Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2009

Congee simpang (mixed) SG$3.00

Welcome to Singapore.

We step off our Singapore Airlines jumbo from Sydney to Singapore only to be hit by a wall of tropical 30C heat and 75% humidity.

Suze and I waste no time in looking for food once we check into our hotel. We explore the surrounding streets and end up at a corner cafe/eating house which will become our regular haunt over the coming days.


Hong Kong Jin Tian Roast Meat Eating House

A steaming bowl of congee may not be the first thing you'd think of when faced with tropical heat, but after four hours of sleep to catch the early flight, I find the soupy rice concoction is simple, soothing and reviving. Strangely, I do find myself cooling down with the hot meal, something my grandma had always told us to do ("drink hot soup to cool down!" she'd lecture) which we'd always dismissed as crazytalk.


Wonton mee SG$2.50

Suze has the wonton mee, a generous muddle of fresh egg noodles served with pork and prawn wontons and slices of charsiu barbecue pork. She's delirious with pleasure at being reunited with her favourite drink Sarsi, a sarsparilla drink which she will pursue with dogged determination at each and every meal in Singapore.

The price of food is staggeringly cheap. All manner of roast meats with rice are SG$2.50. Kaya coconut jam on toast is SG$0.60 per slice. We promise each other we will return in the morning for a kaya toast breakfast. In the meantime, we have to rush off to get ready for the evening's spectacle, the Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards.



Suze's ingenious bathtub of Pringles had won her flights, accommodation and tickets to the Awards ceremony in Singapore for two, and joy of joys, she chose me to accompany her (thanks Suze!). We arrive at the Pan Pacific Hotel to find a red carpet entrance, a glammed up ballroom and 400 bloggers and guests dressed to the nines and going crazy with photos. Facing a tidal wave of SLR-wielding bloggers was both surreal and kinda cool at the same time!


Ballroom floorplan


Table set-up


Pacific Ballroom


I love blogging sweets

We loved the jars of sweets set at each place, complete with custom messages commemorating the blog awards as well as the common sentiment "I love blogging".


Bread rolls

Our Master of Ceremonies for the night was Allan Wu, a Chinese-American actor based in Singapore who hosts the Asian version of The Amazing Race. Whilst award ceremonies can often be long and drawn out, the summary videos highlighting the blog finalists in each category were punchy and entertaning.

And of course the food kept us entertained both with photography and eventual consumption.


Starter:
Light cream of asparagus and green peas topped with a chive mousseline


Entree:
Marinated smoked tuna with feta, herb salad and balsamic olive oil


Mains:
Rosemary marinated chicken breast
with saffron cheesy mash, potato and balsamic reduction
and Mediterranean vegetable in mango coriander salsa sauce


Dessert: Praline hazelnut gateau with raspberry jelly

My favourites of the evening included the smoked tuna and the dessert. The praline hazelnut gateau had a light and fluffy texture with a sweet biscuit base. A fine chocolate spear on top was visually impressive too.



And the winners? Here they are:

• Best Blogshop: bonitochico.livejournal.com
• Best Fashion Blog: ladymelbourne.blogspot.com
  (Aust)
• Best Food Blog: I Eat I Shoot I Post
  
• Best Parenting Blog: Childhood101 (Aust)
• Best Travel Blog: Ironwulf.net: En Route
  
• Best Celebrity Blog: Joanne Peh
• Best Entertainment Blog: Kenny Sia
• Best Geek Blog: Mr Gadget (Aust)
• Best Hidden Gem: dedoodleblog
• Best Original Blog Design: Xiaxue
• Most Influential Blog: Xiaxue
• Region’s Best Blog: Xiaxue

Special mention also goes out to the Australian finalists who did so well out of 13,000 nominated blogs across the Asia Pacific region:

• Best Fashion Blog Finalist: Super Kawaii Mama (Aust)
• Best Food Blog Finalist: Eat Show & Tell (Aust)
• Best Parenting Blog Finalist: Planning With Kids (Aust)
• Best Geek Blog Finalist: Michael Aulia (Aust)
• Best Entertainment Blog Finalist: Girl With a Satchel (Aust)
• Most Influential Blog Finalist: Down to Earth (Aust)
• Best Hidden Gem Finalist: Looby Lu (Aust)

Congratulations everyone!


