p.s/ Gaz actually purposely bought me the punnet from the local supermarket when he spotted the giant strawberry in the punnet so I can post it on my blog :)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Giant Strawberry
Look at this giant!
p.s/ Gaz actually purposely bought me the punnet from the local supermarket when he spotted the giant strawberry in the punnet so I can post it on my blog :)
p.s/ Gaz actually purposely bought me the punnet from the local supermarket when he spotted the giant strawberry in the punnet so I can post it on my blog :)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Taste of Melbourne 2009
Gaz and I went to the Taste of Melbourne Festival at the Exhibition Centre this weekend for a spot of fine dining food. The festival showcases food by fine dining and upmarket restaurants in Melbourne such as Nobu, Silks, The Press Club and Botanical. The restaurants have areas in the exhibition centre serving sample sizes of their dishes (each r'ant has 3 showcased dish costing 8-12 crowns). Crowns are the 'currency' of the day - visitors have to buy vouchers (crowns) to be used in the exhibition.
The day started miserably - we were lined up outside the building waiting for the doors to open and was caught in the rain which progressively grew worse. Gaz and I didn't have an umbrella so could only hold the event brochure over our heads. As we went into the hall, a guy closed his umbrella and dripped water right over me so my hair and jacket were all wet! How rude..!!
Luckily, from there it got better... Sweet smells of food wafted to our noses and we wasted no time getting some sample dishes. Our first dish was seared scallops topped with wagyu beef with an Asian salad side by Jacques Reymond. No pictures of this dish because I was so hungry I gobbled it all down before Gaz could take any pics.
Our second dish was the winner of the day - Black Cod with Miso by Nobu. Cod is always my fave fish, and this dish was nicely done. The fish slid down our throats like sweet butter. I'm not sure what the lychee looking red fruit at the side of the fish was, but it tasted a teeny bit sour, and had a seed inside. No idea what that spring onion lookalike either...
Third dish of Yellowtail Jalapeno with Yuzu Soy. The fish is probably 'cooked' with lemon. It was not soft like raw fish. I don't like Jalapeno, but Gaz ate it with the fish so the combo must work.
We attended a chef talk session with George Calombaris. About 22 of us sat around a large table, and were served these king salmon starters. One spoon had smoked salmon with cream cheese, and the other had diced raw salmon with capers and caviar. We were also served complimentary wine.
George Calombaris, of Masterchef fame and owner of several upmarket restaurants in Melbourne. He talked about his Greek inspired cooking, dishes when he was growing up, and even granted a boy his wish of working in his restaurant kitchen!
After the session, we got more food. The portions were quite small so we had to order more. Fourth dish - Baked crab sell served with Portuguese Sauce by Silks. Strong flavour of spices and creamy. I've tasted this somewhere else before, it's a Cantonese dish. I thought it had decent amount of crab flesh in there.
There were other non-restaurant stalls selling their products. This one is a chocolatier - hand crafted choc petals. Looks nice eh?
From the same stall - chocolate feathers.
Fifth dish - Lamb Souvlaki from Hellenic Republic, one of George's r'ant. The bread was really soft and fluffy. He told us that the baker uses yogourt in the bread to achieve the fluffiness. Unique thing is that the souvlaki has mustard and chips in it, can you see the chips?
Sixth dish - Pressed duck leg, preserved mushrooms, smoked tofu in red miso soup from Verge. Soup was nice and hot for the cold winter day. The pressed duck leg, submerged in the soup was meaty but give me a Cantonese roast duck anytime!
Seventh dish - Pork and prawn siu mai from Silks, just to fill my tummy up with something familiar :)
Eighth dish - Chocolate, honeycomb and salted caramel crunch from Circa, the Prince. It had really yummy sweet crunchy caramel in in the middle. The layers looked really good and I love the vases of flowers on the table. I didn't like the caramel at the bottom of the glass, too rich for me!
The exhibition building is a heritage building, and it had some great views.
Gaz wanted something refreshing so we had some gourmet ice cream from a stall. This is honey and walnut flavour. It tasted really natural, the sweetness is from the honey and completely natural tasting. There was nothing commercial about this tub!
Overall, the food was great and I can really see the difference between upmarket and normal r'ant food quality. I was glad to see that the r'ants being environmentally friendly by using eco friendly papier mache plates and bowls.
The day started miserably - we were lined up outside the building waiting for the doors to open and was caught in the rain which progressively grew worse. Gaz and I didn't have an umbrella so could only hold the event brochure over our heads. As we went into the hall, a guy closed his umbrella and dripped water right over me so my hair and jacket were all wet! How rude..!!
