Gourmet Chick

The Newmarket Hotel

2012-01-27T10:55:00.000+11:00

For a pub that used to host schnitz and tits nights* the Newmarket Hotel has come a long way. The venue has a touch of the trendys about it now with a modern but retro feeling fit out thanks to Six Degrees. Concrete arches span the ceiling and there is the same indoor/outdoor feel as The Royal Saxon.

Inside the Newmarket - featuring Greedy Diva's cardigan

The food on offer is just as trend driven as the space featuring "SoCal" cuisine. It's a pretentious label but it covers a range of good stuff - soft tacos, Catalan flat breads and Latin cured meats. Luckily I was lunching at the Newmarket Hotel with Carly who writes the excellent Greedy Diva and who has an appetite as big as mine so we managed to try a fair portion of the menu.

Corn on the cob

To start, corn on the cob cooked on the BBQ and slathered with chili and cheese. I could have done with more chili and more cheese but the corn did have a great smoky taste. Do not order this if you are on a date or with people you are trying to impress as eating it is not a pretty sight (Greedy Diva excluded - she managed it quite daintily).

Prawn tacos

The soft tacos are also not ideal first date fodder as they are as messy as they are delicious. We had them two ways, firstly with cubes of crisp, glistening pork sweetened with diced pineapple ($16) and then with fresh prawns and crunchy slaw ($16).

Pork tacos

Continuing on the pork theme we could not resist ordering the pork ribs ($36) after seeing them served at a neighbouring table. The ribs were sticky with BBQ sauce and were so comically big that they almost looked like some form of dinosaur bones. The accompanying salad was sweet and refreshing and just what was needed to cut through the sweet, rich ribs.

Pork ribs

Our waitress suggested we needed another salad and recommended the Mexican chopped salad ($12). To be honest, the salad accompanying the ribs was enough and this mix of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes and cactus was drowned in its cheese dressing. It would have been quite filling if that was all we were having for lunch but was overkill with the ribs, tacos and corn.

Mexican chopped salad

The drinking at the Newmarket Hotel is every bit as enthusiastic as the dining. There are jugs of cocktails on offer and wines are divided into house, table and "fine" and served by the carafe. The 2011 Semillon Sauvignon from Margaret River was crisp and elegant.

Often I feel sad at the gentrification of pubs. When an old fashioned boozer is revamped into a gleaming gastro pub a little something inside me often dies. However I have no such qualms about the new look Newmarket hotel. Farewell schnitz and tits and hola SoCal!

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Essentials
Details: The Newmarket Hotel, 34 Inkerman Street, St Kilda (Ph +61 3 9537 1777) Open midday - 1am.
Damage: Pricey.
8/10

*For my overseas readers - a schnitz and tits night is fairly self explanatory. The bartenders are female and topless and schnitzel is served. Classy hey?

Lorne (Gourmet Chick on the Great Ocean Road)

2012-01-26T09:00:00.000+11:00

Happy Australia Day! Like most of Australia I relocated to the beach for the Christmas to New Year period and my beach of choice is Lorne. I swam in the surf, laid on the beach, plowed through my Christmas books and watched far too much cricket (thanks to MTV). MTV and I cooked up lots of BBQs but we also reacquainted ourselves with favourite Lorne cafes and restaurants while discovering a few new places as well.

Surf life boats coming in at Lorne

Skip on over here for my tips for Broadsheet on what to eat, what to do and where to stay in Lorne.

Guide to eating in Hong Kong (Gourmet Chick in Hong Kong)

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000+11:00

Happy Chinese New Year! In celebration of the Year of the Dragon I've compiled this post on where to eat in Hong Kong (that's not dim sum). My friend Terry refers to Hong Kong as "urban paradise". He's right and the city is a special type of paradise for those that love their food. I've already shared my tips for the quintessential Hong Kong dim sum experience so here is my guide to where else to eat from Michelin star restaurants to hidden suburban haunts.

Wet markets in the back streets of Hong Kong

1. Tim's Kitchen
Theoretically a private kitchen Tim's Kitchen is for all apparent purposes a restaurant and a Michelin starred one at that. Apparently some of the best dishes need to be ordered ahead but we were suitably wowed anyway by the on menu options of the pork and chicken. Tim’s Kitchen lacks in atmosphere and has a stilted formality to it but it was the best meal we ate in Hong Kong that wasn't yum cha.

Half a crispy chicken (HKD$180) had moist, tender flesh and golden, crackling skin however it was in the porky part of the menu that Tim’s Kitchen really impressed. Stewed eggplant (HKD$60) was topped with minced, slightly charred pork creating a brilliant textural contrast and fantastic flavour combination.

Crispy chicken at Tim's Kitchen

The palpable statement making dish was the honey glazed barbecue pork (HKD$88) a hunk of glazed pork complete with crisp, shiny crackling and tender, pink meat. It went straight for the jugular with big, bold and unforgettable flavours. Like the setting the wine list at Tim’s Kitchen is no nonsense with a short selection, we ordered one of the cheaper bottles, a reasonably priced Chateau Les Reuilles (HKD$180). Tim’s Kitchen is a restaurant where the focus is firmly on the food but oh, what great food it is.

Essentials
Details: Tim's Kitchen, Shop A and 1/F, 84-90, Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Ph: (852) 2543 5919
Damage: Reasonable. Our bill for three with wine came to HKD$695 ($89/£57).
9/10

The open kitchen at Cafe Grey Deluxe is raised above the diners

2. Cafe Grey Deluxe
Cafe Grey Deluxe is a place to take people to impress them and to be impressed yourself. It has the most spectacular views of any restaurant in Hong Kong with a truly magical panorama of skyscrapers and lights twinkling at night across the harbour. The restaurant itself also shimmers and sparkles with lots of glossy, modern surfaces and is dominated by the theatre of a raised open kitchen.

Cafe Grey Deluxe is all about fine dining which is unstitched and relaxed. There was textural fun to be had with the starter of foie gras two ways, seared and in a rich roulade on top of salt baked beets and doused with cranberry vinigarette.

Foie gras two ways at Cafe Grey Deluxe

Of the mains, the half roast chicken restored my faith in the dish with its crisp skin and juicy meat paired with roasted vegetables and a rich tarragon jus. It was simple but great food, in contrast to the salmon "Amandine", a decent fillet of salmon which was overpowered by the accompanying bitter caramelized endives and capers. In this case, less would have been more.

The triumphant part of the meal was dessert, the rich smell of the bitter chocolate soufflé hits you first before you delve into the fluffy soufflé to discover sticky berries hidden at the bottom. It was both decadent and delicious. The wine list at Cafe Grey Deluxe sits comfortably beside the spotlight hogging food, encompassing over 300 labels. I particularly enjoyed the subtlety and minerality of the Limoux Chardonnay.

Bitter chocolate soufflé at Cafe Grey Deluxe

The prices are steep at Cafe Grey Deluxe (views like that don’t come cheaply) but if you can’t afford a meal there it is still worth popping in to the bar for one of the excellent cocktails such as the Hong Kong High Ball (HKD$120).

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Cafe Grey Deluxe.

Essentials
Details: Cafe Grey Deluxe, 49/F, Upper House, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong (Ph 2918 1838).
Damage: Budget Breaking. However on this occasion I did not pay.
8/10

Our squirming crabs ready to be cooked at Under the Bridge Spicy Crab

3. Under the Bridge Spicy Crab
There are several under the bridge spicy crab restaurants in a row so you have to make sure you get the right one. The drawcard here is the truly enormous crabs which are cooked with chilli and crunchy, deep fried garlic. We also loved the clams fried with chilli and bean sauce ($HKD60), the deep fried squid and the special rice ($HKD68). For a full pictorial run down of the menu see Follow me Foodie's review. Great for big groups and for a noisy meal with lots of beers but make sure you check what the market price of the crab is before ordering two (we didn't!) as I have a feeling they took advantage of the lack of clarity on price, charging us HKD$600 for each crab. Still, it was worth it.

The cooked crab at Under the Bridge Spicy Crab - amazing

Essentials
Details: Under the Bridge, Shop B, G/F, 401-403 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (Ph: 2834 6818)
Damage: Pricey.
8/10

4. Posto Pubblico
This Hong Kong restaurant is based on a New York osteria has a cool buzzy feel to it thanks to its Soho location and simple decor of exposed brick walls and bare tables. The mantra here is local and organic with a menu that is constantly changing to reflect the seasons. The best dishes were the starters to share of the creamiest burrata I have ever tasted. Served as a salad with slices of fresh tomato the burrata was home made and literally weeped onto my plate.

The lighting was moody at Posto Pubblico so my photos are awful. Instead this is the view from Hotel LFK where we stayed.

I am also still dreaming about the huge softball sized veal meatball with its dense, tightly packed meat and oh-so-fresh chunky tomato sauce. My main of ravioli (HKD$145) stuffed with pork, veal and beef and doused in a creamy gorgonzola sauce was technically very good but overwhelmingly rich and so did not live up to the heady heights of the starters.

Essentials
Details: Posto Pubblico, 28 Elgin Street Central, Hong Kong, Ph 2577 7160
Damage: Pricey.
7/10

5. Nagomi
There is a certain level of obsession with Japanese food in Hong Kong and so the city boasts some great Japanese restaurants. Out in Happy Valley (and conveniently located for a feed before a night at the Wednesday night races) Nagomi is a cheap and cheerful little Japanese restaurant which rewards careful ordering.

California rolls at Nagomi

The menu reads like a straightforward collection of Japanese dishes rather than a venture into the unknown but the food is simple and well executed. The stand out dishes worth seeking out on the menu were the spicy tuna rolls (HKD$58) and the eel rice box (HKD$130) with its silky smooth eel. The sashimi was spankingly fresh, a thick tranche of glistening pale pink and pearly white fish, while edamame beans (HKD$25) were crisp and covered in chunks of crunchy sea salt. There is little wow factor at Nagomi but what it does, it does well.

Essentials
Details: Nagomi, Flat C, Yee Fung Building, 1 Village Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong (Ph 2838 3848)
Damage: Reasonable
6/10

My map of Hong Kong

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Gourmet Travel Tips

Cathay Pacific flies to Hong Kong from Australia from $1150 return and from London British Airways flies there from London from £569 return.
We stayed at Hotel LFK which is bang in the middle of Hong Kong’s party hub, the Lang Kwai Fong area. Our deluxe suite was huge and stocked with everything you could ever want from a bath and rain shower stocked with Molton Brown goodies to free wifi and an in room coffee maker. The room rate also includes cocktails each night in LFK’s glamorous "Restaurant slash bar" Azure and the views over the city skyline are stupendous. Details: Hotel LFK, 33 Wyndham Street, Lang Kwai Fong, Hong Kong (Ph +852 3518 9688 ) Rooms start from HKD$2,998/£245/$379) a night.

