I was recently drawn to an article that appeared on the website of Perez Hilton about coloured bacon. I swear to you there are people who are making bacon in all colours of the rainbow. This is actually a porcine pride flag. I kid you not – and if you want to look, pop to http://bacontoday.com/colored-bacon/ and check it out. The guy that created it is a graphic designer and has come up with an idea that makes the bacon taste the same and retain its colour event after it has been cooked. This has got me to thinking about the changes in the way we cook and eat.
Rene Redzepi, recently named the best chef in the world, is from Noma in Copenhagen. Items on his menu include some interesting combinations of food. And anyone who has watched a moment of anything Heston Blumenthal would know that he has done some amazing things with food that most might find a little out of their realm of understanding.
But where is all this experimentation taking us? How long will food look like it does now and for how long will we recognise it as the stuff we know now? The father of Molecular Gastronomy, Herve This, suggests that these are the current objectives of the movement:
Looking for the mechanisms of culinary transformations and processes (from a chemical and physical point of view) in three areas:
1. the social phenomena linked to culinary activity
2. the artistic component of culinary activity
3. the technical component of culinary activity
Now I don’t know about your thoughts on all of this but I have some and it behoves me to share them with you here. So here are my Ten Commandments for leaving food alone.
1. If it aint broke – don’t fix it. Carrots should taste like carrots, not cocoa butter. Vegetables are great sources of important nutrients. Leave them alone.
2. Sausages are supposed to be cooked on a barbeque, or a grill. They are not to be cooked in a vacuum so they look like the raw intestines of a bovine and retain their raw texture. That’s why we cook them.
3. Food does not require ‘foam’ unless of course it is a cappuccino or a hot chocolate. I understand the technique, but just leave it as a sauce.
4. Sand is something that lives on the beach. There is a reason. Sand anywhere else is uncomfortable. Like in your budgie smugglers or your bed. So keep sand off my plate. Whether it is made of liquorice root or the scrapings from the inside of a goats ear – it is still sand.
5. Feet, snouts and ears are body parts that have a purpose – and those purposes are not for human consumption. They are, and should remain, something that Fido or some other canine creature should chew on to leave your slippers alone.
6. Offal is something that Nana used to eat because, well it was a freaking depression and they had no money. Offal is not a main course. Tripe, brains and other glands should be used to make pet food.
7. Food should be able to be thrown together in an hour or two. Anything that takes a day and a half to prepare is unnecessary and a waste of everyone’s time.
8. Food should retain it natural colour and texture – not be deconstructed, pulled apart, and remade to resemble itself. Why waste all that time pulling something apart only to remake it as itself? This is nonsense.
9. Most food should be cooked. People who live only on raw food are not right in the head. I don’t mind a plate of sashimi or a carpaccio of Wagyu beef, but on the whole, surviving only on raw food means you are slightly odd.
10. Meat and fish in tins is pet food. Whether the producers add some sundried tomatoes and basil, or it is in olive oil, brine or milk from cows that have been hand fed by nubile virgins. The end result is it remains fish and meat in tins and should only be fed to your pets.
That’s my take on it all and you may not agree. It is my opinion and that’s why they pay me the big bucks to write this column!!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Food Porn again
Several months ago I wrote about my addiction to food porn, and I am pleased to say it has reached new heights of depravity. Reason, with its sensible shoes and homely cardigans, encourages common sense in a time of the horrid darkness of election campaigns and ice road truckers dominating the viewing time. It is this reason that has departed from my life and I confess I am all agog of what to do.
I scour the papers daily, searching to determine how many of my food fantasies might come true, and to date, so many have. Meeting Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria – done. Being in a lift with Jamie Oliver – done. Sitting in awe of David Chang in a Master Class – done and doner! Having dinner with Manu, Pete, Adrian, Miguel, Michel Roux - all done. What in Nigella’s name remains? Nigella herself and can I say, as sick as it sounds, I am somewhat beside myself that Ms Lawson will grace our shores in 2011 as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
This news is bliss. I don’t know what it is about Nigella or any of these other celebrity culinary boffins that makes me so unreasonable. It can’t be because they are women, as in most cases, this encourages a sense of awe and confusion on my behalf. I think it is mostly that these personages, when hovering above a Miele hob and sweating food platitudes, that my inner core of desire and any of those other deadly sins, is indeed satiated in a way nothing else suffices.
