Not a mountain of snow, but a mountain of salt…

I lick my hand. I taste salty. I taste exactly like Mr NQN does after he has been out all day sailing (although he usually also smells like rubber wetsuit which thankfully I do not). Where am I? I’m discovering how salt is made. A group of eight of us have taken the two hour drive east of Adelaide in South Australia to the area of Price where we will be seeing salt being harvested and the salt farm. Yes put your hand up if you were like me and thought that salt was harvested in salt mines!

First things first. What is the difference between table salt and flake salt which is seen as the more premium salt? The taste of salt itself is dependent on its magnesium content. Flake salt is made into a brine and it is then set and crystallized and then they crack it to produce the distinctive flakey shards. It is exactly the same original product as table salt (although some table salt can have anti caking agents added to it). But between the two types, the shape of the salt crystals and its ability to melt on the tongue determine the taste. Saxa’s flake salt is a softer salt than Maldon salt which is hard when rubbed between fingers. And where does the term salt mine come from? Well salt here isn’t mined, it is farmed but in the Dead Sea, salt is mined as the salt is locked into the ground.

So how do we make salt in Australia? The Cheetham salt farms at Price in South Australia take water from the pure, cold Southern Ocean and deposit it in one of twelve ponds. There are six processes that occur in these twelve ponds and they tell us that salt takes a year to create from start to finish. Each of these ponds are progressively saltier. The first pond is the least salty and has fish in it and  during the months of Summer when they make salt (they harvest it during Winter) the heat from the sun and wind evaporate the water in the ponds.

First of all litres and litres of water are drawn from the ocean into the condensation pond and it moves through the 12 ponds over the course of summer with movement coming from gravity and the evaporation process. The last pond is the crystallisation pond where the water is very high in saline as so much evaporation has occurred. Each of these ponds has a unique ecosystem that supports itself with marine, plane and bird life and humans cannot disturb it. Also the pond system can never go backwards as that would encourage bacteria growth.

One of the early condenser ponds with birds and wildlife

In the final crystallisation pond the salt drops out of the water as the water can no longer support the dissolved salt crystals and the salt settles on the bottom of the pond. The salt is then harvested and then washed with a saline saturated brine which is necessary to ensure that the salt doesn’t dissolve in the liquid. If they are using iodine, they will add it after this step. The washed salt is then placed into enormous salt stacks which resemble icebergs or snow covered mountains for a year. The harvest takes approximate three months to complete.

Magnesium chloride

A by product from the crystallization pond is a secondary deposit collected called magnesium chloride which they use to manufacture cosmetics and to thicken and set tofu. This looks like a clear spirit and is incredibly bitter in taste. You can find it in face creams where it absorbs moisture from the skin and air but gives the skin a moist, dewy feel. Sneaky buggers these cosmetics companies are huh?

The ponds are about 1 foot deep which is optimal for UV light to get in. The ponds also have a “floor” of salt and to create this floor they sacrifice  one season’s worth of salt and then everything else grows over it. We pass samphire bushes which we pick and they’re similar to a very salty small budded cactus with moisture inside and also remind me of very, very, very green grapes. It gets so salty out there and there is so much salt in the air that if you spend a few hours out there you will taste salt all over you. The site is 10kms large and is bordered by national park and they own the surrounding land to that to ensure that they can control the product better so that there aren’t any additives or chemicals added to the soils.

Samphire

The whole process is an organic progress so it is all organically harvested but they point out that salt itself cannot be called organic as it is indeed a chemical called Sodium Chloride or NaCl.

Driving across the salt ponds

Click here to read the full story

“Hi honey,

I had a lovely bath last night and watched Miami Ink while lying in the bathtub which had lots of people with tattoos. They actually looked really interesting but don’t worry I’m not getting one.

I have to get up bright and early for the Barossa Farmer’s markets tomorrow morning so have fun sailing! Call me at The Louise.

Love,
Me-me-me
xxx”

I start the day off with my breakfast in the suite. I knew I’d be nibbling a lot today so this was eating light. I had a glass of premium cloudy Adelaide Hills apple juice (I adore cloudy apple juice) and a plate of locally cured smoked ham with Ballycroft fresh cheese and house baked rye bread. It’s perfect low carb food and the rye bread is sliced super thinly. The cheese, soft, ripe fresh cheese and thin bread are just ideal for a day of snacking and feasting.

That was the grand plan at least but when the bed is this comfy and the wind and rain are beating down outside rocking you to sleep. I look outside the window while having breakfast and it is still bucketing down. South Australia is the the driest state in Australia-yes even drier than the centre of Australia which was news to me! So this torrent of rain is an anomaly. I’m afraid I had a bit of a late start. And I start the day off in style when my fantastic tour guide John picks me up in this beauty! “Instead of driving Miss Daisy I’m going to be Driving Miss Lorraine” he says smiling. Aww why can’t life come with a  tour guide like John?

