Juliet and I went with the twins to Milawa today. Strangely, it was the first time we’d experienced the "gourmet" attractions that little town has to offer in the eight years we’ve been living at Porepunkah.
We started at the cheese factory. It’s an attractive complex that also includes specialty sweets and ice-cream, a bakery, wine cellar and a furniture showroom.
According to their tasting notes: "All cheeses are hand made at the historic Milawa Butter Factory using traditional methods, without preservatives and using non-animal remnant."
That last part is bad English. I don’t know if they use non-animal remnant (whatever that is) or not?
The cheese varieties are mainly soft and tasty. There was none of that mouldy hard-rind stuff. We concentrated on the goat milk cheeses, as this was something completely different. I had never tasted goat milk cheese before apart from feta.
We enjoyed it and purchased Cajun Pepper Chevre, which was just mildly spiced, and Goat’s Camembert.
Boutique preserves were also sold there. We bought delicious peach pickles, hot Bengal chutney and Juliet chose an Indian dip.
The bakery next door had wonderful cakes and bread. We ordered coffee and sampled butterscotch mousse, hazelnut blueberry muffin and slices of sourdough bread with a thick crust.
There were outdoor tables available and it was family friendly in that the babies could roam safely without breaking anything or injuring themselves.
We resisted the additional temptation to buy locally made chocolates or ice-cream after the consumption of several thousand calories in a few mouthfuls.
Milawa Mustards
Next stop was Milawa Mustards. This unique business grows, manufactures and sells more than a dozen varieties of excellent mustard.
Curiously, neither Juliet or I eat much mustard. We both like hot foods, but more your chilli and curry type hot. Nevertheless, I appreciate an occasional mustard dab on sandwiches, so I purchased a jar of the garlic version.
The shop is neatly laid out, again with preserves and other foods for sale.
The mustard tasting counter is lined up in order from mild to hot. I thought to myself the last in line must be super super burning hot and, although I can’t exactly recall the label, it was something to that effect. The staff were friendly and helpful.
We then went to Brown Brothers winery, where I tasted a few varieties and purchased six bottles. The Roussanne was very nice.
We drove home via Tarrawingee and stopped for a cold beer and lemon squash at the historic pub. It’s hidden on the Beechworth road, and this was the first time I’d been there.
We were the only patrons, and again, the twins were free to roam as we sipped outdoors. James discovered a horse trough and proceeded to immerse himself.
It was a very enjoyable day close to home.
