I Eat Therefore I Am

Good Food and Wine Show 2013 - FIJI Water Blogging Team

2013-06-07T17:42:00.001+10:00

This year, I was really excited about the Good Food and Wine Show for two reasons. Firstly, I got to meet Maggie Beer about the show and was knew that she would be there. I was secretly hoping I'd bump into her and get to chat with her some more. Secondly, I was invited to join the FIJI Water blogging team to cover the show as their roaming reporter. Ok, I made the roaming reporter part up as I've always wanted to be one of those roaming reporters at events who stick their noses into everything and survey the mood of the crowd. Anyway, I stuck my nose everywhere and tried to gauge how people were feeling. Most people looked to be enjoying themselves, or enjoyed themselves a bit too much already after trying out all the wines at the numerous stands.

This year's Good Food and Wine Show was even bigger than previous years, if that was possible. I have attended previous years, 2012, 2011 and 2009, missing out on 2010 when I was overseas on holidays. This year's show follows a similar format to previous years, with some additions to improve it. One addition that people have loved is Cheese Alley, and it's even bigger and better this year. The other new addition that I'm sure is going to be a big hit is the Fisher and Paykel YUM Kitchen, where people got hands on experience to cook some dishes. The kitchen looked amazing and the people taking the classes looked to be really enjoying themselves.

As usual, the show was full of so many things to see. The Celebrity Theatre was as usual really popular, with lots of people sitting in on various sessions to listen to their favourite food celebrities talk about different food topics, such as the Maggie Beer session I witnessed. Everyone absolutely loved her and she had the crowd in the palm of her hands with her charm. This year though, a new addition is Michelle Bridges, of The Biggest Loser fame, to discuss healthier aspects about food. I love Michelle as she is not only extremely fit, she also seems like a really determined person and I admire people like that. I guess with everything, you need a balance. So you can eat some of Maggie Beer's butter and verjuice roast chicken sometimes, but you should also eat some roast Winter vegetables on quinoa as that can be really tasty too when done right. As our nation is getting fatter and more and more people are becoming obsess with our sedentary lifestyle, we need to be more conscious about what we eat and drink as having a balanced diet is the key to staying healthy. There is no way you can exercise enough to negate the effects of eating 6 pieces of KFC with a tub of ice cream afterwards.

With the introduction of Michelle Bridges to the line up, the Good Food and Wine Show are acknowledging that the health aspect is very important too and they are now catering for that. There were a number of stalls that were focused on healthy food options, amongst them FIJI Water. As we all know water is essential to our survival and well being. I'm hardcore about drinking lots of water everyday and even though I know there's no definitive scientific evidence to say we need 2 litres of water a day, I use it as a guide to keep myself hydrated as I feel much better when I do drink more water. Whenever I drink less than about a litre of water a day, I feel really awful. Whether it's physiological or psychological, I don't know, but I do know I can prevent that terrible feeling by just drinking lots of water. I drink a mix of tap water and bottled water, depending on what's available and what I want at the time. I like the taste of bottled water actually and it feels really refreshing. I drink FIJI water sometimes and the water itself tastes good and I really like the unique design of the bottle. As the name suggests, the water is from FIJI, in a place called the Yaqara Vaelly of Viti Levu. An underground acquifier houses the water that's used for the FIJI bottle water.

As part of the FIJI blogging team, I sniffed my way around all the stalls and below is a few of my favourite photos from the show. There was a mixture of healthy food, and some a bit less healthy. But you know, life is about balance, and you can have some unhealthy things in moderation. I also got to visit the VIP lounge, which was really pretty and I enjoyed a glass of wine in there and some canapes.

If you're going to the show this year, here are some tips for you.
1. Get in line early for the free Celebrity Theatre sessions.
2. The Nespresso class is free and worth doing.
3. The Barilla pasta class says it was $15 but today I just walked in. Do it anyway if it does cost $15.
4. Cheese alley is a must.
5. Get the $3 wine glass to taste all the wines. Don't get smashed, as it's a really bad look.
6. Violet chocolate from ChocoMe, get onto it. Violet is so underrated.
7. Salami Shack, hello cured meats.
8. Passionfruit curd from Unforgettable Products, mmmmm.
9. Samples, samples, samples.

Overall, as usual there was so much to see at the show. There's something there for everyone. There were many interesting things and I really loved Cheese Alley as I'm developing a taste for all sorts of cheeses now. My highlight of Friday's session was seeing Maggie at the Celebrity Theatre. I was waving at her like mad, but so were 500 other people so she didn't see me unfortunately. My secret wish that she would spot me in the audience didn't come true, but her class was still excellent. Normally, if I wasn't going away on holidays, I'd come back on the Sunday afternoon session. A good tip for you, come on the last day to pick up some awesome bargains as the stalls try to sell off everything. I picked up these amazing caneles one year for 50 cents each when they're normally $3.50. I love delicious food, and it's even better when it's a bargain. Till next year's show, eat up.

This is a sponsored post from FIJI Water and I attended courtesy of FIJI Water.

Lavazza A Modo Mio at Melbourne International Coffee Expo

2013-06-06T08:00:00.000+10:00

There are a number of things that I like the smell of, but don’t want to taste. Firecrackers, roasting woodchips, Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee. All these things smell so intoxicating, and until recently, I wouldn’t want to taste any of them. However, I can now strike coffee off that list. I’m a tea drinker, but for the past year, I’ve slowly been getting into coffee. Previously I used to drink coffee very rarely, maybe after a dinner or at breakfast in a café. Now, I’ve become a 3-4 cups a week drinker of coffee. Whereas I used to find the taste of coffee very bitter and unpleasant, I now find coffee to be smooth and full of flavour. This was the same with chocolate. Once upon a time I was a Cadbury’s milk chocolate eater. There’s nothing wrong with milk chocolate but nowadays I find it rather awful and won’t touch it. My taste buds have migrated to dark chocolates, with their smooth, buttery texture and wonderful flavour profiles. I’m currently sitting at about 70% cocoa solid chocolates and still find the 80-90% chocolate too bitter for my liking but I’m experimenting. With my coffee intake, I still favour single shots with milk in it, no sugar, so I still get the flavour but in a weaker hit. Having been deciding whether to buy a coffee machine (a Nespresso), it was fortunate that I was invited to the Lavazza A Modo Mio class at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo, as I got to learn about how to use the machine properly, and take one home to use. How lucky is that.

At the Lavazza A Modo Mio class, I learnt that A Modo Mio means “My Way”, which instantly made me think of Frank Sinatra of course. Or if you’re a youngster, you might think of Usher. However, in this case, the “My Way” refers to how you want your coffee. The Lavazza capsule coffee machines are called A Modo Mio because of the flexibility of how you can enjoy your coffee. The machines come in many forms, but their basic premise is they take a coffee capsule and do the rest of the work to give you a perfect cup of coffee every time. There are 8 coffee blends, made using Arabica and Robusta beans in different combinations and roasting methods. I cannot remember any of the names as they’re rather long and complicated. Instead I just use the colours as a guide. I like the light brown one, which is a medium flavoured blend, and the purple one, which is really smooth.

To use the machine, it’s as simple as putting a capsule into the machine and pressing a button. You then wait 30 seconds or so and out comes this rich, fragrant espresso coffee. I was pleasantly surprised how nice the coffee is. Of course it won’t taste like something that comes out of a $50,000 machine made by a barista, but for something so convenient and relatively inexpensive, it’s a good result that I’m very happy with. The machine I got also has this automatic milk frother. You just put the milk into the jug and it does the steaming and stirring all for you. Then, you pour the milk for either a latte or cappuccino into your espresso or espresso lungo (a more diluted espresso). The maintenance of the machine is really simple. You need to occasionally clean out the water jug, and if the coffee dispensing or milk frother tips get clogged, just clean them out with hot water. Every few days when the drip tray fills up, you just tip it all out into the sink.

Price wise, I believe the machines are about $200-$300 and the capsules work out to be between 50 cents to 80 cents depending on the flavour. I was informed that there’s 7.5 grams of coffee in each capsule, which according to Google is 0.5 grams more than the European Standards for defining a cup of coffee. The capsules themselves contain a quadruple layer of foil so aren’t that easy to accidentally rip. When you put it into the machine, it punctures 16 holes in the capsule, which allows the water to flow through. These capsules are unique to the machine and you can’t use another brand.

Here’s a video showing how you make a cup of coffee. It really is this easy as I have timed myself and in under 5 minutes I have a cup of cappuccino ready while my soft boiled eggs are cooking in my Aldi egg cooker.

Overall, I really love the Lavazza A Modo Mio machine. It’s really easy to use and produces a quality of coffee that I’m happy with. I think if you’re a hardcore coffee drinker, this is not for you. You probably won’t be considering this anyway. Otherwise if you’re a general coffee lover or new to coffee like me, this machine is perfect. Obviously, there will be obvious comparisons to the Nespresso machines. As I’ve never used a Nespresso before, I can’t do a direct comparison, but I’m sure they’re just as easy to use and also produce a good result. It’s just down to you trying them out and seeing which one you like more. While the Lavazza machine may not be the original, it doesn’t mean that it will be inferior. In fact, the engineers have probably seen some of the issues and corrected them. Look how Apple were the innovators, but nowadays Samsung has possibly superseded them in the smart phone stakes. As long as your product makes the experience easier for the user, that is what matters. So while Nespresso has George Clooney, Lavazza does have 110 years of coffee experience behind them. It makes for more choice for the consumer, which is a good thing. I’ll drink to that…my A Modo Mio cappuccino.

I attended the Lavazza coffee class and received a Lavazza A Modo Mio machine courtesy of Lavazza.

Barmah Park Vineyard and Cafe

2013-06-03T12:52:00.002+10:00

I've started to have an addiction, an addiction to op shopping. It's the disease where you feel a rush going through other people's junk that they've donated. The quest is to find some piece of "treasure" at a great price. For me, the treasures are all food related, in the form of plates, cutlery and various props that I can use for my food photography. Luckily my addiction is shared by my fellow food bloggers Az, Maz and Haz. So, we go on these road trips where the goal is to find lots of treasures at many op shops. Obviously, there's always heaps of food involved on the trip too and we try to find new places to eat at. Our current favourite destination is Mornington Peninsula as there are lots of nice op shops and vintage shops to pick up our treasures. On the most recent trip, in between our op shopping and llama spotting, we were invited to try out Barmah Park Vineyard and Cafe for lunch.

Barmah Park Vineyard and Cafe is a cute little place, where they sell their wines and have a cafe for food and to drink their wines. We started our meal with some wine tasting, trying out the various Barmah Park wines, including Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. We settled on our drinks and while the girls got red wines, I went with a nice refreshing Pinot Gris.

For lunch, of course we all agreed to share the food so we could try everything. We started with a meze plate to share. The plate consisted of salmon on a savoury scone, grilled vegetables, chorizo, a vegetable tart, crumbed calamari, cured meats, salad and some bread. Most items were quite nice. I wouldn't say anything stood out as being amazing but one item did stand out as being very strange. The crumbed calamari was actually tender, but the crumb matched with the sauce was really not nice. It was super salty and then the sauce was really sweet. I didn't find the combination pleasant at all.

Next up, the Roast Pork Belly with Scallops was really delicious. Crispy pieces of fatty pork belly crunched and oozed in my mouth. I love pork belly and this one was done well. The scallops were also fresh and went well with the pork. The obligatory apple slaw accompanied the dish and gave it some lightness.

As mussels are my current obsession, I convinced the others to eat it despite the usual "we can order mussels anywhere", to which my constant reply is "but I want mussels now". The flavour of the dish was quite nice, but the mussels themselves weren't super amazing like I've had elsewhere in the Mornington Peninsula. They just didn't have the super sweet sea flavour that some mussels possess. I forgot what variety these were but maybe all the different varieties taste different.

We tried three other dishes that were hit and miss. As we didn't know the meze contained the calamari, we ordered it again. Obviously it was the same dish and I didn't like it again. The wedges were much better. Crispy and soft inside with sour cream and sweet chili dip. Lastly, a pumpkin gnocchi in a tomato based sauce was delicious. The gnocchi was soft and had great flavour and I loved it.

Despite being full, I was tempted by the sound of the apple strudel, so convinced everyone to have dessert. I didn't need to do too much convincing when Michele suggested we also try a sticky date pudding. The apple strudel in custard was beautiful. The pastry was flaky and the filling perfectly spiced and soft. The custard just finished the dish perfectly. I thought this would be the highlight but once I tried the sticky date pudding, I was speechless. I never order sticky date puddings because they're always crazy sweet and rather ordinary. But I can't recommend this sticky date pudding enough. It was so amazing, with a perfect texture and the most amazing butterscotch sauce.

The meal overall was quite good. Some items were very nice and some weren't. I'd recommend to skip the meze platter as that was quite generic stuff and to order various dishes instead so you can taste the food style of the chef. The desserts were super amazing so don't forget to order that. If that sticky date pudding is on the menu, get it.

I dined courtesy of Michele and Barmah Park.

My Breakfast Date with Maggie Beer for Good Food and Wine Show 2013

2013-05-29T08:00:00.000+10:00

So, I went on a breakfast date with Maggie Beer recently. It was an awesome date. Ok, so maybe 10 other people were also on this mass group date, but that ruins my story. So in my reality, it was just Maggie and I. So let me tell you how this date came to be. I first met Maggie ten years ago.....haha. Ok I'm kidding. I was invited by the Good Food and Wine Show organisers to meet Maggie for breakfast at the The Olsen Hotel, as Maggie is one of the stars of this year's Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne.

There are a few food celebrities that I truly love, Heston (scientific food genius), Sue Perkins (a thinking man's crush), Poh (my darling), Shannon (awesome chef who's food I've got to taste) and Maggie (the nicest food celebrity ever). I really feel in love with Maggie on her show called The Cook and the Chef with Simon Bryant. She seemed like such an enthusiastic, kind, funny and loveable person. As it turns out, she is all those things and more. Maggie was so nice to everyone and had such interesting stories to share. Her candid honesty really endeared me to her and her passion for good produce really came through. Her passion for verjuice and fresh Barossa produce is famous, but her dis-passion (made up word) for Sauvignon Blanc, cigarette smoke and perfume was something I didn't know previously. She told us some hilarious stories about supposedly being caught eating at a Hungry Jacks (not true) and how utterly upset she was. She also told us about how she tries to stop everyone drinking Sauvignon Blanc as there are so many better wines. It's amazing how she was able to talk to everyone and make everyone feel included and special. That comes from being genuine I think. While Maggie won't remember me, I will remember my meeting with her as that's how we should all aim to act and be, passionate, kind and willing to have a laugh.

Of course I had to get a photo with Maggie and thanks to Sabrina for helping to take the photo. I think my laugh is not as big as Maggie's or when I met Poh, but I was just as happy.

If you want to see Maggie, you can find her at this year's Good Food and Wine show. She will be holding some hands on cooking demos for the public. A million other things will also be happening at the show but try to catch Maggie if you can. Below are the details of the show.

