Cantorion, an ANU Graduate choir, will be exploring aspects of romance in a concert including works from Brahms, Schubert, Palestrina, Jannequin and Vaughan Williams.
When: 3:00pm, Sunday 7 September
Where: Wesley Music Centre, 20-22 National Circuit, Forrest
Admission: $15 adult/$10 concession
This is my choir, and I'm singing in this concert. Come along if you like that sort of thing. It's safe, I won't be taking my shirt off :)
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Romance, Love & Lust: another ad
Saturday, 30 August 2008
The Australian Omnivore's List
In a follow up to the Omnivore's list, the author has made a statement about his reasons. My friend Alex has also contacted me to let me know that I have actually eaten kaolin- it's a smoothing ingredient used in several food products, including Haigh's chocolates. Mmmm, clay... I'm not totally averse to the idea - if you're going to eat any kind of dirt, surely it must be the finest, whitest, purest clay! Actually it's technically a mineral, like salt but more complex. Whatever.
I was also inspired by the Omnivore's Hundred, and I'm making up an Australian list. Here's my first hack at it - I invite comments and suggestions. (Fiona: this is your cue!) I've tried for a mix of native produce, classics from the early European settlers, and the most iconic junk foods. I've deliberately left off the major contributions from more recent immigrants; an expanded list would have to have laksa and pho and kebabs and many more good things.
1 Macadamia Nuts
2 Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey
3 Single species eucalyptus honey
4 Rosella flower champagne cocktail
5 Lillipilli/Riberry fruit
6 Quandongs
7 Bush tomatoes/Akudjura
8 Warrigal greens
9 Midyim berries
10 Bunya nut bread or dumplings
11 Wattleseed
12 Lemon myrtle
13 Tasmanian pepper berry
14 Murray River pink salt
15 Kangaroo
16 Emu
17 Wild Barramundi
18 Crocodile
19 Possum
20 Goanna
21 Witjuti Grub (Widjuti/Witchetty)
22 Bogong moth
23 Sugar ants
24 Meat pie
24 Pie floater
26 Lamington
27 Pavlova (shut up, NZers)
28 Damper with golden syrup
29 Vegemite sandwich
30 Anzac biscuit
31 Roast leg of lamb
32 BBQ steak (as in cooked on a BBQ grill, not American BBQ)
33 Fundraising sausage sizzle whitebread sanger
34 Australian grown coffee
35 Bundy Rum
36 Coopers ale
37 Mass market lager, such as Tooheys, VB, XXXX or Swan
38 Passiona
39 Bundaberg ginger beer
40 Grange hermitage
41 Tim tam
42 Violet crumble
43 Fairy bread
44 Lemon delicious pudding
45 Australian grown tea
46 Vanilla slice
47 Frog cake
48 Musk stick
49 Pumpkin scone
50 Pink iced finger bun
Take a point off for a shrimp on the barbie. (Prawns are OK, though.)
Take five points off for a bloomin' onion from Outback Steakhouse. Bizarrely, this American chain has recently opened some franchises in Australia, so you can enjoy your American style pseudo-Australian food without even leaving the country!
I score 44/50 on my current list. No Grange, no pie floater, no insects, no goanna. When I ate possum it was actually imported from New Zealand, so no protected species were killed to make my list! I'm already thinking I've missed important stuff - my first afterthought was Sydney rock oysters. And maybe Tasmanian whisky. If enough feedback or afterthoughts come my way, I'll do a revision.
I was also inspired by the Omnivore's Hundred, and I'm making up an Australian list. Here's my first hack at it - I invite comments and suggestions. (Fiona: this is your cue!) I've tried for a mix of native produce, classics from the early European settlers, and the most iconic junk foods. I've deliberately left off the major contributions from more recent immigrants; an expanded list would have to have laksa and pho and kebabs and many more good things.
1 Macadamia Nuts
2 Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey
3 Single species eucalyptus honey
4 Rosella flower champagne cocktail
5 Lillipilli/Riberry fruit
6 Quandongs
7 Bush tomatoes/Akudjura
8 Warrigal greens
9 Midyim berries
10 Bunya nut bread or dumplings
11 Wattleseed
12 Lemon myrtle
13 Tasmanian pepper berry
14 Murray River pink salt
15 Kangaroo
16 Emu
17 Wild Barramundi
18 Crocodile
19 Possum
20 Goanna
21 Witjuti Grub (Widjuti/Witchetty)
22 Bogong moth
23 Sugar ants
24 Meat pie
24 Pie floater
26 Lamington
27 Pavlova (shut up, NZers)
28 Damper with golden syrup
29 Vegemite sandwich
30 Anzac biscuit
31 Roast leg of lamb
32 BBQ steak (as in cooked on a BBQ grill, not American BBQ)
33 Fundraising sausage sizzle whitebread sanger
34 Australian grown coffee
35 Bundy Rum
36 Coopers ale
37 Mass market lager, such as Tooheys, VB, XXXX or Swan
38 Passiona
39 Bundaberg ginger beer
40 Grange hermitage
41 Tim tam
42 Violet crumble
43 Fairy bread
44 Lemon delicious pudding
45 Australian grown tea
46 Vanilla slice
47 Frog cake
48 Musk stick
49 Pumpkin scone
50 Pink iced finger bun
Take a point off for a shrimp on the barbie. (Prawns are OK, though.)
