Grab Your Diary

THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2005
End of Month Eggs on Toast Extravaganza #7
Cook a goog and send it to Jeanne. And it looks like this month's theme is "short dramatic works", or as Jeanne suggests, "One flew over the chicken's nest. Layer Cake. Cluck back in anger."

Does My Blog Look Good in This #7
The foodporniest winners are announced by Meg today at I Heart Bacon

FRIDAY 1 JULY 2005
Omnivoribus Australia NEW!
Send your favourite food or wine posting in June to Saffron, and she'll compile a monthly snapshot of what Australian foodbloggers are ingesting, digesting and suggesting.

Paper Chef #8 ingredients are revealed
This online Iron Chef-style tournament will have an extended deadline this month meaning entrants will have 10 days instead of the usual 3, to create their culinary masterpiece.

The Good Food and Wine Show
Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour

SATURDAY 2 JULY 2005
The Good Food and Wine Show
Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour

Orange Grove Markets
Orange Grove Public School, Perry Street, Leichhardt
Every Saturday 8am-1pm

Pyrmont Growers Market
Pyrmont Bay Park opposite Star City Casino
1st Saturday of every month, 7.00am - 11.00am

SUNDAY 3 JULY 2005
The Good Food and Wine Show
Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour

WEDNESDAY 6 JULY 2005
Wine Blogging Wednesday #11: Get off! (dry)
Drink red, white, rose or champagne, but this month's vino must be neither dry nor sweet.

MONDAY 11 JULY 2005
Dine & Dish #3: The Freshman
This month Sarah urges us to get out there and welcome a new restaurant on the block.

Paper Chef #8 entries due
Submit your culinary masterpiece which best highlights the theme ingredients to Owen by 12 noon Pacific Standard Time.

FOODIE TV VIEWING
WED 7.30pm-8.00pm SBS - Food Lovers Guide to Australia
FRI 8.00pm-8.30pm SBS - Feast India
SAT 8.30pm-9.15pm SBS - Iron Chef

Snapped: Water boy

Snapped at the Primo Italiano Festival, 5 June 2005

A poignant appreciation for nature's most precious resource, especially given Australia's current drought crisis and Sydney's precariously low dam levels.

Orange Grove Markets safe for now

After a tense week of uncertainty, it appears that the organic food stalls at the popular Orange Grove Markets are safe to continue trading. Reports in the Sunday papers of 19 June 2005 indicated that the booming 100-stall market contravened the original Development Application for 60 stalls only, and that the food stalls (whose leases expire at the end of June) would be forced to relocate to Marrickville.

Since Orange Grove Markets operates on the grounds of Orange Grove Public School, the Department of Education claims its concerns are for the health and safety of the public, the stall holders and local residents.

Whilst the Department of Education undertakes a review of the current situation, market organisers will be allowed to continue current trade until the end of this year at least.

I've been to Orange Grove a number of times (snapshot collage above) and the food stalls are definitely what maketh the market. Eumundi Smokehouse, Shepherds Bush Bakehouse, Honest to Goodness nuts, The Farmer's Wife, the Organic Food Network stalls and all the other tasty vendors are definitely the impetus that get me out of bed early on a Saturday morning.

Methinks the atmosphere at Orange Grove this Saturday will be reinvigorated and celebratory. Let's hope the sense of victory is not short-lived.

Click here for the full press release from Leichhardt Council.

Orange Grove Markets
Orange Grove Public School
Perry Street, Leichhardt

Every Saturday 8am-1pm

Primo Italiano, Stanley Street Festival

In an barely concealed jibe at Sydney's "other" Little Italy, Leichhardt, the recent Primo Italiano festival attempted to adamantly reinforce the reputation of East Sydney's Stanley Street as Sydney's "first" Little Italy. It was in Stanley Street where Italian immigrants first began to cluster socially, gradually building more and more delicatessens, restaurants, bars and cardhouses until the whole street was predominately Italian.

These days most Sydneysiders seem to forgo Stanley Street for Leichhardt or Haberfield though, and this festival was a deliberate attempt to bring back the masses. It was a glorious weekend for it. Early June and the sun was shining, the sky a dazzling azure blue, and even though my stomach had barely recovered from the Campsie Food Festival the day before, I was out and about and hungry for more...


Stanley Street was closed off to traffic enabling market-type stalls to set up down the middle of the road. I got to the festival early. This photo was taken at 10.45am, but an hour later the crowds were ten-deep.