Our room at Hotel LFK

The must do activities in Hong Kong are to catch a tram up to the top of the Peak to check out the skyline, a night out at the Happy Valley races on Wednesdays and of course shopping, shopping and more shopping.
For something different catch a ferry over to Lantau and do a hike, we hiked the Lantau peak and then caught the cable car back. We also did a day trip to Macau which I would avoid as it is a pretty soulless place and the immigration queues on the weekends are horrendous.
For researching a trip to Hong Kong I found E-Ting, Tom Eats Jen Cooks, Hollow Legs and Mr Noodles very helpful thanks also to our Hong Kong friends, hosts and tour guides Jac, Mossy, Nick and Fabian.

Mama Baba

2012-01-23T09:00:00.000+11:00

You heard it here first, there is no Sunday surcharge at George Calombrais' new restaurant Mama Baba. The pasta restaurant opened on Friday and I was eagerly there on Sunday for lunch with my friend Joyce who writes the excellent Melbourne Hot or Not, along with Tim, Joyce and Tim's adorable baby and MTV.

It's Italian and Greek fare at Mama Baba - this is the "Parma"

Calombrais has been hitting the headlines lately for complaining about paying Sunday rates to staff without charging diners a Sunday surcharge. One of his arguments against paying the rates was the cost of the $45,000 pasta extruder he bought for Mama Baba. Funnily enough, as soon as you walk in to the restaurant, tucked away in a South Yarra back street, the gleaming pasta extruder is front and centre. I was glad to see Calombrais does still have chefs, they were all there working in full view in the large open kitchen that runs along one side of the entire space. I didn't ask them what they were getting paid for their Sunday efforts.

The infamous pasta extruder

Mama Baba is housed in a warehouse style basement with soaring ceilings, polished concrete floors and long communal wooden tables. The space is sparse and minimalist. Paper placemats also serve as menus and ceramic beakers as water glasses.

Mama Baba has a warehouse feel

The menu at Mama Baba is divided into a Greek and Italian section which draw on the influences of Calombrais's Greek Mother and part Italian Father. It's very much a family affair listing dishes like salicce made by "Mr Tricarico" who is apparently Calombrais' Father in law. Whether Greek or Italian, the main affair is the pasta. It is made fresh each day from 00 flour in the pasta extruder which cost the same as a full time Nonna on Sunday rates.

Scallops

To start there are "snacks" which are easy to share. Arancini filled with bolognese and mashed potato ($7.50) were deep fried nuggets of comfort food. Plump scallops ($3.50 each) grilled and served on the shell were topped with creamy garlic skordalia and golden crisp fried breadcrumbs. The parma ($7.50) was a bite sized version of the classic pub fare - a tiny panini filled with chicken and jamon and laced with tomato sauce.

Mama Baba's version of spaghetti carbonara

It has to be said the pasta is excellent, of the soft, silky egg-yellow type. The best we tried was the tortellini ($23) which was stuffed with saganaki and served with prawns, slow roasted tomatoes and feta. I also liked Mama Baba's take on a carbonara ($27) which was constructed at the table from egg, slithers of crispy maple pork, pumpkin parmesan and a saffron broth.

Prawn and saganaki tortellini

However gnudi ($24) was dull despite the "sounds good on paper" accompaniments of burnt butter, walnuts and honey and the huge ravioli ($27) filled with beef and bone marrow were overwhelming. The wasabi which accompanied the ravioli was not quite the weird addition we expected and was actually too tame to add much kick.

"Chopped" salad ($7.50)

Desserts were a nostalgic treat in the form of reworked childhood favourites. The Mama Baba interpretation of a Ferrero Rocher ($9.50) was a hazelnut confection filled with dark oozing chocolate while Calombrais' take on a rum baba, called a "Mum Baba" ($9.50) featured boozy slices of sponge.

The Mum Baba

My tip though is to ignore the dessert trolley and instead go straight for the homemade ice-cream ($8 for two scoops) the vanilla splice was rich and flecked with vanilla bean seeds while the milo and milk and the crunchy peanut butter and salt flavour were both dude food delights. The cones were filled with chocolate at the bottom Cornetto style.

Home made ice-cream

Mama Baba serves up Italian and Greek food but not as you know it. It offers a very modern take on some comfort food classics. Despite a few exceptions it mostly works and the desserts in particular offer good old fashioned eating pleasure. At the moment eating them on a Sunday comes at no extra cost.

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Essentials
Details: Mama Baba, 21 Daly St, South Yarra 3141(Ph +61 3 9207 7421) Mon - Thurs and Sat 5pm - Late, Fri and Sun 12pm - Late.
Damage: Reasonable. Our bill for four came to $205 with one beer each.
7/10

How to make Peri Peri Chicken

2012-01-20T09:19:00.000+11:00

Hot weather calls for hot food and the sunshine at the moment made me crave Peri Peri chicken. The secret to the chicken is in the marinade which is chock full of tiny red peri peri chillies, garlic and lashings of red wine vinegar which keeps the chicken tender and moist. The recipe is Portugese and I have happy memories of gnawing at a drumstick doused in fiery peri peri sauce at Bonjardim restaurant in Lisbon. Bonjardim cooks its chicken on a huge rotisserie but since I (sadly) do not have one of those at home I made do with the BBQ.

The key to cooking chicken on the BBQ is to spatchcock it first. I have included the instructions for spatchcocking below which is less daunting than it sounds. There is a good YouTube video of how to do it which is also pretty helpful. A coal BBQ like a Weber is best but I had to make do with a gas BBQ which I just turned down as low as possible. Don't worry if the chicken gets blackened and burnt in places, that is the whole point of peri peri chicken and it will only add to the smoky fiery flavour.

Spatchcocking the chicken

Ingredients

15 peri peri chillies (also known as bird's eye chillies), deseeded
1 tbsp oregano (fresh if possible but you can also use dried)
1 tbsp thyme (fresh if possible but you can also use dried)
2 tbsps paprika
150ml red wine vinegar
100ml olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 a red onion, roughly chopped.
2 tbsps brown sugar
Salt
Chicken (free range if possible)

Blending the marinade

1. To spatchcock your chicken use a sharp knife or poultry shears and cut off any excess fat around the cavity and neck. Then slice through either side of the backbone of the chicken and remove. Working from the cavity side, slice just halfway through along the breastbone so the chicken can be pushed open and butterflied out. Prick the skin of the chicken with a fork which will help it absorb the marinade.

2. To make the marinade put everything besides the chicken into your blender and whizz until smooth. Pour half of the marinade over the chicken, massaging it in and leave it to happily absorb the marinade in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight if possible. Turn the chicken around in the marinade every now and then so it soaks it all up.

3. When it comes to cooking the chicken if you are using a coal BBQ get the coals very hot then move them to the edges of the BBQ and put your chicken in the middle. If you are using a gas BBQ then keep the temperature as low as possible and close your BBQ lid if it has one while the chicken cooks.

4. Use the remainder of the marinade (apart from one small cup) to baste the chicken by brushing it regularly with the marinade. Cook until the chicken's skin is charred in places and the juices run clear if you skewer the chicken thigh. This takes about 15-20 mins per side.

Trust me when I say the black bits are the good bits

Serve with salad and maybe some potatoes fried on the BBQ as well. Put the cup of leftover marinade on the table with a brush for people who want even more peri peri action.

So Frenchy So Chic

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000+11:00

Baguettes, stinky cheese and macarons, these are a few of my favourite things. I was able to indulge to my heart's content at the So Frenchy So Chic festival which was held at Werribee park on Sunday. My friends Jules and Em organised a big group of us to attend and scored us a prime position near the stage staked out with numerous picnic rugs.

So Frenchy So Chic in the beautiful grounds of Werribee Park

It ended up being the most perfect blue sky day and we kicked back listening to Nouvelle Vague, Moriarty and Féfé and drinking copious amounts of wine. There was croquet on the go, games of petanque and lots of French food and wine.

Toasted caramalised nuts for sale

The crepe store was doing a roaring trade along with Le Sausage the mobile sausage truck which tweets its location around Melbourne at @ILoveLeSausage.

Lots of love for Le Sausage

Lots of people had brought their own picnics but I think our neighbouring picnickers were quite envious when they saw our picnic baskets arrive which had been catered for by the Werribee mansion. They were stuffed with brie filled baguettes, chunky terrine, blue cheese dressed salad, macarons and chocolate eclairs.

Macarons in our picnic basket

I have already decided I must return to So Frenchy So Chic next year as it was such a very French and very fabulous day.

The day was all a little much for some attendees

Essentials
Details: So Frenchy So Chic, Werribee Park.
Damage: Tickets were $74 which included a return bus from Southern Cross station to Werribee.
9/10

San Telmo

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000+11:00

Sometimes a girl just needs a steak and a glass of red wine. I do tend to bang on about how I am trying to eat more vegetarian meals but every now and again a red meat craving comes that just cannot be ignored. At times like these there is now a new place to go in Melbourne: San Telmo.

Mmmm steak - San Telmo's rib eye on the bone - check out the gorgeous knife as well

San Telmo is an Argentinian steak house where the meat is grilled over a charcoal grill, known as a parrilla, to impart a smoky fiery flavour. Located in Meyers Place laneway just off little Collins street the restaurant has a rough hewn warmth with wood lined walls and a black and white tiled floor alongside the bar. The owners have fitted out the restaurant with lots of bric a brac brought back from Argentina like an antique cash register and old soda siphons. Even the front door was salvaged from a Buenos Aries mansion.

Empanadas

San Telmo is named after the oldest barrio (neighbourhood) in Buenos Aires and the menu is faithful to the restaurant's Argentinian name. It boasts shiny golden empanadas ($6 each), perfectly formed, mixing textbook short pastry with a robust beef, currant and almond filling. Ceviche ($16) is strictly Peruvian rather than Argentine, but I'm happy for them to slip it in as the combination of kingfish doused in lemon and lime juice and dressed with slithers of chilli, sweet potato and ginger is refreshing and summery.

