I struggled through my early scone making attempts, producing inconsistent batches of dense, flat biscuits that looked more like flapjacks than scones. Most recipes I read remarked on how easy they were to make, but Aunt Edna I was not and edible, far from it.

I fortunately stumbled across a recipe for lemonade scones sometime back that instantly improved my scone baking sessions.  I combined this great, and yes, simple  recipe with some important preparation watch points and voilà  – the Eiffel tower of scones were mine for the buttering. Great Aunt Edna would be proud.

Some watch points to take into consideration when making this scone recipe

Scones like a light gentle touch. Do not overwork the scones when mixing the dough as this will result in dense, flat scones. In some master scone makers view, this is one of the most, if not the most important step.

When mixing the wet ingredients into the dry, use a butter knife to work the ingredients into a crumbly dough. This should only take 30 seconds of gentle cutting through with the knife.

Work quickly and lightly. The dough doesn’t like to sit around once it’s made. Heat the oven before you start mixing so you can pop the scones straight into the hot oven.

Use the lemonade at room temperature. This will produce a better dough which will be easier to work with and require less handling.

Use Self raising flour that is not passed its use by date. This  is an important step in achieving well risen scones. Old self-raising flour will have lost some of its raising agent potency, so buy a new bag of flour if you have had yours sitting around your pantry for a while.

As well as preheating the oven, pre heat the baking tray. This will kick-start the scone raising sequence.

Set the oven shelf in the top 1/4 of the oven. As heat rises, this is the hottest part of the oven which scones like.

Use the rolling-pin lightly. Some scone making purists insist on not using a rolling-pin at all as it knocks the delicate dough about too much, but provided you use a gentle touch, rolling the dough lightly will result in a smooth looking attractive scone.

Roll the dough out thickly, not thinly. The ideal height of the dough is 2.5 to 3cm in thickness or just over 1 inch. In Delia Smith’s kitchen this is believed to be the number 1 way to produce great scones. Rolling out too thin will not give you the finished height, so always roll thicker than you think.

Use a heavy round cutter to cut out the scones. Dust the cutter in flour each time you cut a scone and push don’t twist the cutter. Twisting the cutter will tear and push down on the dough edges causing the scones to rise unevenly.  If you’re using a knife to cut out your scones, make sure it’s sharp so it doesn’t tear the dough and pinch it together by being blunt.

Place the scones snuggly next to each other on a small baking tray. I use a half-size roasting tray which causes the scones to sit next to one another giving them support as they rise.

Lemonade scones

Makes 12-14 scones

Ingredients

3 cups of self-raising flour
1 teaspoon of sea salt flakes
1 cup of lemonade
1 cup of cream

1 egg yolk beaten with a tsp of cream for glazing the scone tops
Extra flour for dusting

Method

Pre heat the oven on fan bake at 220C with the shelf in the upper part of the oven. Pre heat the roasting tray that you intend to bake the scones on as well.

Into a large bowl place the flour and salt and mix to combine. Into a measuring jug combine the cream and lemonade.

Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the liquid. Using a bread knife, mix   lightly, cutting through the flour until a crumbly dough is formed. This step should take no longer then 30 seconds of gentle mixing.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface and gentle form the dough into a round disc.

Using a rolling-pin, lightly roll the dough until it is  2.5 to 3 cm in thickness. If your unsure of the thickness measured the dough with a ruler as this step is vital in achieving scone making success.

Once your happy with the thickness, dust a heavy round cutter and tap out the scone rounds sharply, bringing the  cutter straight down into the dough and removing by pulling straight up without twisting.  Twisting will cause the dough to rise unevenly.

Once the circles are tapped out, lay them closely touching each other on a preheated flour dusted baking tray.

Lightly brush the surface of the scones with  the beaten egg yolk mixed with a teaspoon of cream. This will give the scones a beautifully glazed top.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden and well risen. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for couple of minutes in the tin before removing to a wire rack.

Serve immediately with lashings of creamy butter, homemade jam, freshly whipped or clotted cream, or for savory options, grated cheese and Marmite.

