n a freezing cold day in the dead of winter, dozens of chefs – almost uniformly dressed in black puffer jackets and chunky boots – are gathered in a semi-circle on the dusty floor of a farm shed in Mypolonga, a tiny town on the banks of the Murray River in South Australia. Aalia’s Paul Farag is there, as is Joel Bickford from Shell House, Mark Best, Cheong Liew and others. Sarah Asciutto, co-owner of Rio Vista Olives who owns the grove and the huge mint-green Italian olive press in the shed next door, is handing out tiny tasting cups of olio nuovo extra-virgin olive oil – the first-pressed, freshest oil of the year. She talks the chefs through the subtleties and nuances of each flavour profile. Fresh tomato leaves, she says of one and it’s hard not to feel transported to
