Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Gourmet Traveller

I’ve learned a lot of handy kitchen hacks since I started working at Gourmet Traveller. After a summer spent at home entertaining, my Negronis are getting decent reviews, I feel I’m close to mastering the pavlova and I’ve embarked on a kombucha experiment with reasonable success. This month, however, things got a little less practical and a little more philosophical as I got a lesson in the Australian chef’s elastic understanding of time. This issue is dedicated to dishes you can create quickly. The brief: secret-weapon midweek meals, easy weekend brunches and quick desserts. The goal: getting it done in 30 minutes. Less time in the kitchen, more time at the table. The obvious complement to this line-up was a series of time-saving tips from some of the country’s best…

When the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival kicks off this month, Hotel Lindrum on Flinders Street will be reimagined as the House of Food and Wine, the event’s official headquarters. In previous years a town hall or warehouse space has been the festival’s ground-zero. Oakridge winery chefs Matt Stone and Jo Barrett have remixed the 59-room hotel’s food offering for the 10 days of the festival, shaking up everything from the continental breakfast to room service. House guests who opt for the full House of Food and Wine experience will wake up to peaches and honey served with cacioricotta, a southern Italian cheese, crumpets, or a croissant filled with ham, corn and XO sauce. Other room service highlights include gin and orange parfait, zucchini and burrata salad, and a minibar…

I was born in Sierra Leone, but my parents went back to my father’s home village in Italy when I was two. We then migrated to Australia when I was seven, in 1972. We travelled on one of the last “migrant boats”, and I still remember the journey. That’s left me with a slightly paradoxical attitude to travel: it’s very much part of my life, but I also value my time at home. I’d much rather be in an apartment above a market than a hotel with room service. Food is important to me, and I like to maintain my eating habits when I’m away, which means cooking with fresh produce. I always travel with a good cooking knife, my favourite green tea and a tea strainer. If you have…

Some birthdays are better than others. It may rain, dinner may be middling, or the weight of passing years can make you feel more like staying in bed than venturing out. But sometimes the stars align and the alchemy of friends, food and the optimum level of tipsiness lead you to feel that you’re ripening quite nicely, rather than withering on the vine. I’ve had good nights belting out incredibly witty raps comparing my friends to vegetables. I’ve enjoyed beach holidays watching my kids catch their first fish, and I’ve contentedly stayed home and eaten Mum’s Indian leg of lamb – the birthday dinner of choice in my family. But the year of the acorn sticks fast in my memory – an evening where spontaneity, family, food and escapades of…

SPICED RUM Husk Distillers Spiced Bam Bam, Tumbulgum, $75 Lovely rich golden rum infused with deeply savoury wattleseed, fragrant native ginger, warm cinnamon and a lick of sea salt. Good in cocktails, great neat. huskdistillers.com SPICY RED 2016 Dune Blewitt Springs Shiraz, McLaren Vale, $26 You often find spicy, perfumed characters in shiraz wines grown in the sandy soils of Blewitt Springs, and this is a terrific example: vivid, brambly and peppery. dunewine.com SAVOURY ROSÉ 2017 E McDougall & Co Rosé, Margaret River, $35 Hong Kong-based flying winemaker” Eddie McDougall worked with mates in Margaret River to produce this fabulously full-flavoured, textural dry rosé from tempranillo, nebbiolo and shiraz grapes. eddiemcdougall.com FINE PINOT 2016 Onannon Red Hill Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, $70 One of two fine single-site pinots from Onannon…

There can always be more devilled eggs. Chef Guy Stanaway hammers that home with his irony-free, straight-talking version of the classic at Rare Hare. A good egg, boiled to the taut but pliable sweet spot before the white turns rubbery, is crumbed, deep-fried and halved, the yolk then scooped out, seasoned and blended with crème fraîche to make a mousse that’s piped back onto the eggwhite and topped with chives, dill and a tiny twist of sharp pickled shallot. Makes you pity vegans. Not too much, though. There’s plenty of plant-forward action on Stanaway’s menu that’s adaptable – abandon the anchovy here, lose the whipped feta there – to the vegan cause. And that’s as it should be at Jackalope Hotel’s casual diner. Rare Hare is the flexible, unbuttoned everyman…