What: Good Food and Wine Show
When: Melbourne June 7-10
How Much: Tickets $33 for Adults
Where: Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre
2 Clarendon St, South Melbourne

As part of my date with Maggie, I also got to stay at the Olsen Hotel. The hotel is really beautiful and the views are great. The amenities are fantastic and I loved the high water pressure in the shower (a much often neglected item). I got room service for dinner and ate at Spoonbill for breakfast. Some items were very good (chicken taco, burger, corn fritters) while some lacked in flavour a bit (fish taco, paella). There was an amazing pool with a glass bottom that I didn't get the change to swim in. I'm definitely swimming in it next time I stay there. Overall, it was a great event and I loved it. I hope my path crosses with Maggie again in the future.

I stayed and dined courtesy of The Olsen Hotel.

Bosch Cook Off with Ian Curley

2013-05-26T19:26:00.000+10:00

Now we're cooking with gas.

That's a common saying you hear all the time, and it is very true. In the literal sense, you do need gas to cook your food, but technology is slowly changing. I was invited by Bosch Home Appliances to attend their cooking with chef Ian Curley at their Experience Centre. I'm an engineer by profession and really love appliances and technology so I was excited to attend. Also, knowing Ian Curley is one of the country's best chefs, I knew we'd be treated to some good food too.

Firstly, let me start with the experience centre. If you're into household appliances, in particular kitchen appliances, it's like heaven. All the latest and greatest appliances, shiny and enticing. I loved the in-built coffee machine. So sexy. There are also ovens, cooktop, fridges and rangehoods.

After the intro, we all split into groups to cook various dishes, using a different piece of equipment. Let me tempt you with the Paella that Kim, April and I cooked. Doesn't it look amazing? Yes? Well, all the credit goes to our chef who helped us and to Kim, who did all the work. April was pregnant so she sat down while I went about sampling food and having a drink. I didn't want to ruin the food with my bad cooking ya know haha. Anyway, our dish turned out really good, with the rice cooked just right and lots of sweet sweet seafood. We used an induction cooktop and it worked really well. The speed is very fast as there is direct heat transfer. One issue that we did have is if you splash water on it by accident, it stops as it loses the contact with the pan. You can wipe it off and the unit will start up again. It is super sexy to have induction cooktops as the slick black glass does make your kitchen look super streamline. The bosch staff did say that induction tops aren't the best for Asian cooking as you don't get that strong flame to give it that "wok breath" that Asian stir fries tend to require.

Ian cooked up some John Dory fillet using a standard gas flame burner and the fish were really good. Perfectly cooked with a really crispy skin. Served with a cauliflower puree and braised witlof, it was a great starting dish.

The best dish of the night for me was the Crab Linguini Pasta. The flavours were amazing. There weren't many ingredients but somehow the flavour was just so good. The pasta was made in a Bosch machine and then cooked over a gas burner. The pasta really had a great bite to it and it did look easy to make, but it helps to have a master chef helping out.

The Bosch ovens were used to make the Beef Wellingtons that we had. The ovens came in so many different configurations it'll take you 30 minutes to learn about them all. And learn I did as I'm really intrigued about them. The most interesting ones were the self cleaning pyrolytic ovens. Apparently they go up to 500C and burn off all the oils and you just have to wipe them down. That sounds good in theory but I need to see it before I convinced. The standard oven we used to bake the Beef Wellingtons worked well and the meat was nicely cooked with the brioche outer well cooked.

The last dish was a Trifle using a polenta cake cooked in the ovens. There was also ricotta and olive oil added. It sounds really weird but did taste good.

It was a really fun night and we got to try out a few Bosch appliances to cook and eat some delicious food. Overall I liked the appliances and do think they look great in any kitchen. Price wise, they do cost a bit more than your average brand I believe. It's worth checking out the Experience Centre if you're interested in anything as all the appliances work there and you can try them out yourself and ask the consultants any questions you have.

I attended the Bosch Cook Off courtesy of Bosch.

Vue de Monde - Part 4 Rialto Towers, Sensational

2013-05-19T18:55:00.000+10:00

I love Vue de Monde. If you've ever spoken to me about food before, chances are you've heard me rave about how Vue de Monde is my favourite restaurant in Melbourne and that I *loveeeeee* Shannon Bennett, in a manly sort of way of course. As with my previous reviews, this review was really hard to write, not because my dining experience was bad, but because it was so good I just didn't know how to describe it all. As it is, this review just sat in my draft folder half written for the longest time until I actually forgot about it. It wasn't only when I was sorting out my photos that I saw the Vue de Monde photos, which reminded me of this review. So, here I present my review of my degustation meal at Vue de Monde, almost 16 months ago. Oops. I'm sure the menu itself has changed but I'm definite the quality will remain and that you can draw a good sense of how the restaurant is from my review still.

I've been to Vue de Monde a few times before, at the old Little Collins street location and you can read about the experiences via the links for my first, second and third visit.

As you will know, there's not much choice in the menu at Vue de Monde. You go in knowing that you will have the small or large degustation and leave it up to the chefs to create a meal and experience for you. Obviously, if you have allergies, they will tailor your meal. Below is a sample of the menu, in abbreviated form of what we had that night. There are so many ingredients in Shannon's menu that I couldn't recall them all, even when I wrote it down.

Vue de Monde Menu

* Appetisers
- Smoked eel with caviar
- Celeriac parcels
- Apple gel
- Venison rolls

* Savouries
- Crab salad with strawberry sauce and green strawberry meringue
- Mushrooms with walnut puree broth
- Marron with khalrahbi and caviar
- Duck egg with lamb sweetbreads, white truffle, onion rings and celeriac puree
- Stewed rabbit with asparagus, burnt butter tarragon sauce
- Snapper with prawn, bone marrow, chicken glaze and beet tuile
- Wagyu tenderloin with turnips done two ways

* Palette cleanser
- Liquid nitrogen cucumber sorbet with herbs and flowers

* Desserts
- Cheese platter served with fig jam, peach jam, onion jam, pear gel, rhubarb gel
- Lemon meringue with ice cream and white chocolate pastry
- Tonka bean chocolate souffle

* Petit fours
- Golden gay time
- Mousses lamingtons
- Eucalyptus jellies
- Mint marshmallows

Firstly, let me start with the setting. Level 55 on the Rialto building is sensational. The view, as expected, would be the premium view of all Melbourne restaurants. Depending on the time of year that you dine in, you will either see the skies change from light to dark and witness an amazing sunset, or be given the amazing Melbourne night lights. I was fortunate enough to watch the heavens transition through the full gamut of colour and light. It was indeed an awesome sight through the floor to ceiling glass windows. The room is very light and bright as you would expect and tables set fairly far apart so you feel like you're dining privately, but yet still part of the whole space. This is something that Vue de Monde has always done well, even at their previous location which I've remarked on in my previous posts. We were seated near the kitchen in a semi enclosed space as there were 5 of us. We had an excellent view of the kitchen team at work and also of the full dining room. I felt the restaurant had a great ambiance that was quite boisterous actually, but still you could hear your dining companions.

The much talked about table settings are spectacular, from the kangaroo leather tables to the comfortable chairs and place settings. Even small touches like the stones on the table or the beautiful water glasses just exude elegance and opulence. If you're going to say that it's not "value for money" and "excessive and over the top", I don't think this place is for you. Yes, it is definitely never going to be "value for money" in the sense of getting lots of food, but we all have different definitions of value. For me, I think it's a great indulgence to occasionally be able to enjoy such meals, as they leave an everlasting memory that 25 burgers just won't do. I personally loved the whole rich feel of the restaurant, and for one night at least, I felt like I was king of the world up there.

The food is immaculate in technique and execution and plating. Nothing about any dish could be faulted from those perspective. Yes, you probably won't love every dish, but I doubt that would happen at any restaurant. However, the whole meal works together and provides more than the sum of it's parts. I liked every dish and absolutely loved some. I don't think there was anything that I didn't like.

Right from the beginning, the appetisers were a delight that really tickled the senses. Brought out on an assortment of rocks and plates, they were playful yet tasted amazing. I loved the smoked eel, so smooth and with a hit of salty caviar. The venison was another highlight for me, so rich in flavour.

With the savouries, there were some surprises that really got me. I absolutely loved the mushroom dish. The walnut puree was heavenly and made that dish really pop. Something seemingly so simple but the flavours were so clear and I loved it. The marron dish, one I've loved before, was still amazing. A perfectly cooked marron, this time served with khalrahbi just oozed the flavours of the sea and was one of three stand out dishes of the night for me. I really liked the rabbit and snapper dishes and again so many complex flavours on those items. The next stand out dish was the wagyu tenderloin. The beef was so soft and had such great flavours, served with turnips done in such amazing ways. I couldn't get over how good the turnips tasted.

After all the savouries, there was some theatre as the liquid nitrogen came out. We each got given a mortar with some herbs and flavours in it. The liquid nitrogen was poured on them and we crushed up the herbs, which wafted their aromas straight to you. Next up, one single scoop of cucumber sorbet was placed into the dish. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It was like an awakening of your senses. Every single flavour just popped in my mouth and I loved it so much.

With the desserts, again there was some more theatre. A massive cheese cart was wheeled to the table and the waiter helped you choose a selection of cheeses depending on what you like. There were so many amazing cheeses that we tried and they tasted so good with the different jams and gels. The two actual desserts served were excellent and faultless, with the tonka bean souffle so rich and beautiful.

Just when you think the night is over, out comes the petit fours that would knock the socks off anyone. Re-invented old skool desserts in miniature form are a pure delight. The Golden Gay Time and Lamington re-invention are pure genius.

To the service, well in my own personal opinion, it is perfect. The staff are warm, knowledgeable and still maintain some humour. We had a great laugh with some of the waiters, with any request fulfilled quickly and the most professionalism anywhere in Melbourne. The chefs also came around to explain some dishes and even Shannon himself came around twice to serve us. Of course I got a photo, and may have also been speechless and uttered the words "I love you Shannon". Never imagined myself to be star struck and such a groupie, but there you go. The man is one of my food idols.

The night was totally enjoyable and I loved almost every aspect of it. My one small complaint, and it's just a small one as I had come from work and was rather tired, was that the meal went on a bit too long. We started at 7pm and it didn't finish till 1am. I love long meals but I think even this one went about 1 hour too long. By that time we were all starting to yawn and having a hard time to stay awake. Apart from that, it was an utterly amazing meal that I still rate as the best in Melbourne.

Eat Street May 28th 2013 - Best Food Event of the Year, Go Go Go

2013-05-16T10:38:00.002+10:00

So I hear you want to attend the best food event of the year as well as help out children's charities. Look no further, Eat Street is that event. In it's 13th year, the annual event has helped raised over $1 million dollars to so many different children's charities. This year, the charity is again Red Kite, a charity aimed at providing support to children with cancer. All proceeds from Eat Street will be going to Red Kite.

The details of this year's Eat Street are below.
What: Eat Street
When: Tuesday, 28th May, 2013 at 6pm.
Where: Sofitel Melbourne On Collins, 25 Collins Street, Melbourne
Tickets: $160 per person
Bookings: Ph (03) 9653 0000, or email: h1902-co01@sofitel.com

I've been fortunate enough to be invited to attend in both 2012 and 2011 and it's my favourite and best food event of the year. Think of the best buffet you've ever had, then multiply that by 50. Because 50 of Melbourne's top restaurants are there to serve you food and it's a culinary feast. Also, if you're a bit of a chef groupie like me, you'll be able to talk to and get pics with all the chefs. Lastly, while you feast on amazing food, you know that you've also helped a really good cause. So what's not to like. I highly recommend you attend and I'll be seeing you there. I'm the one holding a camera and glass of wine in one hand and a dish of food in the other. Come and say hi, I'd love to meet anyone who reads this blog.

Ayatana - Modern Thai Food

2013-05-10T13:49:00.000+10:00

Ayatana, which means the senses, is what the restaurant tries to create and present to the customer according to their menu. The restaurant is modern Thai food, which means it can encompass many things. I'm not someone who insists foods need to stick to the traditional flavours and I like when people re-invent things and it works. So I went to Ayatana excited to try out something different yet grounded in Thai flavours.

The restaurant is located on Chapel Street, but in Windsor, so not at the busy end where people cruise their cars up and down the streets. The restaurant is a very cosy place, seating about 30-40 people. The room is setup nicely and looks very elegant with fairly dim lighting. As usual, I'll say that I'm not a fan of dimly lit restaurants, but this place was on the borderline ok for me as I could still see people's faces. The ambiance was rather boisterous, which was unexpected. The noise levels got quite high and we were all happily chatting away.

I went along with my friends and we decided to sample a selection of dishes as we all enjoy trying new things. For entrees, we sampled Roast Pork Belly, Beef Tacos, Crispy Soft Shell Crab and Tempure Prawns. As you can see, the styles are quite diverse, but all the dishes have flavours grounded in Thai flavours. The roast pork belly was good, with a tender belly, crispy skin and a nice sweet/salty sauce. The beef tacos did not work for me. The star anise flavours were far too dominant and the dish was too salty. The crispy soft shell crab had a good flavour and the batter was crispy, but we all felt that we couldn't quite taste the crab flavour anymore. Lastly, the tempura prawns are really good. A crispy batter covers some juicy prawns in again a sweet and salty sauce.

For the mains, the Crispy Barramundi again had great flavours, but the fish was a bit lost in the dish. The slices of fish could have been thicker so that the middle parts were not touched by the sauce and could be tasted more. A lighter pad thai with vegetables was very good and a papaya salad was really refreshing and zingy.

The two best dishes were the Red Curry Duck and the Seafood Tom Yum. The curry was nice and rich and smooth, with spicy hits and flavoursome duck. It went beautifully over rice. The highlight dish was the seafood tom yum. It wasn't a soup but more some seafood with a sauce. The seafood tasted great and the sauce was excellent. Again I loved the sauce over steamed rice.

For desserts, we tried the Boiled Banana, Sticky Rice, Ice Cream and Tapioca Pearls. The boiled banana was surprisingly not very good. I think it may be that the bananas weren't ripe as the flavour was quite strange. The sticky rice was really good, with a sweet egg custard and coconut. The ice cream consisted of two flavours. The vanilla was rich and creamy and the fig, pistachio and honey was good too. Lastly, the tapioca pearls with corn and coconut was excellent with the flavours combining well.

Overall, the food was mostly good. I wouldn't say the food was that Modern as in most of the flavours were quite traditional and I've tasted before. Some items need some tweaking so that they can be improved but mostly the flavours were good. The service was efficient and friendly and I good overall. On the cost side, I think the meal would be slightly on the expensive side, but if you feel like eating in South Yarra, this is an option worth considering.

My guests and I dined courtesy of Ayatana.

Pinocchio's South Yarra

2013-05-05T09:00:00.000+10:00

In the children's novel about Pinocchio, when he lies, his nose starts to grow. Well, my nose is not growing when I tell that Pinocchio's is a very vibrant place to have a meal at. I dined at the South Yarra location on a Friday night and it was bustling. A very boisterous ambiance with all different types of clientele. There were many large families drinking soft drinks, groups of younger people with their cocktails and assorted tables of older clientele drinking wine. People were chatting happily and it was a very comfortable environment for me. I like crowded restaurants with lots of noise as opposed to dead quiet rooms where you can hear a pin drop. It must be my Asian background but the noise doesn't bother me much at all.

