eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland

[Adam Balic]

OK, now is when we go out on a limb. As I said after this long cooking process, the liquid looks insipid, clear and a vague pale yellowish-brown in colour. I coulld have made a seperate sauce. Didn't, so I have adapted aTuscan technique for making a sauce for wild boar.

First make a light caramel

Add some red wine vinegar and reduce to a light syrup.

Add a small amount of dark bitter chocolate

Only a small amount is required. Due to the saltiness of the chocolate, it is best to reduce the base sauce first, then add the chocolate mixture until the correct colour/flavour is reached. You shouldn't taste the chocolate and in this case I have restricted the amount of sugar so that it isn't sweeten to the palate, it just tastes richer.

[Adam Balic]

You are not "cack-handed" (whatever that means ) in the kitchen at all.

Betcha there is not a professional chef in the world that has not had the same thing happen at one time or another. . .

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More help with Australianisms.

"cack-handed in the kitchen" =

Thank you for the kind comments though......

Edited August 8, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Carrot Top]

Darn it all.

Just when I was thinking to offer you a fine sum to come ghost-write a week of food-blog for me!

But adding a cleanup person to the entourage would surely bring me right over my budget. . . sigh.

[Priscilla]

Adam, do you photograph all your kitchen mishaps?

I love the oxtail photo, looks like some undersea creature. Await its transformation as you impose your will upon it.

[Jinmyo]

There, there, Adam.

Hear, hear, Adam!

[Carrot Top]

Well you never know. Great inventions are often made by mistake.

Have you thought to taste that stuff that flew onto the bottom of the oven?

You may have unwittingly created the next New Thing. Fortunes untold may await you if you just package it up in a bit of shiny paper. . .

[LindaK]

Adam, thanks so much for this blog. I've only been to Edinburg once, maybe 10 years ago. I don't remember the food especially, but I do remember buying a heavy wool pullover because the clothing I'd brought wasn't warm enough. And it was August. Now I live in Boston, and it's still the warmest garment I own.

i'm fascinated by your home cooking. When I saw "Scotland" and "Australia" in your introductory post I didn't expect such a comfort level with spices such as fresh tumeric, gangal, sumac, etc. I certainly don't keep these items handy and would need to follow a recipe to be able to use them. How would you describe your style of cooking? Is this typical of contemporary Australian cooking? Any advice for a good but hopelessly Western cook for learning how to integrate ingredients like this into one's repetoire?

[Adam Balic]

Well here is the finished product (observe restaurant quality plating ). I didn't tell anybody about the chocolate and nobody guessed. There was some discussion on 'really beefy flavour'.

Braised oxtail with chocolate sauce, garnished with sauted mushrooms, pancetta and oregano gremolata. And potato potatoes dauphinoise....

We also had a salad of bitter leaves with toasted walnuts and a hot dressing of pancetta and red wine vinegar (pancetta sauted until fat is rendered out, red wine vinegar added to hot fat, this used to dress the salad).

Dessert was an Australian classic "Lemon delicious pudding". It is a very simply self saucing pudding, during the cooking it stratifies, so you get a light cake on the top, a thick lemon custard layer and a thing custard sauce. I used too little mixture in too large a dish, so there was less of the latter then I would have liked. Still Yummo though.

[Adam Balic]

Adam, do you photograph all your kitchen mishaps?

I love the oxtail photo, looks like some undersea creature.  Await its transformation as you impose your will upon it.

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Never, my memory card isn't that big.

[Adam Balic]

Well you never know. Great inventions are often made by mistake.

Have you thought to taste that stuff that flew onto the bottom of the oven?

You may have unwittingly created the next New Thing. Fortunes untold may await you if you just package it up in a bit of shiny paper. . .

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Damn, how did you guess? Crispy bits on side of gratin dish were infact delicious. Maybe be there is a market for cream and potato starch "crackling". Oh, my God. I just invented vegetarian/Kosher/Halal pork scratchings. I am going to be rich I tell you.

