Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Gourmet Traveller

Joanna Hunkin Editor Deputy Editor Anna McCooe Creative Director Jacqui Triggs Senior Designer Sam Yates Words Senior Sub-editor Suzanna Chriss News Editor Jordan Kretchmer Editorial Coordinator Alexandra Harris Digital Digital Managing Editor Sarah McInernay Digital Editor Cordelia Williamson Digital Content Producer Charlotte Wishart Contributors Elliot Baker, Alexandra Carlton, Michael Harden, Anna Hart, Annabel Heseltine, Matty Hirsch, Kylie Kwong, Lee Tran Lam, Samantha Payne, Alley Pascoe, Simon Rickard, Katie Spain, Lee Tulloch, Max Veenhuyzen, Nikki Wallman. @gourmettraveller askgourmet@aremedia.com.au GOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU Published by Are Media Pty Limited. ABN 18 053 273 546. 54-58 Park St, Sydney, NSW, 2000, (02) 9282 8000. The trade mark Gourmet Traveller is the property of Are Media Pty Limited and is used under licence. ©2023 All rights reserved. Printed by IVE, Unit 1/83 Derby St, Silverwater, NSW, 2128.…

COME WHAT MAY This month’s hottest restaurant openings, jet-set pets, a flash new Tokyo hotel and food festivals worth booking. THE LATEST FROM CHEFS AND RESTAURANTS AROUND AUSTRALIA RESTAURANT NEWS SYDNEY Inspired by the flavours of Latin America, Morena has set up shop in Martin Place within the 150-year-old GPO building, which also houses the five-star Fullerton Hotel. Returning to Sydney from Melbourne, executive chef Alejandro Saravia expands his Farmer’s Daughters remit to explore his Peruvian heritage while covering more ground, from Brazil to Bolivia and beyond. Work your way through a devoted ceviche menu, featuring goldband snapper with leche de tigre (a marinade of lime, coriander and chilli), sweet potato and chulpi (Ecuadorian toasted corn); king prawn with green plantain crisps and sofrito; or yellowfin tuna with soy dashi,…

Foraging wild food has become desperately fashionable in recent years. Social media is awash with tutorials on how to harvest and prepare plants and fungi from public places. It’s a truly fascinating social phenomenon, because foraging wild plants is simultaneously a necessity for the world’s poorest people, and an exotic lifestyle hobby for the world’s richest and most educated. The destitute eat foraged plants to survive, while the rich eat them as a novelty, perhaps at a high-end restaurant, to signal something about themselves; their financial means, their abundance of leisure time, their connoisseurship, or their environmental credentials. Foraged foods exist on a continuum from valuable seasonal delicacies, to plain awful famine foods. At one end of the spectrum are black Périgord truffles, and at the other, roadside weeds. Foraged…

LET IT FLOW New openings, five-minutes with winemaker David Lowe, a lesson in fermentation and how to make the perfect Bee’s Knees. SPOTLIGHT ON Jeremy Metzroth, food and beverage director, QT, Sydney Parlour is our newest venue, which celebrates Old World French wine regions and New World, contemporary Australian wines. We have more than 350 wines available, some housed in our stunning wine cellar, The Bureau, a former ticket booth for the movie theatre built in 1929. The 2020 Gerard Duplessis Chablis and 2022 Tolpuddle Pinot Noir are favourites. My go-to drink at home is... Champagne, a Margarita with plenty of salt, a strong Negroni, or a crisp beer. I’ve noticed a strong lean towards low alcohol and low ABV cocktails. My favourite at Gowings is the High & Mighty,…

Since launching their eponymous Hobart micro-distillery in 2018, Ben Taylor and Natalie Smith have made a point of seeking out singular ingredients to capture the essence of Tasmania’s wilderness in their experimental spirits. Who better, then, to collaborate with on a honey-flavoured gin than celebrated chef (and beekeeper) Analiese Gregory? The hives on Gregory’s Huon Valley property produce a mix of stringybark and garden honey, resulting in a gin that, in Smith’s words, “brings to mind the Tassie landscape, all those beautiful native plants the bees have visited, the myrtle and bottlebrush, and hints of paperbark”. The insects play as vital a part in the spirit’s texture as they do its taste, too, as each bottle is lined with beeswax before filling, resulting in a silky mouthfeel and more pronounced…

