Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2017 i Gourmet Traveller

Last Christmas was my first with a child of my own. A combination of having a baby, living in the US and cabin fever induced by sub-zero temperatures meant I got enthusiastic about the season. Decorations, stockings, carols, a visit to Santa Claus – I even put my son on personalised Christmas cards. I’ll be frank: I had some time on my hands and used it to mull over Christmas traditions and those our new family might make our own. Those little things that are unique to each family’s celebration, the details you remember as an adult and feel nostalgic about. My brother, who lives with his family in London, adopted his wife’s tradition of starting Christmas day with chocolate biscuits and tea in bed. My husband’s family gather around…

LAO DARK HONEY, Azerai Bistro Follow a longboat outing on the Mekong or evening meditation at a village temple with this dessert by chef Ben Faker at the stylish new hotel Azerai Luang Prabang. There are hints of the jungle in Lao dark-honey ice-cream and honeycomb with slices of caramel-smoky sapodilla and tangy tamarind purée. Azerai Luang Prabang, Setthathirath Rd, Ban Hua Xieng, Luang Prabang, Laos. HELEN ANDERSON, TRAVEL EDITOR ROASTED PINEAPPLE, OUZO CARAMEL, MASTIKA ICE-CREAM, Island Market Trigg Note to self: roast more fruit. For advice, look to beachside Island Market Trigg, where executive chef David Coomer matches muscovado sugar, anise-flavoured liquors and pineapple. I could perhaps learn how to make their ice-cream, but the sea is calling. Island Market Trigg, 364 West Coast Dr, Trigg, WA, (08) 9447…

WHO Rowena and Mick Ellis moved from Melbourne to Mansfield in Victoria’s High Country to raise beef cattle. They were looking at other crops to complement their Angus herd and decided on capers for their drought tolerance and ability to thrive on a range of soils. They planted 300 Eureka caper bushes on a one-hectare paddock looking out to the Victorian Alps, and in 2010 sold the first jar of Long Lane Capers at their local farmers’ market. HOW Capers are the buds of the plant, which flowers from December to March. Long Lane now produces 300 kilos of caper buds and berries each year, each bud individually hand-picked by Mick, Rowena and a team of local high school students every week. “We grade the buds into small, medium and…

How do you feel about cooking? I love to cook. If I’ve got friends coming over I like nothing better than to head to Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market on a Saturday morning to buy mussels. They’re cheap, tasty and there’s no way of eating them without making a mess. Can you follow a recipe? I prefer to get the gist and then improvise. For me, cooking is a lot like playing music – I like to be in the moment. What kind of an eater are you? I don’t cook any land animals, and I limit myself to oceanic creatures that cling to rocks or are sustainably sourced. When I cook a whole fish, we hope that it had a fairly full and interesting life before reaching our plates –…

Sydney’s Flour and Stone is a small-batch kind of bakery, but Nadine Ingram says she’s still made thousands of pavs. So before we direct you to our pavlova feature (on p110) we thought we’d ask her advice. “We’re after a crisp shell with a marshmallow centre,” Ingram says. “I make the pavlovas at the end of the day, then the oven gets turned off and they sit in it overnight to set.” Ingram also cautions against overwhipping or adding the sugar too quickly, which can result in fissures. “Starting at medium speed will ensure the pavlova isn’t too aerated (yes, it’s a thing), and have more cracks than you’re after,” she says, but it’s a question of balance. “As Stephanie Alexander says, ‘a pavlova should be suitably cracked’.” Step by…

I choose an elegant Huon pine serving spoon carved from an old windowsill for my friend who has everything. One the first day of Christmas I’m surrounded by children and fed up with chocolate Santas, colouring books and other tat. I drive to see my friends at Clifton Farm, near Huonville, and fill a basket with plump cherries and bestow handfuls upon every child I see. Pairs of cherries become earrings, and are eaten Cleopatra style – dangled over tiny, juice-stained lips, and cherry-pip spitting contests sully the patio. On the second day of Christmas I drive to the Cygnet Market to Phoenix Creations, who salvage timber door frames, mantelpieces and storm-thrown trees, and carve them into utensils. I choose an elegant Huon pine serving spoon carved from an old…

