#UnDiscoverAustralia – Food off the beaten track, Down Under!

Australia for me has always been one of the world’s finest culinary destinations. And thanks to Masterchef Australia the world has also discovered this fact. But I often feel, that while the mainstream dining, wine and cheese experiences all over this beautiful country are world renowned, but go beyond them, and you will find there is so much waiting to be discovered! Here are some of my favourite things to do...

Getting up close and personal with the spectacular variety of local produce and fine ingredients in Australia

Here are my recommendations for four absolute must-do food experiences that food lovers travelling to Australia must add to their itineraries.

Native Australian Cuisine and Indigenous Ingredients

Native Australian or Indigenous ingredients are plants, meats and seafood found only in Australia, that the original inhabitants of Australia, the Aboriginal people grew, foraged, hunted, fished and ate.  They became a worldwide phenomenon with René Redzepi’s Noma popup in Australia, that I was fortunate enough to experience, a couple of years back . And I can tell you that pigface, gubinge, salt bush, lemon myrtle, bush tomato, finger limes, wattle seed and many other fantastical sounding ingredients native to Australia look and taste just as unusual as they sound!

With René Redzepi and the fabulous team at Noma, Australia

Native Australian ingredients have come into their own in what could be described as the first truly contemporary native Australian cuisine. In fact, this is the best time to experience them with Chefs all over Australia incorporating the wonders of Australia’s native ingredients into traditional and contemporary menus. I’m really looking forward to eating at Shaun Quade’s Lume on my next trip. I had a chance to meet him on his recent visit to Mumbai over a fantastic session of cooking and talking. But what really endeared him to me was his confession that he carried the seaweed for his signature Lume dish, ‘Pearl On The Ocean Floor.’ all the way from Melbourne, having foraged for it just before he flew out to India! The passion for his craft was obvious.

Lume is the latest of this kind of restaurants, unique to Australia, that take you on a journey of discovery. In Adelaide, I had the good fortune to dine at Chef Jock Zonfrillo's Orana a restaurant that has been a pioneer in showcasing ingredients such as Lemon Myrtle, Bush Tomato and Quandongs in its small, unpretentious fine-dine space. At Melbourne’s Charcoal Lane, a social enterprise restaurant that provides guidance and opportunities to indigenous young people, I sampled an eclectic menu showcasing native Australian food is on offer! There are more, Sydney has some of Australia’s finest chefs; Ben Shewry at Attica, Peter Gilmore at Quay, Kylie Kwong at Billy Kwong, all incorporating indigenous ingredients into their food.

A Farm Visit 

It is not just native ingredients that are worth a try in Australia. There is a world of glorious food opportunities for you to savour. Farms all over Australia grow and sell fantastic produce for everyday cooking as well. And a trip to a beautiful orchard, vineyard or field run by a knowledgeable food producer offers a delightful experience. I found this out during my visit to the Beerenberg Strawberry Farm. Wandering around the neatly ordered rows, it was impossible to resist the child in me! I gorged on bright, smiling strawberries fresh off the plants and carried home just as many in my basket. No matter how old or young a person is, there is an elemental joy in running loose on a farm with abundantly rich produce. Whether it's strawberries in Adelaide, cherries in the Yarra Valley or the Mornington Peninsula, boysenberries or Lavender along the Great Ocean Road, you will find fruity, fresh and fun adventures awaiting you at local farms across the country.

Having a friend to pick strawberries with means double the fun!

I loved visiting Green Olive at Red Hill that has established itself as one of the premier ‘agri-tourism’ properties in Australia. It's a true food lover’s paradise! Featuring a unique concept that merges tourism with agriculture, all the food and wine served is based around what is grown on the property, and you can sign up for a variety of classes, tours and meal experience. I loved making sausages from scratch with the resident chef, which were added to our lunch menu. We also learnt about the biological approach to farming olives, grapes, sheep, chooks (chickens), herbs and vegetables before sitting down to lunch, admiring the view of the beautiful vineyard. As I talked with the owner Greg O’Donoghue and learned about his zero carbon miles philosophy in running the award-winning property, it dawned on me that there is a reason why Australian cuisine can never be cooked anywhere else in the world. Everything that makes it so amazing, is centered around its fantastic produce. And the best place to experience this unique produce is at its home in Australia.

