STOP PRESS
Invitation to the Launch of the 2006 Territory Culinary Challenge.
The Australian Culinary Federation NT Branch (ACFNT) are launching the Territory Culinary Challenge on Friday 3 March 2006 at 11.30am in the Smith St Mall at the Woolworths end. This is a competition between leading Darwin restaurants to showcase dishes created using fresh Territory ingredients. Featured produce includes camel, mud crab, buffalo, goldband snapper and in season local fruits and vegetables. The competition runs from March to May 2006 and is your chance to taste these unique Territory foods. Friday's Launch kicks off the competition so make sure you come and see the chefs creating their dishes and YES!! you get to try what they cook. More information: Michelle Braham - michelle.braham@nt.gov.au
       

COOK WITH THE BEST
Geelong's highly acclaimed Pettavel Winery & Restaurant (p 309) has launched their 2006 cooking class program conducted by Head Chef Richard Hooper and sous chef Matt Dempsey. Classes which will run from April to October are already booking fast. Pettavel had an overwhelming response to classes last year where approximately 400 food enthusiasts participated, traveling from as far afield as Warrnambool, Ballarat & Melbourne.  The class program can be downloaded from www.pettavel.com <http://www.pettavel.com> .  Pettavel was awarded 'Overall Winner' and 'Best Restaurant' in the Telstra Country Wide Golden Plate Awards in 2004 and 2005 and has been recipient of The Age Good Food Guide, “One HAT”, rating in 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006.  

MOUNTAIN HIGH!
The Blue Mountains Fine Food and Wine Fair, at Blackheath is on again! A deliciously indulgent weekend for lovers of great food and wine. A collection of around 30 stalls showcasing the creative dishes of some fabulous Blue Mountains restaurants and cafes, our quality regional produce, and excellent cool climate wines from the greater region. Family entertainment will be on during the day, and most local restaurants will be offering special menus in the evening.  
 Saturday 8 April, 9am – 4pm, The New Ivanhoe Hotel, Blackheath. Contact: 02 4787 8538 www.bluemts.com.au/foodfestival <http://www.bluemts.com.au/foodfestival>  
Followed on Sunday April 9, by the Blackheath Growers Market at the Blackheath Community Centre

Congratulations! To the Spirit House (P. 180) which took out a top honour at this year’s Australian Tourism Awards presented at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on February 24th, 2006. The Spirit House Restaurant & Cooking School (www.spirithouse.com.au)was honoured as the Best in Tourism Restaurant and Catering Services in its very first year of entering the State and National Tourism Awards. The Sunshine Coast was the only Queensland destination to take out more than one award at the awards.

As part of Festival Melbourne 2006 and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, Melbourne Food & Wine is running three events to showcase Victoria's food and wine strengths. The plaza of the Melbourne Museum, a Commonwealth Games Livesite, will come alive with food and wine events throughout the Games. Find fresh produce from local producers at the Victorian Producers’ Market (Saturday 18 March). Top chefs representing Commonwealth nations will lead their teams (a celebrity and an apprentice) in a battle of the pans: the Culinary Pro Am of the Commonwealth (nightly from 20-25 March). Then there's the Tasting Victoria Menu (1 – 31 March). One hundred of Victoria’s best restaurants including Flower Drum, Number 8 Restaurant & Wine Bar, Interlude, Botanical and Lake House, will present a specially designed Victorian menu complemented by a fantastic selection of Victorian wines by the glass. Bookings are essential and menu availability will vary. Visit www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au or call (03) 9823 6100.

APPELLATION EMBRACES BAROSSA SLOW: Appellation, the casually elegant restaurant at Peppers Hermitage retreat in the Barossa, is a significant supporter of the 2006 Barossa Slow Food event. Barossa-based Executive Chef Mark McNamara to guide the development and operation of their restaurant which opened to the public last September. Chef McNamara, an early supporter of the Barossa Farmers Market and one of the founders of the Food Barossa was recently inducted as a 'Baron of the Barossa' for this support and promotion of local food programs. The 2006 Barossa Slow is on the weekend March 9-12, and on Friday evening, Appellation will host a Shared Barossa Table in its private dining room. On Saturday evening, McNamara is coordinating an array of producers, providers and passionate Slow Food enthusiasts at the Farmers and Chefs Grazing Table event at Richmond Grove. Appellation is open nightly at 7pm for dinner at the Peppers Hermitage retreat, Seppeltsfield Road, Marananga, Barossa Valley, 08 8562 4144, www.peppers.com.au On Sundays in the summer, Appellation welcomes guests to its vineyard terrace for its celebrated Barossa Brunch, a seven course slow food journey savouring the flavours of the region in a convivial and relaxed setting. 

A Night in the Dog House: Neagles Rock (p 227) known for its fine wines has now recognised that  a cold refreshing beer at the end of a long day is a good thing. Using raw Buckley wheat sourced from the region you can now enjoy the first Clare Valley “Dog House” Wheat beer, created by renowned brewer Stephen Nelson. The beer was inspired by the German Heferweizen style, a fruity wheat beer with a fresh and thirst quenching citrus palate and a characteristic cloudy appearance. Launched in November, the beer has been very well received and is available through pubs & restaurants in the Clare Valley as well as cellar door sales and our website.  

