Cult-chef Duncan Welgemoed, from Adelaide’s award winning restaurant Africola, will take a break from writing his latest masterpiece on June 2, to serve some culinary brilliance at Ambleside Distillers.
The evening is the Hahndorf distillers’ first Winter Gin Dinner for the season, with Welgemoed re-creating a dish the straight talker claims is “too f***ing good not to re-do”.
Among the fare in the South-African inspired menu – it’s the Oxtail massaman curry, cooked only once before by Welgemoed and Chin Chin chef, Ben Cooper, that he claims is “rich and unctuous” and takes massaman to a whole new level.
Also featured on the three-course menu, which will be cooked over coals, is an entree of whipped cod roe, lentil crisps and soy pickled cucumber, a fermented potato damper to accompany main course and custard tarts with preserved summer fruits to finish.
Ambleside’s three core range gins will be paired alongside the dishes, with cocktails available on the night, featuring limited and newly released Blossom Gin, with infused home-grown botanicals from Berrenberg and Jurlique farms.
Winter Gin Dinners began in 2022 at Ambleside, as a way of bringing city venues to the hills for a change of scenery. Marketing manager, Bella Ventrice expects the unique event to be a sell-out, with a DJ adding to the high vibe of “Africola with a gin twist”.
After the success of his book “Africola – Slow Food, Fast Words, Cult Chef”, Welgemoed is now working on a masterpiece aimed at the Aussie traveler.
“It’s a barbecue travelling book, utilising the best free barbecues in Australia,” he said.
“It’s good exercise for families to get out and about and go regional, and these are recipes which you can do from the back of a ute.”
When asked to divulge some of SA’s best free barbecue areas, Welgemoed hinted towards the Murrayland’s Point Malcolm, and mentioned a European smorgasboard at the Breakaway’s in Coober Pedy!
Without prompting, I put forward my go-to public barbecue favourite – so it will be interesting to see if the grassy Stansbury foreshore, overlooking Oyster Bay, will get a mention in the book he hopes will be released around summer barbecue time.
Ambleside & Africola Winter Gin Dinner
When: Saturday June 2
Where: 1 Ambleside Road, Hahndorf
Cost: $120pp
Bookings: Click here