The restaurant has been refurbished last year and definitely looks nice and contemporary. Semi industrial elements are scattered around the room, with the walls dominated by large drawings of Pinocchio in silhouette form, very nice.

The menu is split into a number of sections, from small appetisers to large main meals. A huge variety of pizzas freshly made from the wood fired oven cover one side of the menu. We decided to sample a bit of everything, so started with some Pulled Lamb Panini, Mussels in White Wine and Seared Scallops with Apple Puree. The mini panini were quite tasty. I liked the pulled lamb itself but found the bread a bit crunchy. You can't go wrong with a classics mussels dish and this one was really tasty. I loved the fresh mussels and the sauce was really delicious. Lastly, the scallops were pretty good but could have been seared more to get more caramelisation.

The Salami and Goat's Cheese Pizza had really great flavours for the toppings and the base was quite good. It tasted slightly doughy still for me so unsure if that's the recipe or the base could have been cooked a tad longer.

I was told that all the pastas were made in house, so I had to try some. We ordered the Agnolotti, which were stuffed with Moreton Bay bugs. The pasta was indeed very good and perfectly cooked. The filling wasn't too bad but I'd have loved to have some whole pieces of the bugs inside it for that textural change rather than just a paste alone. Presentation wise, this dish was an utter mess. It had this brown/green sauce over it, which while delicious, looked like you know what. And it was splashed across the black agnolotti pasta, so was not a good look. I didn't want to post that photo in case it put you off.

My favourite dish of the night was this really delicious 12 hour braised goat. It was so tender and the flavours were delicious with the peppers, olives and potatoes. I would definitely order this again. Not many places in Melbourne serves goat so if you want some good one, try this dish.

Lastly for dessert, I was really excited as the three items on the dessert platters were some of my all time favourites. However, the pannacotta and cannoli were rather disappointing. The pannacotta had savoury notes which I didn't like. Also, the presentation on this wooden board wasn't working for me. The white sauce splashed all over the board just looks awful. The cannoli was a chocolate one and I found it far too bitter and a bit overcooked for my liking. The tiramisu was the saving grace, and whilst it wasn't fantastic, was pretty good.

If you're after a casual meal in a very vibrant environment in South Yarra to catch up with friends, this would be a great place as the way the menu is structured gives you a lot of options for ordering and sharing. The food is on the whole pretty good, with the goat that I tried a real highlight. For me, none of the desserts excited me and I'd probably skip them and have some ice cream instead. Pricing wise, I think it's on the expensive side. The prices are probably representative of restaurants in that area but for similar prices in other suburbs, you'd get more for your money. If you need to eat in the area, it would be a place I'd go to, otherwise I personally wouldn't make a special trip for it.

My guest and I dined courtesy of Pinocchio's.

King Oscar Brand Brisling Sardines

2013-05-03T10:35:00.004+10:00

I have been saying for a while how sardines are such an underrated fish. Here in Australia, sardines are seen as cat food, and most people tend to not want to eat it. Me, I've grown up eating sardines and I love them. Most Asian countries and many European ones treat sardines as a beautiful source of food. As it's hard to buy fresh sardines here, all my sardine consumption is from the canned variety. I like to add things to the sardines to make it even tastier sometimes.

I was approached by King Oscars to review their new range of sardines. I had never tried their brand before as I usually get the Asian brands from the Asian grocers. I was definitely willing to try out some different sardines to see how they all compared. I noticed on the King Oscar sardine cans that their sardines were labeled as brisling. I had no idea what this meant, so it was off to Google to learn some more. As it turns out, sardines ain't sardines. I had always assumed that sardines were synonymous with herring. That basically it was a canned herring. However, it turns out that 11 different species of fish can be classified as sardines. They include herring, sild, pilchard, and brisling, also known as sprats. As I've noticed personally, the fish range in sizes and I now know they're from all over the world. Nordic brisling are fished from the Norwegian fjords and are rather small when fully mature. They're caught when the fish are mature, which is claimed to give them a better more delicate taste. The fish are also high in Omega-3 I read.

With all this new knowledge, it was time to put these brisling to the ultimate test, my mouth and stomach. Firstly, I noticed that the packaging was really beautiful, but that it also had this year on it. It turns out the actual vintage of the sardines is captured. That was something I had never seen before. I think it's a great idea. If wines have vintages so people can gauge which year's was better, why not other things. Surely the weather conditions causes changes in taste from year to year, so it's good to know if you liked a particular year's produce.

Upon opening the can, I found the sardines were packed beautifully. They were all so uniform in size. When I buy the Asian style sardines, they usually all different sizes and broken into many pieces inside the can. The smell from the sardines was very nice, a slightly smokey smell.

I took each sardine carefully out of the can as I didn't want to break these little beauties. To start off with, I wanted to taste them as they were to get a feel for the flavour. So I put some sardines onto my homemade wholemeal bread with some capsicum. The sardine flavour was really delicious. The flavour was quite delicate and the texture really nice, a slight firmness that gave away as you started to bite into them.

Next up, I decided to try them in a dish that I normally use tuna for. I made a simple spaghetti where I mixed the oil from the sardine can into the spaghetti, added some sliced Spanish onion, coriander and the sardine pieces. It was absolutely delicious. The olive oil the sardine had been marinated in had such a wonderful flavour. The fish paired beautifully with the onion and coriander. It was such a simple lunch made in well under 30 minutes, Jamie Oliver eat your heart out. I really loved this dish, even more than when using tuna. I love the texture of the sardines way more than tuna, which I find a bit more "chunky" and dry sometimes. Flavour wise, again I really enjoy the sardines flavour. Maybe it's because I've grown up eating sardines and only started eating tuna not too long ago or maybe sardines are just the poor cousin to tuna and not respected enough. Either way, I really loved this dish more with sardines than tuna.

From my own personal experience, I highly recommend you try out sardines, especially these beautiful King Oscars sardines. These King Oscar sardines are like the "high-end" of sardines, yet are still extremely affordable. The sardines can be eaten in so many ways, but are also great just out of the can. Be adventurous and try them in place of other fish. They work great in salads, with pasta, anything to do with eggs, and in a multitude of sandwich combinations. I will definitely be buying and eating these King Oscar sardines again as I really loved the taste. An added benefit is that they're a healthy food source as well. Winning.

This is a sponsored post.

Ganache Chocolate Macaron Class - Recipe and Tips For Successful Macarons

2013-04-27T10:09:00.000+10:00

As with most modern love affairs, it started with a tweet. After trying EatPlayShop's amazing macarons, I tweeted how I wish I could make macarons too. My wish was answered when Ganache Chocolate saw my tweet and invited me to attend their Macaron Class. I was jumping for joy because unlike EatPlayShop, I've had more failed macaron attempts than successes. The worst effort was when I met up with some fellow food bloggers and attempted to make macarons in a professional kitchen no less. You can see the results here. Those macarons were seriously hard enough to throw at burglars.

Look how perfect and pretty EatPlayShop's macarons are. I hoped to replicate these after I attended the macaron class.

And the result...equally impressive macarons if I say so myself.

Here's another shot of the macarons I made as they're super pretty and I'm so proud of them.

The macaron class at Ganache Chocolate is taught by owner and pastry chef Arno Backes. Arno actually has a masters degree in pastry, which is taken very seriously in Europe. You actually need to get a regular teaching degree first even. He's worked through Europe and even cooked for the Queen of England. Throughout the class, you'll get to hear Arno's wonderful story of how he motorcycled around the world for 2 years before settling in Sydney to work. He also helped kick off the Koko Black franchise in Australia.

During the class Arno takes you through each step of making a basic macaron shell and ganache with hands on learning. Obviously you can become more inventive and use the basic recipe and add different flavours.

The macaron recipe uses an Italian method, which uses a sugar syrup poured into stiff egg whites. This forms a more stable shell, which results in shiny smooth macaron shells.

Look how beautiful the shells are. So smooth and with perfect little feet. I must say I'm rather pleased with my own piping as the shells were all fairly equal in size and shape.

We piped a simple raspberry ganache into the shells to form the finished product. The ganache utilised good chocolate and raspberry liqueur and puree and is super fragrant. I loved the taste of the final product.

So, here are the tips I learned at the class that will help you to achieve macaron success.

* Arno leaves his egg whites to age in the fridge for 5 days. He says this gives a stronger batter. He also mixes his almond meal and icing sugar together, sieves it and leaves to age for 5 days as well. There is some prep work involved but he says this gives a better outcome.

* Start whipping the egg whites super slowly before increasing the speed to get stiff peaks. Seriously, this process took way longer than I usually do it. Add a pinch of salt to the whites to help stabilise them further. When the sugar syrup is at 120C, pour the syrup into the whites at a slow speed, slowing increasing the speed to beat the whites until they are cool. You can feel the side of the bowl and it should be near room temperature before you stop whipping. This again takes longer than I expected.

* Use a template to pipe the shells the perfect size. Don't freestyle it unless you're a pro.

* Let the piped shells sit for 20 minutes or so until you can touch them and your finger doesn't stick to the shell. The shell sort of bounces back to the original shape after your touch.

* Bake for 8 minutes and then open the oven door slightly to let the humidity out. You can use a thin stick or something to keep the oven door ajar. Keep baking until the shells don't stick to the baking paper anymore.

If you want more detailed instructions and to see each step of the process in action, I highly recommend you attend a class at Ganache Chocolate. There's nothing that can compare to hands on training.

Ganache Chocolate's Macaron Recipe

INGREDIENTS
240g almond meal (mixed with icing sugar and aged for 5 days)
240g icing sugar (mixed with almond meal and aged for 5 days)
15g corn flour (optional, helps to stabilise it further)
190g caster sugar
50g water
110 egg white (aged for 5 days)
50g egg white (aged for 5 days)
6 drops food colouring (optional for colouring the shells)

METHOD
1. Age egg whites in fridge covered in plastic wrap for 5 days. Sieve icing sugar and almond meal together and leave in pantry to age for 5 days.

2. Make a sugar syrup to 120C.

3. Whisk 110g of egg whites to a stiff peak, starting slowly and increasing speed.

4. Pour in boiling sugar syrup at a low speed and slowly increase mixing speed. Beat until the bowl is cool to the touch.

5. Mix 50g of egg whites with almond meal/icing sugar mixture.

6. Mix egg white/sugar syrup mixture into almond meal mixture.

7. Add food colouring (if you want) and use spatula to mix the mixture until it is a smooth consistency and flows off spatula.

8. Pipe the batter onto baking paper. Use a template to obtain regular sized shells. Leave plenty of room between shells.

9. Tap the underside of the tray to remove air bubbles and flatten the macaron shells slightly. Leave the shells for a while until they form a skin. When touched, your finger should not stick to the shell and it should bounce back.

10. Bake in preheated oven at 150C for 6-8 minutes. Turn the tray 180 degrees around and leave door ajar slightly. Bake at 140C until macarons are easily removed from baking paper. This may take another 8 minutes or more depending on your oven.

11. Remove macaron shells from the hot tray and leave them to cool on a bench.

12. Fill shells with a ganache once they've cooled.

I attended the macaron class courtesy of Ganache Chocolate.

Bluestone Restaurant

2013-04-26T08:00:00.000+10:00

I like to write lists. They make me feel like I have control over things. The best part of writing a list is when you can cross an item off the list. It gives me a real sense of joy. One list that gives me pain is my "Melbourne Restaurants To Dine At" list. It just gets forever larger as Melbourne is such a food loving town and there's always new and exciting places to go to. It means that the old stalwarts tend to get forgotten. One such place that has been on my list for forever is Bluestone Restaurant. Many years ago I had heard about how good it is from a friend. Finally, I visited the restaurant when I received an invitation to try out their new Autumn menu designed by head chef Cody Cunningham.

My first impressions of the restaurant is that it's a very classy looking dining area. The furnishings are very nice and everything has a feel of class and quality to it. It's definitely a restaurant to go to if you like a more restrained and quiet environment. There's something about certain rooms that make you feel like you need to talk in a quieter voice. I'll say that my personal preference is for loud and bustling ambiance generally but it's nice to be able to carry a conversation comfortably without having to shout the whole time.

We start the meal with a mixture of natural oysters for our appetizers. The oysters were fresh and didn't need the accompanying vinaigrette, which was rather heavy and oily than sharp and bright. Entrees of Parmesan and Dill Crusted Scallops and Calamari Stuffed with Chorizo were both good without creating any amazement. While both dishes were well cooked, I think they seemed a bit dated in terms of the flavour profiles and especially the way they were presented. The plating and the plates themselves all play a part in how your brain reacts to the dish and to me the dishes felt more suited to a cafe than a high end restaurant.

For the mains, the Roast Duck with quinoa spiced with quandong was quite a good dish. The duck was cooked quite well, although I felt the fat could have been rendered a bit more so the skin was crispier and the duck less fatty. I didn't care for the quandong in the well cooked quinoa. Lastly, I was quite surprised when I tasted the quail egg which was filled with a cream of some sort. It felt a bit old skool, which I like, but may not be to everyone's liking.

The Seared Barramundi with caramelised popcorn and a red wine butter reduction was again quite a nice dish. The barramundi was excellent and so sweet and perfectly cooked. I really liked the corn puree and the red wine butter reduction. The salsa on the dish was also quite nice. The shocking element was the caramelised popcorn. It wasn't shocking to me in terms of the chef deciding to put it there. I'm happy to try anything in food and my favourite chef is Hestong Blumenthal, and everyone knows all the crazy flavours he puts together. While the popcorn didn't taste awful with the fish, I'd say it didn't enhance it either. And if that's the case, I think it's best not to put it there than to have it for the shock factor.

Finally, to the desserts. The White Chocolate Fondant with chili cream did not manage to excite me. The waiter and chef both apologised for the fondant being overcooked, which happens sometimes. I didn't find the flavour profiles of the fondant very exciting, and I didn't like it matched with the chili cream at all. I did like the caramelised white chocolate pieces on the plate, although maybe they could be presented in a different way as the look of them was quite off putting. The second dessert of a Chocolate Mousse with a mixed nut bar also failed to excite. One quenelle of mousse was presented on the plate with a simple nut bar placed separately. If that is to be the extent of the dessert, each element needs to be exceptional for the $14 that the dessert commands. Unfortunately, the mousse was rather heavy and the nut bar was a nut bar.

The service at the restaurant was friendly and efficient. I would say it was verging on trying too hard, which can make it uncomfortable for the diners as opposed to helpful. I did like how the waitress helped to explain the menu and also gave recommendations for various items.

Overall, as a dining experience, I would rate it in the mid range of Melbourne restaurants. The food was solid, without really exciting. I would say the flavours were quite simple and felt a bit outdated in parts. The restaurant setting is definitely classy and I can see that it would cater to some clientele. If you enjoy a quieter meal in a beautiful restaurant, this would be a good place for you.

My guest and I dined courtesy of Bluestone Restaurant.

