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eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland


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Adam- beautiful pictures!! what is the square of green in this? Is it sea beans??

that is one awsome picture and I believe these are a sea weed called Salicornia. I could be wrong though...

Elie

Thanks. Yep Sea beans/salicornia/samphire are the same thing. Very nice it is and considered a bit posh in the UK at the present time.

Yet another name for them is "glasswort". Here's an earlier egullet discussion: click

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Adam, when you get the new stuff, I would love to see what you do with it, although your blog will be over. I used to get a lot of upland game birds (mostly grouse and woodcock but some pheasant and ptarmigan) and found cooking them very interesting.

(I'll also do a search on some of those birds.)

Sure. It is one of the good things about living in Scotland if you like cooking. Big shooting parties often give away the woodcock and keep the pheasants ( :wacko: ), so in an odd sort of reverso-world way, in season pheasant is cheaper then crappy industrial chicken and woodcock is cheaper then pheasant.

I really must cook more game, apart from a 'pheasant satay' phase, I still mentally have this image as "special occasion only". Except that my wife would leave me I am tempted to do a "How I only ate game for a year and made friends" blog.

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Melbourne is one of the most food centric places I have ever been in. And I was naive enough to think that it was "normal". :rolleyes:

That's the same mistake I made! You don't realize that you've been spoilt until you've moved away.

Are those Jalapenos in the green curry shot? Are they commonly available in Edinburgh?

If you're gonna eat haggis in mourning, how will you celebrate, food-wise, if Australia wins the second test?

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Gorgeous presentation.

But but but ... how does one forget one's spouse hates monkfish. It is not a favorite of mine, either, but I am open to being convinced by a preparation that controlled for textural issues.

Priscilla

Writer, cook, & c. ●  Twitter

 

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Happy to see you are blogging!  

I wondered what Ayr bacon was on the shop front.  Now I know it's round, but is there a specific curing process that differentiates it further?

Also, glad to know as an aside that Melbourne is food-centric as we will be moving there in another month or so.

Yes, there is a specific process, but I will have to get that book out later.

Melbourne is one of the most food centric places I have ever been in. And I was naive enough to think that it was "normal". :rolleyes:

OK, the distinctive thing about the Ayrshire cure (apart from the rolled cutlet/back and streaky) is that the side of pork is skinned and boned before curing. This means it isn't heat treated to scrape the bristles off like other cures, and this is thought to give a firmer texture and better colour. This cure can be smoked, unsmoked or spiced (rarely), but if it doesn't have the skin removed before curing it isn't an Ayrshire cure, no matter what the claim is.

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Adam, enjoying your blog already. I spent over 2 years in Edinburgh in the early 1990s; it was a good time, but I was happy to return South. You've clearly found some good food sources.

The quality of light in Edinburgh, though, especially in high summer, was very special. In London this year much of July has been grey and almost icy; a perfect foil for explosions and other diversions. Has the weather been better up there? It's hard to tell from your pictures.

Valvona and Crolla, back then, was a busy but not overly elaborate Italian shop. Has it now turned into a big operation? Is the food still good?

Jonathan Day

"La cuisine, c'est quand les choses ont le go�t de ce qu'elles sont."

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I recognized the sea beans, but what are those two stalks of little and littler round thingies? I see one of them ended up in your sauce where it looks like peas.

I'm glad that was art that accompanied your breakfast. Much better than what I was thinking!

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I needed more fish for tonight, this time I went to Eddie's which is closer to work.

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Today there were a lot of local fish, like this Cod, and also whelks, halibut, turbot, wolfish, lemon sole and dover sole.

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Also avalaible were these metre long wild Atlantic salmon. These are fantastic fish, nothing like the farmed flabby crap that is normally seen.

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But I went for airmail guilt and bought these North African snapper. A baked stuffed cod just doens't present well.

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I recognized the sea beans, but what are those two stalks of little and littler round thingies?  I see one of them ended up in your sauce where it looks like peas.

I'm glad that was art that accompanied your breakfast.  Much better than what I was thinking!

