The award-winning Cheesery based in the Adelaide Hills is well known for its  delectable range of artisan cheese made from milk sourced from small, local dairies, but their foray into butter is relatively new. Determined to get my hands on a pat, I arrived early at the Showground Farmers’ Market on Sunday morning to snaffle a block to take home and slather on a fresh loaf of sourdough. Incredibly rich with a subtle blue vein flavour and curdly texture, this hand churned, cultured butter melted away immediately in my mouth.

There are two types of butter. In Australia, we are more familiar with ‘sweet cream’ butter, made from churned fresh cream that does not go through a ripening process. I fondly remember my grandmother making big pats of buttercup yellow butter with cream fresh from the cow. After being put through the separator, the cream was so thick that you could stand a jar of it upsidedown without spilling a drop.

The superior, ‘cultured’ butter is popular in Northern Europe where it has been produced and enjoyed for centuries. Made the time honoured way with slightly soured cream, it has a more complex flavour, a different texture and is very rich. If you are a butter lover planning a trip to France there are a number of beurres de baratte (traditional hand-churned butters) of exceptional quality from Normandy, Charentes and Isigny that will make you swoon…and then there is le beurre Bordier. Made by the celebrated Jean-Yves Bordier in Brittany this fabulous butter imparts an incredible richness to dishes and the grand chefs of France can’t get enough.

Still relatively new in Australia, there are just a handful of cultured butter makers in the country. Woodside Cheese Wrights make their butter with thick, naturally rich cream that is innoculated with cultures and set aside to ripen. After the buttermilk is removed it is washed with filtered water and sprinkled with South Australian Murray River pink salt.

There is nothing quite as delicious as good butter smeared on fresh bread but chatting at the Woodside stand at the farmers’ market I discover that Blue Butter goes exceptionally well with mushrooms. Simply pan-fry a medley of mushrooms in the butter, sprinkle the dish with fresh parsely and add a grinding of pepper. As is often the case with outstanding produce, it’s best to keep things simple in order for the flavours to speak for themselves. Apparently, the Blue Butter is wonderful on top of a steak. I imagine it would also be tasty melted into a hot baked potato, or used to finish a velvety cauliflower soup…With half a pat of butter left, I’d better get cooking!

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Those who love culinary adventures now have even more reason to head up the hill to Sticky Rice. Three luxurious villas have just been completed on the property, enticing guests to extend their stay and escape into their own private paradise. Yesterday was the launch party.  Beautiful finger food was whipped up by the chefs, guests mingled with drinks on the lawn and there were tours of the new accommodation. The lovely balmy evening, unseasonal for this time of year, added to the atmosphere and helped transport us all to Asia.

Bali villa. Source: Sticky Rice Cooking School

The gorgeous villas are architecturally designed with floor-to-ceiling glass and the environment in mind; all have solar power and under-floor hydronic heating. Stunning designer furniture adds a wow factor while the hanging lamps and remote-control block out blinds create drama and a romantic mood. Those who love to cook, however, will be won-over by the dreamy Jag kitchens.

Each of the three villas has a unique style and ambience. The Japanese inspired Yoko is all clean lines and calm, complete with shoji screen doors and two private gardens, one with a contemporary tea house and a Japanese maple.

The bedroom in Yoko. Source: Sticky Rice Cooking School

Soothing music and serenity are only part of the attraction in the Zen villa. There’s a stand-alone bath in the open plan bedroom that boasts a sumptuous king size bed and an indoor shower under the branches of an ancient pine tree. It’s sleek black-and-white with contemporary black leather couches and a state-of-the-art kitchen designed for private cooking classes. The sweeping island bench can seat 10.

The kitchen in Zen. Source: Sticky Rice Cooking School

Bali is my favourite. There’s a warm feeling with rich colours, antique carved wooden doors and a stone bath. In the courtyard, a Balinese hut with a giant day bed is perfect for lazing on, and out the back in the tranquil bamboo garden is a Buddha water feature.