That looks like my worst nightmare.” This is one of the many shocked comments I got on my Instagram story when I posted images of my 25-plus course at Amisfield, just outside Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island. I understood. Chef Vaughan Mabee’s food looks like the fantasies of a twisted taxidermist. Duck heads stare blankly at the ceiling. Deer antlers drip what appears to be blood. Severed green fish heads hold what looks like tiny ice-creams in their open mouths. It looks like Dark Mofo on a plate. A Guernica hellscape. A PETA protest waiting to happen. What my friends couldn’t see through Instagram, though, is that every mouthful of this extraordinary meal – without exception – was delicious in a way that had me gripping the edge of…

Undomesticated bliss Luxury scales new heights in the Himalayas, a love letter to urban jungles, discovering Thailand’s Golden Triangle, and South Australia’s new island escape. If I was a vulture soaring high up in the Himalayas over marbled mountains, where ridges of blue rock pierce pristine snow meadows, I might fly along the deepest gorge in the world carved between two of Nepal’s great massifs, Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. Looking down over the Mustang valley I would see the Kali Gandaki River, wild and milky grey like Chinese clay funnelling out of a wide plateau, sand-coloured and dusty, windswept by the scent of juniper. And I might just spot with my sharp eyes, a long low building, more glass than stone, cradled by shale, glinting in a cold sun and microscopic…

As we go to print, a landslide has closed the main road into Megalong Valley. A temporary road is expected to open soon but please check Traffic NSW for updates. livetraffic.com STAY Award-winning Blue Mountains resort Chalets at Blackheath caters to the wild at heart and their every whim, including Champagne on arrival, in-room massages and direct access to walking trails. With just four beautifully appointed lodges, this luxury hotel is an intimate affair located at the highest point of the Blue Mountains, above one million hectares of wilderness. Tucked away from each other, and seemingly the world, each chalet is surrounded by trees; burnt eucalyptus trunks, stoic reminders of past bushfires, and verdant gum saplings bursting from the soil in celebration of the resort’s robust regeneration program. Details matter…

HOME INSPIRATION 1 Desert Jute rug, $1995, House of Orange. 2 Orbit chandelier, $11,610, In Good Company. 3 101 Copenhagen Cobra candle holder in Black, $243, Design Stuff. 4 Capitol Complex chair with arms, from $5054, Mobilia. 5 Black Japan timber, POA, Kustom Timber. 6 Boss Executive dining table, POA, Fanuli. 7 Yuzu vessel, $30, Freedom. 8 Balla floor lamp, $1085, King Living. 9 Intention lime wash paint colour, from $44/litre, Bauwerk Colour. PHOTOGRAPHY ADRIAN GAUT. STYLING COLIN KING (VANESSA ALEXANDER’S HOUSE).…

GIFT GT THIS MOTHER’S DAY magshop.com.au/gmt Scan here to purchase GT Restaurant Gift Card. A recent visit home saw me spend a morning helping my mum declutter her jewellery drawer. As an editor, I spend my life making tough decisions on what to cut – prioritising the things that have genuine value over those that are simply taking up space. I would argue I’m efficient; my mother might use the word ruthless. Particularly when it came to a series of sparkly plastic jewels that she had accumulated over the last four decades; a series of birthday, Christmas and Mother’s Day gifts from her well-meaning but clueless sons. Some dated back to the early ’90s, when we lived in Hong Kong and my brothers would head to the local mall to…

