Pialligo Estate & Smokehouse
Pialligo Estate is an historic farm with an award-winning smokehouse. We produce only the finest, 100% Australian culinary experiences in the heart of Canberra.
Pialligo Estate Academy set to host bespoke Capital Culinary Experience
TEN leading culinary professionals and top restaurateurs from China are preparing to be dished up a taste of the capital as Canberra’s Pialligo Estate secures itself a seat at the global table.
This week, the group will attend a bespoke food and wine program at Pialligo Estate Academy, designed to inspire, educate and share a slice of the city’s unique offering with one of the world’s most influential markets.
From July 9-13, attendees will be guided through an array of hands-on educational experiences, from European inspired kitchen techniques, horticulture (farming) and vineyard lessons at the estate, to truffle and wine tasting at Mount Majura.
This is the first of four programs scheduled this year in which guests will participate in masterclasses at one of Canberra’s best culinary academies, Pialligo Estate Academy and Smokehouse.
Pialligo Estate Academy has been operating for 18-months and is the only registered provider in Canberra to offer the globally-recognised WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) qualifications. Academy Development Manager, Diana Ryan, said it had long been a vision of the brand to launch into the global market and this was a significant step to get the region of Canberra and Pialligo Estate recognized internationally.
“Our team is very excited to be hosting this unique program which has inspired a wealth of talent to see first-hand the diverse local produce and culinary skills our region has to offer.”
“We believe this to be the best hands-on culinary educational program in the region and know the results will speak for themselves.”
“This is the first (of four) bookings made through Creative Food Australia, and we will be tailoring the program each month to ensure a truly authentic, and unique offering for each group.”
Jing Zhao, manager of Creative Food Australia said, “Our guests are very much looking forward to visiting the wide-open spaces and fresh country air of Pialligo Estate (Canberra).
“I have no doubt that once word gets out in China about Pialligo Estate, we will be overwhelmed with interest in the opportunity to learn more about the Australian culinary culture from the incredible staff at Pialligo Estate Academy and the ‘award winning’ Smokehouse.”
For Mount Majura Vineyard, the opportunity to be included in the culinary program, and to collaborate with Pialligo Estate was something winemaker Frank van de Loo said was close to his heart.
“There are great synergies and significant respect between Mount Majura and Pialligo Estate. We are both truly authentic Canberra businesses providing great rural experiences just minutes from the city,” he said.
“This program is a great example of the things we can continue to do as the Majura Valley develops into Canberra’s culinary tourism destination.”
The Pialligo Estate Academy Culinary Experience program commences at 9:00am (AEST), Monday 9 July. Media seeking to speak with staff or guests of Pialligo Estate can arrange interviews by calling Academy Development Manager Diana Ryan direct, on +61 409 367 503.
Photographers are welcome to visit the Estate throughout the week however we encourage calling ahead to inform us of your intended visit to ensure minimal disruption to the program.
Blog post update for Pialligo Estate and Farm Springtime September 2014
The months have flown past and here it is already September and springtime —possibly the most pleasant time of the year in Canberra.
Work continues on site at the Estate, both in terms of the building work and the farm, as well as the surrounding gardens. The Farmhouse Restaurant and outdoor terraces are really taking shape now — and the combination of stone cladding with the recycled timber, designed by Thor’s Hammer in Yarralumla, looks spectacular.
The orchard is in blossom and the market garden is about to planted with potatoes, pumpkins, beetroot, lettuces, tomatoes, aubergines, chillies, carrots, zucchinis, strawberries and herbs.
The Pialligo Estate team has been invited to participate in a series of panel discussions at this year’s Floriade Festival, together with other leading local food and wine producers. Our Food Week sessions are as follows:
Spice is Nice – Thursday, 25 September 11.00-11.30am (Floriade)
Spice flavours and profile appear both in food and wine. Recognise the different spices and herbs, taste both wine and food, and travel down the sensory path with the panel. Moderated by Ian Hemphill, featuring Pialligo Estate, Dennis Hart from Dog Trap Vineyard and Jim Lumbers from Lerida Estate.
Spice is Nice – Thursday, 25 September 7.00-7.30pm (*Night Fest)
Spice flavours and profile appear both in food and wine. Recognise the different spices and herbs, taste both wine and food, and travel down the sensory path with the panel. Moderated by Ian Hemphill, featuring Pialligo Estate, Dennis Hart from Dog Trap Vineyard and Chris Shanahan the Canberra Times wine writer and Phillip Clark from ABC 666 Breakfast.
