1

Best fruit

forward

Native fruits

are increasingly

on the agenda

at restaurants

and at home.

Here’s the 101.

DAVID MATTHEWS

MOUNTAIN PEPPER

This tree yields plump berries that have

mouth-tingling heat reminiscent of black

pepper, but with more complexity. Usually

dried, they’re on the menu at EXP in the

Hunter Valley, adding spice to a dessert of

brown-butter ice-cream and apple pastry

with saltbush and muntari.

QUANDONG

Prized by Aboriginal peoples and settlers

alike, this desert plant bears meaty fruits

reminiscent of semi-dried stone fruit.

Quandongs team well with pig; try them in

the sweet-and-sour pork at Sydney’s Billy

Kwong, and with Berkshire pork

and sweet onion at Wildflower in Perth.

“Native uit of a few

species o ts such asLeptomeria

acida e commercially cultivated

Acrotriche depressa. The acidic berries are

outstanding in jam, and are served in

jam-like guise at Adelaide’s Orana with

chocolate praline and coconut sorbet.

BUENO PIT STOP

As mallets swing and polo ponies turn on a pin at Estancia Villa

Maria, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the flamboyant

Argentine chef and renowned pitmaster Francis Mallmann will

be barbecuing lunch. The polo match and lunch with Mallman

are among the exclusive experiences on the 22-day Captain’s

Choice “Discovery of South America by Private Jet” journey

departing Sydney on 23 August. captainschoice.com.au

Retrace part of Sir Ernest

Shackleton’s remarkable polar trek

across South Georgia Island during

Scenic Eclipse’s 21-day Antarctic

cruise, departing Buenos Aires in

December. The 228-passenger

“yacht”, with a submarine and two

choppers among its toys, will be

launched in the Med in August.

scenic.com.au

Remarkable nights

The DNA is unmistakably QT: signature gel beds, big circular

backlit mirrors, deep bathtubs, tongue-in-cheek minibars and

pops of colour. But views of New Zealand’s Southern Alps

and Lake Wakatipu through floor-to-ceiling windows give

QT Queenstown a look all its own. In keeping with its alpine

setting, the 69-room lakeside hotel has a ski room,

a suspended fireplace and split-rock feature wall in the

lobby, and thick, cable-knitted throws, timber floors and

herringbone-patterned rugs in rooms. Bathrooms are clad

in white marble with copper fittings. Guests can watch the

sun set on the Remarkables with a glass of Central Otago

pinot noir in hand at the sixth-floor Reds Bar, while breakfast

and dinner are served at the QT’s open-kitchen Bazaar

“interactive marketplace”. 30 Brunswick St, Queenstown,

New Zealand, qthotelsandresorts.com

NATIVECURRANT

urrant” refers to uit

of berr ts

n h

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