Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i Gourmet Traveller

Euston+Ellis Here at GT, we’re firm believers that a table just isn’t complete without some artfully draped napery. And we’re loving this quirky and colourful collection from Australian designer Liz Ellis. eustonellis.com Pleasant State We’re instant converts to this new sustainable cleaning system, which features stylish, reusable glass bottles. Simply fill with warm water and dissolve the bar of plant-based cleaning product. pleasantstate.com July Carry On Light With interstate travel now firmly back on our schedules, it’s the perfect time to upgrade your cabin bag to this sleek new release from July. The Australian-made case is said to be the lightest in the world at just 1.8kg. july.com Melbourne Food and Wine A year after the country’s biggest food festival was cancelled, the event returned in epic form, with 1800…

Hunter Valley, NSW A week spent picking grapes in New South Wales’ verdant wine hub left me in complete awe of the wine region’s flourishing, underrated beauty. Georgie Meredith, writer and editorial coordinator Bistrot 916, Sydney Perfectly pink duck breast is paired with crisp, salty chips and buttery béarnaise at Dan Pepperell’s new venture, which brings a touch of Paris to Potts Point. The frites are good, the people-watching is better. 22 Challis Ave, Potts Point, NSW Laura Jacobs, art director Hero, Melbourne This aesthetically pleasing, saline, snacky skewer plays a starring role at Karen Martini’s new restaurant Hero. It’s as worthy of a visit as the refurbished ACMI building it’s housed in. ACMI Fed Square, Melbourne. Jordan Kretchmer, writer Hello Auntie, Sydney If my aunty made these golden fried…

What happens when a hive mind of contributors – led by a food journalist and a software developer – join forces? In Nick Jordan and Louis Lepper’s case, tasty things. Have You Eaten is an interactive food map created by the pair, that lists recommendations for regional and dish-specific cuisine categories across greater Sydney. As a journalist Nick Jordan has been writing about local restaurants for a while, in particular for Broadsheet’s “Local Knowledge” column. “Some people had tried to plot all of the restaurants I’d written about on a Google Map. That got us talking about what we could do on a larger scale,” says Jordan. The pair sprung into action sourcing suggestions from across Sydney, going beyond typical media streams. “If you want information about what’s popular or…

As autumn wears on in the colder parts of the country, one of my favourite fruits is ready for harvest: the pear. As a boy I used to resent seeing pears in the bowls of chopped fruit given to us in school, as it seemed like we were being deprived of sweeter, sexier fruits such as bananas. Sure, the pears were sweet enough, but dull; crunchy, dry and flavourless. It turns out this was merely user error. One quirk of pears which is routinely overlooked in this age of convenience, is that most varieties do not ripen on the tree. Regardless of whether you grow your own or buy them, pears need to be ripened off the tree before you eat them. Only then will their best features be revealed:…

Along with the Martini, the Old Fashioned is commonly considered one of the great cocktail classics. Once referred to as the “bittered sling”, the iconic drink has been a king of the cocktail scene and a staple on bar menus since the mid-1800s. Many bars lay claim to its creation, including the Pendennis Club in Kentucky, and New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, however there’s little evidence of where the Old Fashioned actually came from. Despite its golden-age ties, the no-frills tipple experienced a modern resurgence thanks to, in part, Don Draper; the slick character from the American period drama Mad Men, who is often depicted with an Old Fashioned in hand, and in one scene even hops over the bar to make one himself. The illustrious drink is an…

VEGETARIAN GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE Baked feta with mandarin and fennel SERVES 4 4 blocks firm feta (200gm each) 2 tbsp honey 125 ml (1/2 cup) extra-virgin olive oil 4 mandarins 60 ml (¼ cup) apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 3 white witlof, leaves separated 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and sliced, fronds reserved Handful micro sorrel 50 gm roasted hazelnuts, chopped Mixed baby herbs, to serve 1 Preheat oven to 200°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Pat feta dry with paper towel and place on tray. Combine half the honey and 1 tbsp oil in a small bowl and spread evenly over feta, then season to taste. Bake until feta is soft and golden (20 minutes). 2 Meanwhile, juice one mandarin…

You don’t just wake up one day and open a restaurant. From concept to completion, planning can take a couple of years, and that’s without a global pandemic slowing you down. So when New Zealand went into a strict and sudden lockdown in March last year, projects at various stages of readiness came to a halt and the worry set in. Watching the rest of the world, we wondered what would become of dining out and if it would ever be the same again. In an industry that is synonymous with burnout, those five weeks of isolation offered an uncharacteristic period of rest. Time to reflect on their food, their offering, what was important to them and, in the case of new ventures, time to consider what they wanted those…

