No Worries, Mate

Food with a view

When I stepped into the kitchen of the home my husband and I had rented for 10 days, jet lag and the International Date Line making my eyelids droop, my body immediately perked. Witnessing the view through the expansive kitchen window, I knew that seeking out local foods in this country  – cooking them without the help of recipes – would be pure pleasure.

A shagged bark gum tree, a hillside of vineyards (Hewitson Sauvignon Blanc vineyards, to be exact), a bay leaf “tree” whose size rivaled the 13-year-old blue spruce tree in my Ohio backyard, a pond often visited by a pair of Australian white ibis, two llamas we affectionately named Larry and Lucy, and a rooster that often needed to be reminded that, despite his morning crowing, the chickens were not laying eggs.

Adelaide Hills, South Australia, is precious country. It’s high and wide and beautiful – a great cloak of native forest and farmland spread across valleys and ridges of the Mt. Lofty Ranges.

Now acknowledged as one of the world’s finest producers of cool-climate grapes and close enough to another stellar wine region, the Barossa Valley, I was ready to experience this boutique country of charm and chic – with enough varietals and champion wine cellars to satisfy even the slightest hint of wine snobbery.

The Adelaide Hills is one of the few regions in Australia that enjoys four distinct seasons, and it was the beginning of fall when we arrived. During my explorations there, my food purchases were varied and assorted, and a keen eye on everything from bananas to olive oil helped ensure a local bend to the region's uniqueness and flavor.

Market Fancy

Food shopping took me to nearby Hahndorf, a historic village settled by German immigrants in 1839 and one of South Australia’s 17 State Heritage areas, and Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia.

Cheeses were purchased at Smelly Cheese in the Adelaide Central Market and Udder Delights Cheese Cellar, two artisan cheese factories and retail stalls. Cheese making in this area is a relatively young industry, mostly seeing first generation cheesemakers. These family-owned cheesers specialize in producing an award-winning range of handmade cheeses that are boastful with authentic flavors and beautiful presentations. Our choices included Heidi Tilsit from Tasmania (a washed, brushed rind cow’s milk cheese with a crusty edible rind; mildly pungent, the flavor throws hints of fruit & spices with a buttery finish.), Adelaide Hills Big Brie, Adelaide Blue and chevre. I even walked out with a package of Riverland muscatel raisins (of which only a few made it home to share), Australian crispbread and some plain lavash, too.

The Adelaide Central Market is the largest covered market in the Southern Hemisphere, and each stall was brimming with an extraordinary selection of produce, cheeses, meats and seafood. My seafood search took me to Samtass Seafood’s staff, with a staggering array of Australian and New Zealand selections of fish and crustaceans. The local King George Whiting was a “must try” on my local cooking list, and I purchased four fillets at this family owned seafood stall.

On the way out of the Market, I picked up some freshly baked croissants.

At the Vegetable Market in Hahndorf, I shopped for local plum tomatoes, garden fresh parsley, sweet yellow onions, a bunch of stem-on carrots, pink white potatoes (already washed and spot-on clean), Bibb lettuce (with the roots still attached; so fresh, I felt as if the farmer was walking out at that moment shaking the fresh dirt off his hands), Pink Lady apples from New Zealand, jarrahdale (Australian pumpkin) and stalks of rhubarb.