Taste Buddies
Newcastle Herald
Saturday April 26, 2008
Imagine having a top chef in your own commercial-grade kitchen, showing you how to create a masterpiece . . . and then sitting back with a glass of wine to enjoy the creation while taking in the view.
It certainly doesn't happen in my kitchen, but Lyn Withers enjoys letting others savour a special culinary experience at The Company Farm, near Port Macquarie.The Company Farm's kitchen has hosted top-class chefs such as Neil Perry, for his TV food program, and Kylie Kwong, for a private function. But Withers also likes to give local chefs the chance to showcase their talents. The day we visited, Joshua Brinkman from Bliss Restaurant in Port Macquarie showed us how to cook Pepes Ikan, a spicy fish dish. Most of the classes are hands-on, or you can just sit back and watch the chef hard at work, usually making six dishes, before sitting down to enjoy the creations. The four-hour experience is designed to be more than a simple cooking class, Withers says. "For some people it's a special occasion or a luxury," she says. Withers has been operating Cooking with Company since February 2006 and estimates a couple of hundred people went to the classes in the first year. "I've had quite of lot of repeat business," she says. Although her background is in IT, Withers has been enjoying cooking herself for the last 20 years and says she started Cooking With Company because she was passionate about food and there was nothing quite like it around. "I wanted it to be an experience . . . so you've gone from the kitchen experience to cooking to the table." Set on 8.2 hectares about 30 kilometres from Port Macquarie, just outside the town of Wauchope, The Company Farm itself has been operating since 1991. It supplies produce such as lemon grass to restaurants such as Sydney's Rockpool and Sailors Thai, local Port Macquarie restaurants and, of course, for the cooking classes on site. Withers says there are plans to produce jams, preserves and vinaigrettes under the label The Company Farm. At Port Macquarie's Ricardoes Tomatoes, the food has to be red to get one of their labels. Alas, don't expect to meet an actual Ricardo when you visit he doesn't exist. "I do disappoint people and I have to tell the truth," admits Anthony Sarks, who runs Ricardoes Tomatoes with his brother Richard. As Anthony tells it, when Richard and his friends were drinking late at night, they called him Ricardo. "We were just all sitting around trying to think about a name and it rhymed. It sounds Italian and it sounds like we know what we're doing," Anthony jokes. The brothers actually started out growing tea tree seeds in the 1990s. In 2002 they ventured into producing hydroponic tomatoes and running a market garden.As of January, they have a you-pick strawberry experience. Most of Ricardoes Tomatoes' produce is snapped up locally, at the farmgate or local farmers markets, but Anthony says some can be picked up at the growers market at Sydney's Fox Studios. The business has two acres of tomatoes, as well as half an acre of hydroponic strawberries.The Sarks also recently opened their own cafe, called Cafe Red of course. "We want people to leave here having had the complete farming experience, the see, touch, taste," Anthony says. As well as its regular Hastings Farmers Markets held in Port Macquarie on the second Saturday of the month and in the nearby town of Wauchope on the fourth Saturday of the month the Port Macquarie Hastings region has ramped up its annual food and wine festival. The Tastings of the Hastings festival, which showcases food and wine from across the entire mid-north coast, was expanded into a week-long event last year and will be held again in October. The region boasts an impressive array of wineries, the biggest being Cassegrain, headed by John Cassegrain. Established in 1980, the winery is included on a number of north coast winery trails and exports to more than 10 countries. In addition to the grapes in its own vineyards, Cassegrain also sources fruit from a number of Port Macquarie vineyards and other winegrowing regions in Australia.It was the Cassegrains who suggested to another Port Macquarie family, the Charleys, that they get into vineyards. The InnesLake estate has been in the Charley family for 100 years. It was where the former commandant of the penal colony at Port Macquarie, Major Archibald Innes, planted vines more than 150 years ago. But it was not until 1988, after prompting from the Cassegrains, that brothers Jim and Bob Charley planted their first vines on land where their father Bob Charley Snr had previously grown pineapples and bananas. "Unfortunately because of the weather this will be the worst year we've ever had," Bob says. "There was no sunshine in the whole of January." He adds: "Because we're so close to the coast we're probably the earliest pickers in Australia. We often pick in the second, third week of January." Still, despite the hiccup with the weather early this year, the climate in this region is said to be Australia's best and the area around the Hastings River is now home to more than 200 hectares of vines. With many of the wineries having both cellar doors and cafes or restaurants, it's easy to sample Port Macquarie's burgeoning food and wine culture. The writer was a guest of Accor Hotels, Virgin Blue and Greater Port Macquarie Tourism.BOARDING PASS -? Virgin Blue flies daily between Sydney and Port Macquarie. Fares from $109 one-way but check for specials on www.virginblue.com.au or 13 67 89. ? Mercure Centro Hotel is at 103 William Street. Room rates start from $129 per night phone (02) 6583 0830 or see www.accorhotels.com.au.? Cooking With Company at The Company Farm costs $85 per person. An accommodation package for a couple, staying at the farm and with a cooking class, costs about $320 a night. For bookings contact Lyn Withers on (02) 6585 6495 or www.cookingwithcompany.com.au. ? Ricardoes Tomatoes, at 221 Blackmans Point Road, lets you pick your own strawberries or try the strawberry and tomato inspired menu at Cafe Red. Open seven days and entry is free. Phone (02) 6585-0663) or visit www.ricardoes.hastingscbd.com.au. ? Cassegrain Wines is at 764 Fernbank Creek Road, just off the Pacific Highway, Port Macquarie, call (02) 6582-8377 or visit www.cassegrainwines.com.au. ? Bliss Restaurant is at level one, 74 Clarence Street. Call (02) 6584 1422 or visit www.blissrestaurant.com. ? Let's Go Travel minibus charter service and wine tours. Wine Lovers Tour $75 per person and Scenic Wine Tour $95 per person, plus lunch. Contact Kylie Malligan on 0407 667 524, www.letsgotravel.com.au.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
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