Hotcakes, flapjacks, drop scones, pfannkuchen, griddle cakes,  crêpes, pikelets  or pancakes. It seems every nation on earth has their own version of sweet, savory, stuffed, thick or thin pancakes. Despite the numerous guises and flavor combinations that can be found on all four corners of the culinary planet, one thing remains constant across all borders, pancakes are comfort fodder for the masses.

Evidence of pancake creation can be linked back to prehistoric times, where a batter of milk, flour, egg and spice was prepared on searing hot stones  to resemble what we have come to expect the humble pancake to be today.   The great Roman gourmand and author Marcus Gavius Apicius wrote about a batter that incorporated pepper and honey, a version that would be worth giving a try some 2,000 years after he penned the recipe.

My history with this famed pan cooked batter does not stretch back as far as ancient Rome, but it does come after years of trial and error having   cooked and created hundreds of breakfast brunch stacks in many  professional  kitchens over the last 20+ years.

This pancake recipe is a cross between the New Zealand style pikelet and the North American pancake, a pikelet usually being smaller, thinner and sweeter than its star spangled cousin, the pancake.  This pancake recipe uses the addition of melted butter to give the edges a crisp quality and helps to make the texture short and flaky rather than stodgy.

Here are a few watch points to bear in mind when preparing and cooking your next stack:

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. This will help to achieve a uniform batter that is well incorporated and lump free.

Cool the melted butter before incorporating. Adding hot butter to the wet ingredients could scramble the egg yolks.

Allow the batter to rest for an hour before using, or better still make the batter  and rest overnight covered in the refrigerator. Resting will allow the gluten in the flour time to relax so the batter doesn’t become gluey when cooked. Take the Batter out of the fridge 30 minutes before you intend to use it.

Use butter to cook the pancakes, not oil. This will add to the overall flavor and will also help maintain the correct temperature in the pan whilst cooking the pancakes.  If the butter burns, the pan is too hot to add the mixture. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool slightly before placing back on the heat and adding the batter. The best time to add the batter is when a bit of butter melts and sizzles without colour.  This will ensure the pancakes cook evenly with golden crisp edges.

My… Best Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

Makes 15 pancakes

100g butter – melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups of milk
1/4 cup of cream
2 egg yolks
2 cups of plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Extra butter for frying

Method

Into a measuring jug  whisk together the milk, cream and eggs. Add the cooled butter and combine well.

Stir the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly pour in the liquid ingredients, whisking continuously until a smooth pourable batter has formed.

Heat a skillet on medium heat or induction setting 6 with 1/2 teaspoon of butter until it sizzles.

Add a small ladle approx 60mls or 3 tablespoons of batter to the pan and allow to cook for 1 minute or until bubbles begin to form in the cake. Flip carefully and cook on the other side for a further 45 seconds.

Repeat the last 2 steps until all the mixture is used up, stacking the pancakes as you go.

Serve warm with all The usual suspects like maple or golden syrup, grilled bacon and fresh banana, stewed fruit, fresh berries, or cream and jam. For something a little different try mango cheeks with  grated palm sugar and yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla sugar, or grilled pineapple rounds with grated ginger.

The power of this seductive pavlova dessert lies hidden within its crusty exterior that once broken into, reveals a pillow like interior, soft and fluffy  with a slight chewy texture. A grown ups cotton candy smothered in sweet chantilly cream. Much like a meringue, pavlova utilizes the  stiff whipping of egg whites combined with sugar to produce a glossy sweet  cloud that when gently cooked turns into the oven baked miracle that is pavlova.

Using a small amount of brown sugar alongside the caster sugar gives the pavlova a slight caramel flavor, and the addition of verjuice over vinegar most commonly found in pavlova recipes adds the required acid component without the overpowering vinegar hit.

To ensure pavlova success, here are a few important watchpoints to bear in mind when preparing this Classic  New Zealand dessert with a modern twist.

Choose fresh free range eggs. With pavlova, it’s all about the eggs.  The fresher the eggs, the better, as fresh eggs will ensure that the egg whites whip up to dramatic peaks. Also, choose free range over caged as the eggs will be much tastier. I used Mcleans Run Open Range Eggs and they produced exquisite results with Everest like peaks.