Sid Sahrawat Sidart, Cassia and Sid at The French Café, Auckland Splitting time between his three restaurants – Sidart, Cassia and Sid at The French Café – Sid Sahrawat’s adaptability has been key to his success. Following a stint as head chef at The Grove – where many of Auckland’s top chefs had their start – his first solo venture was Sidart, a fine diner hidden at the back of a shopping arcade, with views of the city. Cassia came next, serving robust dishes from the regions of Sahrawat’s native India. It’s modern, but the flavours are familiar and staples such as rice and naan are clearly made by expert hands. In 2018, he and his wife Chand – operations manager of the restaurants – took over Auckland institution The…

If the world has a showroom for fabulous lifestyles, that showroom is New Zealand. As far as Europeans and Americans are concerned, it’s a little bit off the main drag, but when you get here, we’re told, the journey is worth it. Because all the inspiration you could ever need is laid out cleanly before you. You can be anything you want to be here. Around the world, this is the allure of New Zealand, whispered from one traveller to the next: it’s a destination where you can try countless different ways of life on for size, see what suits you, and return home in your snazzy new incarnation. No other country offers such an enticing buffet of transformational experiences, conveniently laid out in one compact space. No other country…

HUKA LODGE, TAUPŌ The original luxury lodge in New Zealand, Taupō’s Huka Lodge has played host to all manner of world leaders, royals and celebrities looking to escape reality and enjoy the serenity of New Zealand’s native bush. The lodge is said to have been Queen Elizabeth’s preferred accommodation when visiting the Antipodes. Originally set up as fisherman’s quarters nearly 100 years ago, the property is now home to 20 suites and two private retreats, and recently became part of the Baillie Lodges collection, alongside iconic properties such as Longitude 131° at Uluru and Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island. hukalodge.co.nz - THE LINDIS, AHURIRI VALLEY To experience some of New Zealand’s wildest landscapes, including Franz Josef Glacier, you need to head south. And to experience them in style, you’ll…

INDUSTRIAL ESTATE Combine a monochrome palette with functional designs and sleek silhouettes for a modern, minimal look. GOLDEN HOUR For an autumn-inspired interior, pair terracotta tones with tactile materials and a touch of bronze. Local labels…

It’s remarkable to think it’s been a year since Covid first turned our world upside down. Last year, our April issue went on sale the day Australia entered a nationwide lockdown. At the time, I wrote that it may be a “little while” until many of us saw our families again. Little did I know that 12 months later, borders would still be closed and I would be no closer to returning home or seeing my family in Aotearoa New Zealand. Working on this issue, dedicated to New Zealand, has been one of the most torturous experiences of my life. And also, the most joyful. It has given me the chance to shine a light on some of the people and places I most admire (and miss the most), and…

SYDNEY Chippendale’s Kensington Street has welcomed Jung Sung, a sleek, modern Korean-leaning destination restaurant. Korean-born, New York-trained, now Sydney-based chef Insup Kim, earned his stripes cooking at the Shangri-La Sydney and Del Posto in New York. Here you’ll find him serving bowls of bibimbap with soy-marinated Moreton Bay bug, puffed grains, seaweed and egg, alongside butter-poached bug with crustacean bisque and gochujang aïoli; while dessert sees a corn cob-shaped serve of sweet corn custard spiked with doenjang with caramelised pistachios. Korean food in Sydney is being further repped by husband-and-wife duo Illa Kim and Daero Lee, via Soul Deli. After the couple pivoted their more formal Soul Dining restaurant to do rice bowls, they were inspired to open a second venue, focused as a deli and café in Surry Hills.…

1 Westgold Unsalted Butter Made on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, Westgold uses milk from free-range, grass-fed dairy cows and has used the same churning process since 1893, resulting in a richly flavoured, creamy yellow butter. 400gm, $5.15. 2 Red Feather Pure Creamery Butter This canned butter is sealed airtight for maximum freshness. Made with no artificial ingredients, this rich butter is purely made of cream, with a small addition of salt. 340gm, $7.99. 3 Lewis Road Creamery Salted Butter This salted butter will add a velvety layer of creaminess to any slice of toast or warmed hot cross buns. 227gm, $6.99.…

RANDOM HARVEST Popcorn and nut crunchy You’d be hard pressed to find a more nostalgic coupling than popcorn and caramel. These deliciously sticky slabs combine a honey-sweet caramel with generous nuggets of popcorn and peanuts. It’s the ultimate salty-sweet snack. $11.95 for 125gm, randomharvestgourmet.com.au KOKO BLACK Salty cashew crunch Almost wafer-like in texture, these perfectly sized chunks are lighter than your average brittle. Delicately salted cashews are encased in a brittle caramel and coated in a layer of bitter-sweet Belgian chocolate. Perfect with a cup of tea. $27.50 for 250gm, kokoblack.com HAIGH’S Macadamia toffee Haigh’s is synonymous with top-quality chocolate in Australia, yet these shards of toasty toffee prove its confectionery is equally moreish. Macadamia pieces combine with a rich, buttery base, finished with a hint of coffee and salt.…

