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Going to Cairns? Read about Ochre Restaurant and Catering before you pack.
Happy
Chinese New Year of the Dragon!
Chinese
New Year starts on January 23, 2012 and it is the year of the Water Dragon.
If
you were born in 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 or2012 then you are born under the sign of the
dragon.
The
dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and famous
``dragons’’ include Al Pacino, Bruce Lee, Calista Flockhart, Courtney Cox,
Diana Krall, Fats Domino, Sigmund Freud, Gregory Peck, James Garner, Joan of
Arc, John Lennon, Keanu Reeves, Liam Neeson, Martin Sheen, Mary Louise Parker,
Matt Dillon, Nicolas Cage, Raquel Welch, Raul Julia, Reese Witherspoon, Ricardo
Arjona, Russell Crowe, Salvador Dalí, Sandra Bullock, and Shirley Temple
According
to the ancient annals no one compares to the Dragons when it comes to breathing
fire.
They
are showy, popular party animals who are full of life and enthusiasm. Never
content to sit on the sidelines, Dragons are movers and shakers.
They
make good talk-show hosts, artists, diplomats, priests and politicians. Invite
a dragon to a party, but make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy!
Season’s
Greetings from awokonthewildside.com
Wishing
everyone Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind and a large piece of cake!
Have
a wonderful Christmas and joyous New Year.
Please
visit awokonthewildside.com for recipes, foodie news, book reviews and more!
Bon
Appetit!
Conversations with ……………
Guy
Mirabella, chef and author of Hungry: Food from my heart.
I
was so impressed by Guy Mirabella when he presented his latest book, Hungry, at
Books for Cooks in Fitzroy, that I drove to his café, ShopAteCafeandStore, at
Mt Eliza to have lunch and chat with him.
Guy
cooks from the heart and makes decisions from the heart.
``It
seems cold to make decisions using my head rather than my heart and my heart
has never let me down,’’ he said.
``I
am an emotional person, I cook with love and I love the creativity of designing
a menu and feeding my friends and customers.
``My
menu changes with every season and often I get ideas in the same morning about
what I will cook for that day.’’
After
spending 25 years as a book designer, he opened the café 10 years ago.
Although
he had always wanted to be a chef, he took the path of book designing first,
mainly to please his parents, who wanted him to have a more conventional job.
``When
I won my award for a book design that I did, I thought, right, now I can fulfil
my dream of opening a café and doing what I really love,’’ he said, tears
welling in his eyes.
So
ShopAteCafeandStore was born, a stylish and friendly café that is an obvious
favourite with the locals who were there in droves on the Saturday afternoon I
visited.
His
whole family is involved, with sister Rosa making some desserts and pastas and
his mum Pina making her famous Italian doughnuts every Saturday.
There
is al fresco dining on the pavement, an open kitchen, delectable fare in the
display cabinets and a bookshelf with the books he wrote and designed.
Many
of the recipes in Hungry are available at the café, such as the ricotta
hotcakes with strawberries, yoghurt and maple syrup and the Sicilian style
baked beans.
Born
on the Mornington Peninsula, Guy and his siblings were taken to Sicily for six
months by their parents when he was 13. to acquaint them with their heritage,
and the trip left its indelible stamp on him.
``The
way of life there, the food and the people made such an impact on me.
``I
was struck by the land, its colours, how some of the people were dirt-poor, but
still so happy,’’ he said.
On
their last day there it snowed in the mountains and that day has always stayed
in his memory.
Even
today when he makes his napoli sauce it reminds him of the way his Auntie Rosa
made it, with all the flavours of the earth, ripe tomatoes and the sun.
Hungry
captures
Guy’s spirit and creativity.
Interspersed
with his favourite recipes are anecdotes, such as his trip to Sicily, the first
time he saw a movie and when he set eyes on the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, all
written from the heart.
Try
the recipe for Double Trouble ice cream spiked with vodka and chilli in the
recipe section of awokonthewildside.com
Then
go to the café, meet Guy, have a meal and enjoy yourself.
Buon
appetito!
The details:
ShopAteCafeandStore
Shop
8/87 The Tower, Mt Eliza Way
Mt
Eliza
Vic
3930
Tel
03 9787 0288
Hours:
8.15am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday (Business Hours).
Licensed
Hungry
Food
from my heart by Guy Mirabella
Published
by Plum
RRP
$50
Available
at ShopAte, Books for Cooks and book shops.
Royal Melbourne Show
Saturday,
24 September to Tuesday, 4 October 2011
At
the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds,Epsom Rd, Ascot Vale
For
Show information phone 1300 65 65 97
For
tickets phone Ticketek on 13 28 49
This
year there are even more reasons to attend Victoria’s largest annual community
event, the Royal Melbourne Show.
