Salted capers: the essential ingredient. The beef was a bit chewy and thick and still retained some chill from the fridge. The tuna mayonnaise was slightly too runny. The restaurant was a Melbourne icon, the grill room at Grossi Florentino (although one dish alone made up for everything and will be elaborated upon on another [...]
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I’ve been tagged by Andrea, an Australian living in Paris, from Buy Organic for the “five things” meme. Sorry it has taken me a while… 1. I was exposed in The Australian today. Yes, it is true that this food blogger soon becomes part of the “enhanced” food media landscape. I was first approached by [...]
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Meanwhile on the Cappuccino Coast the Geelong Advertiser is still frothed-up in the absurd coffee-gate (their words not mine). “Councillor Shane Dowling said the idea for duelling baristas on the waterfront could become a permanent feature of the Geelong event calendar…. The comments sparked a storm, with noted Melbourne food writer Stephen Downes leaping to [...]
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The Geelong Advertiser found itself at the centre of a storm in a very hot coffee cup yesterday after Geelong-Otway tourism supremo Roger Grant came out calling for a better quality of caffeine beverages across the city. He said: “Why can’t we be known as the the cappuccino coast?”
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What do Australian food bloggers think about starting an alternative independent online food festival? Another Outspoken Female over at Confessions of a Food Nazi makes a good point about the upcoming Melbourne food and Wine festival totally ignoring bloggers. In fact the all day session Out of the Frying Pan: A Conference on the future [...]
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I suppose I’m blushing for two reasons. First my participation in the latest round of blogger postcards has been slack, work keeping me blogging and conspiring with the untimely delivery from Australia Post (over two weeks to reach me). Then Jak finds it on my desk prompting more than a few pointed questions. Of course, [...]
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Fireworks and dragons Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. The dragon grabs a diner’s arm and drags her away. Why I’m in an Italian restaurant on Chinese New Year is another story.
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I’m not sure whether or not I’m meant to feel reassured or frightened in a country where hotels feel the need to remind me than guns and grenades are not wecome. At Hotel La Noria in Siem Reap I think I was safe. With its leafy garden and swimming pool it is a comfortable escape [...]
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Witty cigars turn out to be the most substantial part of the meal. I had hoped to escape my theme of the cost of a restaurant food per dollar. A high cost per minute is bad in that you are possibly eating to fast. A low cost per dollar and you are eating to slowly, [...]
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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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