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Buninyong Garden Harvest Lunch

Sunday 14 March 2010, Buninyong Botanic Gardens

A group of food and wine enthusiasts publicly demonstrated its unwavering support for local produce growers by serving-up a five course lunch created from ingredients sourced almost entirely from Buninyong and surrounding Ballarat districts. The celebration of local growers and producers, dubbed the Buninyong Garden Harvest Lunch, took place in the Buninyong Botanical Gardens on Sunday 14 March 2010, from 11.30am to 4.00pm.

The Fare

The menu featured a tasty paella dish with local wild rabbit, Wurrook gourmet barbecued sausages, free-range chicken, roasted whole pork with various locally-made condiments in sourdough rolls, pizza with a range of toppings including locally produced ham, salami and prosciutto and local vegetables, along with the Harvest blueberry and hazelnut petite cakes for dessert. The feast was washed down with locally produced wine, beer and mineral waters. Locally sourced ingredients also included flour from Powlett Hill Mill, onions, peppers, Tuki smoked trout, fresh herbs, Yendon tomatoes, Meredith cheese, along with ham, salami and prosciutto from Istra Meats. The menu also featured pork from Mt Mercer, organic vegetables from Spring Creek and Captains Creek, yabbies farmed in Learmonth, locally grown blueberries and hazelnuts, and free-range eggs.

The lunch was one of the key regional events of the annual 2010 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and was months in the making after Slow Food Ballarat was invited by Festival organisers to be part of the internationally-acclaimed event. Slow Food Ballarat committee members seized the opportunity to present an unforgettable grazing extravaganza in the beautiful surrounds of the (almost) 150 years old Gardens.

Meet the Producers

The event enabled visitors to smell, taste and eat their way through the Gardens, sampling the district’s finest fare on offer. A portable fullygrown organic vegetable garden was installed in the gardens for the day. Visitors had the rare chance to meet those often hard-to-locate growers and purchase fresh produce directly from their stalls.

Slow Food Ballarat is driven by its goal to educate the community about the benefits of eating local produce that'’s fresh and in-season. Peter Ford says, "Slow Foodies live by the motto 'good, clean and fair' " which encompasses the message Slow Food Ballarat would like to send out about the importance of eating fresh, healthy food and, in turn, promoting biodiversity in food growth and supporting sustainable production practices; all helping reduce the increasing rate of diet-related illness in the community.

The event was supported by the City of Ballarat and several local sponsors. Proceeds went towards the revitalisation of the Gardens and their 2011 sesquicentenary celebrations.