WESTMONT CHILLI PICKLES Australian pickle upstart Westmont has been perfecting its brine since 2014, and these crinkle-cut cukes are some of the best and crunchiest we tried. Slices of chilli add zing, and this humble all-rounder pickle belongs in the fridges of home cooks and chefs alike. $6.50 for 500gm, harrisfarm.com.au TSUKE MONO JAPANESE PICKLES Naturally fermented with a trifecta of saltiness from soy, sweetness from mirin, and acidity from rice vinegar, these pickles pop. Aromatic mustard seeds and a thick slice make these excellent for topping rice bowls, cold soba or served as part of a bento box. $13 for 450gm, harrisfarm.com.au DILLICIOUS STRAIGHT UP GARLIC DILL PICKLE CHIPS These pickle pucks are joined by dill fronds for tasty results. The rounds are ideal for putting on burgers to…

I had the privilege of meeting changemaker Moo Baulch a few years ago through her work at the Redfern-based, Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC), a specialist homelessness service for women and families escaping domestic violence. Through Moo and WAGEC I have learnt that every single one of us has a role to play in preventing domestic violence, and on Sunday May 5, I look forward to taking part with the local community, in the annual Walk for WAGEC fundraiser, so women and children can walk away from violence. It was a sparkling day on Sydney Harbour in spring, 2014. Moo Baulch OAM will never forget it; the day Our Watch was officially launched with a national remit to prevent gender-based violence in Australia. At the time, Baulch was the…

What do you grow at Tinja? We grow heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, beans, spinach, cucumbers, pomegranates, figs, olives, pistachios, and feijoas. The vineyard is home to 13 grape varieties including zinfandel, shiraz and merlot, plus Italian additions like ansonica, vermentino, pecorino, and nero d’Avola. We also have a trufferie with 400 oaks, flowers, chooks, Dorper sheep and Angus/Simmental cattle. How do you tread lightly? Thirty-five hectares of the 400-hectare property is a protected wildlife sanctuary, in partnership with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust and 12 hectares are being regenerated in partnership with Naway Yila Buradja, where Nathan Lovett grows native saltbush and other Indigenous ingredients used in our menus [at The Zin House, run by Lowe’s wife executive chef Kim Currie]. Why did you go certified organic in 2005? The farm…

V VEGETARIAN GF GLUTEN FREE DF DAIRY FREE Japchae with prawns SERVES 2 // PREP TIME 10 MINS // COOK 10 MINS 200 gm sweet potato starch noodles 2 tbsp vegetable oil 10 uncooked prawns, peeled, tails intact 2 spring onions, cut into 5cm batons 8 baby corn spears, halved lengthways 1 small carrot, peeled, cut into julienne 100 gm shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 tsp finely grated ginger 2 cups (loosely packed) baby spinach 2 tbsp soy sauce 3 tsp brown sugar 2 tsp sesame oil Toasted sesame seeds and thinly sliced spring onions, to serve 1 Cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender (7-8 minutes). Drain and set aside. 2 Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or frying pan…

Some of the world’s purest cacao beans lie tucked into forgotten valleys,” says Chris Brown – and he would know. As co-owner of Bean Bar You, a Sydney-based chocolate-subscription service, he highlights unique makers such as Brazil’s Luisa Abram, who uses wild cacao from the Amazon. Unlike beans grown in plantations, these are tough to source. “They are often floated down rivers to get to a nearby village,” he says. In an era of lab-grown and mass-produced ingredients, there’s a romance to foods that defy convenience and come from the wild, whether it’s Abram’s hard-to-find chocolate, small-batch beer flavoured with feral hops from a Tasmanian island or coffee from a little-known species previously thought to be extinct. There are challenges to getting these ingredients into your hands, cups and plates,…

Growing up, Dennis Tierney ebbed and flowed between world travel and life on a hobby farm in northern New South Wales, learning from his mother, a French chef, every step of the way. His first professional experiences in the kitchen were at Fins in Byron Bay. Then Aria, Bilson’s and Bel Mondo in Sydney. But it was the chance to work on Lord Howe Island, the tiny sub-tropical land mass 600 kilometres east of New South Wales, that closed the loop between his life and loves. He has now worked at Capella Lodge, Arajilla Retreat and Pinetrees Lodge, building a portfolio of dishes based on locally caught seafood, locally grown produce and foraged ingredients. “These kitchens imposed on me the need for the kind of ingenuity that can only be…

