Dragon fruit to the right. Fresh off the plane, I haven’t quite got my street food legs yet. Off for a Thai instead at Chivit Thai ( 130 Ph Wat Bo, Siem Reap 012 830 761) set is a wooden pavillion and garden. Complimentory spring rolls, a scorching green papaya salad ( I asked for [...]
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Air conditioned and with free wireless internet: The Blue Pumpkin, Siem Reap. Very cool in both senses. This is civilisation. Fresh spring rolls. Top notch cocktails, mine a rice liquor concoction with lemongrass and star anise; Jak’s a margarita. Oh yes, and that thing that is so so hard to find in Australia: free wireless [...]
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Happy holidays, although I do hope to ruin this politically correct tone by the end of this post. Internet cafés and my ankle permitting Tomato will be reporting from Cambodia and Laos until around 20 January. It will be a welcome break from Melbourne where I was abandoned with a twisted ankle, on crutches with [...]
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Wow! The Menu of Hope fundraising for the United Nations World Food Programme hust bust the US$38,000 barrier, over double the $17,000 raised last year. We still need your money. Simply visit First Giving and donate, entering the prize code in the message box. Go now! There is still a chance to buy tickets ad [...]
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Gordon Ramsay: “Ladies, I’m 100% real, there’s no need to pinch quite THAT hard!” Ellie the Kitchen Wench received a pack of Monsieur Truffe raspberry truffles for her winning entry (above) to my Gordon Ramsay caption competition. I think she liked them. She says: “…oh lordy, I don’t think that taking a bite of chocolate [...]
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When a man grows tired of champagne he grows tired of…press conferences. True. Champagne can be very tiresome when you’ve spent over 20 years having it poured down your gullet by enthusiastic PRs. Part of the problem is the quality of what is poured which usually is run of the mill Moët & Chandon. And [...]
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Feeling greedy and that you haven’t done enough for the starving this year? Now’s your chance to sate both appetites. Digusting isn’t it, but you can do good and possibly stuff your face at the same time. Simply buy a stack of $US10 tickets for the Menu for Hope run by Chez Pim, and coordinated [...]
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Gordon Ramsay visits larger than life presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Not only is Jeremy Clarkson so rich that he lives on the tax haven of the Isle of Man but he also lives in a penis-shaped house.But his very small… well you watch it to find out.I found this very funny on a hot afternoon.
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The hands on approach with Wagyu I was invited back to a wagyu lunch at Jamon (3 Murphy St, South Yarra, Vic 3141 +61 3 9804 5710) by the chef and owner Charles a couple of months ago and should have posted this earlier. His point, which I wrote about for The Australian’s Indulgence section, [...]
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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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