Join Jill and Nick as they take you behind the scenes to see where your food actually comes from!

We have had Luigi de Luca down in the Southern Highlands before to run a Gelato Workshop for FoodPath, so were looking forward to running another one yesterday as part of a Peppers Manor House Gourmet Food Trail Event.
Luigi 's family have been gelato makers for 3 generations initially in Sicily and now in Australia. They have a Cremeria in Five Dock, Sydney. Visit them if you can, you will love it!
Luigi uses local produce in his workshop so we sourced local organic cow's milk from Bill Smillie at Moss Vale (Highland Organics), backyard lemons from kind locals, olive oil from Kym Burrows (Sutton Forest Olives) and fresh blackberries from Montrose Berry Farm.

The workshop started with coffee and cream - coffee granita served with fresh cream and brioche. Then Luigi and his daughter Virginia turned the fresh produce into lemon granita with Pimms, milk gelato, blackberry granita and olive oil gelato - and he also brought from Sydney fig and rose petal Cremolato! What a feast - and the group loved it. Father and daughter were very entertaining.
We hope to get Luigi down another time to run another Gelato Workshop for us sometime - let us know if you are interested?

Contact us - www.foodpath.com.au, info@foodpath.com.au, m: 0419 617 021

 In this class we will learn to make blackberry jam, plum jam, lemon butter, crab apple jelly and chutney.
These classes are always fun and a great way to use fresh fruit when it is season and well priced, or when you grow your own and have an abundance.

Time:       10am – 1pm
Venue:       The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen at Berrima School
Price:         $95 per person
To book contact us from www.foodpath.com.au, email us on info@foodpath.com.au or ring 0419 617 021

Wow time flies and already we have started our "Summer holiday tours". This time last year Nicole Kidman and Keith joined us but we can't guarantee that again I'm afraid! Was just a lovely surprise.
We kick the tours for the year last Friday when a large family asked for a Family Farm Tour - and it just reminded me how much fun it is. Colin does a great job and has loads of animals - and he is happy to run tours on request if he is around.
Bookings are coming in for the Family Farm Tour this Friday 10 Jan at Alan's farm and the Berry Picking Tour this Saturday 11 Jan. These will both be fun and are repeated the following weekend. Alan has a different range of animals and activities and has been running tours for us for a few years now - so you could visit both farms and have a different experience at each.

Check the website for details and contact us if you would like to join us - www.foodpath.com.au, e: info@foodpath.com.au, m: 0419 617 021

As a small business we were very excited to be announced Runner Up in the "Excellence in an Attraction or Tour Service" category at the 2013 Southern Highlands Business Awards for Excellence on Fri night. Very gratifying to know we are up there near the top - there were seven finalists and the competition was tough.
We love what we do and look forward to getting better and better!

Last Thursday we were invited to put on a showcase of local produce for an international conference group at the Gibraltar Hotel. I arranged for a couple of our producers to come along and talk about their products and we took some jams and vinegars from Cuttaway Creek Raspberry Farm. Nick talked about the Highlands as a whole as a food growing area. Everyone is always surprised about that - a "food bowl" so close to Sydney, but it is true! Closer to Sydney than the Hunter, we always tell them.
Kym Burrows from Sutton Forest Olives came along and spoke about her olive growing and the processing and we had a tasting of a range of her products, including her 2013 Robust and Fresh and Fruity olive oils which won awards recently in the National competition.
Alastair came from Bousaada Wines and gave the group a tasting of his Yellow Box Mead - and they loved it. In fact the group bought lots of product from all three producers so everyone was happy.

We are running a Preserving Workshop at Eling Forest Estate, Sutton Forest with Stephen Hogwood of the 1910 Bottling Company on Sun 20 Oct 2013. Steve is very knowledgeable and a great teacher. This time he will show us how to bottle fruit using the Vacola system.
Finish with a light lunch including many of Steve's products.
During the next month we also have a private class and this is always available if you have a group you would like to bring?
Eling Forest Estate is a beautiful venue with a historic house, B&B accommodation, a Cellar Door Cafe and a Winery. The workshop is run in the restaurant kitchen in the historic house. Details provided on booking.

DTE: Sun 20 Oct 2013
Time: 10am - 1pm
Price: $105 pp

Group size 8 - 12. Minimum numbers apply.

To book contact us - www.foodpath.com.au, m: 0419 617 021, e: info@foodpath.com.au

Looking forward to another leisurely day at Biota in Bowral on Celebration Sunday, 29 Sept 2013. Join the Market Tour first in the restaurant garden followed by a 3 course lunch of tasting platters at the FoodPath table.
Did you know that Biota Dining not only achieved two hats in the SMH Good Food Guide this month, but was also awarded Best Regional Restaurant and Best Regional Wine List.... fantastic!