These are pea eggplants. Very bitter, but I like them in rich currys to cut through the sweetness of the coconut milk. Not everybody agrees on this point though.

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Adam, enjoying your blog already.  I spent over 2 years in Edinburgh in the early 1990s; it was a good time, but I was happy to return South.  You've clearly found some good food sources.

The quality of light in Edinburgh, though, especially in high summer, was very special.  In London this year much of July has been grey and almost icy; a perfect foil for explosions and other diversions.  Has the weather been better up there?  It's hard to tell from your pictures.

Valvona and Crolla, back then, was a busy but not overly elaborate Italian shop.  Has it now turned into a big operation?  Is the food still good?

Jonathan - Edinburghs food has improved even in the five years I have been. But it still has a long way to go.

The light at this time of the year is amazing in the twilight. I suspect that it is doe to the latitude as you get an amazing blue light quality, especially nice to see in the New Town.

V&C original store is at the end of our street, I have a love/hate relationship with them. Love the produce, hate that it is often not stored well (or maybe it is a turn over thing). It is sad to see the state that some of the amazing cheese they have ends up in. Other then that I can't complain, it is a very good resource.

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I recognized the sea beans, but what are those two stalks of little and littler round thingies?  I see one of them ended up in your sauce where it looks like peas.

I'm glad that was art that accompanied your breakfast.  Much better than what I was thinking!

These are pea eggplants. Very bitter, but I like them in rich currys to cut through the sweetness of the coconut milk. Not everybody agrees on this point though.

You can also eat them raw as part of a vegetable plate (or, one might say, a composed salad) with nam prik, along with the slightly larger thai eggplants that sometimes get called apple eggplants.

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

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The household is ill today, so I am working from home.

Lunch was from the previously discussed Valvona and Crolla. Scotland has an established Italian community (not that you would know from the standard of the Italian restuarants in Edinburgh) and this Deli was set up by the present owners family in the 1930's. It has an extremely good range of produce and actually trucks in fresh produce from the Milan market every week (I think). No feeling very hungry, so I just had this roll.

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I have also done a little prep work for tonights dinner.

Lamb shoulder was deboned and marinated overnight in lemon juice, olive oil with garlic, mint, cumin and all spice. This has been spread open and coated with a cooked mixture of walnuts, tomato, barbarberries, cinnamon and cumin. After being tied up, it will be braised in the oven.

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The fish tonight will be stuffed with a mixture, very vaguely, based on the Lebanese Samkeh Harrah:onion, coriander (ground and green), walnuts, pinenuts, garlic, sumac and lemon juice.

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Actually my only major departure from the Lebanese dish is that I also used the peel from some Egyptian pickled limes (the label says "lemons", but they are definately limes). These contain nigella seeds and safflower (for colour). They taste like Persian dried limes, but are easier to work with.

Stuffed to the gills.

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Nice looking fish. How are you baking it? Just open in the oven, or are you covering it with parchment or something like that? Also, did you leave the bones in or debone the fish? It's a little extra prep work, but ever since I read about it in one of Marcella Hazan's books, I've been all about baking whole stuffed fish that I've deboned "from the inside."

--

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Nice looking fish.  How are you baking it?  Just open in the oven, or are you covering it with parchment or something like that?  Also, did you leave the bones in or debone the fish?  It's a little extra prep work, but ever since I read about it in one of Marcella Hazan's books, I've been all about baking whole stuffed fish that I've deboned "from the inside."

Normally I would use foil, vines leaves, banana leaves or wet newspaper. Fig leaves are excellent if you can get them, makes the fish smell of vanilla. Depends on the fish though. Sea bream type fish like this seem to be less sensitive to drying out. I am considering basting this fish, so at the moment it just sitting here looking at me.

I can debone, but in this case I choose not to debone as I can't be arsed. When I have been arsed, I have had the most luck with deboning from the dorsal surface, not the belly.

Also, some fish seem to taste better with bones. I really like Hake cooked on the bones as I like the slightly gelatinous richness that this gives.

