Bigger and bolder; Meeniyan Garlic Festival returns

The Meeniyan Garlic Festival on Saturday, February 18 is promising bigger and bolder flavours than ever before, and is an absolute must for garlic lovers.

This year the Festival will offer the public two new varieties of garlic. The Festival and Hillston varieties are bigger than similar varieties and packed with a more intense flavour. The Hillston garlic is a re-emergence of a lost variety back in 1990 and has now been brought back to market by a long-standing commercial grower.

The Festival Creole is a good-sized bulb coming originally from Tasmania. Be warned, while it ranges between mild and hot flavoured – it comes with the kicker of what the garlic industry euphemistically refers to as "delayed-extreme heat."

Now in its fifth year, the annual Meeniyan Garlic Festival draws in thousands of festival-goers to celebrate the region’s high-quality garlic and produce. The festival aims to connect Gippsland and Melbourne with fine food offerings, great garlic and great produce, making this a one-off opportunity to explore the food and beverage of the whole region.

In the Taste of Gippsland section of the festival, visitors can choose from two dishes from two of the region’s finest eateries.

The festival is delighted to announce the two award-winning restaurants coming to Meeniyan are The Tinamba Hotel and The Long Paddock. Chef Gerard Phelan from The Tinamba Hotel and Tanya Bertino, Chef and Co-founder of The Long Paddock, will each prepare two unique dishes featuring local produce and, of course, garlic.

The Tinamba Hotel was recently awarded a Chef Hat in the 2022 Australian Good Food Guide Awards. Their philosophy is simple. “There's nothing better than local Gippsland produce, and where possible, we source everything locally. And we cultivate a hotel garden with fresh herbs and vegetables, producing dishes that deliver a memorable experience.”

The Long Paddock is a critically rated destination restaurant for foodies, travellers and locals in the town of Lindenow, East Gippsland. Anton Eisenmenger and Tanya Bertino once worked with top chefs in Melbourne and London and now specialise in seasonal dishes made with local produce, right down to the wine list. Dining at the Long Paddock is a remarkable encounter with a region, its produce and its people.

Both eateries have placed a “foodie spotlight” on Gippsland and are a great addition to the Meeniyan Garlic Festival.

More announcements will be made soon on the new Gippsland Wine Academy at the festival, featuring 10 award-winning local wineries and 40 selected wines.

The re-birth of the festival has been made possible by funding from Visit Victoria as Event Partner. Together with the support from the Events Gippsland Acquisition Fund, an initiative of the new regional peak event body ‘Events Gippsland’ supported by Regional Development Victoria, Latrobe Valley Authority and local councils, including South Gippsland Shire Council.

Meeniyan Garlic Festival Day, Saturday February 18, 9am-4pm, at Meeniyan Reserve and Meeniyan Hall – home of the Garlic Institute.

Tickets are $15 for adults. Kids are free and pets are welcome

meeniyangarlicfestival.com.au/

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