Upcoming food and wine events in SA, including the first Friday night dinner at a favourite Adelaide Hills cafe and Fringe events that will give you more than a few belly laughs.
A new food and wine event for the East End, Fat Tuesday Street Carnival will be held on the opening night of the Fringe Festival (this Friday) and is set to transform Vardon Avenue into a New Orleanian French Quarter for the night. Also known as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday promises all things Creole, including southern American food (Kickin’ Chicken and Fried Green Tomatoes) and drinks by NOLA Adelaide, charcuterie and cheese from East End Cellars, southern-style cuisine from Mother Vine, Exchange Coffee, and jambalaya from El Choto Paella Catering, as well as live entertainment. Entry is free.
Flinders Street Market is hosting a special Valentine’s market offering artisan cakes and sweets, fresh flowers, handmade cards, jewellery, candles and more. The Flinders Street Market can be found at 230 Flinders Street, Adelaide. More information here.
Experience a true country show only 30 minutes from the CBD at the Uraidla & Summertown Country Show.There will be fruit, vegetable and flower displays representing the abundant produce of the local community, as well as two fruit and vegetable stalls, cookery competitions, demonstrations and displays, food trucks and wine tastings. More information can be found here.
Learn how to make passata di pomodoro (tomato sauce) the Italian way with Mercato’s Imma and Mario Caporaso. Participants will spend a full day with the family making passata from scratch, share an Italian-style morning tea and a tomato feast for lunch with Italian wines from La Cantina, and enjoy entertainment from Crispino the accordion player. They will also take home a bottle of passata and a jar of pelati (peeled tomatoes) made on the day and a recipe booklet. Tickets are $120 per person. Bookings and more information can be found here.
“Cheesepert” Valerie Henbest and chocolatier Steven ter Horst will join forces for a Cheese, Chocolate and Bubbles event pairing two of our favourite foods with wines from the Adelaide Hills at the Adelaide Convention Centre’s Cellar Door Fest next month. Other master-class events include a Saturday Arvo Wine Down, SA’s Best Brews, and The Supreme Cheese Experience, with dedicated cheese lovers able to buy an Ultimate Cheese Experience package that gives them entry for all three days plus access to one cheese-themed master-class each day. You can also book now for a series of Cellar Door Fest Long Table Dining Experiences at The Lane Vineyard, Skillogalee and Howard’s Vineyard, where up to 60 guests will be guided through menus highlighting SA produce.
Details of all events can be found on the Cellar Door Fest website.
As well as all the entertainment on offer at Gluttony, the Fringe precinct on the south side of Rymill Park, there will be a range of food options including stalls from Jam Face by Poh, Toly Gourmet Vietnamese food, Soi 38 Thai food Hung and Tender Burgers, Saint Espresso coffee and dessert crepes, and Amazon Power – an acai bowl stall that caters for just about every dietary requirement imaginable.
For those who don’t like to take their wine too seriously, comedians Damian Callinan and Paul Calleja will head to the Royal Croquet Club to show audiences how to tell a Claret from a Beaujolais, suggest pairings for fairy bread, reveal why the Champagne spider hasn’t caught on, and explain how to match wine to beer. More information and tickets can be found online or onsite at the FringeTIX box office at the Royal Croquet Club entrance.
Popular Adelaide Hills lunch spot Walk the Talk at Verdun is opening for its first Friday night dinner. The set menu by renowned chef and owner Ali Seedsman will offer two courses, entree and main, with dessert optional and drinks by the glass and bottle. Expect shared plates of pear, halloumi and watercress salad with orange blossom and honey dressing; grilled figs with goat cheese and crispy pancetta; char-grilled sirloin with chimichurri sauce, garlic prawns and sides; and white chocolate panna cotta with plums and raspberry puree. Walk the Talk plans to continue with the dinners each Friday. Bookings recommended by calling 8388 7344.
Adding to the tradition of taking afternoon tea in a highbrow way on a three-tier stand, some of Adelaide’s jazz performers are serving live jazz as accompaniment to the sweet and savoury indulgences. Adelaide Fringe’s Jazz High Tea will offer audiences the opportunity to step into The Parlour at the Royal Croquet Club for a glass of sparkling wine, some freshly brewed tea and coffee, and a selection of high-tea treats all set to jazz music by the Odette Mercy Trio, Miss Wonderful, Louise Messenger and The Lucky 7. More information and tickets can be found online or onsite at the FringeTIX box office at the Royal Croquet Club entrance.
Tickets are now available for Tasting Australia 2016 events, including: the Barossa Regional Roving Lunch – a progressive lunch tour of Hentley Farm, Appellation and Fino at Seppeltsfield, hosted by celebrated chefs who know how to capture the flavours of the surrounding Barossa landscape; Lamb Tasting at Rawnsley Park – an authentic lamb-inspired dinner in the historic Flinders Ranges woolshed; the Cheong Liew Retrospective – a showcase dinner at which Liew’s team of apprentices will be brought back to the Hilton to reinterpret and celebrate the iconic dishes created by their mentor and teacher; The Barossa Camino – a 7km guided walk through the vineyards of Mt Edelstone, Hutton Vale Farm and Hill of Grace with the Henschke and Angas families before a big Barossa lunch; and a Wild Mushroom Forest Feast in the Adelaide Hills with expert mushroom guides to learn the secrets of the local fungi before sitting down to a lunch of wild mushrooms and natural wine.
See more details here.
The program for the annual Clare Valley Gourmet Weekend has been released, offering visitors a variety of events highlighting the region’s food, wine and hospitality. As well as cluster events such as the Gourmet Hub and Clare Valley Cuisine’s Gourmet Market Day, there are ticketed culinary events and day-trip options, weekend packages and more.
Losing the Plot: food gardening in South Australia explores the history of growing food in South Australia. It examines the stories behind the food on our plates from Aboriginal food production and school and community gardens to the home garden and market gardens in SA, and is accompanied by a program of workshops and talks focussing on food gardening and the use of garden produce in preserving and cooking.
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