Take five points off for a bloomin' onion from Outback Steakhouse. Bizarrely, this American chain has recently opened some franchises in Australia, so you can enjoy your American style pseudo-Australian food without even leaving the country!
I score 44/50 on my current list. No Grange, no pie floater, no insects, no goanna. When I ate possum it was actually imported from New Zealand, so no protected species were killed to make my list! I'm already thinking I've missed important stuff - my first afterthought was Sydney rock oysters. And maybe Tasmanian whisky. If enough feedback or afterthoughts come my way, I'll do a revision.
Friday, 29 August 2008
Internet Salmagundi V
I found an entire blog dedicated to "cake wrecks" - when cake decoration goes horribly wrong. Misspellings and sheer incompetence are the least of it. Check this one post for a sampler. Disembodied heads, deformed feet, and more. Scarily more - some of them are really well-made facsimiles of things that should never be made in cake form...
Icecream is just like rock. No, seriously. In several ways. Science nerdy, but not a joke.
What does it take to win an award for a great wine list? This critic made up a fake restaurant, submitted it to the Wine Spectator magazine, and won an award! Page down to look at the Wine Spectator magazine's own reviews for the wines he put on the premium list. Too funny!
Bioephemera is great, wandering around the intersection of art, biology, aesthetics. I enjoyed this couple of art posts. Have a look at these skeletons, done in a manner reminiscent of Edward Hopper, and this art nouveau cat.
A recent lolcat must make an appearance, because it's just so true.
<"/span>
Icecream is just like rock. No, seriously. In several ways. Science nerdy, but not a joke.
What does it take to win an award for a great wine list? This critic made up a fake restaurant, submitted it to the Wine Spectator magazine, and won an award! Page down to look at the Wine Spectator magazine's own reviews for the wines he put on the premium list. Too funny!
Bioephemera is great, wandering around the intersection of art, biology, aesthetics. I enjoyed this couple of art posts. Have a look at these skeletons, done in a manner reminiscent of Edward Hopper, and this art nouveau cat.
A recent lolcat must make an appearance, because it's just so true.
<"/span>
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
How the stirfry worked out
As I mentioned recently, I tried out a Woolworths own brand stirfry sauce. I also used pre-cut chicken breast strips, so it was low effort. All I had to cut up was the veggies. I used 600g of chicken, and it actually worked out quite well. I made two lemon chicken dinners: one from the wok, one from the microwave.
The trick about reheating stirfry is not to include the vegetables that will go soggy and horrible. The trick about making stirfry is to do all the preparation before you cook. Every single bit, right down to any garnishes. If you're uncertain about timing, you can even start cooking the stirfry after your rice is done - it will keep warm long enough, especially if you have a rice cooker. Or wrap your pot in a towel, or reheat it for a minute in the microwave. The rice is a lot less precious than the vegetables.
So you get your wok hot and cook the meat - I like to use a little sesame oil as well as the plain light oil. Garlic and ginger go in at this stage, too. You can remove the meat and add it back later, and many recipes suggest this. But I generally just toss the hard vegetables in when the meat is nearly done. Stirfry for a couple of minutes, then add the softer vegetables and the sauce. When you serve it, pick out all the delicate crisp veggies to eat immediately. When you reheat it, simply steam up a few more veggies to mix in at the last minute.
The vegetables that I'll reheat are mostly onion, carrot, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, cauliflower, mushrooms and cabbage. The capsicum, snow peas, broccoli, bok choy, gai lan and such are much better freshly cooked than reheated. Your preferences might vary a little - if you prefer your onion and carrot very crunchy, for instance. Anyway, it's a simple enough thing to do, especially if you leave the "eat now" veggies in large pieces.
The Woolworth lemon sauce was bad, though. I had, of course, assumed that it would be fluoro yellow, cornflour thickened, sweetish goop, and on that front it did not disappoint. But where was the lemon? How do you make it so totally devoid of lemon flavour? It's a mystery. It wasn't even acid at all. I rescued it rapidly by tossing in the juice of 4 lemons from the garden - small one, lime sized. And some sambal oelek, because everything's better with chilli.
The trick about reheating stirfry is not to include the vegetables that will go soggy and horrible. The trick about making stirfry is to do all the preparation before you cook. Every single bit, right down to any garnishes. If you're uncertain about timing, you can even start cooking the stirfry after your rice is done - it will keep warm long enough, especially if you have a rice cooker. Or wrap your pot in a towel, or reheat it for a minute in the microwave. The rice is a lot less precious than the vegetables.
So you get your wok hot and cook the meat - I like to use a little sesame oil as well as the plain light oil. Garlic and ginger go in at this stage, too. You can remove the meat and add it back later, and many recipes suggest this. But I generally just toss the hard vegetables in when the meat is nearly done. Stirfry for a couple of minutes, then add the softer vegetables and the sauce. When you serve it, pick out all the delicate crisp veggies to eat immediately. When you reheat it, simply steam up a few more veggies to mix in at the last minute.