Thomson This New Zealand whisky producer prides itself on using just three ingredients – quality malted barley, water and yeast – aged in a range of different casks. $143 for 700ml thomsonwhisky.com Sullivans Cove The combined use of ten different casks, including ex-American oak Bourbon, gives this small-batch Tasmanian whisky a complex flavour. $220 for 700ml sullivanscove.com Archie Rose Archie Rose produce a rye malt whisky, which is aged in virgin American oak to bring slightly tart, timber-forward notes and a sweet, orange rind finish. $119 for 700ml archierose.com.au…

Golden, light and wonderfully crisp, beer battered fish is a classic and delicious cooking technique that is easy to master – it just requires a bit of science. When the batter hits the hot oil, the carbon dioxide in the beer froths and expands, lifting the batter as bubbles escape. The batter also helps to insulate the fish, ensuring it remains tender and juicy. The fresher the batter, the crispier it is, so be sure to lay out everything you need before you start cooking. Step by step 1 Sift 225gm (1½ cups) self-raising flour and 75gm (½ cup) cornflour into a large bowl. Gradually whisk in 375ml (1½ cups) chilled beer and 60ml (¼ cup) chilled soda water to form a thin batter. Season with salt. 2 Preheat vegetable…

TE REO Te reo Mãori is an official language of New Zealand and part of everyday life in New Zealand. From a casual “kia ora” in the street to a formal poãwhiri [welcome] at events and ceremonies, you will hear te reo used frequently. While no one will expect you to speak the language, it’s both ignorant and offensive to mispronounce Mãori words. Particularly those beginning with “wh”, which is pronounced as a soft F in te reo. For example, the Northland city of Whangãrei is pronounced, fung-ah-ray, while the Coromandel beach town of Whangamatã is pronounced fung-ah-mah-tar. BAKER’S DELIGHTS It’s a well-established fact that nearly everything in life can be improved with the addition of cheese. So it follows that while Australia’s classic steak pies are good, New Zealand’s…

Chocolate roughs with mocha ganache MAKES 30 // PREP TIME 20 MINS // COOK 18 MINS (PLUS COOLING) We’ve pimped these classic café cookies with an espresso hit in the ganache. Pictured p105. 250 gm butter, softened 165 gm (¾ cup) raw caster sugar 25 gm (¼ cup) Dutch-process cocoa 250 gm (12/3 cups) plain flour 90 gm dark chocolate (45% cocoa solids), melted and cooled 100 gm (2½ cups) corn flakes Chopped roasted walnuts, to decorate MOCHA GANACHE 180 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped 2 tbsp espresso coffee 1 tbsp pouring cream 1 Preheat oven to 180°C and line 2 large oven trays with baking paper. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (4 minutes). Fold in sifted cocoa and flour,…

You originally moved from Wellington to Sydney to pursue a career as a chef... I got a job at Rockpool and went on to Tetsuya’s, and each job just led to the next. By the time I was 27 I was starting to get really tired, so I took a bit of a break and went to the Blue Mountains and started to reassess what I really wanted to do with my career. I got really clear about what my values were and what I wanted to commit to. I was so inspired by the nature I was surrounded by that I just wanted to cook with fire and hone the craft as a baker. What led to you to wood-fired baking? For eight years I was focused on my…

MELBOURNE The historical Equity Chambers building is now home to the brand new Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street. The 244-room hotel has restored many of the original flourishes of the 1930s building, including timber panelling, architraves and ceiling moulds, contrasted with the addition of six new levels and a tower. It’s also home to Luci Restaurant with head chef Sam Moores (ex-Pier Rose Bay and Bécasse) and lounge bar, The Douglas Club. Meanwhile chefs Shannon Martinez (Smith & Daughters) and Ian Curley (French Saloon) are helping to open Lona Misa at the Ovolo South Yarra. The all-day eatery’s menu will see Martinez incorporate her Latin heritage and signature vegan fare. BRISBANE The forward-thinking Hotel X has opened in Fortitude Valley. The 146-room luxury property includes Karl Lagerfeld amenities, a pillow…

