Yearly Archives: 2012

Master Chef?

Food & Cuisine, , , , , , , , , , ,

Mint LeafTo be, or not to be, a great cook, that is the question?

Is it the better part of valour to not poison one’s dinner guests, or does one take the time-honoured view that they are deserving of being the first to taste one’s new culinary creations, no matter how close those dinner friends are?  Your view will depend on how many times you have experienced food poisoning, or gagged on a dish you would never, in your wildest dreams, ever eat!  How many ‘points’ for trying do you give the budding chef?

As someone who never learned to cook properly (my mother wasn’t really that domesticated, preferring to dine out as frequently as possible, a habit I’ve absorbed from her without any great strain), I am always envious of those who can whip up a creative and most delicious dish with seeming ease.  My ex-husband had that gift, to the extent he could have become a chef if he’d been so inclined, but, he wasn’t.  ‘Tis a pity, as I enjoy the sociability of a good dining out experience with a small group of close and good friends, and would have loved to have an exclusive little cafe at a seaside resort, serving just a few specials prepared by him.  I would have been the highly creative barista, seducing our customers to try each new blend I concocted. Of course, I would have made sure the coffee-sensory overload wafted onto the footpath outside the cafe, to entice the people into our lair.  My own contribution to this little enterprise would be to make sure we had the absolutely most deliciously delicious locally home-made true European tortes and small cakes, such as Sacher Torte, the true Black Forest cake, the Kugelhupf, a proper Austrian apple strudel, and so on. My European background wouldn’t have allowed for anything less!  Just a few would be available each day at the cafe to keep things fresh, varying the offerings as the mood took me or the season demanded.

Even ‘though I’m not a good cook, having been brought up on plenty of dining out experiences, both good and bad, I’ve developed a gourmet taste and can always find gourmet quality for beer prices; that is my special gift, being resourceful and dollar-wise when it comes to finding new cafes and restaurants, and always willing to try new food tastes.  My current favourites are Thai and Indian freshly cooked, of mild to medium spiciness, as well as contemporary Australian dining based around locally-sourced seasonal fresh produce. Fresh is best, in my view, and not too spicy as I like to taste the truth of the ingredients; in other words, just enough spices, herbs etc to bring out its true flavour and not overpowering it. Jamie Oliver-styled simple, healthy and very delicious dishes is what I have in mind; his 15-minute meals TV shows is a good example.

Watching MasterChef Australia on TV brings home to me how much I would really like to know how to cook, but not just any type of cooking.  It is great to see young and not so young hopefuls having a go at making their dream come true.  It is fascinating to see them develop as the show progresses and the challenges become harder.  One is always surprised at those who don’t make it through.  Of course, part of the enjoyment I get from this show is the use of my imagination – I can see myself there, doing it along with the other contestants and seeing myself the final winner; what a wonderful fantasy!  The only truly disappointing side to all the culinary creativity I see on the TV screen is that I can’t smell it!  Perhaps we need some highly ingenious TV or computer technologist to develop smellavisionTV or smellavisionPC!  I’d certainly buy it! I am looking forward to the 2013 show, and will also be particularly interested in the new Professionals version with top chef Marco Pierre White. Don’t miss it!

As compensation for my lack of culinary skill, I indulge my love of food by taking photographs of meals I have eaten in various places, and presenting them to others on my blogs (past and present).  Just like the image above – Warm tapioca and sweet corn pudding with fresh home-made mango ice cream.  Interesting combination. Absolutely yummy! Served at a great find in Melbourne’s CBD, Cookie, located in Curtin House, Swanston Street, close to Lonsdale Street.  I recommend a visit, for the culinary experience and the sensory experience of its decor, and the people-watching!

chinese-pear

Chinese pear — © 2008-2012 jmnowak, all rights reserved

Melbourne’s Best Eating

Food & Cuisine, , , , , , , , ,

Strawbs and yogurtI like to eat…that’s a given.  I grew up eating.  In fact, my mother insisted that I eat just about everything she put on my plate, even the really yukky stuff…you know, spinach, tripe, offal, and liver especially was anathema to my sensitive palate.  I got to hate liver.  As I write this, I can still taste the taste and feel the texture in my mouth….ooooh, how revolting!  We all grew up eating, didn’t we? If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here today.  I think that is a safe bet in the life-chances stakes.

My mother regarded herself as a gourmet.  She had very high standards where food and drink were concerned, and, in the process, the immediate family, and others also by association, got to learn what was good to eat, and what was not.  Part of the enhancement of our knowledge and enjoyment of food and drink revolved around eating out.  We did a lot of it, just to gain experience and to train our palates to be highly discerning.  We enjoyed these experiences, and we learned a lot.

I was also very fortunate to have been married to a man who could cook.  He loved it!  He didn’t need recipes as he created his own, and succeeded with them, enough to try them on family/friends at dinner parties, to great acclaim.  And we had a lot of dinners, too, sometimes two/three times per week.  We gained a lot of weight, but we enjoyed the process of gaining that weight (somehow exercise just didn’t figure in our daily activity….).  We were a social couple and we had very sociable friends, too. So we went out a lot – to others’ homes, to restaurants, to wineries, to functions.  All in the name of gaining experience with food and drink, apart from enjoying each other’s company. Of course, enjoyment of an event also rests with the companionship at that event.