MC Allan Wu with Xiaxue (in pink)


Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Award Finalists crowd the stage

Thanks Nuffnang for an amazing start to my first taste of Singapore. Stay tuned for more Singapore eats and treats...

Grab Your Fork travelled to Singapore as a guest of Nuffnang Australia for the Asia-Pacific Blog Awards.


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Hong Kong Jin Tian Roast Meat
Blk 58 Eng Hoon Street, Singapore
Tel: +65 9383 1318 or +65 9733 0673

Open 7 days 7am-8.30pm

Sugar Hits at The Grace Hotel, Glass and Azuma Kushiyaki

I'm baaaack.

Singapore was an absolute blast - a blast of heat and humidity but much fun nonetheless. Food? Photos? Of course there was plenty of both, but because time is of the essence, I'm uploading a backlog of SIFF posts whilst it's still October.

Remember this? Last year, Billy hosted a sponsored Stickier and Sweeter Sydney Tour - a quest to consume as many Sugar Hits in one night. We managed to visit five Sugar Hits between 9pm and 11.10pm, an operation that involved intense fidgeting as we waited impatiently for our desserts and a few frantic dashes in-between destinations. I can still remember feeling a violent shade of green as I made the bolt (with a belly already full of three desserts) from the Marriott to the Four Seasons so we could make it in time for our designated booking.

Having already attempted the Sugar Sprint, we decided to exercise a little self-control (yes, truly) and along with Suze and the Pom, we meandered our way through three Sugar Hits over the course of the evening. I did say only a "little" self-control...

Sugar Hit #1:
8.00pm - The Grace Hotel


Desserts of the world tasting plate
[From top]: Walnut and fig biscotti; sticky rice with custard;
Turkish delight with fairy floss; vanilla bean brulee tart;
pavlova topped with fresh berries and cream; tiramisu;
and mango sorbet in a brandy snap basket

We started our Sugar Soiree at the Grace Hotel. We were quite excited by reports of the generous dessert plate but ended up feeling a little underwhelmed when it finally arrived at our table. A dusting of cocoa powder looked more like a coughing fit, and the desserts themselves, whilst generous in portion, are somewhat disappointing.



Our vanilla bean brulee tarts are missing the caramelised sugar top, making them more custard and less brulee. I'm also surprised to find a plastic collar still wrapped around my tiramisu - although mine is the only one with this oversight.


Turkish delight with fairy floss and sticky rice with custard

Sticky rice is an unfortunate blob of cold pasty rice. I do enjoy the cubes of Turkish Delight which are quite firm and chewy, like a jube. Fluffy strands of Persian fairy floss in chocolate flavour are always a treat too.


The carnage

Sugar Hit #2:
9.00pm - Glass Brasserie, Hilton Hotel



We arrive at Glass Brasserie to a dining room that is quietly humming. Lofty ceilings, a glassed view into the hotel atrium and an impressive wall of wine bottles all vy for our attention--until dessert arrives, that is.


Chocolate assiette
Chocolate fondant; white chocolate and pandan parfait topped with
Earl Grey tea ice cream rolled in cookies and cream biscuit;
and raspberry marshmallow bitter chocolate fondue

Oh the impressiveness of uncluttered simplicity. We ravage our plates with non-stop photos.


Chocolate fondant; and white chocolate and pandan parfait topped with
Earl Grey tea ice cream rolled in cookies and cream biscuit

Chocolate fondant has been baked to a gooey lava-like perfection. We dig our spoons past the puddle of chocolate sauce, scooping into the soft springy sponge to reveal a molten mass of partially-cooked chocolate batter.

White chocolate and pandan parfait has an interesting flavour, fragrant with pandan and cool on the tongue. I'm not so keen on the Earl Grey tea ice cream which seems a little too sweet and overwhelmed by the cookie crumbs.


Raspberry marshmallow bitter chocolate fondue

It's the elegant presentation of the raspberry marshmallow that wins me over. Who knew that a marshmallow, seared to a speckled blush and slightly oozy, could look so sexy on a Japanese skewer over a shot glass of chocolate fondue? There's a frisson of anticipation between the marshmallow and chocolate, so close and yet so far.