Bourke Street Bakery Sour Cream Pear & Raspberry Cake - Fantastic Cake

2013-04-07T17:10:00.001+10:00

Thanh: What cake is this, it's amazing.
Michelle: It's a sour cream pear and raspberry cake from Bourke Street Bakery.
Thanh: So this cake is from the Burch and Purchese book?
Michelle: Yep. I've got the book and this was the first recipe I tried.
Thanh: Wow, it's an amazing cake and I must go get the book.

Above is roughly how the conversation went between Michelle and myself at a food bloggers picnic at Albert Park. When I tasted the cake she had brought, I was hooked on how delicious it was. But due to the loud noise, we misheard each other and I thought that Burch and Purchese had started to make these simple desserts. Not only until later did we clear up that it was a Bourke Street Bakery Sour Cream Pear and Raspberry Cake which Michelle had made previously. That made far more sense as this cake is definitely in the style of Bourke Street Bakery.

This cake is a simple butter style cake but with a great texture and an amazing flavour. What got me was this recurring fragrant hint, and then a punch of tartness. I tried to guess the fruits in it, and the raspberry part was easy. But the other element, I just couldn't pick. When Michelle told me it was pear, I was quite surprised. I didn't know pear would taste so good in a cake. So, obviously I got the recipe and have made the cake many times since to great appreciation by everyone that's tried it.

Here are some tips to help you make the best cake possible.
*This recipe makes a huge cake. Even in the 28cm tin, it rises out of tin. You could put into two smaller tins even.

*The cake is quite sweet but I like it that way. I think any other berries besides raspberries won't work as well as the raspberry really punch through with a tartness that enhances this cake greatly.

*Michelle said the recipe required you to make your own stewed pears. She was lazy and just used canned pear and so did I. It tasted great with the canned pear and I would put even more than the recipe suggested. Lay out the pear neatly and evenly so that every piece of cake has some pear.

*I don't sift my flour and it doesn't seem to affect the cake.

Sour Cream Butter Cake with Pears and Raspberry
Recipe adapted from The Bakeanista

INGREDIENTS
250g unsalted butter
355g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
200g sour cream
300g self-raising flour
1 can (approx 400g) of sliced pears
1 cup of raspberries

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line baking paper in a 28cm cake tin.

2. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until pale and creamy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is completely incorporated before adding more.

4. Add the sour cream in two batches, then add the flour in two batches, until well combined.

5. Add mixture to cake tin. Arrange the pear wedges in an even circle around the tin. Sprinkle raspberries evenly.

6. Bake for 55 - 75 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2013 - Cider, BBQ, High Tea, Fine Dining and an Italian Feast

2013-04-01T20:59:00.001+11:00

For us food lovers, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (MFWF) is definitely the largest collective food festival on our yearly calendar. The festival has been reduced back to two weeks but there are still hundreds of events to go to, ranging from free events to very expensive events. The events are extremely varied in both content and location, spread across the whole of Melbourne and Victoria. This year, I was starting to look at some events that I wanted to go to, but as luck would have it, I got invited to a number of events as I happen to write a food blog. When I started my food blog nearly 7 years ago, I never imagined that I would get to attend events just because I happen to catalog what I eat. I'm so happy that food has become something that is popular amongst the general public such that I can experience things that even money can't buy sometimes.

Below is my summary of the events that I attended. All were very different and definitely all were enjoyable. Whilst I went for free at all the events, I've tried to assess the value for money aspect as part of my overall judgement of the event.

Napoleone Cider at Prahran Market

The first event on my MFWF calendar was a Napoleone Cider tasting event, with matching food from Trupp Cooking School held at the Prahran Market. I went to the event unsure what would happen as I couldn't even picture where the event would be held even in the Prahran Market. Hence I went in without any big expectations. The event turned out to be a great fun, informative and most definitely delicious.

As it turned out, a beautiful long table in the fruit & veg are was the setting for the event. Hay bale seats and rustic fruits, nuts and ales strewn across the table helped to give a comfy feel. We tried out four Napoleone ciders matched with food cooked by Walter Trupp. Here is the menu we had

-Apple Cider with Squash vichyssoise with hazelnut oil
-Pear Cider with Mould raclette on nutty sour dough
-Oak Cloudy Apple Cider with Berkshire pork belly with apple mash
-Methode Traditional Pear Cider with Brittany buckwheat pancakes with chestnut jam and cider honey

All the ciders were excellent and really tasted of fruit. I don't like ciders that are sickly sweet and taste more like alco-pop than a good cider. The apple and pear cider both had a good sharpness to them with just the right amount of sweetness. The taste was really clear and I tasted the fresh fruit. The Oak Cloudy Apple Cider had lots of complexity and the Traditional Pear Cider was more like a sparkling wine. It wasn't to everyone's liking but I really liked the fairly dry flavour.

On the food side, the dishes by Walter were all simple but brilliant. I was really surprised how good the squash vichyssoise was. So smooth and comforting and the hazelnuts worked so well in it. The raclette with pear chutney was again a great dish that matched the cider so well. You can't go wrong with pork belly so that was a good dish. Lastly the buckwheat pancakes were so good with the chestnut jam and honey. All the dishes had sweet elements that really highlighted the ciders, showing that you can match food with ciders.

I was so full by the end of this event after the ales and matching dishes. The setting was really nice amongst the fruit and veg stalls and the food and drinks excellent. The event was $25 and I would rate it as one of the best value for money event I've ever been to as part of the MFWF. I'd highly recommend this event if it comes back next year. Also, I definitely recommend trying some Napoleone ciders and going to Walter Trupp's cooking school.

My guest and I attended this event courtesy of Prahran Market.

BBQ Masterclass at BBQ Fest

The next event I attended was a BBQ Masterclass as part of the BBQ Fest. The event was on at 9am, super early for me. I hate mornings so I wasn't in the best mood getting there. I wasn't sure what was going to happen and was expecting a boring lecture on BBQ, which I already thought I knew about. How wrong I was to be. The event turned out to be very hands on, super informative and I got to eat some of the best BBQ meats I've ever had. My BBQ knowledge has increased greatly and I can't wait to put everything I learned into practice.

BBQ expert Chris Brown took us through the many facets of BBQ-ing. We learned many things, and at each step, of course we got to put our lessons into action and taste test what we made.

Here are some lessons that I learned:

-Brining is key. A salt solution of 1 tbsp of salt to 1 litre water is used to soak the meat overnight before BBQ-ing. The brine really keeps the meat so moist during cooking and works far better than a marinate, which doesn't work at all. In fact, if your marinate has sugar, the meat tends to burn. You can infuse flavours into the brine and it really seeps into the meat. If you then want more flavour on the skin, you brush on a marinate or rub in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking.

-A meat injector works really well to inject liquids deep into the meat so again the flavour seeps in.

-Knowing the temperature of the BBQ and the meat is essential. If you can control the temperature of your BBQ, and know the temperature of the inside of your meat, you will always get the perfect result and cook your meat exactly as you want it.

-To give flavour to the meat, you can either cook it on high heat at the start, or at the end. Both will give the meat a good caramelisation and great flavour.

-Learn to use the hood of your BBQ as it really helps to retain heat. Avoid opening the hood too often as you lose a lot of heat each time and increase the cooking time by about 10 minutes with each opening.

With all those lessons, we made chicken wings, pork fillet, chicken fillet, lamb racks, shoulder of lamb, chicken coconut curry, rib-eye steaks and grilled pineapple. The chicken wings were so moist and not like what I normally make. Even the pork and chicken fillets were fairly moist. The lamb racks were stunning and the 12 hour lamb shoulder was seriously amazing. The curry was really good and the steaks were cooked perfectly and so tender. Lastly, the pineapple covered in palm sugar and chili was super addictive.

As I mentioned, I learned so much from the event and ate so much delicious food. I was so full afterwards. This event was $200, and I would say it's borderline whether I would recommend it due to the cost. Normally the event runs for 6-8 hours instead of the 2 we had so you learn even more. If you really love BBQ-ing, then I think it's great value and a must. Your BBQ food will never be the same again. For everyone else, I'd say if you wanted to go for fun, it's worth it. If you want to go to get your "money's worth" in food, I'd suggest you skip it.

I attended this event courtesy of GRAM Magazine

Bursaria Fine Foods at Abbotsford Convent

The Bursaria Fine Foods event at Abbotsford Convent showcased both the catering abilities of Bursaria, and the lovely Abbotsford Convent. I've never been to the convent before and only wished I lived closer now. It's such a wonderful space with so much going on. If I was closer, I'd definitely go there a lot to eat at the many cafes, buy things from the bakery, and just lounge in the beautiful garden areas.

The event started with some sparkling wine and canapes in the convent courtyard. The beautiful sunny day was such a perfect backdrop to the canapes of salmon egg blinis, roast beef on toast and chicken liver parfait on toast. All the canapes were excellent and I may have eaten 3-4 of each.

The main meal started with a variety of bread. There were so many types but I found they tasted rather similar. Next up was the Warialda belted galloway beef with a gnocchi and asparagus. We were told to guess what cut the beef was and it would be revealed at the end of the meal. I never got to find out which cut it was as I had to leave a bit early. However, I found the beef a bit dry and hard to eat. It needed more of a sauce to go with it. The meal ended with a pannacotta with rose water and pistachio. People generally have mixed views about pannacotta. When they're too set, it tends to put a lot of people off. This one was just perfectly set and I loved it. The rose was light so tasted great with the pistachio.

This event cost $45 from memory and I think it's great value. The atmosphere was so good and I like the idea of the canapes and sparkling wine in the beautiful courtyard before the meal. One slight complaint would be that the event should give a more realistic estimate of the duration or else try to keep more to the time. It ran way over time and if you had another event right after, you'd be struggling to get to the next one.

I attended this event courtesy of Bursaria Fine Foods.

Jazz High Tea at Spiegeltent

I've driven past The Famous Spiegeltent a number of times and have wanted to attend an event. I was about to book an event when the pretty and generous Agnes happened to say that she got an invite, and could bring a guest. Such was her generosity, she took me (after I pleaded and begged endlessly).

So we turned up to the event to have high tea while listening to jazz music from the Janet Seidel Trio, Australia's first lady of jazz. The jazz component was really enjoyable as Janet and her trio doo wop and diddly dee their way through a variety of songs. The Spiegeltent itself is beautiful and the acoustics really nice. Surprisingly, it was well air-conditioned too and really comfortable too.

The high tea component of the jazz high tea were simple sandwiches, tarts and scones. The elements themselves were ok, nothing special. However, it was nice to be able to nibble on some food while watching Janet. The staff were also wonderful in constantly refilling water, tea and coffee.

Overall I had a great time and really enjoyed my first experience in The Famous Spiegeltent. I'll definitely go back to other events held there. I believe this event was $65, which I think is great value for a 90 minute set by Janet and her trio and some small nibbles. This was more focused on the experience rather than the food so don't go expecting an amazing high tea.

I attended this event courtesy of Agnes.

Celebrating the Savoury at Jacques Reymond

I've never been to Jacques Reymond *gasp*. Yes, how can I call myself a food lover and not been to one of Melbourne's most consistent high end restaurant. As usual, there's always some new restaurant opening and inevitably I find myself going to those. Also, as the price is quite high for a meal at Jacques, I always think I need a special occasion to go and never plan far enough ahead for it to work. Anyway, I'm so happy that I got invited to go to the Jacques Reymond "Celebrating the Savoury" meal, which showcased Dalwhinnie Wines and Clonakilla Wines.

The meal was five courses with matched wines from Dalwhinnie and Clonakilla for each course. After bread and some wonderful cheese gourges, the first course was the most amazing fish I've tasted. I had such high expectations for this meal and was expecting for it to not be met as I thought the meal may be old skool French food which can be too rich. However, the hapuka and ocean trout en croute instantly set me at ease. The flavours and textures was so amazing and made me love fish.

The next dishes of a seven hour braised lamb and a Western Plains pork with shiraz poached egg were also really good. I loved the lamb, so soft and paired so well with a goats cheese ravioli, pickled beetroot and a tamarind sauce. Jacques does use classical techniques but the flavours are definitely modern. The pork was similarly cooked perfectly and tasted great with the lentils and verjus. I'm not sure I like the shiraz poached egg though as it was quite a punch.

The next two dishes of hanger steak cooked two ways and a Peking duck confit were impeccable. The beef was so tender and flavoursome and matched wonderfully with so many flavours. The duck was tender and smooth but still had great flavour.

For desserts, we were served this amazing looking stone fruit dessert with meringue, almond soil and green tea popping ball. All the elements provided a different taste and texture and the stone fruits worked so well with the chocolate marquis. The only element I didn't really like was actually the beautiful looking merinuge. It was a bit undercooked so tasted quite eggy.

The wines served with each course were all really different and some really worked with the food while others tasted better by themselves. For me, while the Dalwhinnie wines were really good, it was the Clonakilla wines which really excited me. For me the clear standouts in terms of the wines were the 2005 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier and as a special treat a Botrytis Semillion, which unfortunately is in such small supply it's not for sale. These two wines really made me go wow and I'd drink them again any day.

The whole event was really enjoyable. Both winemakers explained their wines that accompanied each course and talked about both the science but also the history behind their wines. It's so good to hear the story behind each wine and how they came to be. The food side was also excellent. I love every dish from Jacques as they were all cooked perfectly and had excellent interesting flavours. I'd go back for sure.

This event was $265, and whilst that is very expensive, I would recommend it if a similar event happens next year. It's not often you get to hear winemakers talk through their whole range of wines and get to sample the wines back to back for comparison. The food from Jacques is also stunning and would alone carry that price so it's almost like you get to try the wines for free. See how my logic works. I'm Asian so I'm good at maths you see. ;-)

I attended this event courtesy of Jacques Reymond restaurant.

Italian Feast at Heronswood Gardens

I've been to Heronswood Gardens a number of times and I absolutely love the place. It's got both a beautiful garden with views of the port, a nursery with loads of heirloom plants and also a beautiful cafe serving fresh food. Hence, I was delighted to be invited to the Italian Feast event held in the backyard of the house, where I've always looked on in envy at the infinity pool. The backyard is only open a few times a year for special events so it's not every day you can walk through it.

The event was an Italian feast where there would be lots of shared food. And shared food there was. The meal started with lots of ciabatta that we all took turns to tear a piece off and then eat with the most amazing home made prosciutto and salami. One of the salami was made from venison and I had never tasted before. It wasn't very gamey but did have a distinct flavours. Some home pickled vegetables and a bean puree made for great accompaniments.

The next courses were some simple marinated Flinders mussels and a bread salad. Of course I loved the mussels, but I also loved the bread salad. I can't believe it but I enjoyed not only the bread, but the heirloom tomatoes too. Who am I? They tasted so sweet and vibrant. I hate raw tomatoes but these were great.

For the mains, it was a Florentina Bistecca with salsa verde, pumpkin semolina gnocchi and roasted garden vegetables. Talk about simple food tasting good. The whole course was mind blowingly amazing. The pumpkin gnocchi was so soft and had such a rich flavour. The roasted vegetables were done perfectly. And the beef, oh wow wow wow. The Angus steaks were cooked over charcoal and it shows. The meat had the most amazing charcoal flavour and was so juicy, tender and flavoursome. One of the best steaks I've ever eaten.

