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Gourmet experiences: SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Food and wine trails

Barossa Valley: Located just 60km to the north east of the city of Adelaide, the Barossa valley is Australia's most famous premium wine regions. The wine industry is the main source of employment for many residents and is the major attraction for visitors. The success of the wine industry has historically been celebrated every two years (odd numbers) with a week-long Vintage Festival. The festival draws visitors from all over the world and has entertainment for all tastes including a huge street parade, concerts and gourmet dining. More >>

Clare Valley: One of Australia's oldest and most famous wine regions, the Clare Valley is located in the Mid North of South Australia, approximately 120 km north of Adelaide. It is one of the state's most scenic regions, presenting visitors with a series of small intimate valleys which run north-south, with Main North Road as its main thoroughfare. The Clare Valley region has more than 40 wineries, most of which are small and produce only bottled wine. More >>

The Coonawarra: a wine region synonymous with classy Cabernet Sauvignon wines, The Coonawarra owes its wine-making success to its Terra Rossa soil, a red-brown topsoil laid over a thin layer of calcrete (calcium carbonate) sitting on a white limestone base. This soil gives the wine its terrior or flavour of the soil. Black soil areas are interspersed amongst the Terra Rossa and these soils produce quite different wines not dissimilar to those from Bordeaux in France. More than 24 Coonawarra wineries have cellar door sales outlets, mostly open seven days a week (except Christmas Day) for tastings. More >>

McLaren Vale: McLaren Vale has the warmth and feel of a country town, with the distinct advantage of being 40 minutes from South Australia’s Capital city, Adelaide. McLaren Vale is one of Australia’s renowned wine regions, with over 65 cellar doors. The area is only minutes away from the stunning coastline and beaches that influence so much of our lifestyle, culture and primary production. Its neighbouring townships – Willunga, Aldinga, Port Noarlunga offer visitors a unique experience rich in history, artisan craftsmanship and culture. More >>

Unique gourmet produce

Cornish pasty
During the years 1845 and 1846, the potato crop failed in Cornwall, England. This, along with the depression and upheaval resulting from the Industrial Revolution, led to a mass exodus of Cornish miners to the Victorian goldfields and SA's copperfields. The mines they worked eventually ran out, but the people stayed on, and their influence in the architecture of the towns they settled and in other aspects of everyday living is still evident there today.
The Cornish pasty is a unique all-in-one meal that was developed in Cornwall to feed the miners as they worked underground. A pastry filled with meat and vegies, it was crimped at the top and this folded crust was used like a handle to hold the pasty while the miner ate the contents without getting dust and grime from the mine on their meal. Genuine Cornish pasties are still available from bakeries in former SA copper mining towns like Moonta, Wallaroo, Burra and Kapunda. Waters Burra Bakery have a range of wonderful cakes and pastries, including Cornish pasties, that I make a B-line for whenever I'm in Burra. Over the road is Polly’s Tea Rooms, when going through their doors is to step back in time to an era city dwellers have long forgotten, for some some fabulous old style home-style favourites.

Farm Follies Preserved Figs

Farm Follies is the produce arm of Hutton Vale Vineyard near Angaston in the Barossa Valley. I obtained a jar of Preserved Figs last time I visited the vineyard for a little wine tasting. Bottled preserved produce is not always available as bottling is only applied to take care of over abundance. Farm Follies Products available all year round include Oops Onion and Mint, a mint jelly with the added zest of peppermint and caramelised onions; Beetroot Mustard Medley, a rich ruby red condiment to have on top of a hamburger or with your favourite beef roast or pork; Spiced Quince Honey that goes great with any lamb dish, particularly when blended with juices from the lamb roast to make a gravy, or served as an accompaniment to a hot lamb curry; Kashmir Kasaundi, filled with the colours and flavours of the Middle East, all cooked in the Barossa.

Reilly's Grenache

Just down the road from one of Australia's finest 19th century mansions - Martindale Hall - is the tiny township of Mintaro, in the Clare Valley. In 1856, Hugh Reilly a shoemaker from Ireland, settled at Mintaro and converted a barn there into his cobblers shop. Restored to its former glory in recent times, that shop is now Reilly's Cottage, the Cellar Door and Restaurant of Reilly's Wines. Reilly's is known for its crisp, clean Rieslings and big, bold reds so typical of the Clare Valley, like the Old Bushvine Grenache, which is a personal favourite. Hand picked from the oldest, non irrigated Reilly's estate 1919 vineyard block at Leasingham, this wine is open fermented, gently basket pressed and given 6 months maturation in a combination of French and American oak hogsheads. It's a big ripe Grenache overloaded with flavour – dark plum, cherry and liquorice flavours are in abundance. Yum!

