Penguin Stop Café: In the Kangaroo Island region of South Australia

At night the Penneshaw locals get on the move. The penguins have the run of the place. For Chef Marion Chambers, the comings and goings of the waddling wanderers provided a ready name for her business venture - so the Penguin Stop Cafe was born. The penguin sign is popular with tourists and so too is Marion’s cooking style - although there are occasional disruptions from the residents downstairs.

“We have penguins living under the building. They make a lot of noise when they don't enjoy what we do. When something bangs or the lights go on they make a bit of a noise.”

At this Café, the emphasis is on local produce which is a feature of every dish. Kangaroo Island is well known for it's dairy products like those made by Mos Howard at Farm Houses Cheeses just out of Penneshaw and in the Penguin Stop Café the camembert is a popular favourite. Dipped in an egg wash and covered in hazelnut and breadcrumbs, it’s placed in the oven for about fifteen minutes at about 180 degrees. Add a local combination of quince jelly and KI honey and it’s done.

Marion also does amazing things with processed foods but it's her knack of blending the obvious with the not so well known that's intrigued the taste buds of many foodies. She used to live near the Chapman River at the eastern end of the island and one day while wandering across the flats she came a across a sea of Samphire. For many of us it's a swamp grass but for Marion it's a novel cooking ingredient. It’s a succulent that literally sucks up the salt in the ground and has become a bit of a staple in adventurous KI cooking.

“The Samphire can be tossed through a salad, used in a stir fry. Sometimes I add it to the sauce on meat. I also make pesto. This is with macadamia and wild garlic. There's a lot of wild garlic on the island. It’s been here for a long time - since the first boats were coming to the island.”

It's just one of the many wild foods that Marion forages for when in season. The Penguin Stop Cafe is in middle Terrace, Penneshaw. It's open Thursday through to Monday. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au