TASMANIA

SEAFOOD SEDUCTION

The day-long Tasmanian Seafood Seduction tour is the ultimate indulgence for anyone who loves seafood: Cruising on an 11.5m long Naiad boat, checking out fish and oyster farms, and then eating course after delicious course of seafood, most of which is plucked out of the water just before being served.

It is an intimate tour, with no more than 10 people on each one. However, the company will take groups of up to 12.

Our guide is Mr Robert Pennicott (below), an energetic former fisherman who now runs a thriving business offering tours of the waters and islands he knows like the back of his hand. Assisting him is Ms Kate Wilson, a former chef.

Together, they show why Tasmania needs to be on every foodie’s radar, highlighting its terrific seafood, cheeses, wines, ciders and other produce.

PHOTO: PENNICOTT WILDERNESS JOURNEYS (main), ST PHOTO: TAN HSUEH YUN (above)

If the price of the tour seems steep (A$685, or S$706, a person), it is because passengers are plied with so much food and drink, all of it excellent. Our group of 10 can barely keep up, and Mr Pennicott makes good on his promise that nobody leaves the tour hungry.

The journey begins at Hobart’s Constitution Dock, where we board a bright yellow and blue cruiser. Ms Wilson takes coffee orders and we head to Bruny Island Ferry Terminal on a cold, sunny morning.

While she stops off to get our java, Mr Pennicott steers the boat, which can go up to 100km an hour, towards the Alum Cliffs, pointing out rocks covered in striking orange and grey lichen and showing us the home of what might be a contemporary caveman.

Cameras click away as we spy his lair, complete with a clothesline on which a pair of jeans, a towel and a shirt hang.

Then it’s back to the terminal, where we collect Ms Wilson, bearing trays of coffee. The cappuccino warms me up instantly and I am ready for what is to come.

We head down the Derwent River and into the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, to the Tassal salmon farm. Huge netted pens, about 110m in circumference, hold up to 40,000 salmon each. These are harvested when they weigh 4kg.

The sight of the fish leaping from the water is quite something and I cannot wait to taste them.

But first, we stop by the Get Shucked oyster farm, where Ms Wilson (below) hauls up two long baskets of oysters, dumps them into a pail and Mr Pennicott starts shucking them.

This is most definitely the life, I think to myself as I slurp oysters at once briny and sweet, and sparkling wine. We have round upon round of oysters, none of us quite believing our luck.

ST PHOTOS: TAN HSUEH YUN

In the meantime, Ms Wilson prepares a platter of goodies for a mid-morning snack. There are two chest refrigerators on board, one filled with wine, cider, beer, juices and water, and the other stuffed with food.

Out of the food fridge come blocks of cheese, small sweet strawberries, marinated olives and slices of cold smoked Tassal salmon. The strawberries have a sweet, concentrated flavour that I have only tasted in berries from Japan.

The cold smoked salmon has a firm, springy texture and a good flavour. I like it better than the hot smoked one, which is also laid out for us to dig into.

Then the boat is on the move again, heading south. It stops a little ways away, off a rocky shore and Mr Pennicott changes into diving gear. Into the water he goes, emerging with four sea urchins (below) and later, four abalones (bottom). His company has licences to fish for them.

Along the way, we spot wildlife – eagles flying overhead and a trio of seals. We are the only people as far as the eye can see. Although I am a dedicated city person, being out there on the water, with great company and food, lulls me into pure contentment.

After a short cruise, we stop at a secluded beach and this is where the serious eating begins.

First up, Mr Pennicott slices a whole side of salmon and plates the sashimi, complete with shoyu and wasabi. We eat with our hands, and I have my fish sans condiments because its sweetness is enough. The texture is firmer than a lot of farmed, flabby salmon too.

Then he sets up a stove in the “kitchen” part of the boat and cooks a bucket of black mussels (below) with nothing more than white wine. We cluster around the bowl and rip the mussels from their shells, sighing with pleasure. More beer, more wine, more cider follow; this is a feast that I wish can go on forever.

It does.

Up next: live crayfish (below), which are like large lobsters but without the pincers. Mr Pennicott slices one up raw and the platter of crayfish sashimi (bottom) makes the rounds. I have it plain and dipped in shoyu and wasabi and again, prefer the shellfish as is.

The other crayfish is boiled and then sliced and served in the shell. It is just as delicious, and I excavate the head for the green goo, for me the best part. Both Mr Pennicott and Ms Wilson make sure they extract every bit of meat from the shellfish, cracking into the knuckles and legs. I get a fat column of leg meat, warm and tasting of the sea. It is one of the most delicious things I have eaten in my life.

In between eating, we observe the sea urchins and abalones, marvelling at how the spikes on the sea urchins move, the different colours they come in, and the way the abalones swivel around and around, very much alive. All city slickers should watch this at least once.