The vegetables that I'll reheat are mostly onion, carrot, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, cauliflower, mushrooms and cabbage. The capsicum, snow peas, broccoli, bok choy, gai lan and such are much better freshly cooked than reheated. Your preferences might vary a little - if you prefer your onion and carrot very crunchy, for instance. Anyway, it's a simple enough thing to do, especially if you leave the "eat now" veggies in large pieces.
The Woolworth lemon sauce was bad, though. I had, of course, assumed that it would be fluoro yellow, cornflour thickened, sweetish goop, and on that front it did not disappoint. But where was the lemon? How do you make it so totally devoid of lemon flavour? It's a mystery. It wasn't even acid at all. I rescued it rapidly by tossing in the juice of 4 lemons from the garden - small one, lime sized. And some sambal oelek, because everything's better with chilli.
Sunday, 24 August 2008
Getting Back on the Horse
It's been a while since I did any cooking, but I'm finally better enough to go shopping and do some cooking. My plans for this week are to make some cook-ahead dishes that will work for after rehearsal. I did pasta with an arrabiata sauce on Saturday, and I'm going to try out a Woolworths brand stirfry sauce with some chicken and veggies tonight. I'm also trying to see how the Thai tamarind curry goes with a lot of variation. I'm using beef instead of pork, and more vegetables, and less meat. That's really a lot closer to how I usually cook. Recipes give a false impression of rigidity.
I made one of those super-substitution recipes last week, for the one dish I actually cooked. Starting from the Briami recipe, I morphed it very drastically into a sorta kinda patatas bravas. The concept is just vegetables in a baking dish with tomato, olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs. My most recent version was a way to use up whatever was in the fridge, with minimal effort.
This is what I did - the not-recipe, if you will.
Get out ceramic lasagna pan and coat base with some oil. Fill with cut up vegetables. I had mostly potato, but also a couple of turnips, a couple of onions, and two half capsicums with some bad spots. Cut out any dodgy spots, of course. Then I had a lot of tomatoes in various stages ranging from mostly OK to really rather dubious. Soft and a bit wrinkly, so not nice for salads, but also not mouldy. I covered these in boiling water and left them alone for 5 minutes while I chopped up other things. Then peel them, discarding any nasty bits along with the skin. Chop in rough wedges and toss in the pan. Pour over the juice of a few lemons, mixed with 1 tsp each of thyme, dill and oregano, and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. I'd have used more garlic, but that was all I had. Then bake uncovered at 180C for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Put lamb & rosemary gourmet sausages on top for the last 20 minutes.
The key difference with the briami is that there was a lot more liquid, due to the amount of lemon juice and the squishiness of the tomatoes. So I wanted to leave it uncovered to evaporate. It worked pretty well, and as a nice big pan full, it stretched to other meals. I put tuna and chilli in one lot, after the sausages were all eaten.
I made one of those super-substitution recipes last week, for the one dish I actually cooked. Starting from the Briami recipe, I morphed it very drastically into a sorta kinda patatas bravas. The concept is just vegetables in a baking dish with tomato, olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs. My most recent version was a way to use up whatever was in the fridge, with minimal effort.
This is what I did - the not-recipe, if you will.
Get out ceramic lasagna pan and coat base with some oil. Fill with cut up vegetables. I had mostly potato, but also a couple of turnips, a couple of onions, and two half capsicums with some bad spots. Cut out any dodgy spots, of course. Then I had a lot of tomatoes in various stages ranging from mostly OK to really rather dubious. Soft and a bit wrinkly, so not nice for salads, but also not mouldy. I covered these in boiling water and left them alone for 5 minutes while I chopped up other things. Then peel them, discarding any nasty bits along with the skin. Chop in rough wedges and toss in the pan. Pour over the juice of a few lemons, mixed with 1 tsp each of thyme, dill and oregano, and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. I'd have used more garlic, but that was all I had. Then bake uncovered at 180C for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Put lamb & rosemary gourmet sausages on top for the last 20 minutes.
The key difference with the briami is that there was a lot more liquid, due to the amount of lemon juice and the squishiness of the tomatoes. So I wanted to leave it uncovered to evaporate. It worked pretty well, and as a nice big pan full, it stretched to other meals. I put tuna and chilli in one lot, after the sausages were all eaten.
Saturday, 23 August 2008
Banana Leaf and Botheration
Last night was supposed to be a good dinner and a show, but the plans didn't quite work out. We went for a pre-theatre dinner to the Banana Leaf - it was quite a treat to eat out without having to fuss about note-taking. Not that I'm whinging. Restaurant reviewing is still the dream gig, but it does nevertheless change the experience.
The way the Banana Leaf does things is more European than Indian in style. Everybody gets their own plate of food. Main dishes are around the $25 mark. The menu is a mix of Mod Oz and traditional Sri Lankan, but I've never yet tried anything not Sri Lankan there. It's really good, and it is their specialty, so why stray? Though it is tempting - they do use some Australian bush foods, and the menu is thoughtful and interesting.