WELL-EARNED THIRST? Travelling around NSW this summer is thirsty work, so you need to know about these places.
• Five Islands Brewery, Wollongong – enjoy standard lagers, summer fruit beer, award-winning Belgian style beer and Indian pale ale. www.fiveislandsbrewery.com
• Thredbo Valley Distillery – try Australian schnapps made from fresh local fruit www.wildbrumby.com
• Snowy Mountains Brewery, Jindabyne – sip traditional ale brewed with water straight from the Snowy Mountains River www.snowymountainsbrewery.com.au
• Ginger Beer Factory, Morpeth – enjoy Ma Beattie’s Old fashioned Ginger Beer, Sasparilla, and Bitters Lemon Lime www.morpethgallery.com
• Disaster Bay Chillies, Eden, South Coast – try hot chilli wine made from organic chillies (and no grapes) www.disasterbaychillies.com
• Goulburn Brewery – taste real ales, brewed in the traditional way from one of Australia’s oldest surviving breweries www.users.tpg.com.au/adslcy22/Com_prod.html
• Blue Tongue Brewery, Hunter Valley – produces Premium Lager (and tasty alcoholic Ginger Beer) using only top quality, natural ingredients www.bluetonguebrewery.com.au
• Braidwood Ales, Capital Country – traditional Celtic-style ales from a microbrewery attached to Braidwood Deli; try the Milk Stout and Best Bitter  
• For information about Braidwood Ales and other boutique breweries in New South Wales go to www.homebrewandbeer.com

Then, just across the border is • Mildura Brewery - producing delicious award-winning beers with quirky local names - Mallee Bull, Desert, Honey Wheat and Sun Light. www.mildurabrewery.com.au

CONGRATULATIONS!! Victoria's dynamic tourism businesses and individuals have been recognised for their excellence at the Melbourne Airport 2005 Victorian Tourism Awards. Of particular interest to regional food and wine:
• Yering Station Vineyards, Yarra Valley (www.yering.com)- Tourism Wineries, inducted into the Victorian Tourism Awards Hall of Fame for winning their category three years in a row.
• Winner Tourism Product Marketing: North East Valleys Food and Wine (www.northeastvalleys.info)  
• Winner New Tourism Development: The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne (www.rbg.vic.gov.au)
• Tastes of the Goulburn (www.tastesofthegoulburn.org.au) was a finalist in the Significant Festivals & Events category.

Organic Farmers and GE: Go to www.bfa.com.au for a discussion of GE in relation to organic farming which helps to put the issue into perspective.

Hamilton  Island cooks up something cool for kids: In the New Year, as part of Hamilton Island’s Summer Festival, Hamilton Island is offering cooking classes for kids – given by kids! Isabella Lindsay, daughter of acclaimed Melbourne chef Geoff Lindsay (Pearl Restaurant and Bar) and Carlo and Loredana Grossi (of chef Guy Grossi – Florentino Restaurant Melbourne) will be passing the cooking secrets they have learnt from their fathers. From January 3 to January 6 inclusive, children visiting Hamilton Island will be able to join in a class for just $5.00.  Classes will cater for 5-11 year olds and 11-16 year olds and recipes include such things as blueberry pancakes, steamed chicken and shredded vegetable salad, chicken wonton soup, gnocchi with cherry tomato and basil sauce and berry trifle with fairy floss! More details www.hamiltonisland.com.au
  

Looking for a Slow start to the day? The Slow Barossa Brunch at Pepper's Hermitage Appellation restaurant is much more than a late-start breakfast.  In Chef Mark McNamara’s words; “It is an extension of the shared table hospitality that is so ingrained and loved as a fundamental part of our lifestyle and yet can be taken for granted by us here in the Barossa.”
Every Sunday from December 4, Appellation, the fine dining restaurant at Peppers Hermitage will offer its Slow Barossa Brunch to both in-house and outside guests, featuring seasonal ingredients sourced extensively from local growers and purveyors. The menu will change according to the season, availability of ingredients and Mark’s weekly inspiration at the Barossa Farmer’s Market. Reservations are essential. Please call Appellation direct on 08 8562 4144.

The other side of Kangaroo meat: The website of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council (www.awpc.org.au) has some interesting - and disturbing - facts about the other side of the kangaroo meat industry. Worth looking at to gain a balanced perspective.

Adelaide Dining on Display: A new 48-page guide to Adelaide’s acclaimed restaurants, cafes and pubs has been launched. ‘Your Guide to Dining in Adelaide’ is packed with more than 75 restaurants, cafes, pubs and wine bars in the city and surrounding regions, offering a mouth-watering choice of food and wine experiences.
Adelaide has more restaurants per head than any other Australian city, many of them showcasing the fine local produce and wines.
The free booklet, an initiative of Adelaide Tourism Marketing and HWR Media & Communications, produced in partnership with the Adelaide City Council and the South Australian Tourism Commission, aims to inspire visitors and locals to try the city’s wonderful restaurants, hip pubs, and stylish cafes in the city, by the beach, among the vines and in the hills. Contact the South Australian Visitor & Travel Centre on 1300 655 276 or local visitor information centres.