I’ve returned to downtown Buenos Aires after three weeks in the Patagonian wilderness, and suddenly, I’m a wild animal again. It’s in a big city that I’m reminded what savages we are. In beautiful wide open natural spaces, where the air smells sweet and we have enough of everything, humans are positively genteel. In travel industry brochures and websites, nature has cleverly appropriated the word “wild” to describe forest bathing or snow-hiking or kayaking. This strikes me as unfair on cities, because in my experience city breaks are much more likely to bring out our wild side, sharpen our primal instincts, trigger our fight-or-flight instincts at least 20 times a day, and generally take us on the sort of rip-roaring adrenaline-cortisol-dopamine journey that white-water-rafting can only dream of. In Patagonia,…

1 Wash&Wear Low Sheen in Domino, from $59.50/litre, Dulux. 2 Lovely Linen pillowcase in Jeep Green, from $108, Case e Cucina. 3 Pera medium rug, $599, Harvey Norman. 4 Jacqueline bed $10,790, Poliform. 5 Wiggle stool, $1215, Living Edge. 6 Kendall occasional chair, $1989, Horgans. 7 Roll & Hill Delta Sconce, POA, Space Furniture. 8 Peppercorn Grey Oak floorboards, POA, Royal Oak Floors. PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC PETSCHEK. STYLING HAMPTONS GOOD DESIGN (SHAGWONG RESIDENCE).…

Horizon throw in Moss, $299, Waverley Mills. Chelsea overnight bag in Woodland Green, $249, Antler. Beppi sling chair in Raw, $389, Basil Bangs. Terrain throw in Tarkine Forest, $299, Waverley Mills. Driss insulated stainless steel bottle in Porter Green, $60, Decor Living. Drink bottle in Sage, $60, Prae. Comfort Craftsman boots in Chestnut, $649, R.M. Williams. Linen GlamSwag in Sage Green, $299, GlamSwag.  PHOTOGRAPHY WILL HORNER. STYLING OLIVIA BLACKMORE.…

The Union Bank, Orange, NSW  Charred octopus is matched with a swipe of hummus, chickpeas and a hearty seasoning of harissa for a warming autumnal lunch. The cosy surrounds and country town hospitality only add to the charm. Charlotte Wishart, digital producer Shinjuku, Japan The smoky trail of yakitori, the buzzing neon lights and hum of hundreds of people commuting through the city – you don’t have to go to a landmark to feel totally immersed in Toyko. A stroll from the labyrinth that is Shinjuku station is an adventure in its own right. Jordan Kretchmer, news editor Kurumba, Sydney, NSW The delight of this whimsical dessert – aside from its pretty pink colour and the sweet crunch of crystallised pistachio – was trying to place the childhood sweet it…

Delusion can be your ally. I was that little girl dreaming big with her head in the clouds. But you need to put in the work ... you hunt down every opportunity, and you work harder every day. Growing up in Rockhampton, Queensland, our very fancy, go-to special occasion restaurant was Sizzler. And if Sizzler wasn’t available for some reason, it was the Hog’s Breath Cafe. I didn’t leave Rocky at all until I left to study at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane when I was 19, and I only went overseas for the first time when I landed the role of Juliet in & Juliet. So it’s safe to say that my experiences with food were pretty simple for a significant portion of my life. But striking out on…

Dining out This month, we discover authentic Mexican in Newtown, an Adelaide Hills fine-diner, fire feasting in Brisbane, and a tiny treasure in Melbourne’s outskirts. Adelaide Hills Peramangk QUICK LOOK 150 Pfeiffer Rd, Woodside, SA birdinhand.com.au CHEF Jacob Davey OPENING HOURS Lunch Sat-Sun PRICE GUIDE $$$ BOOKINGS Recommended VERDICT An ode to the gardens LVN Restaurant’s kitchen garden sets a bucolic scene and provides a glimpse into your dining future from the moment you arrive. You may spot executive chef Jacob Davey here gathering radish flowers, green coriander leaves, dainty oregano flowers or warrigal greens, which will soon after appear on bite-sized welcome snacks. Perhaps a tiny garden tart with a base made from roast zucchini (blended, dried then fried right before service) filled with raw broad beans, parsley emulsion,…