The bloke and I had our separate curries - he a chicken biryani, and me a "black" pork smore. They come with the traditional condiments, as do the curries with string hoppers or pittu or rice. My pork was some quite large medallions of slow cooked loin, topped with a spicy sauce with plenty of fresh capsicum. It didn't look black at all - I was expecting something darker from the name. I do know that "black" refers to the roasting of the spices, but even so I was surprised. It didn't seem terribly hot, but as I ate it, I realised that it was spiced with much more pepper and less chilli than the curries I'm more used to. Definitely tingly, if not fiery. The Bloke's chicken was darker in tone, and came with a chilli sambal on the side. Teh chicken curry sat on the side of the mound of beautifully spiced rice. We added some rotti ($5), which was two pieces of the flat bread, beautifully fresh off the griddle.
We had a couple of beers - I decided Sinha was really not very special. An adequate lager, but a bit thin. Not $8 worth; I probably won't bother with it again. The Bloke wisely stuck to Coopers. This, for me, is their main failing. Although they have a nice wine list, they obviously don't care much about beer. No microbrews, and not even any James Squires - an IPA would have been perfect.
I finished off with the watalapan ($9.50) - a coconut and palm treacle custard. It's sort of a Sri Lankan creme caramel, except that coconut doesn't make as smooth a custard as dairy cream. Very nice anyway, I love those dark treacly flavours. The Bloke, not being a dessert eater, just had another beer to keep me company.
it was very busy, but we'd had very good and efficient service, despite the crowd. Our waiter did suggest when we arrived at 6.30pm, that we order quickly to get to the theatre in time. But it wasn't an issue. The mains were little slower to arrive than I've known them at other times, but we could easily have left without dessert at 7.15pm. As it was, we had plenty of time for a leisurely finish.
And then we were off to the theatre, with a good ten minutes to spare - but this is where it went wrong! We were going to see Land's End, by the Company Philippe Genty, but the show was cancelled due to an injury. Well. So much for that trope of the plucky understudy coming in to be a star because the show must go on. Bugger. I'd been really looking forward to it; I'm a fan of their umm, whatever it is that they do. Puppetry and magic and illusion and performance art and stuff; always beautiful and haunting. This blogger saw the show that I missed out on. They were offering to rebook for the other couple of performances in Canberra, but the queues were so long that we gave it up as a bad job and just went home to watch Poirot on the ABC.
On the way home, I noticed that new gussied up Ali Baba "AB Restaurant" that my anon commenter mentioned recently. I'm not sure if I'll get to try that out in a hurry - I have a lot to do in the next fortnight with a show and a concert, and then I'm off to Tibet and China. So I might not get to it until October.
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The way the Banana Leaf does things is more European than Indian in style. Everybody gets their own plate of food. Main dishes are around the $25 mark. The menu is a mix of Mod Oz and traditional Sri Lankan, but I've never yet tried anything not Sri Lankan there. It's really good, and it is their specialty, so why stray? Though it is tempting - they do use some Australian bush foods, and the menu is thoughtful and interesting.
The bloke and I had our separate curries - he a chicken biryani, and me a "black" pork smore. They come with the traditional condiments, as do the curries with string hoppers or pittu or rice. My pork was some quite large medallions of slow cooked loin, topped with a spicy sauce with plenty of fresh capsicum. It didn't look black at all - I was expecting something darker from the name. I do know that "black" refers to the roasting of the spices, but even so I was surprised. It didn't seem terribly hot, but as I ate it, I realised that it was spiced with much more pepper and less chilli than the curries I'm more used to. Definitely tingly, if not fiery. The Bloke's chicken was darker in tone, and came with a chilli sambal on the side. Teh chicken curry sat on the side of the mound of beautifully spiced rice. We added some rotti ($5), which was two pieces of the flat bread, beautifully fresh off the griddle.
We had a couple of beers - I decided Sinha was really not very special. An adequate lager, but a bit thin. Not $8 worth; I probably won't bother with it again. The Bloke wisely stuck to Coopers. This, for me, is their main failing. Although they have a nice wine list, they obviously don't care much about beer. No microbrews, and not even any James Squires - an IPA would have been perfect.
I finished off with the watalapan ($9.50) - a coconut and palm treacle custard. It's sort of a Sri Lankan creme caramel, except that coconut doesn't make as smooth a custard as dairy cream. Very nice anyway, I love those dark treacly flavours. The Bloke, not being a dessert eater, just had another beer to keep me company.
it was very busy, but we'd had very good and efficient service, despite the crowd. Our waiter did suggest when we arrived at 6.30pm, that we order quickly to get to the theatre in time. But it wasn't an issue. The mains were little slower to arrive than I've known them at other times, but we could easily have left without dessert at 7.15pm. As it was, we had plenty of time for a leisurely finish.
And then we were off to the theatre, with a good ten minutes to spare - but this is where it went wrong! We were going to see Land's End, by the Company Philippe Genty, but the show was cancelled due to an injury. Well. So much for that trope of the plucky understudy coming in to be a star because the show must go on. Bugger. I'd been really looking forward to it; I'm a fan of their umm, whatever it is that they do. Puppetry and magic and illusion and performance art and stuff; always beautiful and haunting. This blogger saw the show that I missed out on. They were offering to rebook for the other couple of performances in Canberra, but the queues were so long that we gave it up as a bad job and just went home to watch Poirot on the ABC.