I probably take a little too much delight in bathing the marshmallow in chocolate. It's a pity there's no spoon provided to scoop out the remaining chocolate, but we improvise and up-end the glasses directly into our mouths instead.


View into the open kitchen at Glass Brasserie


The carnage

Sugar Hit #3:
9.45pm - Azuma Kushiyaki



It's the second encounter with the Sugar Hit at Azuma Kushiyaki for Suze and I, but that doesn't stop us clapping our hands with childlike glee once more when it arrives. If only all desserts were spread across two platters and arranged with such harmonious perfection.


East meets West dessert tasting plate

After the thick squat and chunky glasses at the Grace Hotel, I'm especially appreciative of the fine cut Reidel "O" glasses at Azuma. We find a few tweaks in terms of flavouring with the desserts - the green tea roll cake isn't quite as heady with matcha as last time (I am sad, but Suze is glad) but I am pleased to find the nori langue de chat biscuit has a more intense, saltier seaweed flavour.


Vanilla cheesecake

The raspberries on the vanilla cheesecake are quite petite, but given the price of raspberries, strawberries and even grapes at the moment, we're appreciative of these fruity flourishes.


Belgian chocolate mousse


Mochi glutinous rice cake served with kinako
(soy bean powder topping) and vanilla ice cream

The shot glass with vanilla ice cream is once again the people's choice. It's not just the fun of pouring in your own brown sugar syrup, but the fishing for glutinous rice cakes bobbing in the melted vanilla ice cream. The mochi has a starchy squidginess that is sweetened by the ice cream, the dusting of kinako adding a powdery nuttiness.


Mochi glutinous rice cake served with kinako (soy bean powder topping),
vanilla ice cream and Japanese brown sugar syrup;
green tea rolled cake with chestnuts


The carnage

Thanks again to Billy for the invite and organising the entire evening. Check out Billy's glorious photographic coverage of the evening here.

There are only two nights left to get in your Sugar Hit so hit the phones before it's all over until next year!



And you'll be able to catch me live in the studio on 702AM ABC radio this Sunday during Simon Marnie's Weekend program. Simon will be chatting with 702 SIFF food reporter Demis Lyall-Wilson, Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella, and I, about our favourite events during the month-long Sydney International Food Festival.

Some of you may remember I was on Simon's show earlier this year. I've finally uploaded the audio of the segment if you missed it - you can check it out on the amended post here.

Don't forget to tune into 702AM ABC Radio, this Sunday, 1 November at 11.00am.

And have you entered the GYF comp to win $200 worth of kitchenware? Hurry, entries close 5.30pm AEST 31/10/09 (that's tomorrow!). Enter now.

The Grace Hotel
77 York Street (corner of King St), Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9272 6636

Glass Brasserie
Hilton Hotel, Level 2, 488 George St, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9265 6068

Azuma Kushiyaki
Ground floor, Regent Place
501 George Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9267 7775

Sugar Hits are on offer at selected hotels and restaurants every night in October as part of the Sydney International Food Festival. To avoid disappointment, bookings for all Sugar Hits are strongly recommended.

Check out the full list of available Sugar Hits for 2009 on the SIFF website.


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
SIFF 2009 - Sugar Hit at Azuma Kushiyaki
SIFF 2009 - Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Food Tour
SIFF 2009 - Nose-to-tail barbecue with Fergus Henderson
SIFF 2009 - World Chef Showcase

Good Food Month 2008 - Sugar Hit Challenge - FIVE Sugar Hits in one night
Good Food Month 2008 - Sugar Hit at Kings Cross Hotel
Good Food Month 2008 - Night Noodle Markets

Interview: Ten Questions with Luke Nguyen (and another Freebie Friday!)

Luke Nguyen

The night before Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Tour, I read Secrets of the Red Lantern, written by Luke's sister, Pauline.

As Pauline unravelled the threads of her family story, there was one anecdote that immediately leapt off the pages, making me smile. It was her description of her younger brother Luke as a kid...

