Graze until the cows come home

Good to graze ... cattle farms meet the sea, and "the Nut" cliff formation.Credit: iStock

As the courses keep coming, so do the stories behind them, turning a slow-food lunch into a gastronomic adventure, writes Lucy Barbour.

COWS chew their cuds on grassy-green paddocks overlooking a sparkling Bass Strait as I savour slow-braised lamb necks. "Bet you don't get fed like this in Sydney," the woman sitting beside me chuckles. This is the Stanley producer's lunch, at the Old Cable Station restaurant on Tasmania's north-west coast, and the feast has only just begun.

Most folk around here have grown up with a paddock-to-plate philosophy and have developed wonderful appetites in the process. We've devoured creamy scallop tarts, silky beetroot ravioli, flathead with Indonesian spices and now we're starting on meat. I dare not admit my stomach already feels stretched, as each of my 49 fellow diners lovingly scrapes - and all but lick - their plates clean. "You'll have to drink more, too," chirps my cheery neighbour, as another Stoney Rise pinot is poured.

I'm excited by where this gastronomic adventure is leading, so I cancel plans to depart that afternoon, book a room, undo my belt and enjoy every last crumb. Only then do I discover the stories behind what's on our plates.

The chefs and owners of the Old Cable Station Restaurant and Accommodation, Charlotte Brown and Michael Whatley, are responsible for these six-hour slow-food movement lunches. The afternoons are held four times a year, in summer, autumn, winter and spring, to celebrate seasonal produce.

Since 2007, Brown and Whatley have sourced ingredients locally, ranging from grass-fed beef, venison and wallaby to abalone, octopus, ginseng, olive oil and truffles. Brown delights in the diversity. "I compare this region to Puglia, in Italy," he says. "Eighty per cent of Italy's produce comes from there and, for Tasmania, the north-west is the same."

The north-west is well known for agriculture but the shellfish industry is equally as interesting.

Di and Jezza Charles, of the Stanley Fish Company, make no apologies that their crayfish isn't on today's lunch menu. "They're not in season," Jezza says firmly. The compensation at this time of year is scallops, and they're excellent. Brown and Whatley serve the succulent, tender morsels seared and cradled in buttery tartlet shells, drizzled with creamy veloute and garnished with parsley. The Stanley Fish Company is the region's largest supplier of scallops, also sourcing and selling crayfish, abalone and giant crabs. The factory is at the foot of the looming, volcanic rock known as "the Nut", thought to be 13 million years old, and alongside an entertaining aquarium.

I visit Jezza at the docks the following morning and he reveals that a Tasmanian giant crab can weigh up to 16 kilograms. "That one would fetch $180 and they can live up to 100 years," he says, lifting a fire engine-red crab and its almighty great claws from a tank.

I ask Jezza if he has any qualms about working by the ocean. "Yep," he responds. "I don't eat seafood."

Jezza need not feel obliged to eat crayfish, considering the abundance of grass-fed meat in the area.

In 1825, the English parliament granted 250,000 acres of land to the Van Diemen's Land Company, a team of London merchants that pursued a wool industry for British textiles. These days, the company is New Zealand-owned and responsible for the popular Greenham's Cape Grim Beef. Cattle are raised by farmers in the region and are free from antibiotics, hormones and genetically modified feed.

A farmer, John Bruce, sits two places to my left and points to the cows outside the window. "Those ones are mine," he smiles. At a previous producer's lunch, his beef was served as carpaccio, with cherry tomatoes, two-year-old shaved parmesan and a citronette dressing.

But spring is the season for eating lamb and today it replaces beef on the menu. A fifth-generation sheep and vegetable farmer, Rodney Medwin, and his wife, Christine, have contributed spring lamb necks, which Brown and Whatley have roasted, slow-braised and de-boned. The tender meat rests in robust gravy flavoured with chicken stock, roasted local garlic, fresh thyme, sage and rosemary. From across the table, Christine points out, "We've been eating these cheaper cuts and bits forever. Necks, belly, flack ... It's amazing to see how they've become so fashionable."