The drinks list features solely Argentine wines and beers which is a brave move but even if it had covered the whole world I think we would still have ended up ordering a bottle of Malbec. We chose the cheapest bottle of the eight different Malbec's offered (that's a lot of Malbec), the Jed Malbec 2010 ($45) which was dark and full bodied.

Slow cooked lamb - sadly cooked for a little too long

However, with the parrilla firing away, at San Telmo it is really all about the meat, and the steak did not disappoint. The 400g strip loin ($47) served on the bone and criss-crossed with marks from the grill was expertly aged, flavourful and exquisitely prepared. There's no sides at this price apart from the chimichurri made in house to spice up the steak with the heat of chilli, acidity of vinegar and fresh zing of parsley. The menu also offers a whopping 1kg rib steak for $95 which my friend Rachel and I are still talking about, along the lines of "We could have taken it, I'm sure we could have".

It wasn't all perfect, and the slow cooked lamb ($39) proved to be a disappointment. The menu boasted that it had been cooked for eight hours but in this case it was probably two hours too long as the meat was dry and was lacking any tender pinkness.

My favourite dish - sticky sweet baby carrots with goats cheese

There is a good selection of side dishes including grilled zucchini and eggplant ($10). Strangely enough in a meat lovers paradise my favourite dish of the night was probably the zanahorias ($12), baby carrots cooked on the grill until they are sticky sweet and dripping with thyme flavoured goats cheese.

A dulce de leche filled alfajore

Desserts continued on in the Argentine vein and I could not go past the fantastic caramel flavour of dulce de leche. A national passion in Argentina dulce de leche is a sweet light brown caramelised milk and sugar sauce sometimes known as "milk jam" (check out this great recipe for dulce de leche ice-cream). The dulce de leche is served two ways at San Telmo, firstly as a biscuit filling in the form of a slightly dry alfajore coated in coconut ($5) and secondly, in a fabulous, wobbling flan ($14) topped with addictive caramel salted peanuts.

The service at San Telmo is young and savvy with the staff all decked out in leather aprons but fell down slightly at the end of the night when it came time to pay our bill and everyone disappeared.

Perfection in the form of dulce de leche flan

I think Melbourne has been crying out for a restaurant like this for a long while. A decent steak joint in the city is a no brainer really and I am sure the place would succeed even if it was only halfway good. But San Telmo is more than good with its classic Argentine menu and attention to detail that goes all the way from toilets wallpapered with the faces of famous Argentines to cow hide covered menus. As they say to the best grill men in Argentina "Bien jugado". Well played.

Location

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Essentials
Details: San Telmo, 14 Meyers Place, Melbourne 3000 (Ph: 61 (3) 9650 5525). Open: Mon-Fri 7am-late, Sat midday-late.
Damage: Pricey. Our bill came to $286 for four with two bottles of wine.
8/10

How to make sumac lamb meatballs (Comfort and Spice)

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000+11:00

I have finally bought a copy of Comfort and Spice, the cook book by Niamh Shields who writes the brilliant food blog Eat Like a Girl. I was a bit late off the mark with all my travelling in India and Nepal and moving continents I had been unable to get the book but I finally tracked it down at Dymocks in Melbourne.

Sumac lamb meatballs from Comfort and Spice

I'm so proud of Niamh for writing this book. It is true to her blog with the same gutsy, rich recipes and with Niamh's sense of humour shining through. I have been lucky enough to become friends with Niamh while living in London and we even shared a trip to Canada together foraging for fiddleheads just after she had finished writing the book. So it seems strange to be holding a copy in my hands at the other side of the world, but also very exciting.

The book

It's a great book with recipes referencing Niamh's Irish roots and her world travels. My favourite part of Comfort and Spice is the section called "Eight Great Big Dinners... and what to do with the leftovers". This is genius as it includes recipes for various roasts and then all different alternative meals that can be made using what doesn't get eaten. However when it came to testing out the book I was a bit time poor and only had to cook for me and MTV so I ignored Niamh's roast pork recipe (however tempting it looked) and tried out the sumac lamb meatballs with couscous salad.

Inside the book

I doubled the quantities in the recipe (which is written to serve two) as you can never have too many meatballs. It turns out that the leftover meatballs went brilliantly with pasta the next day. True to the spirit of Comfort and Spice I did use my leftovers.

The meatballs feature sumac, a Middle Eastern spice that I haven't really cooked with before but it's rich colour and punchy taste added some kick to the meatballs. Just like the recipes on Niamh's blog the meatball recipe was no nonsense, straight forward and delicious. I know for a fact that all the recipes in Comfort and Spice were tested three times so I wasn't surprised that the recipe worked perfectly. I'm looking forward to cooking more from Comfort and Spice but I won't be writing about the recipes here as you really all have to buy the book. Even if, like me, it takes you a while to get around to it.

Browning the meatballs

Ingredients
Meatballs
2 tbsp cumin seeds
600g minced lamb
2 tbsp sumac
salt and pepper to season
4 tbsp light oil
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
800g canned tomatoes (2 cans)
2 cinnamon sticks
a handful of coriander leaves, chopped (I had parsley so used that instead)
Couscous
300g couscous
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumer, quartered lengthways and finely sliced
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon juiced

Meatballs cooking in the sauce

1. Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan over a high heat for a minute and grind with a mortar and pestle. Add to the lamb with the sumac and mix thoroughly with your hands.

2. Shape into small meatballs about 2.5cm in diameter. Season lightly and taste by frying off a small ball and adjusting where necessary. Put half the light oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and fry the meatballs on all sides until brown. Leave to the side.

3. Sauté the garlic for 30 seconds in the remaining oil. Add the tomatoes and cinnamon and stir through. Add the meatballs and cook for 10 mins until cooked through.

4. Meanwhile, cover the couscous with boiling water in a bowl and seal with cling film. After 10 mins, when the water should have been absorbed, run a fork through to fluff it up. Mix with the tomato and cucumber and dress with the olive oil and lemon. Season to taste.

5. Season the meatball sauce and add the coriander, stirring through.

6. Serve hot on top of the couscous salad.

Niamh with a fiddlehead haul in Canada

Serves four. Adapted from Comfort and Spice.

You can buy Comfort and Spice from my book club on Amazon for £9.01 (bargain!) or in Australia it is $35 in the shops (someone please explain why we have to pay SO much for books here).

Chin Chin

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000+11:00

I've joined the hordes of people worshipping at the temple of Chin Chin. Rumours of the seriously good Asian food being served up at Chin Chin had reached me while I was still living in London. Then came the reports of up to three hour waits to get tables and friends who tried to go for lunch were told to come back at 3.30 in the afternoon. All of a sudden I was not quite so enthusiastic about joining the Chin Chin cult.

The beautifully designed mosaic tiled bar at Chin Chin

The secret it turns out, is to head to Chin Chin this week. Everyone in Australia is still at the beach or on summer holidays so my friend Claire and I just walked right in for a table at Chin Chin without a care in the world. Once in, we liked what we saw. The warehouse style space on Flinders Lane is a perfect inner city playground.

Spicy and slow cooked BBQ goat

A huge mosaic tiled bar lines one side of the room while chefs do their thing in a partly open kitchen. Huge pink neon bunny ears hang on one wall and bright blue metal stools add pops of colour. The whole restaurant has been designed to within an inch of its life and I could not help but love it.

Lychee cocktail

Claire and I tucked into cocktails including a brilliant lychee concoction which included a huge ball of iced rose petals that slowly melted into the alcohol while we checked out the menu which also doubled as a placemat. The food is best described as "Asian fusion" even though in some circles that is a dirty phrase. It jumps around the continent from dumplings to Thai style curries to a porky take on peking duck rolls.

Kingfish sashimi - check out the beautiful crockery at Chin Chin as well

Whether you waltz in to Chin Chin this week or queue for hours next week, here's what I'd order. The Kingfish sashimi ($16) with thick slices of fish almost translucent and dripping with the acidity of lime juice and the punch of a chilli dressing. Crunchy deep fried corn and coriander fritters ($12) wrapped in an iceberg lettuce leaf and lathered with chilli jam, essentially the culinary equivalent of crack cocaine.

Corn and coriander fritters

You also can't miss the wild Barramundi salad ($26) with its textural contrast between the crispy deep fried fish, sticky sweet cubes of caramalised pork and the slithers of green apple.

Wild Barramundi salad

Here's what I'd skip. The pork roll ups ($18) are fun because you construct them yourself but they were timid in comparison to the other dishes we tried. Similarly while the BBQ goat ($28) was slow cooked and spicy, the dish was pleasant rather than possessing.

Pork roll ups

The wine list at Chin Chin sits comfortably beside the spotlight hogging food. It is a proudly parochial all Australian affair and we loved the crisp and dry Pachamama riesling ($39).

Chin Chin's famous neon bunny ears

Yes, I've drunk the Kool-Aid and am now already planning my next pilgrimage to that culinary temple called Chin Chin.

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Essentials
Details: Chin Chin, 125 Flinders Lane Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia (Ph: +61 (3) 8663 2000) Open 7 days, lunch until late.
Damage: Pricey. Our bill came to $173 for two with drinks.
9/10

Where to eat in Budva (Gourmet Chick in Montenegro)

2012-01-09T09:30:00.000+11:00

Before I left Europe I managed to fit in a long weekend in Croatia and Montenegro with a group of friends. In Montenegro we spent our time in the town of Budva. Budva is about two hours drive from Dubrovnik but feels like it is also ten years behind, which is actually a good thing. It is much less developed with a Meditteranean vibe alongside a bit of Eastern European bling thrown in for extra measure. The quaint old, walled town is protected by thick stone walls from the tacky restaurants and bars featuring miniature Eiffel towers and fun fair rides that line the sea front.

Cruising in a yacht around Budva - tough

Grill Basta Kralj

Possibly the nicest waiter in the world works at Grill Basta Kralj restaurant on the beachfront in Budva. He charmed our entire table with his apparent genuine pleasure in doing his job. Grill Basta Kralj is just an unassuming beach front restaurant and our expectations were not high after reading a menu littered with amusing English translations like "Stuffed pepper (with adverb)". We didn't try the adverb stuffed peppers but were pleasantly surprised with a simple salad of sliced cucumbers, shredded cabbage and juicy, ripe tomatoes. Breaded squid was tender and springy and served with a creamy potato salad. Best of all was the service with a smile.

Details: Grill Basta Kralj, Seafront, Budva, Montenegro
Damage: Such a bargain my mother would approve.

