~ Curious Charlie ~

Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show 2016 @ Sunday, June 12, 2016

Friday 3rd June

The annual food and wine show seems to get smaller each year, if you're not a wine drinker. No pasta or coffee workshop this year, still plenty of wine/beer ones. Worth going? Only if you get free/cheap tickets or are here for the wine. This year being caught up in finals/job hunting we missed quite a few tasks including obtaining tickets! There's lots of places are give them away, and people grab a few and resell them on craigslist. Ethical? No. But it's cheaper and legit. We bought our ticket for $10 on the day.

Left or right? We like to go up and down the columns to cover every stall, start on the left.

Capi Soda had samples of their range (no not the bottles) and it was a great time to try out a few without having to commit to a six pack. You could also pick your own set of 3 for $5, which is what we did.

In prime estate sat Maggie Beer, by the entrance) offering crackers/dips, soup and ice cream. Coffee and vanilla. For a gold coin donation you could sample all three, there was also seating. It was very crowded at the time, so this picture was taken afterwards. We had the affogato and vanilla bean ice cream, both were perfect! In size too, think Magnum 6pk mini size. Soup of the Day changes, but on day 1 it was pea & ham soup, which we gave a miss.

Show Prices - There are deals, and then there are misrepresentations and "specials". When products are introduced to the market they often have a discount to entice customers. At shows showbags are packages are often offered, and may or may not be a great deal, especially the ones with fillers. Also sometimes prices are higher at the show to cover the cost of them being there. As a marketer and events planner we know what to look for. Sometimes that 3 for $21 offer looks good, but is cheaper in stores...

Waterthins we hesitated with last time, as I live alone (in my perception, in reality I currently have seven neighbours on my floor and five+ upstairs, half of which are human garbage disposals, food left unattended disappears). This year we're splitting with jas, who doesn't know it yet. :P 4 for $10 is a very good deal. We love these thin crackers to go with our cheese. Bagelettes are Lucy sized, though we have yet to figure out how to serve them. Cheese twists are a thing, but are too salty for me, the new chocolate version we're excited about! Going to dip them into coffee.

A great deal, if you would honestly use all the things in the bag. Most jars say consume within x weeks, so it was a no go for me. But there's olives, tomatoes, a herb/garlic(?) paste, marinated things, a tea towel (you can never have enough of those) and a box that I can't read.

Kez's Kitchen have now expanded to keep on trend with their new free (of everything like gluten, sugar, vegan) and nakid range. The assumed healthy new age food trend, which we aren't into. We understand gluten-free for celiacs, but a lot of gluten-free people are of a certain demographic and do it as a trend thing. We're here for the butter cookies, melting moments.

This candy stall is here every year without a doubt! Hypnotizing colours...

Dr Oetker isn't here this year, but we have Della Rosa which I've seen in the fridge at Safeway. Might give them a go when it's on sale. I've actually never made pizza before, and only ever had frozen pizza once, earlier this year.

Unfortunately we skipped the cheese alley this year as we had a full night planned, after the event and can still clearly recall our last cheese party (for two). This area of the show was the most crowded on Friday afternoon.

Accompanying cheese is wine! But we didn't have time to stick around and do all the workshops. I don't really like wine, and have tried it many times throughout the years.

The Beer & Cider Hall

Wine Discovery Zone

The signature dish of the show this year was the $100 truffle wagyu beef hot dog. Truffle still smells like earth to me, so we gave that a miss. There was only one left at the time, but I have a feeling they weren't selling that many anyway.

Would you have ordered the $100 hot dog?

The Food Court - Featuring mainly restaurants I've
never heard of, with the exception of +39 Pizza.

Sizzle - Lamb, Rosemary & Honey $8

Served on Turkish roll with relish and caramelized onions

Instead of the $100 hot dog we went for the lamb one, as I'm not fond of the typical hot dog bread roll. Turkish bread is more interesting, especially with caramelized onions, which we bought a jar of too.