Bertoni's Deli is a family-run business based in Balmain, with a commitment to sharing homestyle Italian cooking based on the proud traditions of their mamma Maria and papa Alfonso.


Dried pastas and sauces


Cannoli filled with chocolate, ricotta and vanilla creams.


Homemade amaretto biscuits.


Italian-style donuts sandwiched with Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread).


Formaggi Ocello is a regular at both Pyrmont Growers Markets and Fox Studios. Even so, their cheeses never fail to impress.


Did someone order a giant bowl of spaghetti?



Gorgeous creamy gorgonzola.


Offering scented olive oil soaps.


Juicy blood oranges.


The centrepiece of the festival was this giant art installation fountain covered with layers of Mediterranean vegetables. Ok, so everything was plastic and in a way it was tacky, but it certainly livened up the place and the fact it was actually pumping water was impressive too.


Street entertainers.


Pizza pizza.
The pizza seller actually posed the pizza for me (unasked) as I snapped photos. Don't you adore intuitive photography assistants?


Taking photos is thirsty work. I really really needed this coffee gelato.


Street entertainers with a hapless (but willing) victim. These girls were gorgeous.


This is style, baby.


A woman's work is never done.


The crowds.

A resounding success, although I'm sure the organisers were probably overwhelmed by the number of people who did turn up. Beppi was there to add some hand-waving authenticity, street entertainers kept the kids happy, and the band and singers gave a lively atmosphere. The idea of setting up open-air tables for all the restaurants gave a relaxed piazza-style ambience to the day, and enabled passersby to stickybeak at the dishes being served up too.

A great day out. And a nice showcase of all that multicultural Sydney has to offer.

The first Primo Italiano Stanley Street Festival was held on Sunday 5 June 2005.
There are plans to make this an annual event with the possibility of having a piazza-style market on a more regular basis.

IMBB #16: Tortilla Espanola

Tortilla Espanola. You may as well substitute the word tapas, just as yum cha = the ubiquitous har gow.

Soft cooked potato flavoured sweetly with onions and set by a soothing blanket of egg. How can you not be transported to a lazy afternoon in sun-drenched Seville with every mouthful?

So when eggs were set as the key ingredient for Is My Blog Burning #16, the flamenco had already begun.

Tortilla Espanola (or Spanish omelette)

125ml olive oil
4-6 potatoes
2 large onions
3 eggs
salt and pepper

Slice potatoes to a 5mm thickness. Slice the onions.
Heat oil in a deep non-stick frying pan and layer potatoes and onions within.
Cook with lid on for about 10 minutes.
Remove lid and move slices about so the upper slices are now on the bottom (breakage is expected).
Cook with lid on for another 8 minutes or until potato is almost cooked.

Strain off the oil into a container (you can re-use the sweet oil in other cooking), leaving only about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
Whisk the eggs lightly with salt and pepper, then add the potato mixture and combine thoroughly.

Reheat the fry pan with some of the sweetened oil in your container and then pour in the egg mixture, flattening the top.
Cook with lid on at a low heat for 10-15 minutes or until set.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Gently loosen before inverting onto a serving plate.

Serve warm with rocket and a giant jug of sangria.


Check out the full round-up of entries by Viv, coming soon to Seattle Bon Vivant.

Upcoming events

FRIDAY 24 JUNE 2005
Is My Blog Burning #15: Eggs
Get your eggs-quisite works of art to Seattle Bon Vivant anytime from Friday 24 June to Sunday 26 June.

SATURDAY 25 JUNE 2005
Bankstown Bites Food Festival
Bankstown City Plaza (near Bankstown train station)
10.00am-4.00pm
Free one-hour food tours on noodles, tea and Asian, Lebanese and European delights will be conducted on the hour. Book in on the day.

Ashfield Gourmet Food and Wine Market
St. Johns Anglican Church Grounds (Bland and Alt Streets), Ashfield
11.00am - 4.00pm2nd and 4th Saturday of every month

THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2005
End of Month Eggs on Toast Extravaganza #7
Cook a goog and send it to Jeanne. And it looks like this month's theme is "short dramatic works", or as Jeanne suggests, "One flew over the chicken's nest. Layer Cake. Cluck back in anger."

Does My Blog Look Good in This #7
The winners of this month's most droolworthy foodporn are announced by Meg today at I Heart Bacon

FRIDAY 1 JULY 2005
Omnivoribus Australia NEW!
Send your favourite food or wine posting in June to Saffron, and she'll compile a monthly snapshot of what Australian foodbloggers are ingesting, digesting and suggesting.