Use the eggs at room temperature not cold from the refrigerator. Cold eggs will result in less volume when the whites are whipped.

When separating the eggs, make sure that there is no traces of yolk in the whites. Yolk will prevent the whites from whipping strongly.

When whipping the egg whites and incorporating the sugar, doing this slowly, a tablespoon of sugar sprinkled over the whipping whites at a time allows the sugar enough time to dissolve. Adding the sugar to fast will result in grainy pavlovas.

The total amount of whipping time is about 5 minutes in an electric cake mixer as over whipping the pavlova will deflate the egg whites.

Pavlovas like a slow bake in a low oven. Setting the oven on  bake at 120c is fantastic and can only be improved on if your oven has a fanless function.

Brown sugar  pavlova mini’s

Makes: 8 individual brown sugar pavlova mini’s

Ingredients

6 large free range egg yolks – at room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 & 1/2 tablespoons of cornflour
2 teaspoons of verjuice
Pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven on bake set at 120 C / 250F  with the shelf set in the middle of the oven.

Mix together the caster sugar, brown sugar, cornflour and salt and push this mixture through a sieve to remove any possible lumps.  Pour into  a small bowl and set aside.

Carefully separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, ensuring that no yolk is present in the egg whites.

Place the egg whites into a clean mixer bowl and whisk on medium to high speed until the whites are just stiff.

Slowly incorporate the sugar mixture  1 tablespoon at a time whilst the mixer whisks on medium to high. This process should take about 5 minutes of continuous mixing and the mixture should be thick and glossy by the time the sugar is all incorporated.

Add the verjuice and mix to just combine.

Spray a flat baking tray with cooking spray and line with baking paper.

Using a 7-9cm  round cookie cutter mould , lay the mould on to the baking tray and fill the mould with 4 heaped tablespoons of the pavlova mixture. Carefully remove the mould by pulling up to reveal the pavlova mound. Repeat the process until all the mixture has been used up, ensuring you leave spaces between the pavlovas to allow the mixture space to bake freely.

Bake the pavlovas for 1 hour or until crisp fully firm on top, and when lightly tapped on the bottom the pavlovas should sound hollow.

Remove the pavlovas from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve topped with honeyed cream and fresh or stewed berries, kiwi fruit or banana.

Pavlova will keep for 3-4 days , covered in the pantry.

I’ve always been an advocate of sweet root vegetables in the middle of winter, reminiscent of summer produce but with more mature woody  flavours . Kumara or sweet potato, parsnips,  swede and baby carrots along with a perfectly ripe pumpkin make cameo appearances  in many winter meals either as a vegetable curry, roast vegetable salad, vegetable side dish or in a kaleidoscope of soup cauldron concoctions.

The humble pumpkin can on many occasions be well catered for as a main meal component or in a main dish starring role with my taste memory instantly recalling  moments like my first spoonful of  a delicious pumpkin risotto with freshly shaved Grana Padano or one of my all time favourite soups – honey roasted pumpkin soup with a glorious dollop of labne yogurt.

The pumpkins strong suit does not end on the larger dinner plates,  but is most at home in its versatility  as a starter, snack option or in this case as  a tasty dip.

The first time I tasted this pumpkin dip was when it was  accompanied by crisp flatbread wedges that had been oven baked until golden. My sous chef Benjamin, pictured left,  was  in charge of dip creation and had pulled this little recipe together that literally knocked my socks off. I vowed then and there to coax the recipe out of him, and despite his shyness it only took 3 months of convincing to get him to write it  down.

Bens Pumpkin Dip

500g diced raw pumpkin ~ I like to use Japanese Pumpkin or Kabocha Squash for its sweetness and vibrant colour cut into 3cm by 3cm cubes

1 heaped tablespoon curry powder ~ medium strength

3/4 tablespoon coriander powder

3/4 tablespoon cumin powder

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon of canola oil

100g sour cream

Preheat the oven to 200C on bake with the shelf in the middle of the oven.