One of the golden rules of making shortcrust pastry such as this is to avoid overdeveloping the dough, other wise you won’t get the flakiness that makes it so desirable. Apple-cider vinegar is your secret weapon in achieving that texture. It has a counteractive effect on gluten development so will prevent any toughness from creeping in. More importantly, it also adds a lovely tart edge to sweet items. With the nutty flavour of the khorasan, you’ll find this recipe tastes a little different to your average shortcrust; although we use it for pies, it’s also a great base for sable biscuits and tarts, including chocolate or caramel. A couple of things to keep in mind: it’s really crucial that you have large, almost coin-sized, shards of butter through the dough.…

MUSHROOM GLOSSARY Baby King Known for a swollen stem, which remains firm when cooked and a subtle peppery, umami flavour. Chestnut A light brown cap with a slender stalk. Expect a firm texture and nutty flavour. Enoki Creamy, thread-like stems and small caps offer light sweetness and subtle crunch. Oyster Famed for its fluted, fan-shaped caps and soft, velvety texture, oyster offers a soft, earthy flavour when cooked. Portobello Rich with a toothsome texture, this mushroom is a Swiss brown grown to maturity for a deep, meaty taste. Shiitake Its spongy texture and leathery stem soaks up sauces while maintaining its rich, fungal flavour and woody aroma. Shimeji Small, clumping mushrooms with a delicate nuttiness. Swiss brown Robust and full bodied with a firmness that remains during cooking. Think deep,…

They may eat happily out of your hands at breakfast if they choose: gentle, inquisitive trunks hoovering bananas from your palm, sweet faces innocently awaiting the next morsel. But here at Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, hidden away in Thailand’s hilly northernmost province of Chiang Rai, the resident elephants can also behave like a pack of naughty teens breaking out of boarding school for laughs. National borders are plentiful in this wildly beautiful region, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar converge at the confluence of the rivers Ruak and Mekong. But they mean nothing to the elephants – rescued from city streets and tourist traps in partnership with not-for-profit The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, which ensures the welfare of the elephants, their mahouts (elephant minders) and the mahouts’ families.…

1 Valentino Garavani Toile Iconographe cape, $8600, Farfetch. 2 The Row Owen leather and mesh running trainers, $1498, Matches Fashion. 3 Rhude Nautica silk shirt, $1555, Farfetch. 4 Spencer wool fedora, $159, Mason Hats. 5 Loewe Puzzle Fold leather-trimmed canvas tote, $2350, Net-A-Porter. 6 Giuseppe Zanotti Merissa Sparkle boots, $6105, Farfetch. 7 Curved buckle belt in smooth calfskin in Tan/ Palladium, $660, Loewe. 8 Patek Philippe Calatrava watch, $51,800, J Farren-Price. 9 The Row Stepny oversized wool and cashmere-blend turtleneck sweater in Sand, $1643, Net-A-Porter. PHOTOGRAPHY WILL HORNER. STYLING OLIVIA BLACKMORE. MERCHANDISING JACQUI TRIGGS.…

THE INTELLIGENT EDIT 1 SKINSTITUT EXPERT REVITALISE HYALURONIC JELLY MASK The pursuit of bouncy, lit-from-within skin is a game of give and take. Start by shedding dead skin cells, then replenish. This mask takes care of step two. $79, skinstitut.com 2 RATIONALE THE NIGHT CRÈME #6 Firmer, smoother, brighter, lifted. These are the hallmarks of a skincare regimen that includes retinol (and other vitamin A forms). Not to be confused with an exfoliant – retinol doesn’t remove cells but rather encourages them to speed up reproduction. Use at night, alongside luxurious hydration, which this cream includes too. $230, rationale.com.au 3 RATIONALE THE SERUM #5 This is where the science of luminosity gets niche. The ideal pH of the skin’s outermost layer (the stratum corneum) is acidic but it becomes more…