Australian Gourmet Traveller - (08)August 2020 (1)

PILLARS OF STRENGTH

Victoria-borndistilleryFourPillarshassetupshopin Sydney’sSurryHills,

openingtheFourPillarsGinLaboratory.It’sa three-in-onevenuecombining

a ginretailshop,a “lab”formasterclasses,anda cocktailbar.TheGinLab

featuresanexperimentalstill,whilethedestinationcocktailbar(Eileen’sBar)

hastipplescuratedbydrinksdirectorJamesIrvine(whoyoumayrecognise

fromhistimebehindthebaratHubert).Thebarmenufeaturesbiteswith

elementsofginorbotanicalsleftoverfromtheFourPillars’productionline.

Seethesaltandgin-vinegarchips,theseasoningrenderedfromdehydrated

ginbotanicals;plumpanchovies,sprinkledwithgin-salt,ona slicedbaguette

withPepeSayabutter;andwhippedtaramasalatawithfocacciaandsmoked

Atlanticsalmoncaviar– thecuredfisheggsarerinsedwithFourPillars’Rare Dry

Gin,thensmokedwithpelletsmade from compressed iron bark and gin

botanicals.fourpillarsgin.com

Clockwisefromleft:

saltandgin-vinegar

chipsandOur

FavouriteG&Tat

Eileen’sBar;Four

Pillars’JamesIrvine

andMattWilkinson;

Innerbloomcocktail

at The Gin Lab.

Tippletales

Award-winningwriterandlong-timeGourmet

TravellercontributorMaxAllenhasupsizedtolong

formwithhisnewbook,Intoxicating.Exploring

10 tipplesthathelpedshapeAustralia,Allendelves

intothenationalpsycheandourstoriedproducers

toexploreourcomplexdrinkinghistoryfrombarrel

tostill,glasstonose.Hispersonaldeepdiveis

steepedin history,characters,colourandofcourse,

drinks,fromthefermentedsapoftheTasmaniancider

gum– enjoyedbyIndigenouspeoplelongbefore

Europeaninvasion– to150-year-oldChampagne

rescuedfroma shipwreck.Allenalsosharesrecipes

forclassiccocktailstotryathome.Intoxicatingby

Max Allen (Thames & Hudson, $32.95).

News

TheteamatPorkstarknow

a thingortwoaboutmaking

bacon(andmore).Headonline

tocheckouttheirwinter-ready

recipes,likeLouis Tikaram’s

spicysmokedspeck andchilli

noodles.porkstar.com.au

OurannualeventseriesGourmetInstitute

hasbeencancelledthisyear,duetoongoing

Coronavirusrestrictions.Welookforward

to returningnextyearwitha newline-up

of top Australian chefs.

GOURMET TRAVELLER 25

WORDS YVONNE C LAM (FOUR PILLARS). PHOTOGRAPHY STEVEN WOODBURN (FOUR PILLARS) & COLIN PAGE (ATTICA).