It came as no surprise to any of us when Luke told of his plans for Red Lantern. For as long as I can remember, he has always dreamed of opening his own establishment. Whilst Lewis and I pursued other careers, the art of hospitality is all that Luke has ever known. It is in his blood.

Merely to watch Luke work is to die a little. At the age of four he was already dashing around like an efficient midget, cleaning ashtrays, wiping tables and taking orders. While Lewis and I worked for my parents simply because we had no choice, Luke performed all his duties with genuine enthusiasm and an unceasing ‘can do’ attitude.

I can still picture him, carefully carrying individual cups of coffee to the customers with both hands, taking tiny steps with the focus of a tightrope walker, making sure not to spill a single drop. When the bowls of noodle soup went out, he would remind his customers in his authoritative little mean voice to "…eat slowly, and be careful, don’t burn your tongue."

Of course, all the regulars loved him. He was their little star and he knew it.

All around the restaurant, Luke liked to think of himself as a speed demon.

"Bread…" he would coach me, "…should arrive to the customer as quick as Flash Gordon."

"Oh yeah? Why’s that?" I humoured him.

"So that it’s still as hot and crusty as possible."

"Oh really? Why’s that?"

With great annoyance he would sigh, "It is the only way."

- from Secrets of the Red Lantern by Pauline Nguyen


It's obvious when you meet Luke in the flesh that his passion for food is still just as strong. These days he's a restauranteur, a cookbook author and gracing our tv screens in the new SBS series Luke Nguyen's Vietnam.

I was keen to find out more about the affable Luke and he was happy to oblige. He even dug out some kiddie photos from the family photo album!



Ten Questions with Luke Nguyen

1. I loved your sister’s description of you in the passage above from Secrets of the Red Lantern. Is this how you remember your childhood and what it was like working in your parents’ restaurants? And does the Flash Gordon reference mean you were a keen fan?

I worked at my family restaurant every day - before school, after school and even during school holidays. In this description I was must have been only 10 or 12 years old - most of the guests had watched me grow up, they were all family to me, so I actually enjoyed looking after them. It was a very busy little place so I had to work fast, zipping around like ‘Flash Gordon’. I watched the cartoons but I didn’t have his comics.

2. Can you remember the first dish you learned how to cook?

Pho was the first dish I was taught to cook. It's a medicinal beef broth served with rice noodles and fine slices of beef sirloin and brisket.

I was 10, standing on a blue milk crate watching over dad’s huge 200 litre pot of beef broth. I would stand there skimming for hours, making sure it was clean and clear. Once I achieved that, I was eventually shown what secret spices and Chinese medicinal herbs went in tothe spice bag – it was all very hush hush.

3. Is there a food or smell that instantly transports you back to your childhood?

Definitely slow braised baby goat cooked in a delicate turmeric curry. My parents would have this cooking for around 6 hours, allowing the goat meat to just slide off the bone. The aroma of curry leaves and dry spices makes me feel like a youngster again.


Can you spot the young Luke Nguyen?

4. What was a typical packed lunch for you when you were a kid?

Mum used to give us kids a tiered Asian lunch box – which was made out of stainless steel and had four levels. There was a tier of rice, a soup of Asian greens, a tier with a braised meat dish and the last, a salad. I was always quite embarrassed carrying this shiny tall lunch box to school as everyone else had a simple sandwich and Doritos, but looking back now as an adult - it was pretty cool!

I still have the same lunch box from school. I bring it out for picnics and when not in use, I store varieties of tea in it.

5. What inspired you to write The Songs of Sapa? Did you have a clear idea from the start?

My family is from the south of Vietnam, so I am familiar with all the southern dishes. However I wanted to explore the rest of the country and learn more about the diverse cuisine that each region in Vietnam has to offer.

I headed off on a research trip with my partner, Suzanna, who took beautiful photos to go with my recipes and stories. I got to meet amazing locals, make new friends, discover age old recipes, and share it with the rest of the world through a book.


Luke's mum with copies of his new book The Songs of Sapa

6. How did the series Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam come about? Were the TV series and the book created concurrently during your visits to Vietnam? How many days did you spend in Vietnam to create the book and the series?

The series came about after I had completed the book. The book was so vibrant, colourful, and raw and showed the real Vietnam. It only made sense to follow it with a cooking travel series through Vietnam to allow viewers to experience it through their tv screens.

