Quarterly Newsletter
March 2012
Well, the season is Australia is coming to a close. We've had a fantastic five months and met many new people on our tours and day walks which has been a real pleasure. We've had some fairly extreme weather to contend with - everything from 40 degrees on the Great Ocean Walk to floods up here in Porepunkah in the first few days of March! At the beginning of April we return to Tuscany to start our Italian tours - 2012 in Italy certainly looks like its going to be a busy season!
The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival has this year celebrated its 20th anniversary. It is a non-profit making organisation that stages a 20 day program of events across Victoria and has been operating since 1993. The Festival celebrates food and wine excellence and generates world-wide interest. Food and wine lovers in their hundreds and thousands attend each year indulging in more than 300 events in Melbourne’s streets, restaurants, basements and rooftops, as well as across wider Victoria. We were really excited to be a part of the Festival and both of the Hedonistic Hiking Prosecco Road day walks which formed part of the celebrations have been full to capacity. We've had a great time with the lovely Dal Zotto family, walking in the King Valley and tasting their wonderful wines.
Dal Zotto is one of two wineries we work closely with in north east Victoria who are planting the Nebbiolo grape. Native to the Piedmont region of northern Italy this rich and prestigious red grape is responsible for the world-famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines. Bruce and Annie of the Ringer Reef winery here in Victoria had already grown some Nebbiolo vines but, after a visit with us to Piedmont last year where we introduced them to some local wine-makers, they returned home inspired! Now new vines have been planted and the wine from the original vineyard will be available for sale from 2013, after a year of ageing in the bottle. Our Jewels of Piedmont tour offers the chance to see at first hand production of Barolo wine along with many opportunities to taste it! How fantastic that next year we'll be able to drink it on our Australian tours too!
Talking of eating and drinking, we thought you might like to see one of the recipes which people loved when Mick made it for our Lazy Lunch in Bright back in February. Its a chickpea soup (in Italian Zuppa di Ceci) with crispy pasta and prawns. Serves 6.
Vegetable Stock
1 carrot
1 onion
2 sticks celery
pepper and salt
Herbs: thyme, parsley, rosemary and sage
Put all ingredients in pot with 2 litres of water and boil slowly for 1 hour, strain and save.
Soup
200gm of dried chick peas soaked over night
1 onion finely diced
1 stick celery finely diced
2 cloves of garlic finely diced
30 gm butter
50ml olive oil
1 bouquet garni
Sweat off the onions, celery, and garlic in butter and oil add the chick peas and stock and bouquet garni and slow boil for 45mins or until chick peas are cooked. Allow to cool and then put through blender to a smooth consistency. Put back on the heat and season to taste.
Pasta
175gm flour
25gm Semolina Flour
pinch salt
10ml olive oil
4 eggs (2 whole and 2 yolks)
Blend all the ingredients in a bowl by hand until the dough comes together and then knead it for 3 mins. Cover with plastic and allow to rest in the fridge for 2 hours. Roll out in pasta machine to Tagliatelle thickness and then cut. Toss in flour and store in cool spot under a tea towel. Heat vegetable oil to 200⁰C and fry the pasta until just light brown drain and cool.
Prawns
6 large green prawns
Heat a pan with a little oil, add the peeled and de-veined prawns and cook for 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper.
To serve place soup in bowl, place the fried pasta in the middle with the cooked prawn on top and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil around the outside.
We matched this dish with a gorgeous glass of 2009 Dolcetto d'Alba DOC "Lorenzino" by Ettore Germano.
Quite a number of our 2012 Italian tours are already fully booked. But if you are interested in a particular tour do please get in touch as we will be sheduling soon for 2013 and it would be great to know if you might already be interested in something. There are however a few spaces left on our Volterra and the Tuscan Maremma walk in early May - when Tuscany is at its most green and beautiful - so its not too late to join us!
For the first time in 2012 we are running a walking tour in Slovenia and Friuli, the north-eastern region of Italy. The tour starts in Ljubljana which is the capital city of Slovenia, often described as one of the "hidden gems" of Europe. The Romans knew it as Emona and there are still Roman remains preserved. The Medieval Castle towers above the old town with its pretty facades and uneven roof-tops. In the second half of the 20th century, it was the world famous architect Jože Plečnik who put an indelible personal stamp on his native Ljubljana. The city's appearance was further shaped by his students and a new wave of renowned young Slovenian architects. Ljubljana is an historic city with a vibrant and youthful population.
Inhabitants of this capital city number only 280,000 and it has a wonderfully relaxed and measured pace. It has a good reputation for hospitality and the "gostilna" restaurants, traditional places to enjoy good food and wine in good company, usually serve dishes prepared to old recipes using the best local ingredients. During winter, its dreamy central European character prevails, and during summer it has a relaxed Mediterranean feel. Due to its geographical position, Ljubljana is a perfect base for exploring the many faces of Slovenia. The country has been a member of the European Union since 2004. It is well worth a visit and we would strongly encourage anyone planning to take Hedonistic Hiking's Slovenian tour, whether this year or next, to make time to explore this charming city. For more information see our Ljubljana city page.
If you are booked on one of the Italian trips this season you might not yet have seen our new Kit List page on the website which gives you a comprehensive guide to what to wear on the tours and other useful things to pack. We also have a Reading List so, in preparation for your Italian walking holiday, you might like to find a book which reflects the area you will be travelling through. And don't forget to tell us if you have something to add to these lists - we are always ready for new ideas and useful feedback!
Coming soon - a new and exciting addition to our Website - the Blog which will be launched shortly! Accessible from the menu bar on the website, the Blog will feature articles relevant to the history, culture, food and wine of the places we visit on our tours. Watch this space!