On the way home, I noticed that new gussied up Ali Baba "AB Restaurant" that my anon commenter mentioned recently. I'm not sure if I'll get to try that out in a hurry - I have a lot to do in the next fortnight with a show and a concert, and then I'm off to Tibet and China. So I might not get to it until October.
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Friday, 22 August 2008
The Omnivore's Hundred
I've decided that I won't do a Salmagundi every week. Yes, I know I haven't anyway, but it was my original intention. But I do have a bit of internet fluff for you. The Omnivore's Hundred is going round the foodie bits of the net. I found it via Chocolate and Zucchini. The idea is that you:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
So I'm giving it a go, though adding some commentary as I go. So if you want to do it, too, it will be easier to copy the list from the original link, not mine. For the full list read on.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea - huh?
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp - hardly worth it.
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich - I prefer PB&H.
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart - in New York!
16. Epoisses - an unpasteurised milk washed-rind cheese, I don't think we can get it here.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras - one day...
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - tasted, but I couldn't eat a whole one.
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda - I really should. Sounds yummy.
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - not quite. New England clam chowder, with sourdough bread on the side, sure.
33. Salted lassi - I prefer sweet, though.
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar separately. Isn't this supposed to be a crime against cognac? Prime single malt whisky, yes.
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - I think I'm too old.
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - umm, I almost crossed this off but I might summon up the courage to try it once.
43. Phaal - hotter than a vindaloo? Where do you get it? It's not in any of my curry cookbooks so I suspect it's a British braggart invention.
44.Goat’s milk - yoghurt, yes. Plain milk, no. I don't even like cow's milk.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - eh, maybe one day, It's expensive and I'd probably prefer tuna sashimi.
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - YUK!
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55.McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - I don't do maccas. I ate a burger from them once a couple of decades back, I can't remember which one.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini - not yet! But I bet I will very soon. Regular martinis, yes.
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine - I must go to Canada again one day.
60. Carob chips - meh.
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin - clay????!
64. Currywurst - I missed doing this when I was in Germany because I prefer other sausages, especially Weisswurst.
65. Durian - never again.
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain - I hate bananas, so I doubt I'd like it.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - I don't like the texture of tripe, so maybe not.
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini - not real expensive caviar though.
73. Louche absinthe - I've had absinthe in mixed drinks but haven't yet tried this classic method.
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75.Roadkill Why????
76. Baijiu - not 100% sure if this is the same as the rice spirit I drank too much of in Vietnam...
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - I lived in America once.
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - there isn't one in Australia. But I bet Tetsuya's would be worthy.
85. Kobe beef - Australian Wagyu, too.
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers - nasturtiums are spicy, good in salads. Crystallised violets are nice.
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate - not sure. Possibly.
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - New Guinea Blue Mountains yes, it's the same variety but different terroire.
100. Snake - does it count if it's infused in rice spirit? Weird meaty vodka-like stuff, that was.
So that's it then. I make about 75%. There's nothing specifically Australian on the list, though it does Europe, the Americas, and a few bits of Asia. I'm thinking of making up an Australian one. Maybe next week?
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
So I'm giving it a go, though adding some commentary as I go. So if you want to do it, too, it will be easier to copy the list from the original link, not mine. For the full list read on.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea - huh?
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp - hardly worth it.
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich - I prefer PB&H.
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart - in New York!
16. Epoisses - an unpasteurised milk washed-rind cheese, I don't think we can get it here.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras - one day...
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - tasted, but I couldn't eat a whole one.
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda - I really should. Sounds yummy.
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - not quite. New England clam chowder, with sourdough bread on the side, sure.
33. Salted lassi - I prefer sweet, though.
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar separately. Isn't this supposed to be a crime against cognac? Prime single malt whisky, yes.
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - I think I'm too old.
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - umm, I almost crossed this off but I might summon up the courage to try it once.
43. Phaal - hotter than a vindaloo? Where do you get it? It's not in any of my curry cookbooks so I suspect it's a British braggart invention.
44.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - eh, maybe one day, It's expensive and I'd probably prefer tuna sashimi.
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - YUK!
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini - not yet! But I bet I will very soon. Regular martinis, yes.
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine - I must go to Canada again one day.
60. Carob chips - meh.
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin - clay????!
64. Currywurst - I missed doing this when I was in Germany because I prefer other sausages, especially Weisswurst.
65. Durian - never again.
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain - I hate bananas, so I doubt I'd like it.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - I don't like the texture of tripe, so maybe not.
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini - not real expensive caviar though.
73. Louche absinthe - I've had absinthe in mixed drinks but haven't yet tried this classic method.
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75.
76. Baijiu - not 100% sure if this is the same as the rice spirit I drank too much of in Vietnam...
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - I lived in America once.
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - there isn't one in Australia. But I bet Tetsuya's would be worthy.
85. Kobe beef - Australian Wagyu, too.
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers - nasturtiums are spicy, good in salads. Crystallised violets are nice.
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate - not sure. Possibly.
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - New Guinea Blue Mountains yes, it's the same variety but different terroire.
