Destination Flavour Down Under

Adam is in the “pearling capital” of Australia, Broome, looking forward to heading up to Cape Leveque, the northernmost tip of Western Australia. Many think of Far North Queensland as Australia’s tropical food hotspot, but he discovers that tropical food is also found in many Broome backyards, thanks to Asian pearlers. A local Indigenous jam producer takes Adam to Cape Leveque, where he learns the importance of self-sufficiency in small Aboriginal communities, and sees that many businesses are putting community and conservation first. Adam collects wild gubinge, also known as Kakadu plum, mango and tamarind and makes ice-cream for the school kids. He is taken mudcrabbing at low tide along inland river beds, then investigates sustainable methods at a trochus hatchery, and plays deckhand on a pearling boat, tasting fresh pearl meat. Adam cooks up chilli, tamarind and mango mud crab at a magnificent beach where red earth meets pure white sand and turquoise waters.

Back in his home state of South Australia, Adam revisits the Eyre Peninsular where he spent many summer holidays of his youth. Starting in the southern Flinders Ranges, he makes his way south from Port Augusta towards Port Lincoln, stopping in at his father’s old hometown of Whyalla for a trip down memory lane. He catches up with Coffin Bay oyster farmer Lester Marshall, and local fisherman Neil Evans. After reeling in the famed King George whiting, he takes his catch inland to the snow-white landscape of a salt lake where he cooks up his version of classic fish and chips using King George whiting.

It is one tropical surprise after another when Adam takes to the road around Rockhampton, beginning his trip at a petrol station that’s known for making the best crab sandwiches in the state. He meets a fourth-generation farmer producing ginger and watermelon, visits a couple who farm the macadamias they use in their ice-cream, and stops in at the famous Eumundi Markets, where he picks up ingredients for a magnificent golden pavlova. After picking up a few of the region’s famous Moreton Bay bugs, Adam hops back in his 4WD and catches the ferry over to Moreton Island for some coastline cruising and cooking.

On a tour of the Victorian High Country, one of the great food centres of Australia, Adam is on a mission to track down all the ingredients necessary for the perfect picnic. On the way, he meets a man whos turned mustard making into an art, a small-scale producer who raises pork ethically, and a winemaker who produces world-class bread. He finishes up with a feast fit for a king in the spectacular Mount Buffalo National Park.

Adam takes a short ferry ride across the Cook Straight to New Zealand’s South Island, headed for Akaroa, an historic French settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano. An interest in the famous greenshell mussels leads him to Havelock, home to an industry worth more than $300 million per year. Later, he heads down to the coastal town of Kaikoura, the Māori word for "a meal of crayfish". At Akaroa, Adam takes inspiration from the town’s French roots and puts a modern spin on the classic lobster Thermidor.