It’s a universal truth that no matter how diligently you try to clear your desk before traveling, you often return to a stack of urgent tasks. Add the disorienting effects of shifting continents, time zones, hemispheres, languages, driving sides and seasons — the latter often the most confusing — and a full week can pass before you regain your balance and write about the trip.
First, my thanks to the C&Z readers who answered my call for edible recommendations in Western Australia: your tips were generous, informative and a lot of fun to collect. They heightened my anticipation, and happily the reality surpassed my expectations. Western Australia (pronounced “double-you-ay”) has far more culinary strengths than many people realize. During my time in both Perth and Albany I was impressed by the range and quality of local food.
Below are a few highlights, presented in no particular order. Not everything I tasted was strictly local — when you’ve travelled from France, “local” can encompass thousands of kilometres — but these are the memorable bites and sips from the trip.
Things I’ve tasted
[View pictures on the moblog.]
~ Kangaroo meat: very lean, best cooked rare. At Little Creatures I enjoyed a marinated, grilled version with bush tomato chutney and a harbour view — a dish that made the long flight worthwhile.
~ The last of Gabrielle Kervella’s biodynamic goat’s milk Rondelet cheese. Production has stopped, but while supplies last it’s still served at Must Winebar.
~ Plenty of seafood: marron and yabbies (two freshwater crayfish), Australian salmon, colossal tiger prawns, soft-shell crab, trout, and hearty mussels — the coastal produce is excellent and varied.
~ Superb mangoes: juicy, fragrant, balanced in acidity and beautifully tender — miles ahead of many imported supermarket mangoes.
~ A lemon poppyseed friand, perfectly sized for travel and purchased at David Jones’ food hall. Friands are Australia’s answer to French financiers: almond-rich butter cakes baked in oval, high-sided molds, which gives them a distinct texture and character compared with the shallow rectangular financiers of France.
~ Excellent wines, particularly from Margaret River and the Great Southern region. I also tasted sparkling shiraz, an Australian curiosity — red wine with bubbles — that catches you off guard at first but quickly grows on you.
~ Tasty lamb and duck, high-quality olive oil and artisan bread, and yes, a few Tim-Tams. With so many local fans I had to try them; without the nostalgic context they’re essentially well-made supermarket biscuits.
Things I brought back
French customs weren’t picky about my edible souvenirs, but tucked among clothes and books from the writers’ festival, my suitcase contained a selection of flavours and pantry items I couldn’t resist:
~ Roasted ground wattleseed with remarkable coffee and cocoa notes, from the Bush Tucker Shop.
~ Ground lemon myrtle (bright and lemongrassy), and dried, ground bush tomato (tangy-sweet), both from The Grocer.
~ Murray River pink salt flakes.
~ Dukkah — a popular Australian blend of ground nuts, seeds and spices that makes a lively seasoning or dip coating.
~ Pistachio butter and unrefined macadamia oil, plus raw macadamia nuts.
~ Crystallized ginger and dried muscatel grapes (still on the stem).
~ A lively dried “fruit salad” mix from Whisk & Pin — a great travel snack.
~ A small jar of Elixir raw wildflower honey.
~ Rose-flavoured pashmak (Persian fairy floss) and organic chocolate-covered macadamias from Chadwick’s.
~ A few bars of local artisan chocolate, including Shiraz-flavoured chocolate from Cocoa Farm.
~ Organic cow’s milk feta from Over the Moon.
~ And a pile of Australian food and lifestyle magazines (Spice, Vogue Entertaining + Travel, Delicious., Donna Hay and Gourmet Traveller) that proved inspirational long after I unpacked.
Things you can’t eat
Beyond food, Western Australia offered memorable experiences that no suitcase could convey:
~ Ten lively days with writers, festival organizers and fellow bloggers at the Perth writers’ festival.
~ A leisurely mini-cruise on the Swan River: sipping white wine on deck then jumping in for a swim.
~ A tour of Oranje Tractor, Pam Lincoln’s organic vineyard and orchard — a place that feels very close to Eden.
~ Attending a performance of The Moth.
~ Picking up local vocabulary (capsicum, eschalot, “over East”, “good on ya”, “Sunday sesh”) and appreciating that Australians use “entrée” to mean the first course, as the word originally intended.
~ Visiting the Perth Art Gallery and being moved by early settlers’ paintings and the Roger Ballen exhibition.
In short, Western Australia surprised and delighted with its produce, regional specialities and food culture. The trip left me with a suitcase full of flavours and a head full of memories that will keep inspiring meals and writing for months to come.