eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland

[Adam Balic]

Well it started life as a hugh block of soft relatively fresh cheese that I bought back from Lipari. Over the last 2 years it has dried out to much the same constistancy as parmesan/aged pecorino (looks an unattractive grey colour). As far as I can tell the salt really only pentrated the surface layers (long gone, I have only a small nugget left), so what I get is a sheep milk cheese flavour, similar to Manchego.

[Adam Balic]

RE: Cheese and bringing back food from holidays.

We nearly always bring back a great deal of food and related material from holidays. My pantry is full of honey, jams, vinegars, oils and spices and my fridge is full of cheese, salami and other bits and pieces. My holidays never end in this way really.

From a recent Spanish trip I bought back this lot. Left to right is salted pork skin, dried serrano ham knuckles and a block of salted lard. These are for stews etc. Due to the limited amounts of each, stew recipe has to be pretty special to be "skin/knuckle/lard" worthy.

[Kevin72]

Kevin I have no plans to go to North Africa in the immediate future (Who are your sources? They are rubbish ). Northern Scotland in a week and Greece in September. Is that good enough.

Bad news on the Vietnamese front, I will explain later.

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Oh. Greece. Well, all right, I'll let it slide.

So that means you're doing Mexican? This Texan will be watching you very, very closely.

[Adam Balic]

Mexican, weather permitting. The chillis are only picked by the supplier in Devon if it hasn't rained the night before. At the moment it seems like a 50:50 chance of Mexican tonight.

Texan? I thought you were American.

Edited August 11, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Adam Balic]

Well I though I would go a little ethnic for lunch today. I had a British prawn sandwich. As far as I am aware were don't have these in Australia and when I first saw mention of one in the UK I thought it was a joke. It is one of the better choices at the capus sandwicharia, lacking the cat food taste of corned beef, the rendered fat texture of the pâte (pronounced "Patty" locally) and the industrial vinegar burn of tuna mayo.

Unfortunately the poor littel buggers have to take a post-mortem swim in a sea of Hellmans finest, but other then that not real complaints.

[Carrot Top]

I have been trying to resist this temptation for an entire day and can do so no longer.

Lovely banger you've got there!

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Okay now that that's done. . .

What surprises me about your blog is the sense that you have such a complete and burning interest in food in such a variety of ways. The history of it, the mechanics or science of it, the cultural connects of it, and most of all, the actual dealing with it hands-on.

I remember being like this before entering into the profession of chef. There really was nothing else I could do. . .the thing just pulled me in. And although finally, it dissipated enough so that my passions went elsewhere "career-wise"(the idea of anything being as interesting as food being blaspemy to some eG'ers perhaps ), it still was absolutely the best thing to do. . .to indulge myself by making a career of it.

I wonder. . .will you do so, Adam?

[Adam Balic]

You forgot to mention the tongue .

I don't think that I could ever be a professional chef. Aside from my age and the training required, from the very little I know about it, it looks like a hugh amount of work, stupid hours and I suspect for most, just not that rewarding. Also, as much as I am interested in food, I am much more interested in other aspects of it then personally cooking for strangers.

I am very interested in food culture, but I'm just not that interested in the restaurant side of things. For those with an interest in food writing, restuarant reviewing seems to be the most productive and marketable. Realistically unless you are independently wealthy, a job has to support you and yours. Again I think that given the amount of sacrifice and work involved, it is not something I could do as I am just not interested enough in reviewing restaurants.

My interests in food, although broad, are largely my own and I don't think that they are of hugh interest most people, even those that are interested in food. So in this regard I think it is best to accept that it is better to remain an enthusiastic amateur, rather then ‘a mere dilettante’.

But, I tell you what. If I suddenly came into independent wealth, I would use the freedom of it to research and hopefully contribute something worth while and interesting. People will never know enough about their relationship with food and I am thankful to, and envious of, those authors that have enriched my experience of this totally absorbing topic.

[SobaAddict70]

Why do I get the feeling that if Fat Tongue were browsing on the boards, he could learn a thing or two just from looking at your blog?

Nice, Adam.