Into a large bowl, mix together the diced pumpkin, curry powder, coriander, cumin, brown sugar, salt and canola oil ensuring the pumpkin pieces are well covered in the spices, sugar and oil.

Place the pumpkin in a roasting dish in a single layer and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the pumpkin is caramelised and tender.

Cool for 1 hour before placing in a food processor along with the sour cream. Process until the mixture is blended to a smooth paste.

Serve with crackers, flatbreads, fresh bread, crostini, or crudites.

Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie

I refuse to make excuses for the amount of butter, eggs and milk in this dish. It is on all accounts a Jenny Craig consultants nightmare served up with a side of homemade jam. Granted it is an excellent way to use up old bread, but that’s no longer the purpose for cooking this dish. I cook it because it tastes superb and makes me feel really good.

When it comes to dessert cookery,  I don’t like to travel to far outside my comfort zone, opting for the more memory educing, old fashioned favorites that my Nana’s used to prepare for our huge household. Apple crumble,  golden syrup dumplings, sago plum pudding and steamed apple puddings were among my favorites and most often requested Sunday dinner treat. Bread and butter pudding in all it’s enriched goodness has the ability to render me helpless when served warm with ice cream.

This version is great for slicing and toasting where the old school recipe has turned from a pudding into a cafe ready slice, with the only difference in the two being it’s appearance and deliver method. Slices are a lot easier to portion than a pudding, and  I am able to heat it through on a flat grill or sandwich press to give it back it’s crisp warm benefits so it can be kept in the refrigerator until required.

However, you can  use this recipe  either way, as a slice or as a pudding cooked in  a loaf tin or  cake round. The only other consideration I feel that I need to point out is to ensure the bread you are using is of top quality. I use an organic sourdough from  artisan bakers Brasserie Bread with crusts removed that is about 4 days old, the perfect way to use up rather than toss out. The only problem here is,  I rarely have any left over bread in the house as it gets scoffed up as soon as it arrives. I’ve taken to buying extra bread so I can luxuriate and allow father time to step in and stale it up for a dessert pudding treat.

Bread and Butter Slice Recipe

Recipe yields 8-10 thick slices

1  stale loaf of organic sourdough or similar, about 800gms in total weight
200 gms butter ~ softened so it’s spreadable
8 egg yolks
1500 mls milk
3/4 cup of caster sugar
1 vanilla pod ~ split and seeds scraped

If not already done so for you,  cut the bread into slices about 10cms in thickness and remove the crusts. Keep the crusts for breadcrumbs if desired.

Preheat the oven on fan bake to 180c. I use an Electrolux combination steam oven on interval steam set at 180c which gives  additional moisture and superior finish  to this recipe.

Using a pastry brush for quick even coverage, generously  brush the bread slices with butter on both sides.

Heat the milk, vanilla pod and seeds  over medium to high heat or induction setting 8 until the milk almost comes to the boil.

In a large metal bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until well combined and set aside.

As soon as the milk scalds or almost boils, pour directly on to the yolks and sugar, whisking furiously  to combine quickly and effectively. Remove the vanilla pod.

Pour the mixture back into a clean pot and return to the cooktop on medium heat or induction setting 6.

Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook-out the custard until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Avoid bringing the mixture to the
boil as this will cause the custard to split.

When the custard is ready, remove from the heat and pour back into a  clean metal bowl, whisking to help cool the mixture down a little. Pour the
mixture  into a jug for ease in pouring on to the bread.

Grease a non stick loaf tin with butter and arrange a layer of bread on the bottom of the tin, slicing the bread if necessary to get it to fit snugly into the base of the tin. Pour some of the custard over the bread and repeat until all the bread and custard is used up and the loaf tin is full to the brim.

Place in the oven, with a tray under it to catch any drips and cook for 35-45 minutes until golden and slightly risen.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin if using as a slice. You will notice that the loaf will deflate slightly, which is normal. If serving as a pudding, serve immediately with ice cream or pouring cream.

When I serve it as a slice I like to accompany it with dollop of home-made plum or strawberry jam.

