Sourcing and Foraging Nature’s Best
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
« The act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the earth. » (Joseph Wood Crutch, Naturalist 1893 – 1970).
Melbourne, 2013-01-14 — /travelprnews.com/ — Two of Australia’s most respected natural wine producers – Anton Von Klopper and Tom Shobbrook – tee up with Dusty Treweek of Wallis & Ed and guest chef Joel Alderson to create their five-course Wild Weeds & Wine dinner as part of this year’s earth-themed Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
In preparation for the earthbound dinner that will be held on 4th and 5th March, Alderson and talented wine producers (Von Klopper of Lucy Margaux Vineyards and Shobbrook, winner of the 2010 Wine Australia Talent, Best New Talent; will forage amongst Victoria’s richest natural pastures for a one week 1,000 kilometre journey gathering edible weeds, succulents and animals. Delicacies foraged and sourced en route may include such finds as coastal seaweed, sea blight, samphire, pig face, acorns, dandelion, milk thistle, wood sorrel, eel, lobster and wild mushrooms. All dairy and animals will be sourced from biodynamic producers who have great respect for the earth, soil and nurturing. Sustainable produce will also be gathered from The Windsor Hotel’s vegetable patches located on the roof of the Federation Square complex. The Windsor is the first hotel in Melbourne to be part of the Pop Up Patch community initiative.
The filmed road journey that will be shown during the event begins in the Adelaide Hills at Lucy Margaux, winding its way through some of the richest Victorian pastoral pockets to culminate in the Bourke Street kitchen of Wallis & Ed.
Chefs Alderson and Treweek will bring earth to the table with their use of traditional cooking methods, exploring the role of earthly vessels and craft: curing with a block of salt; baking fish in clay; smoking with grapevines and using hay to roast. The majority of cooking will involve low intervention where food is prepared in as natural a state as possible.
All courses will be matched with a traditional and non-traditional pairing presented by Von Klopper and Shobbrook.
In celebration of the 130th anniversary of The Windsor, the cost per head is $130 for a five-course feast of wild produce and wine and will be held on 4th and 5th March 2013 at 6.30pm. Reservations open 1st February 2013 and can be made by calling 9633 6004 or emailing reservations@thw.com.au.
Wallis & Ed enjoys a prestigious location at 1 Bourke Street Melbourne and is a contemporary addition to its 1883 grand neighbour, The Windsor. Alderson and Treweek ‘s culinary talent shows they are not afraid to break the rules – as did the Royals after whom the bistro is named.
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Images available upon request.
For further information please contact :
Chantal Hooper
chooper@thw.com.au or vbatters@thw.com.au
Tel : (03) 9633 6193