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South Burnett Exhibitors
Do Well At Catering 2003
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 29th October 2003:
Five South Burnett food producers have been busy writing new business this
week. All five of them (Paradise Creek Meats, Kingaroy Cheese,
Wooroolin Butchery, Proteco Oils and Stuart Range Wines)
exhibited their products at the 2003 Catering Trade Fair, which was held
at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 26th-28th.
The Fair is Queensland's peak hospitality industry trade show and over the
three days a constant stream of chefs, restaurateurs, food distributors and
hospitality industry insiders stopped by our region's stand to sample quality
South Burnett produce. "We made lots of good contacts with services clubs,
sporting clubs and restaurants," Mike Bishop from Paradise Creek told
me. "We also spoke to interested parties from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and
even some internationals. I definitely expect to see some positive results
in the coming weeks". Other exhibitors also reported great return from the
effort - including Stuart Range, who also used the event as an opportunity
to test out their new corporate image by giving passers-by a survey and
questionnaire form. The data they collected at the show will be collated
and used to fine-tune the new image and packaging before its official launch,
which is expected to be publicly unveiled next month. About the only down
side to the event was that several other regional producers who really would've
benefitted from the Fair couldn't make it - either because their products
weren't ready or because they couldn't spare time away from their day business.
I think there's a big opportunity here for someone to operate a combined
exhibit for these latter types of producers at the 2004 show.
Email me if you're interested
in this idea. Photo at right: Chef Steve Gudzinski and Mike Bishop
of Paradise Creek Beef promoting their range of new products at the Catering
2003 Trade Fair.
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South Burnett Wine
& Food Dinner Sunday 9th November
-
 26th October 2003:
If you're interested in really enjoying South Burnett wine
and food - and have missed the annual Vintage Dinner that used to be held
at Kingaroy Town Hall - you'll be as excited as I am to hear that it's
on again! Last Thursday night at the South Burnett Wine Industry
Association's Annual General Meeting, Maryanne Pidcock from
Captain's Paddock announced
that the 2003 dinner is going to be held at the Lil Ol Church Restaurant
in Wooroolin on Sunday night, 9th November (yes, you read that right:
Sunday night. And not much more than 2 weeks away). Peter Mansfield
from Winetac and well-known foodie Peter Howard will be special guest
speakers and buses will be running from both Murgon and Kingaroy to ferry
passengers safely to and from the gala evening. Tickets for a slap-up three
course dinner are $55 per head and are strictly limited to 100. About
since about 20 of them were sold within 5 minutes of last night's announcement,
you'll need to book and pay for your own ASAP if you want to avoid missing
out. More details? Phone Maryanne or Peter at Captain's Paddock on (07) 4162
4534 or
send them an
email.
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Region Gets A New
Wine Label
-
 23rd October 2003:
Not many people remember now that the South Burnett's wine industry was pioneered
by just two men: former Kingaroy Shire Economic Development Manager
Vaughn Prasser and former SBLGA Economic Development Officer Geoff
Milgate. Their hands-on research in the early 1990s led to the first
full-scale commercial plantings of grapes in Kingaroy and Moffatdale in 1995,
founding the South Burnett's burgeoning wine industry as we know it today.
While both men are currently working outside the area on other projects I'm
pleased to report that at least one of them now has his own South Burnett
vineyard and has just launched the region's newest wine label. Vaughn's
Vineyard - located between stonefruit orchards in Kumbia, 510 metres
above sea level - has just released a limited edition 2002 Cabernet
Sauvignon made from some of the oldest plantings in the area. Cabernet
sauvignon grapes are ideally suited to Kumbia's red soil and micro-climate.
They're a late-harvest grape and usually aren't picked until after the first
week in March. The 2002 Vaughn's Vineyard release is wholly made from Kumbia
cabernet sauvignon grapes which were picked by hand in the cool of the morning
and placed straight into an on-site cool room. The vintage was then produced
by
Stuart Range Estates'
master winemaker Ross Whiteford and carefully aged in French and American
oak for a year before release. The wine is currently being distributed through
Kingaroy's Carrollee Hotel, where it retails for $13.99 per bottle.
