A Few of My Favourite Things !

The City of Yarra has forced the closure of Wildflour, reports this week’s Espresso section in Epicure, as the premise had permission to operate as a cafe but not a bakery. Pardon my ignorance, but WHAT is the difference?!

One of a handful of artisanal bakers in Melbourne, Wildflour had set tongues wagging about how good their bread was. I found out about them during a visit to Simon Johnson’s Fitzroy store where they were serving it to taste olive oils with. The bread impressed us so much that we had to ask the source. Unfortunately, we may never actually get to try their other baked goods if they don’t find a place soon. Call Tony Rees on 0404 729 458 if you can help.

I’d better hotfoot it down to Noisette in case the local council decide to close that down too…

I think I laksa you too. I’m talking about the new Allen Woo venture located right opposite Horoki and down the alley from Longrain.

We had started with a few after-work Pisco Sours and a Caipirinha at The Mill then needed to grab a bite somewhere. We settled on the newly opened restaurant on its second night - if we could get in. Surprisingly, they were barely half full at 8:00pm and we were seated at a table immediately.

The decor is very, very sparse…so much so that you could hardly term it as decor - basic table and chairs on a concrete floor with a famous Chinese poem painted on by the Taiwanese chef, a lick of red paint on the walls and pillars - that was it. Cold and draughty so bring a jacket, especially if you are wearing a dress.

We ordered and asked for all the food to come out together but the service was fairly slow given the small number of diners. I supposed it was only their second night though. We started with the Ipoh Laksa (made with hor fun noodles) with slices of char siu, chicken and prawns. Deliciously coconutty soup that had a decent kick.

Next, the ‘popular’ dry chicken curry on bright yellow hokkien noodles which turned out to not be as hot as the laksa although we were given a chilli warning by the waiter. A little like a rendang but slightly too salty.

Oddly, the oyster shooters came out after the noodle dishes tasting a little ‘fishy’ although the dressing was okay. Not our favourite.

My pick of the night was the calamari, cucumber noodle and jelly fish salad. Quite a tiny bowl of salad but it had a lovely smokiness with the calamari cooked to perfection.

We enquired about dessert only to be told that there was only one on the menu tonight, dumplings in a ginger soup. Fortunately, a certain food critic was seated at the table next to us and we managed to overhear the waiter describe three desserts to them including the black sticky rice and kueh dadar.

Although not something that I would normally order, the sticky black rice was fantastic and worth ordering again.

We joked that they may be serving the ‘Ron & Sue’ version (you have to frequent Asian grovcery stores to understand this one) but fortunately the kueh dadar came out warm, straight from the pan. They didn’t have the usual green crepe skins and they were sitting in a puddle of cognac sauce - very unusual indeed and suitable for the very sweet-toothed.

The prices were quite decent with our meal totaling $56. I’ll give them a couple of weeks to settle in before coming back armed with a warm jacket.

Laksa Me

Shop 1, Liverpool St

Melbourne 3000

Update: John Leathlean reviewed this place in the Epicure, The Age on 29 May 2007.

In some parts of the world spring is in the air and an abundance of delights such as strawberries and asparagus can be found in the markets. In my part of the world however the leaves are changing colours and being shed in preparation for winter but other things are springing up everywhere - mushrooms!

At the local market, I found slippery jacks, pines (aka saffron milk caps), baby swiss browns and these other ones that I can’t remember the name of but I’m sure Neil could identify. I haven’t cooked much with wild mushrooms before so I had a look at whether they had to be prepared differently. Apparently the slimy skin of slippery jacks can cause diarrhoea for some and mushrooms with gills should be blanched briefly before sauteeing. So, off came the skin of the slippery jack and into the water went the pine mushrooms. All the mushrooms were then sauteed in butter and olive oil then generously seasoned.

I prepared the pastry two nights ago according to my French friend’s mum’s recipe. When S. wrote the recipe out for me, she noted that the same pastry could be used to make a savoury pie and a ’sweetie’ pie! I rolled the pastry out thinly then fitted it into a tin with great care but I still managed to create some tears and holes that had to be patched up. The mushrooms were spread over the base, poured over with a mixure of eggs, cream and milk, and the tart baked at 200C for 30 minutes. Keep a piece of foil handy to make sure that the top doesn’t burn though.

Well, this isn’t the ultimate spring dish but a savoury tart would be perfect for a spring picnic, right? So hopefully you will all accept this for my first monthly mingle and enjoy it all the same!

LIVESTRONG Day, an event initiated by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, provides an opportunity for us to raise awareness about cancer issues in our local communities and on a national level.

There are many LIVESTRONG Day events open to the general public, however Barbara organised a food blogging event called A Taste of Yellow that requires participants to make a dish containing something yellow.

I had plans to bake something, cook something for this event but getting home late last night after watching the amazing Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai show, we wanted something comforting and easy. What better way to end the night than with a toasted cheese sandwich.

