Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Gourmet Traveller

CHAR-GRILLED CELERIAC AND CRISP TARO ON CELERIAC CREAM WITH GREEN APPLE GRANITA, Magill Estate Chef Scott Huggins is behind this clever vegan dish with sweet and earthy flavours. It possesses a delightfully playful mix of warm and cool, luscious creamy texture and crunch. 78 Penfold Rd, Magill, SA. DAVID SLY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA EDITOR SPICY RICE NOODLES, CHICKEN AND SPRING ONION, Yoko Dining Slippery rice noodles loaded up with a chilli-rich, ragù-like sauce that’s topped off with a tumble of spring onion, fried shallot and roasted buckwheat. Is it Japanese? Who cares? Pass the chopsticks. Howard Smith Wharves, 2/5 Boundary St, Brisbane, Qld. FIONA DONNELLY, QUEENSLAND EDITOR ANCHOVY AND EGG ON RYE TOAST, Napier Quarter Slices of boiled egg with salsa verde and a hollandaise-like mayonnaise steer this toast into almost-breakfast…

1 The Thinking Traveller Renowned chef Christian F Puglisi will lead a culinary immersion in Sicily. Based out of Rocca delle Tre Contrade (a 12-bedroom luxury villa; pictured), Puglisi will bring his skills from the kitchens of Noma and Relae together with his Sicilian roots to teach a series of hands-on workshops. There will be masterclasses on sourdough bread, cheesemaking, seafood, charcuterie and low-intervention wines. You’ll also get to meet local farmers, take part in a lemon harvest and eat plenty of Sicilian food, from street fare to more traditional recipes. $9851.44 per person twin share, 25 April to 2 May, thethinkingtraveller.com/puglisi 2 Italian Tours: The Road Less Travelled, Puglia This small group tour explores the southern heel of Italy, and is led by bilingual hosts who possess a true…

What do you remember eating when you were growing up in Sydney? I have Portuguese heritage and meals like bacalhau com grão were my absolute favourites. It’s essentially a warm salad: chickpeas, salted cod, potatoes, spinach, onion, olive oil and lemon. One of your earliest roles was playing an ambulance driver on All Saints. How did you feel when you got the gig? I was teaching Speech and Drama at a private girls’ school and I got the news in between classes. I stepped into my car, closed the doors and screamed my head off with excitement. What was your diet like when acting jobs were lean? I was pretty fond of two-minute noodles and Nesquik. During uni, I got to study close enough to home so I was still…

Until recent times Coogee has lay dormant; sandwiched between Bondi’s buzz and grungy Maroubra, unable to create an identity of its own. All but a couple of fetid hostels and handful of dodgy takeaway shops existed in the beachside suburb. That’s until Merivale kingpin Justin Hemmes snapped up the iconic Coogee Pavilion in 2014. A casual eatery went in on the ground floor, followed by a rooftop bar, and glimmers of life were seen in the area for the first time in, well, ever. But the middle level remained untouched for six years. After meticulous planning and a complete redesign, it’s now home to Mimi’s: Hemmes’s most ambitious and perhaps most anticipated project yet. I guess it’s only natural to expect great things from a restaurant that took six long…

Trout with white wine and rosemary SERVES 4 “Basting with white wine during cooking stops the trout from drying out,” says Giovanni Pilu. “Serve with a simple salad or grilled vegetables on the side.” 4 rainbow trout (300gm each), cleaned 1 spring onion, finely sliced 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves finely chopped 20 green Sicilian olives, pitted and coarsely chopped 4 fresh bay leaves 250 ml dry white wine 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley Lemon cheeks, and witlof and parsley salad, to serve 1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Wash trout inside and out, then pat dry with paper towel. Score on top side with 4 diagonal cuts through to the bone, angled towards the tail. 2 Place trout, scored-side up, on a baking tray. Scatter…

One of the great strengths of Federica Andrisani and Oskar Rossi’s cooking is their ability to distil multiple influences into simple, direct flavours. At Fico, their Hobart restaurant, they combine Andrisani’s Italian heritage, her time working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy, and Rossi’s experience working in Italy and at restaurants like Vue de Monde with a shared passion for Tasmanian produce to original, delicious effect. The recipes they’ve created for this issue reflect those influences but with a homespun approach, perfect for a Sunday lunch, in this case with their friends in the Meadowbank vineyard, just outside of Hobart in the Derwent Valley. “We wanted it to be really simple food, something like you’d eat in a vineyard in Tuscany,” says Andrisani. “The inspiration is from my background – the…