Spice is Nice – Thursday, 25 September 9.00-9.30pm (*Night Fest)
Spice flavours and profile appear both in food and wine. Recognise the different spices and herbs, taste both wine and food, and travel down the sensory path with the panel. Moderated by Ian Hemphill, featuring Pialligo Estate and Plonk Wine and Beer from the Fyshwick Markets.
Bouncing Bubbles – Sunday 28 September 10.00-10.30am (Floriade)
Allow some bubbles to bounce around your palate and taste some local artisan produce. Featuring Pialligo Estate, with Fergus McGhie from Mount Majura Vineyard, Bindy Welsh author of the Canberra Regional Cookbook, and Darren Perryman from Autolyse Bakery.
It’s a Fizz Fest – Sunday 28 September 11.00-11.30am & also 12.00-12.30pm (Floriade)
Welcome to our table. The Living Room’s celebrity chef, Miguel Maestre, will be our host: feasting, tasting and talking local wine and produce with Pialligo Estate, Robyn Rowe from Robyn Rowe Chocolates, Greg Gallagher from Gallagher Wines, and Daniel Keogh from C Dine Bar.
Bouncing Bubbles – Sunday 28 September 7.00-7.30pm (*Night Fest)
Allow some bubbles to bounce around your palate and taste some local artisan produce. Featuring Pialligo Estate, with Fergus McGhie from Mount Majura Vineyard, and Lish Fejer from ABC 666 Sunday Brunch.
We will also be showcasing our products at The Forage, which will be held on Saturday, 27 September from 2.00-7.00pm at the historical 1940 Aircraft Hanger #47 located at the Fairbairn Precinct (8-10 Point Cook Avenue). You’ll be able to buy Pialligo Farm Smokehouse bacon at our stall, as well as taste some delicious creations from our visiting chef and master smoker, Tom Andrew, from UT Si Café in Perth, Tasmania (pictured below).
Tom is with us for a few weeks on a cultural exchange. He was born in Canberra, and trained and worked as a chef in Sydney (ex-Bistro Moore and La Disfida), and now works at UT Si. He is experienced in ‘nose to tail’ charcuterie and is keen to learn what we produce at Pialligo Farm Smokehouse, as well as adapt and exchange ideas about smoking and curing smallgoods.
Interest in our Pialligo Farm Smokehouse bacon continues to grow, especially since the announcement of the Best Australian Artisan Bacon award.
We are proud to be dry curing and cold smoking certified free range Mayfield Farm pork for meat and poultry provedore, Feather and Bone, who sell to the Sydney market.
In Sydney, we also supply Harris Farm Markets, together with four outlets of hudson meats, as well as their store in Melbourne. On that note, Flinders Island Meat is now distributing for us in the Melbourne area.
In Canberra, we have extended into the Friendly Grocer at Spence, IGA Supermarkets in Cook, Garran, Yarralumla and Chapman, as well as Campbell and Ainslie. You will also find our bacon at Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, TwentyOne Café and Grocer at Nishi, More than Meat butchery at Westfield in Belconnen, and Essential Ingredient in Kingston.
Don’t forget, you can also enjoy Pialligo Farm Smokehouse bacon at Lonsdale Street Roasters in Canberra city, and 38 Espresso and Penny University in Kingston, ACT.
Up north, in Brisbane, our bacon is available from The Standard Market Company in Newstead and Fortitude Valley, Ingredients at Kenmore Village, Naturally Fruit in Taringa, and Zone Fresh in Windsor.
Cheers for now, see you at Floriade or The Forage…
Charlie and the team
PIALLIGO FARM SMOKEHOUSE ‘AUSTRALIA’S BEST ARTISAN BACON’
We are absolutely delighted and proud to announce that Pialligo Farm Smokehouse has taken out top honours at Australian Bacon Week.
Our full rasher smoked and dry cured bacon was voted Australia’s Best Artisan Bacon by fleishmaster Horst Shurger, who has a Masters degree in butchering and smallgoods; and top chefs, Paul McDonald and Simon Bestly, who have broad international experience.
Voted as the best out of a record number of entries in this year’s Australian Bacon Awards, held in Sydney, the judges noted that Pialligo Farm Smokehouse Bacon has a ‘very nice appearance with an excellent smoky aroma, and well balanced flavour’ and also ‘great lean to fat ration, minimal to no shrinkage, and excellent texture’.
This is a benchmark achievement for us and it’s a truly great honour to know that our bacon has been judged as Australia’s Best Artisan Bacon, especially given the record number of entries.
