Hello hungry peoples,

Well it has finally happened…..tasting panel day has ARRIVED! It was a cold Canberra evening when I trekked out to Fyshwick to visit Urban Providore. It looked warm and inviting and a glass of wine was popped in my hand as soon as I walked in the door. This was off to a very good start!

The panel meets once a month for a year to try products and give feedback to local artisanal producers. There is also some food-centric fun. Since this was our first meeting we started with some palate calibration, trying a variety of sweet, savoury, bitter, salty and umami flavours. I discovered, once again, that I really hate tonic water.  I have friends who are very into gin and tonics and sadly I just do not understand it.

Next we moved onto a classic charcuterie platter. I was introduced to the concept of pairing blue cheese with honey which was surprisingly delicious. The Tilba Real Dairy vintage blue cheese is perfect for anyone who is generally not a fan of blue cheese. It is more like a cheddar with a slight funky kick. One of my other favourites was smoked olives, which seems like a gift that would keep on giving for salads, pizzas and pasta. I love some smokey goodness!

We finished the platter off with a stout and fig fudge, which was ridiculously rich. The trick is to pair it with some sliced pear, which cuts through the richness and makes it deliciously balanced. It was a cracker of a start.

What I ate:

• La Barre caramelised balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dukkha
• Tilba Real Dairy vintage blue cheese
• Valley Produce Co cracked black pepper thins
• Australian Honey Cellars honeycomb
• Butch’s Smallgoods plain German Mettwurst
• Crabtree’s Smokehouse kalamata olives in olive oil
• Grapes and Summerhill Road sauvignon blanc
• Fudgemental’s vegan no dairy Out-stout n’ fig fudge