Cornish Saffron Cake

Saffron cake will always be associated with the Cornish people or “Cousin Jacks” as they affectionately call themselves, and if you are looking for the best saffron cake in Australia, you are sure to find it in Moonta. Also known as Australia's Little Cornwall, Moonta, along with Kadina and Wallaroo in the northern Yorke Peninsula, forms the Copper Triangle that was a significant source of prosperity for South Australia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In its heyday Moonta was South Australia's second largest town after Adelaide and was predominately settled by Cornish miners and their families. They brought with them their unique culture, which is still in evidence today. Many streets and houses have Cornish names, descendants of Cornish migrants still live in the Copper Triangle and proudly uphold their Cornish heritage, so there's no shortage of saffron cake here.

Ballycroft Annwn Cheese

The Barossa Valley, though famous for its wines, has also over the years developed a reputation for its fine produce made by industrious and inventive locals. Such a pair are sisters Tracey Skepper and Sue Evans, who operate a small cheese-making venture on the vineyard property owned by Sue and husband Joe, in the quiet Barossa town of Greenock. Using only Freisian/Jersey milk from a single farm at Moculta, they hand make a range of unusual cheeses that send cheese lovers like me to gourmet heaven. Ballycroft's Annwn is an unusual but delicious cheese coated in shiraz lees. Its name is sourced from a 9th century welsh poem and means ‘otherworld’ - and since it tastes 'out of this world', the name seems totally appropriate! Ballycroft Artisan Cheese have a stall at Barossa Farmers Market every Saturday morning in Angaston where their delightful works of art are available to taste and purchase.

Kurianda Bush Dukkah

This Bush Dukkah is a delicious local (Barossa Valley) blend of pistachio nuts, sesame seeds, wattle seeds, quandong and spices. The flavours are intense and the quality of the ingredients makes this dukkah stand out from any other. It is available in a 70gm packet or a fancy 25gm glass gift bottle. Originally from Egypt, Dukkah is typically used as a dip with bread or fresh vegetables and olive oil, and eaten as an Hors d'œuvre. Kurianda Bush Dukkah is produced by Kurianda Barossa which also makes a range of goodies including olive oils and honey and pear chutneys that are sold at the Barossa Farmers Market.

Sevenhill Sacramental Wine

Throughout the world there are some wineries that exist either solely for the production of sacramental altar wines, made specifically for use in Christian celebration of the Eucharist (referred to also as The Lord's Supper). In Australia, Jesuits founded the oldest existing winery in the Clare Valley in 1851 to make sacramental wines. Producing over 90,000 litres of wine annually, this winery supplies all of the region's sacramental wine needs. As the only remaining Jesuit-owned winery in Australia, residing Jesuits are actively involved in Sevenhill's ongoing development in partnership with lay staff who share the ethos of building the Jesuit Mission to support works of charity and compassion throughout Australia. Sacramental wine (dry white; sweet white, sweet red) is available to purchase from the cellars of Sevenill Winery at Sevenhill near Clare, along with a range of other varieties that all display the unique characteristics of wines produced in the Clare Valley.

Kanga Bangas

Kanga Bangas are gluten free sausages made from kangaroo meat by WildOz, a SA food supplier which specializes in Australian native game meats. Available in three varieties – plain, bush tomato, and mountain pepper - Kanga Bangas are a great way to savour free range organic kangaroo meat. Australian Native herbs and spices give a unique taste to Kanga Bangas, which have received the Heart Foundation's tick of approval. Kangaroo meat is a source of high-quality protein, is low in total fat (with less than 2% fat), low in saturated fat and a source of heart-friendly omega-3's. Kanga Bangas are available from the WildOz stores in Adelaide Central Markets and Westfield Westlakes.
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Our preference is for unique products that are not available at regular outlets across Australia, particularly those which are either unique to their locality or are made with ingredients unique to their locality.