Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh – January 2011

Posted on January 10, 2012 | 4 Comments

Here we are, almost landing in Ho Chi Minh City (still widely called Saigon by most of the population). We have to go through a thick cloud of pollution to start seeing the city from above, it’s quite impressive!

We get a taxi to our hotel, the An An I Hotel, ideally located at the heart of the backpacking district on Bui Vien, and which was perfectly pleasant, with a huge air-conditioned room and an unbeatable view on the all the action down below. The staff were also very friendly and helpful.

We took a first walk in the crazy traffic to get ourselves a nice Banh Mi, a great sandwich roll made using a pretty soft and airy, but still a bit crunchy baguette, pork sausage, pork liver pâté, or cheese (the “Laughing Cow” type), lots of fresh herbs like coriander, and julienned cucumber, carrots… it really hit the spot!

Banh Mi vendor

Another one of our great pleasures was to drink Vietnamese iced coffee whenever we could, it was so refreshing, strong and sweet, yum! I loved the ritual of having to wait for the thick coffee liquid to slowly go through the filter placed on top of a cup. Once that was done, we poured the coffee into a glass filled with ice cubes and condensed milk, stirred it and enjoyed. We bought two of these coffee filtering devices to make our own at home, but alas, didn’t taste anything like the real thing!

Vietnamese coffee ritual

I also was on my great Pho mission, and one morning I thought I had found it in an dark and run down alley near our hotel, where a lonely stall was minded by a gruff man. I couldn’t see any tourists… nor could I see many locals for that matter, which should have given me a hint. But noooo! Despite his misgivings, I dragged the boyfriend in the alley for him to sit and wait while I was finally having my real Pho experience.

It didn’t look bad, but now I understand why the man added so much pepper on the soup. The broth was really tasteless, and the beef strips were not too inspiring either. It actually put me off and I couldn’t eat half of it! Maybe I wasn’t quite ready for some Pho first thing in the morning either…

That meant the quest for Pho was still on!

We continued our walk on Pham Ngu Lao towards the Thai Binh markets, a labyrinth of stalls packed together with all kinds of fruits, vegetables, animals dead or alive… it was pretty hectic!

Frogs available…

… in all kinds of state

Huge slabs of tofu

After all that market fun, we decided to have a more relaxing activity and made our way to the Vietnamese Institute for Traditional Massage, run by HCMC Blind Association. I’ve often heard of how blind people give better massages as they are more attuned to their sense of touch and could find more easily the sore spots of the patient.

Once our very cheap tickets were paid at the school reception, the boyfriend got invited by a man to follow him into a room, while I was led to another room by a young woman, who instructed me to lie on the massage table. She then proceeded to pummel me with a rhythmic precision! To this day I still have the “massage” pattern in my head: seven pummels, three times in a row, punctuated by three harder hits “Bam Bam Bam!”. It went on like this for the whole hour, with a particular insistence on my cranium (that girl clearly didn’t like me!), all the while she was talking and laughing with her friend on the other side of the partition. It hurt… not relaxing at all! M. was luckier and was pretty happy with his masseur.

Ho Chi Minh Blind Association
185 Cong Quynh St. D. 1

We then walked around in the Cathedral area and had lunch at a quite well-known place, the Ngon Restaurant, which was recreating a street food vending market, with lots of stalls selling different kinds of dishes inside the restaurant.

Bánh Xèo

M. chose a yummy vegetarian Banh Xeo, the renowned savoury crêpe filled with fresh herbs, tofu, carrots, bean sprouts (and usually pork and prawns).

Sugar cane prawns sticks to roll 

I chose the Sugarcane prawns sticks, which you then roll in wetted rice paper with herbs and rice noodles. They were pretty nice, but I was deceived as I thought I ordered whole prawns! I make the same mistake all the time! I always forget that sugarcane prawns are a kind of prawn paste, tss tss…

Ngon Restaurant
138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street
District 1

We spent the rest of the day walking around the Cathedral, the Post Office and drinking more iced-coffee…

The Post Office

The following day we found it!!! That’s right, we found the Perfect Pho!
We were walking around Pasteur Street and decided to try a Pho shop recommended by our guide book: Pho Hoa Pasteur.

We were comforted to see many locals eating there and the house was full! We were led to a room at the back and the efficient waiter handed us a menu with all the Pho combinations. M. was prepared for the possibility that once again he would have to wait and watch me eat, but they did have a vegetarian soup, which was a relief for both of us!

I ordered a simple Pho Tai (same as Pho Bo?), with raw beef slices (no tendons or tripes for me… I’m not that adventurous), and soon after, the soups arrived with a basket of Chinese fried bread sticks (“Youtiao”), which, after watching how the other customers used it, we broke into pieces in the soup.

Youtiao – Chinese fried bread sticks

It was simply the best Pho I’ve had in my short Pho experience. The broth was delicious, flavoursome and light, the beef strips tender, the rice noodles not too cooked, the herbs garnish fresh, and that bread! Looooooved the fried bread!!

M. loved his soup too, so much so that he managed to squeeze another one just before his flight… without me!!! Very jealous….

We were in a state of Pho bliss after that, and so full… we just dragged ourselves to walk a bit more in the area, managed to fit in another iced-coffee and made it back to the hotel to have a bit of a rest before dinner.

Pho Hoa Pasteur
260C Pasteur Street
Ho Chi Minh City

In hindsight, we should have just gone back there for our last dinner. But instead, still basking in the memory of my superb dinner at Hanoi’s Green Tangerine, I decided to try a French bistro located in the Institute for French Cultural Studies, “Le Jardin”, hidden in the side of the building, not visible from the street and not easy to find.