[Adam Balic]

Adam, thanks so much for this blog. I've only been to Edinburg once, maybe 10 years ago.  I don't remember the food especially, but I do remember buying a heavy wool pullover because the clothing I'd brought wasn't warm enough. And it was August. Now I live in Boston, and it's still the warmest garment I own.

i'm fascinated by your home cooking. When I saw "Scotland" and "Australia" in your introductory post I didn't expect such a comfort level with spices such as fresh tumeric, gangal, sumac, etc.  I certainly don't keep these items handy and would need to follow a recipe to be able to use them.  How would you describe your style of cooking? Is this typical of contemporary Australian cooking?  Any advice for a good but hopelessly Western cook for learning how to integrate ingredients like this into one's repetoire?

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I guess my cooking coud be called undisciplined contemporary Australian cooking. Although, not in Australia as it sounds a bit poncy. I come from Melbourne, which is incredibly multi-ethnic. This is an easy term to use, often people talk about in relation to London for instance, but on a per capita basis, Melbourne has much more diversity. Anyway, I am comfortable with lots of different types food and I like to cook. So although I have ~ 300 cookbooks, only two of these are chefs books, the vast majority being along the lines of "The cooking of SW-France", "Imperial Mongolian Cuisine", "Sicilian cooking" etc etc.

So the best advise I have is cook, read, vist markets, talk to people about their food and cook some more. A very good place to start bookwise is with Grub street publishing (scroll down to 3. World Cookery Series) for instance.

* edit: Just to be clear, I have nothing against Chef cookbooks, just explaining my experiences. Infact, I would like more of these books as they are strong on technique, which is what I and many of my cookbooks lack.

Edited August 9, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[albiston]

Well here is the finished product (observe restaurant quality plating ). I didn't tell anybody about the chocolate and nobody guessed. There was some discussion on 'really beefy flavour'.

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Adam, I just love your restaurant plating, makes me hungry. Hem, we never talked about which kind of restaurant, right ?

The chocolate addition is a great idea. Just yesterday evening I was reading an Italian food magazine where a chef from Rome explained how he likes to add a touch of chocolate to the local classic "coda alla vaccinara" (translates sort of into oxtail butcher style). It would be nice if these big chefs would stop nicking your ideas wouldn't it? I'd copyright those vegetarian scratchings straight away if I were you.

[Adam Balic]

Bloody typical!

Is there a thing of which it is said,

"See, this is new"?

It has already been,

in the ages before us.

[Adam Balic]

Breakfast today was a cup of coffee.

Lunch is a can of Heinz Cream of Tomato soup.

Not very exciting I'm afraid. My University campus is located will out of the city centre, there are few options for food and I rarely can be bothered to make my lunch. There is a shopping centre 10 mintutes walk away, this has a food court with some of the most vile looking food on the planet, bar none. I have eaten there once, in my first week here (Bugger me, I just realised that today is my five year anniversary in the UK ). I bought a sausage roll, after giving me this noisome object the server dumped the rest of the tray of sausage rolls in the rubbish. Apparently, the act of selling this item (*minced pig ears, fat, skin and snout mixed with rusk and wrapped in a lamina of flour paste and more rendered fat*) remined her that they were past their sell by time. I would take photographs of this food court, except I am afraid of being beaten up by the roving bands of jaundiced teenagers or their monkey children that eat there.

[Kevin72]

Braised oxtail with chocolate sauce, garnished with sauted mushrooms, pancetta and oregano gremolata. And potato potatoes dauphinoise.... 

We also had a salad of bitter leaves with toasted walnuts and a hot dressing of pancetta and red wine vinegar (pancetta sauted until fat is rendered out, red wine vinegar added to hot fat, this used to dress the salad).

Dessert was an Australian classic "Lemon delicious pudding".

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Is this menu another commentary on Edinburg summers?

[Adam Balic]

What is this "Summer" that you speak of?

[jackal10]

In Glasgow they say "Have you had your tea?"

In Edinburgh they say "You'll have had your tea"

In Aberdeen they say "You'll not have had your ttea, and we have an excellent one here, very reasonably priced"

[curlywurlyfi]

ye gods, Adam, I am so glad not to live in Edinburgh any more - went to university there + lived in Cumberland Street, in the New Town. Very handy for the Alba d'Oro...

[Adam Balic]

ye gods, Adam, I am so glad not to live in Edinburgh any more - went to university there + lived in Cumberland Street, in the New Town.  Very handy for the Alba d'Oro...