Just when I thought the meal couldn't get any better, it finishes off with a baked pear, fresh figs, mascapone, pistachio crumble and honey. Oh man, this dish made my day. I love fresh figs and found that it works wonderfully with pistachio. The pear was poached beautifully and all elements came together so well. I'd happily eat this at any hatted restaurant.

That wrapped up a most amazing meal in the Heronswood Garden. The setting is fantastic and the food matched the view. The meal was matched with five wines from Crittenden Estate. Each wine helped to bring out more flavours in the food and I liked them. The event cost $110 but I think it's great value for an amazing experience. From the setting, to the food, to the atmosphere, it was a wonderful event and I would highly recommend it if it is on next year.

My guest and I attended this event courtesy of Heronswood Gardens.

Fig Pistachio Frangipane Tart - Super Delicious Recipe

2013-03-23T22:03:00.000+11:00

I have a fig obsession, and it's led me down some wonderful paths. I used to have a fig tree in the backyard as a kid but never really appreciated it. Now that I've grown up and my tastebuds have changed, I'm totally in love with figs. I usually buy dried ones as it's so hard to get fresh figs. So when figs are in season, I eat heaps of them and try them in everything.

I've been baking a lot with figs lately, all because of a Grosvenor Hotel fig tart photo. This photo just drew me in and had me salivating. Unfortunately, when I went, they had sold out of the tarts. So, if you can't go to the fig tart, you bring the fig tart to you. The stars were aligned when my Aunty brought over a small bag of fresh figs from her tree, which I duly made into a tart. Then, she brought over an even bigger bag of figs. I had hit the fig jackpot. So, I made a tart again, but inspiration struck and I improved it even more.

I have not made a tart in a long long time. I used to remember the results were not so good and it was so hard to make. However, my baking skills have improved and I found this fig tart to be so easy to make and the results are mind blowingly good. So good in fact that the tart is gone way too fast, but that's another issue I'll have to deal with when I buy some new stretchy elastic pants.

Here is the final Fig Pistachio Frangipane Tart that I came up with. It's a mix and match of a few recipes and some adaptations. The flavour profile is just stunning. The pistachio is a strong hit in the frangipane mixture and pair perfectly with the caramelised figs. The soft texture of the frangipane contrast well with the super crumbly buttery shortcrust pastry and the slightly chewy figs. I don't want to sound like a egotist but I rate this fig tart ten out of ten.

This recipe makes a massive 32cm tin tart, but trust me, it will disappear fast. You can always make a smaller tin and some mini tarts. Look how beautiful the tart looks with the geometric pattern that I designed.

Can you almost taste it? The pistachio colour is so vibrant and the smell is just intoxicating. Why do people not make more things with pistachio and figs? They are a match made in gastronomic heaven.

This is the raw tart about to go into the oven. The pastry is blind baked beforehand and then the frangipane is put on and the figs placed on top of that.

I also made a traditional almond frangipane version of this tart and it too is sensational. The smell of the almond is more subdued and the figs come through more in this one, but I personally think the pistachio version is the best as I love pistachios.

As usual, some tips to help you make the best fig tart possible.

*With pastry, the butter and water must be cold to get the best results. Once the dough comes slightly together in the food processor, stop it and take it out. Don't roll it or anything as overworking it makes it a little bit less crumbly as I found out on my first attempt.

*The figs you use really need to be ripe for this tart to work best. The figs are not completely dried out in the baking and you can still taste the freshness and ripe sweetness.

*I ground up some natural pistachio in a coffee grinder so the meal was very smooth. If you don't have a coffee grinder, you can use a food processor but the results won't be as good and the final frangipane won't be as smooth.

*I don't bother waiting for the pastry shell to cool before putting my frangipane and figs on. I didn't encounter any problems.

*I cover my pastry with foil rather than silicone paper as I can wrap it around the sides when I'm blind baking so the tart does not go too brown.

Fig Pistachio Frangipane Tart

Shortcrust Pastry
Recipe from Belinda Jeffrey

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
125g cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup (60ml) iced water

METHOD
1. Put the flour and salt into a food processor, and whiz them together.
2. Add the butter and whiz everything again until the mixture resembles medium-fine breadcrumbs.
3. With the processor running, pour in the iced water and process only until the dough forms a ball around the blade.
4. Tip the dough out onto a board and shape it into a ball.
5. Flatten it into a disc and wrap it tightly in cling film.
6. Chill the disc for about 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is firm, but supple enough to roll.
7. Roll out the pastry on a floured benchtop until large enough to fill out a tart tin. I used a 32cm tin and so the pastry was about 1mm thick, very fine.
8. Place the pastry into the tart tin by wrapping the pastry around the rolling pin and then unrolling it into tin. Trim and neaten the edges of the pastry around the tin.
9. Place tin back into fridge to cool for 20 minutes and preheat oven to 200C.
10. Take tin out of the fridge and cover the pastry with foil.
11. Blind bake the pastry using rice, beans or any other weights for 25 minutes.

Pistachio Frangipane
Recipe adapted from The Hungry Excavator

You can make this frangipane mixture while the pastry is blind baking in the oven. It doesn't take long to make this.

125g butter (softened)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pistachio meal (almond meal can be substituted as well)
1/2 cup plain flour

METHOD
1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Add the egg yolk, egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined
3. Add the flour and pistachio meal and beat until well combined

Tart Assembly

INGREDIENTS
1 blind baked tart shell
1 portion of the pistachio frangipane
20 or so fresh figs cut up to cover a 32cm tin

METHOD
1. Take pastry out of the oven, remove foil and weights. Turn oven down to 180C.
2. Spread frangipane mixture evenly onto tart shell.
3. Arrange cut up figs onto frangipane mixture in a nice pattern of your choice.
4. Bake tart for 35 minutes or until the frangipane looks set.
5. Cool in the tin and then take out.

A Delicious Italian Affair - Pizzas at Hotel Grosvenor and Pastas at Etto

2013-03-17T09:00:00.000+11:00

GROSVENOR HOTEL

The battle was on. I was ready. Armed with my secret ingredients and a whole lotta trash talk, I was ready to win. What am I talking about? The Great Pizza Comp at Grosvenor Hotel of 2013 of course. I, along with a number of other bloggers, was invited to Grosvenor Hotel by Tink PR to invent a pizza. The best 3 of the night would go on the menu and be voted on by the public. The winning pizza would be put onto the restaurant menu for a month, with the victor allowed to eat their pizza endlessly for free for the whole month. You can read about the whole competition in detail at Michele's blog. It was such a fun night and I had the best time. It was amazing how inventive everyone was with their pizzas. Lots of amazing flavours there. Of course we had some help along with way with the bases from head chef Emile and my new friend Stefano, pizza mestro. We may have also had a "Ghost" moment. Think Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, and replace the clay with a pizza base.

After all the delicious eating, we all voted on which pizzas we liked best. Let's just say that while my "The Karaage Kid" pizza was awesome, Michele's Banhmigeddon pizza was even more awesome. I'll admit defeat when it hits me deliciously in the stomach. Below is my "The Karaage Kid" pizza, with Japanese chicken karaage, grilled capsicum, rocket, roasted sesame sauce on a tomato base. It worked really nicely and I would definitely make this again at home.

As we loved the pizzas so much, Michele, Cherrie, James, I-Hua, Aaron and I went back to Grosvenor Hotel to eat the now famous Banhimgeddon. Below is the said pizza. Look at how glorious the marinated chicken, pickled chili, pickled carrot, coriander, mayo and sriracha pizza looks. It seriously tastes amazing, just like a banh mi in pizza form.

Besides the Banhmigeddon, we also tried the mushroom pizza and sausage pizza. The bases are beautifully thin and crispy and the toppings very good, albeit a tiny bit inferior to the amazing banhmigeddon. I might be a bit biased as the banhmi pizza was my idea, which Michele executed perfectly.

To accompany the pizzas, we had the chips. Let me put it out there right now, these are Melbourne's best chips. Triple cooked chips over 72 hours in the style done by my food hero Heston, these chips are super crispy on the outside while maintaining the most delightful soft interior, and a wonderful flavour. Emile tells me he's constantly trying out different potatoes and thinks he's found an even better one, so I can't wait to try them. I've been on a chip hunt for a year now and if you think there's a better chip in Melbourne, please please let me know as I'd love to try it.

The last item we ordered was the chicken liver parfait. This parfait is my favourite I've tried anywhere. Emile says it's Marco Pierre White's recipe and it's stunning. I can't help comparing all chicken liver parfait to this one now. In the last month I've had chicken liver parfait at 3 other places and they all pale in comparison so badly. Even Cherrie's kids loved this parfait, which was a real shock. A tip, the parfait spread on the crust of the pizzas or eaten with the chips is unbelievable.

While Grosvenor Hotel does amazing pizzas, they also serve many other dinner menu items, such as a suckling pig. Uh huh. I can't wait to go back and try that as well.

ETTO

Etto is a new pasta restaurant that has opened up in South Melbourne. Their self proclaimed vision statement is

"Etto’s all about fresh Italian street food – fresh pasta and seriously delicious sauces cooked to order in minutes with love & passion."

Their restaurant is a bit like Grill'd, simple items made freshly and tasting great. The store even has that Grill'd feel with a mix of fun and lots of mix and match options. After much thought, as everything looked so tempting, I decided on the Wagyu Meatballs with Papardelle, Salami with truffle oil linguini and Smoked salmon and capers spaghetti.

All the pastas were really nice. Everything is freshly made on the day and the pasta is either made on site or from a kitchen nearby and the sauces are made on site. Pastas are cooked to order and then the sauces are added. I really loved the wagyu meatballs with a pesto type sauce. The meatballs were covered in a rich sauce and my standout pasta was without doubt the papardelle. I'd be happy to eat that at any hatted restaurant. Perfectly smooth pasta cooked perfectly. The salami linguini was also very good. I really liked the spicy salami and again, the pasta was really good. I liked the fact that even the parmesan tastes good and not the fake stuff. The smoked salmon was pretty good, but it wasn't the usual smoked salmon I was expecting. Instead it's more like a lightly smoked salmon. It went well with the capers and rocket.

I was surprisingly impressed with everything as I was thinking that the fast food style place would produce rather generic tasting pasta. Instead, everything tasted really homely and I would go back for more. With dishes around the $11 mark, it would make for a great lunch or dinner. You can eat in, although there is limited seating, or take the food away to eat.

Etto is a simple nice concept which I can see working in the same manner as Grill'd. You can serve one type of food, but if you do it well, people will come back I think.

I dined courtesy of Etto.

Lemon Buttermilk Syrup Cake - Stunning Simple Cake

2013-03-02T20:52:00.003+11:00

Sometimes the simple things really are the best. I'm not a big fan of any type of lemon desserts generally. My favourite type of lemon desserts would be a lemon meringue or a lemon syrup cake, as both things have a sweet element that counters the sour lemon. Recently, my work mate Mike brought to work a small piece of lemon syrup cake and let me try it. Instantly I was swooning. This cake was so good and I just had to get the recipe. After many inquiries, he got me the recipe, which I looked over and saw how simple it was. I was wondering where the magic ingredient was to make this cake so wonderful, but nothing really popped out at me.

So now that I've made the cake, I would say that the magic is in the buttermilk and the way the eggs are combined separately. From my cake knowledge, I think the use of buttermilk and folding in the egg whites separately gives this cake a really soft crumb that I don't find in many cakes. And in cakes that do have this beautiful soft crumb, there's usually a mountain of cream or sour cream. Hence, this recipe is a keeper and I'll be making variants of it. It's a perfect simple butter cake recipe with a great texture and the most amazing flavour. I found the syrup was just the right sweetness and made the cake even softer and so moreish. It's really easy to make and the original recipe says it takes 15-30 minutes, but unless you have a group of junior chefs to help you prepare everything, it takes more like 60 minutes to prepare.

As usual, here are some tips to help you make the best cake possible
*I used really good French butter in this cake and I personally believe it really made a difference. I could taste the wonderful butter flavour in this cake. I think good butter really makes a difference in simple cakes like this.

*I followed the lemon rind amount in this recipe but I think you can use even more to make the lemon flavour even more prominent. The rind gives a different flavour to the juice of the lemon and I would have liked even more of it.

*I always use large eggs in my recipes, 800g or more.

*I never sift flour anymore nowadays and it doesn't seem to affect my cakes, even delicate ones so I suggest you don't waste your time. The packets of flour say they're sifted already anyway.

*If you only make one cake, you'll have leftover buttermilk, which you can portion out into smaller amounts and freeze. If you make two cakes like me, just use the whole 600ml rather than leaving 100ml. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

*I've tasted an orange version of this cake and it's even more wonderful. So explore with different flavours. Also a lemon icing or just a plain icing works really well with this cake.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake
Recipe adapted from Bestrecipes.com.au
Preparation time about 60 mins
Makes a 20cm cake

INGREDIENTS
250g butter, softened
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup buttermilk

Lemon Syrup
1/3 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

METHOD
1. Preheat oven at 180C.
2. Grease and lightly flour a 20cm tin.
3. Cream butter, lemon rind and sugar.
4. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until combined.
5. Stir in half the sifted flour and half the buttermilk. Mix until combined.
6. Add the remaining flour and buttermilk and combine.
7. Beat egg whites to a soft peak and fold gently into the mixture.
8. Bake cake at an hour.
9. When cake is nearly ready, make lemon syrup by combining all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts.
10. Pour the hot lemon syrup over the hot cake still in the tin. Let cake in tin before turning out onto a rack.

The Aylesbury - Good Food In A Nice Setting

2013-02-17T10:38:00.000+11:00

I've been to The Aylesbury previously and rather enjoyed the menu. However, I was sitting at the group table at the back so it was super dark, which meant photos were awful. So like any good food blogger, I didn't blog it due to the sub-standard photo. I'm obsessed with taking good photos. This time when I was invited back to The Aylesbury to sample their new menu and got to sit at the bar, which provided some good sunsetting light for photos.

The Aylesbury is a nice smallish restaurant owned by Jesse Garner. Jesse used to also cook there but with many other commitments, he has handed over the reigns to new aspiring chef Seth James. Seth has worked at Cutler and Co previously and this is his first venture as head chef, with the added pressure it carries. He said he was ready for the challenge and looking forward to establishing his own style. This new menu is a starting point.

The Aylesbury space, as you can see in the photo below, is a long narrow space. It mainly caters to smaller groups but there are a couple of larger tables. There's also a super beautiful upstairs rooftop dining area. I've been up there twice before and love it. The views are great and so is the simple bar food.

My friend John and I decided to share a few entrees to get a feel for the new menu. First up, we had some Jamon with pickles. The Jamon was from a South Australian producer and the pickles were house made. Both were fantastic. Some of the best pickles I've tasted and paired perfectly with the Jamon. A chicken liver parfait with brioche was executed perfectly. It was smooth and had great flavour and John absolutely loved it. My only suggestion would be the way it's presented. A long tube shaped brown soft pile of food tends to look like something not so pleasant. Maybe it could be served in a jar or something next time.