VIEWS Sister’s Rock Restaurant at Borrodell This former commercial orchard has evolved into a vineyard, truffière and heritage apple and plum orchard, and its restaurant has far-as-the-eye-can-see views over the Central West slopes and plains. Sister’s Rock raids the trees for dishes such as roast pork belly with spiced plum coulis, and Bramley apple pie. 298 Lake Canobolas Rd, Orange, (02) 6365 3425, borrodell.com.au LUNCH Racine Shaun Arantz serves sophisticated fare in what looks like a humble corrugated-iron shed. His eye for colour turns the likes of pressed duck with beetroot, rhubarb and granola into Pop art on a plate. An apple symbol on the menu indicates at least 75 per cent of the dish is sourced locally. 42 Lake Canobolas Rd, Nashdale, Orange, (02) 6365 3275, racinerestaurant.com.au ROASTS Charred…

Bloody Mary with pickled jalapeños MAKES 1 // PREP 15 MINS // COOK 10 MINS (PLUS PICKLING) For our version of this obligatory brunch kick-starter we’ve swapped lemon for lime, capped it off with a fat green olive and a salt-and-pepper rim, and served it with pickled jalapeños. Begin this recipe at least two days ahead if you plan to pickle your own chillies. 1 lime wedge 2 tsp sea salt, crushed with ½ tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns 45 ml vodka 20 ml lime juice 200 ml tomato juice Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and extra lime juice and halves, to serve 1 large green olive on a skewer PICKLED JALAPEÑOS 2 tsp vegetable oil 2 jalapeño chillies, quartered lengthways 1 garlic clove, bruised 280 ml white wine vinegar 1½ tsp…

Banana split SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 10 MINS // COOK 6 MINUTES (PLUS COOLING) A crowd-pleasing dessert that’s made in no time, you say? This banana split delivers. 4 bananas, skin on, halved lengthways 165 gm coconut sugar, plus extra for dusting 80 ml (⅓ cup) coconut cream Coconut ice-cream, coconut flakes, chopped roasted macadamia nuts, mint leaves, finely grated lime rind and lime wedges, to serve 1 Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Dust cut sides of banana heavily with sugar and place cut-side down in pan. Cook until caramelised (2-3 minutes), then transfer to a plate. 2 Add the coconut sugar to the pan with 80ml water, stir until dissolved, then cook without stirring until caramelised (2-3 minutes). Slowly add coconut cream (be careful, hot…

Getting there Sri Lankan Airlines flies direct from Melbourne to Colombo. Singapore Airlines flies from major Australian cities to Colombo via Singapore. Eat Café on the 5th The hoppers here are among the most delicate I’ve encountered. Have them with prawn curry and katta sambol. 108 5th La, Colombo 03, +94 11 2573 765, tastycaterers.lk VOC Café Everything served at this small café inside the Dutch Burgher Union building is made in-house – except for the lamprais, the famous Burgher curry parcels, which have been made for the past 12 years by an anonymous Burgher woman. 114 Reid Ave, Colombo 04, +94 112 584 511, thedutchburgherunion.org Beach Wadiya This quaint coastal eatery with tables on the sand has excellent seafood and a solid following. 2 Station Ave, Colombo 06, +94…

Maggie Scardifield, news editor; Mornington Peninsula, Vic A stay at GT favourite Jackalope. A yacht to the Portsea Polo. And a helicopter back to Melbourne for dinner at Osteria Ilaria. A fleeting visit, but thanks to Stella Artois, it was one hell of a ride. @mjscardi Brooke Donaldson, art director; Tamworth, NSW My partner, Michael, and I decided to join family at the country music festival, our first time ever and our first experience of rodeos. We then had to head to Noosa for a few days to cool off after the scorching Tamworth heat. @brookedonaldson1 Lisa Featherby, food director; Udaipur As a first-timer to India, I was surprised at every turn, and the food was a revelation – so fragrant and flavoursome, and never better than when served with…

