a treasure trove. The
concentration of great Chinese regional food is amazing and you don’t have to
spend hours trying to explain that you will enjoy the ‘real food’ and don’t
want to order off the ‘guailo’ menu. It’s all right there. Spleen, gizzards,
beef tendon, tripe, brains, kidney, stuffed intestine, liver, calf’s head, pig
snout and pigs’ ears, duck tongues and pigeons happily coexist with barramundi,
ribs, crispy chicken, tofu and red dates. The Peking Duck at Ming’s Palace, a
Yum Cha at Ding Hao or Chef Lau and ‘Buddha jumped over the wall’ at T-Chow are
a must try for any visitor.
Many of Cheong
Liew’s disciples and apprentices have made it to the top of the culinary tree
in Australia and overseas, but one has stayed nearby at Petaluma’s Bridgewater
Mill Restaurant in the Adelaide Hills: Chef Le Tu Thai. Bridgewater Mill is a
particularly tranquil, flower-rich and peaceful spot its majestic, slowly
rotating water wheel and the gurgling noises of the nearby brook set the pace
and frame of mind. His food is classically French based with a Mod Oz twist. A
simple double baked cheese soufflé is lifted to extraordinary heights by its lightness
and the perfectly balanced addition of roast capsicum, eggplant and pesto.
Enjoy the ‘old world’ atmosphere and make sure you try the superb range of
Petaluma and Bridgewater Mill wines.
Whilst in the
Adelaide Hills I suggest you make a small detour and visit Stephen George, wine
maker extraordinaire at Ashton Hills. Stephen owns and runs this smallish
vineyard, concentrating on Burgundian varieties, and producing some of the best
Pinot Noirs in Australia. His knowledge is amazing and his willingness to share
even more so.
He and a few other
visionary wine makers like Charles Melton, are exploring the Flinders Ranges
area, planting new vineyards, rejuvenating old and neglected ones. If you have
a couple of days it’s certainly worth the trip north into one of Australia’s
most beautiful areas. Salt bush lamb tastes better up here than anywhere else
in Australia and I suggest you either visit the Craddock Hotel, a tiny place
with oodles of character, or head up to the town of Blinman (Population 19) which
comes to life every October when the National Camp Oven Cooking Competition
takes over the only street in town. Another worthy place is the Prairie Hotel
in Parachilna. A curious mixture of ‘city slick’ and ‘outback crass’ they
specialise in Australian Native and ‘Flinders Feral Food’. You can sample Emu,
Kangaroo, Wallaby or Camel combined with native herbs, fruits and vegetables
sourced locally.
Whilst we are on the subject of bush foods; if you are interested in learning a lot more about native Australian food and culture I suggest a visit to Camp Coorong. Tom and Ellen Trevorrow operate Camp Coorong, an Aboriginal-owned and controlled cultural education centre in Ngarrindjeri country, in the Coorong area of South Australia. The success of Camp Coorong, a large purpose-built complex which hosts more than 100 camps a year, is due largely to the drive and vision of Tom and Ellen. They are committed to achieving reconciliation through educating people about Ngarrindjeri cultural and respecting and celebrating cultural diversity. This enables indigenous visitors to learn about another Aboriginal cultural at the same time as exploring their own. For visitors from the wider community, the Camp Coorong experience is often their first direct dialogue with Aboriginal people. Regular activities include gathering reed and making baskets, visiting the museum/keeping place, sampling traditional foods on a bush tucker trail, visiting post-contact sites on Bonney Reserve and visiting special traditional sites in the region. School groups can have sessions “customised” to their needs.
On your way back
down to ‘civilisation’ it pays to stop in the Barossa Valley at
the refurbished Salters Barossa
Restaurant, where wood-fired oven guru Vince Trotta and wife
Wendy are creating a sense of family and fun with a communal dining table and
Italian inspired cooking, utilising the region’s unique heritage of smoked
meats, smallgoods, preserves and breads. This is a real celebration of the
marriage of food and wine.
Also worth a deviation from travel plans is the
Rising Sun at Auburn in the Clare Valley. This venerable old pub dining room
dishes up terrific hearty food but the real reason for visiting is the
seemingly endless wine list studded with untold treasures at prices you can
afford.
Heading south towards the beach you may want to stop
for lunch at the Flying Fish Restaurant and Beachside Kiosk in Port Elliot with
its great, easy-going beachside atmosphere. One of the guests might even play
the piano, which is located between the tables and the well-stocked wine wall
at the back of the restaurant where you select and order your wines. Sit on the
deck outside, go for a stroll on the beach and collect some shells or rocks.
Then head on to Port Willunga to The Star of Greece
for dinner. The restaurant is perched on top of a hill offering a terrific
bird’s eye view over the sparkling expanse of white sand and rolling surf. The
Star of Greece was shipwrecked on her way from Port Adelaide to England off the
coast of Port Willunga in 1888 and a red buoy marks the spot to this day. A
kiosk was established around 1947, serving drinks to visitors, and it was
re-built in the 1960s and totally refurbished in 2002. Today the Star of Greece
is a bright, light, Mediterranean style restaurant (and kiosk) overlooking the
beach with a seafood-biased menu and a great wine list. A favourite haunt of
the Adelaide crowd on weekends you must book or sadly miss out. The menu is short and concise and
the specials list (on a large blackboard) offers what’s fresh on the day. The
squid is a must have and dutifully, when it’s on, just about every table will
have at least one portion. Beautifully tender, salty and peppery, served with a
thick and tasty mayo it’s something that begs eating with the hands.
If your love of
Cabernets takes you to the Coonawarra then visit the
stylish ‘Upstairs
at Hollick’ where they are serving contemporary Australian dishes such as the
twice-cooked red wine duckling with roast beetroot and orange salad and fresh
breads and pizzas from the wood-fired oven. Naturally a great selection of
Hollick wines is available, current vintages and museum stock, many by the
glass.
Places to see, places to stop, to eat, to drink and
to linger. There are so many more than I have touched on here. How can I leave
out the Salopian Inn, the Langhorne Creek Hotel, d’Arry’s Verandah,
Skillogalee, Russell’s, the Mews at Mintaro or the Hotel in Innamincka?
Well, I have to leave some for next time…
Contact
details:
Ashton Hills Vineyard
08 8390 1243
Blinman Hotel
08 8648 4867
Bridgewater Mill
08 8339 3422
Camp Coorong
08 8575 1557
Chef Lau
08 8373 3780
Craddock Hotel
08 8648 4212
Ding Hao
08 8211 7036
Enoteca
08 8223 2417
Flying Fish Restaurant and Beachside Kiosk
08 8554 3504
Ming’s Palace
08 8231 9970
Prairie Hotel
08 8648 4844
Rising Sun
08 8849 2015
Salters Barossa
Restaurant
08 8564 3344
The Apothecary 1878
08 8212 9099
T-Chow
08 8410 1413
The Grange
08 8217 2000
The Star of Greece
08 8557 7420
Upstairs at Hollick
08 8737 2752