Lockdown has forced many of us to slow down, giving us more time to tend to our gardens and play around in the kitchen. Slower days are perfect for slower cooking, learning new skills in the kitchen and even growing our own produce.
Many people are sparking passions and learning skills they plan to carry through to the post-COVID world. There is no greater place to fan these flames and refine skills than in Tasmania. Known for its beautiful scenery, fresh produce and great wine, Tasmania is home to some of the country’s most enticing paddock to plate cooking schools. If you’re eager to harvest your own produce, test your skills in the kitchen and learn new ones, this may be your next dream getaway.
The Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School and Farm
Nestled in the Derwent Valley, The Agrarian Kitchen is Australia’s first paddock to plate cooking school. Learn to make cheese, bake, make homemade pasta and ferment your own food in the 19th century farmhouse after pulling on your gumboots and exploring the established kitchen gardens. The school was founded in 2008 by former food editor Rodney Dunn and his wife Séverine Demanet. If you want to see and celebrate the full cycle of food and flavour, visit www.theagrariankitchen.com.
Fat Pig Farm
Let Matthew Evans, SBS’s Gourmet Farmer and sustainability advocate, and partner Sadie Chrestman, show you around their 28-hectare farm in the Huon Valley. You’ll meet chooks, a pair of milking cows, a herd of beef cattle, Wessex saddleback pigs and get to explore a heritage apple orchard and a market garden. “This is the kind of experience that we want people to have in our cooking classes, that they get to come out to the garden and actually harvest the food that they’re going to use,” according to Ms Chrestman. After harvesting your produce, you’ll head into the cookery school for a hands-on workshop and shared feast. If you want to participate in a one or two-day workshop, visit www.fatpig.farm.
Provenance Kitchen
The Provenance Kitchen is located in Stanley, in Tasmania’s north-west, and features a convict-era threshing barn in which classes take place. Meet local farmers and fishermen, and learn to forage for native plants in order to understand where and how your food is produced. After heading back to the historic kitchen, you’ll learn to cook a perfect steak, make handmade pasta and even cook abalone. To experience gathering and cooking food from the source, visit www.provenancekitchen.com.au
Have you been dreaming of learning to grow and cook your own food? Have you been spending more time in the kitchen or garden during restrictions?
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Related articles:
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/travel/destinations/tasmanian-journey-of-discovery
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/travel/destinations/embracing-tasmanian-winter
https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/food-recipes/recipes/spanakopita-spinach-and-feta-filo-parcels