I tried to have casual relationships with food programs and sadly, my attempt at casual satisfaction has failed miserably. Popping in and out of food shows has left me unsatisfied and feeling like a cheat...
It is not like these women and men of the culinary trade are overly special. Perhaps it starts something in my inner core – a spark of wanton desire or lust, greed or avarice. Or perhaps it is just nice clean viewing in a world dominated by smut and bad behaviour – in a world of television that promises much but delivers tits and ass!
There have been ,any viewing moments that have revved my inner core – and so many of those have come from meeting the peoples discussed above, in their finest personage. People who spend their lives creating. Mixing flavour, colour, texture and scent makes them special. Whisking, slicing, chopping and dicing with a sense of flourish and theatre that encourages such delight inside so many of us...
One wonders how we become obsessed with anything – food, sex, cars, chickens, meccano. Each of these obsessions in its own right is a valid and normal thing. The dictionary tells me about obsession:
–noun
1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
3. the state of being obsessed.
4. the act of obsessing.
How do you become dominated by these thoughts, feelings, or images and desires? Why does the television inform so many of our ideas about food? I think it is because it is doable, because we know how to source and create the food that we are shown, and that we lust after. It is because we reach a realisation that these folk are accessible and that they are just like us. That they weep with sharp onions, that they cut themselves and bleed. It provides us with an opportunity to realise that we can be like them in some small way.
We can make our way to the fridge at midnight to eat a spoon or two of chocolate ganache that we prepared earlier in the day, that we didn’t eat. Nigella can do it, which gives us permission to do it. Jamie has his mates around and knocks up some pucker tucker... and we can do that.
Granted we all cant be like Heston or Ferran or any of the alchemists who meld and divine new flavour from bog standard ingredients... but we can try.
The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is on again in 2011 and if you want to rub shoulders with some of these food gods and goddesses – get along to an intimate master class and meet them. Your life might never be the same.
I scour the papers daily, searching to determine how many of my food fantasies might come true, and to date, so many have. Meeting Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria – done. Being in a lift with Jamie Oliver – done. Sitting in awe of David Chang in a Master Class – done and doner! Having dinner with Manu, Pete, Adrian, Miguel, Michel Roux - all done. What in Nigella’s name remains? Nigella herself and can I say, as sick as it sounds, I am somewhat beside myself that Ms Lawson will grace our shores in 2011 as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
This news is bliss. I don’t know what it is about Nigella or any of these other celebrity culinary boffins that makes me so unreasonable. It can’t be because they are women, as in most cases, this encourages a sense of awe and confusion on my behalf. I think it is mostly that these personages, when hovering above a Miele hob and sweating food platitudes, that my inner core of desire and any of those other deadly sins, is indeed satiated in a way nothing else suffices.
I tried to have casual relationships with food programs and sadly, my attempt at casual satisfaction has failed miserably. Popping in and out of food shows has left me unsatisfied and feeling like a cheat...
It is not like these women and men of the culinary trade are overly special. Perhaps it starts something in my inner core – a spark of wanton desire or lust, greed or avarice. Or perhaps it is just nice clean viewing in a world dominated by smut and bad behaviour – in a world of television that promises much but delivers tits and ass!
There have been ,any viewing moments that have revved my inner core – and so many of those have come from meeting the peoples discussed above, in their finest personage. People who spend their lives creating. Mixing flavour, colour, texture and scent makes them special. Whisking, slicing, chopping and dicing with a sense of flourish and theatre that encourages such delight inside so many of us...
One wonders how we become obsessed with anything – food, sex, cars, chickens, meccano. Each of these obsessions in its own right is a valid and normal thing. The dictionary tells me about obsession:
–noun
1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
3. the state of being obsessed.
4. the act of obsessing.