We had Goats cheese salad, Pasta with a creamy cheesy sauce, Veal schnitzel with mushrooms and potatoes, and of course for dessert, Chocolate Profiterolles! It wasn’t the final cherry on my holiday cake I was hoping for: the food was alright, but nothing to write home about… We left not that impressed and took a taxi back to our hotel… or so we thought!

Our taxi driver had decided to take us for a ride, figuratively, choosing on purpose longer routes and making big loops… we aren’t the confronting type, so we didn’t say anything until the driver clearly turned right instead of left to our hotel, and then we protested! The driver, caught in act, stopped the car and just giggled at us. We didn’t give him any tip… so there!

This average evening didn’t end there for me: I woke up in the middle of the night completely sick from both ends, and it didn’t seem to want to stop! I had to go to the airport a couple of hours after and I’m still not sure how I made it, maybe the sheer willpower not to inflict anything bad on this poor taxi driver, who hadn’t done anything to me, him!

And on this charming note my Vietnam holiday came to an end… I certainly do want to go back there and visit all the beautiful areas I missed out on: more of Hanoi and HCM, the old royal citadel in Hue, the eery and beautiful Halong Bay, visit the Mekong Delta… So this is only an “Au revoir Vietnam!”

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Vietnam Part 2 – Phu Quoc Island – Jan 2011

Posted on December 30, 2011 | 6 Comments

Phu Quoc Island – Long Beach

After our very brief stay in Hanoi, we flew to Ho Chi Minh, then took another small plane to Phu Quoc Island for our much anticipated beach holiday…

It was funny to see the island from the sky and try to picture our plane landing on that tiny landing strip, but we did it! We were then driven to our resort which was on the West Coast (Long Beach / Duong Dong Town). The resort was pretty nice, the Vietnamese/French food was ok, but we tried to go to different places every day.

The day would invariably start with a breakfast of pineapple pancakes and fruit platter.

After lazying on the beach and reading, we would take walks along the coast and swim some more, then think about food… We got used to doing nothing much very quickly!

I tried to make the most of the fish and seafood available and often had grilled fish for dinner, simply barcecued on the beach, yum!

Grilled Pork skewers

I also gave in to my obsession with vietnamese rolls: those grilled pork skewers I had at the markets went down very nicely!

Coconut juice was a great way to stay hydrated, nothing like it to quench a not well-earned thirst!

Profiterolles with Vanilla ice-cream and chocolate were a pretty common sight on French/Vietnamese restaurant menus and we also made the most of it, ordering them every night!

They also served humongous doses of Cognac, which was quite exciting. One night people from a neighbouring table noticed our generous glasses and enthusiastically decided to order some Cognac too. They ended up not being able to finish it, and more often than not, neither could we! We found out there’s a reason why bartenders usually serve Cognac using tiny little measuring glasses.

We also visited the Night Markets, where we could admire all the fish, seafood and other unusual molluscs.

Fish aplenty

Calamari

Cat Food at the markets!

If anyone knows what it really means, please do tell!

Beautiful sea snails and other yummy sea creatures…

Striking Melo Melo sea snails (or Zebra or Bailer snails)

As we walked past a fancy resort one day (La Veranda from the Mercure Group), we saw that they had organized for the same evening a torch-lit BBQ  / buffet on the beach. It wasn’t cheap, compared to the meals we’ve had so far on the island, but what the hell, we were on holiday, and it was my birthday just a few days before… good enough an excuse!

We first took an aperitif on the hotel veranda, then were invited to make our way to the beach, where immaculate white-clothed tables were awaiting us.

Everything was lit with candles and torches, which conferred to the night a very romantic atmosphere… that is to say, until a diner at the table next to ours started farting loudly, without even an ounce of embarrassment ever showing on his face. He actually looked pretty content, and kept at it all evening… That sure gave us a good chuckle!

It didn’t put me off my mission though and I soon headed to the buffet, which displayed such a vast array of fish and seafood, that I didn’t know where to start! I had my eyes on the scallops with butter and herbs, the prawns, the crabs…. argh! Too much to bear.

Seafood smorgasbord

It was a very selfless act from my vegetarian boyfriend to take me there for dinner, when I think of it!

An example of how not to use your flash

Luckily for him there were a few salads, as well as a huge dessert buffet, with a lot of little verrines containing crème brûlées, chocolate mousses, crèmes caramel… Too bad I was so full already, I only got to have two serves!

And so a week passed like this, of good food, swims, reading, sunsets, and it was already time to pack up and take the little plane back to Ho Chi Minh City, where we were to spend the last two days of our Vietnam holiday…

I was sad, but at the same time pretty excited, as I felt I didn’t experience nearly enough of Hanoi and I was dead set on making the most of Ho Chi Minh City and at last, looking for some really good Pho!

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Vietnam Part 1 – Hanoi – Jan 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 | 3 Comments

St. Joseph’s Cathedral

I know I know, it’s been almost a year since my trip to France and Vietnam, but I only just got around to start looking through and sorting out all my Vietnam pictures!

Every time I plan for a holiday, I am torn between visiting my family and friends in the homeland, and travelling to new exotic places, where I can just sit on my “derrière” and drink cocktails on the beach.

That is why last year I decided to do both! Two weeks in France and two weeks in Vietnam: perfect! Yeees, not that perfect in the end, both were too short! Tough life…

So the plan was to spend a few days in Hanoi, then fly to Phu Quoc Island, stay there for a week and fly back to Ho Chi Minh City to visit for a couple more days.