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I lived in Henderson Row for a couple of years. Pretty much above Alba d'Oro. This is where I saw my very first deep fried pizza (frozen McCain's Pizza (of your choice)) dipped in batter and deep fried to perfection.

[Swisskaese]

This is where I saw my very first deep fried pizza (frozen McCain's Pizza (of your choice)) dipped in batter and deep fried to perfection.

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Edited August 9, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[Adam Balic]

Alba d'Oro has the reputation of being Edinburghs best Fish and Chip shop. It is also well know for its wine selection. This is the current menu. As you can see, deep fried pizza are bargins. A week's worth of calories for a couple of quid, bargin.

FISH

Fish (haddock) (V) £3.80 £4.80

Special Fish (in breadcrumbs) (V) £4.50 £5.50

Special alla Romana (breaded with sage & onions) (V) £4.50 £5.50

Scampi (in breadcrumbs) (V) £3.00 £4.00

Prawns with Garlic & Ginger (V) £3.70 £4.70

Hot 'n' Spicy Prawns (V) £3.70 £4.70

Squid (in a special savoury batter) (V) £3.50 £4.50

Fish Cake (2 per portion) (V) £2.00 £3.00

CHICKEN

Fried Chicken £3.00 £4.00

Chicken in Batter £3.00 £4.00

Spicy Chicken Bites (6 per portion) £3.00 £4.00

Hot 'n' Spicy Chicken Fillets (6 per portion) £3.60 £4.60

Chicken Nuggets (8 per portion) £3.00 £4.00

PIES

Mince Pie £1.70 £2.70

Steak Pie £1.80 £2.80

PUDDINGS

White Pudding (V) £1.70 £2.70

Black Pudding £2.00 £3.00

Haggis £2.00 £3.00

MEAT & BURGERS

Rump Chipsteak £2.20 £3.20

Turkey Tendersteak £2.50 £3.50

Cheeseburger £2.00 £3.00

BBQ Style King Rib £2.30 £3.30

Chinese Flavour King Rib £2.30 £3.30

Hamburger (2 per portion) £2.00 £3.00

SAUSAGES

Smoked Pork Sausage £2.00 £3.00

Spicy Pork Sausage (2 per portion) £2.30 £3.30

Pork & Beef Sausage (2 per portion) £2.00 £3.00

Beef Sausage (3 per portion) £2.00 £3.00

SUITABLE FOR VEGETARIANS

Macsween Vegetarian Haggis (V) £2.50 £3.50

Vegetable Burger (2 per portion) (V) £2.00 £3.00

Vegetable Spring Roll (2 per portion) (V) £2.00 £3.00

Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers (with cream cheese - 5 per portion) (V) £3.00

Battered Mozzarella Sticks (5 per portion) (V)

£3.00

Deep-Fried Pizza:

- Cheese & Tomato (V) £2.00 £3.00

- Cheese & Onion (V) £2.00 £3.00

- Cheese & Mushroom (V) £2.00 £3.00

SIDE PORTIONS

Savoury Mushrooms (8-10 per portion) (V) £1.40

Savoury Cauliflower (8-10 per portion) (V) £1.40

Onion Rings (10 per portion) (V) £1.40

Small Chips (V) £1.20

Large Chips (V) £1.50

CHIP SNACKS

Scots Chip Buttie (V)

Edited August 9, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

"D'ye wan' sal' an' soss wi' tha'?"

translation: "Would you care to have salt, and this charming mixture of HP sauce cut with non-brewed condiment, lavishly applied to your fried item?"

[Adam Balic]

Sauce is the condiment of the Devil.

[mrbigjas]

SUITABLE FOR VEGETARIANS

Macsween Vegetarian Haggis (V) £2.50 £3.50

uh..... whaaa?

[Adam Balic]

From the company:

Vegetarian Haggis

"A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS? Perhaps. Macsween of Edinburgh have replaced the meat content of haggis with kidney beans, lentils, a mixture of vegetables and nuts, combined them with the traditional haggis ingredients; oatmeal, onions and the same spicy seasoning base.

Great care is taken in the making of this vegan-friendly delicacy and only the finest ingredients are used, including fresh vegetables sourced from local markets in Edinburgh. The result? A more subtle and nutty-textured version, which has delighted vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, as a tasty alternative."

Personally, I think that if it isn't in a stomach casing, then it isn't haggis. But each to their own and all that.