By the time the Mekong River ends its 4,350-kilometre passage across Asia, it has branched into nine tributaries that snake across a vast delta in southern Vietnam and empty into the South China Sea. Most travellers stay afloat on the Mekong aboard cruise ships, but the latest way to see the delta is to stay in it. Opened in January, Azerai Can Tho is set on an islet in one of the Mekong’s larger tributaries, the Hau River. It’s hidden in plain sight of Can Tho, Vietnam’s fourth-largest city, and at the centre of the nation’s “rice-bowl” farming region. By Vietnamese standards the city is sleepy and the region unexplored, says the hotel’s Australia-born general manager, Susan Noonan. “There’s really nothing else like this region,” she says. “There’s a strong…

Bluefin, giant trevally, bonefish and triggerfish – some of the heavy hitters on the serious angler’s wishlist are found and fished off the pristine Thaa Atoll in southern Maldives. The best sand flats for fishing are within a half-hour boat ride of Como Maalifushi resort, which has teamed with tour operator Fishing Holiday Maldives to offer fly-fishing expeditions by kayak and boat. Full-day trips from the resort enable anglers to explore a further 150 square kilometres of pristine sand flats. From $US200. comohotels.com Kimberley ahoy With its much-anticipated underwater lounge, Le Lapérouse – the first of four new ships by French line Ponant – will give expeditioners access to whale song and marine-life sightings over Martinis when it’s launched in June. Among its voyages next year will be a tour…

Sydney The work of 70 artists will be on show at seven venues during the 21st Biennale of Sydney, opening on 15 March with an address by China's Ai Weiwei at the Sydney Opera House. His work Law of the Journey (above) will be on display on Cockatoo Island. From its HQ at the Powerhouse Museum, the Sydney Design Festival runs 2-11 March. And contemporary art in small galleries is the focus of Art Month Sydney (1-25 March). Buxton Contemporary, Melbourne Opening this month in the Southbank arts precinct, this gallery designed by Fender Katsalidis houses the extensive Australian art collection of Melbourne property developer Michael Buxton (above), assembled over 23 years. Art Basel Hong Kong A packed program of performance and parties during Hong Kong Arts Month culminates in…

Summer’s here and that means fresh, fast and flavoursome are the order of the day, and with the winning combination of the AEG Combi-Steam Oven and AEG Gas Cooktop you can fill the brief with confidence. Take this steamed snapper. Spanking-fresh fish needs a light touch and little adornment, so steaming is the ideal way to go, sealing in the flavours and juices with a clean finish and no fuss. Black-bean paste, sake and ginger add an Asian accent, ideally suited to balmy weather. The oven’s humidity sensor measures and adjusts temperature and moisture levels to ensure perfect results each time. Its fan-controlled defrosting function will have the edamame primed to go in moments while the wok heats up on the gas cooktop, with a dual-valve, triple-ring burner that provides…

Charlie Carrington, Atlas Dining Place a wet cloth under your chopping board so it doesn’t move while you’re cutting; it’s safer and means you can prep faster. And I’m yet to find a vegetable that tahini, seasoned with, say, olive oil and lemon juice, doesn’t taste incredible with, and it’s super-easy to make. Lorraine Godsmark, Lorraine’s Patisserie If I’m really stuck for time but want to serve dessert, I cut strawberries in half, sauté them in a non-stick pan with a couple of spoons of sugar and cook them until they release their juices, creating a beautiful sauce. Then, I season them with crushed black peppercorns and serve them with a dollop of crème fraîche, or Maggie Beer’s ice-cream – it’s the best. Ben Greeno, Hotel Centennial Getting your ingredients…

WHAT IS IT? Yuzu kosho is a Japanese condiment made from fresh chillies (usually green) combined with the rind and juice of the fragrantly tart yuzu, a citrus fruit that’s mainly grown in Japan, Korea and China. When the mixture ferments, it transforms into a powerful and flavour-packed paste or sauce. Think of it as Japanese Tabasco. WHY DO WE CARE? This concoction packs a serious punch, adding a bright fiery tang and depth to a range of dishes. Use it in marinades or to season raw or cooked fish. Add a dollop to dressings or aïoli, or serve it with braised meats and fried foods to cut through the richness. A little goes a long way, so add it to dishes a little at a time until you find…