My boyfriend, who had been travelling in the country for a few weeks already, picked me up at the airport from my Paris flight and showed me around the main sights, like the French Quarter and the Saint Joseph Cathedral, reminiscent of the city’s now distant French colonial past.

I was a bit annoyed I had to carry around all my winter clothes I had packed for France, but in the end I was very grateful for my coat, it was pretty cold in Hanoi!


Ly Thai To (founder of Hanoi) monument, near Hồ Hoàn Kiếm Lake

I had read about how crossing the streets could be a real mission in Vietnam, as there are basically no rules, no lights, no pedestrian crossings… it’s every man for himself! You just have to go for it like a blind person and pray for the thousands of scooters coming right at you to know what they’re doing! (There are even a few videos on YouTube that will give you an idea)

I was a bit nervous about it at first, but later on in Ho Chi Minh I even crossed the street by myself without getting killed: for a distracted and clumsy person like myself, it’s quite a feat!

We then walked around the Hồ Hoàn Kiếm Lake, in the cultural and historical area, which has a very romantic atmosphere, with its littles bridges, flowers and old trees.


For our only evening in Hanoi, M. decided to take me to a nice restaurant he had spotted earlier in the Old Quarter, Green Tangerine, which had also been strongly recommended by a fellow blogger Noodlies. The restaurant was set in a most charming old building, and offered a French cuisine with a Vietnamese twist, which makes sense as French Chef Stéphane Yvin runs the kitchen together with his Vietnamese wife Tin.

Green Tangerine courtyard (Photo Credit: Green Tangerine’s website)

As soon as we stepped in the cute courtyard and entrance, we were transported into another era. I almost felt like Catherine Deneuve in “Indochine“, a movie set in French colonial Indochina in the 1930′s.

Inside, the decorations, lamps, pictures on the walls reinforced the colonial feel, and the peaceful atmosphere offered a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the Hanoi streets.

Fig tempura stuffed with goat cheese, bacon, nuts and grape presented on Vietnamese spices bread.

Some of the dishes I don’t remember quite well, such as this Fig Tempura stuffed with Goat’s cheese…

Profiterolles stuffed with iced parmesan yoghurt on a layer of onion mixed with galangal root cooked in red wine

…. as well as those savoury Profiterolles….

Duck breast crusted with Vietnamese herbs, slices of fried lotus roots stuffed with mashed water spinach and bruschetta, “Ca Bung” sauce (aubergine in saffron and 5 Vietnamese spices)

However I do remember the Duck dish very well: it was delicious!!! It was superbly cooked and had such interesting and new flavour combinations, with the Vietnamese herbs and the “Ca Bung” sauce… pretty unusual and very pleasant!

Nem vegetarian raviolis served with a pistou and parmesan mousse

M. was equally impressed with his vegetarian ravioli and the whole meal in general. All the dishes were very nicely plated and decorated, and the food was fantastic, probably very expensive by Vietnamese standards, but quite cheap compared to Sydney’s French restaurants in Sydney.

Unfortunately, that’s all we had time to do in Hanoi, we had to get up the next day at stupid o’clock to go to the airport and take a plane to Phu Quoc, an postcard-like island located in the far South-Western side of the country (off the Cambodian coast), where hopefully warmer temperatures would welcome us!

Green Tangerine
Address: 48 Hang Be Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tel: (04) 3825 1286 – Fax: (04) 38289167.

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100 Mile Challenge – Crave SIFF – Carriage Works

Posted on December 7, 2011 | 2 Comments

October was a busy month for food lovers, as Crave, Sydney International Food Festival, unfolded with hundreds of events all over town.

However the festival was not just about Sydney, and rural areas were not forgotten: on Sunday, October 30, five NSW regions competed against each other to showcase their produce in the 100 Mile Challenge Lunch. This was a free event but only Fairfax subscribers and ABC listeners could get in the draw to win tickets.

I was lucky enough that my friend won tickets and took me along! A free lunch at Eveleigh Markets on a beautiful Sunday, what more could you ask for?

The five teams were comprised of apprentices, professional chefs, TAFE students, and headed by renowned team captains from Sydney restaurants:

- Riverina: Nino Zocali (Pendolino)

- Mid North Coast: Serge Dansereau (The Bathers’ Pavilion)

- Central West and Ranges (our table!): Jared Ingersoll (Danks Street Depot)

- Southern Highlands: Alex Herbert (Bird Cow Fish)

- South Coast: Lucio Galletto (Lucio’s)

They had to create a menu with ingredients only sourced with 160km radius, matched by regional wines, as well as decorate and dress their assigned communal table in the spirit of their region.

The judging panel was composed of renowned food media personalities and critics:

- Joanna Savill
- Huon Hooke
- Lindey Milan
- Barbara Sweeney
- Tim Browne
- Ignatius Jones

Simon Marnie from ABC was MC-ing and brought a lot of humour and “ambiance” to the event by stirring up the teams against each other!

Each table was hosted by a ABC personality as well: ours was James Valentine, and at the other tables were Adam Spencer, Robbie Buck, Rhianna Patrick and Mark Colvin.

Daily Telegraph’s food critic Simon Thomsen was there too, as well as the much-loved SBS presenter/gardener Costa Georgiadis.

Our table was the Central Ranges, decorated with metal sculptures from TAFE Orange Hospitality teacher Michel Laroche. There were really cute pots of various herbs all along the table with little scissors, so that guests could chop their own, which was a lovely touch.

We were brought some fresh bread with different types of olive oils to nibble on, and a lovely glass of 2011 Robert Stein Riesling Mudgee.

