14 June, 2011

Know Your Onions

For me, the smell of chopped onions gently frying in oil is one of the great cooking smells. No matter where I am, this warm enticing smell is instantly recognisable and very inviting. Indeed, where would chefs and cooks be without onions? In her book O, For An Onion, Denise Greig points out that the … Continue reading →
7 June, 2011

Sydney’s 21st Century Food Court

“Wow!” That was the overwhelming sensation I felt as I ascended the escalators to Westfield’s brand spanking new food court in Sydney’s CBD. Everywhere I looked were gleaming surfaces, glass and mirrors. And that was just as I ascended. On arrival in the food court, I felt like a child in a lolly shop.  Everywhere … Continue reading →
31 May, 2011

Stuff It and win a prize…

Our baby red capsicum sampling packs are now arriving on the desks of food media across Australia – and we’ve set 20 packs aside for YOU as part of our Stuff It serving suggestion competition.To get yours, be one of the first 20 people to post your stuffing suggestion – using beautiful baby red capsicums … Continue reading →
31 May, 2011

Fabulous Figs

Do you have a fig tree in your garden? “Ancient, mysterious and delicious, the fig should be more widely grown than it is,” writes David Stuart in The Kitchen Garden.  He points out that if you plant a fig tree in your garden, you will have something that grew in the earliest gardens of all. … Continue reading →
24 May, 2011

Cheeky Pumpkins

It would be hard to beat the pumpkin for cheekiness, though admittedly the chayote (choko) is a close rival.  In barren back lanes, I’ve spied a pumpkin tentatively putting out its tendrils through the grey slats of a wooden fence. Its very presence dispelled the surrounding gloom. I remember a story my mother once told … Continue reading →
10 May, 2011

A Taste of Mudgee

The last time I visited Mudgee, I learnt how to milk a goat and make a delectable goats milk camembert. That was at the Leaning Oak Dairy under the expert tutelage of Gloria Cox, a dedicated, impassioned cheesemaker who spent 7 hours taking us through the intricacies and hygiene procedures of making cheese.  She then … Continue reading →
3 May, 2011

Mascarpone Hearts for Mum

I’ll never forget the first time I tasted mascarpone, the luscious fresh Italian double-cream cheese made from cow’s milk. It was in the early 1970s at the back of a house in Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner west. An Italian friend of mine had taken me there one Sunday morning to meet his friend, the cheesemaker … Continue reading →
26 April, 2011

Food for Thought

Anyone for leftovers? Now that the  four days of Easter feasting are behind us, what will you do with those leftover hot cross buns, coloured eggs and and roast lamb?  Not to mention all those Easter cakes from other traditions such as the Greek tsoureki and Russian kulich. At a time when the words “frugality” … Continue reading →