The deliciousness of these "bits" lingers on the tongue. Rodney attributes the meat's flavour to climate and good-quality soil. "The north-west is like Tasmanian's market garden," he says fondly. "We've got good pastures, regular rainfall, salt air, and rich, red basalt soil. Our sheep are always healthy, which means they grow more quickly." He pauses and grins. "I know that no one can claim that they live in the best place in the world but we really are in one of the most beautiful."

The Medwins's Black River Farm sprawls along elevated land about 20 minutes' drive from Stanley. Paddocks are a startling green and are home to fat border Leicester merino ewes with white Suffolk rams. The house is surrounded by a vast, perfectly manicured lawn, complete with a vegetable and herb garden, berry patch, hobby vineyard and an abundance of pretty English flowers. To the north, the ocean shimmers on a clear day.

Rodney comments on how diverse the region has become. "There's a capsicum farm and even an avocado farm now and here we're farming peony roses. People here are always looking for something unique to grow or produce."

One of the most distinctive items on Brown and Whatley's lunch menu is a critically endangered, rare-breed Wessex saddleback pig. Guy Robertson and Eliza Wood, who own and manage Mount Gnomon Farm, near Penguin, specialise in rare breeds such as highland cattle, Indian runner ducks, Japanese bantams and coronation Sussex chickens.

But pigs are their main attraction. Early morning inside the Mount Gnomon Farm barn, tiny piglets rest on golden straw, snuggling and suckling on their enormous mother's teats. Outside, the older pigs are trotting, rolling, eating and sleeping in large paddocks or on chocolate-red soil. It's as free-range as you'll find.

The pigs originated in England but the population was virtually wiped out after the introduction of intensive pig farming in the 1900s. Pink pigs were less destructive of the land and, eventually, people wanted whiter, supposedly "healthier" pork.

Seventeen pure-bred Wessex saddlebacks were brought to Australia between 1931 and 1953 but worldwide, only 30 sows are registered each year.

Back at our producer's lunch, the taste of Brown and Whatley's twice-cooked, crispy-skinned Mount Gnomon pork belly on parmesan risotto with chilli jam serves as the perfect reason for reviving the breed.

"To keep the Wessex saddlebacks alive, we need to increase the demand for them, so we're trying to show people how good the meat tastes," Robertson says.

Good is an understatement. The meat is darker in colour than supermarket pork because the pigs are free to exercise their muscles. It's the true traditional pork flavour.

The pigs eat oats, turnips and even the occasional bit of chocolate in the mornings. "It's all about balance," Robertson smiles.

With meat courses complete and wine flowing faster than the Franklin River, the promise of a "palate cleanser" sounds delightful. Brown serves delicate scoops of wasabi and apple sorbet upon the Japanese horseradish's leaves.

Since 2006, Melina Parker, from her property in nearby Forth, has managed Shima Wasabi (Japanese for island wasabi) with fellow farmers Rob Gibb and Stephen Welsh. They grow the thick, woody stems, which have tiny flowers and large leaves, in moist soil and now supply to top mainland restaurants. A silence of pleasure descends on the room as we all savour the clean taste and texture. Parker moves about the room, grating fresh wasabi from a hard, woody stem for each diner to try. It's fresh, hot and dissolves in the mouth.

Palates cleansed, we see the sweet finish line. White chocolate semifreddo is drizzled with Nicola and Robbie Charles's Blue Hills Organic Honey, produced near Cradle Mountain. Coffee and mini chocolate-beetroot cakes are a further indulgence.

"You wouldn't believe but within a year of planting it, beetroot was our biggest seller behind carrots," reveals Chris Benson of organic Forest Hill Farm, in Forth. Benson and five other family members left behind lives as sugar cane farmers in Queensland about 10 years ago to farm vegetables in north-west Tasmania. Today, they own five properties and grow certified organic beetroot, carrots, onions, broccoli, garlic, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbages and pumpkin. They're now the largest supplier of organic vegetables in Australia.

Satisfied and sated, my 49 fellow diners disperse gradually. Brown, who rarely sits still, puts her feet up and we make the most of leftover wine.

"It's an undiscovered secret that we have up here," she says. "It's only a matter of time before more people truly discover it."

To market, to market

THE north-west has a number of local farmers' markets. The Burnie Farmers' Market takes place on the first and third Saturday of the month at Wivenhoe Showground, Anglesea Street, [phone].