I spent 2 months researching and documenting recipes for The Songs of Sapa and I spent 9 weeks with a crew of 12 filming Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam.

7. Your father, Lap Nguyen, has been quoted as saying “Luke was born and grew up abroad so he doesn’t understand thoroughly about Vietnam. We have returned to Vietnam to help him.”

How much of a help or a hindrance were your parents on your trips?!

My parents played a huge role in the making of the series. They introduced me to family members I had never met, introduced ingredients that were foreign to me, bought produce for my recipes, and acted as interpreters to the crew. They were parents to everyone working on the project.

And yes there were days where they would drive me insane – but that’s what parents do.

Luke Nguyen with his parents

8. What’s your favourite recipe from The Songs of Sapa and why?

Favorite recipe would have to be the ‘crisp silken tofu in black pepper sauce’. I was in Sapa in the northern mountains of Vietnam, searching for ‘the tofu maker’. I finally tracked him down and we arranged for me to come back early the next morning and for me to be his apprentice for the day.

Never before had I made tofu from scratch. We soaked the soy beans, crushed it and squeezed out all the juice. We cooked it in a pot - heated by a fire made from sticks - by bringing it to the boil, adding natural coagulant, pressing it and then cutting it to form steaming hot silken tofu which is sold straight to the markets.

I sat there as the sun was rising, sipping on hot soy milk and eating handmade tofu for breakfast. It was very memorable.

9. What dish do you crave when you're sick?

Bitter melon soup with minced pork, as bitter melon is a ‘cooling’ vegetable and refreshing for my body.

10. What's the ideal breakfast you'd want to wake up to?

A big bowl of pho – with the lot! Rice noodles, raw sirloin, brisket, tripe, tendon and beef balls.


And yes, indeedy, we have a freebie! Don't you love a Freebie Friday?

THE PRIZE:
One copy of Luke Nguyen's new cook book The Songs of Sapa (recommended retail price AU$70.00).

Please note this competition is open to Australian and New Zealand residents only.

HOW TO ENTER:
All you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell us "what was a typical packed lunch for you when you were a kid?"
   
2. Send an email to grabyourforksapacomp@yahoo.com.au and include your full name and a copy of your comment on this post.

The Songs of Sapa Freebie Friday competition closes on Friday 13/11/09 at 5.30pm AEST. The winner will be announced on Grab Your Fork on Monday 16/11/09.