Luckily, from there it got better... Sweet smells of food wafted to our noses and we wasted no time getting some sample dishes. Our first dish was seared scallops topped with wagyu beef with an Asian salad side by Jacques Reymond. No pictures of this dish because I was so hungry I gobbled it all down before Gaz could take any pics.
Our second dish was the winner of the day - Black Cod with Miso by Nobu. Cod is always my fave fish, and this dish was nicely done. The fish slid down our throats like sweet butter. I'm not sure what the lychee looking red fruit at the side of the fish was, but it tasted a teeny bit sour, and had a seed inside. No idea what that spring onion lookalike either...
Third dish of Yellowtail Jalapeno with Yuzu Soy. The fish is probably 'cooked' with lemon. It was not soft like raw fish. I don't like Jalapeno, but Gaz ate it with the fish so the combo must work.
We attended a chef talk session with George Calombaris. About 22 of us sat around a large table, and were served these king salmon starters. One spoon had smoked salmon with cream cheese, and the other had diced raw salmon with capers and caviar. We were also served complimentary wine.
George Calombaris, of Masterchef fame and owner of several upmarket restaurants in Melbourne. He talked about his Greek inspired cooking, dishes when he was growing up, and even granted a boy his wish of working in his restaurant kitchen!
After the session, we got more food. The portions were quite small so we had to order more. Fourth dish - Baked crab sell served with Portuguese Sauce by Silks. Strong flavour of spices and creamy. I've tasted this somewhere else before, it's a Cantonese dish. I thought it had decent amount of crab flesh in there.
There were other non-restaurant stalls selling their products. This one is a chocolatier - hand crafted choc petals. Looks nice eh?
From the same stall - chocolate feathers.
Fifth dish - Lamb Souvlaki from Hellenic Republic, one of George's r'ant. The bread was really soft and fluffy. He told us that the baker uses yogourt in the bread to achieve the fluffiness. Unique thing is that the souvlaki has mustard and chips in it, can you see the chips?
Sixth dish - Pressed duck leg, preserved mushrooms, smoked tofu in red miso soup from Verge. Soup was nice and hot for the cold winter day. The pressed duck leg, submerged in the soup was meaty but give me a Cantonese roast duck anytime!
Seventh dish - Pork and prawn siu mai from Silks, just to fill my tummy up with something familiar :)
Eighth dish - Chocolate, honeycomb and salted caramel crunch from Circa, the Prince. It had really yummy sweet crunchy caramel in in the middle. The layers looked really good and I love the vases of flowers on the table. I didn't like the caramel at the bottom of the glass, too rich for me!
The exhibition building is a heritage building, and it had some great views.
Gaz wanted something refreshing so we had some gourmet ice cream from a stall. This is honey and walnut flavour. It tasted really natural, the sweetness is from the honey and completely natural tasting. There was nothing commercial about this tub!
Overall, the food was great and I can really see the difference between upmarket and normal r'ant food quality. I was glad to see that the r'ants being environmentally friendly by using eco friendly papier mache plates and bowls.
Fountains Restaurant, Box Hill
Quite a while ago I stumbled upon Fountains Restaurant in Box Hill. It is a training restaurant for the hospitality students in Box Hill TAFE. It is more difficult to get a reservation to this restaurant than to one of the fine dining restaurants around. The restaurant operates on a term basis which means there are the weeks where it is closed for term breaks. Also, the price is very attractive. For $24 pp, dinner consists of a 3 course meal plus coffee, tea or hot chocolate with sweets. Therefore, even though I knew about this restaurant a while back, I only managed to get a reservation two weeks ago.
Although the chefs and waiting staff are entirely students (with one or two supervisors), the food was more than decent for the value and the service was professional.
My entree - Par boned grilled quail on celeriac remoulade with verjus dressing and celeriac crisps. The star of the entrees. The quail was FANTASTIC! Perfectly cooked, it was tender and tasty. The celeriac remoulade was beautiful. Sweet strips of celeriac with a mayo based sauce - I love anything creamy and mayo. Gaz liked the celeriac crisps but I thought they were ordinary. It resembles sweet potato keropok.
Gaz's entree - Green pea and smoked ham hock soup with ham mousse filled profiteroles. The profiteroles caught my attention. A savoury profiterole? Very unique...