There are only six of these Daimlers in Australia and John owns three of these. This beauty was found in a paddock rusted out with chickens living in it in country Victoria. John himself has lovingly restored it and I get to be a passenger in it. The car itself lets you have 180 degree views as your seat is far back to allow you to see more. They were also built to be royal cars so that these windows open and you could wave to the people outside! I refrained from doing so

It’s cold and wet but despite the late arrival it is still buzzing. These farmer’s markets are undercover and held every Saturday and are where locals do a lot of their regular weekly food shop. To qualify for a stall here, you  must be a primary producer so that this is a true farmer’s market. I meet Jan Angas who is part of one of the most well known families in the area. The Angas family settled the nearby town Angaston.  She has her own stand which is the Hutton Vale Farm which grows pasture fed lamb.

For a state as dry as South Australia, most of the livestock is fed on grain as the pastures do not allow for it. Jan prefers to keep it small and keep true to making pasture fed lamb done as naturally as possible. Jan tells me that she gets feedback that celiacs and gluten free eaters have reported having some issues with grain fed lamb but not with grass fed lamb. South Australians are the first and so far only state to have banned plastic bags at the supermarket checkout and they have a rather nifty idea to make newspaper bags to help recycle the newspapers.

Newspaper bag!

We start with the pastry brand Carême. OK all of you pastry aficionados in Australia are probably familiar with the Carême premium puff pastry using real butter. What you may not have known (and I admit I didn’t know) is that Carême also bake tarts, pies, galettes and all sorts of other pastry goodies.

There are some absolutely luscious looking apple tarts, some chocolate tarts with gold leaf on top and the piece de resistance, a lemon meringue pie. It’s clearly calling my name. You hear it too don’t you? Interestingly some brands don’t have shop fronts and they only sell at these markets. Carême is one of them-I guess they’re too busy making pastry!

Lemon meringue tart

We start off at Ellis orchards. They previously had three orchards where they grew fruit figuring that if conditions or weather affected one then the others would help in that regard. They’ve now sold two of the farms but have kept one.

Everyone behind the stalls is from the company itself and Carmella is another example of this. She makes three products in Angaston, a Kasundi which is a versatile wet curry paste that can be used for curries but also for things such as marinades for fish and meat. Each jar can make up to ten curries.  She also does a dry curry spice blend which is intoxicatingly fragrant and a chutney. And Carmella was kind enough to give me a jar of her Kasundi paste! I’m suddenly the best wife for bringing this home.

The man who was the face of the Barossa farmer’s Markets and a favourite of the French journalists that visited is John from Cornucopia Olives. He’s strumming a guitar when we arrive at his stand. His speciality is seawater olives that are said to have a milder salt taste than regular olives but this also means that they have a stronger olive flavour to them. They’re so popular that they’ve sold out by now. He uses Lecchio olives from 20 year old trees that have never been fertilised or irrigated and they were planted wide which means that they survive the drought.

I stop by Bite The Biscuit where Melting Moments take on mammoth proportions. As Jan says they’re not melting moments, they’re melting hours. They’ve been making biscuits for three years now and the woman behind the counter hands me a Melting Moment “to enjoy later at your own leisure”. How lovely! I’ve got my cup of tea already planned for this (oh and by the way it’s delicious with a lovely tangy icing in the centre of the biscuits!).

We stop by the award winning honey placed Turner’s Honey. Their creamed honey, barossa valley pasture honey and their cup gum honey have all won awards. He is an ex accountant of all things!

We meet Rosemary at Four Leaf where I instantly recognise those packets as the same ones that sit in my pantry. When she first started making certified organic products people told her that she was mad and that no-one would be interested in them. Fast forward to several years later and now there is a big demand for organic produce. Her husband had an interest in engineering so he built the stone mills which meant that the cash outlay for the equipment was lower. The company have just celebrated their 40th birthday.

We pass by Fleming and Ware who make several types of muesli using Four Leaf’s organic oats and South Australian only fruit and almonds “The worst thing I can hear is when a Turkish apricot is in muesli” she says defiantly. Oops, better not tell her that I happen to love Turkish apricots then!

Among the businesses there is also a mix of cottage industries. There is a small grower that sells the produce from her farm.

We suddenly bump into Mark McNamara who is doing today’s shopping for supplies for tonight’s dinner. He is talking to Michael Voumard who is well known for having his own garden  and for striving for fresh and natural ingredients while doing things like growing his own paprika. He has five biodyanmic acres on which he grows produce and on Thursday and Fridays he holds Stonewall society dinners in the Rockford Winery on a table that seats twelve people only. And it’s for Stone Wall Society members and their friends and is booked out months in advance.