Has there ever been a better time to be a hungry Melbourne night owl? Things were good before, but recent additions Arlechin, the Grossi family’s handsome laneway bar, and Butchers Diner, Con Christopoulos’s 24-hour burger and breakfast joint, have made late-night dining a more appealing option than ever. Now serial restaurateur David Mackintosh and cocktail maestro Joe Jones have opened The Mayfair, bringing a wonky Stork Club impersonation and a carte of don’t-make-mechoose bistro classics to the mix. The Mayfair has taken over the Sofitel driveway space formerly occupied by Pei Modern, turning it into a squeaky-clean 1950s stage-set version of a 1930s jazz club, replete with enthusiastic, formally attired waitstaff. The carpeted dining room has semicircular leather booths down one wall, linen-dressed tables, potted palms and assorted brass and…

When it comes to contemporary kitchen appliances, we expect them to be smart, and that means ease and versatility. The emergence of combi-steam ovens like the V-Zug Combair-Steam SL, which unite traditional multi-function and steam capabilities in the one appliance, has brought new standards to the domestic kitchen. These brilliantly versatile ovens allow the home chef to achieve deliciously professional results with a minimum of fuss. For this chickpea and steamed eggplant dish, for instance, the chickpeas are boiled on the stove while the eggplant gets the steam treatment without you having to break out too many pots and pans. Want to make this light meal more of a feast? Grill some tasty lamb cutlets at the same time for a Moroccan-style dinner made in less than an hour. Now…

OSTRO BY JULIA BUSUTTIL NISHIMURA ($44.99, Pan Macmillan) Judge this book by its cover: a big cake, glasses of something fizzy and fun, a big loaf of bread, a random pumpkin, crushed linen and Julia Busuttil Nishimura sitting amongst it all, looking supremely relaxed. Cut us a slice. The dish: a dependable cabbage salad. LISBOETA BY NUNO MENDES ($49.99, Bloomsbury) Nuno Mendes is best known in London for his progressive cooking at Viajante and Chiltern Firehouse, but it’s the straighter Portuguese food he serves at Taberna do Mercado that gets our vote, and it’s a thrill to see him now capture the essence of Lisbon, his home town, in this beautiful book. Crack a cold Sagres and dive in. The dish: pork sandwich with chouriço butter. HONG KONG FOOD CITY…

Andrea Busnelli and his wife, Ilaria, light up when they talk about Gigi. He was born in 1970 at their ornate Pasticceria Busnelli in Milan. He feeds on wheat flour and warm water at 7am, noon and 6pm every day. “Often, we cannot go on holidays because of Gigi,” Ilaria says. Andrea disappears to his baking “laboratory” and returns with the 47-year-old starter dough, cradled in his arm like a top-percentile infant swaddled in cotton and coiled rope. Gigi is the secret behind the Busnelli family’s panettone. Panettone, the sweet fruit-studded loaf from Milan that started life in the Middle Ages as a bread eaten during religious celebrations, has become a symbol of Christmas in Italy and the world over. A proper panettone takes two days to make. The process…

DAN HONG, MR WONG, MS G’S, SYDNEY Mud crab with XO sauce SERVES 4-6 // PREP TIME 50 MINS // COOK 40 MINS “Nothing’s better than getting your hands dirty eating beautiful Aussie mud crab and licking your fingers in the summer, especially at Christmas,” says Dan Hong. “Any leftover sauce can be eaten on top of noodles or rice, or with bread.” 2 live mud crabs (about 1kg each), dispatched humanely (see cook’s notes p190 ), scrubbed 60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil 40 gm ginger, finely chopped, plus extra julienned to serve 30 gm garlic (about 6 cloves), crushed 4 spring onions, cut into batons, plus extra very thinly sliced to serve 2 long red chillies, thinly sliced 300 ml chicken stock 140 gm (½ cup) XO…

