Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Regional food stars at Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show

For the third year I'll be hosting the Lyndey Milan Regional Producers' Market the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show - which runs from Friday 4 June until Sunday 6 June. 
2009 Sydney Good Food & Wine Show

Here is a list of the fabulous artisan and boutique producers exhibiting in Melbourne:

Salute Oliva is a family business run by Marlies and Peter Eicher, specialising in producing extra virgin olive oil and table olives from organically grown olives. The family complete the entire process from growing and tending to the trees to irrigation management, harvesting and pressing or pickling the fruit. The bottling is also done in-house and making small batches ensures maximum freshness.

Glenora Grove Olives & Olive Oil is run by Wayne and Caitlin Kay from Bonegilla in north-east Victorian. They are a first time exhibitor and normally sell their products at local farmers’ markets.

Otway Estate Winery & Brewery, two hours south-west of Melbourne produces wine, beer, cider and cordials from natural local products – grapes, local fruit and berries and pure Otway rainwater. Winemaker Matthew DiScascio has receiving accolades for his range of sparkling wines as has head brewer, Luke Scott – his Prickly Moses beers, ales and stouts are testament to his skill. The organic cider is made from locally grown Gellibrand apples and each yearly release is quickly snapped up.

Beechworth Honey has been operating since the 1880s and is a fourth generation family business with a strong enthical and community focus. The product range includes honey (including blackbox, blackberry, blue gum, clover, orange blossom and hill gum), beauty products (lotions, balms and soaps), gourmet items (sparkling honey, creamy honey and lollies) and candles.

Max and Dex from Healesville in the Yarra Valley is a family owned and run business with a range of spice blends and rubs. Their products can be used in many ways – bbq, roast, stir fry and slow cooking and are preservative free and all natural. Owners Jeff and Melanie blend in small batches to control the quality and freshness. The product range includes 17 spice rub, Cajun rub, backyard blend, formula 39 steak rub, mad curry mix, Max’s dust and Max’s spicy dust.

Owner Julie Barbour from Tasmanian Gourmet Sauce Company, Evandale near Launceston selects the very best fruits from Tasmania to use in her time-honoured recipes of delightful sauces, conserves and condiments. Her product range includes dessert and savoury sauces, cookies, mustards, pasta sauces, chutneys, relishes, jams and conserves.

Tasmanian Lamb Direct is grown in the north-east of Tasmania – a magical farming area that benefits from a year round growing season and is famous for its excellent soils, nutritious pastures, temperature climate and irrigation from local pristine rivers. Free range and grass fed, all lambs are hung for a minimum of five days to ensure lactic acid production to enhance meat tenderisation and water evaporation to concentrate flavour. No hormones, growth promotants or antibiotics are used; animals are raised on natural pastures free of genetic modification and the lambs are processed close to farm to ensure minimum stress.

St Germains Estate Olive Oil, located near Shepparton, was established in 2001 by Abu Nasser, a Palestinian refugee, who planted the grove using ancient Palestinian methods. His small grove of 3,650 trees contains a mix of Italian and Spanish olive varieties. The preservative-free, green-gold fruity cold pressed oil is smooth, aromatic and flavoursome and contains antioxidants.

The Original Gourmet is located in Mornington and stocks a huge range of gourmet products including: Enspice: spice mixes; Bondi chai; Kick Ice Cocktail mixes; Gingerbread Shack biscuits; Tea Tonic teas; Pukara Estate olive oil, vinegar and olives; Fare to Remember: slices, cookies, cheesecakes, cupcakes, puddings, cakes and shortbread, jams, chutneys, sauces, confectionary and truffles; and Gluten Free Gourmet: cookies, muffins, slices, cakes, tarts, shortbread, gingerbread, chocolate and frozen savoury products such as pasta, quiche and pies.

Yarra Valley Preserves have been making a range of relishes, jams and chutneys for 15 years without preservatives, artificial flavours or emulsifiers. Their range includes oil, vinegar, jam, jelly, mustard, chutney, pickle, relish, sauce and dressing.

Beloka Estate’s Lightly Sparkling Natural Mineral Water and Naturally Still Mineral Water has its origins in the Kosciuszko National Park, where it’s purity is ranked among the finest in the world. Beloka’s unique magnesium and calcium rich water is similar in flavour and mouthfeel to many of the premium European bottled waters and the interplay of magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium are essential for the healthy development and maintenance of the human muscular, skeletal and nervous systems.

Laharum Grove Olives, in the Grampians, west of Melbourne were first planted in 1943. Never irrigated, the trees thrive in the sandy loam and their fight for survival in the semi-arid climate apparently produces fruit of great character. Their product range includes Laharum Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil – a blend of Verdale, Benito, Boquettier and Manzanilla olives; Vanilla Bean Infusion Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Caper Tapenade and Spicy Tomato Marmelatta – spiced tomato jam.

Located in the Barossa Valley, Careme Pastry, is owned and operated by William and Claire Wood, who, coming from a restaurant background we were always disappointed with the quality of commercially available ready-made pastry. Careme only use natural ingredients, free of additives, preservatives and colours to produce their hand-crafted pastry products. Their product range includes ready to use pastry dough: all butter puff, sour cream shortcrust, vanilla bean sweet shortcrust and dark chocolate shortcrust as well as a range of tarts, pies, savoury galettes and sweet tarts and croissants and pastries.

Sisters Linda and Kerrie Thornton of Baby Cakes by Design design and produce artisan style cakes, bespoke stationery and table styling. They specialise in babycakes – small cakes baked in child friendly and gourmet flavour combinations. Their award winning cakes, biscuits and muffins are individually handmade and handcrafted sourcing the best seasonal and local produce available.

Established in 1998 with a single nut cart at the South Melbourne Market, The Gourmet Nut Company from Mordialloc, Victoria now sell close to 1,000 tonne of roasted and coated almonds, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts and pecans nuts in Australia and across the Asia Pacific region. The nuts are not cooked in oil; all are cholesterol free, gluten free, low GI and wheat free. Flavours include: honey, cinnamon, lemon myrtle, Indian chai, Moroccan tajine, thai sweet chilli and Japanese wasabi.

At Hall, 25 minutes from Canberra, Poachers Pantry have been producing gourmet smoked meat, poultry and vegetables since 1991 – taking farm-fresh produce and curing with unique blends of herbs, spices and other basics such as brandy and honey. In 1998, Wily Trout Vineyard was planted to produce cool climate wines to compliment the smoked meats and in 2002 the Smokehouse CafĂ© opened to combine food, wine and countryside.

Australian Harvest from Coldstream in Victoria's Yarra Valley, produces a wide range of gourmet foods, including the recently released BIO-GRAPE range of delicious functional foods, which compliments the existing range of liquored fruits and panforte, nougat, rich jellies, pastes, jams, sauces, mustards and olives.

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