While traditionally Tasmania (that’s the little island down past the bottom of Australia’s mainland for those who don’t know) has been known for its stunning vistas, wacky wildlife and art galleries, it’s recently made its mark on the food scene. In fact, Lonely Planet once named capital Hobart in their list of top 10 foodie cities IN THE WORLD.
While Melbourne has its coffee scene and Sydney an incredible range of Asian cuisine, the order of the day in dear old Tassie is cheese – and lots of it!
Whether you want to enjoy a bit of cheese with a wine or beer at the end of the day or embark on a full-blown cheese crawl, we have found some unmissable cheeses to sample on your next Tasmanian adventure.
Tasmania as its finest
Bruny Island Cheese Co.
If you’re heading to Southern Tassie and love cheese, you can’t miss a visit to Bruny Island Cheese Co.’s cellar door. With a wide range of cow’s milk cheeses on offer, like their mature French-style 1792 (named after the year the French first arrived in Tasmania), you’d be hard pressed not to find something you love. Plus, they’re huge advocates for sustainable, ethical dairy farming, which is a big tick, in our eyes.
If you’re having trouble choosing your cheese, order a full cheese platter and have a picnic under the Eucalyptus trees, or just have some quick tastings. They also make their own beers, which they will happily pair with cheese for you – how gouda’s that?!
That’s good!
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Bay of Fires Cheese
If you want cheese that’s been perfected over centuries, you can’t go past Bay of Fires. The current cheese wiz is a thirteenth-generation cheese-maker, originally from England, where his family still make fromage today. If you’re a cheddar fiend, Bay of Fires is the cheesemonger for you, as their cheddar won or placed in the Best Cheddar Cheese category at the Australian Grand Dairy Competition for the last three years running. The cheese is aged for at least a year on a pine board and is given a massage by hand every three weeks – no wonder it’s an award winner.
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The Wicked Cheese Co.
From the old to the new, The Wicked Cheese Co. may be a younger dairy, but it has pumped out some pretty impressive cheese to date. The handmade triple cream brie won Gold at the Royal Melbourne Show a few years ago, and more recently Wicked have also been creating a creamy, buttery goats cheese, which was a winner at the Royal Hobart show in 2014.
A visit to their factory outlet allows you to view the cheese-making rooms, taste and buy the cheese or even pop next door to their licensed café for something more substantial (and a tipple to go with it). Brie-licious.
Mmm, cheese. Image by Anita Peeples via Unsplash.
READ THIS: A TASTE OF TASMANIA: MY FIRST FORAY INTO THE APPLE ISLE (AND GROUP TRAVEL)
Ashgrove Tasmanian Farm
When you’re talking about the Big Cheese in Tassie, Ashgrove Cheese is a definite contender. With free daily presentations about how they make their cheese and the opportunity to watch their cheese-makers in action on weekdays, you can eat and learn at Ashgrove. There’s also more to Ashgrove than just cheese; their farm store caters to sweet tooths with a penchant for house-made ice-creams, as well as other dairy products like milk, cream and butter.
They won more than 50 medals in the 2017 Australian Dairy Product Competition across their product range. Does it get any feta than that?
Tassie is great!
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Pyengana Dairy
Pyengana is located smack-bang in the heart of Tasmanian dairy country. The name is the Aboriginal word for the ‘meeting of two rivers’, and unsurprisingly Pyengana can be found within a lush river valley. The beautiful setting is the perfect place to relax and sip on a milkshake, or, you guessed it – eat cheese! Pyengana’s award-winning range of cheddar includes mild, traditional, mature, tasty, devilish and a range of flavoured varieties.
The Devilish Cheddar goes perfectly with a crisp Tassie beer, so you can enjoy two grate (sorry) Tasmanian pleasures at once.
Want to sample some of Tasmania’s finest produce? Why not join our Taste of Tasmania small group tour?
Feature image by Alexander Maasch via Unsplash.
