Adelaide Hilton executive chef Dennis Leslie thinks the next food trend in Australian dining will be South American/Tex Mex.
He predicts that with the next FIFA World Cup and Summer Olympics being held in Brazil, the spotlight will shine on South American cuisine.
Having recently returned from a trip to America where he indulged his love of Tex Mex, Dennis was inspired to draw on some of those flavours for the very generous banquet he produced for Eat Drink Blog 2012.
This annual talkfest for food bloggers has been held in Melbourne, Sydney and now Adelaide, and this year I was privileged to be one of the 80 bloggers selected to attend. South Australia can always be counted on to put on a great show when it comes to food and wine, and this time was no exception.
We sipped and supped on lots of beautiful food and wine, fell in love with all the great produce at the Adelaide Central Market, drooled over cupcakes made by the very clever Natasha (pictured) and were whisked out to the Barossa and McLaren Vale wine regions (more on those to follow).
We networked with old and new friends, heard lots of inspiring stories, gained lots of great tips about blogging, and met US food writer and coach Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write For Food.
And on the Saturday night we partied – well, not quite. It was actually quite a sedate affair as everyone just wanted to talk to as many like-minded people as possible.
The Hilton’s extraordinarily generous array of sharing platters was a great way of encouraging conviviality.
Sitting outdoors on a balmy evening, we feasted on spit-roasted lamb, grilled piri piri chicken, smokey beef ribs with chipotle sauce, grilled corn (above), empanadas, Woodside cheese, Beerenberg strawberries with Haigh’s chocolate, and alfajores (dulche de leche sandwich cookies).
It all went down a treat with a refreshing glass of K1 by Geoff Hardy 2010 Arneis and silky-smooth 2007 Zema Estate Shiraz. It goes without saying that there was also plenty of Coopers beer flowing.
The dinner was sponsored by Meat & Livestock Australia whose social media manager Matthew Dwyer spoke about a new campaign, Target 100, to collect real-life stories from producers committed to sustainable cattle, sheep and goat production.
Sustainability is a mantra for Hilton chef Dennis Leslie, who features local produce in The Brasserie’s Seriously South Australian menu. Leslie, who took over from Simon Bryant and counts Bryant amongst his greatest mentors, is doing a fine job in The Brasserie.
After a weekend of so much good food, it was hard to find room for more, but I did manage to try a couple of small dishes at The Brasserie – a melt-in-the-mouth pulled pork and coleslaw slider, and duck and prune terrine (above), both of which were fabulous.
The Hilton has produced a really beautiful little cookbook of South Australian recipes that you can download here for free.
Related post: Adelaide Central Market
Lovely words and photo’s Christine – thanks for such a great post!
Thanks Amanda, I bet you are relieved it’s all over. Thanks to you and all the committee for organising such a brilliant weekend.
Wasn’t that lamb a sight to behold! Was great to see you again!
Hi Helen, It was great to see you again too, and to hear you speak so eloquently. Very inspiring for all of us.
It was lovely to meet you at EDB Christine! Great photos and words, my mind is still buzzing!
Hi Jane, It was wonderful to meet you too.
Beautifully written piece that summed up the weekend perfectly Christine. It was great to meet you in Adelaide.
Thanks Catherine, Meeting so many talented people was the highlight of the weekend.
I can still taste those beef ribs. Dennis sent me the recipe today – will be making them on the weekend. AND how lovely it was to meet you Christine. Love to meet up again, either Brisbane, Canberra or somewhere more exotic! Thanks also for the reference to the book. I’m making that chicken mac ‘n’ cheese for dinner one night soon. Am salivating just thinking about it.
Hi Mel, Looking forward to seeing the recipe for the beef ribs on your blog. It will be great to try them at home. And yes, looking forward to catching up again soon.
Mmm I wouldn’t mind some more of that corn for dinner tonight. Wasn’t it a wonderful dinner!
Hi Claire, Dinner was plain and simple for us tonight!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time, Christine! 🙂 And that Amanda did a wonderful organising job too! 🙂
Hi Celia, The weekend was so much fun and Amanda did a brilliant job of organising it. Would love to meet you at next year’s event!
Lovely roundup of a fantastic conference. Thanks for sharing the Hilton’s SA cookbook.
Thanks Sara. It’s an impressive cookbook, isn’t it, considering it’s free.
A beautifully organised event and so great to sit down and break bread with you, my friend, as well as the other attendees!
It took a weekend away to finally have the chance to catch up!
Great to meet you Christine 🙂 fab shots!
Thanks Nic, it was great to meet you too, and I’ll be following your blog for plenty of vegetarian inspiration!
Hey Christine, lovely to meet you at EDB! What an amazing dinner that was – Dennis is to be commended for such a fantastic effort 🙂
Hi Christine, lovely to meet you too!
Oh man. I totally LOVE all the food that Chef Dennis prepared that night. How amazing was the food, right? I wish I could have it all again. Definitely missing the conference already! Is it just me or am I totally digging SA after that trip? That place was so perfect to host the EDB conference!
Hi Winston, I think we’re all digging SA after EDB. It was certainly a great choice for hosting the conference.
Lamb on spit = good.
Great post, Christine! Sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk properly this time but I’m sure we’ll catch up again at some other food event next year.
Thanks Christina. Yes, it was a shame we didn’t get to chat more in Adelaide but you were terribly busy. Such a great event! Hopefully we’ll have a chance to catch up again before too long.