Did you know that if you are short of time or - Heaven forbid - simply lazy, it's possible to buy really wonderful ready-prepared food from the kitchens of Alps & Amici (of course you'd need to be in Launceston to find it!)
This is seriously gourmet food I'm talking here and quite possibly, better than you could do it yourself - especially if you are as busy, or as lazy, as I am.
Daniel Alps is often right there in the kitchen busily creating exciting dishes, using the very freshest of seasonal, local produce.
I'll quote just a couple of the meals available right now.
Just imagine - Ginger spiced chicken with black noodles; or Fusilli pasta with garlic, roast mushrooms, spinach and herb oil. The mouth waters just reading about it let alone seeing and tasting.....
And the range of bread is impressive and very enticing. I have long ago decided not to bake my own bread because I'm such a sucker for eating fresh-baked bread and could easily consume an entire loaf, if I'm not very careful. But the bread in this food improium is just as bad for me - the wonderful smell of baking is just so tempting!
It's guaranteed to make you take some home with you.
How lucky are we to have such an overflowing abundance of delicious food of all kinds to choose from.
I've read about our fist convicts and early settlers and am amazed at how they managed, and I'm finding out more about this to tell soon!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Alps & Amici
This week I met that champion of Tassie grown food and wine - Daniel Alps. This is a well known serious foodie we are talking about here - someone who is synonymous with the best quality Tasmanian produce. I have never met this fascinating character due to having lived in France for the last twelve years, during which time the high-end food scene in Tas has grown and grown.
The food emporium Daniel and his wife have only recently established in Launceston's Abbot Street - called Alps and Amici (which means Alps and Friends, just in case your Italian is not so fluent!) is everything a foodie could dream about and much, much more. It's all beautifully presented making everything almost irrestistably tempting.
Daniel is right into Cooking Classes (which sound wonderful and run from March through to November) and he conducts seminars and food and wine tastings too, and even cup-cake decorating classes.
Cup-cake madness sure has taken hold becasue these classes are regularly booked out. And actually the cup-cakes you can buy in the shop are very imaginative and - well, just divine!
This has to be potato central too because there are no less than eight different types of spuds, along with an impressive range of fresh fruit and veg - naturally Tasmanian grown. You can also buy truffles when they are in season.
And I haven't even got around to mentioning the terrific selection of wines - all Tasmanian of course.
Altogether Alps and Amici is quite simply foodie paradise!
Where to find Alps and Amici:
52 Abbot Street
East Launceston
Phone: 6331 1777
Email: info@alpsandamici.com
Web: http://bit.ly/dAqP0M
The food emporium Daniel and his wife have only recently established in Launceston's Abbot Street - called Alps and Amici (which means Alps and Friends, just in case your Italian is not so fluent!) is everything a foodie could dream about and much, much more. It's all beautifully presented making everything almost irrestistably tempting.
Daniel is right into Cooking Classes (which sound wonderful and run from March through to November) and he conducts seminars and food and wine tastings too, and even cup-cake decorating classes.
Cup-cake madness sure has taken hold becasue these classes are regularly booked out. And actually the cup-cakes you can buy in the shop are very imaginative and - well, just divine!
This has to be potato central too because there are no less than eight different types of spuds, along with an impressive range of fresh fruit and veg - naturally Tasmanian grown. You can also buy truffles when they are in season.
And I haven't even got around to mentioning the terrific selection of wines - all Tasmanian of course.
Altogether Alps and Amici is quite simply foodie paradise!
Where to find Alps and Amici:
52 Abbot Street
East Launceston
Phone: 6331 1777
Email: info@alpsandamici.com
Web: http://bit.ly/dAqP0M
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Wool Centre
I visited the Tasmanian Wool Centre at Ross recently and was struck by how much there is to see and do inside this lovely old sandstone building. Of course, as you might expect there's everthing imaginable about wool and sheep - even a film about the history of shearing - should you want to learn how to shear a sheep during the course of your life!
I loved the big, colourful modern tapestry by John Coburn - naturally all made from superfine wool. And one could spend hours browsing among the woolly articles for sale - the very best, not to mention the warmest available.
But one of the most interesting things of all, I thought, was a small museum telling a more general history of Ross and its district. I had no idea for example that Ross started out as a garrison town and that there were so many connections with the history of convicts in the early years of the development of the region.
The surrounding enormous sheep stations, with their beautiful and historic homesteads, were built, not only "on the sheep's back" but actually with the hard labour of convicts.
There's a film telling about the beautiful sandstone architecture and something about the families who have made this lovely little village the charming place it is today.
I was intrigued to note that it's possible to book a tour of the village and have one of the trained guides give a more detailed insight into its history.
Of course I've often been to Ross, sometimes stopping or a coffee or a light lunch usually on the way to somewhere else. But now I've discovered that there's much more to Ross than immediately meets the eye - though what meets the eye has always looked highly attractive!
I loved the big, colourful modern tapestry by John Coburn - naturally all made from superfine wool. And one could spend hours browsing among the woolly articles for sale - the very best, not to mention the warmest available.
But one of the most interesting things of all, I thought, was a small museum telling a more general history of Ross and its district. I had no idea for example that Ross started out as a garrison town and that there were so many connections with the history of convicts in the early years of the development of the region.
The surrounding enormous sheep stations, with their beautiful and historic homesteads, were built, not only "on the sheep's back" but actually with the hard labour of convicts.
There's a film telling about the beautiful sandstone architecture and something about the families who have made this lovely little village the charming place it is today.
I was intrigued to note that it's possible to book a tour of the village and have one of the trained guides give a more detailed insight into its history.
Of course I've often been to Ross, sometimes stopping or a coffee or a light lunch usually on the way to somewhere else. But now I've discovered that there's much more to Ross than immediately meets the eye - though what meets the eye has always looked highly attractive!
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