Marsh samphire: first remove the woody stalks. A few weeks ago I was seen leaving a restaurant lunch with a brown paper bag. It wasn’t full of money although you could call it a bribe. It contained a couple of handfuls of samphire, which sell uncleaned at about $25 a kilo to restaurants. Samphire is [...]
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When I was a kid I’d always assumed history would repeat itself. My life would be a carbon copy of my parents’. I’d marry at 26 (I was 28), have two kids (none), work in management (freelance writer), drive a large Ford (small mini) and live in one of those semi-country hamlets somewhere north of [...]
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We’ve all been there before. Crack open the only bottle we have and it smells of wet cardboard. In other words the wine is corked which means it is contaminated with 2,4,6 trichloranisole or TCA. This time it was the turn of my wine group finishing off an evening drinking tasting Dominique Laurent Burgundy (another [...]
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From another blog: “Frankly, I’d retract your post immediately. XXXXXX XXXXXX is a… frightening man. Working there, I received one of his threatening shoulder massages/pep talks, and I can still feel his cold hard fingers digging into my neck.”
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Seriously you will and there’s a fairly comprehensive list of Melbourne ones. But my local public loo is left out. Via Lifehacker.
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Ilva at Lucullian Delights is actually pretty cool. Not only does she share her surname with a gun, she lives in Tuscany and I know from this post of mine that she at least once visited Vivienne Westwood’s punk boutique SEX on the Kings Road. Oh, and she’s Swedish. Right now though she’s running this [...]
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It’s not something people talk about a lot but whenever I bring up phố there is enormous interest about where to eat it. People are always interested in the best places to eat in Victoria Street Richmond. When they hear I have a list of the best local phố restaurants from a phố expert in [...]
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And hopefully the future of food TV. If you’d like to try out Joost, the new internet-based TV venture of the guys who invented Skype, then let me know. Sadly there is little local content as yet.
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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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