6/10

Squid at Grill Basta Kralj

Korkovada
At night time there is no more enticing place to sit an eat than just outside the city walls on the designer outdoor sofas and tables which make up the restaurant Korkovada. If you want ambience, it is there in the bucket load with mellow light spilling down from the old town walls and a passing parade of people to watch. If you want food, best to go elsewhere. Warning bells should have run when we discovered this was an Italian speciality restaurant named after a Brazilian statue (and with pictures of Brazil on the menu). The house specialty of a stuffed veal pasta (€18) was cold and claggy and the risotto (€12) had a similar gluey texture as if it had just been reheated in a microwave. Service was abysmal with a continuing game of "catch the waiter’s eye". One to avoid at all costs.

Details: Korokvada, Stari Grad, Budva, Montenegro
Damage: Pricey for Montenegro
2/10

The walled town of Budva

Jadran
Internet searches and a call for advice on Twitter did not throw up many restaurant recommendations for Budva and one helpful person told me "Don’t expect too much". In the end we turned to the receptionist at our hotel and asked if she could recommend some restaurants. "There is one good restaurant in Budva called Jadran" she said definitively.

Waterside tables at Jadran

The restaurant has white linen clad tables along the waterfront in a setting which is tacky by day but almost verging on glamorous in the evening. To start, bowls of steaming mussels (€10) were served in a fragrant broth and tiny spicy sausages arrived on a huge platter heaped with fried onions. A whole fish (€45 per kilo) was baked in salt then set alight at our table before the hard shell of salt was cracked to reveal the tender fish which was packed with moisture. This was easily our best meal in Budva.

Details: Jadran, Sea front, Budva, Montenegro.

Damage: Pricey for Montenegro

7/10

Eating a whole salt based fish at Jadran

Gourmet Travel Tips

We flew to Dubrovnik in Croatia return from London with Wizzair (£190/$287) and then got a taxi transfer to Budva which is around £80/$120 per car.
In Budva we stayed at Villa Lux (€70/£57/$87) which was out of the old town on a busy intersection. Rooms were dull, threadbare towels and half the rooms did not have working air condition. Let's just say the use of the term "Lux" in the name of the hotel was quite misleading. One to avoid like the plague.
Highlights included catching a ferry to the island and also hiring a boat for an afternoon (about €30 per person, negotiate at the port).

How to make Indian Vegetable Curry

2012-01-06T09:00:00.000+11:00

After spending five weeks travelling around India I have vowed to try and eat more vegetarian food. I haven't given up meat and fish but I think it is healthier and let's face it cheaper to have at least one day a week where vegetables are the stars of the show. This is a recipe that was taught to me by Rajan who is one of the chefs at the idyllic Shreyas Retreat in India.

Rajan guides me through his curry recipe at Shreyas Retreat

Shreyas grows over half of the food it uses in its own organic vegetable garden and even has its own small herd of cows which keep the grass in the grounds trim and produce fresh milk for the retreat. As Shreyas is a yoga retreat the emphasis is on healthy food and so this is a very light curry recipe which uses oil instead of the heavier ghee which is often used in Indian cooking.

The vegetables ready to go in the curry

All the instructions are below but I have also posted a video of Rajan showing me how to make the key parts of the vegetable curry.

Ingredients
1 cup baby corn, finely diced
I cup carrot, finely diced
1 tbsp neutral oil like sunflower oil
2 tbsp red onion diced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced to a paste
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced to a paste
1 cup green beans, finely diced
1 cup cauliflower florets, finely diced
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (can use any mild chilli powder)
1/2 tsp cardamon powder
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder
1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped

Reducing the curry

1. Bring a medium sized saucepan of water to the boil and add the carrot and corn and cook over a high heat for 5 mins before adding the green beans and cooking for a further 2 mins.

2. Meanwhile heat a frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil on a low heat. Once the oil is hot add the red onion and sauté for 2 mins or until the onion starts to soften and change colour.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and add the ginger and garlic paste to the onion then return to the heat and continue to stir for 1 minute.

4. Add the diced tomatoes into the frying pan and stir then add 1 tsp salt and half a cup of water. Cook over a medium heat for 2 mins while stirring then set aside until cool.

5. Add the cauliflower to the vegetable mixture and cook for a further 2 mins or until all the vegetables are tender.

6. Drain the vegetables (making sure to set aside the water they were boiled in as vegetable stock) and rinse under cold water to refresh them and maintain the colour of the vegetables.

7. Once the ginger and garlic mixture is cool blend it in a blender until it is smooth.

8. Put the blended mixture in a frying pan over a high heat, add half a cup of the vegetable stock to dilute the mixture along with the garam masala and chilli powder. Stir the mixture and cook for a further 2 minutes or until it starts to come to the boil.

9. Add the vegetables to the mixture with the cardamon powder and fenugreek powder and half a cup of water and mix together well and continue to cook over a medium heat for a further 5 mins or until the sauce is thick.

10. Check if more salt is needed then garnish with the fresh coriander and serve.

Serves four people. The curry mixture can be kept for a few days in the fridge and the taste will improve as the flavours intensify or you can freeze it.

Jungle Juice

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000+11:00

I'm all set to explore lots of new places in Melbourne this year but I am also looking forward to visiting some old favourites. One of these is Jungle Juice, a tiny cafe in Hardware Lane which I have been going to for years. I had barely been back in Melbourne a week and I found my way like some kind of homing pigeon to what must be one of Melbourne's smallest cafes and kitchens.

Crates serve as outdoor seating at Jungle Juice

It was great to see that pretty much nothing had changed. You can still basically touch both walls of the cafe while standing in the middle of it, there was still the Little Golden Books covered menus and the same things to order, bagels or my personal favourite the Jungle Juice Club Sandwich ($11). The club sandwich is a towering creation with chicken breast, bacon, lettuce and tomato wedged between slices of toasted bread. It puts the club sandwiches at most hotels to shame and gives a nice holiday feeling to any lunch time.

Little Golden Book covered menus

The bagels were also just as good as I remembered with the classic flavour combination of a BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato) ($10.50) hard to go past with its crusty bronzed bagel shell and dense breaded interior packed with the good stuff.

BLAT bagel

On the drinks front, Jungle Juice does excellent freshly squeezed juices, granitas and homemade lemonade which sadly errs on the side of being a little too bitter. They also have a La Marzocco coffee machine so you know the coffee is top notch.

Homemade lemonade

It's good to be back Jungle Juice, I missed you.

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Essentials

Details: 20 Centre Place, CBD, Melbourne Vic 3000, Australia, (Ph +61 3 9639 8779) Mon-Fri 7am-5:30pm, Sat-Sun 8:30am-5pm.

Damage: Such a bargain my mother would approve.

8/10

Shreyas Retreat (Gourmet Chick in India)

2012-01-02T09:00:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year! If you are anything like me you will have been desperately thinking up some new year resolutions over one final glass of champagne on New Years Day. So it strikes me as the perfect time to tell you about Shreyas Retreat in India. Deprive me of meat, alcohol and coffee normally and the result is not a pretty sight. But I willingly (and gladly) gave up all three during a three day stay at Shreyas Retreat last month. Shreyas is one hours drive from Bangalore but a million miles away from the hustle and bustle, chaos and confusion of the city.

Pool side at Shreyas Retreat - not your typical yoga retreat

Shreyas is one of the world's best yoga retreats and is also renowned for its cuisine so I jumped at the chance to stay there despite the absence of three of my favourite things from the menu. Any thoughts of sacrifice instantly disappeared when I arrived at Shreyas and was greeted with a cool face towel, freshly squeezed carrot and ginger juice and had a garland of marigolds placed around by neck. Although Shreyas is a yoga retreat it is as far removed from an austere ashram as it is possible to be while still espousing the same principles.

Dessert Shreyas style - rasmali topped with pistachio nuts

Set in a 25 hectare coconut plantation there was plenty of space to escape and relax at Shreyas. The retreat also boasts an infinity swimming pool, private cinema complete with big screen and reclining chairs, spa, library of 1000 books and even its own cricket machine (which was great for entertaining MTV). Rather than bunking down in an ashram dormitory I discovered at Shreyas I had my own tented suite with plush bedding and an open aired bathroom which I instantly wanted to replicate at home.

The verandah of our tented room

Most importantly though, rather than subsisting on dahl and rice, the food at Shreyas was designed to convert even the most rabid carnivore to temporary vegetarianism. For breakfast there was cereals, porridge, toast and fresh fruit with milk fresh from Shreya’s own herd of cows. This was followed by an Indian style dish such as soft paratha bread dotted with fresh fenugreek leaves or spongy rice cakes of idli with a spicy masala sauce.

Cauliflower soup for lunch

Lunch made the most of Shreya’s expansive organic vegetable garden which supplies most of the retreat’s produce. It started with a peppery roasted vegetable soup, tangy salad of sprouts and subtly spiced cauliflower with green peas, sauted okra with onion, rice flecked with cumin and papery whole wheat roti bread followed by a spongy rasmalai doused in a sweet, creamy sauce and topped with crushed pistachio nuts.

Sprout salad, cauliflower curry and okra for lunch

Dinner was served outdoors lit by flickering Chinese lanterns hanging from the trees by the pool or with tables arranged around a bonfire on chillier nights. We ate a zesty salad of beetroot served with tandoori roasted mushrooms and paneer, char grilled corn on the cob with a squeeze of fresh lime and stuffed capsicums in creamy sauce.

The yoga pavilion

Service at Shreyas was genuinely friendly and warm thanks in part to staff classes in yoga and meditation which ensures all staff are passionate about the ethos of the retreat. There is a meticulous attention to detail with shoes left outside rooms carefully turned the right way around, mediation notes on pillows at night time and tables and rooms strewn with flower petals. Although admittedly, the rose petals and marigolds scattered everywhere can make it feel like you have crashed someone's honeymoon.

Shreyas keeps India's flower growers in business

The retreat is not entirely a rural idyll - a noisy train line runs nearby and at dusk there are some pesky mosquitoes. However in typical Shreyas style any problems have already been anticipated before they arise with a set of earplugs and natural mosquito repellent in every room.

Visiting the local market with Shreyas as part of the culinary package

Shreyas is the ultimate luxury retreat which stretches its guests in more ways than one. I won’t pretend the experience has converted me entirely to vegetarianism and an alcohol and coffee free life but I honestly did not miss any of my three addictions at all during my stay and felt so much better for a temporary detox. A stay here is pure bliss.

Shreyas own ambassador taxi is at the service of guests to get around

Essentials
Details: Shreyas Retreat, Santoshima Farm, Gollahalli Gate, Nelamangala, Bangalore 562123, India. (Ph: +91- 80-27737102, 27737103, 27737183)
Damage: Budget Breaking. Nightly rates start at USD$280 (£179, $275) a night. A culinary package (7 nights accomodation, meals, yoga, activities and treatments) is USD$3,370.
10/10

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Shreyas.

Video review of my suite at Shreyas

Gourmet Travel Tips

There are direct flights with British Airways from London to Bangalore from £519 return or Singapore Airlines flies from Melbourne to Bangalore for $1010 return. Shreyas is a one hour drive from Bangalore airport and the retreat offers a complimentary transfer service (complete with cold face towels and bottled water in the car).
Each guest receives a consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor. The doctor carefully explained the philosophy behind Ayurveda to me, diagnosed my Ayurvedic dhosa and tailor made a program for me for my three day stay at the retreat including massages and Ayurvedic treatments at Shreyas brilliant spa.
At the retreat there are group Hatha and Ashtanga yoga classes at 6.30am - 8am every morning and 4pm -5pm every afternoon along with mediation sessions at 10am every morning. Private yoga and mediation sessions are also available.
I undertook Shreyas' culinary package (although on a shorter three day time frame) which included a tour of the local market and a private cooking lesson with Shreyas' chef Rajan. More details on my cooking lesson at Shreyas to come in a later post.

2011 in Review

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000+11:00

2011 has been a big year at Chez Gourmet Chick with three months of travelling in Europe and Asia and then landing back in sunny Australia to finish off the year. This is my year in review post, the written equivalent of having a few drinks and chewing the fat on what the highlights (and lowlights) of the year have been.

Sunset cocktails at Udaipur in India.

1. Best meal in London in 2011
Heston Blumenthal arrived in London with a bang thanks to the opening of Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental this year. The food is intriguing but also damn delicious and more approachable than Blumenthal’s fare at The Fat Duck. The do not miss dishes were clearly the meat fruit and tipsy cake but it was all outstanding.

2. Best meal travelling in 2011
I can't stop thinking about my meal at Inaki Aizpitarte's amazing Le Dauphin in Paris, just a few doors down from his first restaurant, the acclaimed Chateaubriand. It’s a "small plates" style restaurant set in a buzzy, modern place with the room decked out from head to toe in white marble and dominated by a central bar which walk in diners can perch at to eat. Everything we tried was brilliant. Highlights included the sweet, sharp heritage tomato salad, smoky slices of almost rare wagyu beef, creamy squid ink risotto and piping hot matcha flavoured madeleines.

Heritage tomato salad at Le Dauphin in Paris

3. Worst meal in London in 2011
It wasn't the worst meal I had but it was the most disappointing given the price paid. I was left very underwhelmed by my meal at Nuno Mendes' Viajante thanks to some interesting ideas which just did not deliver in terms of taste. At just under £200 for our meal for two I expected more consistency.

4. Worst meal travelling in 2011
I had some great food in Dubrovnik, Croatia but my meal at Storia failed to deliver. Despite Storia's beautiful setting overlooking the harbour and friendly service, I had to leave most of my seafood risotto uneaten as it had a claggy texture and was over salted. So disappointing in a country with such amazing seafood.

Mmmm spaghetti carbonara

5. Recipe of the year
A weekend in Rome left me with a serious carbonara addiction and so I had to concoct the perfect spaghetti carbonara recipe. I had eaten carbonara before but nothing that tasted like the carbonara in Rome. It was silky smooth, rich and utterly satisfying. At home, attempting to replicate the classic dish I discovered the key was to cut out any extra ingredients, cream being the most obvious omission. The beauty of a good carbonara is its simplicity.

6. Cookbook of the year
I have total Momofku mania and cannot wait to get myself up to Sydney to check out David Chang's new restaurant there (or a visit to one of the originals in NYC would be nice). In the meantime I am making do with the brilliant, sweary and utterly compelling Momfuku cook book.

The easiest and most delicious noodle recipe from the Momofuku cookbook

7. Total number of posts for 2011
145. Not bad going given my nomadic existence and at times non existent internet.

8. Most far flung reader in 2011

Hello to Georgia! I have heard a lot about your country and would love to make it there one day.

9. Weirdest search term used to get to Gourmet Chick in 2011

Elegant Hat Chef. I do love a good hat come Spring Racing carnival but am a bit bewildered by that one.

2012 Wish List
As the time of year for New Year's resolutions here are a few food and travel related ones for me - a virtual wish list of places to eat.

Melbourne
I'm excited to be back in my home town and there are so many places I want to visit. Melburnians let me know what you think of this list and if there is anywhere else I should be heading to...

Chin Chin, according to Sharking For Chips and Drinks, and any friends I have who have been, it is one of Melbourne's "hot new openings";
Vue de Monde, as I went a few years ago but have not been since the restaurant moved to its new digs at the Rialto;
Wombat Cafe in Daylesford, I love the Lake House so am excited about checking out its new cheaper sibling;
Albert Street Food and Wine, Phillipa Sibley's new restaurant (currently loving her cook book);
Cutler and Co, which Joyce at Mel: Hot or Not, raves about and which I still have not been to; and
Golden Dragon Palace, out in Templestowe for my yum cha fix after developing a serious dim sum addiction in Hong Kong.

Ah Brazil - how I loved you. And how I love finishing this post with another cocktail picture.

Travel
After a crazy year of travel in 2011 which included holidays to Brazil, France, the USA, Spain, Mallorca, Madeira, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, India, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Ireland, Nepal and Hong Kong, I am planning some jaunts closer to my (new) home in 2012. Here's hoping for...

A traditional Australian holiday of time down by the beach at Lorne;
A trip to Sydney is certainly in order and long overdue; and
More time in Asia with both Japan and Bali on my wish list.

How to make mini salmon and dill fish cakes

2011-12-28T12:00:00.000+11:00

If you are putting on a New Years Eve bash these mini salmon and dill fish cakes are the perfect thing to have with a glass of champagne. Given that the holiday season is all about family and friends having a drink and a catch up, they could be your secret weapon sitting in the fridge ready to go. I served them up on Christmas day as (one of many) starters and they went down a treat.

Salmon and dill patties a go go

If you are feeling more practical you could also make these as a bigger size and serve for a light lunch or dinner with lots of salad and some post Christmas virtuous eating. Of course they are not quite so cute when they are not quite so mini and who needs virtue at this time of year? Slather on the mayonnaise I say and dig in.

Ingredients
300g salmon fillet, skin and bones removed if possible
2 tbsp thick cream
30g fresh breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
30g goats cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup chopped dill
2 tbsp plain flour
Salt and pepper to season
20g butter
2 tbsp olive oil

The mixture ready to go in the fridge

1. Remove the skin of the salmon with a knife and any bones with tweezers if this has not already been done. Cut the salmon into bite size pieces.

2. Pour cream over breadcrumbs and leave for 5 mins.

3. Combine salmon, breadcrumb mixture, goats cheese, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper in a food processor and blend quickly. You only need to mix for a short burst as the aim is to combine the ingredients and not to make a paste.

4. Put the mixture into a mixing bowl and combine with the egg yolk and half the dill then cover and leave to chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.

5. Dampen your hands and divide into around 24 small patties or 8 large ones.

6. Roll the patties in flour and then heat the butter and oil in a large non stick frying pan over a medium heat.

7. Cook the patties until just browned on either side being careful not to overcook and dry the salmon out. Serve topped with mayonnaise (I made my own) and the remainder of the dill.

Patties ready to be fried

Makes 24 pieces for finger food or would serve four as a light lunch or dinner.

Gourmet Giveaway - Flights to New York with KLM (Sponsored Post)

2011-12-28T09:00:00.000+11:00

Let's face it, airline food does not have a great reputation. Places like Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food at Heathrow in London are doing well out of selling picnic packs for travellers who want to avoid airline food.

Photo thanks to KLM - chef prepared sushi at 30,000 feet

KLM is set to change this by introducing A la carte where they whip up a choice of delicious food which is even available for those of you who are like me and travel strictly economy (€12 - €15 extra). They are going all out with everything from Italian style rib eye to chef prepared sushi at 30,000 feet. You can see what KLM is serving up onboard now at the KLM website.

For a chance to win flights to New York, which as we all know is pretty much the best city in the world after Melbourne and London, all you have to do is go to the KLM Facebook page and say what your favourite meal is. Get cracking!

This is a sponsored post.

Gerald's Bar

2011-12-26T09:00:00.000+11:00

Christmas is over and everyone needs a drink to recover. Gerald's Bar in Carlton might be just the spot to indulge. Wine is supposed to be the main event at Gerald's Bar. After all the bar has won awards for its lengthy wine list and "first come, first served" open bottle policy (five whites and five reds are open at any one time) . However the food at the bar is so good that it the cuisine at Gerald's Bar may just be trying to steal the spotlight from the booze.

Gerald's Bar already looks like an institution that has been around for years

Right next to La Porchetta's on Rathdowne street, Gerald's Bar has limited seating with some tables out the front, a handful inside and lots of stools on which to prop up the heavily laden bar. The place has the feeling of somewhere that has been around for ages (despite the fact it is a relative newcomer) with net curtains on the windows, a ladder that slides along the bar to get to those tricky top shelf spirits and vinyls turning on a record player. I went there for my annual book club Christmas party so we ignored the daily changing menu and opted for the group menu a bargain $50 per person in which you leave all choices in the hands of the chefs at Gerald's Bar.

Each course was a surprise to us which only added to the novelty of the experience. To start, sparklingly fresh oysters served in the shell and topped with tiny crisp pieces of bacon. Then came slices of thick chicken terrine flecked with pistachio nuts and served with toasted bread and chutney.

Chicken terrine

A vibrantly flavoured salad featured torn, creamy mozzarella with chunks of smoked tomato and was followed by slices of slow cooked pork on a bed of oozing mashed potato. However the total superhero dish of the night was the whole baked ocean trout which was encased in a thick salt crust. The theatre of the dish was amazing with the crust cracked open to reveal pink, pearly and perfectly cooked fish.

Smoked tomato and mozzarella salad

We finished the meal with a scoop of intensely rich chocolate ice-cream. Simple but glorious stuff. As for that helpful and encyclopedic wine list? We didn't use it at all. Instead we relied on our waitress who, while a bit unhelpful at times (we had to ask three times for butter with our bread), was a total wine guru when it came to recommending what vino we should imbibe. If you go, order the sparkling rosé from Bendigo ($40), sensational, and not too sweet.

