“Do you want to hear about the menu? Then I can just shut up for the rest of the night and be grumpy,” chef Simon Bryant deadpans.
We’ve been escorted to the Flinders Ranges for a special outback dinner cooked by Bryant, the “Chef’ part of the popular ABC show The Cook and the Chef which he co-hosted with Maggie Beer (the cook) more than 20 years ago. In fact, I’m so used to having SBS Food Channel’s endless reruns in the background at home, Bryant’s presence here feels very familiar.
As we’ve learnt from the show, he is passionate about South Australia and its bountiful produce, so it’s no surprise he’s been named Patron of Tasting Australia, the annual food event which showcases the state’s unique people, produce and landscapes.
We’ve been flown out from Adelaide, a four-hour drive away, to the jaw-dropping Flinders Ranges’ Ikara-Wilpena Pound via ‘Tasting Australia Airlines’ to preview one of the event’s premier dining experiences. The private plane takes us on a scenic lap of Wilpena’s bowl-like circumference before landing at former sheep station Rawsley Park, which has been transformed into luxury accommodation.
The one- and two-bedroom sustainable villas are spacious and cool inside, a respite from the last of the summer’s sun which bakes down on the ochre-red hills and surrounds of Rawnsley Bluff, the easternmost point of Wilpena Pound and the gateway to the national park. With large verandas, a barbie and a full kitchen, guests can bunker down and enjoy the walking trails and the wildlife the area contains. The small town of Hawker is the nearest town, a half-hours’ drive away. Inside the kitchen, Bryant has left us some of his sourdough bread, mixed nuts, fresh and dried fruit to sustain us before dinner and for breakfast the following morning.
We’re collected for dinner before dusk and escorted to the station’s old homestead to our table setting on the veranda, which has front row seats to Rawnsley Bluff. Bryant takes time to speak to each of us in between manning his outdoor kitchen for this event, set up at the opposite end of the veranda. We hear about the producers behind each plate; beginning with ‘bar snacks’ from Adelaide producers, which include his lavosh bread, and well-known cheese producer Kris Lloyd’s “amazing” cheddar.
“I’m serving it with a fermented quince paste, not actually because I am a hipster, because I f-stuffed up the quinces and they all went fermented so I just rolled with it,” he quips. ” So, who wants to be my first guinea pig?”
Everyone pauses politely before Bryant nods at me. “Anything but the goose pate,” I ask, motioning towards “Sassy’s” (Saskia Beer) goose prosciutto.
“What are you, goose-ist?” he says, not missing a beat.
And dinner-and-a-show continues, as the sun sets behind us turning the sky a dusty pink. We’re served chicken “drunk” on Adelaide Hills’ Ambleside gin, even though the nearest gin distiller is Flinders. Unfortunately, gin is not very popular in this region as Bryant explains.
“They took it to 60 pubs in the region and everyone said no-one really drinks it. As proof, one pub dragged out a bottle of Tanqueray that had three millilitres of gin and about 5 millilitres of dust all over it.”
Stories accompany each (delicious) plate, where Simon deals a deft hand on SA’s stellar produce, allowing it to shine. The standout is the main dish, a vegetarian substitute for kangaroo, a sweet potato rubbed with desert tomato, quandongs and desert limes.
“I hate frou frou,” he admits. “I did fine dining where it took almost six and a half minutes to get the food plated and by then the food’s cold. Also, you’ve only got so much energy and ability and if you’re going to put 50 per cent into appearance then my rule is that I could possibly lose 50 per cent of flavour, and I’d rather just chuck it into flavour.”
After what feels like no time at all, dessert is wrapped up and the darkness of the outback envelopes us before we’re escorted back to our villas, where I discover a retractable ceiling in the bedroom allows you to stargaze as you fall asleep. A truly magical evening.
Tasting Australia runs from 29 April to the 8 May. Although this Tasting Australia Airlines: Flinders Ranges event has sold out, there are plenty of other unique experiences to choose from. For more information, head to tastingaustralia.com.au.
