I'll be joining Leigh Hudson from the Chefs Armoury at Restaurant 08 in Sydney where we shall be discussing the secrets of knife sharpening using Japanese waterstones.
This is the third year of Restaurant Sydney and will be held at the Royal Hall of Industries from Monday 11th - Tuesday 12th August 2008.
Restaurant 08 Sydney is the must attend industry event, featuring over 160 suppliers giving visitors the opportunity to source the very best in regional produce, innovative new products, and services for their business.
If you havent registered for Restaurant 08, then register here.
We’ve all heard the sayings “You can’t judge a book by its cover” and “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,” and most of us probably do a fairly good job at keeping that wisdom in mind when dealing with people. So why are we so judgmental about fruit and vegetables?
Grocery stores and markets typically have only perfect specimens on display in the produce aisle because consumers don’t want to see ugly fruit. But there’s plenty of blemished, bruised and deformed fruit and vegetables out there that, with the right preparation and recipes, taste just as good as the almost-too-perfect “pageant produce.”
These “seconds”, as they’re often called, aren’t always easy to find, but asking for them at a farmer’s market or a farm stand can save a lot of perfectly edible food from winding up on a compost heap and it can save you money if you’re willing to put in a little effort.
I’m fortunate enough to live around the corner from what locals call “The Apple Man.” Every year between April and July he sells apples and pears out of his garage and I always buy at least a couple of seven kilo bags of apples from him each year, with the intention of eating most of them out of hand. By the time I’ve worked my way, eating an apple a day, to the bottom of the bag, the last dozen apples have seen better days and I wind up turning those apples into applesauce.
This year, rather than making my applesauce out of first-rate apples, I asked The Apple Man for a bag of seconds. I came home with a bag of apples and pears for just $2.50—a deep discount from the normal $10 price tag.
My first task with my ugly fruit was to make the applesauce. I love having applesauce on hand. It goes really well with a pork roast and I like to use it in baked goods as a substitute for some of the butter or oil which makes muffins and cakes healthier and keeps them incredibly moist.
I peeled, cored and quartered the apples and cut out the rotten spots (if you have a food mill, which I don’t, you can just cut out the bad spots and quarter the apples and cook them as is—skins, seeds and all). I put the apples in a large stockpot with about 2cm of water in the bottom and brought them to a boil, then turned the heat down and let them cook slowly for about half an hour or so until they were mushy, stirring occasionally to make sure the apples didn’t burn and to break them up with the back of my spoon. You can add sugar, but I usually don’t find it necessary. If using a food mill, wait until the applesauce cools then pass it through the mill to get rid of the seeds and excess skin. The applesauce will keep in the refrigerator for several days, or you can freeze it in small containers.
I wound up with two litres of applesauce and still had apples left which I used to make two apple walnut cakes and an apple slice. With the eight pears that were in the bag, I used two of them in a pear clafouti and the rest went into pear chutney. Not bad for just $2.50!
At a time when many of us are concerned about the rising cost of food, it’s worth remembering those sayings about appearances. With a little effort, you can turn produce that’s inexpensive because it’s unattractive into food that’s lovely to behold and even better to eat.
Hoping in my car and heading out from Brisbane south west to the Granite Belt has always been one of my favourite trips. It’s always a little colder there, even in a hot Queensland summer, and it even snows there briefly in winter. Long known as one of Queensland’s premier wine districts, the Granite Belt is now claiming attention as a serious destination for foodies as well as wine lovers.
Home to Queensland’s newest cheese maker, only vinegar maker, countless highly awarded wineries and the freshest local fruit and veg, the Granite Belt now has several new restaurants as well. Add all this to the natural beauty of the landscape and you’ve got a winning destination.
It’s an easy three hour drive from Brisbane to Stanthorpe where you’ll find wide open spaces, rolling hills of green, good honest food, plenty of wine and warm and welcoming locals. You can just about see the stress and tension baggage left along the roadside.
Foodies in search of regional finds will be thrilled with Karen Deeth’s newly established Granite Belt Dairy Farm at Thulimbah near Stanthorpe. At 900 metres above sea level and with night temperatures as low as -9c, this is one of Australia’s coldest and highest dairy farms. The farmhouse cheeses are made by hand to traditional recipes milk from her own herd of 70 Jersey cows.
Buy some olives to enjoy with your new Granite Belt wines at Mt Stirling Olives at Glen Aplin. Growers Jim and Viviane Miller have more than 3,500 trees which they harvest to produce cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, tapenade, spiced olives and a wide variety of other olive products.
Pick your own apples at David and Ros Sutton’s Juice Factory, Cidery and Distillery at Thulimbah. Their juice has that super fresh varietal flavour that can only be obtained by bottling the freshly pressed juice immediately. Varieties available vary depending on the season but may include Granny Smith, Jonathon, Royal Gala, Winesap, Mutsu, Pink Lady and Sundowner. Apple with ginger, lemon, mandarin and orange are other popular variations. The Suttons also plan to open a café in the near future.
New dining options on the Granite Belt include Singling Lake at Robert Channon’s winery. The dining area overlooks a small lake where horses graze making this a pleasant place to stop and enjoy lunch while on the wine trail.
