My favourite kind of picnic is an Italian-style farmers’ picnic,” says Massimo Mele, head chef at Hobart’s bustling restaurant Peppina. “It’s a spread based on pickled, brined and marinated vegetables, the sort of stuff that you’d find in any Italian pantry, that you then mix with beautiful bread and cheese and some snacks to quickly grill over a fire. It’s a little like an antipasto table, but one you eat outside, preferably with a good view.”
And while Tasmania has no shortage of good views to choose from, it helps that Mele is friends with Kate and Iain Field who own Leap Farm in Bream Creek on the island’s east coast. The Fields make cheese under the Tongola label and sell goat meat, making them well positioned to provide some first-class produce alongside a brilliant location for a picnic.
“We often have picnics on a hill at the top of their property and I always bring the things you’d find in an Italian household,” says Mele. “These are the sort of flavours I grew up with. The carrot recipe here is the one that Mum and Dad used in
