​Exceptional Wine and Food Showcase for Eat.Taste.Central.

Take those taste buds out of winter hibernation - Tourism Central Otago’s (TCO) annual food and beverage celebration Eat.Taste.Central. springs into action again this Friday (20 October).

The month-long event will dish up some specially created fare at participating venues, complimented by a series of fun food and beverage-focussed events scheduled throughout.

This year is the seventh year the event has been held, and what a wild gastronomic ride it had been, Anthony (Antz) Longman, TCO’s Head of Destination said.

“We’re proud that E.T.C. continues to celebrate our amazing venues, chefs and producers, and is a key part of telling the story of Central Otago as a food and beverage destination of choice. Additionally, our event partners, including Air New Zealand, The Central App, MiNDFOOD, More FM and Central Otago Winegrowers Association have continued their support for another year, which further highlights the value of the event to the region.

“This year we’ve got dishes that hero ingredients such as rabbit, thar, venison, lamb, cherries, apricots, apples, honey and more. Chefs from participating venues have designed their category dishes in such a way that celebrates not only the flavours of local ingredients, wines and beverages, but in many cases also touches on culture, history and heritage of the person, place and their chosen hero ingredient.”

TCO’s Media and Marketing Manager Alison Mason said she and the team were well impressed with the creativity and flair being shown in the use of local ingredients.

“We have now seen their dishes, and rather than pick just a couple to highlight, we can confidently encourage people to get out and try as many as possible during Eat.Taste.Central while they are available.”

In addition to the online Regional Menu and dish images, for the first time, a short video profile has been created for each dish and venue. These can be viewed within each dish listing on eattastecentral.co.nz and capture the people and flavours that are integral to Eat.Taste.Central.

Wine lovers will enjoy two truly unique celebrations of local wines bookending the event, with the Alexandra Basin New Release Tasting event being held on Sunday (22 October). The final weekend for E.T.C. is one to mark with the Central Otago Wine Experience event hosted by Central Otago Winegrowers at Mt Difficulty – a rare opportunity to discover, taste and learn about the Central Otago wine region from a selected group of world class wineries in one space. In addition, there are other unique and personal events throughout E.T.C. including a Quartz Reef wines and Sanga’s Pies fusion event, Wine and Fromage (cheese) at Domaine Thomson, Burger Afloat’s Beats and Burgers and more.

“When we launched Eat.Taste.Central. in 2016, the intention was to raise the profile of Central Otago’s outstanding food and beverage providers, growers and experiences, with the additional aim of giving the region a boost in a traditionally quiet time of year,” Mr Longman said. “On reflecting on the last six years, it has become clear that Eat.Taste.Central. is achieving those original goals.”

Eat.Taste.Central. runs from Friday 20 October to Sunday 12 November and offers a regional menu of specially created dishes plus supporting food and beverage focussed events.

PHOTO: Waipiata Hotel’s Head Chef David Aracama with the E.T.C. Sense-ational Burger - Coneys Creek Beef Bulgogi Burger with Swiss Cheese.