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Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is renowned for its produce and its Asian-inspired restaurants and cooking schools, so all those ingredients will be put together when the region stages its first ever Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival from 1pm on Sunday, February 11.
The Festival will be held in the grounds of Spicers Tamarind Retreat, surrounded by rainforest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland village of Maleny. Spicers is home to the renowned Tamarind restaurant and cooking school which we featured in one of our posts a few months ago.
The Tamarind’s award-winning chefs will showcase six dishes, complemented by three beverages to match the dishes’ flavours, along with cooking demonstrations. Festival goers are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket and settle in for an afternoon of live entertainment and great food.
In between tastings, guests can take a walk down to the beautiful Gardners Falls, along a dedicated walking track from the grounds of Spicers Retreat.
Spicers Tamarind Retreat General Manager, Ryan Dillon, said that with the Retreat named after the highly-prized Asian tropical fruit, it was natural to hold the first-ever Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival at The Tamarind.
“We grow many of the herbs and spices used in our dishes at The Tamarind and the Cooking School on the property, while the Sunshine Coast’s abundant, high-quality fish, meat, poultry and vegetables allow us to create rich and authentic dishes that highlight why Asian cuisine is so suited to the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
“When guests come to The Tamarind they get a real feel of a secluded, tropical haven, and yet we are just over half an hour from the Sunshine Coast’s beaches. That’s the secret of the Sunshine Coast – we are far more than beaches, and when people come up to the Hinterland they will discover a completely different and exotic world, where a beautiful landscape is matched by equally beautiful food and ambience.”
Tickets are $99 per person for the whole afternoon, including food and beverages. Ticket bookings at Eventbrite.
Accommodation packages are available from $399 per night, including breakfast. Accommodation bookings: (07) 5420 5420 or www.spicersretreats.com
Note: Photos are supplied by Spicers Retreat and are some of the dishes The Tamarind is renowned for – they are not necessarily the dishes that will be offered on the day.
