Chilli Festival at Hillside Herbs – February 25-26

Hillside Herbs will host a Chilli Festival this weekend in McLaren Vale. Visitors can learn about and taste a range of chilli foods including chilli snags, wood-oven pizzas, corn on the cob, dips, Thai noodle salad, veggie stacks, hot chicken wings and chilli ice cream. The event runs from 10am-5pm, with $5 entry.

Cellar Door Fest – February 24-26

The 2017 Cellar Door Fest is on this weekend at the Adelaide Convention Centre, with around 180 wineries, breweries, distilleries and food producers providing tastings and master-classes over three days. Events include Friday Night Knock-Offs; Meet-the-Maker sessions, where guests will have the chance to listen to some of South Australia’s best producers;  Long Late Lunches, and Long Table Dining Experiences.  Details on the Cellar Door Fest website.

Fork at Summer Garden Festival – February 25

Fork on the Road food trucks will head to the Greenstate Summer Garden Festival in Civic Park, Modbury, on Saturday. The festival will feature two stages hosting live performances by Fringe artists, visual arts, local beer and wine, the 23^rdStreet Distillery cocktail bar, and food vans including Chimichurri Grill, Saint Espresso, Van Dough, LaChiva, LocaPops and Four Seeds. The event runs from 3pm-10pm.

Adelaide Fringe – until March 18

The poster image for A Brief History of Beer.

There is a smorgasbord of food and drink-related Fringe events on offer over the coming weeks. Here are a few to whet your appetite: Comfort Food Cabaret, a “showcase of South Australian produce, seasoned with songs, stories and laughter” presented by cabaret artist Michelle Pearson at the Adelaide Central Markets; The Wine Bluffs, featuring self-styled “sommeliers of comedy” Damian Callinan and Paul Calleja; a Beer V Wine Degustation Dinner, hosted by Barossa Valley Brewing; sketch-comedy drinking game A Brief History of Beer at the Elephant – British Pub; and Beer in the Burbs, a tour of suburban brew spots, including Pirate Life Brewery, the Wheatsheaf Hotel and Big Shed Brewing.

I Choose SA Farmers’ Market Weekend – February 26

Shoppers are being encouraged to support local farmers and producers this weekend at the I Choose SA Farmers’ Market Weekend at the Adelaide Showgrounds, Wayville. As well as family activities, there will be a kids’ cooking session with My Kitchen Rules contestant Bree May, who will be teaching children how to make sushi rolls from 9.15am-10.15am, and at 11.15am Dennis Leslie of Hill of Grace Restaurant will give a cooking demonstration using farmers’ market produce. The markets are open from 9am-1pm and entry is free.

Taste the World at WOMADelaide – March 10-13

Chef Rosa Matto with one of the artists involved in last year’s Taste the World. Photo: Tony Lewis

Poh Ling Yeow will bring her Jamface cafe to Botanic Park as chef-in-residence at WOMADelaide’s Taste the World Restaurant this year. She will serve up dishes inspired by childhood memories of her birth country Malaysia, with guests served a six-dish banquet including dessert for $60. Bookings recommended. The Taste the World program, in a marquee in the Speaker’s Corner, will once again see musicians taking part in sessions where they will share the food and culture of their home countries, with the full program here.

Adelaide Festival Long Lunch Series – March 4-19

Six long lunches will take place on the floating Riverbank Palais on the Torrens during the 2017 Adelaide Festival. The lunches will be hosted by chefs Cheong Liew, Cath Kerry, Christine Manfield, Mark Best, Karla Firla and Michael Ryan, with dishes paying tribute to the 1980s. Each event will cost $145pp for three courses to share, plus canapes and a drink. Read more here.

Nepal Festival Adelaide – March 25

A taste of Nepal will be on offer at the Nepal Festival Adelaide in Hindmarsh Square next month. Organised by the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) South Australia, the event will run from 11am-8pm and include Nepalese foods, networking events, cultural programs and a parade.

Barossa Vintage Festival – April 19 to 23

Nuriootpa’s Long Table Lunch.

The Barossa Valley’s annual food, wine and entertainment showcase features more than 90 events over five days. They include a Spanish-style tapas dinner with matching wines hosted by Seppeltsfield Wines  in its 1882 Vinegar Haus; a black-tie cocktail dinner in a 1940s setting at Lindsay Wine Estate; Nuriootpa’s Long Table Lunch – a five-course degustation feast presented by Callum Hann and Themis Chryssidis; and an intimate lunch with two of the region’s smallest wineries,  Rojomoma Red Art Wine and Flaxman Wines. See the full list of festival events here.

News, tips and information?

Please send details of any upcoming food and/or drink events to: [email protected].