The time is Prohibition, the place is Tijuana. Thirsty citizens of the United States are crossing the border in search of legal drinking options. One busy weekend at Caesar’s Place, the revellers have revelled so hard there’s almost nothing left in the larder. Quick-thinking Italian restaurateur Caesar Cardini throws together a salad with the few things lying about in the kitchen and a legend is born. It’s carried back across the border by the Hollywood crowd, and goes on to be tossed tableside around the world. Over its travels and across the years it has been corrupted with grilled chicken, subjected to deconstruction and otherwise mucked around, yet made simply and with good ingredients its brilliance shines on nearly a century later. “How could a mere salad cause such emotion?”…

The easiest way to get your head around Barangaroo House is to think of it as a big pub. A big, fancy spaceship-shaped pub, yes, but a pub just the same. Walk past on a Saturday afternoon and it’s schooners and buckets of prawns in the sun, Pure Blonde and Carlton Draught, chips and chicken salt. Then again, this is the first pub I’ve been to that acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the traditional owners of the land where it stands. Probably a tactful move for a venue named for one of the women who figures most prominently in the colonial history of Aboriginal Australia. Step up to the taps and you’ll find a Kölsch from Four Pines in Manly and a Real Ale from Young…

Where to get omakase in Sydney AZUMA  Cost $120. Book Call. The queue Five days. The meal 14 courses, including 10 pieces of sushi Contact Level 1, 2 Chifley Sq, Sydney, (02) 9235 2717, azuma.com.au HANA JU-RIN  Cost $132. Book Call. The queue A week. The meal 21 courses, including 15 pieces of sushi. Contact Shop 1, 300 Pacific Hwy, Crows Nest, (02) 9966 5833, jurin.com.au FUJISAKI  Cost $160. Book Via website. The queue A week. The meal 20-22 courses, including about 19 pieces of sushi. Contact Shop 2, 100 Barangaroo Ave, Sydney, (02) 9052 9188, lotusdining.com.au KABUKI SHOROKU  Cost From $120. Book: Call. The queue Three days. The meal 14-16 courses. Contact 31 Market St, Sydney, (02) 9267 4552, kabukishoroku.com.au MASUYA  Cost $120 Book Call. The queue At least…

I’ll never forget the first time it happened. The manager of a restaurant showed up at our table, looked around at my party of four and smiled. And then he turned to me and said, “Are you Besha Rodell?” “Besha Rodell?” I asked. “Who’s that?” It was less than a year into my tenure as a restaurant critic, in Atlanta, Georgia, and I’d already been made. That time I got away with it. The manager explained that Besha Rodell was the new critic for the weekly newspaper, and there was a rumour going around that she had an Australian accent. “South African,” I lied. He bought it. I think. Years later, during my first week at a job in Los Angeles, I got a text message from a friend. “Are…

Pounded chicken with jaew SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 15 MINS // COOK 5 MINS Jaew is a sweet-spicy sauce from Thailand’s Isaan region made to accompany barbecued meats. It usually includes ground roasted sticky rice, but we’ve left this out to keep it simple. If you'd like to include it, buy the rice ground and roasted from Asian grocers or dry-fry sticky rice yourself in a wok until it's golden and fragrant before grinding it; add a large pinch or two when you combine the ingredients. 2 large chicken breast fillets, each thinly sliced diagonally 3-4 pieces 1 lemongrass stalk (white part only), coarsely chopped 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped 1 coriander root, cleaned 1 tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp light soy sauce Grapeseed oil, for brushing Sliced cucumber,…

This book contains a small selection of the many Italian recipes that I know well, which I have learned directly from members of my true Italian family. By that I mean the family composed of all the producers – past and present – who have contributed to the birth and existence of my importing business, Manicaretti. All of them have offered me teachings, traditions, secrets, and stories, throwing open their doors at home and in the kitchen to teach me everything I know. Manicaretti was born on 14 April 1989, when I was 25 years old and living in Sausalito, just outside San Francisco. The first shipment of Italian products was stored in the garage of my house. Now, thanks to the curiosity of American chefs and retailers and the…

