More than chocolate in Red Hill

I must confess to all the chocolate lovers who are devouring this special issue of Food & Drink that I am not one of you. I don't like chocolate, In fact I avoid it, it interferes with drinking red wine. As a restaurateur I was committed to including chocolate in several froms on all menus, as a cook, I enjoyed using it, but as an eater, no.

So it was not in search of chocolate that I went to the first Spring market at Red Hill. It was to meet a friend, Hermann Schneider. Every week he drives from Arthurs, his restaurant at Arthurs Seat on the Mornington Peninsula, into Melbourne to check out the Queen Victoria Market. And now, throughout the spring, summer and autumn months, he will be visiting the local Red Hill Market on the first Saturday morning of each month.

The market started in September 1975 when 28 local growers came together to barter and sell their excess produce. Now with more than 300 stallholders spreading over the local recreation reserve, the organisers have said that's the limit. But the Peninsula and visitors to it can't seem to have enough markets. There's also a market at Balnarring (3rd Saturday of each month November to May) and at Boneo (3rd Saturday of every month) as well as craft markets at Mornington and Sorrento.

We visited on the the first spring market morning and Hermann Schneider was there and showed us some of his favourite stalls. Ted and Lou Hart used to sell him hydrophonic vegetables but now specialise in pickles and jams. Berry jams are the most popular but they are very proud of their original Seville Marmelade, cumquat marmelade and a very rare (and in small quantity) Laurel Plum jam. The Laurel Plums come from Daylesford, are tiny, can't be eaten raw but make delicious jam. There's also a tomato relish, the recipe for which dates back to 1865 which the Harts saw published in The Herald Sun some five years ago.

Newstead Gardens is a favourite stall for Faye (Hermann Schneider's wife and partner) for the restaurant's garden. It specialises in lilies of all kinds and was one of more than ten very good stalls selling seedlings, plants and herbs at Red Hill's first market of the season.

Early in the morning the biggest queues were at two of the hot food stalls but what a difference from the usual offerings. Most popular are the Poffertjes (traditional Dutch pikelets) nineteen of which are served ($3.50) on paper plates smothered in butter and dredged with icing sugar and then you add your choice of lemon juice, honey or maple syrup. The delicious little mouthfuls are speared with toothpicks and make easy walking round eating. The Red Hill Scouts camp fire with its billies hanging over makes good strong tea to go with yummy hot baked scones from the camp oven which gets started around 5am and by the time it's really going can cook the scones in ten minutes. The sales of the scones with jam and cream ($2) raises money for the local football team.

After breakfast Hermann bought some pretty flowering rocket to use in the salads at Arthurs from Kath Farley's stall. Kath specialises in edible herb flowers at her farm at Boneo. He also collected some flourishing herb pots of hot mint, Italian spicy thyme and Italian parsley from Ross Miller (Millers Herbs) very healthy looking collection of herbs and plants.

Californian born wood cooper, Ralph Percy, is known for his hot tubs, but Hermann has commissioned him to make bars, table bases and all sorts of other wonderful wood products. On display at the market he had lots of kitchen boards of all sizes, knife racks and even kiddy chairs.

Beside his stall was Hillbilly Camping Gear with toasting forks, omlette pans, shoe drying stands, billies, hot water service, toasters and brasiers for charcoal or wood,useful for cooking and for keeping warm outside.

Kanine Kegs, old wine barrels made into dog kennels and Dove Cote Bird Feeders, extravagant homes and two storey villas for birds made from pine and cedar, are some other wonderfully distinctive products at this market.

Some small fruit and veg purchases and a big batch of wood fired oven bread baked by Gennaro at Villa Primavera finished Hermann's shopping. Later in the day we visited the Villa (formerly Tuerong Estate) and enjoyed a light tomato broth with poached egg and an asparagus tart. Dinners at the Villa are served at Gennaro's Table, a long communal setting on Friday and Saturday nights and lunches on Sundays. You can also buy some of Gennaro's breads and larder goods including stuffed figs, goats cheese tortes and antipasto preserves.

Vineyard visits are compulsory on the Mornington Peninsula, there are 35 listed on the easy to follow Wine Touring Map for the area. Many of them offer some food as well. The gorgeous smell of Rosalie White's cheese fondues sitting on the stove at Main Ridge Estate almost compensate for husband Nat White's fabulous Chardonnay being sold out. One of the first vineyards planted on the Peninsula in 1975 Main Ridge now produces some of its finest wine but in very limited quantities. Red Hill Estate boasts a beautiful view from its restaurant; Stonier's offer excellent wines and provided us with a wonderful place for our staff Chrstmas lunches; Peter Harris at Willow Creek makes a delicious un-oaked Chardonnay with rare flavour and a good Pinot; we won't talk about 1995 Paringa Shiraz because our stocks might run out; Darling Park's Pinot Gris is an exceptional wine and goes well with the Alsatian style Tarte Flambee they serve at weekends; Hanns Creek offers lunches with French Petanque games afterwards.

But for real eating the top table by far is Arthur's at Arthurs Seat where Hermann Schneider will always be serving the first of the season (we had asparagus last month), local fish from Angelo at Rye and the best of the Peninsula's wines. If you don't have time or inclination to vist the vineyards Arthurs Vinoteque sells wines at cellar door prices and offers savoury and sweet snacks from $5-11. The Galleria Function Room is a gorgeous place for a party overlooking the magnificent panorama of Port Phillip Bay, Faye's flower and Hermann's herb gardens and watching the parrots on the bar balcony.

Down the hill, set amongst their own vineyard is the superbly comfortable Lindenderry at Red Hill Country House. Our room overlooked the sunken herb garden, tree fringed lake and tracks through the bushland. In the morning the resident Kookaburra family wander onto your balcony and you can enjoy a huge cooked breakfast beside the daisy bed garden. Opened just two years ago, work has now started to add 15 more rooms and another function area for conferences and weddings. Arthurs 0359814444; Lindenderry 0359892933
Mietta O'Donnell
Published in the Herald Sun on the 11/11/1997
©Mietta's 1997