Sprinkles, Spice and Everything Nice Cupcakes - $4 for the big ones, $2 for the minis. Buy 5 mins gets 1 free. That's a good price the minis, adding this one to my potential caterers list (for work).

Golden Gaytime - A vanilla base with buttercream frosting and cookie crumbs. A bit boring for me, I prefer match x white choc x mint, lychee x rose and the likes.

Sweets for Tilly - On my list is a macaron tower. As someone who lives along and has more fingers then friends I've never had a party before, especially not one with a candy buffet and macaron tower before. We'd love to get one for the engagement party.

Oregano Bakery Scrolls - From Sydney, these are dense though not boring at all! They're filled with delicious fillings, we had the salted caramel one last time. Definitely recommended, though share one between two. As we went to the show alone and aren't seeing jas anytime soon we gave it a pass.

Three yogurt stands grouped together, we sampled brands that are new to us. Jalna's Strawberry one was nice, and one we'll be checking out. Greek yoghurt on its own or even with a mix in isn't my style, I prefer it in mango lassi or a creamy dressing.

Sovereign Hill Candy Store is a place we always stop by, for their signature raspberry drops and other boiled sweets (that sounds so strange...). How are these candies made?

This year the only workshop that didn't involve alcohol, now that coffee and pasta are gone is a new replacement was a granny style workshop ran by Bec and sam, ... who run fermentation workshops over in Adelaide, they also sell things in jars.

Rebecca's apart of the Dirty Girl Kitchen http://dirtygirlkitchen.com/, communities of women from our Multi-cultural Australia together through those skills that involve getting ‘dirty’, from growing food to making soap, brewing stock to weaving a basket. These are what Rebecca has called ‘Granny Skills’. This concept has been so popular that it is now called the 'Granny Skills Movement'.

I love that idea! No idea where I got it from, but I love making my own products like for green cleaning, things in jars and making soap (which smells amazing like candles). Currently tracking down that book.

We did the sourkraut style kimchi workshop which was very hands on.

I've actually never bought this type of cabbage before. Not a fan of sour things so this was gifted to mother. Undoubtedly it has found a new home on the kitchen bench or fridge and will remain there for the next half decade.

There's always lots of stalls with things in jars, pickled, vinegars, relishes, sauces and the likes. This is the first year we attended when we can say we cook, or rather dabble in it, like witchery XD.

End of the Day Deals - 4 Pies for $5! Was $8. Beef Burgundy, Chicken Leek & Swiss Cheese, Moroccan Lamb, Butter Chicken. These were delicious! Not your regular frozen pies, but gourmet ones. You can buy them for $4 each, the normal meat pie serve one one, at IGA. I asked and they said it's one of their best sellers, in terms of premade food.

What we bought, spent around $65 at the show + $10 for the ticket.

Classic Soverign Hill treat - Raspberry Drops. I still remember the first time I had one. Every year on camp le beau would buy me a jar. I wonder if they still do $2 lemonade, like when we went there in the 90s.

Need a Deliveroo first time user code? ROOGOTYOU will give you $10 off. Delivery is $5 flat. Code expires 25/7/16. Not that the primary key/link is to your credit card.

Capi Soda - 3 for $5

Raspberry and Violet Jam, was a new discovery. Scones coming up soon!

Beetroot relish and caramelized onions, staples to go with meats.

Jas introduced me to caramelized onions and they're amazing! With meats/sausages. Take it up to the next level. I love the Beernberg story and positioning, like other gourmet offers we saw at the show IGA stocks them all for around $5 each.

Tips

Be there at the start of the show and stay till the very end. The start is when you scout out workshops that require booking, because info doesn't know everything. We missed out on a workshop because of that.
The end is for your end of day deals, ready to eat things. Like pie. Was $8 now $5, four party pies. Once you try gourmet pies frozen pies will never taste the same.
Friday is the day to go. But Sunday afternoon is the time for bargains.
BYO market trolley. Could BYO wine glass from last year? BYO cooler bag/ice.
Wet wipes are a must.

We do feel like the show is getting smaller each year...

Have you been to the show before? What did you like/eat/buy?