Bangalow

Host: Mike Whitney

Native Australian produce – there’s plenty of it native to the Byron Hinterland and we’re checking out what you can do with it – Mike’s headed to cooking school.

Bangalow
In the Byron Hinterland, Bangalow is 15mins from Byron Bay, 25mins from Ballina Airport and 45mins to the Gold Coast. Hop in the car from Sydney and you’ll be driving for a whopping 765km or just jump on a plane – Jetstar, VirginBlue & REX to Ballina Airport – competition is fierce and that means prices stay relatively low.

Bangalow is one of those country gems: a picturesque, largely nineteenth-century streetscape of tall verandahed buildings, shady trees and quiet parks. Despite the Pacific Highway running directly through the town until its bypassing a few years ago, Bangalow never succumbed the way so many other once-pretty villages did. No huge service stations, fast highway food or semi-industrial ugliness.

Bangalow's historic buildings have been restored largely to their former style, retaining the wide verandahs that provide shady footpaths for al fresco dining. Restaurants, café art galleries, oriental rug and antique shops now occupy the old banks and drapery stores. There is, however, still a remnant of the old country village in Bangalow, as evidenced by the CWA shop selling knitted teddies and lace doilies, the old pharmacy that retains its glass apothecary's jars and wooden benches, and the old-fashioned hardware store.

Top quality restaurant fare, complemented by locally-grown (naturally low in caffeine) coffee and any number of sumptuous gourmet delights produced in the surrounding region is what you can expect here. Spice up or sweeten your day with a taste of local goodies in the restaurants and café interspersed along the main street. Buy some gourmet souvenirs and gifts from the array on offer: olive oil, macadamia and ginger products, coffee, tea and chai, sauces, jams and chutneys, honey, sweet juices and coulis, spices, herbs and seasonings.

Possum Creek Bushfoods
Possum Creek Bush Foods grows and markets Australian native bush food endemic to the Northern NSW region. 
 
They are growers of fingerlimes (8 varieties), davidson plums (jerseyana), riberrys (seedless), lemon aspen, bunya nuts, Aniseed myrtle, lemon myrtle and native mint.
Our grower group is currently implementing a quality assurance and food safety system, and in the future will be incorporating OH&S into our quality assurance system. The growers use best farming practice, lowering the impact on the environment by not using chemicals, only organic fertilisers and mulching to minimise water use.

Bushfood Tour
A bushfood tour through the bushfood paddock, followed by a morning tea featuring bushfood cakes like Lemon myrtle tea cake, wattleseed cake, macadamia biscotti and homemade scones with various bushfood jams and spreads.
 

More Information
Possum Creek Bushfoods
601 Friday Hut Road,
Possum Creek, Bangalow
Telephone: (02) 6687 1975
Bushfood tours $20pp (min group 15)
www.wildfingerline.com
Prices correct as at 12/05/07

Bangalow Cooking School
The Bangalow Cooking School (BCS) continues to grow attracting the attention of many local talented chefs keen to teach. This is great as more and more students are asking for diversity with cultural food and different approaches; so it is a happy match.  
 
Starting almost 2 years ago, from simple beginnings, the school is situated in Bangalow a quaint village in the Byron hinterland. Just 12 minutes drive from the beautiful beaches. Regular classes are held in the beautiful historic A&I Hall - home to many major cultural events in the Northern River Region.

BCS offers regular classes in many different food disciplines. The aim is for students to gain insight and understanding into what techniques, ingredients and tools are employed when recreating food from a particular cultural region or food health/philosophy and to have fun doing so. The school is also a platform for guest chefs to share their knowledge with participants. The classes are generally run in a 3-4 hour hands on format and numbers on average 8-12 students a class. At the end of the class all get to sit down and enjoy the efforts of the day. Recipes used are in an easy to follow manual. From a cooking school’s perspective it is important that the recipes are adaptable once in the home setting. 
 
The classes
Classes fall mainly into three categories; ethnic, health philosophy and theme. Some of the ethnic cookery classes the BCS has offered are Italian, Thai, Middle-eastern, Moroccan, Greek and Indian. In Health they have gluten & dairy free for celiac disease and Low GI (Glycemic Index). The GI class is ideal for those with medical problems such as diabetes, high triglycerides, insulin resistance (metabolic syndrome, syndrome X, PCOS), borderline high blood sugar levels, hypoglycemia and for those with problems loosing weight. Finally theme classes are ones like cooking for Blokes, children’s cooking and festive cooking.  
 
We took part in a ‘bushfoods’ cooking class which is brand new – if fact we were the first ones doing it! During this class you use truly local products like native Davidson Plums, Lemon Myrtle and the Bunya Nut to make various dishes.
 
More Information
Bangalow Cooking School
A&I Hall
Station Street, Bangalow
Telephone: (02) 6687 2799
www.bangalowcookingschool.com.au
Classes are $95 per person.
 
Prices correct as at 12/05/07

Bangalow Penthouse
This is a modern apartment on the main street in downtown Bangalow. And at a flat rate of $200 a night (or $1100 for a week), it can be used as a romantic retreat for a couple or pull out the sofa to fit two kids and it becomes affordable chic for the family.
 
More Information
Bangalow Penthouse
1/23 Byron Street
Bangalow
Telephone: 0409 77 44 13
Flat rate - $200 per night (min 2 nights)
www.bangalowpenthouse.com.au

Prices correct as at 12/05/07

For more info on Bangalow log onto www.visitnsw.com.au or call 132 077