Soba

ps. "Fat Tongue" is an eGullet in-joke we use to refer to the Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver.

[Priscilla]

Aaaah ragu.  Even with so much to cook in the world, (I always say, too much to cook!  I'll never get to it all!), a worthy biweekly exploration.

Adam when you get a chance could you discuss the favorite ways you use your ragu.

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You mean "101 ways with mince"?

Usually, serve as is tonight, but if I have guests I will make papadelle to go with it. Or I will use it to make lasagna, stuff cannelloni or Moussaka.

The lasagna is either a Northern Italian version or a more free form Sicillian "shitty lasagna".

If I make Moussaka, as there are two of us I mostly make it in the form of Papoutsakia (little shoes/slippers) like this:

Or sometimes I alter it into a chili or other such thing.

Edit: Obviously I don't use the same flavouring for all these. In this Papoutsakia for instance, I used oregano, all spice cinnamon and a tiny bit of pine honey.

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You may call it "101 Ways with Mince," if you like, provided you do so in an arch, ironic, post-modern fashion.

Moussaka, eh? Looks delicious, and I like the very cute, imam bayeldi-esque presentation.

Occasionally I use some of a batch of ragu to make risotto -- I think you have said you are not the risotto cook in your house, though -- and that's nice too.

You inspire me to a little leeway in ragu making. Usually I feel Marcella Hazan's presence quite strongly in the kitchen when making this sauce, and she is a very stern taskmistress.

[Carrot Top]

You forgot to mention the tongue .

Yeah. . .I just noticed that! Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! Quite an interesting compositon there. Hmmmm.

But aren't those TWO tongues? Bold, you are. Or else it is some historic Medieval recipe I've just never read up on. . .

Edited August 11, 2005 by Carrot Top (log)

[Adam Balic]

You forgot to mention the tongue .

Yeah. . .I just noticed that! Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! Quite an interesting compositon there. Hmmmm.

But aren't those TWO tongues? Bold, you are. Or else it is some historic Medieval recipe I've just never read up on. . .

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Two tongues yes. These are Stag tongues that a friend gave me. I then brined them.

[Adam Balic]

Another of my favorite stores in Edinburgh, "Lupe Pintos". As you can see they supply Mexican and Spanish ingredients (and some North American classics). These people are brilliant. Friendly, euthusiastic, helpful and great produce. Unfortunately, do to English weather I couldn't get the fresh chillies, tomatilla or epazote that I wanted for tonight's meal. I was going to have tortilla with beef steak and grilled poblano strips. Instead, it will be grilled pork steak with red chilli sauce. Mexican cuisine is something I have only learnt a little about recently and I love it. Until exposure on egullet and other sites my experience had been of universally crap food.

I mostly make a cooked red salsa, as I like how the bitterness of the chilli is removed in this process. The chillies I am using today are left to right: Ancho, Pasilla, Cascabel and Guajillo. I like this combination of chilli a lot. Really fruity and complex flavours. The only other additions are a tiny bit of cinnamon and tomato puree.

[Corinna Dunne]

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If I make Moussaka, as there are two of us I mostly make it in the form of Papoutsakia (little shoes/slippers) like this:

Papoutsakia for instance, I used oregano, all spice cinnamon and a tiny bit of pine honey.

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This is an absolutely charming way to serve moussaka. Do you scoop out most of the flesh from the aubergine, and if so, do you then fry it and mix it through the mince? It strikes me as being a really great way of serving it for say a dinner party (rather than presenting a lovely, large moussaka and watching it splodge into gloop on the plate as it is served).

[Adam Balic]

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If I make Moussaka, as there are two of us I mostly make it in the form of Papoutsakia (little shoes/slippers) like this:

Papoutsakia for instance, I used oregano, all spice cinnamon and a tiny bit of pine honey.

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This is an absolutely charming way to serve moussaka. Do you scoop out most of the flesh from the aubergine, and if so, do you then fry it and mix it through the mince? It strikes me as being a really great way of serving it for say a dinner party (rather than presenting a lovely, large moussaka and watching it splodge into gloop on the plate as it is served).