100. Snake - does it count if it's infused in rice spirit? Weird meaty vodka-like stuff, that was.
So that's it then. I make about 75%. There's nothing specifically Australian on the list, though it does Europe, the Americas, and a few bits of Asia. I'm thinking of making up an Australian one. Maybe next week?
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Ainslie IGA
Yesterday I popped into the Ainslie IGA after my evening yoga class. It's been a long time since I was last there, and it seems like it has expanded. Either that or my memory sucks. Anyway, it's an interesting IGA to browse around.
They have a clientele that is obviously a lot more gourmet and green conscious than my Watson local. You can tell this, because they stock a lot more organic products, including meat, and lots of vegetarian pseudo-meat things. They also have a large range of Poachers' Pantry smoked meats, good Italian bread, and fresh fish, and a rather good deli section. I wasn't produce shopping, but as I walked past it all looked nice and fresh.
They do BBQ chickens at the deli - but not just ordinary ones. There's free range. I really wanted to buy one of those, but they'd sold out, so I just got the regular kind. As BBQ chooks go it's a whisker on the superior side of the standard. The stuffing is the usual greasy stodge, but it does seem to actually taste of a few herbs, and the chook itself wasn't overdone. Nice coleslaw, too.
They have a clientele that is obviously a lot more gourmet and green conscious than my Watson local. You can tell this, because they stock a lot more organic products, including meat, and lots of vegetarian pseudo-meat things. They also have a large range of Poachers' Pantry smoked meats, good Italian bread, and fresh fish, and a rather good deli section. I wasn't produce shopping, but as I walked past it all looked nice and fresh.
They do BBQ chickens at the deli - but not just ordinary ones. There's free range. I really wanted to buy one of those, but they'd sold out, so I just got the regular kind. As BBQ chooks go it's a whisker on the superior side of the standard. The stuffing is the usual greasy stodge, but it does seem to actually taste of a few herbs, and the chook itself wasn't overdone. Nice coleslaw, too.
Monday, 18 August 2008
Searchlights and Sirens, the Ad
Hello everybody, I'm back on my feet at last with just a minor cough lingering on. Still not really cooking, though. For example, this week after work I have yoga on Monday, and rehearsals on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The weekend was pretty packed, too, with all-day rehearsals for choir concert and burlesque show on Sunday. Yes, two all day rehearsals in one day. Don't ask.
Anyway, please come to my stuff. For Searchlight and Sirens, you need to call the Ainslie Football Club on 6248 8422 to book, as there is a two course meal involved. If you need vegetarian meals or other special diets, tell them when you book. There's a facebook event version, if you care for that sort of thing. The cost is $50 for dinner and show. Drinks extra.
It's going to be great fun - lots of vintage fashion and song and dance. I'm mostly dressed as a land army girl in my RetroSpec'd outfit. It's burlesque, which for the uninitiated means there is some sexual innuendo (oooh-err) and stripping, but it's in fun and only part way, not at all in a sleazy strip club style. About PG rated.
I don't have a flyer for the choir concert yet, but it's 3pm on Sunday September 7th, at the Wesley Music Centre in Forrest. It's romantic music in several senses, from madrigals and other songs of lurrve, to actual romantic composers Schubert and Brahms. That's two days before I go to China. Cutting it fine, there...
Friday, 15 August 2008
Internet Salmagundi IV
How to poach an egg - with pictures of attempts gone hilariously wrong.
How to make American buttermilk pancakes.
Eat yoghurt! The official food of women.
Oh. My. God.
It looks like I might be in the wrong job.
Some American nutters are trying to boycott Maccas because they have gay-friendly employee policies. Even this isn't enough to get me to go there, but I do hope the loonies are not organising anything by email.
The bloke sent me a brilliant wrongcard. What a cool site - I wandered about and stumbled on this expression of cephalopod joy. And from there I was inspired in a totally, absolutely no way is this safe for work, or children with weak hearts, or impressionable grandparents, or possibly even your sanity, my god this is full of adult themes kind of way, I was moved to revisit the Ghastly comics. It ran from 2001 to 2006, more or less weekly. This beginning cracked me up and is sort of safe-ish. Beyond, there be monsters. Warning: contains extremely explicit sex scenes, nudity, adult themes, tentacle monsters, hentai, futanari, chibis, furries and Drunk and Bitter Jesus. Don't go there, OK?
How to make American buttermilk pancakes.
Eat yoghurt! The official food of women.
Oh. My. God.
It looks like I might be in the wrong job.
Some American nutters are trying to boycott Maccas because they have gay-friendly employee policies. Even this isn't enough to get me to go there, but I do hope the loonies are not organising anything by email.
The bloke sent me a brilliant wrongcard. What a cool site - I wandered about and stumbled on this expression of cephalopod joy. And from there I was inspired in a totally, absolutely no way is this safe for work, or children with weak hearts, or impressionable grandparents, or possibly even your sanity, my god this is full of adult themes kind of way, I was moved to revisit the Ghastly comics. It ran from 2001 to 2006, more or less weekly. This beginning cracked me up and is sort of safe-ish. Beyond, there be monsters. Warning: contains extremely explicit sex scenes, nudity, adult themes, tentacle monsters, hentai, futanari, chibis, furries and Drunk and Bitter Jesus. Don't go there, OK?
