1540: Flight DJ849 arrives into Sydney Meet your Astra Limousines driver for your transfer to the InterContinental Sydney. Delays! The storms in Melbourne means that I don’t arrive until after 5pm for a drinks party at 6pm. 1800: Meet Destination NSW in the lobby of the hotel for transfer to the Hilton Hotel for the [...]
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You don’t have to know much about Anthony Bourdain to know he loves Melbourne. He was back earlier this year guided around town – and down to the Royal Mail Hotel – by Matt Preston, Tony Tan and Paul Wilson. Here are the Youtube clips from what was show recently in the US. Part one: [...]
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Wine with Indian food? Even seasoned food writers seem to think you can’t eat anything spicy – let’s call it curry – without an ice cold glass of lager. Certainly normal punters think it’s laughable. Last year in my mum’s Indian local, out of 150 curry munchers only myself and a blond hairdresser were spotted [...]
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We’ve traveled and eaten from the Bay of Bengal on the east to the Arabian Sea on the west. We’ve encountered slow internet connections, outdated browsers and dodgy mice which is why I haven’t updated since Chennai (Madras), where we first tasted how fragrant Indian food can be when made with freshly ground local spices [...]
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It’s winter in Chennai or Madras as it was called. That means it is warm enough for shorts and a T-shirt and the heat won’t kill you. But the taxi and auto rickshaw drivers may and that’s just touting for your business. Among the chaos of bodies scrambling to pick-up their arrivals horns parp. And [...]
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The desert is inevitable in Dubai and it is difficult to resist a safari. While we will feast in the dessert there will be no booze or belly dancing tonight because of Ramadam. I don’t mind. We traverse the dunes in Top Gear fashion while I weakly exclaim “Oh my god!”. I don’t really mean [...]
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What are the essential food and drink experiences in London at the moment? I arrive back for the first time in four years, and the first as a food blogger, on the 10th September, leaving on the 22nd (Right now I’m sweating it out in Dubai for some reason). Part of my visit is for [...]
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Blackberries Not ripe yet but reminding me of the labyrinths we used to tread as a child picking them. Inspired by Jamie Oliver on Foxtel I chop up a single apple and add a punnet of bought blackberries. Spinkle with sugar. Then using passion rather than measuring instruments I rub butter into sugar and plain [...]
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Photography: Christina Simons p>Do I need say anymore about Bourdain’s blog apart from I found this via Slashfood? Perhaps I should also milk the archives: Part 1: A beer and a fag with Anthony Bourdain Part 2: On Ladro Part 3: Eating in Melbourne Part 4: No hippy shit Part 5: casual eating Part 6: [...]
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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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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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Deep fried and served out by the recycled condensed milk tin on the road-side, who can resist these tasy crickets and beetles? Well, about 30 people judging by our bus load of mainly locals. There was one chap though who tucked into a big bag of beetles, the secret being that you flick off the [...]
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You’ll want food for the eight hour trip to Battambang, the most beautiful boat trip in Cambodia. Plenty of locals will hassle you to buy French sticks bananas and water. The tiny bananas are delicious. But whatever you don’t don’t sit on the roof unless you want a very pink sore evening.
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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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