Barbecued lemongrass snapper with pomelo and herb salad SERVES 6-8 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 50 MINS (PLUS MARINATING) A whole roasted fish is a fuss-free way to cook seafood for a crowd. We like to marinate the fish overnight so the flavour gets right into the flesh, and it’s one less thing to do on the day. The salad dressing can be made a day ahead, have the herbs ready and stored in an airtight container, steam some rice and you’re good to go. 4 long red chillies, coarsely chopped 40 gm ginger, coarsely chopped 10 gm makrut lime leaves (see cook’s notes p190 ), thinly sliced, plus extra to serve 8 garlic cloves, chopped 2 shallots, coarsely chopped 2 lemongrass stalks (white part only), thinly…

There are many good reasons to come to Oita. Architecture. Bamboo. Kabosu. Fried chicken. Most people, though, come for the hot springs. This prefecture, which occupies the north-east corner of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s main islands, is famed for its geothermal activity. Ryokans, Japan’s traditional inns, dot the countryside, a great many of them offering hot-spring bathing in onsens. The city of Beppu, on the east coast, is alone home not just to 2000 onsens but eight jigokus, or hells, which gush boiling waters of cobalt and grey and oxide-red. At Beppu Kaihin Sunayu you can be buried in hot sand for a quarter of an hour before you “wash the sand off in a gender appropriate tub”. Hot mud is the attraction at Beppu Onsen Hoyo Land, and…

Drink The 10th-floor Sky Lounge at the Kingsbury Hotel has views of the Indian Ocean but it’s best known for its Martini menu and spirits sold by the shot or bottle (48 Janadhipathi Mawatha, thekingsburyhotel.com). At Whight & Co, pure Sri Lankan arabica beans are roasted and served with sea views from an Art Deco space (24 Marine Dr). And the charming Mr Rusthi makes the spiciest masala chai in town at Chennai Café in Pettah Market (47 China St). STAY Maniumpathy This ancestral mansion in Colombo 7, the elegant embassy district, is an oasis of eight suites – most with a terrace onto the pool or a balcony above it – decked out with sepia-toned family portraits and four-poster beds. Expect the kind of style and service that distinguishes…

DAY TRIPPER Upgrade your daytime wardrobe with Michel Herbelin’s classic round-faced watches. These timeless styles will add polish to any look – from office attire to pared-back weekend wear. Try a design featuring an elegant silver bracelet or, for something more contemporary, the recently launched Newport Connect, featuring luminous hands, mother-of-pearl detailing and a modern white strap. As sleek as it is technical, this watch delivers phone alerts and notifications for incoming calls and messages, and an activity tracker and sleep monitor, with a coaching device that provides tips on reaching your health and wellbeing goals. NIGHT SHIFT Eveningwear calls for a sleek, streamlined timepiece. Up the elegance with Michel Herbelin’s gold-plated Salambo bangle watch, which pairs a sculptural metal design with a minimalist dial featuring simple black Roman numerals.…

Measures & equipment • All cup and spoon measures are level and based on Australian metric measures. • Eggs have an average weight of 59gm unless otherwise specified. • Fruit and vegetables are washed, peeled and medium-sized unless otherwise specified. • Oven temperatures are for conventional ovens and need to be adjusted for fan-forced ovens. • Pans are medium-sized and heavy-based; cake tins are stainless steel, unless otherwise specified. Cooking tips • When seasoning food, we use sea salt and freshly ground pepper. • To blanch an ingredient, cook it briefly in boiling water, then drain it. To refresh it, plunge it in plenty of iced water, then drain it. • We recommend using free-range eggs, chicken and pork. We use female pork for preference. • Makrut limes are also…

Tomato and cucumber salad, ricotta, fried bread “I’m addicted to the dressing on the tomato salad from Gilson in South Yarra. Could you please run the recipe?” Andrew Webster, Fitzroy, Vic Tomato and cucumber salad, ricotta, fried bread SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 10 MINS // COOK 15 MINS Gilson, 171 Domain Rd, South Yarra, Melbourne, Vic, (03) 9866 3120, gilsonrestaurant.com.au Pictured p194. 100 ml olive oil 6 thin slices of baguette 4 mixed heirloom tomatoes, thickly sliced 2 baby cucumbers, thickly sliced 80 gm ricotta, beaten until smooth Basil and fennel fronds (optional), to serve 1½ tbsp finely grated pecorino SWEET AND SOUR DRESSING 30 gm caster sugar 1 tbsp vegetable oil 60 ml (¼ cup) red wine vinegar 1½ tbsp soy sauce 2 garlic cloves,…

