It’s time for the 2016 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and one of the city’s most impressive venues, Eureka 89, is once again showcasing its high quality food and culinary talents.
This year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival theme is ‘Sense of Place’ and Eureka 89 has interpreted this with 'Bee' Inspired, an event that incorporates locally sourced honey from Melbourne City Rooftop Honey -- in each of its five courses -- to highlight the importance of bees in our environment, from pollination to food production.
The Melbourne City Rooftop Honey beekeepers' vision is to bring bees back to the city, with a larger aim of helping to save honey bees from human habitation and disease.
“Concerned by a growing sense of disconnection between food production and consumption, we not only seek to address issues of sustainability, but also to raise awareness of the importance of bees,” Vanessa Kwiatkowski and Mat Lumalasi, founders and beekeepers of Melbourne City Rooftop Honey, told The Huffington Post Australia.
Placing hives on the roof spaces of Melbourne cafés, restaurants, hotels and people’s gardens reduces the distance from production to plate.
Honey-inspired food with this view? Yes, please.
“We are excited to be utilising urban honeys from across Melbourne,” Eureka 89 head chef Renee Martillano said.
“Honey has complex characters, is very versatile and can lend itself to both sweet and savoury courses,” Martillano said.
“We are using a lighter style honey with goat's cheese in the first savoury course, as the acidity of the cheese perfectly balances the sweetness of the honey.”
“A honey-cured ocean trout is the second course,” Martillano said. “By curing the fish, it adds just a delicate hint of honey to the dish.”
“Honey is then being used to glaze the duck on the last savoury course, as it keeps the meat juicy with a complex flavour and adds crispness to the skin.”
“A richer honey will feature in the dessert, as this is where you expect the sweet element to come through, and honey is a lovely counterbalance to the final cheese course,” Martillano said.
The details
When: Wednesday 9th March from 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Where: Eureka 89 Events & Dining, 7 Riverside Quay Southbank VIC 3006
Price: $150 per person, all inclusive
Booking:www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au