Wine & Food

‘You don’t check in – you weigh in,’ ran London’s Independent newspaper about a hotel in Germany that has been charging customers by the kilogram. Now, if you have any plans to visit Tasmania you can only hope the novelty doesn’t catch on.

In Australia’s island state it is all too easy to take part in something of your own food fest. From hand made Belgium-style chocolates to smoked salmon, cheeses and honey icecream, touring about Tassie can be an easy way to expand the waistline. Tassie, it turns out, has quite a connection to European gourmands.

The House of Anvers specialises in handmade Belgian chocolates and is just a scoot north of Calstock. Tassie is rather intimate by Australian standards – just 1/50th the size of Western Australia – and without venturing onto any off-the-beaten tracks it’s rather easy stumble across gourmet surprises.
 Belgian Igor Van Gerwen who came to Australia in 1989 has found the Tasmanian cream and butter to be the richest in flavour of any in the world. They’re ideally suited for truffles and fudge. His good food though is not confined to sweet pleasures.

We call in for breakfast. The café has Flemish influences including waiters in caps, vests and ties. The cheese baguettes with smoked salmon are enough for two. The chocolate croissants are warm, as if they have been pinched out of a baker’s oven. I ask the waitress where the fabulous pastries come from. ‘Out the back, the same place as all the cakes,’ she says. Near where the handmade chocolates are fashioned as it turns out. The Aztecs called chocolate the food of Gods. Anvers’ hot chocolate would be a suitably rich drink for deities.

A short run down the highway is Ashgrove Cheese. The milk comes off the family dairy farm next door to the cheesery. There is all manner of cheeses here, including a wonderful wasabi cheese. There is also an extensive line of more traditional cheeses to taste and you can check out the curds and whey.

On the road that leads to the World Heritage wilds about Cradle Mountain we detour to a small salmon farm, following the signs to 41º South Aquaculture. Ziggy Pyka is originally from Germany. Along with son, Ben, the Pyka’s built the fish ponds, a nearby wetland and boardwalk, smoke house, everything, themselves. Ziggy smokes the salmon to an old family recipe. ‘We brine our fish for 24 hours in a mix of peppers, garlic, a mix of chillies, caraway seeds, mustard seeds and dill and, well, we can’t tell you everything.’

We buy a whole salmon and with fresh bread and cheeses from Ashgrove have it for lunch under some towering eucalypts.  It’s a simple delight. Food so full of ripping flavours there just doesn’t seem any need for exotic garnishes.

Later we encounter chocolate covered raspberries and, at tiny Chudleigh, icecreams made with honey. The Honey Farm is a family business run by Dutch folk, the Beerepoot family. Remmo, the eldest son and the rest of the family moved from Western Australia six years ago. ‘In 1999 we moved to Tasmania because of its European feel and cooler climate,’ says Remmo. The rich honey icecream is sweeter than a payrise (well, almost). There is also more than 50 varieties of honey, including a chilli version and leatherwood honey, derived by way of the leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) trees’ flower. The trees are endemic to Tasmania.

According to the Independent, Jürgen Heckroth, the weigh-in hotelier, was inspired by a regular visitor who grew heavier each year. ‘Eventually, I told her that if she weighed any more next time, I would charge her extra,’ Jürgen said.

Should you find yourself about Tassie’s north, you might consider making a deal with hoteliers hereabouts: and ensure they don’t sign up for the weigh in idea. Because there is every chance you’ll want to come back.

Breakout
Calstock is approx 45 minutes west of Launceston. Check www.peppers.com.au and follow the links to Calstock or ph: 03 6362 2642 for more information
For more information on farmgates and other Tasmanian touring ideas check www.discovertasmania.com.au
41º South Aquaculture (the salmon farm) is near Deloraine. Phone:03 6362 4130 for more information.
The Honey Farm is in Chudleigh, west of Deloraine. Phone: 03 6363 6160 for more information
Anvers Confectionary is near Latrobe, between Deloraine and Devonport