Liz Elton, creative director; Havana, Cuba Never has a holiday destination made me wish so much for a time machine. While the crumbling streets of Old Havana are charming, to see them in their prime would have been truly spectacular. @liz.elton Helen Anderson, travel editor; Luang Prabang, Laos There’s still a place in the world where ladies cycle with parasols aloft, where a town feeds hundreds of monks daily, where the Mekong flows swifter than time. @handersonglobal David Matthews, subeditor; Govetts Leap, NSW The walk to Pulpit Rock ends out on the promontory where cliff mallee ash clings on as precariously as the link fence, the wind whips and the vastness of the Grose Valley, raised upwards millions of years ago, engulfs you. @davidpilihp…

You’ve just returned from Margaret River Gourmet Escape. Are you a fan of that part of the world? I was taken by the raw beauty of the region. The beaches are wild and rugged, there are beautiful forests and some of the best wineries. It’s an incredible recipe. What’s your ingredient of the moment? Rottnest Island scallops are incredible. I love their size, firmness and sweetness. At Ricky & Pinky we remove the skirt of the scallop, then dry it and pound it for our XO sauce, which is then served with the scallop after it’s been gently cooked in the shell over coals. I also love milk thistle, a weed that can be used similarly to spinach, and purple sprouting broccoli, which we’re grilling at Cumulus to serve in…

Pidapipó’s début book, Gelato Eight Days a Week, makes a strong case for year-round ice-cream. The Melbourne gelateria, headed up by Lisa Valmorbida, has built a cult following since opening in 2014. Now interstaters can get their fix, too, with gelato, sorbet and desserts (popcorn choc tops!) all arranged by season. Jean Jullien’s illustrations bring just as much delight. ($40, hbk, Hardie Grant Books). Time to make a list and check it twice. The new Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Gift Card can be redeemed at hundreds of eateries around the country. Now to decide: Firedoor or Ormeggio, Marion or Anchovy, Gerard’s Bistro or Detour? Happy feasting. gourmettravellergiftcard.com.au Tiny and trip-ready, these powerful, palm-sized speakers weigh just 290 grams. Bose SoundLink Micro Bluetooth speaker, $169.95. bose.com.au…

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Just back from… The bush, wandering happily among the trees, wallabies and birds, and feeling quite at home. Next up… Sydney and weariness. I’m from Melbourne’s western suburbs, resplendent with factories, quarries, rubbish tips, slaughterhouses, noxious industries, tanneries, clouds of smoke, bad smells, sentimental songs, raw language, working-class humour and ugly old-fashioned hooliganism. My first trip abroad was to Bali in 1974 with my first wife, Pamela, and a dear friend, Kathy. We stayed in Ubud for a month in the wet season. There was no electricity, just kerosene lamps. It was all very agricultural; a rice culture using traditional methods and such a huge revelation: bare-breasted women in sarongs carrying baskets on their heads, water buffalo pulling ploughs, frogs, geckoes, fireflies, herds of waddling brown ducks, gamelan music, animals…

Few destinations capture the imagination of the independent traveller like Egypt. The cradle of civilisation is unrivalled for wondrous antiquities – it’s home, in fact, to the only survivor of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Great Pyramid of Giza. The oldest travel destination on Earth, it intrigued intrepid travellers from Ancient Greece and Rome, and became an obsession of Grand Tourists in the 19th century. The allure of Egypt has never abated and it has been the inspiration behind grand-scale Hollywood films. Abercrombie & Kent have a trio of bespoke journeys that take in all the great sights and sites, from the labyrinthine souks of Cairo, the pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the…