Getting there Airlines flying with one stop from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Nashville include Virgin Australia, with codeshare partner Delta, via Los Angeles, and Qantas, with codeshare partner American Airlines, via Dallas Fort Worth or Los Angeles. United Airlines flies from Sydney via Houston or San Francisco. Eat & drink Arnold’s Country Kitchen Line up for the buffet at this meat-and-three classic. Thursday is fried green tomatoes day. 605 8th Avenue South, +1 615 256 4455, arnoldscountrykitchen.com Bastion Check “let’s try everything” on the à la carte menu in Josh Habiger’s New South dining room. 434 Houston St, +1 615 490 8434, bastionnashville.com Henrietta Red Best snack: Tennessee paddlefish caviar with sour cream and potato chips. Nashville native Julia Sullivan’s buttermilk biscuits are the finest in town. 1200 4th…

Getting there Air New Zealand flies direct to Queenstown from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane year round. Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia also operate direct flights from select Australian cities. Stay Eichardt’s Private Hotel From around $NZ1,100. Marine Pde, +64 3 441 0450, eichardts.com Hulbert House Suites from $NZ650; the six-suite villa costs $NZ4,000. 68 Ballarat St, +64 3 442 8767, hulberthouse.co.nz QT Queenstown An uncharacteristically understated lobby gives onto spectacular views and 69 plush rooms and suites. From $NZ399. 30 Brunswick St, +64 3 450 3450, qthotelsandresorts.com Do Around the Basin Guided e-bike tour costs $NZ189 per person. +64 27 952 5801, aroundthebasin.co.nz Hydro Attack Ride “the shark” for $NZ149 per person. +64 27 477 9074, hydroattack.co.nz MV Yvalda Cruise costs $NZ805 per hour, minimum two hours.…

STAY Hanoi La Siesta Hotel Trendy Though the Metropole is still the premier address, a new wave of design hotels is appealing to boutique tastes. In a crooked Old Quarter street, the well-appointed Trendy has 70 smart rooms, with Vietnamese retro furnishings and French tiling. Its Red Bean restaurant does classic Vietnamese and European dishes with flair, and basement bar The Den serves cocktails and Château Margaux. 12 Nguyen Quang Bich, hanoilasiestatrendyhotel.com SHOP Hanoi’s independent makers create unique keepsakes. Whimsical creatures decorate Bat Trang ceramics at Cerender (11a Trang Thi, cerender.com). Writer Nga Hoang and photographer Liem Tran's Collective Memory (above) showcases artisan homewares, block-printed notebooks and even Hanoi Monopoly (20 Nha Chung, collectivememory.vn). Lucy’s Dream on Silk Street prints original artworks on silk, linen and satin (31 Hang Giay,…

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 lime leaves are…

Omega The Railmaster follows simple and elegant design traits with a touch of style and the very best in mechanical movement thanks to the Master Chronometer Calibre 8806 driving this classic timepiece; $6,525. omegawatches.com Ilve Ilve’s latest elegant gas cooktop collection is a dream for the home cook. Having evolved from the original stainless steel, the new black-glass range brings the future of design into the kitchen. From $1,299. ilve.com.au Riedel The Fatto a Mano range, available in six colours and six grape varieties, combines the elegance of Venetian tradition in a handmade stem and base and a machine-made bowl. $129.95 per piece, $599.95 for a 6 pack. riedel.com Holland America Line has launched EXC In-Depth Voyages, a customised cruising initiative designed for seasoned travellers eager to find new ways…

“Make sure the peaches are really ripe and then just blanch them quickly,” says Emma McCaskill. “They eat like a fresh peach but infused with rosewater, and minus the skin.” White peaches with rosewater, honey and fromage blanc SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 20 MINS (PLUS CHILLING) The Pot by Emma McCaskill, 160 King William Rd, Hyde Park, SA, (08) 8373 2044, thepotfoodandwine.com.au 100 gm caster sugar 100 ml rosewater 4 ripe white peaches, bases scored 2 tbsp honey (preferably orange blossom; see note), or to taste VANILLA FROMAGE BLANC 375 ml (1½ cups) pouring cream 70 gm caster sugar 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped 2 titanium-strength gelatine leaves, softened in cold water for 3-5 minutes 350 gm fromage blanc (see note) or thick crème fraîche 1…