I try some delicious little morsels at the Steiny’s stand. Jan tells me that every town has a butchers and a smokehouse and that people buy their Mettwurst (a smoked sausage similar to salami) from their favourite supplier and everyone has their own favourite.

Another cottage industry is Elaine’s relishes, chutney and pickles. She has both a standard line and a seasonal line which reflects the fruit of the current season.

Click here to read the full story

My room, No. 3 at The Stirling Hotel

“Hi honey, I am at The Stirling Hotel in room # 3 but I don’t know if I can speak to you tonight as I’m going to a cooking school and after that I’m going to have a bath. They have a TV in the bathroom and a huge tub I can fill with bubbles and you know how much I like that. So you won’t hear from me tonight.

Love,

Lorraine

xxx”

So I wrote Mr NQN by way of explanation why I wouldn’t be speaking to him that evening. It has long been my dream to have a bathroom at home with a television in it-sadly it doesn’t look like it will happen in our current apartment so I am determined to enjoy the huge bath at The Stirling Hotel in the Adelaide Hills.

The Stirling Hotel is part of a pub and I have to admit I’m nervous as I am not much of a pub girl. I should have probably entered through the left hand side which is the beautifully decorated restaurant. I needn’t have worried. We go upstairs and through the private entry door to see a separate area for the five hotel rooms. On the way to the room they show us the guest pantry which is where you can make tea or coffee (although there are tea and coffee making facilities in the room).

You know that bit where they open the door and you feel like you’re home, except you’re not home, but in a room that you would have as your home if you had a designer?  Well this was it. There a fireplace (easy one button, gas), a comfortable king bed, lovely furnishings and a bathroom that is as big as a bedroom with a massive tub with said television. There are also Molton Brown toiletries and it is outfitted using designer furnishings and fittings (Kartell, Rogerseller etc). OK the wifi is a little slow which is probably the only minus but the mini bar is well stocked and very reasonably priced, the bathrobes are beautifully plush and the most genius part of all is the light switches. Light switches you may say? I haven’t taken leave of my senses honestly! These light switches are labelled and illuminated. There’s no ambiguity as to what switch goes for what and if I press one the bedside or room lights simply fade in or fade out. Light switches are the bane of most hotels rooms and I have wasted precious sleeping time trying to figure out which switch does what.

Genius! No more fumbling with strange switches! Could every hotel in the world install these pleeeease?

I settle in and wrestle a bit with their slow and fading in and out internet connection before I realise I am to go to the Sticky Rice cooking school. The taxi that has been ordered hasn’t arrived and I am about 10 minutes late in leaving because of that. When I go to the restaurant downstairs to check on it (there isn’t a lobby, that is one difference although staff in both the pub and the restaurant are happy to help), the man there calls and leaves a message with them to let them know that I am running late and then offers to drive me there myself. The Adelaide Hills people are nice!

The taxi driver arrives just at that second and we take the short drive to the Sticky Rice cooking school. Said to be one of the top three things to do  in the Adelaide Hills, despite the name, it offers cooking classes in all sorts of cuisine from Asian, Spanish and tonight’s Moorish Moroccan class. Owner Claire is there to greet everyone along with Bif who is our facilitator and Katrina Ryan, a chef from The Spirit House in Brisbane. Katrina was Neil Perry’s Head Chef at Rockpool and former personal chef to Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise (when they were together obviously ). The classes are so popular many are booked out and Claire says that she wanted to make sure that she had chefs that were a) great chefs and b) could communicate well with students.

Chef Katrina Ryan

There are two large groups and some groups of friends as well as people that have been given vouchers to the classes by friends or family for mother’s or father’s day. Claire starts off by introducing us to Katrina and we are handed out the recipes and menu for this evening.

We take a place around the large table where we all have a chopping board, knife and chux in front of us. Katrina starts off by showing us some basic skills with the knife. There are a total of seven dishes tonight.

Katrina starts off by explaining all of the food that she has started preparing this afternoon. Whole ducks have been roasted using a salt and cinnamon rub and saffron is being infused as we speak-she tells us that saffron is best infused for 24 hours to allow for the colour and flavour to develop fully.

She explains some of the ingredients including the differences between eschallots and onions and the two chilli sizes. And did you know that the hottest part of the chilli is actually the white membrane that the seeds are attached to? I had heard that it was the seeds but apparently not! She then shows us some basic skills with the knife including, crucially, how to dice an onion and how to segment an orange (a task I am terrible at!).

Cut off the top and base

Cut strips off the side

Click here to read the full story