Point Puer, Tasmania; Lisa Featherby, food director This historical region is wild and beautiful, and you’ll eat the best apricots of your life from roadside stalls on your way there. @lisafeatherby Bellingen, NSW; Georgie Meredith, writer & editorial coordinator The high-pitched hum of cicadas provides a nostalgic summer soundtrack to this verdant, tropical haven. Never Never Creek’s pebble-strewn waters are a perfect escape. @georgiemeredith Matakana, New Zealand; Joanna Hunkin, editor Surrounded by rolling hills, wineries and white-sand beaches, Matakana has long been one of my favourite spots. Just an hour’s drive north of Auckland, a weekend visit is a must. @hunkies_news…

SYDNEY Will the long queues outside Peppe’s in Bondi finally settle down now that a second restaurant, Peppe’s Osteria, has opened in Waterloo? The new outpost of the vegan pasta joint has taken over Paperbark’s old site and as well as Peppe’s popular gnocchi, it offers new specials (like ribbon-shaped mafalde with zucchini). There is also natural wine by locals (The Other Right, Jauma) and Italian favourites (Rabasco). Matteo Downtown channels Milan and other Italian hotspots with its new CBD bar. Expect wine-friendly snacks (’nduja and octopus panini, and baccalà mantecato) and a salumeria section with pecorino and deli meats that staff will slice to order. ADELAIDE With a menu that ranges from spicy spaghettini corte d’Assise to the smoky arrosticini skewers of the day, Vincenzo La Montagna draws on…

NOW OPEN Sydney chef Brent Savage is now lending a hand at the Maldives’ One&Only Reethi Rah, an ultra-luxe villa resort located on a private island. Savage is overseeing the menu at the resort’s new restaurant Botanica, while his counterpart Nick Hildebrandt is looking after the wine list. On the menu is abundant local produce, with dishes starring wild hand-caught Maldivian rock lobster, pickled wakame, sea succulents, reef fish and finger lime. oneandonlyresorts.com/reethi-rah Sydney’s Burwood boasts a swish new place to stay: Marsden Hotel. The boutique accommodation is a first for the inner-west suburb, and has its own restaurant, Onyx Grill, which showcases premium cuts of steak, fish cooked in a charcoal oven and a host of seasonal sides, plus a rooftop bar and its very own pâtisserie. marsdenhotels.com.au COMING…

1 SALUMI AUSTRALIA SALSICCIA SARDA One word describes this Byron Bay-produced salame: moreish. Sweet notes of nutmeg and garlic are balanced with a hint of vinegar, while coarsely ground free-range pork delivers just the right amount of fattiness. Made in the Sardinian style, it’s perfect with traditional pane carasau (crispbread). $50 per kg.salumi.com.au 2 DE PALMA GHOST PEPPER De Palma prides itself on sourcing local free-range pork, and uses seven-generation-old family techniques to form the base of all its salami. The ghost pepper here brings just the right amount of tongue-tingling heat, without compromising flavour. Plentiful chunks of fat make this a sound choice for the frying pan. $65 per kg.depalmasalumi.com.au 3 LP’S QUALITY MEATS GARLIC & BLACK PEPPER LP’s has closed its Sydney restaurant but the smokehouse lives on,…

Michael Zaccaria grew up in a typical Italian-Australian household. His Calabrian grandfather opened a small music store in Melbourne just after World War II, building it up into a bigger business over the ensuing decades. Relatives of his father’s generation still grow grapes and make wine in Calabria. Wine – and music – was always a part of family life. So was vermouth, often drunk as a refreshing aperitivo. And various kinds of amaro, the strong, bittersweet liqueur often served in Italian restaurants and households to aid with digestion. “Grandfather’s favourite drink on a hot day was a bianco vermouth with soda,” remembers Zaccaria. “And Dad and my grandfather would always have an amaro after the meal every night. That’s what sparked my interest in those drinks: when you’re surrounded…

In recent years, Australia (and the world) has fallen back in love with focaccia. The pillowy Italian flatbread makes the perfect starter, side or sandwich base, and celebrates classic Italian flavour combinations through its lavish use of olive oil and toppings such as rosemary, olives and tomatoes. Making it is relatively simple, but imbuing the dough with layers of olive oil is imperative. “With every touch of the dough you want to add a little bit of olive oil, so you’re essentially just feeding it,” says David Lovett, chef at Ethel Food Store in Brunswick Heads, NSW, and a self-confessed focaccia nerd. Adding the oil slowly ensures that the dough remains moist and light. Toppings to try Finely sliced chat potatoes and rosemary (about 3 chat potatoes and picked leaves…

“They had to fly a technician up from Sydney to service the La San Marco espresso machine.” Queensland THE MERLO FAMILY by Fiona Donnelly For many people in Queensland, the Merlo name has become synonymous with coffee. Twenty-eight years after founding his Brisbane-based café and wholesaling business, Dean Merlo’s Merlo Coffee remains independently owned, with 16 stores and 10 torrefazione (roasteries), supplying more than 1500 cafés and restaurants nationally. But the family’s steadily expanding coffee empire is just the latest instalment. The Merlo family legacy stretches back to the 1950s, and the arrival of Luigi Merlo from Italy. It’s a history encompassing everything from hand-built guesthouses and groundbreaking espresso bars, to a Brisbane fine-diner which ended up playing host to everyone, from prime ministers to Pope John Paul II and…