Our artisan smokehouse offers all-natural products that showcase the best of the region and if you will allow us to say so, we feel that we are doing Canberra proud. In fact, our award winning smoked salmon was served as canapés for guests attending a Media/VIP Trade lunch at the renowned Bacchanalia restaurant in Singapore this week!
Executive Chef, Jan Gundlach, accompanied our Director, John Russell, to Singapore for the Singapore-ACT Government Trade Mission. During their visit, John and Jan met with trade delegates and Singapore’s leading chefs, sharing the Pialligo Estate story and showcasing our products.
Since 2013 Pialligo Estate has proudly received 48 national food awards, including five Champions and nine Gold medals; 17 Silver medals; and 20 Bronze medals. An esteemed judging panel of specialist chefs lined up by the Australian newspaper recently ranked Pialligo Farm traditional smokehouse hot smoked honey glazed salmon Number ONE.
Our multi-award winning dry-cured bacon is produced to an age-old recipe that Pialligo Estate has brought back to life using his secret blend of spices, which results in unsurpassed quality and flavour of award-winning standard.
Peter designed and created a traditional kiln smokehouse with a natural brick-kiln, and his smokehouse is used to create our quality artisan products. Our traditional smoked bacon has been hung in the smokehouse and cold-smoked for up to 17 hours. There are no preservatives, colourings or artificial flavours used in any of our products.
In Canberra, Pialligo Estate bacon is delivered weekly to IGA supermarkets in Campbell and Ainslie, Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, TwentyOne Café and Grocer at Nishi, More than Meat butchery at Westfield in Belconnen, and Essential Ingredient in Kingston. And you can enjoy it at Lonsdale Street Roasters, 38 Espresso in Kingston, and Penny University in Kingston.
In Brisbane, our bacon is available from The Standard Market Company in Newstead and Fortitude Valley, Ingredients at Kenmore Village, Naturally Fruit in Taringa, and Zone Fresh in Windsor. We are delighted to work with Fino Foods as our Wholesale Distributors in Brisbane.
We’ll be back soon with more news from the farm. Cheers until then.
Charlie
PIALLIGO ESTATE SMOKEHOUSE BRINGS HOME BACON FOR THE SECOND YEAR
It’s the chocolate of meat, its aroma gets tastebuds excited and last week it was all about bacon!
Australian Bacon Week ran from 21-27 June celebrating 100% Australian bacon, but also drawing attention to the competition local bacon faces from imported product.
Australian Pork Limited’s Peter Haydon said bacon was about enjoyment for many people and integral ingredient of many favourite dishes. “Bacon is so versatile we find it’s part of dishes from dawn until dusk and from starters to sweets,” Mr Haydon said. “Bacon made from 100% Australian pork is a high quality product that many people believe tastes better and Bacon Week is about shining a light on this homegrown product. “Many people are shocked to learn that more than 70 per cent of bacon sold in Australia is made from imported pork and so it’s also about sharing the tips on how to identify Aussie. The pink PorkMark logo or the words ‘Product of Australia’ mean the bacon is true blue.” Bacon captures the imagination of many people and a range of innovative products and dishes have been created for Bacon Week by chefs, dessert makers and more, including Gelato Messina and Adriano Zumbo.
As part of celebrations, Australia’s bacon was put to the test in the Australian Bacon Awards. Three specialist judges independently scrutinized the entries for appearance, flavor and other characteristics. Judges fleischmeister Horst Schurger, who has a Masters degree in butchering and smallgoods; experienced judge and chef, Simon Bestley, and Australian Pork’s Mitch Edwards, assessed 135 entries over two days.
For the second consecutive year, the judges named Pialligo Estate Smokehouse Australia’s Best Artisan Bacon. Our dry cured and smoked shortcut rashers produced in Canberra were described by the judges as beautifully marbled, with a nice smoky aroma and a nice balanced taste.
Pialligo Estate and Farm # 2 Winter 2014 (late July)
Blog post update for Pialligo Estate and Farm # 2 Winter 2014 (late July)
Spectacular winter vistas greet us at Pialligo Estate each morning, reminding us about the joys of living in Canberra. Despite the biting cold, it’s been a hive of activity at the farm.
Pialligo Farm Smokehouse was awarded with the honour of being Australia’s best artisan bacon during Australian Bacon Week and since then we’ve had a huge response — both in terms of publicity across the media, as well as from our valued customers.
As a result, we will be supplying Harris Farm Markets in Sydney from the beginning of August — together with four outlets of hudson meats, premium butcher and deli, who advise that they will slice Pialligo Farm Smokehouse bacon to order at the counter in their stores.