The bathroom in Bali. Source: Sticky Rice Cooking School

Basin in Yoko. Source: Sticky Rice Cooking School

It’s the little touches that I love: the Japanese tea set in Yoko, the elephant-patterned throw in Bali, and the sheer black curtain that separates the bedroom in Zen, giving an intimate feel. Guests receive a welcoming fruit platter and bottle of wine, and provisions for a cooked breakfast. Gorgeous Asian cookbooks are strewn open to delicious recipes on benches and side tables, begging to be used, but I’d be tempted to spend the day mooching about in a fluffy robe after a deep, relaxing bubble bath, and flicking through the pages.

Claire offers various Cook & Stay packages that incorporate a class at the school, and there’s the option of an Asian pantry bag for those who want to cook up their own storm. Guests may prefer to order an Adelaide Hills produce platter, engage a personal chef to whip up dinner for two or perhaps deliver a private cooking class in their villa. Alternatively, they can join a gourmet tour of the nearby markets and farm gates with a local guide before returning to cook lunch with a chef in one of the villas.

Yoko tea house. Source: Sticky Rice Cooking School

It’s the perfect break for keen cooks and food lovers who enjoy exotic cuisines, and a wonderful base to explore the cosy pubs, cellar doors and restaurants of the Adelaide Hills, which are currently exploding in a show of autumn colour.

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With the days becoming cooler and crisper after a long, hot summer, thoughts turn to the flavours of autumn and there’s no better place to witness the change of seasons than at a farmers’ market. The Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market is the largest in South Australia and attracts up to 5000 locals and tourists every Sunday morning. Established in 2006 with the assistance of the Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society, the non-profit organisation supports small family farms and regional producers who sell fresh, seasonal produce directly to consumers. It’s an authentic South Australian experience and has become a regular outing for me and my daughter Georgi.

We grab a coffee at the From Scratch coffee caravan at the entrance, which is excellent as usual, and await the bell that heralds the opening of the market. Buskers start up, buckets of flowers are whirled out, bacon and eggs sizzle on barbeques and outdoor tables soon fill up with a hungry breakfast crowd.

Our first stop, however, is always Patlin Gardens, the overflowing vegetable stall owned by Lina Verilli and Pat D’Onofrio, an engaging character who bellows his wares and dispenses earnest tips and advice on cooking to entertain the long queue already waiting. It’s one of the things I most love about farmers’ markets, the direct connection to ‘the source’. Their farm on the Gawler River produces a mind-boggling selection of seasonal and unusual pesticide-free vegetables grown outdoors all year round. The fertile soil is enhanced by organic manures, compost and seaweed extract. Today there are beautiful bunches of multi-coloured carrots,  ears of new-season corn, trumpet squash and squat orange pumpkins. Tempting as always are the tasty olives from their extensive olive grove, dressed in garlic, lemon pepper, oregano and sea salt, along with delicious extra virgin olive oil, homemade passata and Lina’s chilli sauce flavoured with their own jalapenos.

Next door is Willibrand Figs and just a bite into one of their soft-poached figs that has been gently dried and enrobed in thick, dark Belgian chocolate, and you will think you have gone to heaven. Willibrand’s orchard is in the Adelaide Hills and during the short but sweet fig season from February to the end of April, they welcome visitors to pick their own figs.

There are so many wonderful stalls that I can’t possibly do justice to them all in one post, but later on, I will tell you more about the delectable artisanal cheeses from Alexandrina, owned by fourth generation cheesemakers who have individually named their 80 Jersey cows…and about the ‘Pork Man’ from Minniribbie Berkshere Pig Farm with free-range sausages so good that I had to call my father to tell him I had rediscovered a taste from my grandmother’s kitchen. And then there’s the cloudy Kalangadoo organic apple juice from the Limestone Coast, available March to September.

At this time of the year the market is awash with crisp apples and Packham pears but I simply can’t finish without mentioning From Scratch pâtisserie, the place to go for your morning pastry fix. These delicious French and Italian inspired treats will make you dream and drool and Adelaidians can’t get enough! This morning the wait was so long that I gave up on my sfogliatelle with its light, luscious layers of wafer-thin pastry, custard, citron peel, cinnamon and vanilla, so I’m sorry to say that I can’t show you a photo. They do however, set up a pop-up pâtisserie in the alleyway next to Coffee Branch in the city on Friday mornings only, between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. I may have to set the alarm…just to get a shot for you, bien sûr.

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