Photo: Vaughn's Vineyard at Kumbia and (inset) South Burnett wine
pioneer Vaughn Prasser.
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New Organic Pork
Products from Murgon
-
 20th
October 2003: As I've written in the past, the South Burnett has
enthusiastically embraced the rapidly growing niche market of organic
produce. One of the region's latest players is GABS and Bacon,
an organic farm just outside Murgon (GABS stands for "Gourmet Australian
Bush Sausages", BTW). Owners Wil and Megan Seiler specialise
in organic free-range pork products. GABS and Bacon's products contain pure
fresh pork with a combination of Australian bush herbs like lemon myrtle
and dorrigo pepper, along with traditional spices. Their products are also
virtually fat free - just a small amount to be able to cook them. GABS' bacon
and ham is traditionally double smoked and very tasty. Wil and Megan also
provide pork cuts and organic grass-fed beef in bulk buys. The couple have
been selling their GABS products at farmers markets in Noosa, Pomona and
Nanango where they're proving to be very popular. Brett Steele of
Steele's Butchery in Murgon is also about to supply their organic
pork products. The company will have a web site soon too, and we'll provide
a link in this story when it becomes available. Photo: Organic
pork production represents a return to traditional methods of pig farming.
It's much more labour-intensive than mechanised methods, but GABS and Bacon's
customers swear it produces a tastier end-product.
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South Burnett Female
Foodies Showcased In Brisbane
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 17th October 2003: On Wednesday 15th October the Queensland
Department of Primary Industries put on a special trade show at Brisbane's
Carlton Crest Hotel. It was called "Enterprising Women in Rural
Industries" and its purpose was to showcase 25 established food, fibre
and agritourism businesses owned and operated by Queensland women. I'm very
pleased to report that the South Burnett had 6 women there - almost
25% of the display space! Our representatives were Rae Hurley
from
The Left Bank B&B and
Cafe at Kilkivan (who's now expanded the business into South Burnett
Hampers and will soon be opening a web site for it); Georgie
Somerset from
Durong Country Beef, which
now runs an online beef cookery club through their own web site; Di
Elliott from
Essdale Park Lavender Farm
at Kilkivan (who make all sorts of lavender products including lavender tea,
honey and chocolates with more on the way); Pam Comello from Ivyholme
Organic Dairy in Kingaroy; Carolyn Stone from
Passchendaele Farm at
Burrandowan, who'll be adding a bit of winemaking to her offerings in the
foreseeable future; and Tia Mammino from
Mammino Gourmet
Ice-Creams at Childers, who source many of their ingredients from
the South Burnett and will be launching their Zie Granny Patch peanut and
grape ice-cream next February as soon as they can get adequate supplies of
South Burnett grapes. Reaction to the trade show was very positive and each
one of our representatives raised not only the profile of their own businesses,
but also the profile of our region. Sadly Carolyn Stone had to spend the
night in Brisbane Hospital after catching a bout of gastric during the day
(it's sweeping Brisbane, I'm told). And ironically, Rae Hurley won the lucky
door prize: a free night's accommodation at the Carlton Crest. Photo:
Rae and Bruce Hurley at the 2003 Fraser Coast South Burnett Tourism Awards,
where they took top honours in the Unique Accommodation category.
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Local Winemaker Profiled
In Latest Grapegrower & Winemaker Magazine
-
 14th October 2003: More national publicity for the South Burnett!