Ms Wilson makes a circular hole in each of the sea urchins, exposing the spiny creatures’ gonads. Yes, uni is not roe, it is the reproductive organs of the sea urchins (below). Some are a dark orange, some lighter and brighter and some have a red tinge. They taste different too, sweet and creamy or a little gritty and more briny.

Out comes a frying pan onto the stove and Mr Pennicott asks if we want our abalone with chilli and garlic, or just plain, fried in butter. We opt for the latter and he does a curious thing. The shelled abalones go into resealable bags and he whacks them hard with a meat mallet.

Then, the shellfish go into hot butter to cook. Soon, they are cut into chunks and served in the shell (above). The edges are crisp and instead of being tough, the abalone is succulent and juicy. If I ever get my hands on fresh abalone, this is the way I will cook them.

By now, we have possibly eaten our weight in seafood. The kitchen is packed up and we head back to the dock as the sun sets. There is not a lot of talking. Some of us have naps.

I think about this pristine part of Australia and feel privileged to have sampled its bounty.

Two Hong Kongers on the cruise say that their friends had told them not to miss Seafood Seduction when they visit Hobart.

That is good advice.

Yes, of course you can visit all the food shops listed on The City Tour on your own. What you will miss out on, however, is tour operator Mary McNeill’s in-depth knowledge of her hometown, Hobart.

The sixth-generation Tasmanian has worked in some of the stops on her tour and has good stories to tell about them.

Before she started her walking tour company, the 48-year-old was a pastry chef. She had trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York and worked in the United States and France before coming home nine years ago.

She gave up her chef job to spend more time with her family and started Gourmania about 3 1/2 years ago as a way to keep in touch with the food scene. Apart from The City Tour, she also runs a three-hour Tea To Tapas tour, a three-hour Cafe Tour and the three-hour Saturdays At Salamanca.

Calamari dish from the delightful food tour Gourmania, in the city of Hobart. PHOTOS: SAM SHELLEY FOR GOURMANIA (main and above)

There are no more than eight people on The City Tour and first-timers to Tasmania will find this four-hour walkabout a good way to get the lay of the land around Hobart’s Salamanca district and its surroundings.

Although the area looks touristy, the carefully curated stops showcase artisanal food and wine and there is enough time at each one to try and buy things.

A couple of days after the tour, I am back in the area, revisiting some of the shops and checking out other ones that had caught my eye.

There are 10 stops on the tour with samplings at each one. Skip breakfast because there is a fair bit of food and wine to enjoy.

One of the best stops is Wursthaus Kitchen, a gourmet shop packed with Tasmanian products.

Here, I buy bags of locally grown walnuts and they prove to be among the best treats from my trip. The nuts are smaller than Californian ones but taste more intense, with a sweet note to balance the bitterness.

Beautiful cuts of beef, lamb and pork sit pretty in the meat section. I look longingly at the bone-in Cape Grim grass-fed ribeye. If your accommodation includes a kitchenette, this is the place to shop for dinner.

Otherwise, get some cold cuts. The smoked beef is especially good and the shop also stocks smoked quail and smoked chicken thighs.

If there is time for a picnic while in Hobart, shop for it here. Pick from its tempting range of sandwiches and salads. I would go for a generous slice of Egg & Bacon pie, a sight to behold.

But I have to rein it in because there are other stops.

One I enjoy thoroughly is Jackman & McRoss in Battery Point, which opened 16 years ago and is something of an institution in Hobart. There are more locals than tourists here and they come for the tempting breads and pastries.

Ms McNeil used to work here, making the Spinach Danish (below) that I sample, among other things.

The Danishes I am used to are soft and usually sweet. The one here makes me think I have been missing out all these years.

I take a bite and the pastry shatters beautifully. It is like tasting a Danish for the first time.

ST PHOTO: TAN HSUEH YUN

PHOTOS: SAM SHELLEY FOR GOURMANIA

If you do, some good ones include Oen, a cow’s milk cheese washed in Pinot Noir before being wrapped in vine leaves to develop its flavour. The fudgey texture of the cheese is a real delight.

Our tour ends at Smolt, located right next to the Tassal Salmon Shop. It is a buzzy place for lunch but I have sampled my way through nine scheduled stops and one unscheduled one for coffee.

There is room for just one scoop of ice cream and I pick the intensely flavoured Chai (below), which replicates the spicy flavours of the Indian-style milk tea in a cold dessert.

It is a sweet ending to a great morning checking out the best food and drink purveyors in Hobart.

THE CITY TOUR

Operator: Gourmania Food Tours Tasmania

Price: A$135 (S$135.75) a person

Duration: 9.30am to 1.30pm on Monday, Thursday and Friday, except public holidays

Bookings: Book online at gourmaniafoodtours.rezdy.com. For more information, call +61-419-180-113 or visit gourmaniafoodtours.com.au

The writer’s trip was sponsored by Tourism Australia, Tourism Tasmania and Singapore Airlines.

This story first appeared in the January issue of The Life e-magazine, which includes a video of the Tasmanian Seafood Seduction tour and an interactive map of The City Tour.