Host Athena Corbally and Chef Alec Pioveson at Cooks Gluttons and Gourmets in the Stanthorpe High Street use local farm fresh produce and only stock Granite Belt wines. Try their delicious local bacon and sausages for Sunday breakfast.
The Queensland College of Wine Tourism on Caves Road has the Banca Ridge Cellar Door and Bistro which is open from 10am to 4pm daily. Their Medley of Mains tasting plate, prepared and served by hospitality students and served with Banca Ridge wines, is a great lunch treat.
Anna’s Restaurant, a local institution, has an extensive Friday and Saturday night Italian buffet with favourites such as Cannelloni, Scaloppine Alla Marsala and Stuffed Mushrooms. Sweets include Italian treats Canoli, Tiramisu and Crostoli.
After a hard day on the wine trail you can relax over a drink in the new Piano Bar in the Central Hotel with live music to entertain you.
The Granite Belt’s new Strange Bird wine tasting trail is great for those who have ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) days. There are 21 wineries and 16 grape varieties including barbera, chenin blanc, colombard, durif, gewurztraminer, malbec, marsanne, mourvedre, nebbiolo, petit verdot, pinot gris, sylvaner, tannat, tempranillo and viognier.
The Strange Bird winery list is tempting but long. We made it to Jester Hill owned by John and Genevieve Ashwell which, along with great wines, has a large open area for families and children to enjoy. Hidden Creek Winery Café was a chance to enjoy award winning wines over lunch while sampling local produce. We also picked up some of Geoff Metcalf’s New England Larder yummy Sour Cherry jam.
Linger at Casley Mount Hutton winery just to drink in the aroma of their cellar but don’t forget to taste the extensive range of award winning wines that have captured the attention of wine pundits. Their Strange Bird wines include chenin blanc and voignier.
At Pyramids Road, Warren and Sue Smith are happy to talk wine at their cellar door and give visitors a glimpse of the working side of the winery.
Crushing the first grapes of the season at Golden Grove Estate Wines
Golden Grove Estate Wines have wines made from durif, tempranillo and barbera grape varieties. The Costanzo family celebrate their rich Italian heritage with an annual Sicilian lunch in February each year to celebrate the start of the vintage. Volunteers carry home harvest in a procession, led by the newly appointed goddess of the vineyard. The grapes are dumped into a large tub and volunteers are called to stomp the grapes to the music of the tarantella until the juice runs free.
Pulling the car into the brand new villas set amongst the granite boulders at 31 The Rocks was a real pleasure as was meeting our hosts, Phil and Beryl Moye. There’s everything you could want for in the way of comfy queen size beds and stylish flat screen televisions plus some extra touches like the hot chocolate and marshmallows for a cosy drink. The finishing touch is a complimentary liqueur and chocolate nightcap delivered to your door so you can light the fire and fall asleep watching the glowing red flames.
There’s a new energy on the Granite Belt, new award winning wines and new food delights. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the warm country welcome.
The Chef Association of Malaysia, a member of WACS (World Association of Chefs Societies), was founded in 1977. At first called “Toques Blanches,” it became the Chef Association of Malaysia in 1986. It is a non-profit, non-political association whose purpose is to be a professional organization of chefs and to provide members and the public with news and information about the activities of chefs and cooks in the Malaysian hospitality world. These include charitable events, culinary competitions, education and training, and other news.
The Chef Association of Malaysia website provides a list of activities of members of the Chef Association of Malaysia, past and present, including such events as the non-stop Pulut Pangang production, held in Kuala Lumpur, which lasted 61 hours and won a place in the Malaysia Book of Records. The Chef Association of Malaysia, along with Nestle Foodservices, provides an annual prize to culinary students from six different colleges. The inaugural award was presented in 2007 to Taylor’s College. From 1987 to the present, the Chef Association of Malaysia has participated in competitions all over the World and has won medals in many of them. The website provides information about becoming a member of the Chef Association of Malaysia and information and an application for the WACS competition.
Out of a growing demand for personal chefs, the United State Personal Chef Association established a certification program in 1996. The purpose of this was to establish an industry standard for professional commitment, to have a standard by which the public could assess individual competence, and to set standards which would allow the U.S. Personal Chef Association to regulate and assess its own profession. When a personal chef is endorsed by the Association, customers can be assured that Association-certified criteria have been met. These include: at least two years experience working as a “cook-for-hire” involving the full range of planning, purchasing, and cooking; formal educational experience or demonstrated equivalent; evidence of continuing education in both culinary training and in business training; attendance at national conferences; certification from the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals; and passing a written exam. There are also requirements for renewal of certification with the U.S. Personal Chef Association. Membership benefits include a special rate for liability insurance, MenuMagic software, hireachef.com listing, Personal Chef Magazine, and access to software that allows a chef to create his/her own website.
Hireachef.com is the largest database of working personal chefs on the internet. For the chef, the website provides statistics of searches; for the customer, it provides easy access to names of personal chefs by region. Other features of the website include a list of local chapters with links to each chapter’s activities, information about the U.S. Personal Chef Association annual conference, information about training and continuing education opportunities, a member exchange forum, and links to the industry and personal chefs in the news.