Barambah Ridge winemaker
Stuart Pierce has just been profiled in the latest monthly edition
(ie October 2003) of
The Australian and New Zealand
Grapegrower and Winemaker magazine - the bible of the industry. In
the article, Stuart makes the surprising confession that he harbours a lifelong
passion for boutique beers; tells the world that he has a pet dog who
occasionally follows him around the vineyards; and admits that he's frustrated
with people who seem to believe that Queensland is incapable of producing
world-class wines (even though the State is steadily racking up national
and international awards that prove otherwise) - particularly in the restaurant
trade. The cover of this month's edition (see picture at right) also
captures Barambah Ridge's Paul Brunjes planting Chambourcin vines outside
the company's Maryborough cellar door. Stuart's interview is quite a tribute
when you consider that the eminent 40-year-old publication only profiles
a dozen winemakers a year. It's also an acknowledgement that the South Burnett
is being seen on the national stage as a serious wine region with talented
winemakers. You can read the full text of Stuart's profile in Adobe PDF format
by clicking here (56K
PDF) [PS: Don't forget that Barambah Ridge will be playing host to
the 2003 Shakin Grape Wine Festival this coming Saturday, 18th
October. You can get the full Festival programme
by clicking
here].
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Team South Burnett
Gets Plaudits At Australian Cook-Off
-
 10th October 2003: Last night (along with hundreds of other
people) I attended the Lifestyle Channel Australian Regional Culinary Competition
Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Adelaide. The event attracted just
about everyone involved in the 10-day Tasting Australia Festival including
almost every famous celebrity chef in the country. Unfortunately the South
Burnett didn't take home a medal this time around - there were only 7 of
them - but our stature as an emerging (and exciting!) wine and food region
is now deeply embedded into the minds of the nation's culinary elite. Competition
veterans Barossa Valley, Yarra Valley and Western District South West Coast
Victoria all went home with the 2003 accolades. I thought this was well deserved,
since they'd all been competing in the event for the last eight years.
Ironically, though, we out-scored Hunter Valley (last year's gold
medal winners) on our first attempt and also Team Brisbane - and in some
ways I think that's a victory in itself. Event organisers and judges
congratulated Team South Burnett on our effort. We also got a big "thankyou!"
from the European wine judge for introducing him to
Crane Wine's Late Harvest
Frontignac. During the awards night TSB met and mingled with the likes of
Maggie Beer (whom I presented with a bottle of Captains Paddock Verjuice),
Stephanie Alexander, Rick Stein, Neil Perry, Ian Parmenter, Maeve O'Meara,
Gabriel Gates, Philip Johnson and Peter Howard (just to mention a few!).
We also heard that during the competition, footage of TSB was beamed to no
less than 1.2 million pay-TV subscribers (which isn't bad publicity
for the South Burnett at all). I also conducted live telephone interviews
with three radio stations, Win TV news and was interviewed by several notable
publications. Photo above: Cheers to the South Burnett from Tasting
Australia Festival President Ian Parmenter, who's asked us to come back and
compete at the next Tasting Australia Festival in 2005.
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We Meet A Famous
Foodie!
-
 9th October 2003: I got a grasp of just how huge the Tasting
Australia Festival is this morning. While we were having breakfast at the
Hyatt Regency Adelaide, Team South Burnett found itself sharing a coffee
with none other than Gabriel Gate (pictured at right). As most
people probably know, Gabriel Gate is a cookbook writer with an international
reputation. His 18 cookbooks have sold over 1 million copies in Australia
alone (and his latest is "Gabriel Gates Guide to Everyday Cooking",
published by Allen & Unwin, if you want to get a copy). He also has a
weekly segment on Channel 10's Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton. Gabriel
shared some stories of his experiences as a chef and his involvement in culinary
competitions. He also gave Adrian Hauritz (our apprentice chef) some much-valued
advice on gaining experience by travelling. I would expect that the remainder
of our time at the Tasting Australia Festival will involve a few other close
encounters with celebrity chefs, who are really thick on the ground as tension
builds for the announcement of the cook-off winners. Later on in the morning
we met the Greater Western Sydney Team (also first timers in the competition)
and it was a great opportunity to get another team's perspective on the event.
Then we visited the competition venue at the Regency International Centre
for Hospitality, Leisure and Food Studies. The team was taken on an orientation
of the facility and caught a seek peek of the reigning champions Team Hunter
Valley's competition food. The ultimate 2003 winners will be announced tonight.
