The Old Blacksmiths Cottage
30 minutes from the Gold Coast and an hour from Brisbane, green, leafy Tamborine Mountain is a short drive from the city but a long way from the bustle.
Tamborine Mountain has a tight knit community and is home to many passionate makers and growers including a coffee plantation, distillery, multiple wineries, avocados, rhubarb, candles, fudge, and soaps, just to name a few. Roadside stalls are dotted throughout the mountain, showcasing seasonal local produce direct from the grower and shops feature artisan products made right on the mountain.
One of these makers is Fiona Porteous of The Old Blacksmiths Cottage. Fiona’s jams, relishes, chutneys, pickles and pastes have won multiple awards and it’s easy to taste why.
Many of the ingredients in Fiona’s products are grown on the mountain and she makes her products at her home which tellingly, used to be a worker’s cottage.
We first discovered The Old Blacksmiths Cottage at Angela’s Pantry on Gallery Walk at Tamborine Mountain and fell in love with Fiona’s Smoky Tomato Chutney, which features in many of our hampers.
We had a chat with Fiona to learn more about how her small business came to be:
Tell us a little bit about the history of the cottage?
The Old Blacksmiths Cottage was built around 1920 by a blacksmith named Bill Anderson. It was one of the first cottages built on Tamborine Mountain and was more like a one-bedroom shack than a cottage.
Over the decades it’s been added to in many different stages, yet it remains a cosy little cottage. When I first moved in it was in complete disrepair as the jungle was taking over, however, I quickly renovated it making sure that the kitchen was the heart of the house.
Do you remember what the first product you made was?
Yes, it was Memar’s Pickled Onions.
Memar was my grandmother who made the best pickled onions ever. I would go to her house every school holiday from Sydney to Brisbane and she would make me a huge jar of them which, of course, were all finished by the time I went home.
The first jam I ever attempted was Mulberry Jam which was about 35 years ago, it’s been a slow burning passion.
Do you have any history with cooking/producing?
I’m just a mere foodie who loves to cook! No professional experience but I did live with a chef who taught me quite a bit. I especially love charcuterie boards so a lot of my products sit really well with any cheese platter.
Do you have a favourite ingredient to work with?
I have two. Figs and pepperberries, although not together!
I make three different products with figs. Fig & Pear Paste, which is amazing on any cheese platter, plus Burnt Fig Paste and Port Soaked Figs, which both marry beautifully with blue cheese.
Secondly, I love pepperberries. I use them in my Smoky Tomato & Tasmanian Pepperberry Chutney and also in my Bread & Butter Cucumbers with Tasmanian Pepperberries, (my personal favourite).
Are any of the products more difficult or laborious to produce?
Yes. Almost all of them.
When I first started, I think I was more tolerant to difficult products. I’ve worked with some interesting produce like Jaboticabas, Grumichamas, Yuzu, Calamondon Limes, Rangpur Limes, Bergamot Citrus and Davidson Plums.
Marmalades are definitely the most laborious, especially Kumquats, but I grow my own, so I don’t mind getting all those tiny little seeds out. It’s definitely a labour of love.
Do you feel that support for small local business has grown in recent years?
I am truly surprised at how wonderful our local community is. We all really support each other on so many levels.‘Local’ is definitely the buzz word right now.
What do you love most about the business?
I love everything about having a cottage business. The business actually started from humble beginnings, selling my products from out the front of my house. What I love most is you can work your own hours… you can also work in your pyjamas!
I also only work with like-minded distributors like Wild Graze as they really promote local businesses and are happy to get involved in the story behind the product.
What is your vision for The Old Blacksmiths Cottage?
To keep making really good products and to always stay local. The emphasis has always been on producing good old-fashioned styles of product that you just can’t get in a supermarket.
Where can people try more of your products?
I sell exclusively to Tamborine Mountain and Gold Coast suppliers and shops.Angela’s Pantry always has my full range and I supply Witches Falls Wines with their cheese platter condiments, although they fall under the name ‘Jambreen’, which means Tamborine.
Sarabah Winery stock my chutneys at their cellar door and their market stall at Marina Mirage.
The Green Shed, open every Sunday morning next to the Tamborine Mountain showgrounds is always great to check out, plus, quite a few local B&Bs, Laurie’s Butcher, and of course, Wild Graze Hampers.
The Old Blacksmith's Cottage products feature in: