A Gondola On The Murray

Catching up on A Gondola On The Murray?

Don't want to miss an episode anymore? Set up a free alarm and receive an email when new episodes are available. Handy!

May 2021
Expired
Stefano’s restaurant is in Mildura, a provincial city on the banks of the ‘Mighty Murray’ river, the longest in Australia that, in this part of the country, winds its way through desert and irrigates the region known as Sunraysia. Travelling with Stefano on an old bicycle, we meet wonderful local characters like Mrs Mazell...
Expired
Many families in Mildura migrated to Australia with nothing more than an old cardboard suitcase containing all their worldly possessions and have never looked back. In this episode we visit the cantina of a farming family where bread is still made in the traditional wood-burning oven. Stefano shares with them a wonderful m...
Expired
There are some places that Stefano just can’t get to on his bicycle and, in this episode, he sets out to drive hundreds of kilometres north from his beloved Murray River. He is visiting his friends, Trish and Philip Palmer, who own a huge cattle property.
Expired
We see Stefano making his own olive oil from local olives, and some of the dishes he prepares in this episode use oil and olives. From his local fish supplier, he buys a magnificent tuna, caught on the Great Barrier Reef, that he cooks in tepid, body temperature olive oil.
Expired
Stefano rides his trusty bike to a billabong on the Murray, where he catches and prepares some yabbies. Along the way, he is mesmerised by the beauty of the bush and the wild birds and kangaroos he sees around him. He visits a winery to taste the new red vintage.
Expired
In Mildura, the biggest event of the year is the Festival of San Rocco, and Sefano joins the procession in the Saint’s honour and shows us the traditional food and cultural events of the day.
Expired
Spring in Mildura is the season when the gardens are at their colourful best. It's also the time when the grapes are budding on the vines. This causes Stefano to wonder about new varieties of wines which might replace the chardonnay and shiraz we love so much. He visits his friend Yolander who cooks him ravioli filled with...
Expired
An annual bike race is held between Mildura and Echuca, a town on the Murray River some four hundred kilometres upstream. The exertion of leading them out of town makes Stefano wonder what they would need for energy on the 'Tour de Murray'. He decides on pasta fagioli - a rich traditional rich bean soup. Stefano is to meet...
Expired
Not far from the Murray River, vast areas of the countryside around Mildura grow wheat and barley. Stefano cooks a magnificent wheat cake known as a pastiera Napoletana with Loretta Sartori, one of Australia’s leading pastry chefs. Out on a Mallee wheat farm he has afternoon tea with a pioneering couple and visits a beauti...
March 2021
Expired
Early summer is a special time for Stefano in Mildura. It is the season when the trees are heavy with the first stone fruit. With some new season peaches he picks straight from the tree, Stefano cooks a delicious upside down peach cake. Apart from its large Italian population, people from many countries have chosen to live...
February 2021
Expired
Stefano visits an Italian farmer who raises pigeons and back in the kitchen he cooks a traditional soup made with bread, cheese and pigeon stock. He travels to a nearby rural town along the river to see how traditional Aussie vanilla slices are made. Next, we find him in journeying down the Murray into South Australia whe...
Expired
Although the Murray is Mildura’s lifeblood, it’s a fragile water resource. Scientists are working to control spreading salination caused by over irrigating and to protect the Murray cod which is in competition with introduced European carp. Stefano goes fishing for carp with an old friend who shows him how to de-bone the c...
Expired
The Mildura Wine and Jazz Festival takes place in early summer when the weather is perfect for eating and drinking and listening to jazz outdoors or on a paddle steamer along the Murray River. Stefano cooks several dishes for just such relaxed occasions - scrumptious savoury tarts and a wonderful hare terrine, which go per...
Archive