Ingredients Smoked fish – ideally smoked haddock but smoked cod will do. One good-sized fillet. Onion garlic Rice: long grain or pilau hard boiled eggs Curry powder plus turmeric, coriander and cardamon pods. Cinnamon quills. fresh coriander Bay leaf Butter Ghee or oil Lemons Yoghurt This is quite daggy and old fashioned. In fact it [...]
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The trouble is that Australia just didn’t perform and for once the winner of this stage of the FIFA (Fuck I can’t Face Another) Beer World Cup. For this match I pitted Australian microbrewery drops with some mainstream Italian. First the Holgate Brewhouse Mt Macedon Pale Ale (4.5 per cent),a great local beer. But despite [...]
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Ingredients 45ml Aperol 45ml pink grapefruit juice Tonic water Ice A couple of months ago a bottle of Aperol arrived. I pitted it against Campari, my favourite aperitif. The conclusion was Aperol to Campari is as Averna to Fernet Branca. When I want to stimulate my appetite or put a meal to bed I go [...]
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After wheat, rice and maize, the banana is the fourth most consumed food in the world. In Australia, however, after a cyclone (hurricane) in March flattened the continent’s main banana growing area in north Queensland, namely Innisfail, this herb has become an expensive luxury. The price has skyrocketed from a few Aussie dollars a kilo [...]
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The pressure of trying to match beers to the FIFA World Cup football is taking its toll. Remember I’m in the city that Jerry Seinfeld described as the arse end of the world – geographically speaking. Watching the world cup in Melbourne means very late nights and early mornings. My face is permanently embossed with [...]
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Last week Stephen “the teabag” Twining was spruiking his wares in town. He revealed that 15 to 20 per cent of tea sold is loose. The rest is in tea-bags. My views on tea-bags have already been aired. He told us on local radio how he used the bags in the office – apparently there [...]
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INGREDIENTS 3 cups coconut milk 1 cup chicken/prawn stock or water tad of salt palm sugar cup of cubed pumpkin 6 fresh deveined and peeled prawns and six dried shrimp, rinsed ground white pepper Paste 1 tablespoon or so dried prawns salt 3-4 red shallots, chopped finely 3-4 coriander roots, chopped finely 8-10 white peppercorns [...]
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It’s Yendah right. Not Yenda where the wine is made. So the marketing people have dictated for the latest batch of wine from Casella Wines. Yes, that’ the Casella from Yenda (no h) in New South Wales. With an h or not these wines are a decent well-priced (around A$16) drops designed to be drunk [...]
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This is the big one and a tricky contest it was. Japan started with a strong opening. Who can resist a Sapporo, Kirin or, especially Asahi. Australia in contrast has a mixed bag of beers, most of which are a working man’s brew. These are epitomised by VB and Melbourne Bitter (Nobody but tourists drink [...]
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Trinidad and Tobago Apparently you can’t go past Stag. According to Backpacker.com (and backpackers do know these things) it’s a man’s beer at 5 per cent alcohol: “Not sweet like Carlsberg, not sour like Heinekin (sic), just a well brewed beer with a manly taste!!” Sweden Apparently one of the best beers in Sweden is [...]
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ArgentinaAny country that holds an annual Octoberfest – I think I’ve said that before – has to know what makes a quality brew. Argentina with it’s links to Germany has been celebrating beer since 1964. The most popular beer is Quilmes. I’ve read mixed reviews. Somepeople rave about it’s thirst quenching properties. Others say it [...]
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England Being half Pom (and half Aussie now) I have an expert knowledge of English beer. I was brought up betwxt country and town. I’m going to forget, for now, anything with a widget or in a can (or with the words Watneys and Red in the same sentence) and go for good old real [...]
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We’ve had seasonal, organic and fair trade, now sustainable and ethical is the hottest thing on the menu in Melbourne. That’s sustainable and ethically harvested fish, vegetables and no meat on the menu whatsoever. Restaurateur, Paul Mathis, the vegetarian behind local restaurants Taxi and Chocolate Buddha in Federation Square and Soul Mama in the St [...]
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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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