Over the years, I think all of us in our circle gained good knowledge, and developed highly discerning palates, about food and drink.  People would come to us for advice on where to go, what to eat, how to cook it, and how to serve it (meaning providing the ambience to make the experience most enjoyable).  As someone who no longer cooks in this vein, I still have to eat and, therefore, go out to eat regularly to maintain a discerning palate regarding food and drink.  I do not overdo it now, ‘though, as my body is a lot older and a lot weaker and couldn’t take the battering it got in younger days if I were to keep up those high food consumption standards.

To help you build up your own discerning palate, in my most humble opinion here is my list of best restaurants ever, and not in any particular order.  Visit them and enjoy! Let me know what you think.

The Botanical South Yarra  Tasty choices
http://www.thebotanical.com.au/

Romeo’s of Toorak  Italian bistro, Italian oomph! http://www.romeosoftoorak.com.au/Romeos.html

Coonara Springs Olinda  Gourmet standards
http://coonarasprings.com.au

Grossi Florentino Melbourne CBD  Italian classic gourmet http://www.grossiflorentino.com/grossi-florentino.aspx

Pellegrini’s Melbourne CBD  Italian bistro of renown http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/food-and-drink/directory/restaurant/cafe/pellegrinis

Le Gourmet East Melbourne  Fine French cuisine
http://www.mdg.com.au/legourm/legoabo.htm

De Bortoli Winery & Restaurant Dixons Creek  Regional Italian style http://www.debortoli.com.au/cellar-door/yarra-valley/the-restaurant.html

Colonial Tramcar Restaurant South Melbourne  Fine Meals on Travelling Wheels
http://tramrestaurant.com.au

Middle Brighton Baths Restaurant Brighton  Fine contemporary dining
http://www.middlebrightonbaths.com.au/mbb_restaurant.html

Italy 1 Melbourne CBD  Great Italian style
http://www.italy1.com.au

Mietta’s Restaurant at Queenscliff  Restaurant and hotel of great renown http://www.miettas.com/archive/guide2000/queenscliffdiningroom.html

satisfied

Satisfied — © 2008-2012 jmnowak, all rights reserved

The harmonica man

People, , , , , , , , , ,

From a quiet town decades ago, modern Melbourne has become a hive of busking talent.  From the older woman in a wheelchair singing for her supper (a rather sad sight, in my view, but hinting at the spirit of hope), to another now-famous elderly long-haired woman who is a fantastic piano-player enchanting us with her tremendous repertoire of classical music.  You don’t see her that often any more, but it’s always a delight when she’s there, playing.  I stop, listen, and always clap as she’s good, and then put some money in her bag.  And then there’s a young Japanese Blues slide-guitar player who writes his own songs and sings them in English (and he’s very good too), complete with the required Aussie bush hat.  He’s cute and, yes, one can understand him quite well.  There are many more over the years who have graced our city streets and entertained us with their talent and personalities.  I’ve enjoyed watching and listening, and have even bought a CD or two, as I like to encourage good talent and because their work is good.

I’ve seen the quality of the talent improve, too, over the years.  Some buskers, of course, use the streets to test themselves and the waters of the marketplace before they have a go at launching a career in the music business.  The business is a tough one, and the streets are a tough call…if you can make it there, you can surely make it in the biz and anywhere else.  And, certainly, Australian street cred is a hard thing to achieve.  The use of the latest technology has also helped.  I remember that spreading the word of one’s talent started off with making a demo cassette tape and hoping it would be played on radio, to maybe making an EP disc if you had the money and access to a recording studio.  Nowadays, the CD/DVD has become de rigueur, no doubt as a result of the relatively cheap cost of recording on a PC probably and then burning to disk, sweet!

Harmonica ManThe latest busker to cross my way locates himself at the Police presence at Flinders Street Station, in front of the pedestrian crossing to the trams and Fed.Sq., a good spot to attract the customers.  I call him the Harmonica Man for he plays mean, cool and upbeat Blues, gentle yet foot-tapping cool.  I always want to get up and dance.  I don’t know, yet, whether they’re his own compositions, but I have a suspicion they probably are.

Literally playing to his audience, trying to grab the attention of people as they go by, he has set himself up beautifully.  So self-contained and organized!

A padded seat for comfort, for the duration, probably quite a few hours.  An old bottles crate upturned for his side-table, within easy reach.  He has a selection of different harmonicas and regularly chooses a different one to play to suit the passing parade of people, as he gauges their mood and need.

Left foot on his sound effects gadget (can’t think of a better word for it as am not up on the music equipment lingo), and quietly tapping the beat with his right foot.  He’s just loud enough.

The background music comes from a single-CD player, and he has a trusty spot to catch the coin.

He has a gentle, friendly demeanour about him.  Dark-skinned, I can’t work out whether he’s of Indian descent or perhaps even an Aborigine; I haven’t asked, but that’s not important.  His music is good, and I enjoy it, that’s all that matters.  A connection is made between us – he provides the music, and I provide my imagination in how I enjoy it.  The coin is handed over, with thanks.

Naturliche Poesie 2013 calendar

Art & Design, , ,

My 2013 calendar has just arrived, all the way from Hamburg, Germany. It is a beautiful work of art by Michael Mueller of muellerssicht.wordpress.com. Here is the direct link to the calendar page:  http://muellerssicht.wordpress.com/kalender/naturliche-poesie-2013/

I paid via PayPal, which was a special arrangement we agreed on. Michael was very accommodating in this regard. A bargain really for such wonderful work. Please, go check it out and you may be inspired too to order a copy.  I hope so.

Thank you, Michael. Another two copies have been ordered and are on their way to family in Germany.