For Mark Dundon, the man behind Melbourne coffee empire Seven Seeds, there’s nothing worse than staying in a hotel that fails to reflect its location. Cookie-cutter layouts and isolation from the neighbourhood are among his pet hates. So those flaws are precisely what he and business partners Russell Beard and Ping Jin Ng sought to avoid when designing their joint project, Paramount House Hotel, which opens in Sydney’s Surry Hills in early April. They envisage the 29-room hotel as a portal to inner-city life, where “guests can become a part of the community and become immersed in Surry Hills”, says Dundon. The hotel occupies the upper floors of the heritage-listed Paramount House, the former Paramount Pictures Studios, and the one-time film-storage warehouse next door. It joins a hub of like-minded…

More than a decade ago, former building consultant David Rauenbusch began salvaging timber from Sydney work sites to make furniture for his family. But it wasn’t until moving from the New South Wales Central Coast to Cygnet, in Tasmania’s Huon Valley, that he and his wife, Michelle, turned the hobby into a full-time woodworking business. Now Phoenix Creations is known for its Soul Spoons, each whittled from recycled timber. There are slender double-edged chef spoons carved from blackwood (“one end for the pot and one end for your mouth”, says Rauenbusch), salad servers from native cherrywood and soup spoons from celery-top pine. What’s behind the name Phoenix Creations, Robert? We needed to show the transformation from old to new. A phoenix emerges from the ashes and is reborn into a…

FLORENCE Gucci has opened the Gucci Garden Galleria in Florence: part museum, part boutique, and home to the stunning 55-seat restaurant Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura. The food is by Osteria Francescana chef Massimo Bottura and the dining room is painted bright green with Instagram-friendly velvet banquettes and rose-patterned crockery. Bottura’s all-day menu includes the likes of a fried corn tostada with bonito and the Emilia, a burger with a cotechino patty, Parmigiano-Reggiano and salsa verde. Come dessert, you could opt for a Spritz sorbet or sour-cherry cheesecake, perhaps, or skip it and head next door for a spot of shopping or an experimental film in the Gucci cinema. Upstairs, a display of archival pieces from the fashion house dates back to the 1920s. SYDNEY Saint Peter chef Josh Niland…

Do you love or hate to cook, John? I’m one of those men who has been very spoilt by a mother and a wife who are extremely good cooks. But when I’m on tour I have to manage on my own, so I have five or six recipes that I can depend on. Egg on toast, for instance. What kind of an eater are you? I don’t like fancy food and I’m heading towards being a vegan. I haven’t quite got there yet, but when you get used to it, it’s very, very satisfying. You grew up in Maitland, New South Wales. What was in your lunchbox? This was in the ’50s, just after the war, so it was generally white bread with a slice of cheddar cheese and a…

Real life. Unreal food. Over same-same? Same. Mix up midweek with Eat Well, our latest cookbook by dietitian and nutritionist Bianca Mazur. You’ll whip up new healthy favourites so good, even the fussiest kids will be asking for them every night of the week. Access all the quick and easy (and delicious, if we do say so ourselves) recipes online at Cookidoo this April. Learn how to create more wholesome meals from scratch with your Thermomix at a Cooking Experience today. To book yours, visit our website or get in touch with your Consultant. Love the look of this? Find the recipes at thermomix.com.au/unrealfood  or thermomix.co.nz/unrealfood…

1 ADAMO’S If you haven’t heard of Sydney pasta restaurant and shopfront Adamo’s in Rosebery, this could be your wake-up call. This super-buttery, bright and savoury tomato sauce spiked with vodka awaits, and it’s worthy of the visit all on its own. For a meatier fix, the chunky lamb ragù is outstanding, too. $11 for 375ml or $15 for 700ml. adamospasta.com.au 2 CONTINENTAL DELICATESSEN This versatile sugo has a robust and sweet tomato flavour fragrant with oregano and plenty of juice. Add meatballs, toss it with tagliatelle, and boom – the crowd goes wild. $16 for 1kg. continentaldelicatessen.com.au 3 PASTA EMILIA Consider this vibrant pesto your secret weapon. A mixture of rocket, basil and parsley makes it fresh and peppery, while the parmesan comes in the form of crumbs. Does…