There is plenty of new attractions
and entertainment, thousands
of animals
and even
more free interactiveactivitiesanddisplays for
everyone to enjoy and discover.
Thisyear’sShowhas an abundance ofgreatentertainment,funinteractiveeducational
activities,
plus animalsandagriculture,horticulture,art
and
craft,foodandwine, carnival
rides, show bags and
spectacularfireworks,
just to mention a few.
THIS year’s later date for Taste of Melbourne 2011 means the event will have a definite spring flavour in the menus of all the stunning restaurants taking part.
Included are such luminaries as St Katherine’s, Stokehouse, Sarti, The Millswyn, Mahjong Black, The European, The Kitchen Cat, Mezzo & Mr Bianco, Libertine & Le Traiteur and The Botanical, plus a few forthcoming surprises.
Cocktails will be a highlight this year as The Stokehouse, The Millswyn and Longrain shake, stir and muddle their way through cocktails from the classic to the modern.
The European teams up with City Wine Shop to present the best of oysters and bubbles, while the experts from Sensology - The Art of Cocktail Making teach how to make everyone’s all-time favourite!
There will be plenty of cooking demos, recipes and The Chef’s Table hosted by Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Meet and greet your favourite chefs and find out the secrets of their success.
Crowns, the official currency at Taste of Melbourne are used to purchase dishes from restaurants and drinks from bars.
1 Crown = $1 and dishes are priced between 8-12 Crowns.
Visitors can also use Crowns to buy exhibitor goodies, eliminating the need for carrying cash.
Crowns can be purchased in advance or on the day from the Taste Banks located around the event.
ST Katherine’s in Kew lived up to our highest expectations.
The brainchild of uber chefs George Calombaris and Shane Delia, the restaurant opened to high acclaim just weeks ago.
My lunch companion (known in some circles as culinary royalty!) and I stepped into a stylish dining room abuzz with happy diners eating their Turkish style corn on the cob, duck spring rolls, pides and more.
As Shane explained, St Katherine’s style is the sharing menu, showcasing modern Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern cultures and food.
There is a custom made Turkish grill, wood fired oven and St Kat’s Upstairs, a 100-seat multi purpose room that can become your own private dining room.
Poached olives, pickled vegetables ($7.50) and bagilla ($8.50), crushed fava beans with marjoram and chilli, were excellent starters.
Waiter Parv was friendly and knowledgeable, explaining unfamiliar ingredients, where necessary.
The duck spring rolls ($15.50) was a clever take on the Asian variety.
Filled with shredded duck and bathed in a honey and cumin sauce, it had definite Middle Eastern flavours.
The prawns on toast ($12.90), all crisp with sesame seeds coating a succulent prawn mix, was another winner.
See Shane’s recipe if you want to try this at home.
Shankliesh leaves dressed with hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds provided refreshing flavours.
The menu is a collaboration of chef-owners George, Shane and head chef Paul Dunlop.
Diners help themselves to cutlery from their tables and eat from plates created by Shane’s mother and mother-in-law.
From the wood-fired oven we sampled two pides or boat-shaped Turkish pizzas, one filled with a scrumptious mix of charred chicken, sumac, chickpeas and feta ($15) and the other with peppered figs, mint, ricotta and haloumi, which we found rather sweet.
We enjoyed the offerings from the Turkish grill, including the smoky king prawns with robust Aleppo pepper, the chargrilled swordfish fillets and Adana or lamb kebabs ($22.50).
Or you could choose Maltese pork sausages, barbecued quails or sticky pork belly.
Desserts are a blast from the past with old school Mr Whippy-type ice creams ($14.90), but with inspired toppings such as crushed baklava and cinnamon or chocolate, rosewater and Turkish delight.
Or opt for the watermelon and pine nut salad with delectable mint jelly and arak syrup.
I’ll just have to make a return visit for the Katherine’s fried chicken (KFC) and the ``disgusting dessert’’ inspired by favourite chocolate bars.
St Katherine’s is highly recommended for its innovative cuisine, welcoming ambience and reasonable prices.
Now try Shane’s recipe.
Prawns on Toast
Ingredients
500g green prawns, shelled and deveined 5g peeled ginger 1 clove garlic ½ red chilli ½shallot ½ kaffir lime leaf, remove central vein 4 coriander roots 1 tsp salt flakes 2 tsp soy sauce 2 tsp sesame oil 100g sesame seeds 8 slices white bread
oil for deep frying
Method
Process all ingredients, except bread and sesame seeds, to a coarse paste in a food processor.
Cut crusts off bread, cut into 3 even rectangles.
Spread prawn mix evenly over the bread on one side only.
