Hurray! Oysters are back in season, ahem, down under. Actually, it is difficult to tell when they are out as most fishmongers stocks them whatever, even during the hot summer months when they are awful. Obviously, Australian’s aren’t discerning about this bivalve as most people either buy them in bottles or preshucked, lying their dead [...]
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The round-up for Wine Blogging Wednesday#19 When in Rhone is up over at Jathan’s Winexpression. A nice mix of Frenchies and new world. Check it out.
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Has anyone out there tried to make vinegar? I’d love to know how it went. I’m not talking about making herb vinegar. That’s easy. Pick the herbs – tarragon, for instance – and shove in a bottle together. Done. You can make it complicated by actually picking the grapes – these are from our local [...]
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I can’t imagine Anna Pavlova eating that great New Zealand dish named after her. There are some truly horrifying examples of this magnificent pudding here in the pretender to the home of his dish, Australia. At Christmas, we bought one on the Gold Coast. It was nearly the size and thickness of a tyre and [...]
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Ooh err, it’s Pete Wells, weekend as in Post and EaT Everything WeekEnd Lame LeftoverS (PETE WELLS, geddit!) . The idea is to post about the mundane and nearly rotten stuff leftover in the kitchen that you could throw out or recycle or make into something delicious. I’m talking sub cheese sandwich here, probably the [...]
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The hottest stall at the St Kilda Farmers’ Market? Organic heritage vegetables. It’s the one where people squeeze in shoulder-to-shoulder and queue three deep. Think unfeasibly long striped snaking cucumbers. Voluptuously rippled, erm, aubergine Aubergines. White and aubergine striped aubergines… At a time when organic has become commodotised and baby vegetables seem a little tired [...]
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There’s probably more than a few hangovers in Canberra today as the Prime Minister John Howard – a great friend of George Dubya) yesterday celebrated ten years in office. If we believe the PR, he was Australia’s great white hope (don’t mention multiculturalism) rescuing us from Labor, high interest rates, unemployment and almost certain doom. [...]
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If a kitchen object were ever to feature in SEX, this would be it. I’m not talking about the hot sweaty act but the (in)famous shop on the Kings road in London. The one that was run by designer Vivienne Westwood and pop Svengali Malcolm McLaren about the same time he launched the Sex Pistols. [...]
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For a while there was a tradition of shiny stainless steel wielding Aussies invading France. Then the trend changed. The French started to make wine in Australia. What they brought were more subtle winemaking styles than are traditionally used in Australia – lower baum (sugar) levels in the grapes and colder fermentations. Some are even [...]
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Three years ago I went on a boozy winery tour with a busload of artist mates. Somehow along the way I managed not only to buy two small olive trees, but also two magnificent French oak wine barrels to plant…
There’s a rumour that Melbourne hospitals lay on extra staff in the Emergency Department at this time of year. Yes, it's tomato season and given our vast migrant population, there will invariably be a few home-bottling and canning disasters. Every Italian…
Making yoghurt at home is really simple and doesn't take much science. Here we make two different styles of yoghurt using both cows' and goats' milk.
It took four hours of a Saturday afternoon to construct this gigantic pie.
The recipes available are all pretty similar, three different types of pork with herbs and spices surrounded by jelly and encased in a hot water pastry. This one…
There's a lot of meat and fat in a pork pie including the hot crust pastry which is made with lard and butter.
I bought a whole tub of dripping, which is basically like lard (pig fat) but from beef, as…
Five days later and the bacon is cured. Salty and sweet, with a hint of juniper and sage, it was worth it.
Nothing is ever easy for me. Frustrated by the poor quality of filling and pastry in local pork…
Recent journalismWe don't see much innovation in cookbooks nowadays but The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria is as you'd expect from one of the world's most innovative chefs.
What most…
Consult a financial adviser before drinking from a Riedel.
Dishwasher tablets erode your glasses and crockery. Use liquid instead.
Decant heavier reds at least 8 hours before drinking.
If you want to drink…
Three years ago I went on a boozy winery tour with a busload of artist mates. Somehow along the way I managed not only to buy two small olive trees,…
There’s a rumour that Melbourne hospitals lay on extra staff in the Emergency Department at this time of year. Yes, it's tomato season and given our vast migrant population, there…
Making yoghurt at home is really simple and doesn't take much science. Here we make two different styles of yoghurt using both cows' and goats' milk.
One of the most exciting chefs to be in town for the Sydney International Food Festival was the witty and erudite David Thompson. If you aren't familiar with Thompson, the…
I recently had a non-brush with death while eating what turned out not to be my last meal.
It made me think of all the meals I'd wasted. A bad…
Neil Perry (left), Thomas Keller and Heston Blumenthal (bald). Courtesy of the Melbourne Wine and Food Festival.
On the SBS Food site you can see my story on meeting Thomas Keller…
Typical. Just as the world peaked Paul Levi, the man who had no small part in bringing us the slightly dubious word “Foodie”, launches the Gastrosexual, a man with more…
With thanks to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
It's 3.50 on a Friday afternoon. I've just finished a great meal cooked by Scott Pickett at The Point in Albert Park…
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