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SENSATIONAL SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The best way to get to South Australia, in my opinion, is to begin in Victoria. Mildura, to be exact. And that’s just what we did on a recent trip, flying from Sydney on Regional Express and arriving just in time for dinner at Stefano’s, the multi award-winning restaurant that has made such a name for itself and its exuberant owner-chef who made his name with the TV series, A Gondola on the Murray.
Even though Stefano de Pieri wasn’t there in person that night we had a magnificent meal – which is as it should be. I believe that the sign of a good chef is if the team can turn out meals of the same standard even when he or she is away.
Stefano’s restaurant is like an Italian taverna. You descend an unmarked spiral staircase to a subterranean cavern with whitewashed walls. It’s almost like entering a secret Italian club. A wink, a nod, a tip of the head and we found it. Once there we relaxed on banquettes at a back table and tucked into Stefano’s bread, good local olive oil, olives and goat curd.
It was late by the time we had transferred from the airport, so we were served the abbreviated degustation meal, but even so we were sated by the time we had worked our way through Murray river cod (creamily delicate and not at all muddy as some river fish can be), light as air crespelle filled with cavallo nero, that ‘black’ cabbage so beloved of Europeans, and so hard to find here, then magnificent slow-cooked beef served on a platter with white beans and caponata. All these of course were washed down by the local wines.
Mildura is a something of an oasis by the Murray River. The area is often referred to as the Mediterranean in the Outback, with its picturesque citrus groves and vineyards, endless sunshine and the cosmopolitan feel of the city.
The climate of year-round sunshine coupled with innovative irrigation has made the region a land of bounty – some think of it as the engine-room of Australia’s wine industry and it is also the heart of the state’s citrus and stone fruit production.
No surprise that good dining follows good wine and local produce. Throughout the towns and countryside there are restaurants, cafés, pubs and excellent food-to-go outlets. Dining outside by the water is, of course, a true holiday experience. As well as eating at smart riverbank cafés and restaurants, and friendly pubs and clubs, you can dine on the water. Inland, there are fun rustic places, juice bars, an organic farm and elegant dining in historic houses. One thing is for sure, in a region with such a reliable climate there are plenty of opportunities to work off that feast!
The next morning after a night in the Quality Hotel Mildura Grand also part of the de Pieri empire (still with an Italian flag flying proudly, even though the hotel has been a Quality Hotel since 2006) it was out into the crispy morning air to see what had brought us here. As part of a group of journalists and photographers we had been invited by Audi to road test and generally enjoy their new Allroad Quattro vehicles, so we were briefed on the features of the sparkling vehicles and handed our keys.
Suitably impressed by the inclusions (the guys awed by the 0-60kph possibilities – the rest of us by the surround-airbags, nifty places to store things and the GPS) we took the morning to explore Mildura itself before pushing on.
Gordon and I made sure we visited Lock 11 and timed it perfectly to be able to watch a paddle-wheeler full of tourists pass through the lock. Then an excellent coffee and some panini for lunch at 27 Deakin (also Stefano’s). It seems almost everything in the block that holds the hotel is somehow connected with this family, and it’s a good thing for the town, as the standards are incredibly high. Everyone is catered for. There’s even a brewery as well.
There was one last stop before we headed towards South Australia. I have been a fan of Tabletop Grapes for some time. Their muscatels are the best in the world, and I had picked up some of their dried capsicums once before and could not find any, even in the deli section of 27 Deakin. In Italy I had learned from a local cook how to fry dried capsicums and serve them crumbled over pasta and I was desperate to replenish my stock of them.
So it was imperative that we meet the people themselves at their property on the outskirts of town. You’ll know this product by its lovely rustic look – brown paper bag packaging with a cello window and string tie at the top – and the various lines are stocked by upmarket provedores in the cities.
We were greeted warmly by Elina Garreffa. She and her husband, Gino, have been drying fruit here for thirty years, but in the past 15 years been producing export-quality table and dried grapes. The reason why their product is so good is that the fruit is dried naturally without sulphur or other chemicals which allows the wonderful fresh flavour of the grapes to remain. Elina showed us around the drying shed and packing area which was rich with the fruity smells of muscatels and roasted capsicum. And yes, I was able to bring a packet of the latter home with me and it is now carefully hoarded to be used carefully and sparingly.
By now it was early afternoon and we really had to leave Mildura and head into South Australia if we were to reach the Riverland for the night. Departing Mildura along the Sturt Highway we made our way across the border. Paringa our stopping place for the night was just 138kms away and the Audi ate up the distance.
Sunshine, water and great soil have made the Riverland an essential part of the Australian wine industry, crushing half of South Australia’s wine grapes (a quarter of the national crush). It’s home to the southern hemisphere’s largest winery and distillery, Berri Estates, and wine companies large and small, a dozen of which offer tastings at cellar doors.
The Riverland’s abundance doesn’t spring only from the vines. The mesmerising rows of orchards supply up to 95 percent of South Australia’s stone fruits, citrus and almonds. Many roadside produce stalls line the Sturt and Old Sturt highways make for tempting stops along the way in fruit season and even out of season each town has outlets where you can buy the region’s famous dried fruits and other local produce.
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