I love Chablis. I love it because it’s one of the most downright delicious white wines you can drink: thirst-quenching, brilliant with seafood, brilliant on its own. I love it because it’s a fun, accessible wine education in a glass: the differences between Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru – all made from the same grape, chardonnay – are easy to taste, easy to understand, endlessly fascinating. And I love it because it can be great value (relatively speaking): if you feel like splashing out on a bottle of fancy French white Burgundy, most good Chablis costs substantially less than an equivalent quality chardonnay from posh Burgundian appellations such as Puligny-Montrachet further south. These three factors explain why Chablis is enjoying a surge in popularity in…

OF FRED’S It’s tempting to think of Hotel Centennial (above), one of Merivale’s latest acquisitions, as overflow for Fred’s, or Fred’s-lite, what with Fred’s chefs Danielle Alvarez and Ben Greeno overseeing its Mediterranean menu. But it’s its own restaurant with its own (slightly more mature) vibe. And the food happens to be very good, the wood-roasted squid with cherry tomatoes and aïoli and the flounder with seaweed salsa verde elegant in their simplicity. 88 Oxford St, Woollahra. (02) 9114 7349 A CHANGE OF HARTSYARD Returning as Hartsyard 2.0, the bustling, much-loved Enmore Road restaurant still serves “the kind of food you pull apart with fingers and forks”, only a little lighter on the fried chicken and bigger on the greens and seafood. Hervey Bay scallops, for instance, with grape, fennel…

You went from being a chef to an amazing photographer – do you see similarities between the two professions? In a lot of ways they are similar. As a chef you create food to evoke a memory, which is the same reason you take a photo. I also think both chefs and photographers need to have creative flair. I’ve met a surprising number of chefs who have become photographers. I guess you could also say the strange hours we keep are similar too. Your love of food can be seen in your photography. Tell us about the Blue Majik Smoothie Bowl, for instance. I always say food photography is the same as photographing any other scene – you first have to be drawn to what’s in front of you. The…

Snapper curry with green beans and coriander SERVES 4 Seek out a good yellow curry powder; we used Herbie’s ( herbies.com.au ). It’s important to toast it well when it’s first added to bring out the full flavour. 2 tbsp grapeseed oil 1 red onion, finely grated 3 garlic cloves, finely grated Large handful of fresh curry leaves 2½ tbsp yellow curry powder 2 very ripe large tomatoes, coarsely chopped 400 ml coconut milk 2½ tbsp tamarind purée, mixed with 250ml warm water 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised . 30 gm ginger (about 6cm), thinly sliced 750 gm skinned and boned snapper, cut into 3cm pieces 300 gm green beans, halved 1½ tbsp coconut sugar or grated palm sugar, or to taste Fish sauce, to taste Steamed rice, coriander…

Dusk poured through the windows, bathing the immense sphere looming over the room in a rosy glow. I looked at the pig’s eye in my drink. The pig’s eye looked back at me. “It’s time to go inside,” said one of the invigilators. “Would you like it soft or hard?” Having made the necessary preparations, signing the waiver* and declaring myself free of seizures, “hard” seemed like the only fitting answer. I slipped off my shoes, took up the panic button, and ducked through the small hatch on the side of the sphere. I climbed the handful of steps, lay down on the bed at the top, and waited as the door was closed from outside. The ceiling, only a few feet from my face, blazed blue. And then it…

“What is your good name, madam?” asks the handsome man in a white sarong at the front desk. With this lovely turn of phrase I’m welcomed back to Sri Lanka, the land of my heritage. I’ve been sent here by my mother “for inspiration”. I’m about to open a hopper restaurant in Sydney, Lankan Filling Station, in its first permanent home after a year of pop-ups and market appearances. The lease has been signed on a narrow shopfront in East Sydney and my mum, born in Colombo of Burgher heritage, has declared that it’s about time I made a return visit. Who am I to argue with my mother? So here I am, hunting hoppers, pounding spices and grating coconut. I start at the centre of the island, at the…

Visit  Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland…

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