An exciting NEW EVENT, A Celebration of Lost Culinary Arts, THIS Saturday, June 29, from 10am-4pm, shines the light on the Scenic Rim’s rich food history, while unveiling cherished recipes passed down through generations.
Scenic Rim Eat Local Month’s famous Winter Harvest Festival to celebrate region’s rich food history
Long before supermarkets and smart phones, there were generations of women (like Pam Leckie and Nita Thomas) who grew and prepared their own food. They were thrifty and creative, sourcing their ingredients straight from their veggie patches or swapping hard-to-get items across pastural lines. Any culinary creation worth its salt was preserved and stuffed into much-loved (and often flour-splattered) family cookbooks. From a time when you would bottle your own tomatoes to last all year - along with a couple of jars for the neighbours - these treasured heirlooms became repositories of family heritage, culture and lore.
A Celebration of Lost Culinary Arts THIS Saturday June 29, pays tribute to these pioneers of the “eat local” movement. It forms part of Scenic Rim Eat Local Month’s Winter Harvest Festival, where chefs, growers, producers and flavour artisans come together to showcase the region’s produce in the picturesque country town of Kalbar.
A Celebration of Lost Culinary Arts will now share a wealth of experience and expertise with the wider community, while also revealing some closely-guarded secret family recipes! Visitors can learn heirloom and heritage skills such as jam and butter making, preserving, pickling, fermenting, and much more.
A Celebration of Lost Culinary Arts is on Saturday, June 29, from 10am-4pm, at Kalbar School of Arts & Memorial Hall, 63 Edward St, Kalbar. Entry is free for Winter Harvest Festival attendees or a gold coin at the door.
Event highlights:
- Meet legendary local 81-year-old Pam Leckie, who creates 32 different lines of food from home, including jams, pickles, sauces, oils, chutneys and relishes.
- Kalbar local Jules Sparrow, has come out of semi-retirement to show her extensive range of sweet pickled onions, mustard pickles, preserves, chutneys, relishes, sauces, vinegars and oils.
- Pickling doyenne Sally Peach will demonstrate how to make meat paste, which a generation will remember on their school sandwiches.
- Valued community member Val Brown will share an old tomato relish recipe that you will want to keep for your own family cookbook!
- Kerry Owen – display of her personal collection of vintage to modern electric Fowlers Vacola preserving units, with jars and preserving utensils, along with original recipe books from the Kalbar Potato Festival and the Country Women’s Association.
- Templin Museum – display of old culinary equipment, wares and utensils.
- Boonah CWA – homemade baked goods, jams and preserves.
- Pam Leckie – Pamela’s Kitchen – homemade jams, pickles, sauces, oils, chutneys and relishes.
- Lizz Hills – The Cottage Collective – display of kraut crocks made on Tamborine Mountain, along with homemade sauerkraut, spicy Kim Chi, brown rice Miso, Kombucha and lime Kefir.
- Lana Bissett – Flutterby Gourmet Creations – homemade preserves, jams, chutneys, relishes, pickles, sauces and syrups.
- Morgan Fuery – The Drunken Farmhand – a variety of pickles using an old brine recipe and technique, plus small batch sauces (one smoked over wood chips for 6-7 hours), and mulled red wine pears.
- Colleen Benstead – homemade rosella jam and citrus marmalades and citrus butters.
- Dot Cooper – a range of preserved fruits and vegetables grown locally at Valley Pride Produce.
Presentation Program:
- 11am – Sandwich spreads and secret relishes with Sally Peach from The Pickling Project and Val Brown
- Sally shares her family meat paste recipe which a generation will remember on their school sandwiches. The secret behind Val Brown’s legendary local tomato relish will also be revealed!
- 12pm – Small batch butter making then and now with Kay Tommerup from Tommerup’s Dairy Farm
- Kay shares her love of butter making with her mum and will demonstrate how she still makes it today with son Harry
- 1pm – Celebrating the Shrub with Alison Alexander from ABC Radio Brisbane
- Alison demonstrates a fruit vinegar dating back to the 1600s that nowadays is used to make non-alcoholic drinks and also cocktails
- 2pm – What to do with veggie leftovers with Lizz Hills from The Cottage Collective
- Lizz demonstrates how to create a simple ‘counter top’ veggie pickle – reduce food waste, save money and create a tasty little jar that’s good for your health!
WINTER HARVEST WEEKEND: Friday June 28 to Sunday June 30
All information here: Winter Harvest Festival - Scenic Rim Eat Local Month
Book your tickets NOW, plus your accommodation, or day trips!
Over three flavour-filled days, from Friday, June 28 to Sunday, June 30, the Winter Harvest Weekend is an epic, flavour-filled way to end Scenic Rim Eat Local Month. It’s the final salute of the month-long festival, where Food Ambassador chefs join growers, producers and flavour-makers in celebrating the process of paddock-to-plate.
On Saturday, the Winter Harvest Festival is set to take foodies on a journey through flavours, with fresh produce stalls, lavish food and wine tastings, and engaging cooking demonstrations. Celebrating the joy of harvest produce, there will be more than 60 displays from local foodies, tasting and sipping stations, and the World-Famous Tractor Pull. Or you might want to try Moffatt's famous Carrot Ice Cream! Did you know the Scenic Rim produces 600 million carrots a year and is the carrot capital of the country!?
Just around the corner, the Celebration of Lost Culinary Arts showcases heirloom and heritage skills, such as jam and butter making, pickling, preserving, and more.
On Saturday night it’s the Harvest Hoedown, featuring local country music star Laura Frank, and on Sunday, 5th generation farmers, Valley Pride Produce, takes foodies on a farm visit for Harvest with the Farmer, while Scenic Rim Food Ambassador Ash Martin hosts The Progressive Paddock at the Scenic Rim Farm Shop & Cafe.
The Winter Harvest Festival is proudly presented by Scenic Rim Regional Council, with support from Major Partner Moffatt Fresh Produce, and Supporting Partners Kalfresh Vegetables, Urban Utilities, Community Bank Kalbar, Queensland Hire, Brisbane Economic Development Agency and ABC Radio Brisbane. The event is also supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
ABOUT THE SCENIC RIM: Since being named by global travel authority Lonely Planet as one of the hottest destinations in the world to visit in 2022, the SCENIC RIM in Queensland has continued to win accolades. Last year delicious. magazine named it in the top 10 places to visit in Australia and this year, Qantas Travel Insider has included it in the Hottest Places in the World to Visit (the only Queensland inclusion)! visitscenicrim.com.au
For more information, imagery and interviews please contact Kath Rose on 0416 291 493 or email kath@kathrose.com
Contact details:
Kath Rose on 0416 291 493 or email kath@kathrose.com