The winner will be chosen on the basis of entertainment value and/or sheer honesty. Judge's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

~~~

Don't forget you still have time to enter the Grab Your Fork Secret Recipe competition to win $200 worth of kitchenware. Entries close 31/10/09. Enter now.

And Grab Your Fork will be a little quiet for about a week as I'm jetting off to Singapore for the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards. I'll be attending as a guest (thanks to Suze winning two tickets with this post - thanks Suze!) and cheering on Aussie food blog finalists Eat Show & Tell.

See you all soon!
Helen


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Food Tour
(now updated with shop names and details of Luke's personal recommendations)

Luke Nguyen's caramelised pork belly recipe
Luke Nguyen's Canh Chua tamarind soup and silver perch recipe

Ten Questions with Curtis Stone
Ten Questions with Matthew Evans
Ten Questions with Poh Ling Yeow
Ten Questions with Chubby Hubby

Canh Chua tamarind broth with silver perch and elephant ear stem

Elephant ear stems must be up there as one of the most exotic-sounding and evocative vegetable names in English.

The Fairfield City Council guide to South-East Asian Greens explains that Elephant Ear Stem (Khoai So)

"...gets its name from its wide elephant-like ear leaf (not shown). The stem and stalk are used for cooking and yield mild grassy flavoured spongy flesh. Khoai So is a good source of thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus and zinc.

Use stems to add texture and absorb the flavours of soups and stir-fries."

Elephant ear stem is most often encountered in the Vietnamese classic dish Canh Chua. This clear soup is sour with tamarind, sweet with pineapple, and a little bit sticky from the slices of okra. Thick chunks of fatty and rich silver perch provide sustenance, and there's plenty of textural interest in the jumble of tomato wedges, squeaky bean sprouts and wilted herbs like saw tooth coriander and rice paddy herb on top.

The flavours are absorbed by the quiet star of the show, the spongy elephant ear stem that squelches sour and sweet and salty soup with every bite.

This dish was a surprise hit during our cooking session at the conclusion of Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Tour. The tangy soup is soul-reviving and tastes so clean you just know it's good for you.



Canh Chua Ca Chem
Tamarind broth with silver perch and elephant ear stems
from Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Tour

1 silver perch (400g-500g) cut into 1.5cm thick cutlets
1 1/2 litres water
50g tamarind pulp
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
100g sliced pineapple
50g elephant air stems, peeled and sliced
50g okra, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced into wedges
50g bean sprouts
1 bunch rice paddy herb, sliced
1 bunch saw tooth coriander, sliced
1/2 teaspoon fried red Asian shallots
1/2 teaspoon fried garlic chips
1 chilli sliced

Soak a clay pot in cold water overnight. This will prevent it cracking when heated. A normal pot is fine otherwise.

Dissolve the tamarind pulp in 250ml warm water. Work the pulp until dissolved and then strain the liquid through a fine sieve, discarding the pulp.

Combine the tamarind liquid with 1.5 litres of cold waster, fish sauce, pineapple and sugar in a large clay pot and bring to the boil. Add the fish pieces to the pot and return to the boil, skimming any impurities.

Add the tomato, elephant ear stem, okra and bean sprouts to the pot and return the boil again.

Garnish with the rice paddy herb, saw tooth coriander, fried red Asian shallots, fried garlic and chilli.

Serve with jasmine rice or vermicelli noodles.

Related GrabYourFork posts:
SIFF 2009 - Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Food Tour
SIFF 2009 - Luke Nguyen's caramelised pork belly recipe

SIFF 2009 - Cheese making workshop - mozzarella and camembert
SIFF 2009 - Nose-to-tail barbecue with Fergus Henderson
SIFF 2009 - Sugar Hit at Azuma Kushiyaki
SIFF 2009 - World Chef Showcase

How to make your own mozzarella and camembert

"I'm just crackers about cheese!"
- Wallace, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

We were all crackers about cheese, a group of 18 cheese lovers assembled for the Cheese Making Workshop by McIntosh and Bowman as part of the Sydney International Food Festival.

Much like making one's own bread, creating your own cheese can seem a little intimidating for the uninitiated. It all seems so complex and bewildering.

In fact, cheese making, as we found, is not as difficult as you would think. Most involve heating milk to a certain temperature, adding rennet or starter culture, and then utilising patience and time. Over the course of the day, we discovered that sourcing the best quality unhomogenised milk was key - milk with cream at the top seemed to create far better curds than the homogenised version.

Whilst we were encouraged to use our hands, we were reminded that anything that came in contact with the cheese had to be sterilised by dipping in the diluted chlorine bath.

We made two different cheeses on the day: mozzarella and camembert. Each recipe was made by a team of two people, hence the huge quantities.


Making mozzarella
with Giorgio Linguanti
- That's Amore (Melbourne)

I was so excited about making mozzarella. If there's a sexy cheese, it's the shiny silky globules of mozzarella - cheese you want to rip apart with your hands and savour slowly.


