Food, Wine and Roses

The next day we rose at a leisurely time and strolled down to Salamanca Square to meet with Mary McNeill for our Gourmania Tour. The three & a half hour city tour’s key focus is Tasmanian produce: stunning cheeses, sensational cool-climate wines, fresh seafood, charcuterie, pastries and more. On the way Mary, a third generation Tasmanian, pointed out places of interest and gave us a run down on the restaurants and eateries in Hobart.

We started off at The Tassal Salmon Shop in Salamanca Square where we sampled gravlax, cold smoked and hot smoked salmon and checked out all the spices and rubs that went with salmon. From there it was on to the Wursthause Kitchen just around the corner where we tried the salamis, prosciuttos and hams. Berkshire Pig ham was outstanding. Our helpful guide went through all the different types and cuts of meat and then moved on to some of the cheeses that were hand made by various families around Tasmania. Before we left Hobart we returned to these two shops and stocked up for our forthcoming tour.

We walked up the hill through St David’s Park, a formal English style walled park that dates from the beginning of European settlement in 1804. It was the site of the first burial ground in Tasmania and many of its most prominent citizens were buried there. The site was selected because of its discreet distance from the camp, and its natural beauty. In the 1820s it was described as ‘a place of real beauty and rare seclusion’ crossed by two crystal streams with fine old blackwood trees dotted through the groves of wattle on the high ground.

As the town expanded, the land surrounding the burial ground was gradually developed and by the 1850s people were voicing concerns about the health risks associated with burying corpses in such a thickly populated neighbourhood. In 1919 it was handed over to the City Council to be used as a recreation ground. At least 900 people were once buried there and Mary recollected that her mother and many of the citizens of Hobart referred to it as Skeleton Park and refused to go there. A major feature of the park is the memorial wall, which is made up of many of the original headstones from the park’s previous life as the Hobart colony’s first cemetery. It contains the names and details of many “First Fleeters” and many of the early settlers of Hobart Town.

Onwards to Jackman & McRoss where we tried Ashbolt Elderflower Sparkling wine and a delicious savoury tart. Jackman & McRoss is a bakery cafe with a bakery inside and a bakery out the back. If it comes from an oven, they probably make it! Cool Wines, an independent retailer which offers specialist advice and a wide range of quality wines and boutique beers from all corners of the globe, was our next stop. Tim Goddard was our host. Tim has over 25 years in the wine industry, is a qualified wine judge and a stalwart of the Tasmanian wine industry. He heads a select tasting panel that ensures every wine earns its place on the shelf. He showed us how to judge a wine, how to hold it, check for clarity and colour, fragrance and taste. We tried five cool climate wines – all were delicious.
Spice World in the Bank Arcade saw us buying Tasmanian Pepper Berry in various forms. A delightful shop with the aromas of spices from around the world. On to Pigeon Whole Bakers for sweet pastries and tarts and the purchase of stone ground bread and then to the Lark Distillery for whisky tasting. Not being a whisky drinker I was offered a gin tasting – their beautiful Forty Spotted with Capi tonic, a twist of orange peel and a pepper berry. More purchases and we were starting to need a shopping trolley!

On the way we passed the new Myer renovation. Lack of money in Hobart meant that most renovations were either new facades added to old buildings or old facades retained and new buildings added to the back. The Myer renovation was the latter but due to the renovations piercing one of the rivulets that run under Hobart proved to be extremely expensive as it collapsed the construction and half an arcade of shops.
Our load wasn’t lightened when we reached Bruny Island Cheese shop in Salamanca Place. After trying the various honeys, cheeses and chocolates we added Prickle Box honey, Saint (a soft, white mould cheese with a lovely fudgey texture.) and O.D.O (a fresh cheese marinated in olive oil, it stands for One Day Old and that is exactly what it is. Great crumbled through hot pasta, melted on pizza or as an antipasto] to our load.

Fortunately Smolt Restaurant was not far away. Named after one of the stages that salmon grown through and next door to Tassal’s we adjourned there for real fruit icecream and sorbet before heading home to unload our purchases and have a brief rest before setting out for the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Arriving at the beautiful wrought iron gate entrance to the Gardens we headed straight down to the shop. Though the temperature was low, the day was sunny and the UVF was extreme. After purchasing a couple of very stylish hats we headed for the Mixed Border Garden via the Conservatory.

Though the plants were all cold climate there were plenty of ideas and plants we could use in our garden. The giant dill was particularly attractive and I had it ordered online before the next day!

Through the French Memorial Garden and on to the Japanese Garden we happily photographed our way taking in ideas, plants and just beautiful arrangements.

No sign of Tino (Gardening Australia) in the Community Food Garden just more ideas and a lesson in planting fruit trees and vegetables. A quick trip to the Sub Antarctic Plant House

and then a cup of tea and some refreshments before heading for the Lily Pond, the Fern House and the Tasmanian Section then on to the Oak Woods which featured a number of listed trees. Back along the path above the Lily Pond and through the Chinese Section we eventually made it back to the gates, hailed a taxi and headed home.

All in all we had walked about 8 kilometers around the town and through the Gardens. Our purchased wines, whisky and delicacies were very welcome!

Postscript
Mary of Gourmania tours is closely involved in the Hobart food scene. Here are her three recommendations to dine:

Etties
A European inspired wine bar, bottle shop and restaurant in the beautiful surrounds of one of Hobart’s oldest buildings. Simple elegant dishes paired with old and new world wines from home and abroad

Fico
One of the new kids on the block of Hobart’s blossoming food scene. The owners and chefs are young but with lots of experience in high end restaurants in Australia and Italy. The food is a modern take on Italian inspired food.

Dier Mahr
Melbourne chef Kobi Ruzicka’s part bistro, part bar is a all about simple fine dining using seasonal ingredients