debbster

The Flute in Fyshwick is an excellent patisserie... I digress, as this is a bread thread

Come and spend a day or two around the Canberra region, visit the wineries and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Canberra District Wine Harvest Festival Host Note: see here for the terms under which this event is posted.

Check out Epic Market (Saturdays) or Old Bus Depot Market (Sundays). There's a stand that sells very nice sour dough bread and good quality bagels. They have their own bakery and retail at markets.

Try to get Asian kitchen supplies in Sydney, they are usually more expensive here in Canberra. In addition to the places nickrey mentioned, the Farmers Market at EPIC in Mitchell is also worth a visit. Open on Saturdays only, there are organic, grain-fed meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc) fruit, vegies straight from the producers. There are numerous Asian groceries peppered around the city. In the city centre, there are a couple of Korean groceries, a few good all-around Asian ones in the Belconnen area (one inside the mall). One in Phillip that I've not been to, but have heard that the prices are low but variety a bit limited. There are also a few in Dickson, more Chinese than the others. Most of these shops sell fresh Asian vegies. If you go on delivery days, they're quite fresh.

Many thanks. I've just placed an order with Ichiba Junction.

Does anyone know of any online stores that sell Japanese food, ingredients and kitchen supplies? Thanks.

in summer, we like serving sang-choy-bow and the korean sam-gyop-sal. lettuce is so refreshing! and for dessert, black gelatin with lots of ice.

Try the Korean grocery stores in Eastwood. I've seen them in a number of the stores there. I'm referring to stores on the side of the train track where there are many Korean restaurants, not the side where the Chinese stores and restos are.

lamington, would you be referring to the Hall market that is held on the first sunday of each month? there's the Jamison market held every sunday morning, has good selection of fresh produce and trash and treasure stalls. not sure if the one at the Exhibition Park, which used to be every saturday morning, is still there. this one has some cooked food and baked products while the one at Jamison doesn't. >>I'm told I won't have much else to do, aside from work! ... depends on what you like to do... there's a big exhibit at the national gallery "Turner to Monet", but i think it finishes around june. you can go on a balloon ride august is winter and once the fog has lifted we get beautiful sunny crisp mornings!

has anyone had any experience with the samui institute of thai culinary arts? http://www.sitca.net planning to attend their 12-day professional course and would appreciate hearing about what others have to say about this school. thanks.

Thanks for everyone's recommendations. My friends and I will check them out. We had a late dinner at Capitan Torres a few weeks ago. We tried a few tapas. They were decent but nothing to write home about. Sounds like we need to go back and try their paella. Thanks again!

Please recommend some really good Spanish restaurants in Sydney. We're looking for places that cook excellent paella and have a decent tapas selection. Thanks!

What about ice cream? Soft, delicious and healthy.

Jimmy's Place in Dickson is good for live seafood. Live mudcrab is always done nicely, served on a bed of noodles of your choice. In terms of "outstanding and memorable", I can't think of any. Sad, but true.

Would the first beer in SE Asia be San Miguel Beer? The brewery was established in the Philippines in 1890 by a Spaniard. Here is a link to San Miguel Corporation's web site.

That's it exactly! It reminded me of how people enjoy and discuss wines. Ever since the first experience I've tried to appreciate fruit a little more. ← Yes, we do that, too! This is what my Chinese family often does and some friends do the same, too. Never saw it that way before, just seems like a natural thing to do. Now that I'm thinking about it, we seem to have the biggest discussions when we have mangoes.

try putting a dish towel or a cheesecloth on top of the pot before putting the lid on. this will absorb the condensed water. this has been my experience, too. i think it's because a bamboo lid can absorb some moisture, but not all. if you're steaming a dish where you don't want any water to get in, you would still need to put a dish towel even if using a bamboo steamer. also, i don't think a larger steamer will help. i sometimes use a big wok to steam something on a small dish and water still gets in. hope this is helpful.

