If you are searching for something different to add to your festive season menu, we have some fresh, quirky and downright surprising ideas for you. Plus some liquid inspiration. Check out our Christmas Gift Guides for more inspiration.
Oysters will be blushing from the addition of this new flavour-packed dressing now available at the Jervis Bay Shellfish Market in the Huskisson industrial zone (open Tue-Sat). The clever folks at the market partnered with The Really Stuffed Olive Co to create this sensational liquid.
Made from 100% fresh wasabi in a slightly sweet balsamic agrodolce – without the heat you’d expect from the traditional Japanese condiment.
Agrodolce is an Italian sauce with a sticky consistency, named for sour (agro) and sweet (dolce).
This dressing is perfect drizzled over freshly shucked oysters, such as the Jervis Bay-grown Sydney rocks or Coffin Bay pacifics.
We tried it this week, and we can confidently say that it has a light sweetness and a little zing of wasabi that plays on the palate like a summer afternoon. Pair it with a cool glass of your favourite beverage.
The team at the market recommend mixing it with mayonnaise or adding to a salad dressing, the Wasabi Balsamic is available in two sizes, 25ml and 250ml.
Forget the roadside cherry vendors, those inventive seaweed scientists at PhycoHealth have surprised us with yet another edible bounty of the sea. Sea Cherry!
These brand-new, festive-red Sea Cherry SeaFruit Straps are made with 15% Australian seaweed and really pack a nutritious punch. Buy a 7-pack and get one free, enough for stocking fillers, lunch box snacks or a treat for any time of day.
Buy before Christmas Day and help PhycoHealth send 5% of sales to Operation Crayweed, helping reforest Sydney’s lost kelp forests and restore vital marine ecosystems.
Street Cherry
Speaking of cherries, the good farmers from Young are to be found at roadside stalls right now, with bright, ripe fruit including two types of cherry, apricots and greengage plums – if you haven’t tried these little beauties because you think they are not ripe, like the majority of plums that turn shades of red, don’t let that deter you. These little beauties originated in the Middle East and are sweet and tangy, perfect for all your summer fruity needs.
5 Little Pigs Summer in the Food Truck
There’s a new menu now available for summer in the 5 Little Pigs food truck at the Jervis Bay Brewing Co – and even better news, food will be on 7 days a week starting from 18 December, perfect timing for the summer school holidays (and yes, there’s a kids’ menu too!).
We are thrilled to see the Jervis Bay oysters on the menu, dressed with zesty little pearls of finger limes. Also on the snack-sized list are fried squid with a fascinating dressing made with capers, green olives and Aleppo pepper, which is produced in Turkey and has a fruity flavour with a mild chilli bite.
For something more substantial, there’s a chargilled cheeseburger, chicken schnitty and a green papaya salad with a choice of crispy pork belly or sticky tofu. Can we have both?
There are some great GF options and staff will try to accommodate your dietary requirements. Head over to the beer garden in the Husky industrial zone.
We are always excited to see new dishes coming from the bistro kitchen at Bud’s Tavern on Owen Street where chef Kyle De Moor is sourcing local kingfish from the Ulladulla fleet, prepared with some colourful companions.
An almond puree sets off roast pumpkin, heirloom carrots and a summery, zingy blood orange and fennel salad ($38).
Who doesn’t love a seasonal cocktail? Last Chrissy, we brought you a delightful recipe for eggnog from the good people at Bud’s Tavern.
This year, Terry and Michelle Robinson have created a tingly take on the mimosa with their unique liqueur made from marionberries.
If you haven’t heard of this fruit, it’s because there aren’t any commercial growers in Australia, and Old Salt Distillery sources theirs from a single farm not far from their production facility. (The marionberry is a type of blackberry that originated in the US state of Oregon.)
To turn it into a Chris-Mosa, the Old Salts say:
Choose your favourite glassware, preferably a flute glass
Add some ice
Add 1 ounce (30ml) of Marionberry Liqueur
Top up with our Blood Orange and Passionfruit Seltzer
The result is a tropical mimosa with a fragrant berry finish, perfect for cooling off this summer.
The seltzers – especially the blood orange and passionfruit – are flying off the shelves.
The Robinsons have launched a new release, Strawberry and Lime, to lift our spirits. This is their third fruit seltzer and one of my favourites with a punch of real strawberry, it’s great on the rocks with a squeeze of lime, or as the base of a cocktail.
Michelle and Terry say its summer in a can!
Try in-store Fridays 12pm-9pm and Saturdays 12pm-4pm or buy online.
Cupitt’s Channels Italian Riviera
A new al fresco summer menu is now available at Cupitt’s Estate in Ulladulla. Inspired by the Italian Riviera, the menu boasts fresh summer flavours of prosciutto and olives, arancini, Appellation oysters, and of course house-made beer and wine.
Our pick is the summer zucchini pizza with fromage blanc, lemon and confit garlic ($28), pair it with a Cupitt’s Prosecco to completely transport yourself. Book a table online.