“There’s something wonderfully old-fashioned and wholesome about drinking nothing but fermented grape juice.” For Adelaide Hills winemaker James Erskine, tasting a pet-nat for the first time was a revelation. “I was in London in late 2010,” says Erskine. “Doug Wregg from Les Caves de Pyrene [the natural wine specialist importers] sat me down and said, ‘I’m going to show you some things you’ve never tasted before’.” One of those things was a beautiful, slightly cloudy, sparkling wine from the Loire Valley. Wregg told the young Australian it was a pet-nat, or pétillant-naturel, a naturally sparkling wine that had finished fermenting in bottle and had not had anything added to it – no acid, no yeast and no preservatives: the carbon dioxide trapped inside the bottle was keeping the wine fresh.…

Sashimi tartare with avocado and smoky miso mayo SERVES 4-6 With no cooking required, this quick Japanese-meets-Mexican dish makes an ideal start to any festive celebration. Tostadas would work well in place of the nori bases. 500 gm sashimi-grade salmon, cut into 5mm dice 1 small avocado, cut into 5mm dice ¼ cup finely chopped chives 2 sheets toasted nori, cut into rough 5cm-6cm squares Shichimi togarashi (see note), micro-shiso (optional; see note) and roasted black sesame seeds, to serve SMOKY MISO MAYONNAISE 45 gm Japanese mayonnaise, such as Kenko or Kewpie (see note) 3 tsp shiro miso (see note), or to taste ½ chipotle chilli in adobo (see note), finely chopped 2 tsp lime juice, or to taste 1 tsp rice vinegar 1 For smoky miso mayonnaise, process ingredients…

Rice Paper Sister caps off a whirlwind four years for two friends who share a love of what Rahmie Clowes calls “South East Asian hawker fare with local Australian ingredients”. The latest of three venues opened by Clowes and Shane Stafford since 2013, Rice Paper Sister is located in the Melbourne CBD, not far from one of the city’s two Rice Paper Scissors (the other is in Fitzroy). But while the two Scissors venues are about informal, use-your-hands, communal dining, Rice Paper Sister is a little more refined, reflecting a change in direction for the duo. “Rice Paper Sister is traditional, fresh, street food dishes made to be served in restaurant surroundings,” explains Clowes. Those dishes, built from influences ranging from Thailand to Vietnam and Indonesia, reveal RPS’s roots –…

Paper Bird, Sydney The meeting of fresh tofu, melting creamily under the spoon, and rich broth makes for that rare thing: nourishment and elegance in the same bowl. PAT NOURSE Botanic Gardens Restaurant, Adelaide Paul Baker frames the powerful flavours of this terrine with a bright composed salad. Big chunks of pork jowl ensure rich flavour, but balance is assured with the freshness of allium leaves and green apple and the pop of heat from mustard leaves. DAVID SLY Fico, Hobart A play on risotto, with the rice cooked in dashi, a little butter and parmesan, this hit from Fico incorporates black sesame seeds and a subtly vegetal seaweed powder. But it’s the local sea urchin that pulls it together, adding a gorgeous layer of oceanic funkiness. MICHAEL HARDEN Ku…

Berry and pistachio stacked pavlova SERVES 4-6 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 1½ HRS (PLUS COOLING) This three-tiered berry and pistachio pavlova is a real showstopper. The pavs and the raspberry ripple can be prepared a day ahead, but should only be assembled at the last minute, and served without delay. Pictured p110. 165 gm (¾ cup) caster sugar 165 gm (¾ cup) raw caster sugar 225 gm (about 6) eggwhites 1¼ tsp white vinegar 1¼ tsp cornflour 20 gm finely chopped pistachio nuts, plus extra coarsely chopped, to serve Raspberries and sliced strawberries, to serve Edible flowers (optional), to serve RASPBERRY RIPPLE CREAM 125 gm (about 1 punnet) raspberries 2 tbsp pure icing sugar 600 ml pouring cream 300 gm (1¼ cups) crème fraîche Scraped seeds of…

