THE FOODPATH BLOG

We decided to write a blog to let you know some of the fabulous food related things that happen in the Southern Highlands all the time. Keep checking back here to see what is going on. Get to know what hidden treasures we have and if you want to find out more - come on one of our tours and meet the people who grow our food.

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Visits

About Us...

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Jill Dyson,
Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia
Click on the link to read Jill's latest blog post. Jill has been running FoodPath in the Southern Highlands of NSW with her partner Nick since April 2010. They have grown the business to a level where they now include a range of activities including tours, workshops and collaboration with others (cooking schools, wineries, etc). During the past 10 years Jill and Nick have got to know the local producers and continue to promote and support these local small businesses. They have organised and run many food related activities including taste education workshops and producer visits. It was after they organised a successful tour for a group of chefs from some of the best restaurants in Sydney that they realised they could turn their interest into a business - and this led to the setting up of FoodPath - Culinary Tours with a Difference. Now Jill and Nick are working closely with Southern Highlands Tourism and Wingecarribee Council to help raise the profile of their area as a food destination where everyone will benefit - tourists, local consumers and the producers themselves.
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About Us...

Nick Padol, Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia.

Nick with his partner Jill has been running their business FoodPath in the Southern Highlands since April 2010. His motivation was to share his knowledge by taking others on a journey to discover local and regional food.

At the age of 4 when Nick had his first taste of coffee with his father at Andronicus’ Coffee Shop in Sydney he developed an interest in all things gastronomic. At the age of 24 his father gave him his 1st copy of Larousse Gastronomique. He now has an extensive library of cook books and he hasn’t looked back.

Not only is Nick an excellent cook and host with an interest in the cuisine of many cultures but he is also a food writer and cheese and coffee judge. He has been involved in regional food and wine related projects over the years and was an active member of Slow Food for 9 years.


PRODUCE INCLUDES:

Apples

Blackberries

Blueberries

Raspberries

Gooseberries

Grapes

Potatoes

Truffles

Garlic

Olives

Asparagus

Mushrooms

Cheese - cow, goat, sheep

Beef

Goat

Lamb

Eggs - hen, duck

Poultry

Pigs

Hazelnuts

Chestnuts

Vegetables

Jams and vinegars

Wine

Monday, May 24, 2010
Last night we had a Nose to Tail dinner at the Centennial Vineyard Restaurant in collaboration with Slow Food Southern Highlands, celebrating the Galloway breed of cattle. The Galloway is a very old Scottish breed and is (or was) an endangered species.
Greg Stuart the breeder looked great in his kilt and gave a very interesting talk about the cattle/ Robin Murray told us how he prepared the various dishes with the variety of cuts from the beast.
We had a great night and raised money to send Chris and Greg Stuart to Italy in October as Terra Madre delegates.

The food was fabulous and included oxtail and vegetable soup shot, devilled kidney and rosemary brochette, baby carrots with beef jus gras cream, tongue and cheek soil (Robin had to explain what he meant by "soil"!) , carpaccio of fillet, horseradish cream, carrot puree, crumbed egg yolk (he said they prepared 120 egg yolks until they had 85 in tact ones they could serve - a very delicate operation), etc

Most Slow Food activities are not as grand as this - but every now and then we lash out and it was a great success.



Carol Willman (below - 2nd from the right) was there. Carol is very well known as a cheese maker and teacher and often runs Cheese Making classes at the Small Cow Farm. Follow the link for more info - www.smallcowfarm.com










We had a brush with fame with both John Olson and Reg Livermore amongst our guests. They were good sports and helped us to draw the raffle.




A couple of happy customers - Philip who generously donated 6 bottles of Pulpit Rock Estate wine for the raffle and the lucky person who won it!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
We ran our 2nd tour last Sat 15 May. Had a great day again. One member of the group said "You know the best thing about your tour is that we get to speak to the farmer and hear the little things you would not normally hear".
This was great feedback because that is exactly why we keep our groups small - so you get the best experience. One of the producers who we visited said "Aren’t the folk just lovely!" 
Dave grows raspberries at Cuttaway Creek near Mittagong.
We have some new itineraries starting in June (pending numbers) or July. Check the Tours page for details.


These are mid week tours and one is offered in different options. We have shortened the day because it is getting colder now and we thought it would be nicer to start at 9.30am. Prices have been adjusted accordingly. I will tell you more about the new tours but first of all some more pics from the last tour....


Dave and Nicki make delicious jams and vinegars in their commercial kitchen on the farm (see above). This gives them product to sell all year round. Bilsons using their raspberry vinegar as a dipping sauce for oysters!

See the Maremma dog looking after the chooks on Berrima Ridge free range poultry farm. Chooks love top scratch around in the dirt. You won't see them doing this when they are kept in cages! They certainly have a great quality of life at this farm.


When the chooks have passed their peak laying years Anne and Warryn try to sell them as pets. They hate to think they might be killed and eaten! Anne refers to the chooks as "my girls".




We get to see the chook houses where the hens go at night to sleep - away from the foxes.                
We see the nesting boxes where the chooks go to lay their eggs. If you are lucky you will see this happen and can feel the warmth of a freshly laid egg.                          
In the shed Anne and Warryn talk about what is involved in preparing the eggs for sale and we see how they are cleaned and sorted by machine into their different sizes. Very clever.






The afternoon was devoted to cheese. First the Small Cow Farm at Robertson. One group members said on her feedback sheet "Great, very interesting and gave us an insight into the cheese making process. We appreciated the opportunity to taste so many varieties of their cheese".

Lesley Williams and Nick on the left and Mark Williams on the right.

Finally we had a taste of a range of sheep's milk cheeses at the Cheese Factory and a talk from Cressie and Michael about their sheep and where they are up to with setting up their dairy so they can "go commercial" next year. 
We look forward to that!



Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Last Friday a Slow Food group went to Feast@McVitty for lunch. This cafe at McVitty Grove vineyard (on the Wombeyan Caves Road) has been taken over by Anne Holloway, member of Slow Food Southern Highlands.

Anne's partner Philip Martin of Pulpit Rock Estate was waiting on table and serviced some delicious wines from his vineyard up the road.



Anne is very busy - she had 97 people there on Mother's Day!

We wish her well.






Nothing like spending time relaxing over lunch with friends in a convivial environment.


Anne has kindly donated a $100 voucher for lunch at her restaurant to a raffle we are having this Sat at the Centennial restaurant. Slow Food is holding a Nose to Tail dinner with Robin Murray, Chef at Centennial.







Look at the stunning trees that line the driveway!

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Rebecca Wolkenstein, Editor of the wonderful SoHi magazine came on our FoodPath tour and wrote the following in her on line magazine at www.sohimagazine.com.au.  

Thanks Rebecca!



"If you have an entire day free, you can’t go past FoodPath Tours for both a brilliant learning experience and a way to pretty much cover the whole Highlands area and all it offers.  The tours are an essential foodie experience.  Jill and Nick are so incredibly knowledgeable and the suppliers you will meet are so candid and fascinating.  There will be more on Jill and Nick and their passions in our upcoming print edition."
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Well - the Tallong Apple Day was fun.

The Slow Food stand was packed with goodies and information. Sold out of our apples and wished we had more.

Also had home grown pumpkins, potatoes & eggs and our apple based chutneys, sauce & jam made for us by Mrs Oldbucks of Berrima and Doolan Fine Jams and Chutneys (who you can find at the Bowral Primary School market on the 2nd Sat of the month.





What was very nice was catching up with other Slow Food members who helped on the stall and spreading the word about Slow Food to the public. We had a couple of new members as a result - now 80!