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.

Comments from happy customers - Click to see ... TESTIMONIALS!


Click on our TOURS page to see our latest trips. If you can get a group together we can organise a tour just for you! Minimum 6 people. Contact us to discuss.

Visits

About Us...

My Photo
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.
View my complete profile

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

Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Are you a cheese lover? Do you seek out new and interesting cheeses - or do you have your favourites?

We have a growing number of good cheese makers in Australia and we are lucky to have FOUR in our area - and another one coming soon!
To showcase our Southern Highlands cheeses we are running another Cheese Appreciation Workshop on Sun 26 Feb where you can try many of our local cheeses and learn more from our resident cheese expert Nick Padol.
Explore your palate and learn how to judge a cheese for yourself.
This workshop is popular with our followers. We also provide cheese tastings for conference groups. Come along and join us - you will be glad you did!
Time: 10.30 - 12.30
Venue: Howards Lane Vineyard out of Mittagong
Price: $66 pp
To book: Contact us from the website, email info@foodpath.com.au or ring Jill on 0419 617 021

What is your favourite cheese? Where is your favourite cheese supplier?
Share with us - we would like to hear from you.
We would also love you to "like" us on our FoodPath FaceBook page... Help us to share the info through our social networking channels. Thanks :)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Another successful FoodPath Day Tour today and we were lucky with the weather. Some light rain but only intermittent and it didn't stop us at all.
Picked delicious blackberries at Montrose.
Jasmin gave us lots of tastings at The Sutton Forest Country Store and it was great to include Kym from Sutton Forest Olives today.


How nice to meet the grower in the olive grove amongst the trees that she looks after so well to produce her prize winning oil.

For lunch today we visited Sutton Forest Estate Wines where Nick and Santina gave us a wine tasting followed by a long table lunch with antipasto platters and delicious tiramisu followed by a nip of home made limoncello.
This group were mostly locals some of whom were friends but others enjoyed meeting more like minded people. This is what we like to do on our tours - give everyone a good time!
Saturday, January 21, 2012

Rosie picked up our postcard at a local cafe and had it on her fridge thinking it was something she would like to do one day - and when it came to her birthday, thought of this as something different to do with her  family and friends. What a great idea - and we had a fun day!
We started with coffee at the Exeter General Store, then on to Montrose Berry Farm where we had a tasting of their berry products and we went berry picking.

Then on to do berry picking at Montrose Berry Farm.


 Tastings with Jasmin at the their new business - the Sutton Forest Country Store. 
A delicious lunch at the Exeter Studio restaurant where Eon the Chef also had a birthday!



 After lunch we had a wine tasting with Nereo at St Maur's cellar door.
All in all the day had nice variety, a nice pace, took the tour to interesting places and people.


AND we have another tour tomorrow! Looking forward to it.. If you want to come along these Day Tours run on the 3rd Sat of the month.  
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Our Day Tour on Sat 21 Jan has been booked out for a private birthday group! There was considerable interest in this day despite the fact that there were no firm bookings.

We decided to offer another tour for the next day Sun 22 Jan 2012 and were able to organise a similar itinerary. Now we have several people booked and paid! This is very exciting for us - it is the first time we have had two Day Tours on the same weekend - and we are looking forward to it.

There are a couple of spaces left so if you would like to join us on Sun 22 Jan please let us know ASAP and we will send you a booking form. M: 0419 617 021.

Price $110 includes morning coffee, berry picking, lunch and tastings. Product and produce available for sale.


We have updated the FoodPath website Tours page to include all our tours and workshops confirmed so far. This year these will be run on a regular basis every month so we have simplified the Tours page to reflect this. Please give us some feedback - hopefully this will make it easier to follow?

One good thing about running this business is that we get to go on all the tours - and they are all good fun!

Please contact us if you have any questions or want more information. Contacting us from the website is best www.foodpath.com.au.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012
As always the Family Farm Tour was good fun - see the album of photos on Facebook if you can. Search for the "FoodPath Culinary Food Tours" page. Cloe a large gentle Maremma dog took a shine to the oldest child in the group - also named Cloe and we got some good pics of them together.


Brave little Molly did not seem phased by being eye to eye with 4000 chooks!
Warryn did a great job demonstrating pasta making using free range eggs, Durum wheat flour and plain flour - and sent the kids on their way with a sample of fresh pasta to take home.
All kids seem to love pasta so this is always a hit.


As always Anne got the children involved in the shed washing and grading the eggs and showed us how they manage to do this for up to 2000 eggs a day!!



Anne and Warryn are now supplying eggs to three IGA supermarkets in Sydney as well as all around the Southern Highlands.
Look out for Berrima Ridge eggs - from these very contented chooks who are free to roam and scratch in the dirt to their hearts content.


Craig came home from his holiday early to take us on a tour of the dairy - thanks Craig!
Parents and children alike were very interested in learning how this modern dairy works. 


After the milking there were poddy calves to feed and one father and daughter were particularly enthusiastic about this.


I always feel happy after our Family Farm Tour because you can see how much everyone gets out of it.

Monday, January 9, 2012


Looking forward to our Family Farm Tour this week. Why don't you bring your children along and show them where their food really comes from! You will be amazed by their curiosity and the questions they ask.
Time:10am - 3.30pm. Meet at Berrima
Price: $35 adult, $20 child
BYO Picnic Lunch
Contact us on 0419 617 021 to book or for more information.