Whitebait and Wine

The Noosa News New Zealand Wine Festival will be held in Noosa on February 25-27 and will include a seven-course degustation menu matching two New Zealand wines to each of the courses. Although Noosa chef Shane Bailey and his kitchen team from restaurant Berado’s have sourced most of the produce locally for the wine festival they have given a nod to New Zealand with a dish of whitebait brandade on the dinner menu and whitebait fritters on the lunch menu (New Zealanders love their whitebait). Local peppers will be served with goat’s curd and almond tarator and matched with two sauvignon blancs from Awatere Valley. “The New Zealand winemakers want to come here and taste our food, see how it goes with their wines,” Bailey said. “That’s why we felt it was important to source local produce and products.”