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Team South Burnett
Hits The Barossa Wine Trail
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 8th October 2003: No true foodie can visit South Australia
without making tracks to the Barossa. So today Team South Burnett did exactly
that - and it was the first time for all of us. This part of Australia has
literally hundreds of cellar doors and unfortunately there are only so many
you can visit in one day (and only so much wine you can fit in the back of
a rental car!). But we did manage to squeeze in visits to Jacobs Creek,
Saltrams, Jenki, Chateau Barossa, Miranda and
Seppelt. We stopped for lunch at the iconic Maggie Beer's Farm
Shop - most notable for her verjuice and pheasant farm. And we also visited
the newly opened Barossa Cheeses and found it not unlike Kingaroy's
award-winning cheese factory. Visiting the Barossa region gives you a sense
of where the South Burnett region is heading. We could all visualise the
expansive valleys and rolling hills of areas like Booie, Wondai, Nanango
and Murgon terraced with the rows of vineyards as far as the eye can see.
And considering the explosive growth of the South Burnett's wine industry
over the last ten years, I think it's reasonable to foresee our region becoming
the next Barossa over the coming decade. Towards sundown we made our way
back to Adelaide with full stomachs, empty wallets and the clanging of wine
bottles in the car boot - but we managed to round things off with an exquisite
dinning experience at the Adelaide Hilton's Grange Restaurant where
head chef Cheong Leiw is regarded as the founder and leading exponent
of Asian-Western fusion cuisine (and in chef's circles is considered a culinary
God). What an incredible day! Photo above: Ironically, I ran into
Maggie Beer in the evening at The Grange Restaurant and had a chat to her
about the South Burnett region.
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Team South Burnett
Competes In Adelaide!
-
 7th October 2003: After 18 months of planning, Team South
Burnett was finally put through its paces this morning (Tuesday October 7th).
We hit the competition arena around 10:00am and prepared a three-course meal
for the panel of 10 judges. I'm writing this on Tuesday afternoon and now
that it's over, I can tell you that the whole team is feeling vastly relieved
and quietly confident at the same time. All the team members performed
professionally in their roles and - much to my relief - there were no mishaps!
Although the results won't be revealed until Thursday night's LifeStyle Channel
Australian Regional Culinary Competition awards night at the Hyatt Regency
Adelaide, initial judges comments were very encouraging. We received particularly
positive comments at our debriefing about our teamwork ability, our dessert
and its match with
Crane Wines' late harvest
Frontignac and the outstanding performance of our apprentice Adrian (AJ)
Hauritz. Our table setting which featured locally-made Mud Gear
Australia red mud-dyed linen serviettes was also a major talking point
with spectators and judges alike. Footage of Team South Burnett's entry can
be viewed Wednesday 8th October on the Lifestyle Channel (Austar and Foxtel).
Tomorrow the team will be visiting the Barossa region and having their fair
share of South Australia's vintages - it's certainly well deserved!
Photo above: Team South Burnett de-stress outside the Adelaide
competition venue after this morning's judging.