Very simply, place some slices of lovely pale, creamy French Comté - a cheese made from the unpastuerised milk of Montbéliard cows - between 2 slices of dark rye bread and toast until melted.

Jian Bing - a thin, crispy crepe sparsely filled with an egg, some green herbs, brown sauce and chilli, fi you like it hot. Just fatastic and my favourite breakfast in Shanghai.

Having a breakfast of toufa with the locals

Finally, the bakery that we have been eagerly awaiting since reading about it some months ago opened last Friday. It’s hidden in a laneway (as with everything good in Melbourne) off the section of Little Collins St between Queen & Elizabeth St. They had a soft opening with the cafe and are planning to expand into the back section with a casual-style restaurant later on.

At the moment, there is a selection of baguette sandwiches, pies and salads to choose from for lunch, or you can take one of their sourdough loaves away. We went with a chicken cooked in white wine pie and it was to-die-for.

Sweet pastries are also available, and one of the best spots to have your coffee, in my opinion, is the standing bar.

I’m waiting for them to go full steam ahead and keeping my fingers crossed that there will be many more varieties of bread in the future. In the meantime though, I couldn’t resist purchasing one of their chocolate and fruit loaves (price varies depending on size). I nibbled on this all the way back to the office. I mean, it’s carbs and chocolate all-in-one!

Melbourne has been showing off with wonderfully mild weather - low 20s with blue skies - and I’ve been enjoying it fully. On Saturday morning, we walked along the Yarra River from Fed Sq to Prahran Market. The Giant Sky Wheel, the largest travelling ferris wheel in Australia, was erected in Birrarung Mar a couple of weeks ago. I spotted it on the way to the footy last week just prior to the opening and managed to get a closer look this morning. We have already had two failed feris wheel proposals for the rooftop of Crown Casino and Sandridge Bridge so I guess this will do us until plans for the Southern Star Observation Wheel comes to fruition.

These are the Federation Bells and it plays compositions from seven contemporary Australian composers at set times each day. I have only heard the 39 bell structure chime once and it sounded very discordant but maybe that’s due to the way it has been tuned.

The view from Morrell Bridge.

Before entering Prahran Market, we stopped by at Fujimart for some Japanese groceries and crockery. Having come back from Japan a couple of weeks ago where I had Mentaiko Spaghetti for the first time, I was delighted to find the spicy cod roe in the freezers here.

We finally managed to make it to the market where we picked up all our pizza topping ingredients.

We als got a few things at the organic shop just at the entrance of the market but these tomatoes absolutely floored me. Are they meant to be any different from sun dried tomatoes or is the renaming meant to rejuvenate interest?

How do you spell spelt?

Of course, we had to stop by at the Essential Ingredient where I lustfully flicked through the pages of Ferran Adria’s book, gasping in amazement at the incredible photos and creations.

We ended the perfect morning with tea, cheese and bread in the courtyard.

Giant Sky Wheel
Birrarung Marr - Lower Terrace
Adjacent to Federation Sqaure, along Yarra River
Melbourne 3000

Prahran Market
163 Commercial Road,
South Yarra 3141

Hang your coat up and have a waltz in the square:

Throwing up your wishes and dreams:

Adventures in Shanghai - Part 1
Adventures in Shanghai - Part 2
Adventures in Shanghai - Part 3

Walking around Shanghai one evening we came across a place that was grilling lamb kebabs over a charcoal fire. We looked up at the shop frontage to see the shop name appearing in Arabic script next to the picture of a mosque. The music that wafted towards us along with the smoke was definitely Arabic although the workers looked just like extremely fair Chinese. Following some research, I realised that there is actually quite a rich Islamic heritage within Chinese history.

Towards the evening, long queues snaked across the street waiting for the lamb kebabs to come off the grill. Not wanting to wait, we just picked up some interesting-looking bread. The dough is mixed with pieces of lamb (chewy for the most part) and fat and baked into a fragrant flat loaf with a crusty exterior.

Next to the bread is an egg custard tart from Lilian Bakery, a franchise that has several branches scattered around the city. A connoiseur of egg custard tarts, A has decided that this is best one we have had so far and I am inclined to agree. The custard, which is wobbly and just eggy enough to lure me but not put A. off, is held together by a flaky pastry shell. Utterly divine!

Somewhere between a roti and a naan, this sesame seed-coated bread is fried in a large flat pan which gives it a crispy shell. We had a great version the first time then had a lot of trouble finding elsewhere. The second one turned out to be too soft and mushy to be enjoyable.

This is a Chinese delicatessen! Every second shop in Shanghai seemed to sell a variety of preserved and dried foods, biscuits and sweets, as well as herbal ingredients. Most of the preserved meat were vacuum packed in foil wrappers, making it difficult for non-Chinese reading people like us to determine what each contained - feet, chicken wings or tongue, just to name a few. This shop made it somewhat easier although I can’t imagine buying that porcine face mask. It reminds me rather creepily of Hannibal - eeeuughhh.

Adventures in Shanghai - Part 1
Adventures in Shanghai - Part 2
Images of Shanghai