Waru Sorrel and Hazelnut Salad

We were then served a simple but beautiful Sorrel Salad with grilled hazelnuts, with a lovely dressing.

Accompanying Wines:
- 2010 Philip Shaw The Architect Chardonnay Orange
- 2011 Word of Mouth Very cool Red Orange

Regional Meat Platter (Lamb, Venison, Pork)

The main dish was a Regional Meat Platter, comprising 3 types of cold meats:

- Sanchoe spiced seared Mandagery Creek Venison, served on Cowra Asparagus and finished with a blood plum vinaigrette: I was initially a bit put off by its raw, dark aspect, but it turned out to be my favourite of the day! I HAD to have another serve :-)

- Crépinette of Central Tablelands Lamb. Braised forequarter scented with truffle & topped with deep-fried baby garlic shoots: couldn’t quite taste the truffle, but the lamb was delicious, loved those crispy garlic bits!

- Assiette of Trunkey Creek Pork products: Rillette of hock & seared loin roulade  in speck with cream, Braised Waru baby leeks and apple jam

Wines:
- 2009 Swinging Bridge Shiraz Canowindra
- 2009 Ross Hill Isabelle & Jack Cabernet Franc Merlot Orange
- 2010 Rosnay Vintage Chardonnay Canowindra

Caramelised pear and apple in stone pine distillery schnapps on apple jelly with Small Acres Cyder zabaglione & Fourjay hazelnut & poached date profiteroles

Dessert
Caramelised pear and apple in stone pine distillery schnapps on apple jelly with Small Acres Cyder zabaglione & Fourjay hazelnut & poached date profiterolles: I wasn’t too convinced by the profiterole, but enjoyed the apple and pear  with cider zabaglione, it was refreshing.

Wine: Small Acres Cyder Appscato Orange

Blue cheese, Goats curd rolls and Haloumi skewers 

Cheeses:
- Grilled Watershed Haloumi Robert Stein Verjuice vinaigrette & dried salted baby vine leaves

-  A duo of Leaning Oak goats curd & High Valley fetta B’stilla rolls with a hazelnut and pistachio praline
- Watershed blue with Mudgee Brewing Co.  mash oatcakes & Di Lusso figpaste

Wine: 2010 Louee Nullo Mountain Late picked Riesling Mudgee

The cheeses were lovely and didn’t last long at all on the table!

Meanwhile the other tables seem to thoroughly enjoy their lunch as well! I have to admit I was a bit envious when we could overhear magic words such as “pork crackling”, “oysters”, “lobster”… I mean: “LOBSTERRR!!!”, as someone from the South Coast table (I suspect Adam Spencer) kept exclaiming, to rub it in!

I personally could easily have had another savoury dish following the cold meats (I initially thought this was the entrée!), but that’s just me, I’m greedy! One of the chefs came to our table later and explained they really wanted to show what they would have for a Sunday lunch or picnic and keep it simple. There was plenty of wine though… plenty!!

The chefs and apprentices later came to say Hi and talked about the story behind all the ingredients.

After long deliberations, the jury awarded the winning place to… South Coast!

However it was a great effort from all the teams, who had worked like crazy for days to prepare all that beautiful food, cramped into little containers/kitchens in the heat!

It was also good fun to sit at a communal table and share a meal with new people. We were spoiled with great food, great wine and contagious enthusiasm: crossed fingers I can go again next year!

Winner: South Coast, named the top NSW region.

Other awards:
Best Apprentice/Student – Luke Piccolo, Riverina
Best Entrée – Mid North Coast
Best Main – South Coast
Best Dessert – South Coast
Best Food and Beverage Combination – Riverina
Extra Mile Winner – Steve Rosa, Southern Highlands

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My Sydney Top 10 Favourites – French Entree

Posted on November 15, 2011 | 8 Comments

I was asked last week by Eleanor from French Entrée, a website aimed at lovers of all things French, to compile my Top 10 favourites French foods in Sydney.

It was a difficult to narrow it down to 10, but I’m pretty happy with my list. See below and let me know if you agree!

“Finding French food in Sydney

Sandra Beeston is a French-Australian expat who has been living in Sydney for six years. In that time, she has researched all the best places to find her French home comforts. From baguettes and croissants to cheese and steak frites, Sandra shares her top 10 French foods and where to find them in Sydney.


Baguettes 
It is easier and easier to get decent, even excellent bread in Sydney. Brasserie Bread has been at the forefront of the new breed of artisan bakers and are renowned for their high standards and the passion they put into all their breads and pastries. Their baguette à l’ancienne is no exception. Put it in the oven for a few minutes for even more crunch and enjoy!

It would be impossible not to mention the very popular Bourke Street Bakery in Surry Hills, which offers a semi-sour baguette that is just perfect for me, soft and not too dense, neither too airy inside, with a lovely crunchy crust. Get there early and nab one of their ginger crème brûlée tarts – they are to die for!

Croissants Taste BakeryCroissants
Ex-IT worker Hieu, nostalgic for the fresh baguettes he used to find in his natal Vietnam, decided to open his own bakery, Taste Bakery, which has become so popular that it has since spawned many offshoots all over town.
Their viennoiserie is amongst the best in Sydney: try a simple croissant, flaky and buttery as it should be, or if you feel like something more substantial, one of their enormous raisin snails!

Croque-Madames
In sunny Cronulla, Alley Break Café, a relatively newcomer, has shaken things up, with owner Nick Tabet and Chef Darren de Boer working hard to offer locals tasty dishes with the best produce and quality ingredients available. Grab a table with an unbeatable view on the beach and savour their croque-madame, oozing with egg yolk and yummy raclette cheese, with ham on a generous slice of sourdough bread, made on the premises.