Edited by Adam Balic (log)
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I have recently discovered that love rum. I know very little about it, but have been working my way through what is availble locally. This is 4 year old Barbancourt Rhum from Haiti, with lime and apple mint. It certainly does the job, but I think I prefer the Mt Gay, although it is cheaper. Must do more research.

Andy's comment upthread reminded me to touch on this. I've really been getting into rum these days myself. I actually quite like the Barbancourt white rhum. It's got a bit of the rhum agricole flavor that I like quite a bit, but does make it different from regular white rum distilled from molasses (rhum agriole is distilled from sugar cane juice rather than molasses).

If you're so inclined, you might try a real Daiquiri: 2 ounces of white rum, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon of superfine sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar then shake with ice and strain. Or, for a tall drink, I like a Rum Swizzle: 1.5 ounces white or light rum, 3/4 ounce fresh like juice, 1/2 ounce Falernum (or simple syrup or the infused simple syrup of your choice), 3 dashes Angostura bitters; serve over ice in a tall glass. On the simple side, there's always a Ti Punch, or if you like dark rum, try an "Eighteenth Century Cocktail."

I am considering basting this fish, so at the moment it just sitting here looking at me.

At least it doesn't have a doleful, needy expression on its face like the cod.

--

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Lamb shoulder was deboned and marinated overnight in lemon juice, olive oil with garlic, mint, cumin and all spice. This has been spread open and coated with a cooked mixture of walnuts, tomato, barbarberries, cinnamon and cumin. After being tied up, it will be braised in the oven.

gallery_1643_1586_575322.jpg

The fish looks wonderful, but since others have commented I'll ask about the lamb, which also looks promising. How long did you cook the stuffing mixture, and why? To soften the tomatoes and get it all to mix properly? What will you use to braise the rolled lamb? I can't wait to see how it looks when finished.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Have been feeling rubbish all day, but now feel better after a fortifing toasted bagel and Baba Ghannooge

Cods always look sad, but their heads are excellent in Singapore Fishhead Curry, and if you get a head an shoulders they roast well (and look darn scary on the table).

Thanks for the Rum information, I really appreciate it. I have never paid much attention to it as Bundy and Coke was the drink of thugs in my home town, and in Scotland there are Malts to attact. But they once drank Rum in quantity in Scotland too.

This is a Regency recipe and started my interest in Rum. You may or may not know my interest in historic cooking, in one Scottish meal I made I was looking for a pre-dinner drink that was, well, not shortbread tinny. This fitted the bill:

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Right I have made a few dips for dinner tonight. I was going to make a few other things (I always over cater, sometimes dramtically so), but have been out of for most of the day. What we have here is Baba Ghannooge, Hommus bi-Tahineh (a bit lumpy) and drained (for 48hrs) yoghurt with mint. I will dress them later. Dip for punters: Blow torch works real well on eggplant for Baba Ghannooge.

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Edited by Adam Balic (log)
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Right, now for a bit of information. While I was cleaning up, I started tossing out various veg that I couldn't remember buying (never a good sign), while I was doing this, I came across these.

Both are sweet potatoes, yes, both are the purple skinned, pale fleshed type, yes, so they must taste the same. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The one on the right is by far the better type. It tastes of butter and sweet chestnuts with a non-mealy texture. It comes from New Zealand and is known as a "kumara", it can be identified by the violet colour of the skin (rather then dull purple), which you can see when you scratch it with a fingernail. For those in the UK, it can from Sainsburys of all places.

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The fish looks wonderful, but since others have commented I'll ask about the lamb, which also looks promising.  How long did you cook the stuffing mixture, and why?  To soften the tomatoes and get it all to mix properly?  What will you use to braise the rolled lamb?  I can't wait to see how it looks when finished.

I cooked the stuffing mixture until done. Eh, cooked onions until translucent, added walnuts until toasted and the onions where golden brown, but not burnt. Added the rest of the ingredients an cooked it down. I do this because it is easier to stuff with a solid, rather then a liquid and I want these specific flavours, not raw flavours.

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