Salted peanut caramel ~ more addictive than crack

A highly addictive and pleasingly simple confectionary that has delighted many of my customers and staff alike. I too am guilty of over-indulging in shards of its ruthless crunch and sweet salty balance. My teeth must curse me every time I make this, but it’s worth the extra effort in oral hygiene. A recent remark from one of my customers had me remembering just how first-rate this recipe is and how imperative it is that I share it with you.   “I gotta get me some of that salted peanut caramel. I read a review online that it’s more addictive than crack!”

My dad used to love this as a child, with the version he used to buy being somewhat more honeycomb-like in texture with the addition of baking soda which causes it to froth uncontrollably. This version looks good stacked in a large glass jar or makes great school fete treats, served in a brown paper bag with a ribbon. I’ve given you the recipe for a large glass jar full, but feel free to cut the recipe in half if 5 cups of sugar sounds like an overly daunting prospect.

Salted peanut caramel recipe

Ingredients:

5 cups of white sugar
2 cups of water
100 gms of butter
2 cups of roasted, salted skinless peanuts

Method:

Spray a large metal tray with non stick oil and then line it with baking paper.

Into a heavy bottomed pot place the sugar and water and heat on high or induction setting 8.

Allow the sugar and water to come to a gentle rolling boil and cook the mixture until the water evaporates and the sugar begins to turn a light caramel colour. This step should take about 15 minutes.

It pays to not walk away from the cooktop as you are waiting for the sugar to turn to caramel, as it “goes” fairly quickly and may surprise you at it’s speed at turning from white to caramel.

As soon as the sugar turns to caramel, remove immediately from the heat and add the butter, stirring through until smooth.
Beat in the peanuts and then carefully pour the mixture on to the lined metal tray.

If the caramel is thick, line the top of the caramel with more baking paper and carefully roll with a rolling pin to flatten, being extremely careful as the caramel is piping hot.

Allow the caramel to cool completely before snapping into rough pieces and consuming.

A current favorite that is  making the soup rotation at our place The Montgomery St Cafe in Sydney’s Kogarah is Honey Roasted Pumpkin with sourdough croutons and labne cheese, which is a Lebanese cream cheese made from yoghurt, the perfect winter treat for a quick lunch or early dinner. We use Japanese pumpkin, a variety that is at the height of perfection in June/July with the kicker in this recipe being a light roast and caramelise of the pumpkin  with honey and then a tender braise in carrot juice.

I recently attended a masterclass with chef  Marco Pierre White where he used a stock gel from continental in his pumpkin soup along with freshly prepared carrot juice which  produced a fantastic result. Sharing a drink and a chat with him after his cooking demonstration, much like we chefs do after service on upturned milk crates in the back alley behind the restaurant,  was indeed a highlight in this chefs year!

Honey Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Recipe serves 6

1 small to medium Japanese pumpkin ~ or any in season variety
2 small onions ~ peeled and sliced
4 cloves of garlic ~ minced
7 Tbsp of honey
1750 mls carrot juice
2 Tbsp of grape seed oil
200 mls of pouring cream
Sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
4-5 slices of sourdough bread with crusts removed
Extra grape seed oil for frying
6 tablespoons of labne cheese
1 Tbsp of dashi powder ( optional)

1. Peel and slice the pumpkin into even sized chunks about 5cms by 5cms. Discard the seeds or retain for roasting as a snack as in  these recipes here.
2. Heat a large pot with 2 tablespoons of grape seed oil on medium to high heat or induction setting 8 and sauté the onions and garlic, stirring frequently until they begin to cook and colour lightly.
3. Add the pumpkin chunks and stir to evenly coat with the onion mass.
4. Add the honey, and turn the heat down slightly and allow the pumkin time to gently roast and caramelize in the pot. This should take about 10 minutes.
5. Cover the pumpkin with carrot juice And season well with salt and pepper.  Leave the soup to come to the boil, then reduce down to simmer and cook the soup for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.
6. While the soup cooks, make the croutons by cutting the sourdough slices into small cubes. Heat a thin layer of grape seed oil in a medium sized frying pan until a light haze can be seen coming from  the pan and now add the bread.
7. Fry and toss until golden brown and very crunchy, watching closely to make sure croutons don’t burn.  Drain the croutons on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
8. Once the pumpkin has softened, remove the pot from the heat and using a stick blender, blend the soup until sliky smooth.
9. Return the pot to the cooktop on a gentle heat and taste the soup for flavor adding salt and pepper if needed. It might be nice at this stage to also add a tablespoon of dash powder which will help to round out the flavor of the soup.
10. When ready to serve, add the cream and stir through. Ladle the soup into  warm bowls and add a tablespoon of labne followed by a genrous sprinkling of the croutons.

