Today though was like speed dating for food, the Taste of Tasmania festival. It was blazing hot, so a beer with the best slogan ever (Moo Brew, not suitable for bogans) went down very nicely. We kicked off the food with a rosti, with mushrooms and goats cheese and chutney. The rosti could have been crispier but the goats cheese and chutney was fantastic.
We followed that up with some garlic mussels which everyone else said were very tasty. Seafood is a bit wasted on me, so I wandered off to get some real food, pork belly. Soft and succulent, with probably the best apple sauce I've ever eaten, it was very hard to share.
Maybe I didn't share enough, because Dave came back with a dozen oysters which The Wife claimed were the best she has ever had. The Wife has eaten a lot of oysters.
I went for more beers and when I returned Marj had braved the huge line for tempura mushrooms. They were nice, but I pride myself of being pretty good at tempura so wasn't blown away like I was with the pork belly.
After a walk to look at the maxi yachts and settle our stomachs down we got stuck into the fruit. A raspberry and ice-cream sundae just blew my mind, maybe because raspberries are not something we see a lot of in QLD, but these were BIG raspberries and so juicy and rich. We'll be visiting a raspberry farm tomorrow. The raspberry pudding was nice as was the waffle and mixed berries and strawberries and cherries and chocolate fondue. The chocolate fondue was very nice but Sarah was very disappointed that we didn't drink the leftover fondue straight from the cup like she had the day before.
All in all a great start to a culinary holiday!
- MF from my iPad
Location:Princes wharf, Hobart.
o sounds like Tasmania is the place to be.
ReplyDeleteYou make me want to go to Tasmania!
ReplyDeleteWell, hell Jen - you should have been planning a trip down here already!
ReplyDeleteBeeso... don't let the goddam Tasmanians buffalo you over 'taters. It's terrifying. Like you, I came here from Qld. I'm still using potatoes incorrectly, apparently. I will say this, though: some of those heritage varieties - when you get 'em right, they're fraggin' brilliant.
The oysters really were good, by the way. I don't even have to taste 'em to know. I've had good Tassie oysters, and I agree with the growing number of food critics who say they're a good deal better than the best of the Sydney Rock Oysters.
While you're down that end of the state, DON'T MISS THE GODDAM LARK DISTILLERY. Oh - and there's a mob who make a beautiful, beautiful apple cider. Completely clean and organic, alcohol content of 8% or more... but it goes down so smoothly and elegantly you'd never know you were getting smashed.
See you in a few days. By the 4th, we should be recovered from the New Year excesses. I'll have to do something nifty... probably my signature mascarpone/leatherwood honey ice cream. And maybe some wallaby?
I'll back the Tassie oysters. Every time I go there we visit the oyster place south of Hobart and feast up. Spuds and apples were Tassie's prime exports years ago.
ReplyDeleteDirk mentioned Wallaby. And theg Lark distillery which does tasting platters of whisky.
Therbs
Last time I was at Richmond the bakery did a really tasty scallop pie. The scallops were tender and juicy, cooked just right ion a light curry sauce. Wonderful, also accompanied by Moo Brew.