Corn, ginger and crab soup SERVES 10-12 // PREP TIME 15 MINS // COOK 15 MINS Corn in peak season is not only inexpensive, but also has loads of super-sweet flavour – it can’t be beaten. It pairs beautifully with crab, as in this quick soup. For a chilled version, purée the corn base with a hand-held blender, chill for around two hours, then top with crabmeat and spring onion. 4 large golden shallots, finely chopped 1 tbsp vegetable oil 6 corn cobs, kernels removed 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock 1 tbsp finely grated ginger 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 tbsp light soy sauce 4 drops sesame oil 3 tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water 250 gm picked spanner crab meat Thinly sliced spring onion, to…

In 2004 when I first arrived in Bangalore, as it was known then, it was most definitely not a case of love at first sight. The place appeared to be bursting at the seams. I searched for the city’s centre but was thwarted by endless traffic jams and bewildered by the chaos. After a few days I headed south to the spice hills in the hope of finding greener pastures. Yet within a year I’d regard the city as home, and more than a decade later I’m still happily living here. Old Bangaloreans reminisce about their sleepy village, before the opportunities created by globalisation were tapped and the town’s sudden exponential growth surged in the 1990s. Seemingly overnight Bangalore became famous around the world as the Silicon Valley of India,…

1 KitchenAid Powered by your KitchenAid Stand Mixer, the Vegetable Sheet Cutter Attachment creates ultra-thin sheets of vegetables perfect to use as wraps, snacks or a substitute for pasta. $199. kitchenaid.com.au 2 Hisense The spacious four-door Hisense 695L French Door Refrigerator is now available in a sleek stainless-steel finish. Its large capacity, including a six-drawer freezer, will appeal to entertainers and larger families alike. $2,499. hisense.com.au 3 The Lanes With an anticipated opening in 2021, The Lanes retail village will be the Gold Coast’s most exciting dining and entertainment precinct offering boutique accommodation, open-air retail and a fresh food market hall. thelanesgc.com.au 4 Olympus Performance and power meet in the OM-D E-M1 Mark II to capture stunning images and cinema 4K videos. Never miss a moment. Features include weather sealing,…

Accoutrement (02) 9969 1031, accoutrement.com.au Batch Ceramics batchceramics.com.au The Bay Tree (02) 9328 1101, thebaytree.com.au Bisuketto Studio facebook.com/bisukettostudio Booktopia booktopia.com.au Brett Stone utopiaartsydney.com.au Bridget Bodenham 0434 030 931, bridgetbodenham.com.au Chanel 1300 242 635, chanel.com Chefs’ Warehouse (02) 9211 4555, chefswarehouse.com.au Christian Louboutin (02) 8355 5282 Città cittadesign.com Claypool claypool.com.au Commune Bondi (02) 9365 3961; communebondi.com Craft (03) 9650 7775, craft.org.au Crave Wares (02) 9328 6429, cravewares.com.au Cultiver cultiver.com The Daily Edited thedailyedited.com David Jones 1800 354 663, davidjones.com.au The DEA Store (02) 9698 8150, thedeastore.com Dedece (02) 9360 2722, dedece.com Dinosaur Designs (02) 9698 3500, dinosaurdesigns.com.au Earth & Baker ceramichomewares.com.au Glasshouse Fragrances (02) 9757 3080, glasshousefragrances.com Hale Mercantile Co halemercantileco.com Hay (02) 9538 0855, hayshop.com.au Holly Ryan hollyryan.com.au Hub (02) 9217 0700, hubfurniture.com.au Ikea ikea.com.au Jo Malone jomalone.com.au Jook Ceramics itsajook.com Karen Walker karenwalker.com Katherine Mahoney katherinemahoney.id.au Koskela (02) 9280 0999, koskela.com.au Lightly (03) 9348 9520, lightly.com.au L’Occitane au.loccitane.com The Lost and Found Department thelostandfounddepartment.com.au Louis Vuitton 1300 883 880, louisvuitton.com.au Luna Ceramics facebook.com/ lunaceramicsstudio Maison…