The Good Food and Wine Show (till Sun 3 July 2005)
Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour
(Brisbane 4-6 November)
Tickets on sale now (enables pre-booking of tickets into the Celebrity Theatre)

WEDNESDAY 6 JULY 2005
Wine Blogging Wednesday #11: Get off! (dry)
Drink red, white, rose or champagne, but this month's vino must be neither dry nor sweet.

MONDAY 11 JULY 2005
Dine & Dish #3: The Freshman
This month Sarah urges us to get out there and welcome a new restaurant on the block.

FOODIE TV VIEWING
WED 7.30pm-8.00pm SBS - Food Lovers Guide to Australia
FRI 8.00pm-8.30pm SBS - Feast India
SAT 8.30pm-9.15pm SBS - Iron Chef

Nhat Tan, Marrickville

Former home to a strong Greek community, these days Marrickville is home to a melting pot of Greeks, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Chinese and Africans.

On Illawarra Road--one of the main shopping streets--Asian groceries, Greek bakeries, bubble tea cafes and Vietnamese restaurants jostle one other for over five blocks.

We only had eyes for one thing though: Good pho. We were hungry. And we needed it now.



Lead by my expert companions, we headed into Nhat Tan, a longtime favourite and recommended for their hearty and flavoursome broth.


Like most Vietnamese restaurants, Nhat Tan's decor is simple and functional. Easy-wipe formica tables, excessive use of mirrors and a DIY cutlery and condiment pit-stop on every table.


Pho bo $6.00
Beef noodle soup


Pho dac biet $8.00
Combination beef noodle soup


Pho condiments of bean sprouts, lemon wedges and Vietnamese basil.


Lotus seed and date drink $2.50

The great thing about ordering pho is that it almost always arrives within three minutes of you ordering. One can imagine the chef instantly dumping a ladle of cooked noodles in a bowl, topping it with sliced meats and ladling spoonfuls of hot simmering beef broth from a giant pot on the stove.

Once the steaming bowl is placed before you, the idea is to quickly dunk a wadful of bean sprouts into your bowl, scatter generously with a handful (or three, in my case) of refreshing basil leaves, and squirt the whole concoction with lemon juice.


Prod the colourful tower until it plunges into the soup, season with fresh chillies, chilli sauce or hoi sin sauce as desired, and then slurp your way to pho away heaven.

The broth here was pleasingly tasty: rich with meaty flavours, but clear and reviving. The pho dac biet was the usual orgy of beef balls, beef slices and random bits of tripe and tendons. The noodles were soft and slippery, the onions thin wafers of tangy sweetness.

The lotus seed drink was also refreshing although a tad sweet for my liking. Lotus seeds and chopped red dates were topped with ice shavings, and the liquid tasted strongly of honey (although the waitress denied that any honey was used).

Nhat Tan has about twenty items on the menu including hu tieu (thin noodle soup), fried noodles and various rice dishes with beef, pork and chicken.

It's relaxed but friendly, and as we watched Vietnamese television whilst Marrickville shoppers passed us by, the shoulders relaxed and the stomach sighed with exhausted content.


Nhat Tan
310 Illawarra Road, Marrickville
Tel: 02 9558 4309

Open 7 days 9am-9pm.

Haigh's, Sydney

So it seems my information sources were wrong and Haigh's actually opened today!

We ducked up at lunchtime and were impressed by the efficient but friendly staff in crisp white uniforms, the goodie filled windows and, of course, the chocolate heaven inside.


I didn't realise that Haigh's are the only chocolatiers in Australia who start with raw (imported) cacao beans: roasting, grinding and then conching them into a velvety smooth bliss. And did I mention that John Haigh trained with Lindt & Sprungli? No wonder their chocolate tastes so good!

Meanwhile, in the swish new Sydney store, a huge assortment of chocolates had me running around in circles unable to come to a decision. Thick slabs of dark chocolate with ginger? Or peppermint? Milk chocolate chunks with roasted almonds? Hazelnuts? Fruit and nut?

What about peanut brittle? Rocky road? Peppermint creams?

Oh and is that chocolate counter beckoning me to come hither? Ordered flanks of chocolate armies marching towards me and my puddle of drool? Truffles of sparkling shiraz, plum liquer bites and logs of peppermint truffle... where does one begin?

