From Paddock to Plate: Exploring the Gascoyne Food Trail in Carnarvon, Northwest Australia

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Despite living in Western Australia for nearly twenty years I am ashamed to admit that I have never journeyed further north than the seaside town of Dongara to visit my Bestie. Whenever I plan a holiday, the centre point of our activities is always based around experiencing the food of the places we visit. I didn’t feel any foodie gravitational pull coming from this region of Australia imagining it to be not much more than white sandy beaches, cattle ranches and red expanses of desert. The Boy on the other hand is a huge advocate of the North West and has tried to encourage me to go for years. He was over the moon to hear I was chosen to be the Gascoyne regional blogger for the Buy West Eat Best WA Signature Dish competition. He knew this would finally be the reason we could go up there together and he was convinced that I would love it.

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Carnarvon town Fascine

After a number of hurdles tried to prevent us reaching our destination including missing a flight and battling a storm, we were incredibly relieved to finally drive into the pretty town of Carnarvon. Our first day was hectically busy with duties for the WA Signature Dish regional final which left our second day free to explore the area. With some help from the locals we managed to go on an extended version of the Gascoyne Food Trail; one unlike any other food trail I have gone on. Cast away images of your previous experiences visiting multiple tourist driven sites stocked with samples of artisan gourmet goods. Instead, this self-drive tour will give you a paddock to plate experience of the Gascoyne as you discover the region’s produce in its raw and naturally fresh state.

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Our first stop for the morning was located down on Snapper Jetty to watch one of the local Abacus crab boats come in with their catch. Abacus Fisheries is a family run business owned by Peter Jecks and his wife.  Living locally in Carnarvon Peter has been in the industry for over 20 years. Despite such a long time in the crab trade, he remains fiercely passionate being highly focused on producing a quality product in addition to proactively supporting the environmental sustainability of his fishing practices.

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Peter is well known amongst Australia’s high profile foodies having featured on a number of television programs including Postcards WA and SBS’s Food Lovers’ Guide to Australia. I was very interested to hear that not a single part of the crab is wasted. The water that is used to cook the crab meat gets packaged and sold as crab stock in gourmet food stores. Even the shell is compounded to use as chitin in the medical industry for a number of applications including the manufacture of the dressings used as a second skin for burn victims.

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Fruit grows everywhere in Carnarvon! These beauties were growing along the fence line at Abacus crabs.

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That day, it turned out to be our lucky morning because not only did we get to see the crab fisherman come in with their haul, but we had timed our visit with one of the local fishing boats Cygnet Lass returning from a four day stint at sea.

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This fishing boat provided the day’s fresh fish to Pickles Point Seafood which is located just doors down from Abacus crabs. Pickles Point is run by Gayle Dewar, one of our WA Signature dish contestants and they are renowned for providing the local Carnarvon residents with some of the freshest Shark Bay seafood.

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Gayle was kind enough to take me behind the scenes where I saw a beautiful 3kg Red Emperor fish get neatly filleted in the blink of an eye with perfect precision. I made a mental note that next time upon our return to the region, we need to ensure arrange accommodation complete with a kitchenette! I would have loved to have bought some Red Emperor and cooked it up for dinner.

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After a morning of photographing delicious fresh seafood, the two of us were desperate to grab a quick snack before we headed out onto the plantations. Harbourside Cafe is located along the same stretch of road as the fishing boat jetties so we ducked in there for a bite to eat. It has the vibe of a beach side fish and chip shop with simple décor and no table service. Their menu is literally pages long with an eclectic mix of local and imported seafood in addition to some Indian and Thai styled curries.

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Carnarvon snapper ($35, GF)

Avoiding the cheaper imported fish dishes, I chose the grilled Carnarvon snapper fillet served with salad and chips. The chef was happy to cook the chips in fresh oil to avoid any gluten contamination. My snapper was an enormous serve of two big fillets and I would have preferred a smaller size at a cheaper price. The fish was soft and flaked apart delicately under my fork.

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Crab cakes ($17)

The Boy ordered the crab cakes and prawn nori rolls. The crab cakes were topped with fresh prawns and a sweet chilli sauce. Obviously not being gluten free I didn’t try them but the Boy said they had a satisfying crunchy exterior with a creamy centre however didn’t have a lot of flavour.

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Prawn nori rolls ($17)

The nori rolls were served deep fried which we both thought was quite curious. Stuffed with fresh prawns, seaweed and capsicum these non-traditionalist snacks were a novelty worth trying at least once.

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Refuelled and ready for more exploring we headed out to the ring road affectionately known as the “fruit loop” by locals. The area is filled with fruit and vegetable plantations growing a wide variety of tropical fruits, vegetables and herbs.  The first stop heading out of town was Morel’s Orchard. Run by the absolutely lovely Jean and Doris Morel, this plantation is open to the public seven days a week including public holidays. Who needs a farmers market when you can buy your produce direct from the farmer? Honestly, it was like a dream come true for me!