From oysters to a whole salt encrusted ocean trout this was not your typical money-pinching-set-group-menu nor was it standard simple bar food. Instead it was food with personality and pizzaz which pretty much hogged the lime light from the brilliant wine list. Perhaps the place should be renamed Gerald's Restaurant instead of Gerald's Bar.

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Essentials
Details: Gerald's Bar, 386 Rathdowne Street Carlton North, Vic 3054, Australia (Ph +61 3 9349 4748) Open: Mon - Sat 5pm - 11pm, Sun closed.
Damage: Reasonable. The set menu is $50 a person. With (a lot of) drinks and a tip we paid about $80 each.
9/10

Guide to eating dim sum in Hong Kong (Gourmet Chick in Hong Kong)

2011-12-23T11:30:00.000+11:00

Just before the traditional season of overeating known as Christmas I thought I would post my guide to eating dim sum in Hong Kong. A week in Hong Kong was my last stop on my way back to Australia and it was a week of glorious gluttony particularly in the dim sum department. As the world’s yum cha capital I discovered I could indulge in dim sum anyway I wanted in Hong Kong. During my visit we dug into the bamboo steamer baskets everywhere from sleek bars to huge ballrooms to tiny canteens. It’s best to avoid going for yum cha on a Sunday if possible as that is traditionally a day that Hong Kong families will share yum cha together so yum cha venues are even more packed than usual. Of the place we tried these were my three favourites, all good for different reasons:

Dim sum arrives by trolley at Maxim's City Hall

1. Maxim’s City Hall
For the true Hong Kong yum cha experience I think it is hard to beat Maxim’s at City Hall. Dim sum is served up daily in this huge ballroom with sticky carpets, dripping chandeliers and panoramic views of the Hong Kong waterfront. Waitresses wheel trollies stacked with towering baskets of dim sum and you need to wave down the ones you want as the best trolleys rarely stop at a table of gwelios (Westerners).

Delicious steamer baskets of goodness

It may not be the absolute best dim sum in town but the whole experience is so much fun that it was my favourite. The best things to wave down are the fried glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves and flecked with chunks of pork, the har jiao (prawn dumplings), prawn cheong fun and the pan fried turnip cake. Be warned, there are big queues but we got there just before 12 and were fine.

Essentials
Details: City Hall Maxim's Palace, 2/F, Low Block, City Hall, Central, Hong Kong (Ph +852 2521 1303)
Damage: Reasonable our bill came to HKD$200 each ($25/£16)
9/10

The queues to get in to Tim Ho Wan

2. Tim Ho Wan
Tim Ho Wan is the world’s cheapest Michelin star restaurant, our meal here came to a grand total of HKD$121 ($15/£10). It is a scruffy and unassuming place out in Mong Kwok and it is also tiny so we had to wait two hours to get a table. The good news is that there is an organised queuing system so you turn up, take a number and are told what time to come back at. We got there at 11.30 and were given number 66 (the restaurant opens at 10am each day). We then went shopping in the nearby Ladies Market and checked out the Mong Kwok flower and bird markets before returning just before our designated slot.

Tim Ho Wan's famous pork buns (times two)

There are no white table cloths and service is perfunctory at Tim Ho Wan but the Michelin star recognises the quality of the dim sum which is excellent. The speciality here is the deep fried pork buns with their crisp, light casing and filling of sticky, sweet roasted pork which are just ridiculously delicious. Ha jiao (prawn dumplings HKD$22) were delicately pleated and filled with fresh, meaty whole prawns and the filling of the chiu chow dumplings (HKD$10) was a great textural mix of crunchy nuts with soft vegetables. Look how transulcent the skin of the dumplings is in the photograph so the contents are almost jewel like. The chef at Tim Ho Wan, Mak Pui Gor, was the former dim sum master at Hong Kong's Four Seasons Hotel before he went out on his own so it is a big treat to be able to sample his dim sum at such bargain basement prices. However I do think Michelin should have probably rated Tim Ho Wan as a bib Michelin (its rating for cheaper restaurants where service and surroundings might be lacking) rather than giving it a star.

Essentials
Details: Flat 8, Tsui Yuen Mansion, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street, MongKok, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Ph +852 2332 2896)
Damage: Such a bargain my mother would approve. HKD$121 for two.
9/10

3. Dragon-I
Dragon-I is where the beautiful people of Hong Kong go to eat their dim sum with its sleek black surfaces, low lighting and extensive cocktail list. The restaurant does actually turn into a bar at night time but at lunch time there is a good all you can eat dim sum deal ($188). Dragon-I is beloved by Hong Kong residents as you can actually book there so it is good for big groups or those who don’t want to stand around for ages. It reminded me of Ping Pong in London although the dim sum is of a better standard.

As you can see there is night club style lighting at Dragon-I even during the day with the food spotlit and then darkness all around.

Light and fluffy char xiao bao (barbeque pork buns) (HKD$38) with their sweet and sticky filling were well made while the xiao mei (pork dumplings) (HKD$39), a Hong Kong specialty were meaty and bursting with flavour. The disappointment on the dim sum front were the XLBs (HKD$39) which had messy pleats and were dry with some of them having lost their soupy filling.

Essentials
Details: Dragon-i, 60 Wyndham Street, Hong Kong (Ph +852 3110 1223).
Damage: Pricey. Our bill for two came to HKD$392 for two.
7/10

My map of Hong Kong

View Gourmet Chick Hong Kong in a larger map

Gourmet Travel Tips

For my other tips for eating in Hong Kong (non dim sum) here's my guide to Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific flies to Hong Kong from Australia from $1150 return and from London British Airways flies there from London from £569 return.
We stayed at Hotel LFK which is bang in the middle of Hong Kong’s party hub, the Lang Kwai Fong area. Our deluxe suite was huge and stocked with everything you could ever want from a bath and rain shower stocked with Molton Brown goodies to free wifi and an in room coffee maker. The room rate also includes cocktails each night in LFK’s glamorous "Restaurant slash bar" Azure and the views over the city skyline are stupendous. Details: Hotel LFK, 33 Wyndham Street, Lang Kwai Fong, Hong Kong (Ph +852 3518 9688 ) Rooms start from HKD$2,998/£245/$379) a night.

Our room at Hotel LFK

The must do activities in Hong Kong are to catch a tram up to the top of the Peak to check out the skyline, a night out at the Happy Valley races on Wednesdays and of course shopping, shopping and more shopping.
For something different catch a ferry over to Lantau and do a hike, we hiked the Lantau peak and then caught the cable car back. We also did a day trip to Macau which I would avoid as it is a pretty soulless place and the immigration queues on the weekends are horrendous.
For researching a trip to Hong Kong I found E-Ting, Tom Eats, Jen Cooks, Hollow Legs and Mr Noodles very helpful thanks also to our Hong Kong friends, hosts and tour guides Jac, Mossy, Nick and Fabian.

PM 24

2011-12-21T08:40:00.000+11:00

Now I have landed back in Melbourne permanently I am busy soaking up the sunshine and exploring everything that is new since my last trip home. One place I did not want to waste any time trying was PM 24, the latest restaurant from Melbourne stalwart Philip Mouchel. PM 24 opened its doors earlier this year and like the restaurant's very modern name, the look at PM 24 is contemporary and industrial. There are soaring ceilings, exposed fittings and an open kitchen complete with a lipstick red rotisserie responsible for the restaurant's signature dishes.

PM 24 has a modern feel to it but retains some traditional French elements like classic bistro chairs

The menu is printed on one large piece of card, and what a menu, I wanted it all. It jumps from one French classic to another with a special section for the famed rotisserie. In the interests of economics my friend Claire and I decide to ignore Epicure's dish of the year, PM 24's rotisserie chicken, and instead order from the set lunch menu which includes two choices of starter and main for $37 (there is also a very reasonable Sunday lunch menu which is worth remembering for the weekend).

In contrast to the menu, the parochially French wine list is lengthy and while it includes the options of trying some new wines with enomatic wines by the glass, the prices are steep. We struggled to find a bottle under $50 and in the end the sommelier suggested a bottle of dry and crisp Great Western Riesling ($53).

Prawns wrapped in tempura batter

First, the bread. This is a French restaurant so bread is all important and the bag on our table did not disappoint with hunks of warm sour dough, unsalted butter imported from Normandy and big flakes of Marron river salt. We started with fat, juicy prawns encased in a twirl of crisp batter and served with a rich, eggy mayonnaise and some crisp Cos lettuce.

Cured salmon with a blini

To start, cured salmon was topped with slivers of fennel and teamed with a fat potato blini ($19.50). However the salmon and rich mustard dressing overwhelmed the fennel and the blini seemed more like a scone than the slim pancake I was expecting.

Rotisserie pork loin served with frites rather than pommes purée

While first courses were competent rather than memorable, the rotisserie came to the rescue with the pork loin. The pork is cooked on the rotisserie to a state of tender pinkness and topped with caramalized apples and a reduction that is brave and well made. After spying the excellent frites on a neighbouring table I asked for them to accompany the pork rather than the pommes purée listed on the menu. It reminded me more of a true French rotisserie experience when the meat is roasted and drips onto frites resting in a tray below.

The kitchen provides good reason to linger in the form of a smart little Gallic dessert list. I was tempted by the creme bruleé which is flamed table side but in the end settled for a bronzed canelé with a scoop of fast melting honey ice-cream ($6.50).

Canelé with honey ice-cream

Perhaps my favourite part of the meal came at the end when we ordered coffee and were brought around some complimentary snakes of raspberry home made marshmallow which was cut into pieces at our table. The lolly pink, fluffy marshmallow was another example if it is ever needed of how much better a home made treat is than the mass produced version you usually get.

PM 24 takes a light, contemporary approach to French food and there is an injection of fun and novelty through the open rotisserie and homemade marshmallow rather than a slavish reproduction of a traditional French bistro. Now that I am living over the other side of the world from Paris at least I know I can quell any Francophile sorrows at PM 24.