Oysters
Felix oystersFelix Bistro is a beautiful New-York style French brasserie (if that makes sense) and one of the few restaurants in Sydney shucking oysters to order. You can choose from a variety of Sydney Rock oysters and seasoning, lemon wedges, shallots and vinegar, but I say just enjoy them ‘au natural’!

Crêpes
Not something you would expect in a small inner-city bar… Pocket Bar is unique in that it offers delicious cocktails, as well as a great selection of sweet and savoury crêpes. A great little place in trendy Darlinghurst, run by a French team.

Growers markets
Celebrity chefs, farmers, families, doggies and babies all converge every Saturday at the Eveleigh Markets, hosted in this great picturesque space that is Carriage Works, an old railway workshop building. You can finish waking up with good coffee and a croque-madame made by Bird Cow Fish’s chef Alex Herbert herself, buy seasonal fruit and veggies, heritage tomatoes, beautiful exotic and locally grown mushrooms, goats cheese (bliss!), delicious walnut bread from Monsieur Tartine and go straight home to make yourself the best sandwich with your newly acquired produce.

Baroque macaronsMacarons
Baroque Bistro was a long-held dream of late Pastry Chef Pierre Charkos, from The Rocks institution La Renaissance. Thanks to his family, it has now come true. Baroque offers a modern twist on classic French fare, as well as a great view of the Harbour Bridge. Given their pastry credentials, expectations are high for their macarons, but they never disappoint. Don’t leave without trying the salted caramel flavour, you won’t regret it!

Eclairs
The team at Black Star Pastry work tirelessly to offer us clever and original creations, such as strawberry and watermelon with rose cream, ginger ninjas and classics such as their chocolate eclairs filled with intense dark chocolate crème pâtissière and covered with dark chocolate icing… sigh.

Steak-frites
Tastevin steakThe Tastevin bistro was recently voted second for People’s Choice in Time Out Sydney’s food awards. It is run by a friendly couple, Natasha and Alex. It is very popular with the night crowd as it is one of the rare restaurants staying open until very late in Sydney. They offer unpretentious, classic French fare, such as duck confit, roquefort soufflé and a very satisfying beef eye fillet withpommes frites and peppercorn sauce. One of their signature dishes is gnocchi à la Parisienne: poached choux pastry dumplings with mushrooms in a white truffle mornay sauce… need I say more?

Cheese
We should be very grateful to all the cheese importers, as it is not an easy task dealing with the Australian quarantine to be able to introduce beautiful European cheeses to consumers. Lucky they are here, so I can have my fix of Chabichou du Poitou and my favourite cheese in the world, Comté.

As for local cheese, the whole of the Old Telegraph Road range is simply the best thing to happen to Australia! I’m getting a bit too excited here, but the camemberts, bries and washed-rind cheeses created by French expat cheesemaker Franck Beaurain and made in Gippsland Victoria are worth writing home about. To me they are the best European-style cheese in Australia. Try their Vacherin-style cheese, Jackson’s Track.

That concludes my ‘Top 10′. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you don’t agree or want to tell me which are your favourites!” 

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Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness – Parramatta

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 5 Comments

A few weeks back I was invited to attend the Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness taking place in Parramatta, where a bunch of prestigious chefs were to do cooking presentations and introduce traditional Malaysian dishes to the audience, as part of the SIFF / Crave Festival.

With names like Florence Tan (a celebrity chef from Kuala Lumpur, who I had seen in a Rick Stein‘s Far Eastern Odyssey series), Adam Liaw and Alvin Quah, both from Masterchef Season 2, it promised to be a great event!

Sara @Belly Rumbles, Wanitha & Lord Mayor of Parramatta Lorraine Wearne

The only chef I didn’t know was Wanitha Tanasingam, the Malaysia Kitchen Ambassador, and I was really glad I got to see her as she turned out to be a fantastic host, very funny and lively!

I made my way at the Church Street Mall in Parramatta a bit after 9am to find that the cooking presentation of Wanitha had already started. I was happy to see a few familiar faces in the presence of my fellow bloggers (Thang, Sara and Josh, Jacq and later Karen ..). Even Billy from A Table for Two & Masterchef 3 turned up later that day, causing quite a stir amongst the fans out there!

Wanitha was a larger than life personality and Thang helped me catch the numerous double-entendre she said during the presentation, involving words like “spreading”, “beating”, “hoots” and “roots”!

She first cooked Sotong Bakar (BBQ Calamari), then Ayam Panggan (Grilled Chicken).

Sara and Lorraine Wearne were on stage with her and they seemed to be having a lot of fun together! Sara was telling me she attended a class a few days earlier with Wanitha and she introduced herself as the goddess of love!

Lorraine Wearne and Wanitha

Then it was Florence Tan‘s turn to be on stage. She told us she felt nervous to cook after Wanitha, who she found such a good and entertaining speaker, but it turned out Florence was on fire too!

Giggling Florence Tan

Florence shows her sauce to the audience

Florence & the Giant Lemongrass


Otak Otak (Spicy Fish Mousse)

Florence Tan striking poses for the adoring crowd

Florence said she’d never been photographed as much as these last few days, and it looked like she wasn’t completely displeased with the attention!

Florence jokes with the audience

In the end, I found Florence so entertaining that I didn’t pay enough attention to the food! I still managed to grab myself a bit of Otak Otak, which was very yummy, but missed out on the following Grilled Tofu Salad… you had to be quick! I was starting to get hungry though… it was time for some serious lunch action and we started making our way to the canteen space in the Town Hall forecourt.

