By John Rozentals.
Fresh Tasmanian fare: as good as it gets.
Wine Tasmania has launched a new portal that aims to bring together the ‘greatest hits of Tassie wine’, streamlining the shopping process with all proceeds going directly to Tasmanian winemakers.
Not sure where to start? Try the Tasmanian taster pack for an introduction to top drops.
Virtual cellar-door tastings are the new Saturday-night party. Clover Hill leads the way, offering a sampling of one of Tasmania’s top sparkling wines online.
Fancy something a little stronger? Share a dram with the godfather of Australian whisky himself, Bill Lark at Lark Distillery.
Happy hour runs from 6-7pm (AEST) every Saturday night with Vintage Tasmania, for online tastings and cocktail-mixing classes from across the Strait.
Meanwhile Tasmanian sommelier Joseph Burton conducts live-streamed tastings on his Facebook page weekly on Saturday evenings.
Each week he selects three world-class wines, which he sells and delivers via his website. Add a cheese platter, also from his website, for a great night in.
And Tassie’s top chefs share their secrets.
Meet Jamie Yates, the chef at Sonny, a Hobart favourite, pint-sized, Italian-inspired wine bar (and offspring of tiny eatery Templo).
Full flavoured beer from the hoppy isle.
Jamie has been spending her iso whipping up tutorials on making pasta from scratch and preparing the perfect roast chicken.
Massimo Mele, of Grain of the Silos in Launceston, has been busy uploading a series of video tutorials with help from the cutest sous chef we’ve ever seen, Maximiliano Mele.
Tasmanian Wild child Sarah Glover is sharing her finest fire-pit cooking tips and whipping up slippery-jack ragu using locally foraged mushrooms.
And former Franklin head chef Annaliese Gregory has been sneaking snippets from her book into her Instagram stories.
Meanwhile, Flinders Island Wharf founders Jo and Tom Youl have On Island Time, a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing stories of remote and remarkable Flinders Island with the world.
The channel has a food focus, featuring snippets of farm life, cooking tutorials and cameos from ‘friends of the island’ — among them chefs David Moyle, Matt Stone, Analiese Gregory and James Viles — who will be cooking with island produce from the isolation of their homes around Australia.
Let Tasmanian living treasure and passionate sourdough bread maker, Margaret Steadman, show how you can easily make your own delicious sourdough bread at home with a virtual Easy Sourdough Bread Workshop.
Learn all about premium sparkling wine: Tassie style.
The secret of fermenting the flour, makes sourdough bread not only taste great but is more nutritious than standard bread. Learn how to store, prove, knead, shape and bake your sourdough loaf.
If you’ve have found yourself dreaming of a tree change recently, live vicariously through season-five episodes of Gourmet Farmer now streaming on SBS On Demand.
Enjoy a Matthew Evans marathon as he forges a sustainable life in the Huon Valley, with wholesome recipes on the SBS website to complement your food journey.
Among a bunch of Tasmanian makers and growers doing home deliveries is Bruny Island Cheese & Beer Co, which ships its chilled boxes of artisanal cheese anywhere in Australia.
And not just cheese. The company has assembled all manner of Tassie gourmet goods for dispatch, from pickled walnuts to apple cider vinegar.
Meanwhile, Tasmania’s best-known outdoor market has moved online. Salamanca Market’s treasures and trinkets are now available via an online portal, minus the buskers and cinnamon donuts for the moment.
NOTE: Potential travellers should check the status of individual events and establishments with regard to the coronavirus outbreak.