Great value at $20 pp for the Market Tour and $65 pp for lunch.
A nice way to spend a Sunday?
Let us know if you would like to join us.
www.foodpath.com.au m: 0419 617 021 e: info@foodpath.com.au

Had our first Truffle Tour last Sat and it was very popular. Thirty six people came along. Was a beautiful day which was lucky considering it is the middle of Winter. We met Barbara and Ted and Jet the truffle dog. Ted gave a talk about the truffle business and passed around a container of fresh truffles which created a lot of interest. Fascinating to see what they look like and to smell the pungent exotic smell.


Back to the shed for some tea and coffee from our local coffee roasters in Bowral - Rush Roasting, and everyone was given a couple of truffle treats - one a Brie impregnated with truffle on a biscuit and the other a slice of hard boiled egg (that had also been impregnated with fresh truffle) on a biscuit, topped with shaved truffle.
Everyone was fascinated to learn more about these exotic fungi that are pretty new to the Southern Highlands. Interest is high and our tour on Sun 18 Aug (10am - 12pm) is almost full, so we have scheduled an extra tour - on Sat 10 August from 1 - 3pm.
To book contact us - footpath.com.au, info@foodpath.com.au, 0419 617 021

So far we have had two Family Farm Tours in the Southern Highlands this school holidays and one to go - tomorrow! Colin and Kaaren have a range of animals for their own children and have kindly invited us in to share, for the tour - and the kids have loved it.

We have a preserving class with Steve Hogwood of the 1910 Bottling Company scheduled on Sun 4 Aug. This time it will be on Pickling and Fermenting.
This is an interesting topic and covers the history and health benefits of fermenting food.
Our venue has changed to Eling Forest Estate which is on the Hume Highway at Sutton Forest, just before the Moss Vale/Canyonleigh exit - about 1.5hrs from Sydney. Steve runs his business from Eling Forest now and this is a beautiful historic location, well worth a visit.

Date: Sun 4 Aug 2013
Time 10am - 1pm
Price: $105
Inclusions: Tea/coffee on arrival, DVD with handouts, a jar to take home and a light lunch of crusty bread, cheese and Steve's pickles.

If you are interested in pickling and would like to come to our Pickling and Fermenting workshop contact us from www.foodpath.com.au and we will email you a booking form.

We now have two dates confirmed for our truffle tours to Ted and Barbara's farm near Robertson! This is special because not many truffle farms will let you visit.

• Sat 27 July
• Sun 18 Aug

Saw Biddy today at the Mittagong Market and she is keen to do more Jam Making Classes. She loved it and so did we!
Spoke to several people who were sorry they missed out - so, all being well, we should have our minimum numbers (group of 8) soon and can set another date.
Let us know if you would like to come?
Includes morning tea on arrival and light lunch at the end with tastings of all Biddy's wonderful products - parmesan biscuits, flourless fruit cake, duck and chick liver terrine.
Next time we will ask Biddy's French husband to come along too - because he is part of the team.
Date: To be confirmed
Venue: The Cookability Kitchen, Bowral
Time: 10am - 1pm
Price: $85

Coming up we have two very special dinners at the Milk Factory Gallery in Bowral. We have collaborated with the gallery owners and the chef of the Cafe des Artistes and are putting on two long table, banquet style dinners showcasing the wonderful local produce of the Southern Highlands.
It has been my job to source the produce and John Shelly, hatted chef has put together a five course menu which will be accompanied by local wine.

We will be surrounded by beautiful paintings of food painted by Steve Harris and Steve and his wife will be at the dinner this Saturday night 4 May.
These will be special events so if you haven't already booked, ring Liz and the Cafe on 4862 1878. Visit www.foodpath.com.au or the Milk Factory Complex website for more information.
Tickets are $120 pp which includes a welcome drink and a 5 course meal.

We are excited - they are going to be good!

Tomorrow is the first of our Family Farm Tours for these holidays and most of the group are grandparents who are bringing their grand children. What a nice thing to do - we are looking forward to it.
We are visiting Redleaf Farm near Fitzroy Falls where Katrina and Sam breed free range saddle back pigs and lambs. They also have a range of other animals that we can feed, pat or observe. They have 16 piglets at the moment which will be fun.

Next week we are hoping that Alan's goats will have had some babies - but we have been waiting for a while now. They are very pregnant. I had a corporate group at this farm once when a baby was born during the tour! Another time a calf was born at the dairy while we were there - so you never know and it is all a great learning experience for the kids (and adults).

Come and join is if you would like to -
Start time 2.30pm
Price: $35 adults per farm. $15 children (3 - 12yrs). Children under 3 are free.
NB Children must be supervised by their accompanying adult at all times.
Contact us from the website www.foodpath.com.au

A nice bunch of people came mushroom foraging with us this morning. We met at the Berrima General Store first for coffee, then headed off to the pine forest nearby with our baskets and containers. It was a beautiful day - perfect actually!



This time the predominant mushroom we found was the Slippery Jack - but we did get a few good sized Pine Mushrooms (also called Saffron Milk Caps) - almost dinner plate size!

The Pine Mushrooms are a distinct saffron colour underneath and have gills. The Slippery Jack is yellow underneath as has a sponge texture.