I ordered the spiced cauliflower because I really enjoy a similar dish at a South Indian restaurant I go to. This dish was presented far more elegantly and tasted great. Lots of textures and flavours. Vegetables done well can be very good. Did I just say that, as I used to always say I dislike vegetables.

My favourite entree was without a doubt the lamb ribs. Fatty, fried lamb ribs covered in some hers and spices are stunning. I first tried these at Taste of Melbourne and they're exactly as I remember them.

For mains, we shared a pork neck dish and the roast duck dish below. The pork neck was very tender but I found it a tiny bit dry. I did like the use of the black sausage and it had a sweet accent with the sauce. Overall not too bad a dish. I enjoyed the duck a lot. It was perfectly cooked and the confit piece was really good too. Super crispy golden nuggets of pork fat potatoes made a perfect accompaniment. The key is to be able to still keep the insides soft and fluffy, which these were.

Desserts consisted of a Chocolate dish with various elements, and this deconstructed pavlova. The chocolate dish didn't look so good and strangely didn't appeal to either of us chocolate lovers. The flavours didn't meld together too well. However, the pavlova was excellent. Beautiful berries, granita, meringue and ice cream are a great treat in hot weather.

I enjoyed the food as it had some good and interesting flavours. I think the menu will cater to most people's tastes as it offers a lot of flexibility in terms of the combination of dish sizes and flavours you can order. The ambiance in the restaurant is very nice. I would recommend The Aylesbury for a meal with friends where you can share a lot of items.

My friend and I dined courtesy of The Aylesbury.

Savour School Choux Pastry Class - Fun And Informative

2013-02-06T21:01:00.000+11:00

I absolutely love baking. I used to love the final product from baking but now I also love the process and find it extremely relaxing focusing on each task. There are a few baking items that I have yet to master and they frustrate me no end. I know I'll never be able to make some of the crazy chef creations that use ingredients I can't even pronounce, but I don't care to make those. I'm happy to buy them. Instead, my baking is more about making simple homely cakes and desserts that are really comforting to eat and share. The easy things I can't make are sponge cakes, scones, creme brulees and choux pastry. I've recently ticked off creme brulee and now I can also tick off choux pastry.

I was invited by Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School to try one of their classes, and the choice was easy for me. I've attempted choux pastry a number of times and despite reading up on tips, trying different recipes, watching online videos, I just couldn't make them right. They were always under-developed and didn't puff up and were a soggy mess. It was so frustrating that I stopped making them, despite choux pastry being one of my favourite things to eat. So I picked the Choux Pastry Class to attend.

This particular choux pastry class runs for one full day. I thought it might be a bit of fun and giggles but let me assure you, it's fun and giggles amongst much serious baking. You start the day quite early and then really get cracking to make so many different types of choux pastries, cream fillings and decorations. By the end of the day, you'll get something that looks like the amazing eclair below.

The cooking takes place in a very large industrial kitchen with every piece of equipment you could want. We got divided into teams to work at each bench and given an introduction by the trainer as to what we will be doing for the day. My trainer for the day was Paul Kennedy, who besides having a wonderful accent and being the prince of bad jokes, was definitely very skilful with all aspects of choux pastry making. Just look at his piping of the eclairs below. He made it seem effortless. Later I would find it's not as easy as it looks. Throughout the day we would be left alone to make things and then called together to watch and learn another new element to which we would attempt. It was a great teaching method and you could ask questions to Paul if you didn't understand anything or wanted to know more about the science of baking.

With any choux pastry, it needs a filling, and fillings we made. We made chantilly creams, diplomat creams, creme patissieres, salted caramel buttercreams, chocolate buttercreams and white chocolate buttercreams. I learned to make so many amazing fillings and have used nearly all of them since in my cakes and desserts.

The part that was most fun was after we made all the elements of the pastries, we got to assemble and decorate. Paul gave us samples of what we should aim for, but ours never quite looked the same. His interpreted Paris Brest and Religieuse were stunning, so perfectly piped and decorated. Ours, well, they tasted good. Some of us, maybe me, also got a bit silly and did some crazy piping to which Paul said were an atrocity to choux pastry. Surely a triple layer Religieuse is just being inventive and taking it to the next level *boom boom, get it*. Ok I'm the prince of bad jokes too.

So, these were the final results. Not too bad I say. We made three types of profiteroles and three types of eclairs. They all had a mix and match of fillings and decorations. The profiteroles had fillings of salted caramel buttercream, chocolate buttercream and chantilly cream. The crust on the profiteroles is a croustillant, which is crunchy and really tasty. All the profiteroles tasted amazing and so crispy in texture. This choux pastry recipe is seriously one of the best I've tasted.

The eclairs were even more stunning than the profiteroles due to some bling in the form of gold nuts and chocolate transfers. We learned to make the chocolate transfers and they do look do-able at home but I've yet to try. Tempering chocolate is a whole other skill which I'll attempt in the future. The eclairs contained the creme patisserie, diplomat cream and chocolate buttercream. Again everything was super delicious. My favourite out of all the pastries is actually the super classical chocolate eclair with a creme patisserie.

Like I said, the classes are actually fun but also really informative and people take it seriously. Everyone is there to learn for one reason or another. Some people are just home bakers like myself, some aspire to be pastry chefs and some are already pastry chefs who want to brush up their skills. Everyone paid close attention on the day I was there and took lots of notes, as accuracy is the key for pastry. You get given the recipes in a booklet on the day but unfortunately I can't share that with you here. You can easily Google lots of recipes anyway. Instead, the class is most useful for the techniques, where you can watch what needs to be done, learn the consistency things need to be at, and know when something is ready, or wrong, and how to fix mistakes. I've taken the skills I learned from that day and have utilised it already, making lots of choux pastries. I've replicated the recipes perfectly and even experimented with different flavours of my own. Durian profiteroles anyone?

For the class, you don't need to bring anything except your enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Lunch is provided on the day and all the equipment you'll need is at the school. Obviously you get to sample everything throughout the class (just don't let the trainer see you pigging out too much) and you get to take home everything you make, which in my case was four massive boxes of choux pastries that I ate for a week and gave out to everyone. I highly recommend you take this choux class, or in fact any of the other Savour School classes. I'm already eyeing off the gateaux class next. I might even see you there.

I attended the Savour School class courtesy of Savour School.

Ibuki House - Underground Restaurant Dining

2013-01-21T22:14:00.000+11:00

Every once in a while, there is talk of the underground restaurant dining scene and how it will break out and become big business. There is Melbourne's Secret Dining Society, and previously there was buzz about Zingara Cucina. There's also underground dining overseas.

For those in the know though, they would laugh at all the talk of underground dining while happily eating their sashimi in the garage of Ibuki House restaurant. Friends of mine have gone to Ibuki House for many years before they moved to a restaurant in the city and then moved back to their Bentleigh East location. Basically, the restaurant is held in the renovated garage of the chef/owner and the room probably holds about 30 people. It's definitely pretty cramped but I guess you don't go there for the space.

The way the meal works at Ibuki is you get served a banquet meal, which cost about $80 depending on produce costs. The banquet, a perfect description, is epic. There is so much food that by course 3 you'll already be wanting to roll home.

The meal starts off with the table laid out with so much sushi and sashimi that you totally start salivating. There's lots of different types of nigiri sushi, and depending on how many people, a massive boat of sashimi. The sashimi has many varieties, even including lobster, abalone and yabbies. I liked most of the sashimi and especially loved the lobster and abalone.

The next few courses are also heavily seafood based. There's oysters with smoke salmon, chawan mushi and scallops with crab and bacon. I liked all the dishes as they were all tasty and well executed.

The seafood extravaganza keeps going with a seafood soup. The soup is served in a paper which is kept warm by a tea light. The broth is nice and the seafood in the soup is ok. Following the soup is the tempura of prawns and vegetables. The tempura is well done but this is the part of the meal that I really hated. The small kitchen in the enclosed garage meant that when they were frying the tempura, there was so much smoke in the room and it got really smelly and actually my eyes starting to sting badly. I'd rather they removed this item from the menu or cook it outside as the room became extremely uncomfortable to sit in the room.

The savoury courses ended with a beef sukiyaki. This dish was nice but was quite oily and fatty too.

After such a large meal, the simple dessert help to revive me. Nice green tea ice cream is served with a strawberry jelly and some fruit. A good clean end to the meal.

The ambiance in the room will vary greatly depending on who's there. I went with a large group of friends so it was really good and buzzing all night. The service from the staff was good and efficient. The restaurant does have a liquor license and you can order various drinks to go with your meal. Overall I enjoyed the meal. The most impressive part was the sashimi boat. Everything else was good without being amazing. I think the meal is worth the price and would recommend it.

For another opinion on Ibuki House, check out Winston's review.

Vanilla Meringue Cake With Cinnamon Sugared Almonds - Awesome Belinda Jeffery Recipe

2013-01-16T22:37:00.000+11:00

I love cakes, of all types. While I like fine French gateauxs with multiple layers, I think the simplicity of a perfectly executed "home style" cake is my favourite. These types are cakes are within the realm of the home baker to make themselves. Made from a few quality ingredients, these "simple" cakes can be shared around with friends and family and thoroughly enjoyed. For these simple cakes to work, the recipe needs to be spot on as you can't hide the flaws with ten layers of ganache. And my favourite home style cake baker is without a doubt Belinda Jeffery.

I've got three Belinda Jeffery books (I think I should go and buy the other ones now) and the recipes are all wonderful. My favourite book of hers is Mix & Bake, where I've made so many recipes from it without fail. Each cake is wonderful and I've yet to find one I don't love. They're all very easy and use ingredients that are easily found. They're generally quite fast to make. For example, the Buttery Almond and Coconut Cake only takes me 30 minutes to get into the oven and is such a crowd pleaser.

Her latest book is called Desserts, which already captured my attention. The recipes are less cake orientated and more about general desserts from around the world. The book is split into categories that centre around a key ingredient, such as berries, nuts, stone fruits, honey etc. I've browsed through it and already I'm excited to try so many recipes. Seriously, do yourself a favour and buy Belinda's books, starting with Mix & Bake. I can't recommend them highly enough.

From this Dessert book, I decided to try the Vanilla Meringue with cinnamon sugared almonds just based on the look of the cake. My final version looked a lot like the photo, much like most of Belinda's other recipe as the items in the photos represent what is truly achievable rather than some version of the cake which you can never replicate. Below is what my cake looked like. Rather pretty I say.

The cake is quite a strange in the way it's made. I was expecting to bake the sponge separately from the meringue. That would have been quite a bit more effort and having to use the oven multiple times. But instead, as usual, Belinda's recipe was super easy. The sponge layer is cooked together with the meringue layer and nuts. Everything in one go. How easy is that.

To the taste, wow wow wow. Everyone who ate this loved it, including me. My friend declared it in his Top 10 cakes ever. There's so many textures and flavours going on here, yet all made from a few ingredients and baked at the same time. I really did not expect the cake to be so intricate in flavour. I love the various layers of textures and flavours you get, and the cinnamon sugared almonds really top it all off perfectly with a fragrant splash.

As usual, I like to give tips for recipes I try to help you succeed.

*The cake is very sweet. You can drop the sweetness a bit but I wouldn't drop the sugar in the meringue as that's what help keep it stable. Drop the sugar in the sponge and topping on the almonds.

*Whip the meringue until stiff and keep whipping. You really want the meringue to be firm so when baked won't fall apart.

*I underbaked my cake a little and it tasted great. The sponge layer was a bit soft in the middle and I think that actually worked to the advantage of the cake with another texture element.

*The cake is really fragile and as Belinda suggests, you should assemble as late as possible and not keep for more than a day if you want to keep the beautiful look. Flavour-wise, it will taste awesome many days later but it will collapse a lot and not look so pretty.

*I found that if you are careful you can lift the cake out of the tins without having to invert the cake so the almonds and sugar can stay in place.

Vanilla Meringue Cake With Cinnamon Sugared Almonds
From Belinda Jeffery's "Desserts" book.
Serves 10-12

INGREDIENTS
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 cup self-raising flour

MERINGUE
4 egg whites
180g caster sugar
90g flaked almonds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp caster sugar, extra

CREAM FILLING
200ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
up to 1 tbsp amaretto

METHOD
1.Preheat oven to 180C. Butter two 24cm springform tins, lining base with baking paper. Dust sides with flour, tapping out excess.

2.Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Reduce speed to low and add milk and vanilla. The mixture will be quite curdled but add the flour and mix until combined. The mixture should be quite thick.

3.Divide the batter evenly between the two tins and spread to a flat shallow layer.

4.To make the meringue, beat egg whites on a medium speed until softly fluffy. Add the sugar a bit at a time and continue beating until all the sugar is added. The meringue should be thick and glossy.

5.Divide the meringue evenly between the two tins and spread it flatly over the cake layer. Scatter the flaked almonds over each meringue layer. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the mixture.

6.Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

7.Removed the cakes and let cool on a wire rack.

8.Make the cream filling by whipping the cream and vanilla extract until thick and fluffy. Drizzle in the amaretto and whisk in.

9.To assemble, sit one layer on a plate or cake stand. Spread the cream filling evenly over the top. Carefully place the second cake over the first.

10.This is the best part. Cut out a huge slice and enjoy.

Ballarat Summer Fling – Great Melbourne Weekend Getaway

2013-01-07T08:00:00.000+11:00

Summer, that glorious time of year when the weather is fine and the spirits are high. There’s something about long sunlit nights that make humans feel good. And when you feel good, you want to go and do things. It’s during this period that people, including myself, go on road trips and weekend getaways to seaside and country towns for some relaxation and recuperation. One getaway destination that you may consider is Ballarat, which is only about 75 minutes drive from Melbourne.

Like most people, the association of Ballarat that comes to my mind is Sovereign Hill. Yes, Ballarat was built on the glory of gold, but it also has lots of other fun things and Ballarat Tourism is helping to promote them in their Ballarat Summer Fling campaign. I was fortunate enough to be invited to try out some of the frivolous fun of their Ballarat Summer Fling campaign recently. This campaign continues all through Summer and events include Organs of the Ballarat Goldfield Music Festival, Ballarat Beer Festival, Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival where Miss Burlesque Australia 2013 will be crowned and many other events.

My trip consisted of three days and included a number of events. I’ve separated them into rough categories but really many places overlap into numerous categories so check them out separately to find out about everything on offer.

Activities
Tangled Maze and Mini Golf
Tangled Maze is actually located in Creswick, a short drive out of Ballarat. As the name suggests, it’s a big maze all built from trees. It’s really pretty and a great place to “get lost” in exploring all the nooks and crannies. There’s also mini golf if you like to have a hit and giggle.
The maze sits next to a fully functioning reception area. As owner Judy told me, they can cater for any type of functions, including many wedding that they’ve had through the year. The reception is only open for pre-bookings for groups, so check out their website for all the details. If you want some food while at the maze, the casual dining area serves delicious homemade pies and scones and cakes. I recommend you try the Bolognaise and Cheese pie, something I’ve never heard of before but works a treat in the flaky pastry.