How do you become dominated by these thoughts, feelings, or images and desires? Why does the television inform so many of our ideas about food? I think it is because it is doable, because we know how to source and create the food that we are shown, and that we lust after. It is because we reach a realisation that these folk are accessible and that they are just like us. That they weep with sharp onions, that they cut themselves and bleed. It provides us with an opportunity to realise that we can be like them in some small way.
We can make our way to the fridge at midnight to eat a spoon or two of chocolate ganache that we prepared earlier in the day, that we didn’t eat. Nigella can do it, which gives us permission to do it. Jamie has his mates around and knocks up some pucker tucker... and we can do that.
Granted we all cant be like Heston or Ferran or any of the alchemists who meld and divine new flavour from bog standard ingredients... but we can try.
The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is on again in 2011 and if you want to rub shoulders with some of these food gods and goddesses – get along to an intimate master class and meet them. Your life might never be the same.
Openings and things
There are restaurants opening across Melbourne at a rate of knots... and it seems every time I open the mail there is another launch to attend. Apart from an ever expanding girth and a somewhat damaged liver, I think we are blessed to have the finest of dining culture here in the southern city of class. This has been evidenced of late with several top notch awards coming Melbourne’s way.
Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co was awarded the gong for Australian Restaurant of the Year in the Gourmet Traveller awards held just last week. David Lawler in his role as Sommelier at Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill took the coveted wine list of the year at Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine’s recent wine list awards, as well as Lawler himself picking up the much prized Judy Hirst award for his passion and skill as a top notch Sommelier. And not ignoring the talents of those in regional Australia, Dan Hunter and the Royal Mail Hotel in Western Victoria’s Dunkeld has won Regional Restaurant of the Year.
Back to the openings though, I was recently at Pandora’s Box on Duke Street, Windsor. Pandora’s is a sister restaurant to Orange that sits merely doors away on Chapel Street. Pandora’s was always going to fare well, and no expense has been spared. Consulting wine maker, Lok Thornton has put together an awesome list, and the food is under the guidance of the talented Matthew Germanchis, formerly of Mo Vida. Even the tiles have been hand made for the bar and floor, with PB initialled in every one of them.
Pandora’s is a shared plate experience, slightly sitting to the tapas edge of dining, but with options to suit all tastes. Don’t go past the wonderful take on a scotch egg – a quails egg has been hidden amongst Bacala or salt cod, then crumbed and fried. When you reach the middle, a gooey yolk from the egg runs down the chin, and is a sensational food experience. Also have a go at some St Helen’s oysters with Riesling jelly, watercress and horseradish. Order at least a half dozen. Then grab a selection of the other tasty tidbits before hoeing into mains. There are a number of options, some more solid than others, including an aged Angus Rump with bone marrow (my favourite indulgence), fine herbs with chips, or maybe a wild Barramundi alongside mussels with fennel & watercress, and ‘Macleay Valley’ rabbit, stifado style served with garlic & lemon kale. The rabbit was a tad dry for my liking, and the barramundi could have dealt with the mussels a little better, but overall, a wonderful dining experience.
There are some dessert options at Pandora’s but after pigging into the salt cod scotch eggs, Mr handsome and I were unable to stomach any more food.
Duck Duck Goose is an entirely different affair. Situated in Artemis lane, just off Lonsdale street, this eatery had a gestation longer than that of an elephant. 3 years in the making, the patient were rewarded with a very stylish melange of traditional chinese food and some high end French haute cuisine. Start at the bar, as they serve 23 different champagne offerings by the glass, including a reasonably priced Krug Grand Cuvee. We cant all afford a bottle but a glass did very nicely thank you. Butter up to the gorgeous Sommelier, Rohan Anderson and be well looked after with your plonk.
Food, as mentioned, is a mish mash. A formal dining area and private dining rooms, in the area known as the dark side, offer up all manner of new and modern, maybe even posh techniques. Foams, splodges, sands, gels and other such scientific explorations accompany high end traditional French cuisine, with smatterings of the Asian influences the Kam Fook group are known for.