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
VB for lunch
Naah, I don't actually drink VB. When you are a Cadbury's girl like me, you may as well drink really good ones for your one or two drinks. No need for bulk cheapness. But actually, this isn't about beer at all. It's about a cafe.
I have a regular lunch date with Beth, and we go somewhere on (or very near) the ANU campus. It's mostly PP or VB, or the Gods for a bit of a treat. That's either the Purple Pickle, over by the Sports Union, or Vanilla Bean, in the new John Curtin Building. VB is closer, but PP is good if the weather is nice, as there's lots of outdoor seating. They're quite similar, as you'd expect since they're run by the same family.
The Vanilla Bean is a weekday place, open from breakfast to afternoon tea. The lunch menu includes pizzas, salads, burgers, pastas and risottos, with hot dishes around the $10-15 mark. There's pre-made rolls, and muffins and cookies and slices, yum yum. They also do fresh waffles. The blackboard specials vary every day.
Today I had one of the specials - a grilled chicken breast, with sundried tomato polenta, and caramelised fennel. It was $13.50, and I would have been delighted with it had it been at a fancy restaurant for $30. It was so good - the chicken was perfectly cooked with a light spice marinade outside, and tender and juicy inside; the polenta was soft and creamy and rich; the fennel was a generous chunk nicely browned. Wow. I was very impressed. I couldn't eat it all so I'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
You can't count on total excellence every day. But I don't think I've ever had a bad meal there. We keep on going back, as it's a reliably decent kind of a place. The coffee is pretty good; the chocolate brownies are a favourite of mine; the pizzas are generously sized and freshly baked on a good crust. There's always some good vegetarian choices, and there's plenty of variety to suit almost any mood. And once in a while it's amazing.
I have a regular lunch date with Beth, and we go somewhere on (or very near) the ANU campus. It's mostly PP or VB, or the Gods for a bit of a treat. That's either the Purple Pickle, over by the Sports Union, or Vanilla Bean, in the new John Curtin Building. VB is closer, but PP is good if the weather is nice, as there's lots of outdoor seating. They're quite similar, as you'd expect since they're run by the same family.
The Vanilla Bean is a weekday place, open from breakfast to afternoon tea. The lunch menu includes pizzas, salads, burgers, pastas and risottos, with hot dishes around the $10-15 mark. There's pre-made rolls, and muffins and cookies and slices, yum yum. They also do fresh waffles. The blackboard specials vary every day.
Today I had one of the specials - a grilled chicken breast, with sundried tomato polenta, and caramelised fennel. It was $13.50, and I would have been delighted with it had it been at a fancy restaurant for $30. It was so good - the chicken was perfectly cooked with a light spice marinade outside, and tender and juicy inside; the polenta was soft and creamy and rich; the fennel was a generous chunk nicely browned. Wow. I was very impressed. I couldn't eat it all so I'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
You can't count on total excellence every day. But I don't think I've ever had a bad meal there. We keep on going back, as it's a reliably decent kind of a place. The coffee is pretty good; the chocolate brownies are a favourite of mine; the pizzas are generously sized and freshly baked on a good crust. There's always some good vegetarian choices, and there's plenty of variety to suit almost any mood. And once in a while it's amazing.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Livin' in the Seventies
That's the Charcoal Restaurant on London Circuit. I swear, their menu and decor have not changed since I was a schoolgirl, and got to go there for the occasional treat with my parents. Though the prices have risen a little, and I doubt the grass matting on the ceiling would actually have lasted forty years. And the weird specification of GST on the menu wouldn't have happened back then.
But the menu is a blast from the past - avocado vinaigrette, oysters kilpatrick, tournedos rossini, beef stroganoff. And, of course, charcoal grilled steaks of all sorts of cuts, in sizes ranging from 180g up to a very scary full kilogram.
The bloke and I went there on Friday night, after a cocktail and some very good cheese at the Parlour. We almost had a larger party, but our friends had to bail out at the last minute, literally at the table. We weren't too bright and chirpy ourselves, but we needed dinner so we stayed. The waitress coped with admirable grace, and we had excellent service throughout.
Since we'd eaten snacks already, we went straight for the mains, Tournedos Rossini for me, Tournedos Bearnaise for the bloke. They arrived cooked exactly to order, served with a foil-baked potato and some steamed vegetables. The waitress comes around with parmesan, sour cream and chives for you to dress your potato as you like. The potato seemed a bit watery to me, but the vegetables were fresh and nicely done - not overdone at all, as you might suspect from the vintage style.
I was very pleased with my steak - properly rare, nicely charcoalled but not to excess. The mushroom sauce was perhaps a bit old-fashionedly gluey with flour thickener, but otherwise good. The chicken liver pate wasn't on the toast underneath the steak as is traditional, but on top. It was, well, OK, rather than a great one. No foie gras, that's for sure. And the toast was totally soggy and useless. It wasn't the great dish invented by Carême, but for a steak with mushroom sauce it was pretty damned fine, and obviously you don't get foie gras for $35. The bloke's béarnaise sauce was excellent - lively with tarragon and rich with butter; I thought his was the better dish.
