10 Sleeps until Christmas, but only two Harvest Markets! First cherries, game meats, and more food, drinks and good times than you can poke a candy cane at. Get in, stock up, and feel good at Harvest.
No one needs reminding about what time of year it is, so with another massive week at Harvest ahead of the festive period, we’re not dallying around. We have the best goods for your Christmas table in a single place for your convenience. Not only that, but we’re easier, mostly cheaper, and infinitely more enjoyable than traditional shopping. Who wants to be in a supermarket at this time of year? Sure as heck, not us. Here we go!
This week at Harvest
Cherries, venison and wine. It is an unquestionably Tasmanian suite of products. Guess what? You can find them all right next to one another, in the centre of the market this week at Harvest. Guess what else? They all go great together. The wild-harvested venison and game meats from John and Lenah Game and Gourmet are incredible right now. Moreover, we think this Tasmanian venison is some of the very finest meat money can buy anywhere in the world. It’s ethically sourced, controlling an introduced pest, creating jobs, feeding Tasmanians, and it’s utterly, totally delicious. A quintuple win. Amazing.
Imagine this: beautifully seared venison from the BBQ, or better yet, over some coals, with some sweet and sour cherry saucy number, and a glass of vibrant Tasmanian Pinot Noir. If that doesn’t have you salivating, perhaps you’re not conscious. You can follow your nose on the sweet and sour cherry sauce. The cherries will exhibit the sweetness for you already, so you just need to add the sour, yeah? So, in some red wine vinegar, cook out some young garlic and a shallot that you’ve sliced. Add a tablespoon of seeded mustard, a bay leaf, a star anise, and ground black pepper. Pit and halve the cherries, add them to the pot and simmer that whole mix until it gets reduced and sticky. Done!
We could go on… so we will!
Ham! It’s ham week, everybody. We’ve got Mt. Gnomon and Oldway Farm on the ham train this week, and if our maths is correct, Fork it Farm coupling up as well. If it’s ham week, you must plan your glazes, right? Right. If you’re up for getting creative, some excellent glaze ingredients are available at Harvest. Try a splash of cherry cordial from All Things Cherry in there, perhaps with a tablespoon of mustard from Karen at Taste of Tam O’Shanter. If you want to go down the marmalade-y jammy road, Karen has you covered also.
That ham will need some seasoning, so pop next door from Karen to Robin at A Pinch Of Tasmania for all your garnishing, seasoning and finishing needs. Or, if you’re really firing those creative neurons, give the ginseng seasoning from 41 Degrees South a razz. If you try this, we’re super curious, so please let us know how it goes!
Couple this with the vast array of lunchtime grazing platter goods on offer, like cheeses, breads, cured meats and fish, condiments, herbs, salads, nuts and oils, and you’re nearly all there with your menu planning. We say nearly, because you’ll need an eminently quaffable beverage to pair with all that goodness, aren’t you? Yes, you are.
Great. Because we have the full spectrum of such beverages on offer for you right now. Brady’s vintage, traditional method ciders are just the perfect chilled summer starter beverage. Or, if you’re keen on going a bit left of centre, try your hand at a mead pairing! Stephen at Wanderer Mead will help you out. On top of that, we have beer, wine, spirits, juice and maybe, just maybe, some homemade lemonade!