It was pretty busy and we were lucky to find a few free seats, had we waited any longer it would have proved a lot more difficult!

Chicken Satay from Albee’s Kitchen

I started with some lovely Chicken Satay skewers from Albee’s Kitchen.

The Malaysia Kitchen menu

For my second dish, I hesitated a long time between Roti Canai and Sambal prawns and sticky rice in banana leaves to try something I don’t eat often, but in the end I really felt like a Laksa and chose the chicken one, while Thang had the prawn Laksa.

Chicken Laksa from Oriental Tucker Box

The soup was really nice, just spicy enough and really fragrant and comforting, mmmh…

Prawn Laksa from Oriental Tucker Box

I wish I could have tasted more dishes, especially Jackie M.’s Char Kway Teow and the Roti Canai, but it was almost time to go back to the amphitheatre to see Adam Liaw and I couldn’t face another 5-10 minutes of queuing (I’m not a very patient person!)

Malaysian Dessert Ais Kacang

Josh got hold of a bowl of Ais Kacang, a Malaysian dessert composed of: red beans, glass jelly and peanuts covered in shaved ice and sweet rose syrup. I didn’t taste  but Josh seemed pretty happy with it!

Adam Liaw had started demonstrating how to make Satay sauce and avoid the traps causing the early departure of Marion from Masterchef 2 on that fateful elimination day.

He also prepared Char Kway Teow (Fried wide flat rice noodles with squid and prawns, bean sprouts, herbs…), which looked deliciously charred and caramelized.

Then Alvin Quah came into play and cooked Ikan Bakar (grilled BBQ fish in banana leaf) and Tamarind Fried Prawns, but unfortunately I couldn’t stay much longer and didn’t get to taste his dishes, but I had a great time and it made me want to discover more of what Malaysian food has to offer!

The French Wench attended Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness courtesy of Ogilvy360 Digital Influence Sydney and Malaysia Kitchen.

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Canelés de Bordeaux

Posted on October 5, 2011 | 8 Comments

Mini Canelés

Canelés are great little pastries originating from Bordeaux. The legend has it that it was first made by sisters from the Annonciades covent in Bordeaux in the 16th century, and that its tubular shape gave it the name of canelé (= cane).

Canelés are experiencing a revival in France at the moment, they are all the rage! They’re even about to be sold in McDonald’s at the end of the month! (See Figaro article here). McDonalds is already surfing on the macarons’ wave and is also offering “Tartines” for breakfast in their McCafés in an effort to adapt to the French market.

My first batch
 

I remember the first time I tasted canelés was about 3 years ago in… Sydney, of all places! An ex-colleague from Bordeaux had made some and brought them at work, and although they didn’t look like much (small, burnt, dry), I was surprised: they were in fact the most delicious things I’d had in a while! I loved the contrast between their crunchy caramelised crust and the smooth vanilla custard inside.

I found them later at Black Star Pastry, and at some stage another Frenchman was making them and selling them to Sydney cafés but not anymore unfortunately.

Mini-canelés silicone mould

Canelé moulds are traditionally made out of copper and are quite expensive (you can see an example here). They look beautiful and are apparently the best to get that great caramelized crust, but they are not very convenient when it comes to removing the canelé after cooking, you need to butter them generously. Luckily thanks to work I was able to buy myself these great little silicone moulds from France. It made my task very easy indeed!

A regular canelé is about 55mm diameter and 50mm high, but I chose the mould for Mini-canelés (Diameter: 35mm), they are just too cute and you can make more of them!

After a few weeks of just admiring the mould sitting on my kitchen bench and a few cheeky remarks from my partner, I finally decided to make canelés for Fathers Day!

Ingredients for Canelés

They are actually easier to make than it looks, and don’t require many ingredients (I adapted the quantities from this French blog):

500ml Milk
1 Vanilla Bean from Tahiti
50g Butter
225g Sugar
100g Flour
2 Eggs
2 Egg Yolks
50g Rum


Warm milk with butter and vanilla beans and seeds

Gently warm  the milk, butter and split vanilla bean over low heat for 10 minutes, without bringing to the boil, then let it cool down.

In the meantime whip the eggs and sugar until you obtain a pale and smooth mixture, then add the flour.

Add the milk onto the eggs flour mixture and whip it until smooth. Add a slash of rum.

Put the batter in the fridge overnight, as it is better once rested.

The following day, whip the mixture again and pour it into the mould at about 2/3 of the height, as their volume increases during baking. Even though silicone moulds are pretty hassle-free, I still buttered this one in case.

Put in a pre-heated oven at 210°C for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 180°C for another 50 minutes.

A fresh batch of mini-canelés

Take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the mould. You can eat them warm or cold, they won’t last long anyway!

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Felix Bistro – Sydney CBD

Posted on August 31, 2011 | 14 Comments

A few weeks ago, my friend Vanity Fare and I decided to try the recent addition to the Merivale empire in Ash Street laneway, Felix Bistro, run by Lauren Murdoch, who used to operate the kitchen of Ash Street Cellar just across the road. I kept hearing good reports about it, and the few times I had walked past it, I’d thought the place looked beautiful and quite like an authentic brasserie.

We were lured by the thought of freshly shucked oysters, as they are not often found in Australian restaurants. Even in fine dining establishments, I’d found that the oysters had been shucked in advance and just popped again in the shell at serving time… No wonder that until now, no oyster had passed the test of the lemon juice drizzle, where you can see the oyster’s edges retract at the contact of the juice, the ultimate proof of freshness!