I exercised modern restraint and ended up with a bag each of milk and chocolate pastilles ($7.20 for 200g) and a peppermint truffle log ($1.95). The pastilles are perfectly delicate, smooth and melt-in-the-mouth. And the peppermint log is minty, buttery-rich and satisfyingly decadent.

Three varieties down. About 82 to go. And I've definitely got my eye on those bright and shiny foil-wrapped giant chocolate frogs ($16.00 for a 375g frog). Incredible chocolates. Now if only they'd update their website.

Haigh's Chocolates
Strand Arcade, 412 George St, Sydney
Tel: 02 9221 6999

Open Mon-Fri 8.30am-6pm (Thu til 9pm)
Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm.

Five Favorite (Cook) Books Meme

Reid tagged me for this meme over a week ago and I've only just gotten around the answering this now. Guilty of procrastination as charged! It's certainly been enlightening reading everyone else's cookbook/cooking memes currently going around at the moment. We know what people are eating, and we know what people are photographing, but memes give an added dimension to my fellow floggers' lives and culinary psyche. This meme version was originally about book tastes in general, but I'm continuing the food bloggers' theme and answering the questions with reference to cook books. Here goes...

1. Total number of (cook) books I've owned:
About 70 (including 20 mini cookbooks from Family Circle, Woman's Day etc etc), a collection which has increased exponentially in the past couple of years.

2. Last (cook) book(s) I bought:
Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Heaven

Great pics, a nice 'essentials' how-to and~~look! There are even pictures of Gordon smiling!





3. Last (food) book I read:
Indulgence: One Man's Selfless Search for the Best Chocolate in the World by Paul Richardson

A fascinating read which had me reaching for the box of Lindt chocolates with increasing regularity. This book tracks chocolate obsessions through history and throughout the world; from Aztec reverence to Spanish chocolate con churros to Parisien artisan chocolatiers.

4. Five (cook) books that mean a lot to me:
This one was a tough one. I mean, I'm not that sentimental! =) But ok...

The 1977 series of Woman's Day All Colour Book of...
It was flicking through these magical reference books as a child that I discovered common household ingredients like flour, sugar and eggs, could be converted to *shriek* yes, cakes, and biscuits, and oh, sugar, glorious, sugar, how I love you so! It was a revelation akin to monks discovering wine. Oh how my weekends were filled with those glorious baking days. The Puddings and Deserts volume, and the Cakes, Pastries and Bread volume were particularly well-thumbed.

Charmaine Solomon's Thai Cookbook was another firm bedtime reading favourite. Charmaine told me the way of the coconut, especially with reference to dessert (are you noticing a pattern here?). And I still marvel over those gorgeous marizipan fruits too.

Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course
I had a long and intimate relationship with Delia during my sojourn in the UK. It was she who taught me the secret of toad-in-the-hole, potato Dauphinois and light-as-air Yorkshire pud. And all her recipes are tried, tested and so easy to follow.


Edmonds Cookery Book
This little book is absolutely brilliant, detailing a comprehensive spectrum of recipes concisely and in a handy little spiral bound format. The "international" section is quite amusing in a post-modern sorta way (chicken chow mein from China? How exotic!). I found this little gem abandoned on our tour truck in Morocco and should I ever be limited to one cookbook whilst travelling, it'd probably be this one. Plus I love the section on what to do with leftover egg yolks and egg whites. Perfect!


A Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander
1100 pages of indexed and cross-referenced recipes by ingredient? This is recipe heaven at its most organised with interesting backgrounders and plenty of traditional as well as unusual recipes. Stephanie is who I turn to when I have an ingredient, and I don't know what to do with it.

5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?

Julia from AromaCookery
Saffron from Writing on a Paper Napkin
Obachan from Obachan's Kitchen and Balcony Garden
Lynn from To Short Term Memories
Maki from I Was Just Really Very Hungry

Tip! You're it!

SHF #9: Jamaican choko tarts

After making my banana caramel macadamia tarts, I was still itchy to do some more baking. And besides, aren't tarts all about wanton excess?

I got the idea for these after flicking through my glittery copy of The Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander, the foodie bible for every Australian homecook. Stephanie says her choko tart recipe was sourced from an old collection of Caribbean recipes, and when cooked, is indistinguishable from apple. Isn't that what they say all McDonalds apple turnovers are made from?