In Canberra, we have extended into IGA Supermarkets in Yarralumla and Chapman, and continue to supply Campbell and Ainslie, Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, TwentyOne Café and Grocer at Nishi, More than Meat butchery at Westfield in Belconnen, and Essential Ingredient in Kingston.
On Sunday, 27 July between 11am and 2pm, we will be offering tastings of our bacon at Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Markets, so please do pop into the store and say hello.
Work is progressing on the redevelopment of the Farmhouse Restaurant. Our two outdoor terraces are taking shape, together with the stone cladding on the exterior of the building. Our horticulturist is visiting nurseries in Sydney and Melbourne, sourcing a range of established plants for the Paul Bangay-designed farmhouse garden. Jan and Michael are busy making selections for spring plantings on the farm and also the kitchen garden for the restaurant.
“There is something refreshing about getting dirt underneath your fingernails, as you dig in the rich soil of the vegetable garden in search of an edible prize that you have been nurturing for months. This is how we will source ingredients for our Farmhouse Restaurant,” says Executive Chef, Jan.
Remember, you can also enjoy Pialligo Farm Smokehouse bacon at Lonsdale Street Roasters in Canberra city, and 38 Espresso and Penny University in Kingston, ACT.
Further north, in Brisbane, our bacon is available from The Standard Market Company in Newstead and Fortitude Valley, Ingredients at Kenmore Village, Naturally Fruit in Taringa, and Zone Fresh in Windsor.
Cheers for now…
Charlie
Pialligo Estate and Farm # 1 Winter 2014
As the fog greets us on this chilly winter morning, harvesting and pruning in the orchard, olives and vineyard on the farm is complete.
We had a great yield of olives this year and the quality is excellent. Our olive oil will be available for sale when we open the cellar door and restaurant in September 2014.
The roof and main structure has gone up on the new kitchen building and our state of the art cooking island has arrived, much to the excitement of our chefs Peter Curry and Jan Gundlach. We are waiting for the roof and the terrace extension to be completed.
Paul Bangay, our garden designer, has been busy putting the finishing touches on the plans for our restaurant garden. Together we are in the process of selecting more than 15,000 plants. Paul is internationally renowned for creating beautiful spaces for people, and is the author of several books, including The Balanced Garden. He draws his inspiration from his extensive travels and from working with architects and designers around the world.
We are also getting ready to plant the market garden and our horticulturist, Michael Thomsett, is planning to grow 20 or more different varieties of vegetables and herbs. He is working with our Executive Chef, Jan Gundlach, to establish a kitchen garden for the restaurant.
Jan (ex Flavours at Fyshwick Markets) is a Michelin-awarded chef with a repertoire developed over an extraordinary career in the culinary arts. Both gold medal winner and jury member at the Culinary Olympics, Jan was Executive Chef for the Mandarin Hotel in Singapore, Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong and Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
We’ve had our first enquiries from people wishing to hold special events on site. Those with creative vision can see beyond the mud and fog that we’re presently contending with. Others might like to wait until the springtime.
There’s a distinct aroma of wood smoke wafting from our new smokehouse, which will become a key component of the Pialligo Estate experience when we open.
Pialligo Estate bacon is delivered weekly to IGA supermarkets in Campbell and Ainslie, Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, TwentyOne Café and Grocer at Nishi, More than Meat butchery at Westfield in Belconnen, and Essential Ingredient in Kingston. And you can enjoy it at Lonsdale Street Roasters, 38 Espresso in Kingston, and Penny University in Kingston.
A reminder for our friends in Brisbane: our bacon is available from The Standard Market Company in Newstead and Fortitude Valley, Ingredients at Kenmore Village, Naturally Fruit in Taringa, and Zone Fresh in Windsor.
Autumn Harvest Part 2 at Pialligo Estate Canberra
Autumn can the best time of the year in Canberra, especially when those brisk early mornings are followed by sun-filled days. The time is ripe for our second olive harvest. Here on the farm we have 300 Correggiola trees in an olive grove that spans two hectares. Our olives are carefully harvested by hand in order to deliver pristine olives to the mills on the same day they are harvested. Once the restaurant and cellar door open later this year, we’ll be selling our Pialligo Estate extra virgin olive oil. It is a medium Tuscan style, grassy with a peppery finish —perfect on salads.
