Hurry up for slow food festival

WEST Gippsland’s food and wine producers are looking forward to the Slow Food Festival.
The festival will feature a diverse range of regional events from 9 May to 8 June.
Each event will showcase the best food and wine the region has to offer.
Julie Weatherhead, president of West Gippsland Slow Food Convivia, said the festival was the perfect opportunity for locals to taste the labours of the region’s farmers, chefs and winemakers.
Slow Food is about using local seasonal produce, restoring time-honoured methods of food production and preparation through sharing food at a convivial table.
“Slow Food’s role in your daily life could be as simple as shopping at the local farmers’ market, cooking locally grown beef bought from the local butcher at a barbecue for friends, or teaching your kids how to make your nanna’s sponge cake,” Ms Weatherhead said.
The Slow Food movement has more than 80,000 members in 121 countries around the world, with Slow Food members gathering in small, local groups known as convivia.
There will be a Collect and Cook bush foods feast at Cardinia Ranges Farmers’ Market, hosted at Peppermint Ridge Farm’s beautiful bush food property at Tynong North.
Other events include: a wine making information session and three course meal at Brandy Creek Wines and View Café Drouin East; a mixed grill feast at The Grayn in Pakenham and a Fijian Feast cooked in a hot pit at Gypsy Creek Winery in Labertouche.
The Festival will finish with a pizza making event at Gypsy Creek in Labertouche.
People are urged to book early to avoid disappointment.
For more information on Slow Food West Gippsland Autumn Festival and event details please visit www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/farmersmarket or email julie@peppermintridgefarm .com.au