In this week’s column: Kutchi Deli on campus, a new bar for the Barossa, National Wine Centre revamped, get snapping at the Night Noodle Markets, the end of an era for Beerenberg, and all about new-season cucumbers.

Parwana to the people

Adelaide’s favourite Afghani restaurateurs, the Ayubi family, are set to open a third outlet at Flinders University as part of its campus life redevelopment.

The restaurant will be similar to Kutchi Deli Parwana, which serves traditional Afghani food at Ebenezer Place in the city’s East End, says Durkhanai Ayubi.

“We had heard about the redevelopment – we get a lot of students in our city store – so we investigated and found the right people to talk to and negotiate with.

“We always thought our food is perfect for students because it’s good value, homely, fresh and filling – like something your mum would make.

Hand-made dumplings ready to be steamed or fried. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

“The students love the steamed and fried dumplings, but we’ll probably add some new meat dishes and Afghan hot chips [thinly cut crispy potatoes seasoned with herbs and spices served in cones or as a side to the other dishes].

“We’ve got a formula that really works with the quality of the food and its authenticity.”

The design and building process has already begun for the new on-campus Kuchi Deli, with Mash Design and Studio Gram recreating a similar look and feel to the city and Torrensville restaurants using the traditional Persian designs and bright colours of the Parwana branding.

An interior wall at Parwana Kutchi Deli. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The new Kutchi Deli will join five other food vendors at the Flinders University plaza: Burger Theory will be doing burgers and running the bar (the owners are university alumni),  Subway had an existing contract, and there are three others yet to be announced.

“Both my sister Zelaikhah and I are ex-Flinders’ students,” says Ayubi.

“Zelaikhah is a forensic scientist and I have an honours degree in chemistry. We think it’s fantastic that the university has listened to their student body and reflected what they needed and wanted there by creating a really awesome space with good food for the students because, compared to city students, Flinders University is so remote.”

Ayubi says the new Kutchi Deli will be softly launched in mid-December, and will be open fully by mid-January, when university resumes after the Christmas break.

Secondary FermentAsian

Tuoi Do in the kitchen garden at FermentAsian. Photo: supplied

Another home-grown foodie success story, the award-winning Tanunda restaurant FermentAsian, is currently closed for three weeks while it undergoes refurbishment and expansion.

The restaurant will re-open for business on October 7, and owners Tuoi Do and Grant Dickson have plans to open a wine bar and function facility at the rear of the restaurant by December 1.

“We’re thinking about calling the new wine bar Secondary FermentAsian, which is a play on making Champagne,” says Dickson, who also works as at Rockford Wines.

The food direction comes from Do, who was born in Vietnam. She and her mother grow much of the produce for the kitchen and create the small organic and seasonal menu of traditional Vietnamese dishes.

“In the wine bar the food is going to be more street-food-style, like Asian tapas, but still driven by local organic produce,” she says.

“We’re putting in a real charcoal grill,” adds Dickson. “You need to have that smokey smell of the street.”

Compared to the restaurant, Dickson says the wine offering will be more Barossa-centric. “The wine list has always looked outside of the Barossa because Barossa wines tend to be a bit big and overwhelm the delicate flavours of the food, but for the wine bar we’ll be looking for some more local wines that mesh.”

They will also be looking for a new chef to help out with the cooking.

“We’ll be advertising shortly for a chef,” says Dickson. “Finding the right person remains a concern for us. They have to be skilled and passionate enough to do what we want to do. Everything is made from scratch. We are loathe to dumb it down.”

Perfect wine matches

An artist’s impression of the Wined Bar redevelopment.

Also closed for renovations is the National Wine Centre’s Wined Bar.

NWC general manager Adrian Emeny says that after the bar reopens for business on October 6, it will offer a redesigned space for wine tasting and a new approach to food.

“The whole wine bar has been gutted to make way for a new fit to create a completely new atmosphere,” he says.

“Last year, with the installation of 14 Enomatic wine systems, we were able to increase the number of wines on tasting from 45 to 120, which has been very successful. People really enjoy being able to help themselves to all the different wines.”

