Meningie Cheese Factory Restaurant and Museum: Lisa tastes some local food in the Fleurieu Peninsula region of South Australia
We're all well aware of the effects the record-breaking drought is having. While most of us are coping with water restrictions in the city, spare a thought for the people who live on the lakes at the end of the Murray.
The waters of Lake Albert are usually lapping the local jetty - offering great fishing, sailing, skiing and bird watching. The locals are confident all that will return when the water does. In the meantime, the history of places like Meningie and the role they played in the vibrant days of the river trade are being kept alive and well.
Meningie is on the shore of Lake Albert, one hundred and fifty kilometres south of Adelaide. A gateway to the lower lakes and Coorong, Meningie was once an important stop on the long coach journey between Adelaide and Melbourne.
In the 1950s it was also a thriving dairying district - a memory that's being kept alive in the former cheese factory.
Peter Van Heusden, Meningie Cheese Factory Restaurant: "Most of the cheeses were sent to England. When Britain joined the EU the cheeses were no longer needed and unfortunately due to improvements in transport and refrigeration the factory closed down in the early 70s."
The old Lakeside Dairy laid derelict for 20 years but has been brought to life again as a restaurant and museum. The display of dairying paraphernalia out the back tells the story of those bustling days when the milk arrived in cans and the cheese had to be pressed by hand.
The local community runs the museum and there are some important reminders that still ring true today. Another room hosts local art shows and the main building, where milk vats once stood is now the restaurant and that's where, despite the drought, we can still enjoy some of life's special pleasures. Like the wonderful fresh mullet that come out of the nearby Coorong. Peter Van Heusden says fresh Coorong Mullet is one of the most popular dishes on his menu.
Peter: "Coorong Mullet is a South Australian icon. There's only one place in the world you can get it - and that's out of the Coorong."
Fresh is best and for that we rely on several families of fishermen who have been hauling fish out of here for generations. They are actually catching Yellow Eyed Mullet but it's been given the name Coorong Mullet for a very good reason.
Peter: "Mullet out of the Coorong is special because the Coorong is hyper-saline or more salty that the sea and it has different plant life. So the mullet actually feeds on different plant life and gets cleaned out by the extra saltiness."
That means Coorong Mullet isn't as oily as sea mullet and has a more delicate flavour. That's why Peter likes to cook it simply - dusted in a little plain flour and cooked in smoking hot olive oil - produced locally of course. Where better to savour it all than in the restaurant courtyard right on the shores of Lake Albert.
Coorong Mullet is just one of the specialities on the menu at the Meningie Cheese Factory Restaurant and Museum. It's on Fiebig Road, right next to the caravan park. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Meningie Cheese Factory Restaurant and Museum
3 Fiebig Road
Meningie
Ph 8575 1914Published 18th May 2008
