ISLAND LIFE

Is it a good day for pickling at Fat Pig Farm? Or is it more of a pastrami afternoon? Such early morning questions are milling in the mind of Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans in the lead-up to the 30th annual Taste of Tasmania.

When the week-long food festival kicks off at Princes Wharf No.1 on the Hobart waterfront next Friday, Evans will be active on multiple fronts.

As well as running the Fat Pig Farm food stall and a cooking workshop, he will appear next Saturday on the first of three special Live-in-Conversation panels hosted by the Mercury.

On the Sunday, he will fire up a barbie with cheesemaker Nick Haddow for a charity breakfast.

“For now, we are busy curing meats and pickling the first of the summer harvest,” Evans tells Tas-Weekend during a filming break for season five of SBS TV’s Gourmet Farmer at his farm and cookery school at Glaziers Bay in the Huon Valley.

“I’ve always been in love with a good deli spread. We are making pastrami, curing pork shoulders for rillettes, and pickling cucumber and beans for the deli plates we will have at our stall.”

We know from the popular TV show that Evans has learnt to milk a cow since abandoning his Sydney life as a food critic in favour of pastoral pleasures in Tassie, but next week he will reveal his talent as an icecream, sherbet and sorbet maker in a ticketed workshop.

And in the first Live-in-Conversation, Evans will join four other high-profile guests to talk about the art of sharing.

“Food is about sharing stories, community and the joys of life,” he says. “When we talk about food, we are talking about the sharing of culture, history and the breaking of bread.”

The Mercury’s free Live-in-Conversation on The Art of Sharing will be held on Saturday December 29, 1pm–1.45pm, with other sessions in following days. Details at thetasteoftasmania.com.au