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"black sapote" "chocolate pudding fruit" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "food event" "WA signature dish" "buy west eat best" "signature dish" "gascoyne" "carnarvon" "gluten free snacks" "travel carnarvon" "travel exmouth" "travel carnarvon" "travel gascoyne" "tropic of capricorn" "car hire exmouth" "interpretive centre" "one mile jetty" "one mile station restaurant" "one mile carnarvon" "gluten free carnarvon" "jetty carnarvon" "precinct carnarvon" "heritage jetty" "jetty restaurant carnarvon" "taste of the gascoyne" "gascoynte food trail" "paddock to plate" "west australia food" "food tour" "banana plantation" "crab farm" "north west fishing" "abacus fisheries" "abacus crabs" "pickles point" "bumbaks" "morels orchard" "attractions carnarvon" "carnarvon restaurants" "carnarvon gluten free"
Black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit)

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Morel’s fruits were all so supersized and delicious looking but the most interesting of them all was the black sapote, or chocolate pudding fruit. This fruit is a species of persimmon with a yellow green inedible skin. The centre of the ripe fruit is a dark chocolate colour with the creamy texture of, yes you guessed it, chocolate pudding.

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Snake beans

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In addition to growing many seasonal fruits, the Morel’s property has row upon row of herbs and other vegetables growing lusciously. Everything looked so well-manicured and cared for as if it was just their own personal backyard veggie patch, but on a much larger scale. The Boy is an avid green thumb and his dream isn’t to be able to buy direct from farmers like me, but more so to be able to have his own veggie patch of this grand scale and get his veggies from his own backyard.

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Morel’s famous chocolate coated frozen banana
"black sapote" "chocolate pudding fruit" "mango" "strawberry" "banana" "Perth Restaurant Reviews" "Perth food blog" "Perth restaurants" "Perth gluten free" "Perth fructose friendly" "Perth food reviews" "restaurants perth" "food blog" "Chompchomp" "food photos" "gluten free" "fructose friendly" "gluten free cooking" "gluten free recipes" "fructose friendly recipes" "gluten free raw food" "fructose friendly raw food" "food event" "WA signature dish" "buy west eat best" "signature dish" "gascoyne" "carnarvon" "gluten free snacks" "travel carnarvon" "travel exmouth" "travel carnarvon" "travel gascoyne" "tropic of capricorn" "car hire exmouth" "interpretive centre" "one mile jetty" "one mile station restaurant" "one mile carnarvon" "gluten free carnarvon" "jetty carnarvon" "precinct carnarvon" "heritage jetty" "jetty restaurant carnarvon" "taste of the gascoyne" "gascoynte food trail" "paddock to plate" "west australia food" "food tour" "banana plantation" "crab farm" "north west fishing" "abacus fisheries" "abacus crabs" "pickles point" "bumbaks" "morels orchard" "attractions carnarvon" "carnarvon restaurants" "carnarvon gluten free"
We couldn’t choose so we got a selection

As we thanked Jean and Doris for their hospitality, Doris insisted that we try some of their chocolate coated frozen fruit before we left. I am so glad we did! Forget about Magnum ice-cream, these Morel freezer sweets are worth the visit in their own right. We struggled to choose which ones to eat and ended up greedily grabbing far too many; trying the chocolate coated black sapote, the custard apple, banana and strawberries along with some frozen mango. The smooth black sapote was definitely our favourite with the banana coming a close second.

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Whilst many of you may never have heard of a chocolate pudding fruit before, you will be more familiar with one of Carnarvon’s biggest exports to Perth; the banana. I was grateful that Sweeter Banana’s business manager Doriana was happy to take some time out from her busy day to show us through the banana packing facility.

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The Boy and I have had many a debate at home over which bananas are better; I love the smaller, sweeter ones and he prefers the picture perfect enormous ones. Whenever he does the grocery shopping he will always come home with the biggest bananas he can find which inevitably results in complaints from me because I think they taste powdery and bland. What I didn’t know was why this is the case.

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Doriana was a proud advocate of the smaller banana which is characteristic of the Carnarvon-grown fruit. Their smaller size and better taste is all due to the different climate of the Gascoyne region in comparison to tropical North Queensland where the larger bananas come from. Carnarvon’s weather tends to be hot and dry having a much lower humidity level. The low humidity means that their crops do not suffer from the diseases and pests seen in the tropics making their produce pesticide free.

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Because of these weather conditions, the banana plantations have to plant their trees much closer together than in the tropics. This creates a continuous canopy with the tree’s leaves which helps protect the fruit from the burning rays of the sun. As a result the bananas have a much longer growing time resulting in a smaller but much sweeter fruit. Next time you are buying bananas, look for the lunchbox sized versions and you can taste the difference for yourself. I am happy to say I have converted the Boy to eating our local WA sweeter bananas now!

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Our final stop on the fruit loop was at the home store on Bumbak’s plantation. This plantation owner had become frustrated with the amount of good fruit she had to throw away year after year just because it wasn’t up to the commercial standard despite the fact it was perfectly fine to eat.

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She created a way to value add to this large component of her harvest by making a variety of jams, sauces and marinades. Many of her natural home made products are gluten free and have won a long list of Awards at the Perth Royal Show. We grabbed a couple of jars to take home to try including her banana jam and some Thai coconut chilli marinade.

