nickrey

There's a whole big topic on truffle oil over here.

I'm quite enjoying Lindy Wildsmith's book Cured. It's not a definitive work but it has a number of good recipes in it. The section headings are: Introduction Salted Spiced and Marinated Dried Smoked Potted Pickled Raw. Something for everyone and she covers fish, meats, and vegetables with processes from around the world and comments and insider tips from chefs. Definitely worth a look for those of you with an interest in curing (and don't we all in this forum).

Thanks for giving us the glimpse into your food world Snadra.

Like you I've investigated the pepperberry but not much else. Strangely enough, I'm more likely to use obscure Asian ingredients than obscure Aussie ingredients. After Rene Redzepi's talk at the Opera House in which he strongly encouraged the use of local ingredients, I suppose I should be more adventurous. Unfortunately, apart from macadamias, I can't really think of anything that gives a wow factor. Am not sure that we've moved beyond the "use pepperberry instead of pepper" or "rainforest lime instead of lime" or "lemon myrtle instead of lemon" stage of cooking. They are subtly different but not markedly so. It's almost (waits for scorn and opprobium) like a gimmick. I'm definitely open to using native ingredients but want a genuine culinary advancement rather than incrementalism purely for the sake of using local.

Let me see. I fairly regularly make Bacon; Pancetta; Duck Prosciutto; Chicken, duck, lamb, and fish Stock; Veal Demi-Glace; Ice-Cream; Ham; Sausages; Chopped Garlic; Ginger; Dashi Stock; Hollandaise/Bernaise; Mayonnaise; pickled vegetables; Indian-style pickles; preserved lemons and limes; duck confit; rendered duck fat (from cooking, frozen in ice cube trays for later use; pasta sauces; pastry; pizza bases; US-style barbecue sauce; curry powder; dehydrated bits and pieces; bread; harissa; fresh pasta (I do buy artisanal dried as it gives a different result and matches some sauces better); used to home-brew beer (not so much now as my place is too small); don't eat much jam but have made it... Thinking of Cheese as next project. Looking over list, it would be easier to say what I do buy pre-prepared: puff pastry, but after reading Maggie's description of home-made, think I'll do it myself. If I run out of something and it is out of season, I'll buy from the store and sometimes smaller producers have a better recipe than mine. Most often, however, I do prefer the taste of home-made. Possibly it's pride of ownership that makes it better but I've had too many people saying that the home-made version is markedly different and markedly better than mass produced. I know I use premium ingredients such as organic chicken for my stocks (less the breasts which get use for other purposes) and free-range belly for my bacon so perhaps I can do things that the producers who are understandably interested in making a profit can't.

Pinot noir is a good wine to pair with kangaroo (the Tasmanian ones, such as ninth island are very good value for money). We tend to drink reds too hot in Australia (room temperature is often above the ideal serving temperature) so I like to put them in an ice bucket for a while to chill them down to drinkable.

Unfortunately the "Tasty" cheeses typically aren't. I always get "Vintage" or "Extra Vintage."

If horizons always lie behind; what hope is there of advancement?

Great advice already. Use the handle on the right and the filter on the top left. You will need around 14g of ground coffee for the basket. What I do is add the coffee loosely until it fills the filter. Run your finger or something flat across the top so that the unpacked coffee is level with the top of the portafilter. Then tamp your coffee down solidly but not too solidly (it should compress down to around 1/4 way down the side of the filter (i.e. to 3/4 full). Put the portafilter filter on machine and extract 2oz (60ml) of coffee. This comes out of the two spouts and is enough for two cups of coffee (put one cup on one spout and another on the other). You should vary the grind and tamp such that the 60ml shot takes 30secs to run through. When you heat the milk, make sure that the spout is neither on the bottom of the jug nor on the top so it bubbles. Aim for around the middle of the lot of milk. Hold your hand on the metal jug. Once you cannot hold your hand against it anymore, it is ready so turn off steam, pour, and enjoy. Good luck.

How ironic that many criticisms of Michelin in recent years have been directed at the fact that they keep awarding stars to restaurants who are living on past glories. It seems that this is the type of food that you prefer. And there is nothing wrong with this. But please don't try to tell others who are not afraid of change that being locked in past glory is the only way of doing things. I can cook your favourite dishes easily at home (no, really). Why should I pay astronomically high prices to eat what is easily available? I'm always in search of new eating experiences and, to tell you the truth, many of these involve "cheaper" cuts of meat such as offal that require extremely high skill to bring out their best. Sometimes this involves sous vide cooking, which incidentally is an extension of and logical successor to the low and slow cooking you applied to your hams. Talented chefs use processes that are available to them to bring out the best in the ingredients. They will add texture and contrasting flavours through accompaniments and sauces, and they will not achieve stars if they are not accomplished at doing so. To use an analogy, you sound a bit like someone criticising the "modern art" movement because it doesn't use classical approaches. Look at some of Picasso's early work and you will see a mastery of the traditional before he broke new ground. Please give the chefs some credit for having been there and done that before moving on -- even if you don't like the change.