Pouring 10 litres of milk into the pot


Adding the starter culture (citric acid)


After heating the milk to 36C, slowly transfer to a sterile bucket,
trying to minimise the amount of bubbles


Add the rennet (we used a microbial vegetarian rennet).
Stir through for max 20 seconds as it will start to set -
leave to set for about 30 minutes.


Check that the curds have set sufficently by checking that
a wedge-shaped segment will lift out easily


Cut the curds into 2cm cubes by slicing lengthways, widthways
and then down at a 45 degree angle toward the bottom of the tub


Use a slotted spoon or clean hands to gently move the curds
around, which will help them release more whey (liquids).
Leave for 20 minutes.


Wash the curds by adding about 1 litre of boiling water


Use a slotted spoon or clean hands to gently
move the curds about


Use a small bowl to transfer the whey to a colander in a sterile tub.
When you mostly have wet curds left in the tub, pour into the colander.
Keep the whey if you wish to make ricotta, otherwise discard.
Allow curds to drain and sit for 30 min.


After 30min flip the colander and turn the drained curd upside down

Allow the curd to sit for another 30min

Place the curd directly into a sterile tub and dice roughly


Add enough boiling water so the curds are immersed in enough liquid to be
plied together until soft. Use two wooden spoons to help you bring the
curds together, a little like making dough.


When the curds become pliable, use your hands to knead
and stretch the mozzarella until it is shiny.
The cheese needs to be in hot water to melt the curds,
so dip your hands in cold water beforehand so
you can work with the hot water more easily.


Fold the mozzarella back onto itself and continue
stretching and looping


Use your fingers to gently tease out an umbrella shape


Squeeze the umbrella closed through your thumb and index finger
to create a smooth and shiny ball of mozzarella


Continue making balls or twist the cheese into plaits


You can also poke a stuffed olive inside before you close the umbrella
to make fancy mozzarella surprises!

Makes about 4 medium rectangular takeaway boxes of mozzarella balls.

Making camembert with Clare Bailey
- Hunter Belle, Upper Hunter Valley

At the same time as were making the mozzarella. we also set about making camembert. All that time waiting around for curds and whey is best invested in making even more cheese!


The camembert making was led by Clare Bailey,
a qualified cheese maker who was the first student in NSW
to study cheese making as part of her HSC.
She is now 20 but has worked with Hunter Belle since she was 15

We heated 6 litres of milk into a pot to a temperature of 40C. We gently stirred in a prepared starter culture, distributing it evenly throughout the milk. Let the milk sit for 30 min.


After 30min, check that the milk temperature is 38C-40C, otherwise reheat.
Add the rennet (stir through gently but quickly) and allow it to stand for 30min.


After 30min you should have soft curds. Create 2cm cubes by cutting
lengthways, widthways and then down at a 45 degree angle toward the
bottom of the tub. Leave for 30min (the yellow colour is from the
cream of the unhomogenised milk)


After 30min use either a sterile slotted spoon or clean hands to gently move the
curds about, checking the corners for large chunks which you can
cut into cubes as necessary. Leave the curds for another 30mins.

Stir gently again and leave for 20min.
Stir gently again and leave for 10min.

Scoop out half the whey off the curds.


Gently ladle the curds into moulds (we used sterile plastic pipes) set on a
rack lined with gauze or cheesecloth above a tray. This stage is known as hooping.
Allow the curds to sit for 15min.

Place your hand over the top of the mould and then quickly flip the mould upside down, back onto the rack.

After 30min, flip again.
After another 30min, flip a final time.

Leave on a rack overnight, covering the moulds with plastic to retain as much warmth as possible.

The next morning, bathe the cheeses in a litre of chilled 20% saltwater solution, 10 minutes on each side.

Transfer the cheeses to a container with holes in the lid and leave in the warmest part of your fridge (usually the vegetable crisper) for at least a week to develop mould. After a week, the cheese can be wrapped as a camembert, or washed in a Brevi solution to create a washed rind cheese.


Clare with camemberts that had drained overnight


Claudia McIntosh gives a briefing on cheese principles and theory


Clare checks the curds


Cheese makers at work

So I have two miniature wheels of camembert sitting in my fridge right now. It's funny how often I feel compelled to check on them, like tending to precious babies. And whilst it's hard to reconcile that the cheese will not be ready for at least a week, it does give some perspective on why cheeses cost as much as they do, especially considering how much love goes into each product.

The fridge is quiet right now, but I know that good things come to those that wait.

Grab Your Fork attended the McIntosh and Bowman Cheese Making Workshop as a guest of TourismNSW for the Sydney International Food Festival.

Related GrabYourFork posts:
SIFF 2009 - Luke Nguyen's Cabramatta Food Tour
SIFF 2009 - Nose-to-tail barbecue with Fergus Henderson
SIFF 2009 - Sugar Hit at Azuma Kushiyaki
SIFF 2009 - World Chef Showcase

Cooking class - Chocolate workshop with Kimberley Chocolates
Cooking class - Kaiseki cooking with Kei's Kitchen
Cooking class - Modern Mexican with VictorsFood