Better known by locals as Little Saigon, Bankstown city in Sydney’s central west is a vibrant hub of food, culture and history. With over 60 languages fluently spoken amongst the Bankstown locals, this multicultural melting pot is a foodie haven for lovers of Asian, European and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Back in the 1990’s when bicycle shorts, long dangling earrings and New Jack Swing were all the rage I called the Bankstown area ‘home’, and central Bankstown was my shopping prescient. I knew the  place to get the best  phở noodle soup , Asian vegetables and the  bakery that made the top Bánh Mi Roll.  I thought that was all there was to Bankstown, little Saigon… plus some other shops.

It wasn’t until a recent food tour of Bankstown organized by the Benevolent Society through Taste Food tours, did I begin to appreciate how much more the area has to offer. Well represented along side Vietnamese cuisine is a thriving and energetic society of cooks turning out excellent examples of continental Europe, Lebanese, African and Turkish cuisine to name but a few.  With so much on offer, it helps to have a little assistance from the locals especially when they come in the form of ‘Zizi’,  a local resident and one of 11 newly trained guides and ambassadors of taste food tours.
Energetic and full of life, Zizi is a touch of sunshine on a cloudy day. Her passion and enthusiasm for the local produce of Bankstown evident in her infectious attitude. She describes Bankstown as a slice of paradise with so much to offer to the gastro traveler. Book a 4 hour hands-on food tour of Bankstown and be transported around the world through the rich and diverse food culture that call the area, home.

Valleyview Continental Groceries & Spices

Valleyview Groceries and spice emporium is everything you need a spice temple to be. Fragrant colorful spices are stacked fresh and high in the centre of the store with ‘help yourself’ shovels of varying sizes. Nigella seeds, cardamom, paprika and freshly prepared spice mixes perfume and punctuate the air.

Thick pieces of cassia bark sit alongside the more delicate cinnamon quills surrounding by long isles of canned goods from around the world, dried fruit and freshly delivered Lebanese bread.  A one-stop shop for all your middle eastern needs with hot corn on the cob ready as a quick snack as your walking out the door.

Olympic Continental Delicatessen

For the last 60 years, local and distant shoppers have been making their way to Bankstown for some good old fashioned deli delights. Peter Karpouzis and family have operated this store in the middle of  Bankstown City Plaza and specialize in smoked and preserved meats that are nearly all made on site.

Sausages, smoked pork, and tubs of marinated olives and pickled fish, all make up the deli counter of this longtime family operated business. Recent recipients of  a food lifetime achievement award, Peter the owner puts it down to the quality of his products that keeps his customers coming back.

Elbasha Pastries

Open the door of Elbahsa & Sons Pastry shop and be enveloped in the sweet smells of traditional Lebanese sweets. For the last 21 years, Elbasha has been producing top quality Lebanese sweets  that some say are the best in Sydney. This family run business does everything on site and by hand and are one of the only Lebanese sweet stores that can boast that they make their own Ashtar, a type of clotted cream essential in the production of many traditional Lebanese treats.

Large flat metal pans balancing on single gas hobs line the back wall of their kitchen where they faithfully prepare the ashtar readying this intoxicating cream for fillings in such famous dishes as nuraset  or ‘ladies arms’, a delight I wasn’t going to miss out on with this dish  reason enough to visit Bankstown and try the fare. Sit in and eat at one of the retro style formica booths or take a box or two  home, Elbasha has every sweet tooth covered.

