Over the past couple of years I’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to travel to different parts of Australia and put together dinners using the produce of that region.

Pinnaroo in South Australia, Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt and most recently Airlie Beach and Mackay have all been fantastic experiences where I’ve met some truly great people who are passionate about promoting the food that makes their area special.

So it was with great pleasure that this month I got the chance to show off my own beautiful Gympie Region and really consolidate what I’ve learnt and the ingredients I’ve discovered as Gympie’s food ambassador over the past 18 months.

On the 8th of August, 80 guests gathered at the stunningly beautiful Kenilworth Homestead for a four course lunch prepared by myself and my good friend and fellow chef Glen Barratt, using ingredients we’d gathered from all over the region.

The lunch began with canapés on the lawn matched with wines by Laine from Naked Bunch. Laine represents a handful of renowned  independent Australian winemakers who focus on producing predominantly biodynamic and organic wines.

Tin Can Bay Prawns served with Lemon Myrtle Aioli and Nolans Eye Fillet with Kale and Macadamia Pesto and Smoked Tomatoes got everyone’s taste buds going.

The group was then ushered into the 100 year old barn to be seated at the 2 long tables set for the rest of the feast.

My friend Eric Pernoud from Maison de Provence in Cooroy baked sourdough for me that morning and it was still warm when it arrived in its bags just before lunch. Gympie doesn’t have a butter producer, so I decided I’d make my own using Cooloola Milk’s thickened cream. It was well worth the effort, but next time I’ll make twice as much to avoid the fighting that ensued over who got to scrape the last bits from the butter dishes!

Entrees were Tin Can Bay Scallops, served in their shells with Slow Roasted Rhodavale Pork Belly, Shredded Green Papaya, White Radish, Chilli, Coriander and Lime, and Rainbow Chard stuffed with Roasted Bendele Duck, Puy Lentils and Caramelised Onions, served on Pickled Beets and Chard Stalks.

 

Main courses began with platters of Moya Valley Chicken Gallantines(boned and rolled chicken) stuffed with ricotta and herbs(once again, no ricotta in Gympie, so I made my own using Cooloola Milk and the buttermilk I’d reserved from making the butter). The chicken was served on Caponata, a Sicilian vegetable dish of zucchini, squash, peppers, celery, red onions, green olives and capers. I used green manzanillo olives from Fat Hen Farm in Kilkievan and capers from Bunya Red Capers in the South Burnett. The vegetables were all grown on Steve and Trena Waugh’s farm at Widgee.

The other main was a goat tagine we made using Dean Quick’s goat shoulders. Dean owns and operates Southern Cross Smallgoods in Sexton and breeds all of his own goats to produce a range of goat sausages, salamis and fresh cuts. We braised the goat overnight with heirloom tomatoes from Farmer and Sun and plenty of freshly roasted and ground spices, and served the tagine with roasted eggplants from Double Creek Farm in Imbil, Cauliflower Cous Cous, Harissa, and Tzatziki made from a combination of Kenilworth Cheese’ natural yoghurt and DCF’s Lebanese cucumbers.

 

We served the mains with a simple green salad of mixed leaves from the Farmer and Sun farm, dressed with Lychee Balsamic from Tomarata, Fat Hen’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Dijon mustard from Belle Moutarde.

For dessert we made Individual Lime Tarts with Cooloola Cream, using Suncoast Limes fresh lime juice, and a fantastic new product they’ve recently developed, frozen lime zest.

And just to be sure no-one went home hungry, we finished with Strawberry Jelly, Lychee Zabaglione and Macadamia Crumble.

The strawberries supplied by Jason and Kim Lewis from Cooloola Berries were bursting with flavour. We used Tomarata’s Lychee Liqueur, egg yolks, sugar and cream to make the Zabaglione, and Sandy Creek Macadamias, rolled oats, butter, flour and brown sugar to make the crumble.

In my experience one of the hardest things about putting together a lunch like this is the logistics of getting all of the ingredients you need together in the one place at the right time. All of the producers involved in supplying me for this lunch made the process so easy and I’m extremely grateful. The diversity of what the region has to offer made it a pleasure to write a menu for the day, in fact when I sat down to write it I think I could have easily written 5 menus with what I had available to me.

Special thanks must go to Laine Kerrison from Naked Bunch for supplying the wines, Glen Barratt from Wild Canary for helping me in the kitchen, Michelle Harfoot from ShellBells Photography for taking the photos and being kind enough to share them with me, and Claire Juratowitch the manager at Kenilworth Homestead who organised and put the whole event together.

Most of all, thank you to the 80 guests who came along to experience a beautiful day at Kenilworth Homestead. It’s nice to see so many people interested in the provenance of their food and so eager to learn about what the Gympie Region has to offer.

I’m already being harassed about the next lunch, so keep an eye out.

Below is a list of all of the producers who supplied ingredients.

You can find all of their details on the Gympie Gold Regional Produce website.

See you in Gympie!

Matt

Suppliers for the Gympie Gold Regional Produce Long Lunch

Lee Fishing Company – Prawns/Scallops

Purity Essential Oils – Lemon Myrtle

Nolans Meats – Beef

Sandy Creek Macadamias – Macadamias

Maison de Provence – Sourdough

Cooloola Milk – Milk and Cream

Rhodavale Pork – Pork Belly

Bendele Farm – Ducks

Southern Cross Smallgoods – Goat

Moya Valley Poultry – Chickens

Suncoast Limes – Lime Juice and Lime Zest

Cooloola Berries – Strawberries

Lychee Devine – Lychee Liqueur

Double Creek Farm – Eggplants and Cucumbers

Kenilworth Cheese – Yoghurt

Farmer and Sun – Tomatoes, Kale, Zucchini, Squash, Capsicums, Radish, Papaya, Onions, Chard, Beets, Coriander, Parsley

Fat Hen Farm – Olives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Bunya Red Capers – Capers

Belle Moutarde – Mustard