Executive chef Tze Khaw has redesigned the Wined Bar menu.

“The food will be modern Australian in a sharing style with a predominantly South Australian focus,” says Emeny. “There will be wine-match recommendations for all the foods and tasting notes for all the wines on tasting.

“In November we will be featuring 16 of the medal-winning wines from the Decanter 2015 World Wine Awards.”

Show us your food pics

Hand-made black bean vegan gyozas by Night Noodle Markets stallholder Zagyoza.

Woks will be smoking in the Riverbank Precinct on Thursday night, with around 20 Asian food stalls presenting their best dishes as an accompaniment to the cultural performances at the OzAsia festival.

Send your favourite food pics in to us at [email protected] for our Night Noodle Markets gallery next week and your chance to win a night at the InterContinental Adelaide. Just remember to include your name, phone number, the name of the dish and the name of the stall you purchased it from. See Terms and Conditions here.

Yalumba’s pop-up Vine Room.

While you’re there, grab a glass of wine from Yalumba’s Vine Room, a two-storey bar, entertainment space and dining area made from a shipping container – and don’t forget to pop in to say hi and write your fortune for Adelaide at the InDaily Lounge next to the main stage.

The Night Noodle Markets run for 11 nights from September 24 to October 4, 5pm until late, and from 12pm on weekends. Entry is free.

A kick in the guts

Gut Feeling’s Sam Whitehead. Photo: supplied

A new stallholder at the Stirling Laneways markets this Sunday will be fermented foods specialists Gut Feeling.

Sam Whitehead (and his mum) produce a range of fermented foods and beverages, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha (fermented tea), probiotic protein balls and pickles designed to improve gut health.

“Gut Feeling produces foods to better gut health without the use of supplements,” says Whitehead.

“The link between our gut and brain is not a new revelation, however the importance of gut health and how it can influence our overall physical and mental state is becoming increasingly apparent. It has been discovered that gut flora health is linked to learning difficulties, autism and autoimmune diseases. Cultures which use fermented foods and have a lower level of hygiene generally don’t present with these kinds of diseases.

“In the western world, we’re all too clean, all about antiseptics and pesticides, so we’re essentially eating dead foods which don’t help to feed our gut flora.”

Whitehead’s passion for fermented foods began while visiting Guatemala, where he learned the ancient art in a small town called San Marcos on the banks of Lake Atitlan. “I came home with a plan to start creating flavourful, vibrant and nutritious ferments from local produce grown sustainably without the use of chemicals,” he says.

“It’s exciting to think what our future holds as we start to understand the benefits of a holistic approach to health and let real food be our medicine.”

You can find Gut Feeling at the Stirling Laneways markets, along with other food and wine stallholders The Chilli Factory, The Gourmet Entertainer, Gourmet Home Made Produce, Karrawatta Wines, LocaPops, One for each Paw (dog food), Pudding Lane, Spice Girlz, Talinga Grove Olives and Two Hills and a Creek, on Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

Vale Beerenberg’s Grant Paech

Beerenberg Farm founder Grant Paech.

One of the founding fathers of South Australia’s regional food movement, Grant Paech, has passed away at the age of 75, after building one of the state’s most successful food businesses, Beerenberg Farm.

Paech got his first taste of the food business aged 10, selling mushrooms from a roadside stall directly opposite the location of the Beerenberg Farm shop and factory at Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills.

He joined the family business of dairy farming in the early 1960s, but planted the first patch of strawberries as a sideline soon after. By the mid-1970s the strawberry business was going so well that Paech sold his dairy cows and took stalls at the Adelaide Central and East End markets. He also pioneered pick-your-own strawberries from the farm.

Excess fruit was turned into jam and sold from the packing shed, now the Beerenberg Farm shop, starting the value-add side of the business.

By the late 1980s, Paech had signed an agreement to supply first-class Qantas passengers with mini jam jars, the first deal of its kind for South Australian food producers.

Beerenberg Farm now produces a large range of jams, jellies, pickles and sauces. Management of the business is continued by his sons Anthony and Robert and daughter Sally.