Lisa Reihana made a profound impression on me years ago when I first met her through my wife Nell. Lisa is formidable; her energy is powerful, courageous, calming, respectful, healing, exquisitely sensitive and grounded, all at once. Lisa is one of those people who enhances all of those privileged enough to cross her path and I just love the way she loves her family so fiercely. There is a phrase in te reo Mãori, which refers to the sacred power of women: mana wãhine. All women possess this power but some positively radiate it. Lisa Reihana is one of those women; speaking to her is as uplifting as it is energising. It’s a power she also brings to her art, which she began creating in the 1980s. Today, Reihana is…

2018 Prophet’s Rock Pinot Gris, $40 Made of fruit from Bendigo and Pisa’s sub-regions, the Prophet’s Rock Pinot Gris should be the benchmark by which all other pinot gris is judged. Think texture and minerality, with an abundance of carefully integrated floral and orchard fruit flavours. prophetsrock.co.nz 2019 Rippon Gamay, $52 For pinot noir lovers who want to try something different. Just pure fruit from the biodynamic Rippon vineyards, with the smallest hint of sulphur added before bottling. Bright, clean acidity meets the juiciest red fruit notes. Serve slightly chilled for peak pleasure. rippon.co.nz 2019 Two Paddocks Pinot Noir, $50 We can’t help but agree when Sam Neill says his Two Paddocks pinot noir “represents the best of Central Otago”. This wine tastes like all the things beloved about the…

A tip when eating at Gimlet: don’t neglect dessert. Even if you’re “not really a dessert person” (whatever that means) the sweet stuff here – achingly pretty pastel-coloured gelato, house-made, topped with sugared rose petals, in flavours like white peach or Champagne or maybe wood-grilled apricots basted in caramel and served with a rich, silky almond cake and marzipan-y apricot kernel gelato – is worth the battle for a reservation alone. Gimlet’s the kind of place you want to linger so dessert’s a good excuse, though having a crack at the inventive, detail-obsessed cocktail list (there’s an olive flight accompanying their martini) is another worthy option. It’s a gorgeous room, a clever conversion of a cavernous 1920s space that pays tribute to the lovely bones without descending into period drag.…

It can be hard to know what to expect when a restaurant simply declares itself as “Australian”. Quandongs and finger limes? Surf ’n’ turf? Restaurant Labart, which sits amid the hurly of Burleigh, has a simple answer. Find and serve the best Australian produce. And because they know what that is, they offer (ever-changing) set menus. It’s $125 per person for dinner menu. You can also have that at lunch, or there’s a shorter one for $90. The pleasantly gloomy interior whisks you away to Paris, with its long banquettes, flickering candles and mossy green walls. It should be noisy, thanks to a long open kitchen, low ceiling and terrazzo floor. But subtle ceiling and wall panels seem to work here to create a quiet, calm space. The day’s menu…

Israeli-born chef Yael Shochat didn’t grow up eating hot cross buns, but that hasn’t stopped her version of the Easter treat gaining celebrity status in Auckland, and around the world. Much like the family-style food she serves at her inner-city café, Ima Cuisine, these buns are generous and packed with warming spices – freshly ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, honey and currants – and garnished with an iconic vanilla-flecked pastry cream cross. Ima Cuisine has changed locations three times over the years, but Shochat says she has been making these hot cross buns since she first opened in 2004. Their reputation grew slowly and organically, until 2018 when an airline magazine boldly labelled them “the best hot cross buns in the world”. Shortly after that, a video by a local…

NORTH ISLAND Te Ika-a-Māui The name Te-Ika-a-Māui means the fish of Māui and refers to the creation story of Māui and the giant fish. In Māori mythology, the demigod Māui went out fishing with his brothers and caught a giant fish – the North Island. His brothers carved up the fish, creating the many mountains, lakes and valleys we see today. NORTHLAND A land of sun, sand and kaimoana [seafood]. Home to the sailor’s paradise that is the Bay of Islands, as well as the historically significant Waitangi Treaty Grounds. AUCKLAND The City of Sails sits on an isthmus between two harbours. The Waitematā is a daytrippers’ paradise, full of islands to explore by boat, including the winery-laden Waiheke. To the west, the wild surf and black sand of Piha…

It’s not every day I escape to a five-star version of paradise. Here, my private quarters are an entire suite of deliciously airy rooms opening out to a manicured terrace and pool. My dressing room has an avenue of storage space, my zen-toned shower room has its own private vista and there is a gloriously proportioned bath. For the next few days my world-weary suitcase and I are staying at Falcon Brae Villa, an exclusive eyrie perched amongst three of New Zealand’s most beautiful national parks – Kahurangi, Nelson Lakes and the Abel Tasman National Park. Everywhere, there are wrap-around views of regal mountain ranges and steep forested valleys. Several different strands of bird song entwine on the breeze that drifts in through double-height windows. Skylarks soar and native tu¯¯…