Spittelberg Market, Vienna, Austria The Christmas market in the boho district of Spittelberg is more about neighbourhood socialising than wooden-cabin retailing. In cobbled courtyards and along winding streets lined with offbeat boutiques, bars and galleries, friends gather in the snow with mugs of Amarenacherry Chilli Punch and glühwein, inhaling the smell of woodsmoke and waffles, and queuing for south Tyrolean dumplings at Knödleria. spittelberg.at Marché de Noël, Montreux, Switzerland Even by Swiss standards, the alpine views from Montreux’s annual market on the shore of Lake Geneva are splendid. Chalet-shops sell handcrafted gifts and calorific snacks of raclette, röstis and vin chaud, and there’s more seasonal cheer nearby at the Christmas village of Caux and a medieval market at Chillon Castle. Childen love the short cog-train trip to see a jolly…

“People either love or despise amari,” says Niall Maurici, bar manager at Robbie Brown’s in Tasmania’s Kingston Beach. These bitter Italian digestivi can be a challenge to bartenders and the uninitiated drinkers alike. Here Maurici deploys grapefruit and a locally made gin to offer a palatable introduction to Fernet-Branca, the famously bitter Italian digestivo. His gin of choice is the small-batch Süd Polaire, a Tasmanian spirit infused with 10 native plants including Southern Ocean kombu, cassia bark and mountain pepper berries and leaves. “It’s a gin that’s bold enough to stand the exuberance of Fernet’s flavours,” he says. He keeps things light with a soda made with freshly squeezed ruby grapefruit juice. “I like to keep my drinks simple so I can showcase the distinctiveness of the ingredients,” says Maurici.…

1 CHA CHA CHATNI Smoke, spice and sugar all at once. Your Boxing Day baps stuffed with leftover Christmas ham are all the more sweet with a spoonful of this peppery chilli and tomato chutney. $8.99 for 300g. harrisfarm.com.au 2 CORNERSMITH Sydney café and picklery Cornersmith has something of a cult following. The green tomato relish is good, the fennel pickle is great, but the pear and thyme chutney with an unexpected hint of spice? That’s next level. $12 for 300gm. cornersmith.com.au 3 MR WILKINSON’S Don’t limit yourself to cranberry sauce for turkey. This chunky pineapple chutney, with fragrant curry powder, turmeric and cumin, adds unexpected zing to white meats. $12 for 360g. cunliffeandwaters.com.au 4 EAT ME CHUTNEYS These chutneys are made with rescued fruit that would otherwise go to…

Scene: a warehouse on Commonwealth Street. Bright young things line up outside, teeth and hair gleaming, eager to get into the throbbing darkness inside. The lights are low, the volume high. To the left is the bar, where supplicants cool their heels with cocktails and snacks, still hopeful they’ll land a seat in the room over to the right. It’s a broad expanse filled with big tables, smoky with scorched chilli and caramelised fat, ringing to the thunk and sizzle of woks, and that special barking din Sydneysiders make when they know they’re in the hottest place in town right when it’s at its most intensely fabulous. The year is 1999. The place is Longrain. Perhaps you think it’s a little bit strange to take that concept and do something…

RARE RIESLING 2017 Bromley Riesling, Bellarine Peninsula, $25 Darren Burke makes small batches of very good wines on the Bellarine Peninsula including this riesling: it starts all perfumed and grape-pulpy, finishes lean and slatey. bromleywines.com.au SLINKY SHIRAZ 2015 Shaw & Smith Shiraz, Adelaide Hills, $46 A spicy shiraz from the Hills you can play with over the next decade: splash it into big glasses and relish the fruit; cellar for more savoury complexity. shawandsmith.com NEW TRADITION St Ronan’s Methode Traditionelle Cider, Yarra Valley, $25 Made from traditional cider varieties (Kingston Black, Yarlington Mill, etc) planted in St Ronan’s own orchard, this has both beautiful sweet apple flavour and bright bittersweet tang. stronanscider.com.au PINK LEGACY 2017 Lowe Headstone Rosé, Mudgee, $28 David Lowe has been making rosé, on and off, since…

