Shalmanese

mmm... butchering a rabit was fun but even I balked at the idea of deboning one. Nice work! Personally, I was very underwhelmed with my one experience with cooking rabbit. It was a farmed rabbit and utterly lacking in any taste whatsoever. I've had really good rabbit before in China which I assume was wild and I wanted to duplicate that but the blandness of the rabbit defied my attempts to do anything interesting with it.

South Americans yes, Mexicans & Americans, no. Theres a mexican place down the road from us that seems fairly decent and authentic. I probably should go back some time but we seem to never be in the mood for mexican.

Hrmm... The Australian Cheese Association has a list of certified sellers. Don't know how useful that is to you.

Have you tried the eCGI method of simmering of using whole chickens and poaching for 20 minutes until the breasts are done, then removing the breasts and returning the rest of the chicken to the pot to make stock? I find that you can strip off the larger chunks of meat post-stock and shred them finely for a really good chicken-corn soup. That way, you can at least assuage some of your guilt.

Huh, I was actually distinctly underwhelmed by the Chairman and Yip. Perhaps the mood of the evening was soured by the overwhelming amount of pretension as I walked in. I can usually deal with snobbery if it's backed by substance and I can definately hold my own with fancy service and snooty waiters but the Chairman just seemed like a sad facsimile made by some over impressionable college english major. The wine list looked intriguing but the offer by the glass was relatively skimpy and uninspired IMHO, not that I know enough about wine to be properly able to evaluate it. But my main gripe with it was that the menu was just a mess, some sort of mexican chicken thing, some spanish soup or something, a whole bunch of vaguely asian dishes spanning from thai to manchuria. There was no focus or theme to the work which made it hard to figure out what I was getting. And what I did get in the end (a pork chop with ginseng and red date sauce) was ultimately boring and lacked anything to set it apart from a $6 noodle joint in Sydney. Speaking with a friend in Canberra, he said he heard from many of his friends that the Chairman had gone downhill recently and I hope it was just an off night for me but I can't, in good faith, reccomend the Chairman & Yip to anyone wanting a decent meal in Canberra. oesophagus: I will keep your reccomendation's in mind if I'm ever forced to return to that blighted city but I'm surprised you don't mention Watermark/Waters Edge. Everything I've heard about them indicates that they are doing serious cuisine on par with some of the finer Sydney/Melbourne restaurants.

I like ribs for beef, neck for pork & lamb and wingtips & backs for chicken.

Oh gawd, I've clicked on that link every time you post it and every time I've clicked, I've had to sit in a corner for 1/2 an hour quietly gibbering in seething jealousy .

I think the rather obvious reason why there are few mexican/SW American restuarants here is because (duh!) there aren't too many mexicans or SW Americans here. Mexicans tend to immigrate to the US and not to Australia and the Americans who immigrate here are largely white collar professionals, not chefs. I don't see this changing much in the future.

Have you tried reducing delicate substances that would be destroyed by heating? One of the things I always wanted to do was to get fresh watermelon juice and reduce it until the sugar level is high enough and then make a sorbet from it. I've never successfully made a watermelon sorbet since the flavour is so diluted but I image a vacuum reducer would be perfect for it. Have you tried something like this or other things which would be impossible using high temp reduction?

Yes, you would, but very very slowly. Hours instead of minutes. ← But you wouldn't fry something for hours so no significant malliard should occur with vacuum frying. I wonder what the benifits of it are then. nathanm could you tell me more about your vacuum flask for reduction? I've always wanted to try vacuum reduction. How fast does it reduce? How do you think the taste differs from normal reduction? Are there any things you can do with it that you can't do using normal reduction? I've always wanted to try reducing various fruit juices using vacuum reduction. I imagine you could come up with some pretty intense sauces this way. john Good Eats already did a show on LT poaching. The only difference with sous vide would be the bags.

