Taste of Tasmania: A tonne of interest in eel

IT was an eel-led recovery at the Taste with one of the 21 new stallholders serving up more than a tonne of eel.

IT was an eel-led recovery at the Taste with one of the 21 new stallholders serving up more than a tonne of eel.

Third-generation eel farmer Brad Finlayson, of Tasmanian Eel Exporters at Bagdad, said he was impressed by how Taste patrons had extended their horizons trying the short-finned eel.

“We offered the fish barbecued, smoked, pickled and as a pate. And people who try it for the first time are loving it,” Mr Finlayson said.

Tasmanian Eel Exporters' general manager Brad Finlayson, left, with his business adviser Chris Millington and a 25-year-old eel at the Taste of Tasmania. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

“Our fish on offer here are about eight years old with plenty of flavour.”

The family business harvests and exports its eels to South Korea, Japan and China.

Before working his stall yesterday at the Taste, Mr Finlayson had a sleepless night preparing a 300kg consignment for South Korea.

“It’s been busy with demand soaring. Our farm produced about 60 tonne of eel this year, but in 12 months hope to grow that to 100 tonnes. We have a focus also on value-adding our product.”

Lamb farmer Galina Shea, right, and Italian Pantry's Matt Rao have teamed up on the popular taste stall, Villa Della Bocca. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

The world market for eels annually is about 300,000 tonnes.

“We’re a drop in the ocean compared to that, but we have a really good product and the fact it’s from Tasmania is a big marketing advantage,” he said.

The unique Valle nella Bocca, which is Italian for valley in your mouth, was developed especially for this year’s Taste by Derwent Valley primary producers, a chef and Italian Pantry’s Matt Rao to create handmade pasta dishes.

Mr Rao said everything was sourced from the Derwent, which included pink eye potatoes, asparagus, garlic from Rock Hill Estate, cherries from Pip’s Cherries and lamb from George and Galina Shea’s Lyndall property near Hamilton.

“It’s been a good experience and to be totally local is fantastic,” Mr Rao said.

Chef Will Chapman, who helped put the collaboration together, said the Taste offered an unprecedented opportunity for local producers to showcase products to the thousands of people.

“These smaller farms would not traditionally have the scale or capacity to attend such a festival as the Taste, and it is only through collaboration and working together that we can really show off the food that we grow in this state,” Mr Chapman said.

“As farmers, we wanted to take our offer to the next level. We do super delicious food and we want as many people as possible to taste it.”

Festival director Brooke Webb said the responses from patrons to the Taste had been of “overwhelming emotion”. The Taste wraps up today.

“We are not going to please everyone but those who have come have loved it. We are already thinking about next year and we could have a completely different program. I don’t want people to get complacent,” Ms Webb said.

Event manager of Kids in the Park Meredith Wilson said families had really responded to the active participant program.

Both the women’s and men’s Hurricanes players will run a classic catches program today between noon and 1pm.