A new yet-to-be-named beer is being launched as part of an upcoming beer and curry FOOD Week event.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Badlands Brewery and Red Chilli Deli are uniting to host A Taste of Paradise and a Tate of Badlands between 12.30pm and 3pm on Sunday, April 14.
The event will include an authentic three-course Sri Lankan feast prepared by Orange chef and Red Chilli Deli owner Ayoma Gooneratne with each dish paired with the brewery's beers.
One of those beers will be a yet-to-be-named English style ESB beer, which stands for Extra Special Bitter.
Badlands Brewery owner Jon Shiner said the event will the first release of the "fresh hop harvest beer".
"It's a beautiful fragrant hoppy, malty, slightly bitter beer," Mr Shiner said.
"It will go really well with the curries, it's almost like an India Pale Ale which was drunk by the troops in India during the days of the Raj, it's that style of beer."
Mr Shiner said the hops from Tallaganda Hops were grown about 50 kilometres from Braidwood.
"Me and Dan, the operations manager went down and picked the hops," Mr Shiner said.
"You have to use them within 24 hours of picking when you make a fresh hop beer, so we picked them on a Friday and made the beer on the Saturday and it's in the tank now carbonated and ready to go."
Although the name is still in progress, it has already been decided which curry to match it with.
Sunday's FOOD Week event will be the first time the two businesses have partnered up.
Mrs Gooneratne has owned Red Chilli Deli for 17 years and also has curry nights at the shop.
"It was Jon's idea but I thought it was fantastic because beer and curry go very well," Mrs Gooneratne said.
However, the timing was perfect with Sunday, April 14, also being the Sri Lankan New Year.
"I will have a typical authentic Sunday lunch," Mrs Gooneratne said.
"We will have typical Sri Lankan curries, for example the chicken curry, which is very, very popular.
"The main meal will consist of seven components so there's seven different dishes, that's not [including] the chutneys or the sambals and other accompaniments such as poppadoms.
"We are going to start off with what's called a Sri Lankan beef patty, it's kind of beef cooked with potato and encased in pastry empanada style."
The dessert will be a coconut ice cream served with a mango and lemon coolis with crushed nuts.
The event will be a long-lunch style of event and although the focus will be on the food and beer, non-beer lovers can also enjoy the food matched with wine or non-alcoholic drinks will also be available.
Held at Badlands Brewery, diners will sit at long communal style tables to enhance the community feel of the event.
"Come and experience a wonderful afternoon, I think it's going to be really good from a food perspective and the matching of the beers," Mrs Gooneratne said.
Places are still available for A Taste of Paradise and a Tate of Badlands. Tickets are $130 each and people can book by Friday.
New agent brings experience with career change
Belle Property has a new sales agent who is new to real estate but with decades of experience in sales.
Alin Pop forged his career with luxury brands including Tiffany Co, Louis Vuitton and BMW.
His 20 years of sales experience included working as a sales consultant at the Central Western Daily.
"I think my selling style that I formed over two decades, regardless of the type of industry and the product, it already fitted well because I always approached as a consultative selling technique that I apply," Mr Pop said.
"I always sit and ensure that whatever product I match with a client is the right product."
He is now bringing that consultative approach to Belle Property and the real estate market.
"I've always flirted with the real estate industry over the years," Mr Pop said.
"On a personal note I was interested as an investor and since I moved to Orange I purchased an investment property over here.
"I was always attracted by the industry here."
The career change comes following almost a year spent in Europe, and part of that time was spent at another of his investment properties, a traditional homestead in Transylvania-Romania.
That purchase was due to his background and upbringing in Romania although he's lived in Australia for 30 years.
"When I first came to Australia my first job was in furniture and interior design, I used to work for Milano Furniture in Ashfield in Sydney," Mr Pop said.
"I started in delivery and then I ended up managing one of their stores, their main store.
"This ties in so well, it's almost full circle."
Mr Pop already knew Belle Property principal Peter McCormack and when he applied for a position it was decided he would make a good fit for the team.
"I immediately started with the required course," Mr Pop said.
It was expected that it would take Mr Pop three to four months to complete the required units of the certificate IV real estate course but he "put my foot down" and completed it in a month and a bit.
For the next four years he will have to complete an additional modules each year but in the meantime he is licensed to sell houses and has his first listing at Clem McFawn Place in North Orange.
Credit union rebrands
First Choice Credit Union in Sale street has merged and rebranded.
The credit union is now known as Beyond Bank Australia.
Members voted for the change in December 2023 with the system transfer taking place on the weekend.
The credit union was up and running as Beyond Bank Australia on Monday.