SUSTAINABILITY MISSION Nespresso believes that each cup of coffee should deliver more than just pleasure for its customers – they should also provide a positive impact on society. Sustainability is at the heart of Nespresso’s practice, and they’re committed to improving their environmental performance from coffee cherry through to cup. THE AFTERLIFE OF A CAPSULE Nespresso’s coffee capsules are made from aluminium, which is infinitely recyclable. When it comes to protecting the quality of Nespresso’s coffees from oxygen, light and humidity—as well as meeting the crucial sustainability criteria—there’s no better material out there. So, what happens to the aluminium and coffee grounds after use? WHY ALUMINIUM? In addition to safeguarding the volatile aromas of the coffees, aluminium is robust and lightweight, and it interacts perfectly with your Nespresso coffee machine.…

2017 BY members Dishing the details on the year that was. Our top five most-liked Instagram posts 1. Apple caramel sponge pudding, August 2. Making a splash in Puglia, October 3. Feta and greens gözleme, May 4. Mushroom and thyme soup with Roquefort croûtons, July 5. Gnudi with brown butter, August $US600 Cost to eat at Noma Mexico $US5 Average daily wage in Mexico Staff: the number of people behind the scenes to make it all happen. Crown 15,600 Rockpool Dining Group 3,000 Merivale 2,795 Top-dollar tasting menus at the three-stars 275 ... Attica $275 ... Vue de Monde $245 ... Quay $240 ... Brae $195 ... Orana $185 ... Momofuku Seiobo Most-viewed stories 1. Sydney chef Jeremy Strode dies 2. Bali’s new wave of restaurants, hotels and bars 3.…

Eating your first oyster is a milestone like your first steps, first days at school and first kiss. Like delicate messengers to the palates of youth they whisper secrets of sensuality and sophistication. For children, oysters appear at eye-level on tables, just out of reach, shrouded in tantalising prohibition and mystery. “You’re not quite ready for them yet,” we’re told, while the adults slurp in indecent delight. I remember the feeling of reverence that attended my first oyster. Christmas. A dozen aunts and uncles perched along a wooden last-supper table, resting their eyes on my trembling fork. “Don’t chew,” were the instructions. “Just let it swim in your mouth, then swallow. Savour the aftertaste.” I remember its cool voluptuousness, its sea-saltiness and its strangeness as it swelled on my tongue.…

What’s your key to a perfect photograph? There’s no one key but amazing light usually plays a part. What’s your best photo? One is my shot of an Arctic fox in the Yukon, Canada. I had a split second and the image is a combination of the technical proficiency of my gear and lucky timing. You’ve just been shooting for Olympus? I had 10 days in Norway shooting exclusively on the OM-D E-M1 Mark II and it was just the best trip. My camera bag was so light and I was able to hike to spots I might not have been able to with heavier gear and, being Norway, we got so much rain and the camera handled it without a hitch. So I was basically in a photographer’s heaven…

This is not a book about vegetarians; it’s a book about vegetables. Or, to be more specific, plants. In much of the world there’s often a mentality of either liking meat or vegetables. I still eat steak. I cook pig trotters. I obsess over the many things to do with the head of a humanely raised hog. But I also believe that a carrot deserves the same attention. Yes, you can sprinkle salt over a ripe avocado and it will taste wonderful. But what else can you do? Plants, I dare say, deserve your full attention. Pretty much every chef in the world believes in nose-to-tail cooking. Well, what if cooking responsibly isn’t just about honouring things with heartbeats? I hate throwing things away. Discarding food is incredibly wasteful. But…

Silversea Cruises is proud to announce the launch of its new flagship, Silver Muse, which now heads its fleet of boutique cruise ships and will see passengers travelling in the lap of luxury. To mark the occasion and announce Silver Muse’s inaugural sailings to Australian waters and subsequent Asia-Pacific voyages, Silversea is hosting a special dinner at Potts Point favourite Paper Bird. Fittingly, the team at Paper Bird have extended their menu from the modern Korean that made their previous restaurant, Moon Park, a hit to include the cuisines of East Asia. The banquet-style dinner will see yukhoebap, a Korean tartare served in a rice bowl, alongside the signature shrimp-brined chicken wings – a firm favourite with the restaurant’s loyal followers. At the sweet end of the deal Korea’s shaved-ice…