We had a bottle of Pialligo Estate Cab Sav, which was pleasantly quaffable once it was aerated enough, but no great star. The wine list is quite good, with some serious fancy French reds and Granges, as well as the more affordable types. With that, and a couple of predinner drinks, the bill came to $120, which seemed just a little on the steep side to me. While I was much too full to eat dessert, I wish I'd at least looked at the dessert menu. I'd place money on there being a chocolate mousse, cheesecake and pavlova.
But the menu is a blast from the past - avocado vinaigrette, oysters kilpatrick, tournedos rossini, beef stroganoff. And, of course, charcoal grilled steaks of all sorts of cuts, in sizes ranging from 180g up to a very scary full kilogram.
The bloke and I went there on Friday night, after a cocktail and some very good cheese at the Parlour. We almost had a larger party, but our friends had to bail out at the last minute, literally at the table. We weren't too bright and chirpy ourselves, but we needed dinner so we stayed. The waitress coped with admirable grace, and we had excellent service throughout.
Since we'd eaten snacks already, we went straight for the mains, Tournedos Rossini for me, Tournedos Bearnaise for the bloke. They arrived cooked exactly to order, served with a foil-baked potato and some steamed vegetables. The waitress comes around with parmesan, sour cream and chives for you to dress your potato as you like. The potato seemed a bit watery to me, but the vegetables were fresh and nicely done - not overdone at all, as you might suspect from the vintage style.
I was very pleased with my steak - properly rare, nicely charcoalled but not to excess. The mushroom sauce was perhaps a bit old-fashionedly gluey with flour thickener, but otherwise good. The chicken liver pate wasn't on the toast underneath the steak as is traditional, but on top. It was, well, OK, rather than a great one. No foie gras, that's for sure. And the toast was totally soggy and useless. It wasn't the great dish invented by Carême, but for a steak with mushroom sauce it was pretty damned fine, and obviously you don't get foie gras for $35. The bloke's béarnaise sauce was excellent - lively with tarragon and rich with butter; I thought his was the better dish.
We had a bottle of Pialligo Estate Cab Sav, which was pleasantly quaffable once it was aerated enough, but no great star. The wine list is quite good, with some serious fancy French reds and Granges, as well as the more affordable types. With that, and a couple of predinner drinks, the bill came to $120, which seemed just a little on the steep side to me. While I was much too full to eat dessert, I wish I'd at least looked at the dessert menu. I'd place money on there being a chocolate mousse, cheesecake and pavlova.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
I think I'm allergic to July
Yes, it's August now, but this gives me hope that my current lurgi will be the last one of the season. That encephalitis virus arrived right at the beginning of July, and my current delightful house lung guests, the Hemophilus influenzae bacteria, turned up at the end of July. My "cold" last week got worserer. A course of heavy duty antibiotics and a lot of lying down is my current plan. Boot out those damn lodgers!
So yeah, I'm not cooking and not eating out much. In a brief spurt of pseudo-recovery on the weekend, I managed to eat out just enough to meet my Canberra Times commitments And to make a proper pasta dinner, with a sauce out of the freezer. But that's all. Nothing seriously worth blogging. I even missed that talk at ANU, damn it.
Things I've been eating & drinking:
* tinned soup
* tinned ravioli
* tinned spaghetti
* yoghurt (probiotic kind, should help with the antibiotic digestive side effects)
* Lean Cuisine pastas
* prepack custard and tinned fruit
* takeaway laksa (thanks to the bloke)
* hot Ribena - with and without rum
* hot toddies
* black tea with honey, and maybe brandy
I know, I know. Tinned spaghetti & ravioli are abominable crimes against Italy, but I don't think of them as pasta, just as weird invalid food. Some of the new tinned soups aren't bad, though. Especially those tetra pack veggie ones. I even eat those for lunch when I'm well.
So yeah, I'm not cooking and not eating out much. In a brief spurt of pseudo-recovery on the weekend, I managed to eat out just enough to meet my Canberra Times commitments And to make a proper pasta dinner, with a sauce out of the freezer. But that's all. Nothing seriously worth blogging. I even missed that talk at ANU, damn it.
Things I've been eating & drinking:
* tinned soup
* tinned ravioli
* tinned spaghetti
* yoghurt (probiotic kind, should help with the antibiotic digestive side effects)
* Lean Cuisine pastas
* prepack custard and tinned fruit
* takeaway laksa (thanks to the bloke)
* hot Ribena - with and without rum
* hot toddies
* black tea with honey, and maybe brandy
I know, I know. Tinned spaghetti & ravioli are abominable crimes against Italy, but I don't think of them as pasta, just as weird invalid food. Some of the new tinned soups aren't bad, though. Especially those tetra pack veggie ones. I even eat those for lunch when I'm well.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Interesting Talk Next Week
A talk at ANU, by Donna Lee Brien, entitled "Enabling New Ways of Thinking about the World? The Australian Food Writer as Activist" might be of interest to our local food bloggers. It's on Tuesday at 1pm, so might be possible for some who can be flexible around lunchtime.
For details see http://billboard.anu.edu.au/event_view.asp?id=30163
For details see http://billboard.anu.edu.au/event_view.asp?id=30163
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