Today, great news about a northern restaurant legend opening in Adelaide; the results of our lentil giveaway; strawberry seasons opens; and actual foraging!
Restaurant legend comes to Adelaide
Darwin restaurateur Jimmy Shu is bringing his Hanuman restaurant concept to Adelaide.
Hanuman, which includes Nonya, Indian and Thai dishes, has been packing out restaurants in Darwin, Alice Springs and Cairns for years.
The Adelaide Hanuman will take over the restaurant space at the Chifley Hotel on South Terrace. Fit-out is underway and opening is expected in December.
At least one former Territorian known to The Forager is uncommonly excited about the opening, and here’s what Lonely Planet has to say:
“Ask most locals about fine dining in Darwin and they’ll usually mention Hanuman. Sophisticated but not stuffy or pretentious (you can wear a T-shirt), enticing aromas of innovative … dishes waft from the kitchen to the stylish open dining room and deck. The signature dish is oysters bathed in lemon grass, chilli and coriander, or the meen mooli (reef fish in coconut and curry leaves) but the menu is broad, with exotic vegetarian choices and banquets available. Killer cocktails, too.”
The Forager is a huge fan of Nonya food – that fragrant and comforting fusion of Malay/Chinese and other influences. We can’t wait.
(Jimmy Shu may be familiar to viewers of Poh’s Kitchen – he appeared in series one.)
Great lentil giveaway ends
The great lentil giveaway has been a success.
Last week The Forager acted as the middle man for a producer of high-quality South Australian lentils, who wanted to give away 20 25kg bags to people who seek to feed the hungry.
The response was enormous.
The lentils have all gone to a range of worthwhile homes, including community groups who work with the disadvantaged and homeless, and organisations who support young people and kids.
It’s great that people are comfortable with using nutritious, sustainable, healthy legumes in their cooking (that hasn’t always been the case).
However, it is a concern that 500kg of lentils have been taken on so quickly. It seems to suggest that there is a great need for nutritious food to feed less privileged South Australians.
The Forager hopes that the producer’s act of community-mindedness can be an inspiration to other people who might have excess food to share.
Golden nugget lentils. Photo: Jacqui Way Photography
Berry season begins
Nights are still chilly up in the Adelaide Hills, but strawberry picking season has started at Beerenberg this week.
As well as the pleasure of plucking ripe strawberries from the family company’s Hahndorf strawberry patch, the best thing about picking your own is that you get to eat berries that have never seen the cold chain. The Forager thinks this makes a huge difference to the flavour.
Beerenberg is also showing off a refurbished Farm Shop.
Beerenberg’s strawberry picking season is open.
Wild, foraged and sustainable
Ingredients foraged at Basket Range – including wild asparagus, garlic, dandelion, river mint and much more – will feature at a unique pop-up dinner on Friday night.
The Conscious Food and Wine Fiesta Laneway dinner is designed to showcase environmentally-conscious cuisine.
Natural winemakers Gareth Belton and Anton Von Clopper were joined by a weeds botanist on the foraging trip, and the pair’s wine – grown and made without chemicals or “excessive” sulphur – will complement the food. Other ingredients will include Coorong mullet, spring lamb on the spit, kangaroo, the foraged salads, and more.
The dinner, to be held in the alleyway between Mercury Cinema and the Jam Factory, will include a preview of local film Not for Human Consumption.
Tickets are selling fast, so get in quickly. Bookings can be made here.
The foraging party at Basket Range last Sunday. Photo: Fernando M Goncalves
Small bites
SOUTH Australia’s best olives and olive oils have been named at the 2013 Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Table Olive Awards. Mypolonga boutique producer Big River Olives was named best in show for its cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. Best table olives went to the Coriole Giant Kalamata entry. For those contrary lovers of green olives, the medal went to Coriole Verdale Olives.
THE Collins Bar at the Hilton Hotel Adelaide is offering a taste of naval history. It has obtained a number of barrels of Black Tot Rum from the last British Navy Consignment in 1977. Apparently, when sailors’ daily ration of rum was abolished on January 28, 1977, it was agreed to not open these barrels for 45 years and only 3000 were available around the world. The bar promises the strength and flavour of the rum has been preserved. Apparently, the last day of the rum ration was a sad one: many sailors wore black armbands and held mock burials of the rum kegs.
NEW York Magazine has given Adelaide a big thumbs-up, this week recommending travellers skip Sydney and go straight here. The end of the article includes a list of “favorite tipples at the city’s buzziest drink spots”, put together by Shaun Pattinson, of recently closed Hindley Street cocktail lounge Cushdy. For the record, his list includes the Break Fast Fizz at Leigh Street’s Casablabla, the Grapple Cooler at the Loft Oyster and Wine Bar in Gouger Street, and home-bottled punch made with bourbon and peppercorn-infused curdled milk at Hindley Street’s Four Doors Plus One. Nice work Shaun.