I couldn't agree more with Merridith on this one. I bought a cut yesterday from a supplier whose meat I have used before. 24 hours sous vide at 55C and it was mush with a silver coating. Seemed they'd slipped some silverside into what was labelled a Boston roast; it should have been chuck, which is a high collagen cut. Anyway, the dog (as pictured) is benefiting from the rest of the meat. It's really the first piece of meat that I've said was bland and insipid from sous vide cooking. Mind you, I made a lovely sauce out of the bag juices that I have frozen in serving portions so all is not lost. Get good quality, well exercised pieces of meat and the world of sous vide will open up for you.

I live in a different part of Sydney; really looking forward to your take on this.

Looking forward to reading your blog fellow Aussie

Not me. Ham and pineapple pizza is the most popular pizza in Australia though and with the cockatoo, it seems to be the right continent. May have to wait for some more photos, it has me stumped.

As you will be in Sydney, you can always get Leigh Hudson at Chef's Armoury to sharpen the knives. He trained in Seki, Japan and loves knives. He also runs courses in using Japanese waterstones to sharpen knives so you can learn yourself. This is a step up from using the EdgePro.

The gauge only shows the temperature of the water, not the temperature of the centre of the meat. The speed at which the meat heats up is proportional to the thickness of the piece. Check out Douglas Baldwin's practical guide to Sous Vide cooking for more detail and cooking times.

I think I'd be mightily disappointed and feel horribly ripped off to get meat and three veg from a three-star restaurant, no matter what size the portion was. As Prawncrackers said, why go out to eat simple food that can be cooked at home?

In Sydney, you can also try Cabramatta for Asian kitchen equipment. It is mainly Vietnamese but has all the other gizmos as well. When you are in Canberra as a foodie, Fyshwick markets will be your best friend. Check it out, it will have most of your cooking needs. Kingston has Essential Ingredient and other food stores (their butchery is excellent and much cheaper for quality than we can get in Sydney [not cheapest for those who will point to areas on the fringes of Sydney]). Mawson has some good Chinese ingredients shops as well. Not too sure about the North (Canberra is small but divided along geographic lines) and I always tended to live South when I was there. Make sure you go to Peters of Kensington when you are in Sydney. They are probably the most consistent discounters of quality merchandise. They also have a good Internet based ordering system.

Also, if you can find a way to serve soup, why not try a gazpacho? Make some home-made pate and spread it on bread slices. If you can heat things, why not make empanadas? Even if you can't, they can taste fine cold (simply increase seasonings). Perhaps some cold smoked salmon blinis with creme fraiche?

If you're making hummus, try baba ganoush. It basically has the same ingredients as hummus so you can easily make it at the same time but it has a totally different flavour profile. Put an eggplant (or a few) over a gas flame and turn until well charred and cooked. Put in a plastic bag until cool and rub skin off. Mash up cooked and charred eggplant with minced garlic, lemon juice, tahini, salt, cumin.

Sorry. missed your original question. The berry sauce I make is fairly conventional. First fry some very finely chopped shallots/mild onion. I'd deglaze with some port to add sweetness if you are using tart berries. Add the berries (use raspberries or blackberries [strawberries may be a bit light for the game dish] or if you want to go really Australian, try native raspberries). Add some blond chicken stock to give bulk and complexity of flavour. Thicken down and taste. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the sauce has reached your preferred taste and is still a bit thin, add a slurry of potato flour or cornflour to thicken. You shouldn't need to add extra acid to finish, but if you do, try some raspberry vinegar.

I'm still waiting for shipping quotes and then decide what to take. I do realize that prices are generally higher. I'm hoping to score some good deals on cookware during the upcoming Thanksgiving sales. Hubby is looking at getting a transformer here as well as they seem to be cheaper here. One question though: will we be taxed on new items we ship over? I don't know specifics but to be on the safe side, I'd take them out of the original packaging and use them. Used items have a far lesser value than new and are less likely to attract attention from Customs.

I think there may be some confusion possible from recent discussions. Cooking to pasteurize or tenderize meat involves bringing it up to a core temperature and then holding it at that temperature for a pre-determined time. That is, minimum time to temperature plus some constant. For re-heating you only need to have it in the bath for the minimum time to bring it up to temperature (what Nathan referred to as 'time to cook').

Jordi Cruz has a recipe for this in his book "Logical Cuisine." While not feeling that I can put the whole method here for reasons of copyright, he uses gelatin, mineral water, xanthan gum, sodium alginate and sodium citrate in a chloride bath.

Bump. Just got a mail out from Jane at Eat Your Books that included the following information: If you were delaying getting a lifetime subscription, time is running out. I'm still using it a lot by the way.