Meet the people behind Tasting Australia

Posted 7 March, 2022 Anna Kantilaftas

Tasting Australia presented by RAA travel is back this year and ready to serve up a buffet of lip-smacking good events.

Foodies will enjoy a program from new co-festival directors Karena Armstrong and Daren Robertson, with food curated by Emma McCaskill and a drinks program by Nick Stock. The quartet is the brains behind this year’s Tasting Australia presented by RAA Travel program, which is a celebration of South Australian people, places and produce.

Renowned wine critic, Nick Stock, who started in the industry as one of Australia’s first sommeliers, says his career has inspired this year’s drinks events. “I love the idea that wine is connected to people and place,” he says.

“I’ve been lucky enough to travel the whole world of wine quite extensively over the last 10 to 15 years and really understand it through the prism of how things taste and where they come from and who makes them, and I bring all of those things back into what I do in the festival.

“It’s about finding the great drinks and understanding why they taste how they taste and who the great people are who are responsible for creating them.”

This is the undertone of the festival – the connection between those of us who eat the food, those who cook and prepare it, and the producers who supply it. It’s a whole new take on farm-to-table.

Karena Armstrong is the owner of McLaren Vale’s popular Salopian Inn, which emphasises the use of its own ingredients while championing producers of the Fleurieu Peninsula. The restaurateur is passionate about bringing the industry together.

“I remember when I first walked into a kitchen; I felt like I had met my people,” she says. “It was chaos, it was noisy, there was lots of energy and I immediately felt like I was part of something.

“South Australia is so unique because we are authentic, and we have this amazing liveable city where you have this proximity to the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Fleurieu, Kangaroo Island – they’re all really close.

“But we also know our producers; we have this great food and wine community… and as part of Tasting Australia, telling these people’s stories is so important. I get so excited about all the stories we can tell, about food, beverage, and even that arts that link back into food in South Australia that makes us so culturally rich. I’m really proud to talk about our state.”

It’s a similar kind of passion for the food industry that’s led Emma McCaskill to travel into the path of education, now sharing her knowledge and international experience with the next generation. Her career has seen her work in restaurants around the world from Tokyo and Nottingham to Sydney, Melbourne, and the foothills of Adelaide. It includes a few years running her own restaurant and a mantel of accolades.

Agreeing with Karena, Emma says: “I didn’t realise until travelling abroad for almost 10 years and coming back eight years ago that we are so lucky here. Everything is in such close proximity, and we have this really amazing community of winemakers, and producers and farmers. That’s what this festival is about, connecting those farmers to the chef and telling their stories through the menus.”