Dip prawn side in sesame seeds, and deep fry until golden brown
Drain well and serve with a salad of mint leaves, coriander and spring onion, dressed with ginger syrup
Ginger Syrup
Ingredients
2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp finely grated ginger 4 tbsp lemon juice ½ cup caster sugar 1 finely chopped chili (deseeded)
Method
In a pot, place the ginger, lemon juice and sugar and bring to the boil.
When sugar is dissolved, remove from heat.
When cool, add in soy and chili and mix well.
Conversations with ………..
Shane Delia of Maha, The Press Club, Hellenic Republic, PM 24 and now St Katherine’s in Kew.
I managed to pin down chef and entrepreneur Shane Delia for a quick interview at his basement restaurant Maha in Melbourne, in between his cheffing duties and frantic preparations for the opening of his and business partner George Calombaris’s new restaurant St Katherine’s in Kew.
Somehow Shane also managed to fit in a cooking demonstration with his mum Doris on the television program The Circle that same morning, promoting Mother’s Day.
``I think for two little fat wog boys from Melbourne, George and I have done pretty well and we’ve been blessed with everything that we’ve taken on board,’’ the irrepressible Shane said.
Of course all that success is the result of lots of hard work and Shane admits to being very ambitious and very focussed once he sets his goals.
``I come from a family of good cooks and never considered doing anything else in my life.
``My grandfather was an amazing cook and baker and there are four generations of bakers in my family, although I am the first one to cook professionally. My grandfather used to breed his own rabbits, grew vegetables in his backyard and cooked his own preserves,’’ he said.
``As a family we get together every Sunday and there are at least 50 people so I’m always surrounded by lots of food.
Born in Melbourne, Shane comes from a Maltese background and is married to Maha, whom the restaurant is named after.
He tries to spend as much time as possible with daughter Jayda, whose name is proudly tattooed on his right forearm.
He counts himself fortunate that he has a wonderful relationship with his business partners, including famous French chef Philippe Mouchel of PM 24.
``And we have great staff in the kitchens and front of house, who are more like an extended family,’’ he said.
Shane and George are not only business partners, but also good friends, who met as apprentices at The Sofitel in Melbourne.
``We always dreamed of opening our own place and what we have achieved so far has been beyond our wildest dreams,’’ he enthused.
St Katherine’s, in the family-focussed suburb of Kew, is the largest of the restaurants in their group. It is named after the patron saint of Shane’s family and also the church George was baptised in.
Apprentices George Calombaris and Shane Delia. Photo by Doris Delia.
The cuisine style there can be loosely termed as Ottoman, encompassing a contemporary sharing style menu, with modern Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern influences.
``The food is affordable, showcasing honest flavours cooked with passion and soul,’’ Shane said.
For example there is the four-course banquet meal at $58 per person which guarantees that no one goes home hungry.
Check out the seven metre long charcoal grill and two metre long rotisserie.
Other options include a private dining room upstairs, an open kitchen and much more.
Check this website for a review on St Katherine’s soon.
St Katherine’s
26 Cotham Rd, Kew Tel +61 (3) 9207 7477
Open every day for lunch, dinner and in between for snacks and drinks.
Applications are now open for the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Awards for the young chef, young restaurateur and young waiter of the year.
Applications close on May 1, 2011 and can be downloaded by visiting appetiteforexcellence.com.au
Founded in 2005 by renowned chef Luke Mangan and Lucy Allon, the Young Chef Awards aimed to help nurture, inspire and encourage Australia’s hottest culinary talents.
Many leading Australian chefs, including Tetsuya Wakuda, Guy Grossi, Neil Perry and Peter Doyle, have been judges for Appetite for Excellence.
The Young Waiter and Young Restaurateur Awards were soon added.
``The Appetite for Excellence Awards provides opportunities for talented young professionals, to assist them in achieving their ultimate career goals,’’ Luke said.
This year Perth-born Michelin star chef Shane Osborn from Pied a Terre, London, will be returning to Australia as guest of honour for the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence awards.
Other judges include culinary greats such as Simon Denton co owner of Verge and Izakaya Den in Melbourne; Mark Best (Marque, Sydney) and associate judge Warren Turnbull (Assiette, District Dining, Sydney.
Who will be the next generation of Australian chefs, waiters and restaurateurs?
Electrolux Appetite for Excellence is where both industry and food lovers alike can share their passions, a place where recipes are shared, opinions are discussed and producers open their doors.
Join me in supporting, developing and inspiring Australia’s young andemerging talent.
Executive chef of Circa Jake Nicolson was a winner of the Appetite for Excellence Young Chef category in 2008..
Try Jake’s stunning citrus dessert recipe.