Food Markets

Ah! The smell of fresh Aussie produce

And because Australia’s fantastic produce is only available on its shores, add some of the many food markets, central to Australia’s cities and towns, and bursting with fabulous produce and handmade, artisanal foods, to your itinerary. Visiting such markets is one of my favourite ways to get to know the cities I visit. The produce is fresh; the sellers are proud of their offerings, they love to have a chat, offer tastings and samples and one always discovers something new! I loved discovering African ingredients and yellow watermelons in Melbourne’s Queen Vic market, amazing seafood varieties in Sydney fish market, and tasting some of the finest cheeses with Mark Gleeson at the Central Market in Adelaide.

The largest and busiest markets are usually open daily, or five days a week, but in smaller towns, markets are held weekly or monthly. Most bigger markets offer tours one can sign up for, to discover the unique offerings they have, so look out for those! In sparsely populated, rural areas, the farmer’s markets might tour a region.  So, if you’re travelling around the country, do check ahead with tourist offices in the destinations to find out what’s on, and when. In Adelaide, the Adelaide Central Market is home to everything from Russian and Latvian to Italian and Greek foods. And I highly recommend you do a market tour and cooking experience with Mark Gleeson of Food Tours Australia, he is one of the most knowledgeable people on local produce and producers! I have spent hours and hours, wandering around Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market and Prahran Markets, buying crazy things like Budhas Hand Limes, Yellow Cucumbers, Purple Potatoes, black garlic and carrying it all home to my sisters houses to cook up a storm. I also had a fab time at Sydney's Carriage Works market on my last trip! Sydney also has a Grower’s Market, The Rocks Farmers Markets, Paddy’s Market that offer great food shopping, but my favourite is Sydney Fish Market.

Cook with Local Produce 

I can't think of a better kitchen to cook in!

I love shopping and cooking in Australia. I am lucky that both my sisters, Himanshi and Neha live there and are happy to open their kitchens up to me (they get to eat all my cooking so its a win-win). Because once you are on a produce high in his counry, post discovering native ingredients, touring farms, shopping at farmer’s markets, wanting to cook with all that fantastic stuff is ty is a no-brainer! If you are anything like me, you'll wish for a kitchen to start cooking all that superb fresh seafood from the Sydney Fish Market, or tossing up a lovely pasta with handmade pastas picked from Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market, or a stir-fry of fabulous fragrant Asian greens from Chinatown Sydney’s Paddy’s Markets. Yep! You know how it feels.

For your next visit to Australia, I highly recommend you plan at least one accommodation with access to a kitchen during the trip for a complete culinary experience of Australia. You'll have access to the gorgeous produce in specialty shops, Markets, along with excellent wine, cheese, artisan breads and cured meats at cellar doors, gourmet stores like Victor Churchill, Hudson Meats, Fratelli Fresh, fantastic ingredients from around australia and he world at stores like the Essential Ingredient, and Simon Johnson, I highly reccomend you go shopping at Melbourne's Gewurzhaus Herb and Spice Merchants in Melbourne or Herbies Spices in Sydney, to cook up an ‘Australian’ storm in the kitchen of your service apartment, or holiday house!

Alternatively, look out for cooking schools and classes all over the country. In Adelaide, you can sign-up for a session at the Central Market Kitchen, while in Sydney, there is the stunning Sydney Seafood School at the Seafood Market. Melbourne offers cooking classes at the Neff Market Cooking school in South Melbourne market. Also, look out for a great line up of classes at the Essential Ingredient stores all over Australia.

Finally, I must share, besides the things I have already shared, I also discovered the world in Australia! I urge you to also look out for the amazing variety of international cuisines available here.  All of Australia's big cities have little precincts populated by communities from other countries that  that have made Australia their home. In these precincts you will find restaurants that serve authentic fare of their home countries and also shops with amazingly value for money offerings of ingredients from these cuisiens. Explore Indian, Sri Lankan, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican cuisines and more! In case you need local guidance look out for companies like Foodie Trails in Melbourne, run by my amazing sister Himanshi or Taste Tours in Sydney!

Having traveled to the country dozens of times, first as a tourist, than as part local thanks to my sisters, Australia to me, is a destination that offers fantastically varied and vibrant culinary offerings; from fresh local produce at beautiful markets to fine ingredients at gourmet stores, from talented chefs to fantastic food producers, from authentic ethnic eateries to innovative world class restaurants, and so, so much more! Go #UnDiscoverAustralia and thank me later!