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Team South Burnett
Arrives In Adelaide
-
 6th October 2003: Today I'm doing something completely different
on our web site: filing the first of a series of live daily reports from
the Australian Regional Culinary Competition in Adelaide. After eighteen
months of hard work by Team South Burnett and the generous support of our
sponsors, our quest for culinary gold has finally come to a head. We hope
to keep all our readers and supporters updated on our progress on a daily
basis from now right through to the end of the week. TSB touched down in
Adelaide at around 10:30am local time on Sunday (approximately 11:00am South
Burnett time) and the first thing we found was that the weather here is a
little cooler than home - around the low twenties and pretty brisk in the
evenings. The hotel we're staying at is located right in the middle of a
fantastic restaurant precinct and we intend to take advantage
of it while we're here. The team chowed down on Italian cuisine for lunch
and ate at a trendy Indian restaurant for dinner where we had great food
and brilliant service to match. The choice and quality of wines
in Adelaide is quite phenomenal and an indicator of where our own region
should head in the future. We spent most of the rest of the day orienting
ourselves for our five-day stay, finding the competition venue and finalising
our competition strategy. We plan to make the most of our time here and after
competing on Tuesday 7th we'll be travelling out to the Barossa Valley
for a look at the wineries. Then on Thursday we'll be visiting the Adelaide
Central Markets - probably the most active fresh produce markets in the
country (that'll be an early morning!). We also hope to be able to
visit the National Wine Centre of Australia and the Haigh's chocolate
factory, both South Australian icons. Stay tuned for more! Photo
above: A seriously jet-lagged Team South Burnett outside the Adelaide
Central Markets, admiring the giant Tasting Australia banner. Arriving in
Adelaide mid-morning meant a 3am departure from our home in sunny
Queensland.
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Burning Beats Cafe
Celebrates First Birthday
-
 5th October 2003: Over the last year I've written several
stories about Kingaroy's Burning Beats Cafe, the courageous little
business that brought spicy Asian and Indian food and outdoor dining to our
region. Burning Beats aggressively challenged several long-held assumptions
in the South Burnett's hospitality industry (eg: that restaurant fare should
be limited to variations of meat and three vegetables and that dining should
be restricted to two-hour lunch and dinner periods) and some people told
me they didn't think the Cafe was long for this world when it opened. But
I'm glad to report that they were wrong. Burning Beats celebrated
its first birthday yesterday and the business is going from strength to strength.
Over the last 12 months it's expanded into an additional rear courtyard dining
area (soon to be covered courtyard, once the necessary building approvals
pass through Kingaroy Shire Council) and a mini-delicatessen for hard-to-get
south east Asian cooking essentials; funded a fortnight's cooking research
trip to Thailand for owners Paul Stoddart and Kerry Cotter
in mid-winter; and seen the introduction of "Blues In The Backyard" music
afternoons roughly every 6 to 8 weeks. And if you dine at the Cafe this coming
week (it's open Wednesdays to Saturdays) you'll be given a free
glass of sparkling shiraz to help celebrate a year of almost non-stop
growth. What I particularly like about Burning Beats - apart from the fantastic
food - is that it's shown that playing to the safe "middle ground" in the
region's restaurant trade may no longer be as smart as it looks. Simply doing
what everyone else does ignores the needs of such large numbers of people
that virtually anyone who comes up with something outside the
circle - and who does it well - is guaranteed to get a successful business
out of it. Happy birthday, Beats! Keep it up!
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South Burnett Times
Releases "Favourite Recipes"
-
 2nd October 2003: The South Burnett region is a smorgasbord
of culinary diversity and we're steadily building up a cuisine and service
style to satisfy virtually all tastes and budgets - whether it's a quick
snack, a family meal or a fine dining experience. The South Burnett Times
has recognised this and tomorrow (3rd October) they'll be releasing a
cookbook of favourite recipes from our region as a supplement to their regular
Friday edition. "Favourite Recipes" is a 16-page full colour insert
that showcases the wide range of local businesses dedicated to providing
South Burnett residents and tourists with so much gastronomic choice and
variety these days. And I'm sure that anybody flicking through the pages
of this publication will quickly agree that the South Burnett food industry
has taken some great steps forward in the last couple of years! Recipes featured
in the publication come from such diverse sources as Rhapsody Fine Foods,
Sameway Milk, the Bell Tower Restaurant, Swickers Quality Meats, the Burning
Beats Cafe, South Burnett Cookery School instructor Karen Ford and Captains
Paddock. There are also recipes from each member of Team South Burnett. This
coming Sunday when we fly down to Adelaide to compete in the regional cook-offs
we'll be taking some copies with us (courtesy of the Times, who are printing
an extra run-on) to pass around. You can get your own copy at any South Burnett
newsagency tomorrow.
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