You will find foie gras, abalone, shellfish and other such classy desirables popping up on the menu, and one might need a slight advance from the bank manager to splash out on the trusty visa! Kick off with the oxtail and foie gras mille fieulle, something you don’t try every day and certainly something that will get the mouth watering. Keep with the upper crust experience by trying the almost sticky rare venison fillets with a couple of sauce options, calvados (apple brandy), paired with espresso. Yep, espresso... coffee!
The wine list is impressive but this is totally a special occasion event. Its not cheap but there is something there for every one’s taste, everyone’s budget (quite a list by the glass), and you will find some of the much maligned New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in there, otherwise known to some as slut juice ( I so wish that expression was mine!).
Desserts are as equally spectacular as the remainder of the menu and certainly if you are splashing out, have yourself a cheeky little sweetie, paired with a glass of sticky.
For diners on the light side, expect a very well priced dim sum style of food. Dishes down there start at just $8 and will please any palate that you can muster up. It’s easy to have a dark side, light side experience at Duck Duck Goose – pop into the bar and be seduced by some exquisite champagne, then pop downstairs for a good old fashioned Hong Kong style dim sum meal. The fountain in the middle of the dark side will calm your nerves while you jump on the phone to the finance department, making sure the funds are in the jar to spoil yourself and your date.
Andrew McConnell’s Cutler and Co was awarded the gong for Australian Restaurant of the Year in the Gourmet Traveller awards held just last week. David Lawler in his role as Sommelier at Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill took the coveted wine list of the year at Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine’s recent wine list awards, as well as Lawler himself picking up the much prized Judy Hirst award for his passion and skill as a top notch Sommelier. And not ignoring the talents of those in regional Australia, Dan Hunter and the Royal Mail Hotel in Western Victoria’s Dunkeld has won Regional Restaurant of the Year.
Back to the openings though, I was recently at Pandora’s Box on Duke Street, Windsor. Pandora’s is a sister restaurant to Orange that sits merely doors away on Chapel Street. Pandora’s was always going to fare well, and no expense has been spared. Consulting wine maker, Lok Thornton has put together an awesome list, and the food is under the guidance of the talented Matthew Germanchis, formerly of Mo Vida. Even the tiles have been hand made for the bar and floor, with PB initialled in every one of them.
Pandora’s is a shared plate experience, slightly sitting to the tapas edge of dining, but with options to suit all tastes. Don’t go past the wonderful take on a scotch egg – a quails egg has been hidden amongst Bacala or salt cod, then crumbed and fried. When you reach the middle, a gooey yolk from the egg runs down the chin, and is a sensational food experience. Also have a go at some St Helen’s oysters with Riesling jelly, watercress and horseradish. Order at least a half dozen. Then grab a selection of the other tasty tidbits before hoeing into mains. There are a number of options, some more solid than others, including an aged Angus Rump with bone marrow (my favourite indulgence), fine herbs with chips, or maybe a wild Barramundi alongside mussels with fennel & watercress, and ‘Macleay Valley’ rabbit, stifado style served with garlic & lemon kale. The rabbit was a tad dry for my liking, and the barramundi could have dealt with the mussels a little better, but overall, a wonderful dining experience.
There are some dessert options at Pandora’s but after pigging into the salt cod scotch eggs, Mr handsome and I were unable to stomach any more food.
Duck Duck Goose is an entirely different affair. Situated in Artemis lane, just off Lonsdale street, this eatery had a gestation longer than that of an elephant. 3 years in the making, the patient were rewarded with a very stylish melange of traditional chinese food and some high end French haute cuisine. Start at the bar, as they serve 23 different champagne offerings by the glass, including a reasonably priced Krug Grand Cuvee. We cant all afford a bottle but a glass did very nicely thank you. Butter up to the gorgeous Sommelier, Rohan Anderson and be well looked after with your plonk.
Food, as mentioned, is a mish mash. A formal dining area and private dining rooms, in the area known as the dark side, offer up all manner of new and modern, maybe even posh techniques. Foams, splodges, sands, gels and other such scientific explorations accompany high end traditional French cuisine, with smatterings of the Asian influences the Kam Fook group are known for.
