Wednesday 1 September 2010

Feral Food in the Flinders







Part IV
We went for another drive, this time not quite as challenging as the Skytrek but nonetheless exciting. This time we drove from Wilpena to Bunyeroo Gorge, Brachina Gorge and up to Parachilna. The scenery through the Gorges was magnificent and we noticed the changes in the rock formations as we passed through them.
The drive up to Parachilna took us until lunchtime having started our journey at 8.30am. We had been told that the pub at Parachilna served Feral Food if we were interested and as we enjoy a culinary challenge we decided to have a try. The Prairie Pub is amazing, being the only building in Parachilna and has accommodation within the hotel and also some ‘overflow’ in ex railway relocatable huts. Within the hotel itself is an amazing gallery of Indigenous artwork which is always stunning and changes depending on which area you are in. If only we had a bigger house with huge established ceilings it would be really tempting. The Hotel has also been rated amongst the top 100 eateries by Gourmet Traveller. From the extensive feral menu ranging from burgers of emu, roo, goat and camel to deserts from local fruits the decision making became all too hard and we decided on the “Feral Feast”. What a feast it was. We began with antipasto consisting of emu pate, goats cheese, kangaroo pastrami and salami, served with a delicious wild tomato pickle and damper. That was just the beginning. I think at that point we realised dinner was not going to be necessary as there was two more courses yet to come. Our main mean consisted of a large plate to share of kangaroo so tasty it just melted in the mouth, camel sausage and fillet mignon of emu served with mashed potato, roasted tomato and gravy. The dessert which we didn’t need but consumed, was a quondong pie accompanied by vanilla bean ice-cream, and (Ian’s favourite!) panna cotta with stewed nectarine with lemon myrtle and other flavours which were completely new to us but magnificent. The publican suggested we might like to take a room to recover but we soldiered on without having coffee - impossible to fit in. I would like to ask if a hotel in the middle of nowhere can serve such a meal …… what’s wrong with everyone else. There were thirty at least also enjoying lunch on a Monday so that’s pretty good for any pub I would think!
We journeyed back via Glass Gorge, Blinman, the Great Wall of China to home after another beautiful day with lovely though cool weather.

1 comment:

Gillion said...

Have you tried dumplings and roast ducks? They are the famous and traditional Beijing dieshes. And also bird's nest soup? Its a delicacy in China.

Enjoy your days~~~

Gillion
www.geocities.jp/hongkong_bird_nest/index_e.htm