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I can't claim an original idea, this is from Rosemary Barron's excellent "Flavours of Greece". She describes this as a private home variation. You half the eggplant, salt it, fry it off then bake it. The flesh is extracted and added to the meat sauce. She also has a great suggestion for the white sauce. Egg yolks are added and mixed through, then the whipped whites are olded through. Makes for a very light textured sauce.

[Carrot Top]

Two tongues yes. These are Stag tongues that a friend gave me. I then brined them.

For goodness' sake. I am not sure whether to exclaim, "Only in Scotland!" (due to the fact that I imagine it filled with grouse and salmon and the fellows in various sorts of caps stalking about that catch these things) or "Only in the World of Adam Balic!"

Stag tongues. Well. It is good that I know someone that knows stags and their hunters, for now I can ask, what do they taste like?

I do like a bit of tongue myself but have only had them from American beef and lambs. (Yes, it is difficult to write this without bursting out laughing. . .)

Stags tongue. . .how is it? Seriously.

[Adam Balic]

Dinner. Pork was marinated with ground chipotle, maple syrup, cumin, tomato, all spice and achiote. Served with salsa, sour cream and salad. Yum.

[Adam Balic]

Two tongues yes. These are Stag tongues that a friend gave me. I then brined them.

For goodness' sake. I am not sure whether to exclaim, "Only in Scotland!" (due to the fact that I imagine it filled with grouse and salmon and the fellows in various sorts of caps stalking about that catch these things) or "Only in the World of Adam Balic!"

Stag tongues. Well. It is good that I know someone that knows stags and their hunters, for now I can ask, what do they taste like?

I do like a bit of tongue myself but have only had them from American beef and lambs. (Yes, it is difficult to write this without bursting out laughing. . .)

Stags tongue. . .how is it? Seriously.

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They taste of the moors of Skye, heather, peat, gorse and mist (Actually, they are like mild beef tongue).

[Adam Balic]

And dessert.

[Behemoth]

And dessert.

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To get strawberries like that in the US, you'd have to give up your firstborn. (I'm not saying it wouldn't be worth it, I'm just saying...)

[Adam Balic]

Actually, these are a really rubbish variety called "El Santa". But roastig with vanilla sugar makles them taste OK.

[MGLloyd]

Partial bus strike and not a bad late summer's day by local standards, so I grabbed a coffee after the gym and walk into work. It's not a bad thing when you go past a castle every morning to work.

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I am pretty sure that I stood in this very spot with this vista. I recognize the castle above and I believe that is the Waverly train station below. Is this photo taken from Princes or George street?

[jackal10]

El Santa strwberries are known as "the bouncing strawberry" You can drop then on a hard surface and they bounce. They are indestructible, with a long shelf life, which is why the supermarkets love them. Unfortunately they have almost no flavour, and a texture more like an apple.

Roasting with vanilla sugar is a good way to go, and El Santa will even stand up to the cooking.

[Adam Balic]

Yes they are utter rubbish. But unfortunately one of the few varieties I can get during the week. For this reason I rarely eat strawberries raw. These are not even from a supermarket and grown in Scotland, yet still bloody el santa. Still it is amazing how a bit of sugar and vanilla can act as a flavour enhancer for dull fruit.

[Adam Balic]

I am pretty sure that I stood in this very spot with this vista.  I recognize the castle above and I believe that is the Waverly train station below.  Is this photo taken from Princes or George street?

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This is taken from the bridge near "The Scotsman" hotel (so near Princess St).

[Adam Balic]

Well today for Brekky I nabbed half a pecan and maple syrup danish from plate that appeared in the office. Lunch is tofu with pickled sichuan veg and this excellent chili seaweed.

This is from another "Chinese" grocer. This shop is quite small but they do have a lot of good range of Japanese and Korean goods. They also make their own kimchi and this seaweed. I would eat kimchi every lunch, but my fellow office workers complain about the foreign stink.

If there is one thing that I have learnt from the move to Edinburgh it is that the food that is obviously visable, at restaurants or in guides, really only scratches the surface of what is really availble.