Two that I think are improvements are - dorayaki, pancakes filled with red bean paste. Doraemon's favorite food. and - green tea kasutera from Nagasaki.

hi ecr, this is the official travel advice for the Philippines given by the Australian government. Not wanting to influence you either way, an advice similar to that would not stop me from going there, and hasn't, in the past. Cebu would be great to visit, too. Alex mentioned the Carbon Market. Cebu is south enough to have lots of the fruit one would find in Mindanao. They have the best mangoes!! Cebu is well-known for lechon (roasted stuff). It was there that I first tried "lechon baka" (roasted whole cow). More common would be lechon baboy (pig).

thanks for this! it's so easy to make and the taste is just lovely. it'll be on my dinner menu tonight. i used featherback fish paste (i've not seen dace sold here.) and added some chinese cabbage. my broth is a combination of chicken, pork and beef.

hi ecr, i had a look at your blog, in particular the section on food markets... interesting and wonderful pictures, made me want to go travelling again. you will not be disappointed when you visit markets in the philippines.

how far will you venture from manila? in mindanao, southern part of the philippines, fresh produce in markets will be very different from the ones in manila. they have fruits like mangosteen, durian, etc. that are not readily available in manila. their seafood will be different too. i remember in zamboanga (been there once a long time ago) they have this strange looking crab called 'curacha' (cockroach). i can't recommend any particular market, not really familiar with that area, my guess is that big cities like zamboanga, davao or iligan will have interesting markets.

Wet markets are called 'palengke' in Filipino. In addition to Arranque Market and San Andres Market, also consider going to Farmer's Market in Cubao. This one is probably cleaner than the other ones. There's also Divisoria Market in Divisoria, Manila and Central Market in Quiapo, Manila and many more. There are also small neighborhood ones where the vendors know you by name. Depending on how much time you have, I would suggest visiting Farmer's Market plus one or two of the big ones. Also, try to go in the morning when most of the action takes place. Farmer's Market should be ok, I think, but for Arranque or San Andres or Divisoria, be prepared for murky, muddy floors smelling of fish and garbage if you go to the fish section. The meat and vegie sections are generally alright. It's hard to describe, you've really got to be there to soak in the atmosphere. Also, I think someone has mentioned this, please take care of your valuables and leave them out of sight. There no quicker way to ruin a fun trip than being pickpocketed. Try things like dilis (small fried fish), kuchinta (native sweet steamed rice cake), puto (steamed rice cake), halo-halo (mixed sweet beans and coconut, topped with crushed ice, milk and ice cream), turon (banana wrapped in spring roll skin, then fried), banana-q (fried banana coated with sugar)...yummy... they use a kind of cooking banana called 'saba' that's only edible when cooked. Hope this is helpful. Enjoy your trip!

yes, i believe this originated in fujian. my family's version is very similar to what i tried in xiamen (city in fujian). we call it lumpia (pron: loom-pia). i recall that my grandma's cook used to serve this about twice a year on certain special occasions. these days we prepare this whenever we feel like it and very often in summertime. here is my family's version: main filling: cook together carrot, cabbage, green beans, chicken, pork, dried shrimps, fish balls, shrimp, hard tofu and bean sprouts. all ingredients must be shredded and finely chopped, except for bean sprouts. drain and let it cool down slightly before serving. side toppings: - chopped toasted peanuts mixed with sugar - egg omelet, finely shredded - toasted shredded seaweeds mixed with bits of crispy noodles - chopped fresh garlic mixed with tomato sauce (plus fresh chili, if desired) - fresh coriander wrapper: - spring roll wrapper (handmade ones are nicer, but we use commercial ones) - fresh lettuce (butter lettuce is my lettuce of choice for this dish) assembly: - place spring roll wrapper on plate and then place lettuce on the front half of wrapper. - fill lettuce with main filling and then top with side toppings of choice. - cover with lettuce, fold sides, then roll. as SeanDirty said, "Its very very simple and a great way to feed a group, its fun and its assemble your-self." when all the ingredients are served on the table, it looks quite appealing and the DIY aspect of it is quite fun.

ok thanks, point taken. back to your original post, i'd be interested in having access to such a database. i was looking for a culinary school in china some months back, but not anymore because i've made other commitments. having a central point of access would save a lot of time.