You will find foie gras, abalone, shellfish and other such classy desirables popping up on the menu, and one might need a slight advance from the bank manager to splash out on the trusty visa! Kick off with the oxtail and foie gras mille fieulle, something you don’t try every day and certainly something that will get the mouth watering. Keep with the upper crust experience by trying the almost sticky rare venison fillets with a couple of sauce options, calvados (apple brandy), paired with espresso. Yep, espresso... coffee!
The wine list is impressive but this is totally a special occasion event. Its not cheap but there is something there for every one’s taste, everyone’s budget (quite a list by the glass), and you will find some of the much maligned New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in there, otherwise known to some as slut juice ( I so wish that expression was mine!).
Desserts are as equally spectacular as the remainder of the menu and certainly if you are splashing out, have yourself a cheeky little sweetie, paired with a glass of sticky.
For diners on the light side, expect a very well priced dim sum style of food. Dishes down there start at just $8 and will please any palate that you can muster up. It’s easy to have a dark side, light side experience at Duck Duck Goose – pop into the bar and be seduced by some exquisite champagne, then pop downstairs for a good old fashioned Hong Kong style dim sum meal. The fountain in the middle of the dark side will calm your nerves while you jump on the phone to the finance department, making sure the funds are in the jar to spoil yourself and your date.
Good Food Guide Gongs and goings on,
It’s been a big month, and the Age Good Food Guide 2011 was released to great fan fare. Some awesome results and some honourable mentions to some names that have appeared here in the past five years! Congratulations to Ben Shewry at Attica in Ripponlea. I have trumpeted this man’s astonishing talent for some time and his restaurant, and he was awarded the sash and tiara for Chef of the Year.
Dan Hunter at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld richly deserves the Restaurant of the Year gong. Both of these guys are exceptionally talented, exciting chefs and will shape the way we eat for years to come.
We don’t dine like we used to and this is apparent with some of the winners of this year’s awards. We are sharing plates rather than ordering a structured entree, main and dessert style of meal and this is a great thing. There is nothing more convivial than to sit around a table with great food, good wine and lovely company. Try Izakaya Den or Mamasita for this style of food. We have also seen some posh pizza, the continued growth of great pub food and the appreciation of the provenance of food- where it comes from, how it is treated and allowing the ingredients to stand up for themselves without too much fiddling or fussing with it.
This is no better exampled than by the dish of the year for 2011, Loam’s suckling pig. Loam is on a dirt road, about 10 minutes from Drysdale near Geelong, overlooking olive groves with a view of the ocean. Run by Chef Aaron Turner and his wife Astrid, these two are also most worthy of this award, as well as the 2 hats they received and the title of Best New Country Restaurant. They have come a long way in just 14 months and these will be names that will stick with you for some time. These folks are all future captains of our dining industry and if these are the hands we are in, then the future looks bright.
Speaking of bright futures, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Masterclass tickets will be on sale as this goes to print. With an extraordinary array of wonderful chefs coming from all corners of the globe, this festival will rival those previous events that have seen the likes of Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in Bray, Phillip Howard, the late Rose Gray, Andoni Adruiz, Jamie Oliver and a huge array of wonderful foodies from across the world.
Nigella makes her way down under which regular readers will know has me stiff in the undies. Just as exciting, a slightly lesser known but incredibly more talented Spain’s three Michelin-star chefs Elena Arzak will join her. Arzak is among the inspirational Women of the Kitchen program that will form part of the 2011 Master Class series. Get in for your tickets cos these things sell like hot cakes. A subtle reminder.. its my birthday and all tickets that you wish to purchase on my behalf can be sent care of this magazine. Elena is co-chef with father Juan Mari Arzak and the fourth generation at their eponymous San Sebastian restaurant, in Spain’s gastronomic capital.
The rise and rise of women in the kitchen, and on the world stage continues. One only has to look to the 37 year old Anne-Sophie Pic of France’s La Maison Pic in Valence, only the fourth woman in the world to receive 3 Michelin stars. (Everything that I have is crossed that she will make the journey to Australia for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in my lifetime.)
