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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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.

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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, January 27, 2014
We were very happy to provide two FoodPath activities for Peppers Manor House as part of their Food Trail package on the Australia Day weekend. Daniel James, Head Chef at Katers Restaurant at Peppers Manor House is a strong supporter of local produce, sourcing it as much as he can and identifying it on the menu. We provided a tour of the Bowral Market for a group of 24 in the morning and in the afternoon put on a Gelato Workshop with Luigi De Luca and his daughter Virginia from Cremeria de Luca in Five Dock. It was a fun day and we enjoyed it very much.

We joined the group for a three course long table Lunch at Katers Restaurant which was delicious.





We have another Food Trail weekend coming up with Peppers Craigieburn in July. This will have a Winter theme - keep an eye out for this and if we can help you with a group activity do let us know.

Our activities are unique and you get more information when you go with FoodPath.

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



Sunday, January 26, 2014
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





Wednesday, January 22, 2014
We used to think that you should only use second grade fruit for jam making. Now it is common knowledge that really delicious jam is made from gorgeous fresh fruit.
We used to busily make jam when we had an abundance of fresh fruit on our trees. Now we know we can take the pressure off by freezing surplus fruit at its peak and make it into jam all year round.
However, the best jam is still made from beautiful fresh fruit in season. Slightly under ripe fruit makes even better jam because it has higher acidity; and the faster jam is made the fresher it will taste, which is why we warm the sugar.

Come along to our next Jam Making Workshop with Biddy Maupin on Sun 2 March 2014 and find out how to make delicious jam and more! Recipes and notes to take home.

On arrival enjoy morning tea with local freshly roasted coffee and Biddy's wonderful cake and after the class we finish with a light lunch of crusty bread, cheese and Biddy's famous duck and chicken liver pates.


Time: 10am - 1pm
Venue: The Berrima School Stephanie Alexander Garden Kitchen
Price: $95 pp

To book contact us - foodpath.com.au, info@foodpath.com.au or ring 0419 617 021
Did you know that the United Nations has declared 2014 the Year of the Farming Family?
Did you know that 99% of Australian farms are still family owned and operated?
All the more reason for us to support our local producers, eat local fresh produce and generally celebrate how lucky we are to have access to these wonderful farming families in our community.

We love meeting new farmers and exploring if we can include them in our FoodPath Tours. In the past 3 weeks we have discovered:

  • An Australian wildflower farm at Alpine, near Mittagong
  • An alpaca farm at High Range where Jessica raises alpacas for meat, and
  • A new certified organic free range egg farm at Colo Vale




Can you believe that - three new farms!! We love it.

Also have a meeting lined up next week with a Naturopath who runs cooking classes.

So - keep an eye on our program, we have lots of interesting things in the pipeline :)

Saturday, January 18, 2014
Our wonderful jam maker Biddy Maupin, or Lady Bucket as she is known locally, is running another class for us on Sun 2 March 2014 at the Berrima School Garden Kitchen, starting at 10am. Learn how to make a range of jams, jellies and chutneys. Biddy shares her tips and tricks to ensure your success. Tea/coffee on arrival with some special fruit cake and finish with a light lunch including Biddy’s famous duck and chicken liver pate. Products available for sale.
 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
The month of March will have a range of food and wine activities across the Southern Highlands and is definitely a good time to visit the area. We have been busy over the holiday period planning our FoodPath involvement. If you are on our mailing list you will be aware that we have many things registered -

  • Food and Wine Tours
  • Jam Making Workshop 
  • Bread Making, Wine and Artisan Cheese Tasting 
  • Hazelnut Picking
  • Chestnut Picking, and 
  • A Paddock to Plate  Farm tour and Dinner at Biota Dining, our 2 hatted restaurant in Bowral. 
For details check our website or the Tourism Southern Highlands website - Monthly Events page.

As well as this we have our regular Market Tours at Bowral Public School (2nd Sat of the month) and at Biota restaurant (last Sun of the month).

In February we are taking a 10 day break for some R&R but will be back for a FoodLovers Walking Tour in Bowral on Sat 15 Feb and a Preserving Class on Sun 16 Feb. On Tues 4 Mar we have our first Mushroom Tunnel Tour for 2014 - fascinating if you haven't been yet.

Looks like a busy year coming up - why don't you come and join us and have a Fabulous Food Experience in the Southern Highlands!






















We were excited to be asked to host a tour for WIN TV on Tues 14 January 2014 and exposure like this is great for our business. AND we had two great photographers along which was an added bonus - including Sasha Torilo from Intsywintsy Photography, Wollongong. We now have some great photos to promote these tours, thanks Sasha!
Also had another tour on Fri 17 Jan. Here are a collection of photos from both tours.









Lots of photos on Facebook if you are following the FoodPath page. Colin has gone away for a week now but is happy to host more tours on Sun 26 or Mon 27 Jan (the long weekend) if we get enough enquiry.
School goes back soon but we will run more next school holidays - or we can always organise a tour for groups, subject to Colin's availability.





Tuesday, January 7, 2014
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


Wednesday, December 11, 2013
We have been busy firming up several tours and workshops for next year and have a busy schedule lined up. If you are on our mailing list you should have received our December Update the morning. If you didn't and you would like it, please let us know and we will email to you.

Scheduled Summer activities include:

  • Two Berry Picking tours (Sat 11 and 18 Jan)
  • A Winery Tour (Fri 3 Jan)
  • Two Family Farm Tours (Fri 10 and 17 Jan)
  • A FoodLovers Walking Tour in Bowral (Sat 15 Feb)
  • Preserving Class with Steve Hogwood (Sun 16 Feb)
As well as our regular Market Tour on the 2nd Sat in the month.

However please note we can always put on extra tours for you if you have a group. Just ring us to discuss.




We are looking forward to welcoming Robyn Darley to our FoodPath team next year. She will join Steve Hogwood and Biddy Maupin who run regular classes for us and also Patricia Phillips from the Blue Bowl Cooking School with whom we collaborate for the Market to Table Tours.

Robyn will be running a wide range of cooking classes including Making Dairy (quark, yoghurt, marscapone, gourmet fetta and paneer - a full cream ricotta), Sausage Making, Bread Making, Pastries and more. Robyn has extensive experience as a Cooking Teacher - you may have seen her demonstrating cheese making at the Southern Highlands Food and Wine Festival? Robyn runs Cheese Making Classes for Small Cow Farm so she will not be running those for us. If you want to learn to make cheese please contact Small Cow Farm. When you live in a small community it is important that you all work together...

Cheers,
Jill
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Thinking Christmas?
Give "an experience" to someone you care for.

GIFT VOUCHERS are available for a range of FoodPath products.


Options include -
Market Tour (Bowral or Biota market) - $30
Food Lovers' Walking Tour in Bowral - $55
Jam Making Class and Light Lunch - $95
Mystery Tour (2 people) - half day - $85pp
Mystery Tour (2 people) - full day - $150pp


Contact us to order now.
www.foodpath.com.au, info@foodpath.com.au, 0419 617 021 or DM us from the Facebook FoodPath  Culinary Tours page.