Five centuries on, Maria echoes Scappi’s words. “If fish isn’t fresh, alive even, I send it back to the harbour. I wouldn’t even give it to the cat.” Housed on the ground floor of an anonymous building in an anonymous suburb of the fishing port of Fano in Italy’s Marche region, Maria Tena’s brilliant seafood restaurant, unimaginatively named Da Maria, doesn’t look like a restaurant at all. Outside, the only clue to its identity is a nondescript sign over the door saying “Bar Trattoria – Pesce Fresco.” If it weren’t cluttered with the esoteric wood, glass and metal sculptures of Maria’s daughter, Domenica, the interior – a single room with pink-and-white-tiled walls, a few tables and a bar counter – would be no less modest. The place seems an unlikely…

Here he is, Giorgio the cheesemaker, come to rescue my burrata. To make the Pugliese specialty you need a pair of strong but nimble hands and a certain deftness in your wrist. I am equipped with neither. Giorgio watches as I take the milk, thickened with heat and acid whey, stretching it in my hands before peeling off a chunk to fill with a spoonful of stracciatella – those creamy, torn-up pieces of mozzarella that ooze lasciviously as soon as you pierce them. My big, clumsy fingers fumble with the opening of the burrata, struggling to twist it closed. This is when the cheesemaker takes my hands in his and, like some kind of Italian Patrick Swayze in Ghost, guides me through each movement. Stretch, pull, dollop, twist. He takes…

The name of his restaurant might mean tripe, but Diego Rossi likes to eat vegetables when he goes out. Contradictory? Perhaps, but sidestepping expectations is a trademark of this firebrand Italian chef. Born in Verona, Rossi is the cooking force behind Trippa, Milan’s “people’s trattoria” renowned for its democratic, produce-driven and affordable approach to feeding guests. When he’s not in the kitchen, this is where you’ll find Rossi eating and drinking. Come say ciao! When you say, “I’m going to eat in a trattoria”, your imagination goes towards an old place with a grandmother in the kitchen cooking big portions. With Trippa, I wanted to bring the concept of the trattoria into today’s world. You will still find the signs of a traditional trattoria: the service is casual, the colours…

STAY Overlooking the Swan River and sitting at the edge of Elizabeth Quay, The Ritz-Carlton, Perth offers a boutique feel with all the luxuries that you’d expect from the high-end brand. It’s hard not to be impressed by its size (there are 205 rooms within the glossy high-rise tower) and while it’s one of Perth’s largest places to stay, the space is far from formulaic. A relaxed Western Australian vibe is evident throughout the hotel, from the 10,000 pieces of Kimberley sandstone on the lobby walls to the abstract aerial images that panel the rooms. Each element creates a sense of calm normally associated with being far from the city, despite being in the heart of the CBD. The bathrooms are a highlight – each with a double vanity, towering…

Stay La Casa del Gigante Luxury Collection Named after Monterosso’s Il Gigante rock sculpture, this private villa is a favourite among design lovers for its rich Italian history. The home was designed by famed Italian architect Claudio Andreani and interiors are by Piero Pinto. Via Privata Montale 13 SHOP Fabbrica d’Arte Monterosso Carry-on baggage exists for the very reason that you’ll end up in a shop like this on your travels. Featuring the work of local artists and ceramicists, every piece is curated and handmade to reflect the offerings of Cinque Terre ranging from ceramic anchovies to terracotta sculptures of Monterosso’s 14th-century church, San Giovanni Battista. Via Roma 9 DRINK Enoteca Internazionale If there’s one thing we should all embrace on holiday, it’s aperitivo. The Babieri family takes aperitivo seriously…

Your restaurant Caterina’s is inspired by your student days in Perugia, Italy. What was being in central Italy like? Incredible. Italy was Italy and the closest we had here was Lygon Street: parmigiana and carbonara, and probably bad versions as well. However in Perugia, I got to taste vitello tonnato, tortellini alla panna and real Roman-style pizza. Did your regulars really chip in to help you buy Caterina’s? Yeah, it’s crazy. I bought the restaurant to save my job and all the staff. Because I’m in the corporate end of Melbourne, one client gave me $50,000, one gave me $20,000, one gave me $5000. Everybody gave me the money I needed to make the deposit: it was all based on goodwill. Caterina’s celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2020. What’s stayed…