And what is a choko? Stephanie, oh culinary font of knowledge, says they belong to the cucurbit family which includes all gourds like pumpkin and zucchini. Backyards around Australia are filled with this ferocious growing vine, which is nigh impossible to get rid of once it takes hold. We used to get bagloads of chokos from our friendly neighbour. Now I have a new choko supplier, who can't seem to get rid of them fast enough, it would appear!

Known variously as a chayote, christophine, cho cho, mirliton and vegetable pear, you're either a choko lover or a choko hater. Personally I love 'em. Chopped and stirfried with vermicelli and soy sauce; microwaved and scooped out with a spoon, sure the taste is subtle, but they have a hint of delicate sweetness about them.

Peeling them, of course, is everyone's biggest bug bear. Leaving a lingering sticky green film on the fingers, the best way to avoid this is to peel them with a disposable glove on.

But enough of the small talk. Let's get onto the recipe. I borrowed inspiration from Stephanie's recipe, but hers is more like an apple pie, so I made some amendments to turn it into a tart. So here is my second entry for Sugar High Friday #9: Tarts.

Jamaican choko tarts


Line 12 small tart cases with shortcrust pastry and bake blind until golden brown.

Meanwhile peel 3 large chokos and boil in water with about 4 cloves until tender. Drain and cool before slicing to a medium thickness.

Layer the choko slices into the tart cases, sprinkling with brown sugar and lemon juice as you go. Put plenty of brown sugar on top.

Bake at 180C for about 10-20min or until golden brown on top. For extra caramelisation I then brushed them with honey and flash grilled them under a high heat.


I actually fooled everyone at work into thinking these were actually apple tarts. They certainly looked pretty enough and the caramelisation factor definitely helped the drool factor!

It's one more way to use up all those chokos which keep arriving on the doorstep anyway.

Now... choko mousse anyone?



Don't forget, you can check out Life in Flow for a round-up of all the Tantalising Titillating Tempting Tarts for this month's Sugar High Friday!

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Dinner with Stephanie Alexander, Oct 04

Banoffee pie

Yes, this month's Sugar High Friday entry is not for the faint-hearted.

This diabetic nightmare takes inspiration from my beloved memories of the English banoffee pie--the English may be guilty of soggy chips, but their supermarket bakeries had me loitering every time.

What is a banoffee pie? Think biscuit base, with a thick blanket of caramel, layered with slices of fresh banana and smothered in peaks of fresh whipped cream. Think banana toffee goodness. Think about how many you can sneak into the trolley without your flatmates noticing.

So with the nearest Sainsburys about 16,000 miles away, it was time to introduce this little baby to a new Antipodean generation. And we'll break the ice with a handful of toasted macadamias so we don't scare the locals.

Banoffee pie with macadamia nuts


1 400g tin sweetened condensed milk (use 2 if you like extra caramel)
200g oat biscuits
30g butter, softened
3 medium bananas
50g roasted macadamias, roughly chopped
300ml carton single cream
chocolate powder or shaved dark chocolate for dusting

Place unopened tin of condensed milk into a saucepan and pour in enough boiling water so it reaches at least halfway. Place lid on saucepan and boil for about two hours, topping up water as necessary. The tin will not explode as long as you keep the lid on, and the water topped up.

Meanwhile crush the biscuits by bashing them in a sealed ziplock bag, or use a foodprocessor. Transfer to a small bowl and add enough butter until the crumbs start sticking together.

Transfer the crumb mixture into a 24cm flan dish or a springform tin. It will be much easier to serve if you use a tin which has a removable base. Pat mixture down evenly and tightly with the back of a spoon, ensuring you have a strong enough wall around the edges. Place tin in fridge to chill.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form and chill until required.

When the two hours is up, remove the tin and place in cold water for about 5 minutes to cool slightly. Open tin carefully and pour into the tart base, taking care not to consume too much of it due to rigorous finger-lickin' "quality control" (it tastes like the gooey caramel out of boxed chocolates!).

Place a layer of sliced bananas on top. Scatter with roasted macadamia chunks.

Follow with a generous slathering of fresh cream.

Dust with chocolate powder of shaving of dark chocolate (I used Lindt 85% cocoa dark chocolate).

Enjoy.



And as proof that great minds must think alike, Saffron made banoffee pie on the same night I did! Freaky!

Don't forget, you can check out Life in Flow for a round-up of all the Tantalising Titillating Tempting Tarts for this month's Sugar High Friday!