I thought I knew it all in Bankstown, and quickly discovered how sheltered I had been. Despite a stint as a local, I was obviously not local enough having learnt more about Bankstown in an afternoon with Zizi than the entire 3 years I called home. Delving deeper than the average shopper through a well thought out and organized food tour gives you the opportunity to learn about the history and hear the back stories of the local business owners who are proudly and constantly doing a great job. European, Asian, Arabic, Middle Eastern and African cuisines are all represented through taste tours, and well worth partaking in. You’ll be surprised what you learn!

Taste tours Book online www.tastetours.org.au or call 1800 819 633
Valleyview Continental Groceries & Spices 40 The Appian Way Bankstown NSW 2200, Australia (02) 9790 0465
Olympic Continental Delicatessen & Butchery 41 Bankstown City Plaza, Bankstown NSW 2200, Australia +61 2 9790 1669 ‎
C Elbasha & Sons Pastry 288 Chapel Road Bankstown NSW 2200, Australia (02) 9796 4818

Australia has bragging rights on incredible landscapes, extreme native wildlife and some of the finest grape growing regions in the world. One of these regions, the Barossa valley in South Australia is not only home to a number of  the oldest plantings of vines in the world, but it also plays host to exceptional foodie adventures that are unquestionably off the beaten track.

Farm Follies at Hutton Vale Farm.

There is no welcome sign or grand entrance signaling your arrival as you take the 20 minute car ride from Angaston towards the North Eastern hills of Eden Valley. Sign posts are in fact noticeably absent, and had it not been for our tour guide Barb Storey, a 20 year resident and recently appointed Barron of the Barossa we would have been hopelessly lost amongst the rolling hills of the Barossa countryside.

If the truth be known, if it wasn’t for Barbs intimate knowledge and adoring love affair with this part of South Australia, I would not have had the exquisite pleasure of knowing that Farm Follies at Hutton Vale existed at all. Despite my lack of knowledge, an all too common occurrence when dealing with such an expansive country,  Hutton Vale farm has been around for nearly two centuries and has been in the  capable hands of the Angus Family who are now 7th generation owner operators.

Hutton Vale is a mixed farm with open grazing and a sheep flock that has been in continuity for over 100 years. It has its own wine label, produces small runs of pickles, jams and chutneys from fruit and vegetables grown on the farm and are part of the slow food movement where they guarantee an experience like none other. John and his wife Jan and their 3 children describe life on Hutton Vale as a “journey of toil, passion and nurturing for the pleasures of premium produce.” Point me in the direction of your dining table, please!

Hutton Vale has a hidden table, so hidden you have to know a guy who knows a guy, in my case Barb Storey to the rescue, or be a Hutton Vale wine customer that is on their mailing list. A privilege that is earned not expected. Hutton Vale aka farm follies hosts small groups of 2-12 for lunch or private tours of up to 30 which is an eye opening experience of life as it may have been on an Australian farm over 100 years ago. Bookings understandably are essential with your hosts John and Jan Angus personally taking care of you.

The Angus family believe in the natural process of farming which is sustainable and ethical, and if you’re lucky enough to share their table, you will get the opportunity to sample Hutton Vale lamb, with the only other place you can find it for sale being Saturday mornings at the Barossa farmers market in Angaston.

Farm follies hidden table sits underneath a low hanging grapevine with wine tasting happens from centuries old farm buildings originally used to house farm animals in the cooler months. It breathes a life lived and enjoyed with John and Jan being more than happy to share stories and philosophy, all washed down with a glass or two of Hutton Vale humor. John will  take time out of his busy schedule to do a wine tasting with you of the Hutton Vale label that consists of a Shiraz, Grenache Mataro, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling. You need to allow at least 90 minutes for the wine tasting with the longest tasting we are told, taking over 6 happy and highly enjoyable hours.

After lunch and wine tastings are over, enjoy a tour of the property with many of the  old Hutton Vale buildings lovingly preserved with museum like artifacts artfully displayed to add interest and value to a stroll around the grounds with farm dogs lapping at your heels. Spend a day or spend a couple of hours fully immersed in the Barossa way of life as it was and as it should be.