I grew up in Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. We used to do a lot of road trips as a family. We also did a lot of walking trips in the mountains, back-country stuff; we’d pick wild berries up in the far reaches of the mountains; there was a lot of kayaking on rivers; a lot of making bush pancakes and damper on camping trips. And there might have been an overseas trip or two when we were little, but I have more memories of driving up to Sydney to see family and begging to be allowed to stop at McDonalds to get a hamburger. When I was 14 or 15 I did an exchange to Germany. I lived outside Munich for part of a school…

Daniel Johnston is constantly curious in his practice as a chef, and I am drawn to his irreverent, eccentric character. Over the past seven years or so, he has delighted us with his innovative Italian pop-ups around town, yet Dan also offers so much more with his explorations that go beyond the kitchen. I love Dan’s Italian cooking style – his food, with its “Italian nonna” touch, reminds me of the days I worked at The Restaurant Manfredi. I had the privilege of learning from the formidable Franca, Stefano and Franco Manfredi, with their focus on seasonal ingredients and a handmade, fresh-is-best, cook-to-order mantra. Dan has an extensive knowledge and understanding of Italian cuisine and culture, and his food is even more delicious because of his generosity of spirit and…

PRETTY IN PINK 2019 Curly Flat White Pinot, Macedon Ranges, $26 If you love really pale, properly dry rosé, try this: early-picked pinot noir, a little skin contact, perfumed and creamy but with good vinous chew, too. curlyflat.com NON-ABV WINNER Non 2 Caramelised Pear and Kombu, Melbourne, $30 Outstanding non-alcoholic drink made from pears, ginger, tea and a bunch of other stuff. Almost tastes like a really good medium-sweet French farmhouse cider. non.world ADVENTURE SEEKER 2018 Brave New Wine Schadenfreude, Great Southern, $38 A lip-smacking, succulent, slurpy shiraz. Whole-bunch ferment gives the wine a fine, sappy-snappy quality. Great with steak frites. And mustard. bravenewwine.com.au TASSIE TRIUMPH 2019 Apogee Alto Pinot Gris, Tasmania, $44 Really beautiful expression of pinot gris with both the crisp, crunchy refreshment and some of the rich,…

Somewhere between heaven and the underworld lies purgatory, a hellish place of limbo where, it would seem, Italians make delicious baked eggs. Said to represent souls seeking purification, eggs are baked atop a rich, red tomato sauce, symbolising the flames of hell, and finished with a generous dusting of parmesan cheese. Known in Italian as uova in purgatorio, it’s traditionally enjoyed for dinner, but is also ideal for brunch or lunch, too. THE SPICES The difference between shakshuka and eggs in purgatory is all in the spice. Where shakshuka uses North African and Middle Eastern seasonings such as cumin, cayenne pepper and paprika, the Mediterranean version calls for garlic, salt and dried chilli flakes. Some recipes throw in fresh herbs such as parsley or basil for added flavour. THE SAUCE…

When Pellegrino Artusi published his cookbook La Scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiare bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well) in 1891, Italy had only been unified politically for 30 years. His aim was to unify the country gastronomically by collecting its regional recipes. His readership was urban, middle-class and literate, but even as he wrote – and for different reasons – food was also on the minds of other Italians. Namely the peasants who, victims of a nationwide agrarian crisis, were fleeing the country to seek fortune across Europe and beyond. They might as well have been from a different planet. Between 1876 and 1914, about eight million Italians sailed to “La Merica” – not so much a geographical entity as a dream of…

Insalata of tomato, mozzarella and basil with anchovies SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 15 MINS When you’re only using a few ingredients, it’s important to use the best you can find. For this insalata, bring everything to room temperature before serving to maximise the flavours. You could also toss through torn day-old bread to make it more substantial. 1 kg best-quality mixed green and red tomatoes, coarsely chopped or sliced 2 mozzarella (about 250gm each), preferably buffalo milk, torn Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling Large handful of basil leaves, to serve Splash of red wine vinegar, to serve Good-quality anchovy fillets (such as Ortiz), torn, and crusty bread, to serve 1 Arrange tomatoes and mozzarella on a serving plate. Dress generously with oil and season to taste. Set aside for…

My fascination with Venice goes back a long way. Many years ago, when I was just 21 and had completed a 12-month sabbatical in Southern Italy, I found myself on my way to London. I had a little time up my sleeve, so I asked my learned older cousin, Liliana Di Certo, for advice on what I thought would be a difficult question – where should my next stop in Italy be? I’d been to Rome and Milan several times, but hadn’t ventured far beyond these cities or the southern region of Calabria, the birthplace of my father. “Liliana, I only have a few days. Where do you think I should go: Florence or Venice?” She didn’t hesitate. “Venice. You are going to Venice and I am going to organise…

Embrace European luxury and elegance with these classic Italian designs.…