Whey to Go - Buy Local Milk

It’s simple to just buy a bottle of milk from the supermarket and not think about where it comes from or what is actually in the bottle. Buying the local brands can have an enormous positive flow on effect that supports the local dairy industry and the region’s economy.

But there is more to our local milk! It has a purity that can only be achieve when all the milk in your glass comes from a 70klm radius as it does on our southern tableland. A glass of milk from the Brisbane area could be blend of milk from a radius of 700klm. With such a small output of milk from this region the product moves quickly, and because of our hot climate the milk is refrigerated from the milking shed to the consumer. This means our milk is really fresh.

You may not realise that milk takes on the flavours of its environment and our southern tablelands with high altitude and high rainfall produces rich tropical pastures that imbues milk with a definite tropical flavour of its own. Whereas other drier regions use a much higher percentage of silage or grains for stock feed, our lush tropical pasture impart a rich buttery flavour to the local milk.

You can be proud that our region’s milk and cream products have won countless awards and in 2009 Dairy Farmers Malanda was named by Dairy Australia as Grand Champion for their full cream milk.

Mungalli Bio-Dynamic Dairy can’t get enough milk to satisfy the ever growing demand for its organic non homogenised product. Their fabulous milk allows the cream to float to the top, just like it used to years ago before homogenisation. This milk is so popular that even the little extra you pay does not deter the consumers.

So check the brand and buy local milk.

Now the Carnivale is Over..

Port really knows how to party! …and at the end of this year’s Port Douglas Carnivale there is one thing for sure; this event has proven to become highly successful as a food festival of the region. With some adjustment to moving Food Wine and a Taste of Port forward to the first weekend and adding two new food events to the end of the 10 day festivities, it did not deter the throng of Port locals, Cairns and interstate visitors to the sell out events.

What a lot of fun there was at the Food Fight at the Sugar Wharf on Thursday evening? Organised by a group of restaurateurs called “Eat Port”, they decided that it was time the industry worked together to promote their establishment. 300 people showed up to barrack for their favourite restaurant, which incidentally was won by Tommy Young of 2 Fish Restaurant; it’s an event definitely not to be missed next year.

Eight rivalling chefs of the Food Fight called‘surrender’ the next evening, to present a stunning eight course degustation menu to 160 guests at Rex Smeal Park. The highlight was the previously filmed cooking demonstration of each course in the respective chef’s kitchens and beamed up on screen before the presentation of the dish. Another excellent event.

Despite the economic downturn of the region, it was encouraging to see a total sell-out of all Carnivale events and the great support for the Port Douglas restaurant industry. …and not to forget that only a week prior to Carnivale, Sea Temple Port Douglas hosted celebrity chef Manu Fiedel for a cooking demonstration luncheon for over 100 guests and dinner for 140 guests. It appears Port is draw card for food.