Hrmm... I had to ask around a bit as nobody remembers the english name but apparently it's called Dragon Star. It's easy to find though, just go to the top level of market city and head for the restaurant with the big shark fin at the door.

I actually stumbled into this place more by chance than anything else and, despite my intial reluctance due to the general cheezy chain nature of the place, was pretty surprised by the quality of the food. The salads looked fresh and not wilted and the meat had some decent flavour but I was most surprised by the chips. Light and fluffy on the inside with a satisfying crunch, this is probably one of the only fast food places that properly double fries their chips. Next time I go, I'll try the platter strategy. The other places I dined in Canberra was the Wig & Pen and Courgette. The Wig & Pen had adequate pub food but consistently excellent beers (although they pulled the porter since it was summer ). The Courgette was just an absolute mess, a throwback to the 80's of large plates and small servings and obsequious service. The menu was a mess with seemingly randomly thrown together sides to accompany some chunk of protein. There wasn't any rhyme nor reason to the menu choices. I had the quail to start and, while the quail was perfectly cooked, the sauce was way oversalted and completely obliterated the delicate taste of quail. I think I had veal or venison for the main (which kind of tells you about their preparation) which had a rabbit risotto which was gummy and clearly standing under heat lamps (It wouldn't have been physically possible to cook that small a portion of risotto properly). The meal was cooked properly but I couldn't figure out what the hell was the point of this dish. Dessert was something unmemorable and overly sweet. In the end, the bill came to $250 for 3 people with wine and I didn't feel it was worth a return visit. Then again, my dining companions seemed pretty happy with their meals so maybe I was just in a bad mood. edit: After looking at the online menu, apparently what I had was the "Quail breasts with confit shallots and wild mushroom tortellini, tomato, baby beans and fine herbs" to start. The mushroom tortellini was distinctly gritty and slightly musty, I don't know what wild mushrooms they chose but it was a big disappointment. The shallots, tomato and baby beans were actually quite decent though. For a main, I had "Milk fed White Rocks veal loin with confit rabbit risotto smoked garlic, sauté tatsoi and sage jus". For the life of me, I cannot remember the smoked garlic or the sage jus and the tatsoi just tasted like generic chinese greens. Dessert was "Port roasted black figs served with white chocolate beignet and malt ice cream" with peaches subbed for figs. The peaches were pretty flavourless although the ice-cream was very nice. Unfortunately, a single taste of the syrup obliterated my tastebuds with sweetness and I couldn't taste the ice-cream after that.

My family does a lot of entertaining of Chinese guests and Yum Cha is pretty much only done in the Haymarket place. The SMH voted that Sydneys best Yum Cha place is some place on Castlereigh street but none of my chinese friends have ever heard of it so I don't know what to make of that. I probably should go check it out sometime. Theres another one we've been too near the railway station thats relatively hidden away. I thought the food is greasy and poorly done but it always seems packed by chinese families because it's very cheap.

Spill the beans James!

Huh, funny. I live in the Eastern Suburbs and I routinely hear how Crows Nest and Manly seem to have the best food shops. Over on the east side, Anzac Parade near UNSW has a huge number of cheap asian eats which is about as authentic as you can get since there are some many asian students in the area. Bondi is excellent for high quality produce, usually with prices to match. Theres a kitchen store in Bondi called Pulp kitchens which stock Shun knives which I've not seen anywhere else. Wollahra has a number of nice high end shops including a cheese shop thats pretty decent and Simon Johnson which is absurdly overpriced but stocks goumet items unavailable anywhere else. Theres meant to be an excellent butcher on Clovelly Road in Randwick who I've been meaning to check out for ages. In Randwick near the Hospital, there are some excellent asian butchers and the green grocer is not too bad either. The Fox studio farmers market on Wednesday and Sundays at Fox Studios has a couple of decent stalls including cheese, bread, Wagyu beef, honey, chocolate, lemons & oranges. Thats about the extent of my knowledge of the eastern suburbs, would appreciate some other hidden gems close by. edit: Claudes in Wollahra is meant to be pretty good french/asian food although I've never dined there but I've been to Balzac in Randwick which did an excellent dinner but only a so-so lunch. As far as dining in "The Spot" near the Randwick Ritz, Arthurs Pizza is a classic after-movie place but the greek place next door was awful. The Thai place across the roundabout is pretty good but the main appeal seems to be the open kitchens and the periodic 3m high flames. Sydney Gourmet Burgers seem to be producing a decent product but I never see people inside so I don't know how long it will last. There remains, to my great dismay, no decent coffee or ice-cream places anywhere near Randwick. PS: Would appreciate some decent dining options in Newtown. Despite it's reputation, I've had a hard time finding anything decent. Tried Newtown Thai which was pretty ordinary and also Peasants Feast which was overpriced and poorly executed. All I see is Thai and Italian places.

