talk
february 2007
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Slow Food - Smokin' Eels: Lessons from the Gunditjmara
Sat 17th | 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Feast tent
hosted by | Slow Food Victoria
What is eco-gastronomy, and why does it matter? Join Daniela Mollica and Kelly Donati from Slow Food Victoria and explore the foundations of Slow Food, the not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 that strives to counteract industrial food and agriculture, the disappearance of local food traditions and our increasing disconnection from the food we eat. Slow Food needles our conscience to ask where does it come from? How does it taste? And what is the future of food on this dry continent? This is no ordinary cooking demonstration…We delve into the Slow philosophy by following a uniquely Australian food from production to consumption. Dr Heather Builth, archaeologist, and Jimmy King Onus, Gunditjmara elder, offer insights into the cultural, spiritual, ecological and economic significance of smoked eel production, a complex food tradition which sustained the Gunditjmara people of southwest Victoria and their ecosystems for millenia. Naomi Ingleton shows us how to prepare this healthy, delicious food product that is now under threat of disappearing. The session will inspire you to think differently about Australia's food landscapes and to reflect more deeply on the implications of our industrial food systems in the context of drought and climate change.
Kelly Donati, Daniela Mollica, Dr Heather Builth, Jimmy Onus and Naomi Ingleton
Dr Heather Builth Heather is on the Glenelg-Hopkins Catchment Management Authority Board and is currently working with the Gunditjmara community on the Lake Condah Sustainable Partnership Project. She is also is an archaeologist who has spent over ten years researching the ecological, economic and social history of Gunditjmara aquaculture, one of the world's oldest fishing industries, situated in southwest Victoria. Choosing to base herself in Lake Condah, her research continues to focus on the sustainability and productivity of indigenous land management practices, particularly eel farming in a wetland-based landscape, and the traditional socio-economy of Gunditjmara smoked eel trading. Kelly Donati Originally from Montreal, Canada, Kelly Donati studied cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but quickly realised she was not cut out for a life in the kitchen. She now works in the Slow Food Victoria office while keeping one foot planted at RMIT University in the School for Global Studies, Social Science and Planning. A passionate slow supporter, her academic research has focused on the importance of food to our cultural and ecological wellbeing and has taken her to Papua New Guinea to study how local communities are responding to global change. Jimmy King Onus Jimmy is a Gunditjmara elder and the great-great grandson of the last recognised chief in the Lake Condah region. He is committed to reconnecting present and future generations to country and to reuniting his people with the landscape and cultural and spiritual Gunditjmara traditions. Naomi Ingleton Naomi is the local convivium leader for Slow Food Northeast Victoria. She also runs her own business, Dig'n'food, taking farm gate tours and teaching cooking classes. A qualified horticulturist, she manages a 35 hectare property based on organic permaculture principles. Naomi began her cooking career as a young child in the kitchen with the influence of her mother, also a chef. Working with some of Melbourne's iconic chefs, she went on to sharpen her skills in the kitchens of Marchettis Latin and Tuscan Grill. Since moving to northeast Victoria five years ago, Naomi has been dedicated to preserving the diversity of food in northeast Victoria and believes that, by supporting local producers, we can generate pride in our environment and our community. Naomi is also the garden project manager and kitchen teacher for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation in Wangaratta.
office@slowfood.com.au