Handmade products of Tasmania
Welcome to the first range TASMANIA blog post. We are sorry that it is a little late coming out but due to the fire situation over the last month in our area of Tasmania, we have been much busier than usual.
February on the farm means its elderberry season, one of our favourite ingredients and one that we use in several of our products. As such we are making this amazing little berry the main feature of this post.
One of the first things we planted when we moved onto Cackleberry Farm 17 years ago were elderberries. Stuart has always been fascinated by the prospect of making elder flower cordial, elder flower ‘champagne’ and elderberry wine, syrups and preserves.
The flowers and berries of the ubiquitous northern hemisphere hedgerow plant (genus Sambucus) has been used for centuries to help ward of everything from witches to the common cold. Extremely high in vitamin C, the brilliant red-black berries are the closest fruit to wine grapes in colour, juice content, tannin and acidity. It is no wonder that elderberry wine is one of the most popular country wines. In southern Tasmania, elderberries begin to ripen from late January and by February we are picking fruit daily. In keeping with our farming and cooking philosophy, our elderberries are grown without the use of artificial fertilisers or pesticides, so you can be sure that our elderberries contain only the goodness that nature intended.
Our latest product - elderberry vinegar
Featured recipe - elderberry vinegar reduction with fresh figs and blue cheese
Ingredients
½ cup range TASMANIA elderberry vinegar
Fresh figs
Blue cheese
In a small saucepan, simmer elderberry vinegar over medium heat for a few minutes until reduced slightly. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Slice figs, top with blue cheese then drizzle elderberry vinegar reduction over and serve. This simple dish works well as an entrée or even in place of a desert to enjoy with another glass of wine!
Have you tried our other elderberry product?
Another product we make with elderberries, that is now a favourite of many of our customers, is range TASMANIA red onion + elderberry relish. It is a delicious accompaniment to roasted meats, charcuterie platters or simply enjoyed with cheese and crackers. The savoury-sweet flavour combination also makes it an excellent condiment to enjoy with burgers and curries.
If you would like to purchase either of these products or any of our other very tasty offerings, please click the button below.
Good news - range TASMANIA sweet chilli cumquats are back in stock!
Good news for everybody that has been waiting patiently, cumquats are finally back in season so we've been busy cooking fresh supplies of range TASMANIA sweet chilli cumquats.
They are available again in our online store along with all of our other products.
Also, if you subscribe to our monthly newsletter you will receive a 10% discount of your first purchase from our website. Once you subscribe you will receive and email with the code for your discount.
That is it for this month and we look forward to sharing our next post with you.
Regards from the range TASMANIA team at Cackleberry Farm.