View Gourmet Chick Melbourne in a larger map

Essentials
Details: PM 24, 24 Russell St, Melbourne CBD, Victoria, Australia 3000 (Ph +61 3 9207 7424). Open: Lunch Sunday to Friday - 12pm -3pm, Dinner 7 days - 6pm - late.
Damage: Pricey. The bill came to $162 for two with one bottle of wine.
7/10

Provamel's Tree Aid Campaign (Sponsored post)

2011-12-20T22:59:00.000+11:00

This is a sponsored post but for a worthy cause. Provamel (makers of organic soya milk, drinks, desserts and tofu) has teamed up with forestry development charity Tree Aid to launch a campaign to tackle climate change and cut carbon emissions. Soya bean producers can get some bad press but Provamel has committed to plant and protect 5,000 trees in Africa's driest lands. The donations pledged to Tree Aid will support its ongoing Tree Revolution, which aims to see at least one million trees planted and protected in Africa by the end of 2011.

Provamel's 5,000 trees will be planted by Tree Aid specifically in the West African region of Mali, one of the harshest and driest environments on earth. On top of absorbing global carbon, helping in the fight against climate change and improving the local deforested environment, these trees will be used by hundreds of local people to fight poverty. With Tree Aid's help, thousands of people are being taught to use trees sustainably to generate an income – meaning Provamel's 5,000 trees will continue to yield benefits for years and years to come.

You can like the Provamel page on Facebook to get involved in the campaign.

This is a sponsored post.

How to make BBQ lamb cutlets with hot feta dressing (The Silver Spoon)

2011-12-19T14:46:00.000+11:00

I have arrived back in Australia and one of the first things on my wish list was a barbeque with some Australian lamb. It was a case of lots of Christmas happy-happy-joy-joy to discover on the doorstep a review copy of The Silver Spoon with a recipe by Karen Martini for chargrilled lamb cutlets. I love it when life works in serendipity like that.

BBQ action

The Silver Spoon is the bible of Italian cooking and it has just been revised. Although it has over 1,500 pages of recipes I was still pleasantly surprised to find a perfect BBQ recipe by an Australian chef amongst all the pasta and risotto. One of the features of the new edition, besides the addition of glossy photos and a rather Christmassy red cover, is the addition of a set of menus by chefs including Ruth Rogers, Georgio Locatelli and Karen Martini. The only criticism I could make is that I would have preferred more photographs as there is only 400 so the majority of the recipes still don't have a photo. Other than this though the book is every bit as comprehensive and iconic as you would expect. I imagine you could spend years cooking from it and still not run out of recipes.

The cook book - it's a hefty one

Karen Martini's recipe turned out to be one of those perfect, easy to make meals which required minimal preparation and could be served up in a big platter for everyone to help themselves. One of the things I particularly love about this dish was the way the lamb is served on top of the potatoes so the juices from the meat and the hot feta dressing trickle down to flavour the rest of the meat. I know I am teasing those of you reading from the Northern hemisphere with a BBQ recipe but you could easily make this using a grill pan on top of the stove.

The Silver Spoon now comes with glossy photographs

Ingredients

2 racks of lamb with enough for 2 or 3 cutlets per person

6 garlic cloves chopped

1/2 bunch of fresh oregano

100ml extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling

1 lemon juiced

4 tsps sherry vinegar (I didn't have any so substituted red wine vinegar)

12 potatoes sliced lengthway

2 bunches of baby leeks (I substituted 1 large leek and sliced it into 2cm pieces)

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

80g Ligurian olives

200g soft marinated feta cheese

Salt and pepper

The finished lamb chops with hot fetta dressing drizzled over the top

1. Trim the racks of lamb, leaving a layer of fat, then score the fat in crisscross lines. Cut the racks into separate cutlets.

2. Combine the garlic, half the oregano, the oil, lemon juice and sherry vinegar and season with pepper in a large non-reactive dish. Add the lamb and let marinate for 1 hour, covered in the fridge.

3. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a pot of boiling until tender (around 15 mins), then take out the potatoes with a slotted spoon, slice them lengthways once slightly cooled, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

4. Preheat the grill or BBQ and put the leeks in the pot of boiling water for 2-3 mins then drain. Slice into 1-2cm thick rings and scatter over the potatoes.

5. Drain the cutlets, season with salt and cook for 4-6 mins until browned.

6. Pour the white wine vinegar, olive oil, olives, remaining oregano leaves and the feta into a shallow pan. Stir gently over a low heat to warm through but do not bring to the boil.

7. Place the warm potatoes on a platter, top with the leeks, lamb cutlets and spoon the hot feta dressing over the dish. Season with a little black pepper and serve.

Serves six. Adapted from The Silver Spoon (currently £18.69 on Amazon).

Fort Cochin and Malabar House (Gourmet Chick in India)

2011-12-15T19:09:00.000+11:00

Kerala feels like a different country to the rest of India. It is India lite and I think that is why I liked it so much. Kerala is all together more casual than the Northern states with tuk tuk drivers leaning against street corners dressed in sarongs and spice sellers squatting passively on their haunches with infinite patience. It is a place where huge rain trees shelter the old colonial buildings of Fort Cochin from the afternoon humidity and ancient Chinese fishing nets haul in the days catch. The food is also subtler and less punchy than India’s north but no less complex or delicious. It draws on the local abundance of coconut, tropical fruits and seafood from what Keralan’s proudly describe as "God's own country".

Cherai beach - just outside Fort Cochin

Dal Roti
Our favourite lunch spot in Fort Cochin was Dal Roti an austere white washed building with quite possibly one of the friendliest and most genial owners you have ever come across. Dal Roti serves up the food from Ramesh’s home state of Uttar Pradesh and he is a wealth of knowledge about different Indian dishes.

Iced tea at Dal Roti

We ate at Dal Roti twice and could not go past the koti wraps (Rs80), Ramesh’s take on street food. Flaky, light parantha bread was wrapped around vibrantly spiced vegetables and tandoori charred chicken to make a meal that was simple as pie but delicious as hell. The peach iced green tea (Rs50) was also so refreshing it was addictive. The only downside was that Dal Roti does not have a liquor licence so was not such a good dinner option if you felt like a drink.

Koti wrap at Dal Roti

Essentials
Details: Dal Roti, 1/293 Lilly Street, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India.
Damage: Such a bargain my mother would approve.
9/10

Shala
The kitchen at Shala is staffed by local housewives and they serve up fresh, organic Keralan food like prawns in a spicy curry sauce. Curry of seer fish in a coconut sauce lacked some of the rich, creamy flavour of the coconut milk but the spices packed a subtle punch. The cafe is painted in bright, colours and has a slick modern feel. Once again there is no alcohol allowed and on this basis I think Dal Roti is a better bet for a cheap and cheerful meal.

Seer fish in a coconut sauce at Shala

Essentials
Details: Shala, Peter Celli Street, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India.
Damage: Reasonable
6/10

Malabar Junction
Dinner at Malabar House’s high end restaurant was served outdoors in the courtyard by candle light to the sounds of Indian musicians resplendent in traditional dress and wielding sitars (which always reminds me of Moulin Rouge for some reason). The menu features refined Indian cooking and happily straddles the East/West divide with dishes like fish fingers fried in a light beer batter and served with a spicy mango chutney (Rs250).

Chocolate brownies at Malabar Junction

Seafood is a specialty at Malabar Junction and tiger prawns (Rs600) curled into fat, juicy spirals were given a burst of sweetness with an accompaniment of fresh mango and then doused in rich coconut sauce. This was accomplished cooking. However caramelized squid and prawn risotto (Rs440) had a muddied flavour despite containing generous quantities of fresh-off-the-boat seafood. It was worth leaving room for the dessert menu at Malabar Junction as dessert of a nut flecked chocolate brownie (Rs180) slathered in white chocolate sauce had an extraordinarily seductive texture and grown up taste.

Essentials
Details: Malabar Junction, Malabar House, 1/268 – 1/269 Parade Road, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India 682001(Ph +91 484 2216666).
Damage: Pricey.
8/10

Malabar House
Elegant and stylish Malabar house is the place to stay in Fort Cochin so I could not say no to an invitation to visit it. The owner, Joerg Dreschsel, has converted an 18th century Dutch colonial residence with exquisite taste and verve. Antique furniture sits alongside bright splashes of colour and creature comforts like televisions, wifi and bar fridges with tea and coffee making facilities.

Pool and courtyard area at Malabar House

Our room was so effortlessly cool that it was all I could do not to barricade myself inside and refuse to ever leave. It contained hands down the most comfortable bed I slept in while I was in India, with mountains of fluffy pillows and soft linen. The hotel itself was small and intimate with a central courtyard framed by frangipani trees and anchored by a plunge pool. The pool was more of a focal point than a sun bathing area as it was shaded for most of the day and overlooked by reception.

Our room at Malabar House

Accomodation at Malabar House is on a bed and breakfast basis and breakfast included a buffet of fresh juices, pastries, fruits and yoghurts. There was then a choice of Western fare of poached eggs or omlettes alongside the far more interesting Indian breakfasts. A papery thin dosa was served with a spicy masala of potatoes and vegetables or, fusion style, teamed with excellent bacon and a gooey fried egg.

Video review of my room at Malabar House

Essentials
Details: Malabar House, 1/268 – 1/269 Parade Road, Fort Cochin, Kerala, India 682001(Ph +91 484 2216666).
Damage: Pricey. A deluxe room is €230 a night.
9/10

Gourmet Chick was a guest of Malabar House.

Fishmongers by the Chinese Fishing nets in Fort Cochin

Gourmet Travel Tips

Kingfisher flies from London to Delhi for £500 return. A flight with Indigo from Delhi to Cochin costs Rs6,000 and takes just under three hours.
In the fort Mattancherry Palace and the Pardesi Synagogue are both good to visit and we liked walking around the antique stores and watching the Chinese fishing nets in operation. You can buy fish fresh there from the fishmongers and have them cook it for you as well.

Top Ten Food Books

2011-12-12T19:01:00.000+11:00

I am in Hong Kong at the moment eating my body weight in dim sum (more to come on that later) but as my travels come to an end I thought I would share with you how I have been keeping myself entertained on long plane journeys, lonely Himalayan villages and crowded Indian trains. It has all come down to my Kindle.

My Kindle - with a nice hot pink leather cover

I was very anti Kindle to begin with. I love books and I love to own them. To see the covers of old favourites sitting on my book shelf and to physically hold them in my hands are both simple pleasures that I enjoy. However, travelling for three months meant lugging around half a backpack filled with reading material or biting the bullet and going electronic. MTV kindly bought me a Kindle for my birthday and I haven't looked back since. I love being able to discover new books to read and buy them instantly through Amazon's (highly dangerous) one click purchasing system. I've even got used to the feel of the Kindle once I bought a nice leather cover for it to make it look a little more like a real book.