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Heading back into town there is a cute little place worth mentioning called River Gums Café that is marked on the Gascoyne Food trail. It regrettably did not have a lot to offer gluten free so we didn’t stop there for a bite to eat but it is a very pretty location to stop for afternoon tea for those less restricted with their diets.

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The last stop on the Gascoyne Food trail is “The Precinct”, Carnarvon’s Heritage area on Babbage Island. This area is home to the One Mile Jetty, a beautiful historical jetty built in 1897 and maintained in good enough condition to walk nearly the full length.

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The Boy has taken over my “old” DSLR and brings a new view to our holiday snaps

Until very recently you could buy yourself a drink and an ice cream from the Guardsmans’ Van kiosk to enjoy on your jetty walk. With the opening of the new Interpretive Centre, the kiosk has now been closed as it has been replaced with the One Mile Restaurant in the Centre. This restaurant was the location for our WA Signature Dish regional final. On the day of the final, the chef of One Mile Restaurant and I got chatting and I was excited to hear she plans to accommodate for gluten free customers. The restaurant was opening that week and I offered to return in order to try one of her first gluten free cake creations.

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I’m glad we made the effort to return. She made a super moist orange almond cake that was different to your usual almond meal based cake. She included some gluten free flour to make it lighter and fluffier. Suffice to say I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it and the Boy who is “not a dessert person” was very happy to help me finish my generous slice. He even said it didn’t taste gluten free! Winning!

As we drove back to our hotel, the Boy looked over at me very satisfied with himself.

“Am I right?” he asked me.

All these years I had dismissed ideas of a trip up North with the perception that there was nothing up here that would interest me. Swallowing my pride humbly there was no way I could refute him; this is a place in Western Australia that every foodie needs to visit.

 

Gascoyne Food Trail | www.gascoynefood.com.au
 
Pickles Point Seafood & Boatyard | Facebook
Lot H Harbour Road, Carnarvon WA 6701 | (08) 9941 4078 | Open Mon-Sat from 9am-5pm (closed Jan-Feb)
 
Harbourside Cafe
131 Harbour Road, South Carnarvon WA 6701 | (08) 9941 4111 | Facebook
Harbourside Cafe Restaurant on Urbanspoon
Morel’s Orchard
486 Robinson Street, Carnarvon WA 6701 | (08) 9941 8368 | Open 7 days (incl. PH) from 8.30am-5.30pm
 
Sweeter Banana Cooperative Carnarvon | (08) 9941 9100 | www.sweeterbanana.com
 
Bumbak’s at Terra Temptations
449 North River Road, Carnarvon, WA | 0409 377 934
Available at IGA Cottesloe
 
River Gums Café
Turn at the Big Banana on Robinson Street then it 34 Margaret R.O.W., Carnarvon WA 6701 | (08) 9941 8281 | Open Wed-Sunday from 10am-3pm during May to October

River Gums Cafe on Urbanspoon

One Mile Restaurant at the Interpretive Centre | Heritage Precinct
Annear Place, Babbage Island, Carnarvon WA 6701 | (08) 9941 3423 | www.carnarvonheritage.com.au
The Precinct is open daily from 9am-5pm, April to November and on weekends only from December to March. One Mile restaurant will be opening mid-May 2014.

One Mile Restaurant at the Interpretive Centre on Urbanspoon

9 thoughts on “From Paddock to Plate: Exploring the Gascoyne Food Trail in Carnarvon, Northwest Australia”

  1. That banana jam sounds really intriguing! I know Filipinos make banana ketchup but haven’t tried banana jam before. And great to hear all those bananas aren’t going to waste either!

    1. Hi Helen! The banana jam is really tasty, I have already got through half the jar. Will need to think of some more creative things to do with it other than just smeared on hot toast before it runs out! Thankfully it can be ordered online! PHEW!

  2. This is a seriously amazing post Martine! I read bits of it more than once, just to make sure that I didn’t miss anything (amazing photos, too… haha, I loved seeing a few from your man also. Photojournalism at its best!).
    Firstly, you’ve completely convinced me to visit the Gascoyne region. I’ve been North to Broome before but only stayed for a few days and didn’t venture out at all. I guess I’ve always perceived it as being rather remote and hot up there (which I suppose it is… but seeing the passionate people and their amazing produce has given me a very different perspective). I love the no-waste policy at Bumbak’s too. Did you like the banana jam? Glad that you could find some delicious gf options – the texture of that cake looks incredible. Oh, and I had no idea that crab shell was used in second skin! xx

    1. Thanks Laura! It ended up being such a long post that I was worried readers would get a bit bored of it all! So glad you enjoyed it as I cannot think which bits I could have left out. I really didn’t expect to enjoy our trip as much as I did, it really should be on the bucket ist for all foodies. Wish I could have brought some chocolate pudding fruit back!

  3. I lived there from 1971 to 1980 and visited up till 2006. I have very fond memories of Carnarvon. Enjoyed your post

    1. Hi Patricia, I can see why you enjoyed your time there, glad you enjoyed the post!

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