Then there is Alice Waters from the US – a modern day, but far more feisty Julia Childs. She is not only a chef, restaurateur, activist, and humanitarian but is also the owner of Chez Panisse, the world-renowned restaurant in Berkeley, California famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine. That’s another woman to add to my bucket list.
A look in our own back yard reveals some women of supreme talent – Karen Martini, Kylie Kwong, Christine Manfield to name just a few – all of whom are blazing great trails. But here we also turn our heads to the grand dames that shaped our industry for decades – Stephanie, Mietta, Maggie and the wonderful Margaret Fulton. Perhaps the rest of the world is catching up to us rather than the other way round.
I am sure as there are many well known women in our industry, there are also many not known who inspire you to enjoy food – from your Mum or your sister, or the young ones that inhabit the kitchens in your local dining haunts. Support them and appreciate them, as well as celebrating their talent.
Dan Hunter at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld richly deserves the Restaurant of the Year gong. Both of these guys are exceptionally talented, exciting chefs and will shape the way we eat for years to come.
We don’t dine like we used to and this is apparent with some of the winners of this year’s awards. We are sharing plates rather than ordering a structured entree, main and dessert style of meal and this is a great thing. There is nothing more convivial than to sit around a table with great food, good wine and lovely company. Try Izakaya Den or Mamasita for this style of food. We have also seen some posh pizza, the continued growth of great pub food and the appreciation of the provenance of food- where it comes from, how it is treated and allowing the ingredients to stand up for themselves without too much fiddling or fussing with it.
This is no better exampled than by the dish of the year for 2011, Loam’s suckling pig. Loam is on a dirt road, about 10 minutes from Drysdale near Geelong, overlooking olive groves with a view of the ocean. Run by Chef Aaron Turner and his wife Astrid, these two are also most worthy of this award, as well as the 2 hats they received and the title of Best New Country Restaurant. They have come a long way in just 14 months and these will be names that will stick with you for some time. These folks are all future captains of our dining industry and if these are the hands we are in, then the future looks bright.
Speaking of bright futures, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Masterclass tickets will be on sale as this goes to print. With an extraordinary array of wonderful chefs coming from all corners of the globe, this festival will rival those previous events that have seen the likes of Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in Bray, Phillip Howard, the late Rose Gray, Andoni Adruiz, Jamie Oliver and a huge array of wonderful foodies from across the world.
Nigella makes her way down under which regular readers will know has me stiff in the undies. Just as exciting, a slightly lesser known but incredibly more talented Spain’s three Michelin-star chefs Elena Arzak will join her. Arzak is among the inspirational Women of the Kitchen program that will form part of the 2011 Master Class series. Get in for your tickets cos these things sell like hot cakes. A subtle reminder.. its my birthday and all tickets that you wish to purchase on my behalf can be sent care of this magazine. Elena is co-chef with father Juan Mari Arzak and the fourth generation at their eponymous San Sebastian restaurant, in Spain’s gastronomic capital.
The rise and rise of women in the kitchen, and on the world stage continues. One only has to look to the 37 year old Anne-Sophie Pic of France’s La Maison Pic in Valence, only the fourth woman in the world to receive 3 Michelin stars. (Everything that I have is crossed that she will make the journey to Australia for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in my lifetime.)
Then there is Alice Waters from the US – a modern day, but far more feisty Julia Childs. She is not only a chef, restaurateur, activist, and humanitarian but is also the owner of Chez Panisse, the world-renowned restaurant in Berkeley, California famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine. That’s another woman to add to my bucket list.
A look in our own back yard reveals some women of supreme talent – Karen Martini, Kylie Kwong, Christine Manfield to name just a few – all of whom are blazing great trails. But here we also turn our heads to the grand dames that shaped our industry for decades – Stephanie, Mietta, Maggie and the wonderful Margaret Fulton. Perhaps the rest of the world is catching up to us rather than the other way round.
I am sure as there are many well known women in our industry, there are also many not known who inspire you to enjoy food – from your Mum or your sister, or the young ones that inhabit the kitchens in your local dining haunts. Support them and appreciate them, as well as celebrating their talent.
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