We had chosen the 7pm sitting and when we arrive, the place was already buzzing and quite loud, which is a good sign, but at the same time not great for me, as I am very soft spoken as well as a bit deaf! Oh well, we’ll talk the universal language of food.

We chose our entrees, a Steak Tartare for VF and a Cod Brandade for me, asked for the specials, as we saw that Wednesdays “Plats du jour” were dedicated to game dishes. The waitress told us the Chef had prepared a dish of Partridge on mushy peas with artichokes and jus… That sounded good… so good in fact, that we both ended up choosing it!

The Oyster Bar

I also really wanted to taste at least a couple of oysters beforehand. We were offered three different varieties of Sydney Rock Oysters: Merimbula, Pambula and Culburra (thank you Vanity Fare for remembering all these names!)

Assortment of Sydney Rock Oysters

I couldn’t decide, so VF suggested we tried all three, like a mini degustation, which was a great idea! I would just forgo the dessert if I had to…

We also had the choice between a red wine vinegar with shallots dressing or just fresh lemon, but we didn’t use either, as we wanted to fully enjoy the taste of the oysters. Each had its own characteristics: one was more plump, more creamy, the other more sweet, the last one more salty… it was interesting!

Steak Tartare

The entrees followed and VF’s Steak Tartare passed the test. She found the beef tender, and liked the traditional accompaniments to season to taste (Worcestershire sauce, mustards…); very rustic and authentic and fun to play with: “I love playing with my food!”, were her words.

Cod Brandade

The Cod Brandade was very creamy, nicely seasoned, not too salty and there was a generous amount of it, I was happy.

A sneak peak in the kitchen

I decided to order a glass of red wine to go with my game dish and called the sommelier, told him I wanted a glass of Bourgogne (I had spotted earlier 2 varieties at $9-10 on the wine list) and that’s when he offered to get me a glass of blablablabla (couldn’t quite hear what he said) and I said “Sounds fine to me!”. He did well, the wine he brought me was superb!

Partridge, artichokes, mushy peas

We both thought the Partridge confit legs were lovely, they were cooked perfectly. VF’s only little criticism was that the mushy peas brought maybe too much sweetness and that the dish might have needed something more to cut through it… maybe more artichokes? But overall, it was just a beautiful dish!

Dessert Station

We decided not to forgo the dessert in the end, but took a long time to choose the dessert to share. Everything sounded good, but we couldn’t face anything chocolatey or too creamy. I was sorry to see that they didn’t have any Tarte Tatin or any Crème Brûlée… what kind of Bistro is that?? Lol. We finally decided on the Pear Tart with Red Wine Ice-cream and we didn’t regret it, it was very nice, especially the red wine ice-cream, surprisingly good, as I wasn’t too sure what to expect.

Pear clafoutis tart with Red wine ice-cream and Strawberry reduction

Then we got the bill… VF told me: “That wine must have been a very nice wine…”
Me, worried: “How much?”
VF: “$25″
Me: “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!”

What an idiot, I should have just stuck to my initial choice! The wine was delicious, but had I known, I would have drunk it very, very….. very slowly!

On the whole, I thought the food was lovely, and if I was a wealthy businessman working in the CBD, I would for sure have lunch at Felix 2-3 times a week! It’s however not the case, and Felix is definitely not your every day bistro: not the same prices, but also not the same quality!

I guess if you don’t go crazy on the wines like some people (hum), the prices are not that unusual, but I’ll still keep it on the “Special Occasion” list.

Felix Bistro
2 Ash Street
Sydney NSW 2000 

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Autumn Farm Tour with Food Connect

Posted on August 8, 2011 | 4 Comments

Earlier this year I noticed a new supplier had moved just across the road from our office, into the same building as Martin Seafoods and Feather & Bone. It turns out it was a food cooperative aptly named Food Connect, linking regional growers directly with city people wanding fresh, organic and chemical-free fruit and vegetables.

Laura Dalrymple from Feather & Bone suggested to the Food Connect team to set up their operation there, as they shared the same vision, and hoped that together they would form a sustainable food hub. (A biodynamic wine supplier has recently moved in as well.)

Food Connect is based on the principle of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), by sourcing fresh produce from local farmers only and distributing it directly to the consumer, in various city locations run by their “city cousins” (often their own houses). Then once a week or fortnight, coop members come to pick up their box which contains an assortment of seasonal fruits, vegetables, sometimes with eggs and bread.

When I saw a few weeks back on their website that they were organising a Farm Tour the following day, I decided to join, thinking it would be a good occasion to see for myself what it was all about, as well as a great opportunity to  get out of town and breathe some fresh country air!

The lovely Amber from Food Connect had arranged a ride for me and that is how I found myself the following morning in Summer Hill, freshly debarked from a CityRail bus/train, and therefore late (thank you week-end track works!), to meet with my ride and her friend.

The first stop of our journey is a 5-acre organic farm, Lin’s Organic Produce, located in Londonberry. Our group of about 35 is greeted by Belinda, who runs the farm together with her husband, and May, who handles all the communication side of the business, as Malaysia-born Belinda is not confident with her English. They produce all sorts of vegetable like lettuce, kale, fennel, sprouts and citrus fruits such as the huge pomelo oranges hanging from the trees at the front of the farm.

Farmers Belinda & May with Food Connect Coordinator Julian

May explains how organic farming is a difficult business as the organic fertilisers and pesticides used for it are very expensive and the yield is much less than in a regular farm. For instance, one pesticide they use is about $700 for 120g and she says that it is why organic is so expensive.

“I told my son to find another job!” she says, as she doesn’t want him to know the uncertainty and unsteady incomes they experience on the farm. He is now a truck driver, she says.