Tuki Trout Farm
Tuki Trout Farm, as the descriptive name suggests, is a trout farm where you can throw a line into one of the many ponds and catch a trout or two. What you do with that trout is up to you obviously, but I’d highly suggest you allow owners Jan and Robert to cook it for you and eat it in the restaurant. They’ll bake the whole trout and Robert will expertly remove the flesh from the bones and serve them to you. You’ll also get to sample some of their amazing lamb sausages, smoke trout pate and smoked trout. While trout is what the farm is known for (best smoked trout I’ve tasted anywhere), don’t miss out on trying the lamb and beef that they also raise. Son Alistair happily talked to me about his theory for raising good produce and I believe him as the lamb and beef were both so tender and flavoursome. They also age the meat themselves and that really helps to further enhance the produce.

Tuki Trout Farm also has some accommodation that overlooks the beautiful scenery. It’s a great place to stay for the weekend or any functions you may want to organise there. You can then eat all the delicious food non-stop and just rest in between. Doesn’t that sound like a perfect getaway trip? It does to me.

Ballarat Art Gallery
Ballarat Art Gallery sits on one of the main streets in Ballarat. The gallery is completely free and split over two levels with many rotating displays on. While I was there, there was a modern art display looking at surgery, life sized paper mache sculptures of automobiles, a photographic contest of the winners photos, works of Ballarat town and classical works from many eras. It’s a great art gallery and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I also learned a lot about the Eureka Stockade, with the original Eureka flag being an impressive display.

Food and Drink
Ballarat Farmer’s Market and Botanical Gardens
The Ballarat Farmer’s Market occurs on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. It is held next to the beautiful Lake Wendouree. There are a variety of different stalls, including lots of food and arts and craft. The second photo is actually of candles, not little cakes. Doesn't it look so real?

While you’re already there, why not walk across the road to the beautiful Botanical Gardens for a relaxing stroll. As you stroll, you may notice some familiar faces, as the gardens are lined with busts of past Prime Ministers of Australia. The likeness is really good. The garden also has this amazing greenhouse, which acts as the souvenir shop, café and greenhouse for flowers. It was so relaxing in there and I loved the seating scattered amongst the flowers where you can enjoy a coffee.

Captain’s Creek Organic Winery
Organic food is very popular but I can’t say I’ve seen many organic wines. So it was with much interest when I talked to Doug and Carolyn from Captain’s Creek Organic Winery. I learned that there’s an official accreditation body, NASAA, and that they do yearly checks to ensure you still meet the required standards to be able to claim organic. At Captain’s Creek, they grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and blend a variety of wines. They all tasted really good and the Chardonnays were all really refreshing. The winery also sells food and the quiche, made with farm eggs, was one of the best I’ve tasted. The egg component just tasted so eggy, if you know what I mean. Like an amped up version of the eggs I usually eat. There’s also a number of cakes baked fresh each day and they all look fantastic. Of course I had to try one. You know I’m a huge fan of cake.

John Harbour Butchers
John Harbour Butchers source lots of local meats and also make their own smallgoods. Well worth a stop by if you are planning on cooking your own food.

Campana’s Fine Wine and Deli
Campana’s Fine Wine and Deli is run by Tony and Leanne and they sell a huge range of wines, many local ones as well as a variety of delicatessen. They also have some tables where you can grab a copy and a few items to eat. Twins Lou and Serge will look after you and are happy to explain about the shops history. You can tell the twins apart by looking for the one who’s posing for the camera. That will be Lou haha. I’m just kidding Lou, you were a good sport to pose for the photo.

Cafes
Le Peche Gourmand
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know I’m a massive Francophile. I’m such a French wannabe that I’ve always said I should have been born in Paris. Imagine my utter delight when I found out that there’s a fantastic French pastry shop in the form of Le Peche Gourmand in Creswick. This shop is a must visit if you’re in Ballarat. The shop sign is hard to see so the address is 69A Albert Street.

At the cute French style shop, you will find Paul and Marie making many classic French pastries. There’s Salted Caramel Chocolate Tarts, Opera Gateaux, Fruit Tarts, Lemon Tarts, Millefeuille, Eclairs, Religieuse, Paris Brest etc. It was pastry heaven for me. I got to try and the Coffee Religieuse and Paris Brest. And boy, how good were they. The choux were perfect and the fillings just the right amount of sweetness. The café also does coffees and really awesome lunch rolls. Simple ingredients are sandwiched in perfect French loaves. The Lamb and Chicken rolls I had were simply divine and reminded me of the simplistic goodness I sampled on holiday in Paris.

The Lane Restaurant
The Lane Restaurant is located on the bottom level of the George Hotel. I believe the restaurant also does dinner but I went for breakfast. The space and is nice and bright with floor to ceiling glass walls. It made for a great atmosphere to have breakfast. I tried the Big Breakfast and the Buttermilk Pancakes. The pancakes were good although I felt cream would have worked better on it than the ricotta which was slightly grainy. The big breakfast was excellent, with the eggs perfectly cooked and excellent sausages and beans. A highlight was the bacon. Ballarat seems to do excellent bacon for some reason. Maybe I’ve just had bad bacon in Melbourne. Anyway, the meal was great and so was the service. The best service of the whole trip, so a special shoutout to my waitress Sophie.

The Turret Café
If you want to sip your coffee and imagine yourself as a Lord or Lady of the manor, Turret Cafe is the place for you. The heritage building is stunning, with ornate architraves outlining the high ceiling space. I tried the Eggs Hollandaise with Smoke Salmon and French Toast. The eggs were cooked perfectly but I found the smoked salmon a bit disappointing. It wasn’t bad, just not good. The hollandaise was also rather weak in flavour and texture. The French toast was really good and the balance between sweet and salty with the bacon was balanced perfectly. Again, really good bacon.

Restaurants
The Lake View Hotel
The Lake View Hotel is both a hotel and restaurant. It’s a casual style restaurant, sitting beside Lake Wendouree so the view is really good. It looked to be a very popular place for families and young adults. With the food, the entrees I tried of Oysters Kilpatrick and Fried Calamari were quite disappointing. The oysters were not that fresh, but the bacon was excellent so I kept nibbling on that. The calamari was really tender but had no flavour at all. I was about to write the restaurant off but thankfully the mains were really good. The Lamb Rump was tender and went well with a vinegared vegetable salsa and parsnip chips. The Pork Rib Eye was excellent with the apple flavoured cabbage. The Eton Mess dessert was as an Eton Mess should be, a mess of meringue, berries and cream. You can’t go too wrong with an Eton Mess and this one was good. The ambiance here is good with the lake side view but service was a bit lacking. There were lots of wait staff but they all loitered around the bar and it was really hard to get anyone’s attention.

The Forge Pizzeria
The Forge Pizzeria is definitely the hottest place in Ballarat. The huge expansive shed style room was completely packed on a Sunday night and there was a constant queue waiting for a table. The restaurant serves just pizzas and a few entrees. The pizzas are all wood-fired, with a number of chefs cooking the pizza all night. I tried the Charcuterie Platter and Buffalo Mozarella for entrees. The charcuterie platter of prosciutto, capocollo and salami was good. The buffalo mozzarella by itself was nice, but completely ruined by the burnt hazelnut and sesame seeds over the top of it. I don’t think all that was needed for such a perfect thing already, but that’s just my view. The Pork Belly and Peach pizza was a revelation. I didn’t think such a combination would work, but combined with some gorgonzola, chilli and rocket and it was a great pizza. The pizza base itself was good, half way between thin and thick crust. It was a bit like naan in texture. Desserts of Tiramisu was excellent but the Cannoli wasn’t that good. Service was a real mixture. While all the wait staff were friendly, it was rather disorganised and really really hard to grab anyone’s attention. Once I did get their attention and made a request, they were good at following through.

Accommodation
The Ansonia on Lydiard
My accommodation was the really beautiful The Ansonia on Lydiard. The hotel sits one street outside of the main Ballarat centre so provided easy access while maintaining peace and quiet. The heritage building houses a number of rooms and apartments around a central corridor. I stayed in the downstairs room, which was quite large and had an extremely high ceiling. A double bed, lounge and desk occupied my room, with a large bathroom container a bath/shower. The bed was really comfortable but the best asset of the room was the high ceilings. It made the room feel so large and spacious, which made me really relaxed. The brick building also stayed so cool, such that when it was 30+ degrees outside, I didn’t even have to turn on the air conditioning and the ceiling fan was sufficient.

So that wraps up the various things I did, what I ate and where I stayed. Just generally, I liked Ballarat as a town. It was peaceful and relaxing. Everything happened at a slower pace, which is good for a getaway when you want to unwind. The town centre was a good mixture of old buildings and new shops. Obviously, Sovereign Hill is a big attraction in Ballarat and I would recommend you go there. It’s very close to the town centre, as I was able to walk there one night for some exercise. However, there are a lot of other attractions worth exploring inside the town itself. I didn’t even get round to visit other markets, shops and many other dining options. Ballart is also surrounded by many small towns worth a drive to. Each place is less than 30 minutes drive so you can easily visit them during the day and get back to Ballarat at night. I’d highly recommend you go to Ballarat for a day trip or weekend stay. The Summer period would be a great time to go with the numerous events happening at Ballarat.

My friend and I visited Ballarat courtesy of Ballarat Tourism and Media Moguls.

Holland Work Trip - Herrings, Olibollens And Stroopwafels

2013-01-05T08:00:00.000+11:00

For anyone who's been on a work trip, you know that it can be hard. There's a strict deadline to complete something and it can get stressful. You work long days as you usually deal with the client/project work during the day and send updates, write reports at night. I recently went on a trip to Holland and that's exactly what happened. But being the tough food blogger that I am, even when I was super tired after work each day, I still dragged myself out to see the sights while I had such an opportunity and definitely did not regret it. It's not often those of us located in Australia get to go to Europe. It's a big trip that you may only get to do a few times in your lifetime.

Why don't I start with the work aspect. I had a week to solve a client issue they were experiencing. I won't go into any details, but it's safe to say they were not happy and I was there to try and fix it. So I was already stressed. As I literally took a 40 hour flight from door to door in economy class and then went straight to the client site after landing, I was not the most rested.

Upon landing at Schiphol Airport, I was greeted by the torrential rain and extremely cold weather. I hate cold so it wasn't a good start. I went straight to the hotel, out in Zootermeer and quickly had a shower and brushed my teeth before heading to the client site. I lived off adrenalin for the first day before I completely crashed in the hotel that night. The hotel isn't exactly the prettiest and my view out of the windows made me feel like a prisoner.

Below you see a shot of the client site where I went to troubleshoot the issues each day.

And my wonderful view out of the hotel room.

I worked 16-18 hour days on the first 3 days, and thankfully found the problem on the 3rd day so the pressure eased immensely. From that point on, I got to enjoy Holland a bit. So I managed to convince the guy who I was working with from Holland to take me around one day. My enthusiasm for food was rubbing off on him by the end of the week.

Zootermeer
Let's start our food journey at Zootermeer where I was situated. I was at the Golden Tulip Hotel, which was conveniently near Zootermeer station. Apart from that, it was a non-descript hotel which was nice enough for work purposes. You wouldn't be going there for pleasure that's for sure. They had a restaurant which was where I ate 3 completely forgettable meals. I thought the meals were reasonably priced (we do pay comparatively expensive prices for food in Australia) until I went out and found out it was a total rip off. Luckily work paid so no skin off my back, except for eating bad food. One sample dish I had was this monstrosity of Mixed Grilled Meat. The meat wasn't good I tell ya.

The town of Zootermeer itself is rather small and I managed to see most of it on my walks around it over a few days. On the first walk, I thought I was walking on the footpath (which you can just see on the left side of the photo) only to find out I wasn't walking on the footpath. The big wide perfectly paved path was for cyclists. No wonder people were ringing their bells incessantly at me and looking at me weirdly. Only when I asked the guy I was working with did he laugh heartily and tell me the footpath is to the right of the bicycle path. It's only know that I have read up more do I findout how obsessed with bike riding the Dutch are, hence the beautiful path for bike riders and the less beautiful path for people walking.

The main town of Zootermeer was pretty dead by 7pm. It consisted of a few streets with some shops and a few restaurants.

I managed to sniff out what looked to be the most happening restaurant, called Bo En Ro near the lake, which looked to be where all the rich people lived. The food on the menu was modern, the ubiquitous cuisines at a lot of restaurants which is a fusion of many things. They tried to do new style small sharing dishes. It was ok, not the worst but not the best. I had a Scallop and Pork Belly dish, a Roast Lamb dish and a Creme Brulee dessert. All dishes were quite good, technically executed quite well but lacked some pizazz in the flavour stakes. A pleasant enough meal, but again I found out later how expensive it was despite my initial thoughts of the price being reasonable.

Den Haag
I got to visit Den Haag (The Hague) twice, once with the guy I was working with, and once by myself via train. I did get lost on the train home as I got confused between what a Sprint train is and what an Inter-city train is. One is an express and doesn't stop at all stations. I think that was the inter-city train which I took by mistake. Again, you learn something all the time.

Den Haag itself was a really pretty town. I couldn't get over how beautiful the old part of the town looked with the classical facades on the buildings. We drove around and I saw the old town as well as the harbour area for which the town is famous for. Numerous restaurants were near the harbour, all serving something seafood related.

For lunch, my work mate and I went to a place called HK Visspecialiteiten, which Google translator tells me is a fish specialty shop. We ate a variety of seafood dishes, of which some are pictured below. Everything was freaking delicious and so fresh, and this is the type of local cuisine that I hope to eat. Simple but fantastic. This gave me hope that I could find good food in Holland after my hotel experience.

On my second visit to Den Haag, I walked all around the town at night. It was so pretty to see everything up close. There were so many amazing looking boutique art, books, sculpture, toy shops that I wanted to slowly browse through had they been open. If I'm ever back, I'm definitely going through all those shops.

For dinner, I Googled and saw good reviews on a place called It Rains Fishes, so off I went. It again looked to be a restaurant serving modern style food. I went with the set 4 course degustation, but had ordering envy when I saw the table next to me get the salt baked whole fish. Anyway, my meal was very good. The Seafood Starter was simple and refreshing and very nice. The next two dishes of Mussels in Wine and Seared Cod were great. I loved the Cod with the samphires, which I had never tried before. The fish was stunning and beautifully cooked. The samphires really added good flavour and texture. Lastly, dessert was again Creme Brulee. This one was much nicer and creamier, but mine's still better. Instead, the biscuit sandwich was really yummy. This meal was expensive at about 50 Euros I remember.

Rotterdam
I visited Rotterdam with the work mate who I met. It was his home town so he knew all the places to show me. It was again a very lovely looking town. We walked around all the streets where he explained all the various buildings and sites. Two things caught my attention in Rotterdam. Firstly, the parking was excessively expensive, which outraged me as I hate unnecessary parking fees. Secondly, they had these stand up exposed urinal things that men could use out in the open. Wow, I guess the Dutch are less shy. It's weird but I guess if I was busting (which I constantly am) I would be super thankful for those urinals.

We, well I, got to do some shopping in their main shopping strip. There were lots of nice shops, with many of the same brands that now dominate globally.

