wholemeal sourdough toast with persian feta, white anchovies, spiced almonds & a continental parsley salad.

Can you imagine what the world was like before there was toast?? It doesn’t bear thinking about does it… No fruit loaf slathered in meltingly rich butter, no vegemite on toast (the ultimate comfort food), no toasty crumpets with honey drizzling though the holes, no oozy cheese on toast, no pop tarts…. OK OK, I am sure the absence of pop tarts isn’t going to break any hearts….not here in Oz at least…. But without toast your classic big breakfast would just be eggs with stuff and baked beans would be lost without their pillowy support… long live toast, I say. Read the rest of this entry »

tajine of lambshanks, prunes & almonds with sweet potato & preserved lemon salad in the background

Imagine a great calamity happened to the world and we had to choose just one type of cuisine and forsake all others…. What would you choose to keep? Tough decision I know. But after some serious consideration, I think I would have to go with North African/ Middle Eastern food.

It would be very hard to say goodbye to the comfort of Italian, the spiciness of Indian, the fragrance of Thai, the seduction of Mexican chilli, the precision of Japanese, and the infinite variety French and their cheese. But I just might survive. Surely I would be able to console myself with the zesty perfume of preserved lemons, the nutty creaminess of hummus and flatbread, the heady complexity of ras el hanout, the crispiness of filo pastries, and the warming comfort of a good tajine. Yes I would be able to cope…. Read the rest of this entry »

apple & blackberry pie 

Apart from my recent cravings for soups and slow cooking, one very distinct side effect of the onset of Autumn has been my desire to bake pies. While this isn’t the most positive development for my waist-line, the good news is that the cooler weather is much more conducive to pastry making. It always seems a lot easier for me to achieve a crispy flaky crust when the ambient temperatures are less summery. Read the rest of this entry »

slow roast spiced lamb with pomegranate & saba sauce & cauliflower puree 

During my time in the wine industry Easter was the unlucky holiday that fell during the busiest time of year: vintage. So apart from the odd chocolate egg scoffed in between filling barrels or crushing grapes, Easter for me has pretty much been a non event. A long weekend of hard work, like all the other weekends during vintage that I’ve pretty much spent in some dank cellar up to my elbows and sometimes my knees in skin staining red grape must….not such a good look.

But this year for the first time in five whole years, I found myself with the whole Eater weekend before me.. Four whole days to sleep in, read by the fire, watch DVDs, play with my new digital camera, and cook in my mum’s huge dishwasher equipped country kitchen….bliss. Read the rest of this entry »

fig & pecan hot cross buns 

One of the few things I miss about winemaking is the opportunity to play with yeast. There is something deeply rewarding about taking a powdery dried dormant yeast culture and coaxing it to life so that it can go on to perform the almost alchemy-like act of turning grape juice into wine.  It still amazes me that all it takes to bring about their renaissance is a gentle soak in some warm water (35 - 40oC)…not too hot …not too cold….sound familiar  Goldilocks???? Then you gradually add some food….sugary grape juice…yum…and before you know it you have a rip roaring fermentation on your hands… Read the rest of this entry »

I’m still amazed by the new car phenomenon…you know….when you buy a car and all of a sudden you go from hardly noticing that Volkswagons exist to seeing them everywhere…. but the crazy thing is that I’m finding that this phenomenon extends beyond cars…. even food seems to be susceptible….

Last week I was lucky enough to dine at one of my favourite Indian restaurants: Nilgiri’s in Crows Nest. Dining at Nilgiri’s is always a treat in itself but on this occasion there was the added bonus of two guest speakers: the gorgeous master brewer Chuck Hahn and the passionate spice man himself Ian ‘Herbie’ Hemphill. Read the rest of this entry »

While Sydney is without a doubt my favourite city in the world, sometimes there’s nothing better than leaving it for a weekend in the country. Although my usual getaway is a weekend at Mount View with my folks, it made a very pleasant change to be high-tailing it out of town on Friday evening with my good friend Mel on the M4…. With a full weekend of eating, drinking and being merry ahead of us and a magnificent sunset over the Blue Mountains we were happy girls.

With only a quick pub grub stop at the Mount Victoria Hotel, we were warmly greeted when our convoy turned up the poplar tree lined driveway of Mel’s family’s farm just out of the village of Milthorpe. Although it had been about ten years since I last enjoyed the hospitality at Westbrook, I felt instantly at home as we were greeted by Bruce, Jan and Ellie the corgi…. ah the country life… Read the rest of this entry »