Michael Thomsett, the horticulturist on our team, is in charge of the olive grove and orchard, as well as the market garden and vineyard. A graduate of Hawkesbury Agricultural College, with ten years experience as a judge at regional and national shows for olives and olive products; as well as having managed a large olive grove in NSW for a decade, he has a solid background in his field of expertise.
This weekend we’re picking the rest of the pumpkins and the last of the zucchinis. There are Japs, Queensland Blue, Butternut and Jarrahdale pumpkins galore! This was our first year growing Giant pumpkins and we’re looking forward to being a contender in next year’s Collector Village Pumpkin Festival. Once all the pumpkins have been harvested, the green manure or vegetable will be ploughed in and we’ll plant a grass and legume mix to add organic nutrients to the soil. In springtime, we’ll plant a range of vegetables and herbs for the cellar door and to provide fresh produce for the restaurant. There will be lots happening, so watch this space.
We’re in full production curing and smoking bacon at the moment. Our dry-cured bacon is produced to an age-old recipe that master-smoker Peter has brought back to life using his secret blend of spices, which results in unsurpassed quality and flavour of award-winning standard. The purpose of dry curing is to salt the pork in order to reduce the moisture levels in the meat. This is a different method to modern techniques. We do not pump, brine or inject our meat with all those unpleasant preservatives. Hence, when you cook our products, there is no nasty residue leaching out.
Pialligo Estate bacon is available in Canberra from IGA supermarkets in Campbell and Ainslie, Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, TwentyOne Café and Grocer at Nishi, More than Meat butchery at Westfield in Belconnen, and Essential Ingredient in Kingston. For those who enjoy eating breakfast out, our bacon is served at Lonsdale Street Roasters, 38 Espresso in Kingston, and Penny University in Kingston.
Food enthusiasts in Brisbane take note: fino food+wine is distributing our bacon and you will find it at The Standard Market Company in Newstead and Fortitude Valley, Ingredients at Kenmore Village, Naturally Fruit in Taringa, and Zone Fresh in Windsor.
Work continues on product development in the form of hams, a delicious range of gourmet sausages, and Peter’s traditional white pudding. Stay tuned for more news in coming weeks. In the meantime, it’s back to work for us. As they say, there’s no rest for the wicked.
Charlie and Peter.
Autumn Harvest Part 1
Autumn is here, so we’ve hung up the gardening gloves just long enough to cobble together a short newsletter to let you know what’s been happening out at the Estate.
Firstly, we’re delighted to announce that Pialligo Estate Salmon Gravalax was awarded Champions Medal at the Sydney Royal Wine, Dairy and Fine Food Shows 2014; and we achieved nine Medals out of ten entries! Our salmon also took out the honours in 2013, so that’s two years in a row now that our Smokemaster, Peter Curry, has done us proud!
What’s more, The Australian Weekend A Plus recently lined up an esteemed judging panel of chefs specialising in seafood to put smoked salmon to the test—and they ranked our Pialligo Farm Traditional Smokehouse Hot Smoked Honey Glazed Salmon number ONE!
‘The Pialligo Estate salmon gravlax scored highest in the appearance category. “It looked so shiny, so bloody good… [and] that visual impact is so important to the diner,” said Josh Niland, head chef at Fishface in Sydney’s Double Bay.’
With the renovations, we’ll be back to full production with the smoked salmon soon. For now, our smoked bacon is available in Canberra from IGA supermarkets in Campbell and Ainslie, and also Deli Planet at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets. We’re also distributing in Brisbane.
Out at the Estate we’re harvesting the Riesling grapes this week with Sangiovese, Merlot and Shiraz to follow. Like many of the region’s wineries we too were affected by late winter frosts, so it’s a smaller harvest this time. Despite a harsh season, the trees in our orchard have grown significantly since they were first planted and we picked an excellent harvest of fruit this season. We have 40 different varieties and more than 1,000 heritage fruit trees—including peaches, apples, nashi pears, quinces, plums, figs, pomegranates and olives. The pumpkin patch is flourishing with Japs, Queensland Blue, Jarrahdale and Golden Nuggets. Among the many vines there are also zucchinis together with several giant pumpkins that we’ll enter in the 2014 Pumpkin Festival at Collector. Once we’ve picked the pumpkins, the green vegetation will be ploughed back in as fertiliser and we’ll plant another green crop over the coming winter. We’re slowly nurturing the farm back to its former market garden status.
Work continues on the cellar door and restaurant and we’ll keep you up to date as we approach the opening towards the middle of this year. That’s it for now, watch this space for more exciting news soon.
Charlie and Peter.
Pialligo Estate & Smokehouse 
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