However she says for all the hardships of this lifestyle, Belinda still much prefers organic farming in order to produce better food, as well as for environmental reasons.

Pumpkin Fritters, yum!

After a chat around a cup of tea and snacks of fried battered pumpkin and fresh pieces of fruit, it is time for the group of members and non-members to get back in their car the second part of the tour, Swallow Rocks Organics, an organic potato and free-range pig farm located in Ebenezer ever 48 acres, a bit further north in the Hawkesbury region.

Ian, Julian and Sue

Ian MacGregor, newly arrived at the farm by Matt and Sue, used to work on the African Refugee Farming Project at Mamre Farm in Sydney West, as well as for Food Connect as a produce coordinator.


Doggie & Kiddie 


Organic Garlic

We sort out the garlic and choose the smallest cloves to replant them, then Ian takes us through the field to show us how to plant garlic, and put us all to work, under the watchful eyes of Lucie the labrador.


Garlic planting

We are all give a little bag of garlic cloves to plant and it’s quite fun! (Wouldn’t like to do it all day though!)

Sue Simmons, whose husband Matt is at the Eveleigh Markets for the day, takes us to the second part of their farm, producing free-range pork.

Five piglets are roaming free in the paddock, as their mothers are snuffling the ground and scratching their massive bodies against slabs of concrete, provoking a cloud of dust dancing in the afternoon sunlight. One of the piglets tries to join its mother, its little ears flapping away as it toddles along, but she wants none of it and kicks it away. The rejected piglet lets out a shriek and runs towards the fence, from where we are all watching the scene.

Pigs can easily catch human colds, so we are invited to stand a bit further back. To protect the pigs against another threat, foxes, Matt and Sue have found a really simple but efficient solution: lights which turn themselves on automatically at night time, an Australian invention. There is nothing they can do during day time though, and some young foxes still manage to sneak in the paddock… to play with the piglets!

Sue points out to the next paddock, a potato field. After harvest, pigs will be let loose to clean out the leftover potatoes, an organic way to get rid of the pest like nut grass, which the pigs are crazy for. Sue says that they have a huge demand for organic potatoes and that they wish they could grow more.

The group then goes to a beautiful natural picnic area, with a view on the cliffs and the river, where a few months ago two Masterchef contestants were watching chef Colin Fassnidge demonstrate various ways of using Matt and Sue’s organic potatoes (episode here). While the visitors unwind with their picnic, Teale, one of Matt and Sue’s four children, does the rounds with packs of fresh garlic and organic macadamia nuts, a few of which he had previously cracked for everyone to taste.

Macadamia Nuts

The talk around the table revolves around food: subscribers of the food boxes explain the not-yet members how they enjoy the challenge of thinking about how they will use the fruit and vegetables they receive. A young Spanish man talks about the various recipes he’s had to come up with using spinach, which his French girlfriend usually hates, but has come around to like as a result!

That’s another advantage according to Julian Lee, Food Connect’s Enterprise Coordinator, as subscribers tend to increase substantially their fruit and vegetable intake once they start receiving their boxes.

Julian Lee used to be an organic farmer a few years back in Singleton, as he wanted to see for himself how to make an organic farm viable. He saw that not many farmers believed in organic farming: “Most farmers were saying that organics was either a lie or impossible to achieve.” He was inspired by what he learned at a Slow Food conference in Italy and when he returned, he saw in Food Connect in Brisbane run by Robert Pekin a new opportunity “based on respect and fairness” and decided to apply this idea to Sydney.

He describes the cooperative as a Social Enterprise, “a new way of doing business”, which combines the best of a non-profit organisation and the best of a business: it allows the enterprise to be self-supporting and not to depend on grants or fundings. The difference with a regular business is that the profit made goes towards a social outcome: pay the farmers a fair price, support local agriculture and provide good food. Julian says that the current system is extremely hard on the farmers, as the big supermarkets can pay the farmers as little as 5 cents for $1 worth of food bought by the end consumer: “We give them 40 cents in every dollar.”

Julian Lee sees the future of the cooperative as “big and rosy”. They already count 350 members, but “the more people come to us, the more they support local farmers, and the more they support sustainable and healthy food and help build the communities.”

Farm Tour was $10 for adults, $5 for children.

Food Connect Sydney
3/2-8 Parsons Street, Rozelle, NSW 2039
Ph: (02) 8094 1882
http://sydney.foodconnect.com.au/

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Fresh Pasta with Mushrooms and Truffle

Posted on July 15, 2011 | 14 Comments

Truffle season is upon us, and to celebrate, what’s better than beautiful fresh pasta with lots of butter, Parmesan cheese and shaved truffle…? That’s right, nothing!

This little baby comes from Tasmania and this time, my partner insisted on taking care of it, as according to him I didn’t make the most of it last year and he could do much better… All right then!

He made some fresh pasta, which he then cut by hand, in a kind of short pappardelle shape.

He had previously placed a few slices of truffles in between layers of butter, which gave a nice fragrance to it, before melting it in a pan until it becomes brown.

He cut approximately half of it into little bits, which he threw with the butter, to which he added a handful of freshly chopped parsley and a couple of cloves of garlic.

He then added sliced fresh mushrooms, a mixture of Shitake and Swiss browns.

Meanwhile he boiled the pasta for a couple of minutes, then drained them and served them with the mushrooms, sliced generously the rest of the truffle on top of each plate, added grated parmesan and voilà!

I have to admit it was utterly delicious, you really can’t beat fresh pasta, truffles are worth the extra effort… Maybe I’ll even let the boy be in charge again next year!

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