News that Nigella Lawson is visiting the city on her At My Table cookbook tour had foodies abuzz on Friday morning.

The celebrity chef’s popularity was evident – hundreds of tickets to her ‘in conversation’ event flew out the door before lunchtime.

A visit of this calibre, which features an event in Hobart as well as Launceston, proves beyond a doubt that Tasmania is on the map when it comes to reputable food and wine.

Lawson’s visit caps off a strong 24 months, backed up by the talent attracted by the Drysdale Great Chefs Series in international chefs Allain Passard and Christian Puglisi, and home-grown cooks such as David Moyle.

Each has raved about the high quality of produce that our state offers.

There is no doubt that Lawson will do the same – already, she has been a backer of Swansea-made Tasman Sea Salt.

Tasmania’s stock is sure to skyrocket even further after Lawson’s visit, perhaps in a similar vein to what occurred post Chinese president Xi Jinping’s 2014 visit.

One only has to look at the host of awards Tasmanian produce has collected in the past six months, let alone all of 2017, to see that our state is the world’s oyster, literally.

We’re darn proud to show it off, too. We love our annual events, as well as weekly markets.

Kicking off the showcase this week is the Taste of Tasmania, held over seven days on Hobart’s waterfront.

The Taste is followed in February with Launceston’s premier food and wine event, Festivale.

Beyond key events, it feels like every day a new producer is opening in Tasmania, or an existing one claiming a national or international gong.

We have award-winning wine, internationally renowned whiskey, gold medal cheeses, and goods that are exported to all corners of the globe.

It truly is an exciting time to be a Tasmanian, especially if you’re a Tasmanian involved in the food and beverage industries. 

Our producers have put in, and continue to put in, a lot of hard work to get this sort of recognition.

They deserve a pat on the back from their fellow Tasmanians, Australians, and the rest of the world.