On the second and fourth Saturday, visit Devonport for the Farmers' Market at Devonport Showground, [phone]. There are smaller markets in Penguin, Don and Latrobe.

Every year, local producers from the north-west come together to showcase the region's food and drink at the Taste of the North-West. There's everything from home-made rabbit and wallaby pies, cheeses and mead beer to boutique wine, lamb burgers and leatherwood honeycomb. Saturday, April 30, 11am-4pm, King George V Park, Sheffield, 0407 972 156, tasteofthenorthwest.com.au.

Other slow-food lunches around Australia

1. Slow Food Sydney hosts lunch events throughout the year, including visits to farms and farmgates, particularly in the Hawkesbury region. [phone], slowfoodsydney.com.au. The site also has links to producers and where to find products.

2. Slow Food Blue Mountains is hosting a kitchen workshop with a twist: a Pedal to Providore event on February 26. Jump on your bike to source local ingredients before venturing to a mystery location to cook and eat together. Meet at Blue Mountains Food Co-op, Ha'Penny Lane, Katoomba, 9.45am-2.30pm, $25 a person, [phone], slowfoodbluemountains.com.au.

3. In Victoria, the Daylesford Local Producers' and Vignerons' Lunch menu includes Jerusalem artichoke and chestnut soup, roasted heritage beetroots, coriander and green chilli relish, farm pork terrine and potato forest-mushroom croquettes. Held in autumn (usually May), $105 Slow Food members, $115 non-members, [phone].

4. This year, one of the ways Darwin celebrates slow food is with a cooking demonstration. The theme was Indian and guest chef Amanda Herbert prepared bhaji, fish lemak with eggplant masala, chicken curry and tapioca pudding. At Hanuman Restaurant, $65, 0418 833 561, slowfooddarwin.com.au.

5. Celebrate the hunt at a Slow Food Perth long-table lunch. This year's event was a warreners' lunch, with an entree of wild rabbit and a main course of farmed rabbit prepared by chef Conor Keating. October, St Gertrude's College refectory, New Norcia Benedictine, $65 Slow Food members, $75 non-members, [phone], slowfoodperth.org.au.

Trip notes

Getting there

Qantas flies via Melbourne to Devonport for about $550 return. Jetstar flies direct to Launceston for $200 return. Stanley is a 1½-hour drive from Devonport and a three-hour drive from Launceston.

Staying there

The Old Cable Station Restaurant and Accommodation is about seven kilometres from the Stanley town centre. Seventy years ago, an underwater telephone cable was connected from the Cable Station and Apollo Bay, via King Island, providing the first communication between Tasmania and the mainland. Rooms are tasteful, comfortable, and contained cottages are available. Prices range from $140 for a single to $360 for an eight-share cottage. Breakfast is self-serve, with excellent local produce such as creamy King Island yoghurt. 435 Greenhills Road, Stanley, [phone], oldcablestation.com.au.

Lunching there

The producers' lunch costs $130 a head, which includes all food and wine. The lunch is from noon-5pm or 6pm. A bus transports diners from the Cable Station to the Stanley town centre at the end of the day and to nearby Smithton.

The Summer Producers' Lunch at the Old Cable Station will be held on Sunday, January 9. Tasmania has a cool climate but summer temperatures can reach 30 degrees. The 2011 autumn lunch will be held on April 10, winter lunch on July 10 and spring lunch on October 9. To book, [phone], [e-mail], oldcablestation.com.au.

See + do

The Stanley Fish Company's Seaquarium is on the fisherman's dock at Stanley. You can also pick up some fresh seafood while you're there. Adult $10, child $5, family $25, concession $8, [phone], stanley.com.au. Follow the online links.

Providore 24 is as charming and delightful as its owner, Patricia Reid. She stocks a beautiful range of products, including local marinated octopus, smoked fingerling salmon, cold-extracted artisan-made honey, Le Fournil bread, Anvers confectionery, gourmet sauces and excellent local wines. Try the Italian chocolates. 24 Church Street, Stanley, [phone], providore24.com.au.

Forest Hill Organic Farm has a small farm shop with a range of organic fruits and vegetables and other organic products, including flour. 1 Forest Hill Road, Latrobe, [phone], foresthillfarm.com.au.

More information

discovertasmania.com.au.