High tea in Broome gets a Kimberley twist with local flavours and flair
It's infused with flavours from earth and sea, and traditions thousands of years in the making.
On the edge of Roebuck Bay, where rust-red cliffs bleed into the Indian Ocean, the table is set for a decadent high tea. But forget fine bone china, scones and cucumber sandwiches. This is Broome/Rubibi, and the menu is as unique as the Kimberley landscape; infused with flavours from earth and sea and cultural traditions tens of thousands of years in the making.
The sun hangs low when I arrive in a carpark, hidden in the port's industrial backblocks. I step between a clutch of palm trees and there, on a grassy rise, a clearing reveals an alfresco deck, adorned with fairy lights. I'm handed a spritz, the glass already beading in the humidity, and perch at a high table overlooking the water.
First up in this four-course degustation is a pinch of boab nut powder, accompanied by a tasting flight of Chandon sparkling wine. Used by the Yawuru people for millennia, this unusual superfood serves as a surprisingly sour-then-creamy palate cleanser. Next is a pearl meat ceviche - a zesty delicacy with more than a nod to Broome's pearling history. High tea tradition prevails when a three-tiered gilded plate stand arrives, brimming with imaginative morsels. Among them are prosciutto and cream cheese tarts with lemon myrtle and Davidson plum popping curls; baked artichoke and parmesan cob; and cheese with pops of Kakadu plum. All crowned by a cheek of baked camembert, theatrically flambeed with Grand Marnier.
Rebecca and Myles Penegar started Boab and Myrtle Chandon High Teas to share their waterfront wedding and events venue with the public. It's an elegant but relaxed culinary journey, set behind a sacred Yawuru women's meeting place, and peppered with stories of place. Just as the riotous red sky submits to fairy lights, a plate of desserts arrives in all their chocolatey, creamy splendour. I'm full to bursting, but it wouldn't be high tea without a little overindulgence. broomeweddingsandevents.com.au
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