One of the things I had wanted to try in Holland was Poffertjes as I had tried those in Melbourne. I definitely enjoyed the ones we had at Dutch Diner. The poffertjes were soft and completely covered in icing sugar, which really works. We also had Crepes with Hagelslag, which are chocolate hundreds and thousands basically. The Dutch love hagelslag and they come in so many varities that adults buy and eat with numerous things. I love it. Whereas you would be laughed at eating hundreds and thousands as an adult in Australia, here it's perfectly normal.

For dinner, we went to a place called Dudok, which was a completely terrible meal. I take all the blame as the work mate was going to take me to an Italian restaurant that he frequently visits and who make fresh pasta. But I'm like "that's so boring, can't we go somewhere else". So when we walked past this hip looking place with heaps of people, I suggested we try it. Dudok turns out to be full of style and no substance. Hipster looking waiters serve equally hipster looking clients. The food is suppose to be French, but is instead shit. My Duck with Lentils was one of the worst duck I've tasted. It was pink but yet tasted raw and was really grainy and bloody in taste. Even the lentils were crunchy. The Steak with Chips that my work mate had was again awful. Hard chewy steak with super starchy limp chips. If I sound like I'm being harsh, if you tried the food, you would think otherwise. For the prices they were charging, it was robbery. And me being the cake lover that I am thought we should try some Apple Pie as that may be better. Boy, even that was bad. The pie pastry was raw and the apple crunchy. So if you by chance ever happen to be in Rotterdam, do yourself a favour and skip Dudok, unless you want to go there to be seen by other people who go there to be seen.

Favourite Dutch Treats
So, if you've managed to make it this far through this long post, I've got some treats for you. More accurately, some amazing Dutch treats that you must try if you go to Holland.

Herring
Herring, this small smelly fish are totally adored by the Dutch. I do like sardines so I thought I must give these herrings a try. Typically, a raw herring is covered in onions and you grab it by the tail and then pop it straight into your mouth. I think during May to July, this particular herring is referred to as a "Hollandse Nieuwe" Haring, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I ate my herring, and far from being disgusted from it as some people may, I found it the most wonderful thing. The flesh is firm, which I like. It has a flavour that I liken to a cross between an oyster and raw fish. I absolutely loved it and really like the onion flavour on it too. I've since bought pickled herrings here in Melbourne but it's not quite the same as eating a fresh one. Anyone know where you can buy such herrings in Melbourne as I totally miss it?

Oliebollen
Oliebollen are these fried donuts which are eaten on New Year's Eve traditionally. I say forget New Year's Eve, these beauties should be eaten all year round. Unlike a donut, I found it less fluffy and more dense. I was super lucky that there was an Oliebollen truck in Rotterdam. Apparently that truck moves around constantly. I tried the traditional flavour oliebollen with sultanas and heavily dusted with icing sugar. What a total mouthful of awesomeness. I've bought a packet mix for Oliebollen recently and hope to try making them. I hope I can emulate how delicious I remember it tasting. Again, anyone know somewhere that sells Oliebollen in Melbourne?

Stroopwafels
My favourite items of the whole trip, and my current addiction was introduced to me by Esurientes. She recommended that I try out stroopwafels, and I've never looked back since. Basically a stroopwafel is two wafels that sandwich a caramel. It is simply stunning. They're made fresh in Holland at some places but otherwise, the next best thing is packet stuff. I've tried a few brands now but seriously, none of them even come close to the Gouda Gilde brand. The Gouda Gilde stroopwafels just have the most amazing aroma, perfectly balanced in flavour and sweetness. The caramel is slightly chewy but won't break a teeth and it stays a soft texture unlike some other ones that become like bricks. They are not sold in Melbourne, or any Australian websites. Thanks to TheIndolentCook who informed me they are sold on Typical Dutch Stuff website but the shipping is very expensive. If you can afford it, I'd highly recommend you buy some to try. I still wavering as to buy them from the website or not. Once I finish my last pack, I'll need to make a decision.

The way to eat them properly according to me is a 4 step process.
1. You have to open up the packet and really smell the amazing aroma that comes out. I just savour that smell before I do anything else.
2. I then put the stroopwafel over a glass of my favourite hot tea. Leave this for a minute or two to let the wafel and caramel soften.
3. Take a small bite of the stroopwafel. The flavours of the rich caramel will marry with the wafel's cinnamon flavours to produce the most amazing taste.
4. Take a small sip of tea to help cleanse your palette ready for the next aromatic bite of the stroopwafel. Now just keep repeating steps 3 & 4 until you finish the whole packet of stroopwafels haha.

So there you go. That ends a brief, but in the end, thoroughly enjoyable work trip of Holland. I can't wait to go back to try out even more food and see even more sights. It wasn't on list of places I wanted to visit but now I really want to go back. It's such a beautiful place and the small sampling of food I tried was so good.

Cacao - Great Gingerbread Houses, Macarons and Salted Caramel Spread

2012-12-19T22:36:00.001+11:00

If you read my blog or follow me on Instagram (self promotion, I'm ieatblog on Instagram, go check it out), you'll know that I love to bake. I love the process of baking as it really calms me down as I focus on a task, and of course sometimes the results are both beautiful and delicious, which makes me very happy. So I was extremely happy when I was asked if I wanted to attend a private class with Tim Clark (head pastry chef) at Cacao to learn to make Gingerbread Houses. I've never made one so was really excited to try. I asked my fellow baking superhero Michele to come along as she too loves baking. We both can say that we've baked a wedding cake even, as we helped I-Hua make her wedding cakes.

So, like most good stories, I need to keep you hooked so let me show you a photo of the final result before I reveal the whole process. Look at my beautiful Gingerbread House. Seriously, I can't stop looking at it every time I walk past as it sits in the centre of my dining room table until after Christmas. The house has character and fun and reflects my baking style, messy.

I love many parts of the house but one part which I really love is the gold reindeer poop (as I call it, it's actually gold covered walnuts) on the roof. I think it gives a whole new level of fun.

If we now rewind back to the start, Tim told us about how to make the dough and to bake it and gave us tips. Here are the tips, so take note.

1. Don't overwork the dough when you first mix it. Just mix it enough to make a dough and then put it into the fridge.
2. When you go to knead the dough, you can mix it as hard as you want as this recipe doesn't harden when you knead too much.
3. When baking it, always underbake. If it looks like it's not quite ready yet, it probably is ready. It tends to harden up really badly if you overbake and it won't be enjoyable to eat. If you are purely making it for decorative purposes, you can bake it more.
4. Freshly ground spices work best as the aroma is much stronger. Make your own mix and be creative. Tim used many things including tea, anise, cinnamon etc.
5. Make a template to cut out your house and do a trial run with the template to ensure it all fits together properly. Don't freestyle if you're a beginner and try to cut the dough on the fly if you want a neat looking house. If you don't mind your house looking like a half finished product from Grand Designs, by all means freestyle.
6. This is the most important tip. You can never ever overdecorate a Gingerbread House. The more stuff you throw on it, the better it looks. So go mad and find as many things as you can to put onto it and have heaps of fun.

Look at my Santa peeking out of the window. Unfortunately Santa was too fat and the royal icing did not hold him and he fell to the bottom of the house and broke a leg and now is walking in crutches.

Michele made the cutest door reindeer reef. I'm totally stealing this idea for next time.

We both finished our houses and were extremely pleased with them. Michele's is on the left and mine's on the rights. Who's cuisine, I mean Gingerbread House, reigns SUPREME????????? Just because Michele's blog is called Iron Chef Shellie doesn't mean that I will lose this battle. I will fight for the honour of my baking tribe, the Geeky Engineer's Baking Society of Melbourne and win this contest. Please vote in the comments below. If you vote 1 for Thanh Do, you're voting for more stroopwafels and banana bread for all.

Whilst our Gingerbread Houses are awesome, unfortunately you can't have them. You can get the next best thing, which is a Gingerbread House from Cacao for this Christmas. They're nice, but obviously nowhere as nice as mine. :-)

While we waited for our icing to set, we tucked into some macarons. I know that Cacao does macarons but for whatever reason, I've never come to buy them before. I've bought their chocolates but not the macarons. Utter total incomprehensible monumental failure on my part. The macarons are delicious. On the night we sampled the Violet and Blackcurrant and Jingle Bells. I'm obsessed with violet flavours in desserts and have been trying to hunt down the essence everywhere for a while now. Well, I may have found a secret supplier in Tim (hint hint Tim). Violet is so under-utilised in desserts in Melbourne. The French use it in a lot of their cakes and it works wonderfully. This macaron was no exception as it combined perfectly with the blackcurrant. Violet tastes less floral (and less like toilet freshener) compared to lavender, which I don't like too much. The Jingle Bell macaron is a special for Christmas and contains crushed-up Christmas pudding with rum toffee in a vanilla buttercream. Yummo. Tastes so Christmassy (not a real word, put down your keyboards word Nazis).

We also got the pleasure of taking home a big box of Cacao macarons. So far I've eaten two, the Strawberry and Cream (simple and delicious) and the Pistachio (OMFG awesome). The pistachio is the best I've tasted anywhere in Melbourne. The flavours are so true to pistachio and you can taste the nuts rather than that faux flavour which I hate.

Lastly, we also got a jar of the Salted Caramel Spread. I've made my own Salted Caramel Spread (recipe to come in a separate blog post) as it's all the rage nowadays. My salted caramel spread is rather awesome already (photo below), but Cacao take their salted caramel spread to another level. They use fleur de sel instead of regular salt and add some chocolate into the mix, giving it a richness and extra fragrance my spread doesn't have. Looks like I need to experiment with my salted caramel to raise it to another level.

That my friends, concludes a very enjoyable journey into various Christmas treats. Obviously, there aren't many days left to Christmas, so you better haul a$$ to Cacao to stock up on the really important items like chocolates, macarons, gingerbread houses and that salted caramel spread. What's Christmas going to be like at your house without these essentials eh, a sad boring party of nothingness (unsure if that's a real word, please confirm). I will be eating my delicious treats and Instagramming it for you to see otherwise muahahaha (evil dictator laugh).

Gingerbread Recipe

This recipe has been kindly given by Tim Clark from Cacao. It should be enough to make a fairly decent sized house.

INGREDIENTS
Water 30g
Sugar 75g
Honey 50g
Glucose 25g
Golden Syrup 25g
Flour 300g
Baking Powder 5g
Baking Soda 2g
freshly ground mixed spice 5g
Eggs 40g

METHOD
1. Warm the Water, Sugar, Honey, Glucose and Golden Syrup in a sauecepan
2. Add the warm liquid with the eggs and whisk to combine and add to the dry ingredients and mix well until mixture forms a dough either by hand or with a mixer fitted with a paddle or dough hook.
3. Cover dough and let rest in the fridge for 24hrs
4. Next day roll the Gingerbread out to 4mm in thickness and cut to desired shapes
5. Let rest for 30 minutes before brushing wish egg yolk
6. Bake in oven @ 180C for 12 to 14 min.
7. Decorate to your heart's desire.

Molasses Cake With Cooked Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

2012-12-02T21:03:00.001+11:00

I read about this cake molasses cake on Agne's blog, Off The Spork. I've never eaten a molasses cake before so was really intrigued. It seems like one of those "olden days" ingredients used in eras past, at least from my knowledge of eras past through American movies haha. I don't claim to be a food historian. Anyway, Agnes raved about this cake and said I had to give it a try. I was hesitant as she described the cake as having liquorice tones, and I hate liquorice. But she said the liquorice flavours really worked so off I went to bake it.

I baked the cake, and used a smaller tin than prescribed as Agnes suggested and the cake came out nice and tall. I found the molasses in the health section of my supermarket. The molasses on it's own smells and taste really strong and not that nice. But once in the cake, it gives it this burnt liquoricey flavour that is awesome. This cake is huge and uses about 3/4 of the jar of molasses. It's a bit annoying as I don't know what to do with the remaining molasses. Maybe I can just add less of it in the next cake.

Along with the molasses, this cake also uses a cooked cream cheese frosting. I've never made that either and again wasn't sure how it would turn out. I thought it would be a bit like a white frosting where you make a flour paste, and I don't really like white frostings. However, this frosting turned out amazing. It's basically like a traditional cream cheese frosting but super duper smooth and creamy. I've usually made this version of a cream cheese frosting for all my cakes now. It is far more effort than the usual cream cheese frosting but the smooth texture is worth it.

With this cake, I decided to try and decorate it a bit nicer than usual so opted to use some toasted almonds on the outside and some flowers to decorate it. The almonds work nicely with the cake actually so I'd recommend using it if you can be bothered.

As usual, I like to try and provide some tips on the bake itself
-As Agnes suggested, a small pan does produce a nice high cake that looks better. It did take a bit longer to bake so just watch the cake in the oven.

-The quantity of molasses seems excessive but trust the recipe. It does work and the sweetness is ok. It is verging on the sweeter side so just make your cream cheese frosting a little less sweet.

-The cake has a salty taste which I do love. If you don't like that saltiness, I guess you can omit the salt, but I wouldn't recommend it.

-For the cream cheese frosting, keep whisking the flour paste until it's very smooth and quite a thick paste. You really have to beat it until it's quite cool or the cream cheese will melt into a mess when you beat it in.

-Before you ice the cake, make sure the cake has totally cooled down or the frosting does slide. The cake is really big and retains a lot of heat in the middle so just feel it to be sure it's cool.

Molasses cake with cooked cream cheese frosting

Adapted and converted to metric from The Kitchn
Serves 10

INGREDIENTS
170g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
340g (1&1/2 cups) unsulphured dark or unsulphured blackstrap molasses
150g brown sugar
75g caster sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee (optional)
410g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs, beaten
360ml full cream milk

METHOD
Heat the oven to 175°C. Lightly grease a 23cm/9-inch springform cake pan (the original recipe stated a 25cm/10-inch pan, but I found it to be a bit flat. I’d recommend slightly smaller).

Place the butter, molasses, instant coffee (if using) and sugar into a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until the butter melts and the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add the salt.

Whisk the vanilla, eggs and milk into the molasses and butter mixture to completely combine. Pour this liquid slowly into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk to combine, making sure there are no lumps.

Pour the batter into your prepared cake tin and bake at 175°C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean (if using a smaller pan, your cake may take slightly larger).

Let it cool and then run a knife around the inside of the pan to release the cake edges. Remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely being icing.

Cooked cream cheese frosting

INGREDIENTS
250g full fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature for at least 1 hour
15g plain flour
110g caster sugar
pinch of salt
125ml (1/2 cup) full cream milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

METHOD
Place the soft cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on high speed for several minutes until smooth and silky. Scrape out into a separate bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Turn the heat on to medium and slowly add the milk, whisking constantly, until it comes together in a small paste.

Whisk continuously as it comes up to simmer. It will start to thicken – keep whisking and let it simmer for a minute to thicken and turn off the heat. Scrape the flour/milk paste into your mixer bowl and turn on the mixer to whisk it on low speed for about ten minutes, or until lukewarm or cooler.

Slowly add the cream cheese and vanilla, whipping constantly. Continue whipping until it is completely combined and smooth and silky. If necessary, put the icing in the fridge for a bit to firm up before icing the cake.

Spread over the cold cake, decorate with nuts if desired, and keep the iced cake in the fridge.