Alton Brown seems to be a big fan of electric knives for carving. Has anyone tried them?

I don't suppose that you might wish to offer these particular recipes for those of us who indulge only on the holidays, Ruth?? We are already into December ... no rush, mind you ... ← Not exactly a dessert but Thomas Keller's BLT clocks in at around 1200 calories. recipe here

I don't know the correct term for it but I've read in fiction that submarines in combat situations occasionally need to become completely silent for days on end to avoid detection. Have you ever experienced this and does it hamper your cooking?

There is also a very interesting advantage to frying in a vacuum. Acrylamide is a harmful chemical (known to cause cancer) found in fried starchy foods like potato chips. The chemical is increased with high frying temeratures. By putting the cooking under a vacuum you can lower the fry temperature and reduce the amount of acrylamide you generate duing the cooking by up to 90+%. ← How do you fry in a vacuum? Fried food is putting out an ungodly amount of steam. I imagine it would be a real challenge to maintain pressure in that scenario.

What I would like to see is a cooktop that has say 4 gas hobs and one induction panel in the middle. You could use the induction for gentle simmering, rapidly heating up boiling water and even cooking of eggs while using the gas for everyday cooking tasks.

I've found infused and ice-packed herbs to be a much better alternative to dried herbs in some instances when fresh herbs are unavailable. Quickly blanch some herbs in boiling water and then shock in ice water. You can either dry very well and then blend with oil for infused herbs or chop finely and place in ice-cube trays and fill with water and freeze for ice-packed herbs. Despite what I've read about infused herbs, I once lost a jar of basil & garlic oil in the back of my fridge for over a year and it had barely lost any of it's fresh basil flavour. Ice-packed herbs are perfect for putting in something like pasta sauce where you want the leaves to remain intact. Hardier herbs like rosemary can just be frozen like some people have mentioned.

If you have a fine mesh strainer and a spatula, you can push your potatos through that for a smooth mash.

Apart from Sous Vide, there are several other LTLT cooking techniques. LT poaching (in either water, stock or olive oil) works very well for fish, seafood, chicken and perfect softboiled and hard boiled eggs if you have the patience. LTLT roasting produces perfectly cooked, tender roasts. Heston Blumenthal has a method of making mashed potatos which first involves a 2 hour poach in 70C water.

Althought this sounds intuitive, experimentation proves that it is absolutely untrue. LTLT cooked meat leaks almost as much as conventional, high temp roasting with inadequate resting. However, what appears to stop leakage is to allow the meat to cool down a few degrees from peak. Under a traditional LTLT approach, this would involve cooking the meat for 12 hours on 140F until the centre hits 140F and then resting for another 6 hours on 135F until the meat cools down to 135F. Alternatively, using a high temperature method, you could try cooking the roast at 350F until the centre hits 130F, taking it out to rest on the counter top, letting it coast up to 140F and then dropping down to 135F. This will lead to less even cooking and a slightly cooler roast on average but takes less time.

Excellent interview! good work.