NEW WORLD OLIVE OIL IS NEWS IN US: The Australian olive oil industry is on the brink of following in the Australian wine industry’s successful footsteps, according to Roger Ley, Group Sales & Marketing Manager for the Mitolo Group, the parent company of the Ollo Olive Oil brand. And the industry could be helped even further due to tariff eliminations on olive oils thanks to the Australia – US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), which came into effect nearly a year ago.

Jeremy Meltzer, Export Manager at Victoria-based Yellingbo Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil agrees, saying that AUSFTA has been instrumental in the ever-strengthening ties between the US and Australia and in the promotion of ‘Brand Australia’. Ollo Olive Oil and Yellingbo are currently stocked in gourmet food store across the US.  Both companies will be at G’Day LA Australia Week’s Australian Made Campaign Food and Beverage Trade Day on 20 January 2006 and at the 31st Annual Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, 22-24 January 2006.

ROO MEAT gets a new name: Soon you may be ordering australus loin rather than kangaroo if a new name chosen by seven high-profile judges gets the nod from the kangaroo industry.
A competition run by the Sydney-based magazine, Food Companion International, to create a "sugar-coated" name to inspire people to eat kangaroo  attracted over 2700 suggestions from 41 nations. Only entries from people working in the food industry were eligible. Finalists included: Kangarli, Marlu, Roujoe, Maleen, Jurru, Rooviande, Ozru and Ruluru.
 Competition organiser Mel Nathan, editor in chief of Food Companion International magazine said she was delighted with the new name "australus" which sounded dignified and linked meat with home of the kangaroo." But she said it could be just the first step in selecting a final name for kangaroo meat.  The winner of the people's choice, to be chosen by phone poll, will be submitted to the Kangaroo Industry Association for the final say.  

Hungerford  Hill’s stylish new cellar door  and private tasting area is complete! Hungerford Hill Wines, 1 Broke Road, Pokolbin, NSW, 2320  (PO Box 256, Cessnock, NSW, 2325).  
To book phone 1800 187 666, www.hungerfordhill.com.au

Barossa Slow 2006 - A Celebration of Real Values, Real People, Real Taste   
With a culinary heritage that can be traced back 150 years, the Barossa holds a unique position in Australia. Barossa Slow will give visitors a chance to mix with the Barossa’s food and wine producers, share their enthusiasm and learn how this community’s dedication to tradition melds with its modern commercial realities. Barossa Slow is endorsed by Slow Food, an international organisation with 100,000 members worldwide. Highlights will include a Barossa Food Producers trail, Barossa Icon Vineyard Trail, Barossa Journeys including The Wood Oven, The Smokehouse and The Orchard. A hands-on lunch with Maggie Beer and fantastic, fresh Barossa food prepared by the region’s chefs in unique ways and in stunning locales characterise the event.  Bookings can be made by fax or post.  
More details: www.foodbarossa.com/pages/barossaslow.  

MADURA NEWS: Madura Tea in the NSW Northern Rivers region (P 105-6), founded in 1978, has announced the introduction of two new varieties - Pure Assam and Green Tea & Jasmine created using meticulously selected and imported the ingredients to complement Madura Tea’s existing range of everyday, premium and speciality teas. Madura teas contain no tannic acid, artificial flavourings,  colourings or preservatives and are independently tested for caffeine  levels and purity, and  is environmentally  friendly and chooses recyclable or recycled packaging where practical. For more information: www.maduratea.com.au

Tourism NSW is promoting Cheesy trails in New South Wales
There’s no better match for a foodie than a crisp glass of wine and a beautiful piece of cheese. In many regions of NSW, cheese-makers are now producing award-winning cheeses, using the freshest local ingredients. Here’s our pick of some of the best cheese destinations to get your tastebuds tingling -
Capparis Goat Cheese, Barrington Tops (p 69) – made from their own herd. www.capparis.com.au
Binnorie Dairy, Pokolbin – sample their delicious fettas, part of the cheese tasting plate served with crusty bread and local wine. Ph (02) 4998 6660
ABC Cheese Factory, Tilba Tilba (p 115-116) – their award-winning cheeses are now sold internationally. Ph (02) 4473 7387
Charles Sturt University Cheese Factory, Wagga – try cheeses flavoured with ingredients such as bush tomato and lemon myrtle www.csu.edu.au
Bega Cheese and Heritage Centre, South Coast (p 1123)– try the famous brand and learn about cheese-making at the same time www.begacheese.com.au
Echoes Guesthouse, Katoomba (p 24-5)– stay overnight and learn the subtle craft of cheese-making www.echoeshotel.com.au
Hunter Valley Gourmet Cheese Festival is held each February at Terrace Vale Vineyard, Hunter Valley. www.cheesefestival.com.au

CONGRATULATIONS!!! – Elise Pascoe, Director, Elise Pascoe International Cooking School at Jamberoo, has won the NSW Westpac Business Owner category of the 2005 Telstra Business Awards. www.cookingschool.com.au