Gratin of citrus fruits with orange sabayon and shaved macadamia
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 oranges
2 blood oranges
2 ruby grapefruits
6 macadamia nuts
For the citrus sabayon:
5 egg yolks
150g sugar
300ml double cream (soft whip)
zest of 2 oranges
50ml water
To make the citrus sabayon, melt the sugar in water and heat to 118C. Meanwhile beat the yolks using an electric mixer until pale then add the hot sugar syrup slowly with machine still running.
Continue to beat until cool, fold in the whipped cream and the orange zest. Peel and cut the oranges and grapefruits into segments.
Divide the assorted citrus segments among six serving dishes, cover with the citrus sabayon and gratinate with a blowtorch until golden.
Finish with shaved macadamia nut.
Note: place under hot grill if you don’t have a kitchen blowtorch.
If you missed this:
Food and wine lovers celebrate!
Australia’s internationally acclaimed celebration of food and wine, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is here!
It seems like only yesterday when I attended the first Longest Lunch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
There were 500 of us dining al fresco at the longest dining table on a balmyautumn day and instead of saying, ``pass the sauce, please,’’ we passed the sunscreen around in a huge pump bottle!
There’ve been longest lunches at Fitzroy Gardens, Docklands, St Kilda Pier and many more.
Each year, the Festival unveils a world-class program of more than 250 events over two weeks – a true expression of Melbourne’s wonderful love of food and wine that captivates the tastebuds of gourmets from everywhere.
Entering its 19th year, the Festival attracts the world’s biggest culinary and wine personalities who participate in a program that also showcases Victoria’s own celebrated chefs, restaurateurs, winemakers, sommeliers, producers and artisans.
This year I hope to attend as many events and activities as I can fit in, particularly the following:
SBS Food Journey Festival.
Metlink Edible Garden
Master classes at the Langham Hotel. Hope I’ll meet Nigella Lawson!
One of the regional longest lunches.
A Taste of Reconciliation at Sandridge Bridge over the Yarra.
Then there’s Hidden gems of Richmond, Lazy Sunbury Graze, 700 years of Armagnac ……….. choices, choices!
*Images courtesy of Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
Book review
Greek Bible
By Yvonne Kaponis
Published by Penguin
RRP: A$19.95
GREEK cuisine makes the most of fresh seasonal ingredients and dishes are created to showcase the beauty of the seasons.
Meats, seafood and vegetables are enhanced by fragrant herbs and spices, including oregano, parsley, cinnamon and cloves.
Food plays a major part in Greek traditions and celebrations, bringing families and friends together to share the passion and the fun that the events generate.
The Greek Bible has over 120 inspired recipes, from light mezze, soups and salads, through to vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood and sweets.
The special extra recipes teach you how to make olive paste, sauces and stuffings, while the special ingredients section is helpful to those new to Greek cuisine.
All this in a compact sized book with beautiful illustrations, to prop on your kitchen bench while you cook.
Try this recipe from the book.
Baked prawns with fetta
Garithes youvetsi
Serves 4
½ cup (125ml) olive oil
1 leek, washed and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
800g canned chopped tomatoes
½ cup white wine
½ bunch parsley, chopped
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 large raw (green) prawns, shelled and deveined, but tails left on
120g fetta cheese
finely chopped fresh dill for garnish
Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Grease a large baking dish or four ovenproof ramekins.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add leek and cook until transparent.
Add garlic, tomatoes, wine, herbs, sugar, salt and pepper.
Cover, reduce heat and simmer gently until sauce has reduced, about 30 minutes.
If using a large dish, spoon half the tomato mixture into dish, arrange prawns on top, then spoon over remaining sauce.
If using ramekins, divide half the tomato mixture among the ramekins.
Place four prawns in each dish and spoon remaining tomato mixture over.
Crumble fetta over the top.
Bake for 20-30 minutes until prawns are cooked and fetta is soft.
Wishing
everyone Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind and a large piece of cake!
Interspersed
with his favourite recipes are anecdotes, such as his trip to Sicily, the first
time he saw a movie and when he set eyes on the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, all
written from the heart.
Saturday,
24 September to Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Meet and greet your favourite chefs and find out the secrets of their success.
Ingredients
I managed to pin down chef and entrepreneur Shane Delia for a quick interview at his basement restaurant Maha in Melbourne, in between his cheffing duties and frantic preparations for the opening of his and business partner George Calombaris’s new restaurant St Katherine’s in Kew.
Founded in 2005 by renowned chef Luke Mangan and Lucy Allon, the Young Chef Awards aimed to help nurture, inspire and encourage Australia’s hottest culinary talents.
re’ve been longest lunches at Fitzroy Gardens, Docklands, St Kilda Pier and many more.
Master classes at the Langham Hotel. Hope I’ll meet Nigella Lawson!