Dining at the source

Lunch with the Maitland family, producers of Pangkarra Foods. Photo: supplied

The Maitland Family, who produce Pangkarra Foods from grain grown on their mid-north property, are hosting an exclusive on-farm dining experience on December 4.

Diners will go on a full-day epicurean journey from Adelaide to Anama Park in the Clare Valley, where they will enjoy a five-course degustation lunch matched with local beer and wines, plus a visit to a local winery, a farm tour and a crop walk.

Limited tickets are available for $175 per person, including transfers (from Adelaide), food, wine and take-home pack. Bookings before November 2 can be made here.

This week at the Adelaide Farmers’ Market

Lebanese cucumbers.

Lebanese cucumbers are shorter and a lighter shade of green than most other members of the cucumber family. They have a smooth skin, are almost seedless and are a popular choice for salads, juices and sandwiches due to their sweet taste and fresh flavour.

Early-season Lebanese cucumbers and tomatoes are now available from Virginia and Murray Bridge growers at the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers’ Market.

The best way to store the cucumbers is to keep them refrigerated. Because of their high water content, the centre of the cucumber can be up to six degrees cooler that the surrounding air. Keep them in a plastic bag so they maintain their moisture and always cover the end with cling wrap if you don’t use all the cucumber. Just be sure not to keep Lebanese cucumbers in too cold a fridge as they are prone to chilling injury – you can see signs of this happening if there are water-soaked areas, accelerated decay or pitting.

A popular Lebanese cucumber dish is Greek salad. Roughly chop three Lebanese cucumbers and mix with two tomatoes that have been sliced into wedges and 85g of diced or crumbled feta cheese. Add a handful of Kalamata olives and some thinly sliced red onion and combine with 3 tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and a teaspoon of dried oregano and serve.

You can find tomatoes and Lebanese cucumbers at the Tobalong Tomatoes and Aldna stalls at the Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market. Feta cheese can be purchased at the market from Woodside Cheese Wrights or Alexandrina Cheese Company, with olives and olive oil readily available from a number of stalls. N&M Tsimiklis also has Lebanese cucumbers at its stall at Prospect Farmers’ Market on Thursdays, 3pm-6.30pm, next to the Prospect Town Hall on Prospect Road.

The Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market is open on Sundays, 9am-1pm, at the Adelaide Showground, Leader Street, Wayville.

What’s on?

Losing the plot – until June 26, 2015
Losing the Plot: food gardening in South Australia explores the history of growing food in South Australia. It examines the stories behind the food on our plates, from Aboriginal food production and school and community gardens to the home garden and market gardens in SA, and is accompanied by a program of workshops and talks focussing on food gardening and the use of garden produce in preserving and cooking.

Iron Chefs dinner – October 13 and 14
Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, known for his French-style cuisine and celebrity appearances on the Japanese TV cooking show, will be joined by fellow Iron Chefs Ikuei Arakane (The Glass House, Melbourne) and Mark Normoyle (RACV Club, Melbourne), as well as pastry chef Pierrick Boyer (Le Petit Gateau, Melbourne) and Ginza Miyako chef Kazuki Ushiro to present a seven-course dinner using local produce with each dish matched to Australian wines at the Adelaide Casino. Two dinner events will be held and will incorporate Japanese cultural performances. Tickets are $330 per person (standard) and $500 (VIP). Further information here.

Coonawarra Cabernet Celebration – October 15 to 18
Coonawarra has added another day to its annual celebration of Cabernet Sauvignon wines. From October 15-18, the CCC will offer 36 food and wine events including a Cabernet masterclass, a retrospective tasting and the second triennial Australian Cabernet Symposium.  More information here.

Beer and Bubbles – November 7
This new boutique beer and sparkling laneway event in the East End will showcase more than 50 local craft beers, South Australian sparklings and a selection of international champagnes with tastings, street food and entertainment between 1pm and 6pm. Tickets are $35 per person. Bookings here.

News, tips and information?

The Forager would love to hear about your news, events and suggestions. Please contact us at [email protected].