I'm tearing through books on the Kindle on my holiday and I have particularly enjoyed reading a few foodie novels which have been on my wish list for a while. These are some of my favourite books for cooks. The list is in no particular order as it is hard to rank books.

I have just finished reading Blood, Bones and Butter which was published this year.

1. Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth Reichl. Memoirs of Reichl's time as restaurant critic for the New York Times when she used to dress up in disguise to review the restaurants.

2. Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell. An all time classic.

3. Blood Bones and Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton. I have just finished reading this memoir which was written by the chef from New York restaurant Prune and it is fantastic. Gabrielle Hamilton can cook and she can also write brilliantly. Highly recommended.

4. Toast, Nigel Slater. England's favourite food writer recounts his traumatic childhood and love for food in this poignant memoir. There is a very moving TV series of this book as well.

5. My Life in France, Julia Child. For any francophile or foodie this is the perfect cook and makes you immediately want to move to France and do the Cordon Bleu.

6. Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain. This book will change what you order and the way you think about restaurants.

7. A Homemade Life, Molly Wizenberg. I love Molly's blog Orangette so could not resist her book which adopts the same style of anecdotes from Molly's life interspersed with great recipes.

8. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser. Made me never eat McDonalds again. Except when I am really, really hungover.

9. Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, Fuschia Dunlop. Memoirs of travels in China that I found very inspiring for my Hong Kong eatathon.

10. Julie and Julia, Julie Powell. Admittedly the main character (and author) of this book can come across as very unlikeable but as a blogger I found this a fascinating read. The movie is also very good as it stars the brilliant Meryl Streep.

You can buy all these books and more from my Book Club which also includes my favourite cook books (I do not recommend buying cook books on a Kindle - for a cook book I think you need the actual hard cover book to make notes on and dog ear the pages and splash sauce). Also the new Kindle is out and it is even cheaper and better than my old version (isn't that always the way?). Currently £89 on Amazon.

What have I missed out? Recommendations for a good read always welcome...

Delhi (Gourmet Chick in India)

2011-12-10T07:09:00.000+11:00

I have diced with death in Delhi and lived to tell the tale. After playing it safe at the start of my trip in India and steering clear of street food to let my stomach adjust I couldn't help myself once I got to Delhi. Walking around India's capital and seeing the sizzling hot plates, the steaming cauldrons of sweet, milky chai and the bubbling vats of oil deep frying, I had to dive in to Delhi’s street food (hand sanitiser at the ready). Since I was risking a bout of Delhi belly I decided I may as well go all the way and hire a rickshaw to make my way around the best street food stops at continued peril to life and limb on Delhi’s chaotic roads. This is what I found:

Street side chai wallahs

Jain Coffee House

Hidden in a labryinth part of old Delhi, Jain Coffee House serves up a mean fruit sandwich (Rs60/£0.73/$1.12). Yes, you heard me right, it's a white bread sandwich with the crusts cut off and filled with slices of apple, pomegranate and paneer which is all doused in fruit syrup, dusted with fruit sugar and slathered in butter. It is a combination that shouldn’t work at all but is remarkably delicious. Jain Coffee House also makes a brilliant sweet and spiced chai.

Details: Jain Coffee House in Raghu Ganj, Chawri Bazar, Old Delhi, India.

It shouldn't work but it does - the fruit sandwich at Jain Coffee House

Ashok and Ashok
Only open between 1pm and 3pm Ashok and Ashok serves up one dish only by the side of the road. Diners stand at tables to eat the aromatic and moist chicken and lamb korma (Rs 315 for a serving for two) which is dripping with flavour. The price includes as much charcoal charred chappati as you can eat and heaped plates of thinly sliced red onion dusted with spices.
Details: 42 Subhas Chowk, Basti Harphool Singh, Sadar Thana Road, Sadar Bazaar, Old Delhi, India

Amazingly tender and fiery chicken and lamb korma at Ashok and Ashok

Shri Duli Chand Naresh Gupta
Serving up the best kulfi in town Shri Duli was opened by the brother of the legendary Kuremal Kulfi offers a range of over 50 flavours from pomegranate to mango. We went for the sweet but tart apple kulfi which is frozen inside an actual apple before being broken into pieces to be eaten.
Details: Kucha Pati Ram, off Sitaram Bazaar, near Chawri Bazaar metro, Old Delhi, India

The best kulfi in Delhi

Bukhara
To see if Delhi’s restaurants measured up to what was cooking by the road sides I headed to what is often referred to as Delhi’s best restaurant, Bukhara. As a measure of the regard it is held in, the Obamas ate here when they were in town. I can only hope they had a better experience than we did. Despite the high prices and five star hotel setting, Bukhara is a fairly casual affair with bare wooden tables, uncomfortable low stool seating and perfunctory service. Its specialty is food roasted in the tandoor so MTV boyfriend and I ordered the "king of kebabs", the murgh tandoori (Rs 1,550) which was a whole roasted chicken. The spicing and flavour was intense but the chicken had been overcooked and was dry and sawdusty. Bukhara's other signature dish, the dahl Bukhara (Rs725) had a deep, rich taste from slow cooking over charcoal for 14 hours but even slathering the chicken with the dahl was not enough to rescue it.

Dry and disappointing murgh tandoori at Bukhara

The wine list was very limited with no champagne or sparkling wine available by the glass and the cheapest wine by the glass, the ubiquitious Sula sauvignon blanc cost an extortionate Rs 800. It was also disconcerting to be handed a customer service form at the end of the meal alongside a supermarket style packet mix for Bukhara dahl as a takeaway gift. If Bukhara was trying to emphasise the quality of its food and talent of its chefs this seemed a strange way to go about it. My only thought was that I should have saved my money and stuck with the supermarket version.

Essentials
Details: Bukhara, ITC Maurya, Diplomatic Enclave, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi 110 021, India (Ph +91 (11) 26112233
Damage: Budget Breaking. Our bill for two came to Rs 7,610 with a couple of drinks each.
4/10

Inside the Red Fort in Delhi

Chor Bizarre
More reasonably priced than Bukhara, Chor Bizarre is an antidote to minimalist restaurant design with its interior filled with bric a brac. The ad hoc effect is cosy and welcoming. A mutton stew called Murgh Maska (Rs 425) was dense and earthy, filled with ribbons of slow cooked meat. However vegetable pokaras (Rs 120) were entombed in heavy batter and had clearly been sitting around for a while rather than being fresh out of the deep frier. Chor Bizarre redeemed itself with a dessert of sensational gulab jamun (Rs 75) creamy spheres with a crisp, deep fried coating and dripping in sticky, sweet sugar syrup.

Salty vegetable pakora at Chor Bizarre

Essentials
Details: Chor Bizarre, Hotel Broadway, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi, India (Ph 011 43663600)
Damage: Pricey. Our bill for two came to Rs 2,000.
7/10

Chicken burra at Karim's

Karim's
A tip from the team at London’s Dishoom restaurant led me to the legendary Karim's right in the heart of Old Delhi. It’s a no frills place with laminate tables where you sit next to strangers but with food so good that there are queues out the door. The chicken burra (Rs 165) was robustly spiced and finger licking good while mutton stew (Rs100) swam in oil but delivered a flavour kick of aromatic and moist meat. Plates of thinly sliced red onions drizzled with fresh lime cut through the heaviness of the meat. It would also be rude not to mention the heavenly naan bread (Rs 45), fluffy as marshmallows, bubbled on top and with a great smoky char to it. It was the best naan I have tasted in India by a long shot. Karim's is a winner all the way with its refreshingly forthright food.

The team at Karim's whipping up India's best naans

Essentials
Details: Karim's, Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, India (Ph 011 23264981). You will find Karim's down an an alleyway directly opposite the south gate to the Jama Masjid mosque.
Damage: Reasonable. Our bill for two came to Rs 545.
9/10

Delhi old town by rickshaw

Gourmet Travel Tips

Kingfisher flies from London to Delhi return from £600.
The main sights to see are the Red Fort and Jama Masjid mosque both of which are in Old Delhi.
Pamela Timm’s blog Eat and Dust is invaluable for researching where to eat in Delhi. She recommended her rickshaw driver, Rahul Pal (Ph +919 871 533849), for Rs200 an hour to take us around. He speaks excellent English and knows all the best street food places.
For a clean and central budget option Cottage Yes Please is a good option. Rooms have TVs and air conditioning and the rooms facing the back are relatively quiet for Delhi. Details: Chunamandi, Paharganj. 1843-44, Laxmi Narayan Street, Rajguru road, New Delhi, Delhi 110055, India (Ph 09650219219), Damage: Such a bargain my mother would approve. (Rs900/£11/$17) with wifi an additional Rs100 per day.

Prosecco Riccardo (Sponsored post)

2011-12-08T17:00:00.000+11:00

I think you know by now how much I love a glass (or two) of bubbles and a few years ago I discovered the brilliant Prosecco Riccardo at the Old Hat Supper Club. What I found was prosecco like I had never tasted before thanks to the tender love and care put into the wine making process by the team at Prosecco Riccardo. I was lucky enough to be able to discover such a good thing so early as Prosecco Riccardo went on to win at this year's Taste of London and so is no longer an undiscovered drink.

Prosecco Riccardo - winner at the Taste of London

At the supper club I discovered the intriguing Riccardo Vino Tranquilo which tasted of pears and was served in wine glasses as it was bubble free. This was an instant favourite of mine as it is such an interesting drink, almost a cross between a wine and a prosecco.

The Prosecco Riccardo vineyards - ah Italy!

Since then I have also loved Riccardo Cartizze a creamy and dry prosecco which is made with the most precious grapes in the region, grown on land that is worth over €1m. If your view of prosecco is as champagne's poor cousin, this could be the drink to change your mind.

The grapes that become the lovely bubbles that are Prosecco Riccardo

Although this is a sponsored post, I am a genuine fan of Prosecco Riccardo, a niche prosecco producer, and one of the pioneers of Food Chain Traceability in the prosecco region. Food Chain Traceability Certification is applied from cultivation to bottling process and allows you to discover the grapes path from cultivation to bottling process just keying the reference printed on the label and neck tag.

Prosecco Riccardo gift packs

This Christmas Prosecco Riccardo is being featured by the West London Wine School in a tasting on Thursday 8 December at 7pm (£35) and can be bought at Grays and Feather who also chose to showcase the prosecco at Taste of Christmas on the weekend. It is the perfect fizz for Christmas.

This is a sponsored post.