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Picnics in Paradise – Tasmania – Australia

A Touring and Tasting Companion by Karen Goodwin-Roberts

Robyn Lewis

Tetsuya Wakuda and Tasmania beef

Human beings have been picnicking in Tasmania for tens of thousands of years, feasting on the local game, plants and herbs, birds and shellfish, often in groups by the sea if the massive shell middens that have built up over time are any indication. 

Perhaps how the original inhabitants of this island cooked and consumed their catches would not be to our modern tastes, and we have moved beyond dilly bags, but still the fabulous bounty of Tasmania remains. We can also add fish to the modern picnic diet (the Aboriginal tribes with whom the first European settlers came into contact did not eat scale fish), plus many species of plant and animal that have been introduced since 1803.

Modern Tasmania also has generations of food growers and makers who settled from many corners of the globe, who brought with them or learned skills such as meat curing, sausage and cheese making, brewing, wine making, sashimi carving, truffle growing, eel smoking, quail roasting, pickling, preserving – in fact if you can grow or catch it in Tasmania there is someone to turn the raw material into something even more delicious.

But where to find them? This is a dilemma facing many visitors to Tasmania, and indeed many locals. We all know the fabulous gourmet produce is here …. somewhere. A guide was required – and into the gap comes chef Karen Goodwin-Roberts, herself with a long Tasmanian pedigree whose family tree includes both apple growers and hospitable publicans.

Goodwin-Roberts now runs a café and catering business with her husband in Hobart’s CBD, which as far as possible uses locally sourced and made ingredients. What better person to document her sources, so that we can all enjoy the bounty of the gourmet State without wondering where to turn?

But it’s not just a list of provedores. The book starts with a fold out map of 16 food trails – allowing Goodwin-Robert’s three to five days to fully explore each, prepare for several visits or a very lengthy stay. (The trails can be completed in less time of course, but then you may miss the raspberries, or the smoked scallops, or the leatherwood honey to drizzle over your blue cheese, and indeed have very rushed picnics).

Picnics is Paradise is organised around these trails – what you can find along each one, where to buy it and then some recipes if you need inspiration, or to recreate a dish when you get back home. From the Huon Valley and Bruny Island in the south to the Great Western Tiers and through to King and Flinders Islands, she covers the State thoroughly.

It also has a handy little section on how to cook over a campfire and portable barbecues for the novice. What might seem an oversight to interstate visitors is the lack of maps or locations of places to actually picnic, but Tasmania is blessed with so many, and with public access, that all you have to do is drive (or cycle) around and look. Unlike many other States there are very few locations where river or beachside access for example has been restricted by development. There are stunning views and plenty of sheltered locations should the weather be inclement. All you have to do is make sure you observe local fire restrictions if you are barbecuing, and take your litter away with you.

You can sea fish in Tasmania with rod and line without a licence (although size and bag limits may apply) but not so for trout. If you want to catch your own and smoke it you’ll need a licence first, but these can be bought by the day or weekend.  Didn’t catch any? Don’t worry, you can buy smoked trout (or salmon, or octopus) at one of the stores in Picnics in Paradise, and other produce from the farm gates, markets or makers mentioned therein. Perfect picnics await.

For the record, no businesses have paid to be included, although several have chosen to take out additional advertising. This doesn’t overwhelm Picnics in Paradise, which is beautifully illustrated with historical pictures and photographs of the many dishes therein.

Get ready to feast on Fricassee of Gourmet Mushrooms with Whisky Mustard, matched with Barringwood Park Pinot Noir (each recipe has a wine watching suggestion, some even for breakfast), Rannoch Quail and Raspberry Salad, Wild Wallaby Rump with Native Pepperberry Crust, Nichols Chicken Cooked in Local Beer, Chocolate Fondue with Summer Fruits – you will certainly take the humble picnic to new heights with this book in hand.

Picnics in Paradise is a delightful introduction to the art of outdoor (and indoor) dining in Tasmania – and after you return home, or even if you never get to the apple isle, it’s a book any cook will treasure. Let the long Tasmanian picnicking tradition continue!

Picnics in Paradise by Karen Goodwin-Roberts (with Paul County, Michael Roberts and Bernard Lloyd) is published by The Culinary Historians of Tasmania/Tas Food Books (November 2010). It retails for RRP A$32.95, or you can buy online through TasFoods.com for $29.95 including postage within Australia.

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