My main - Herb crusted salmon fillet, two potato gratin and freshly tossed side salad. I didn't take a picture of the salad - so picture a garden salad in your mind. The herb crust didn't taste like anything but the salmon was perfectly cooked. The potato gratin didn't tickle my fancy - it was layers of potatoes and sweet potatoes in butter. After a while I became a little jelak.
Gaz's main - Pan roasted 'High Country' pork cutlet charcutiere with semolina gnocchi, slow cooked red cabbage and apple. The best main between the two. We enjoyed this dish a lot. Pork cutlets are not easy to cook, care needs to be taken to cook them just right so that it is no longer pink in the middle but not tough on the outside. The student chef who prepared this dish deserves a pat on the back for getting this right. The red cabbage was sweet and goes well with the other ingredients on the plate.
My dessert - Chocolate caramel tart with Frangelico cream and hazelnut praline shards. I don't have much to say, I didn't eat much of this. It was very rich and filling, plus I don't like sweets that much.
Gaz's dessert - Steamed mandarin and brandy syrup sponge pudding with lemon sherbet marshmallow. Gaz really liked this pudding because it was light. Just perfect for us who is so full by now. I liked the lemon sherbet marshmallow although Gaz thought it was a little too sour. I ate it with the mint leaves provided and it was just right. Very refreshing for the palate.
To finish off the glutton in us, the restaurant provided a choice of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. I ordered a mocha while Gaz ordered a hot chocolate. Both came with a little chocolate tart on the side which I didn't picture. Overall, I was impressed by the dishes and the quality of service. When I first entered the restaurant, flashes of Hell's Kitchen episodes appeared in my mind. I thought I would have to wait for 1 hour just to get to entree while the student cooks laboured under a hellish instructor wielding a whip. None of that happened. We got our food in good time, and a window to the kitchen showed all the student cooks with their clean and neat white garb working in an orderly fashion.
We will most likely return to the restaurant next term to sample their new menu, that is, if I can get a reservation.
Although the chefs and waiting staff are entirely students (with one or two supervisors), the food was more than decent for the value and the service was professional.
My entree - Par boned grilled quail on celeriac remoulade with verjus dressing and celeriac crisps. The star of the entrees. The quail was FANTASTIC! Perfectly cooked, it was tender and tasty. The celeriac remoulade was beautiful. Sweet strips of celeriac with a mayo based sauce - I love anything creamy and mayo. Gaz liked the celeriac crisps but I thought they were ordinary. It resembles sweet potato keropok. 
Gaz's entree - Green pea and smoked ham hock soup with ham mousse filled profiteroles. The profiteroles caught my attention. A savoury profiterole? Very unique...
My main - Herb crusted salmon fillet, two potato gratin and freshly tossed side salad. I didn't take a picture of the salad - so picture a garden salad in your mind. The herb crust didn't taste like anything but the salmon was perfectly cooked. The potato gratin didn't tickle my fancy - it was layers of potatoes and sweet potatoes in butter. After a while I became a little jelak. 
Gaz's main - Pan roasted 'High Country' pork cutlet charcutiere with semolina gnocchi, slow cooked red cabbage and apple. The best main between the two. We enjoyed this dish a lot. Pork cutlets are not easy to cook, care needs to be taken to cook them just right so that it is no longer pink in the middle but not tough on the outside. The student chef who prepared this dish deserves a pat on the back for getting this right. The red cabbage was sweet and goes well with the other ingredients on the plate.
My dessert - Chocolate caramel tart with Frangelico cream and hazelnut praline shards. I don't have much to say, I didn't eat much of this. It was very rich and filling, plus I don't like sweets that much. 
Gaz's dessert - Steamed mandarin and brandy syrup sponge pudding with lemon sherbet marshmallow. Gaz really liked this pudding because it was light. Just perfect for us who is so full by now. I liked the lemon sherbet marshmallow although Gaz thought it was a little too sour. I ate it with the mint leaves provided and it was just right. Very refreshing for the palate. To finish off the glutton in us, the restaurant provided a choice of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. I ordered a mocha while Gaz ordered a hot chocolate. Both came with a little chocolate tart on the side which I didn't picture. Overall, I was impressed by the dishes and the quality of service. When I first entered the restaurant, flashes of Hell's Kitchen episodes appeared in my mind. I thought I would have to wait for 1 hour just to get to entree while the student cooks laboured under a hellish instructor wielding a whip. None of that happened. We got our food in good time, and a window to the kitchen showed all the student cooks with their clean and neat white garb working in an orderly fashion.
We will most likely return to the restaurant next term to sample their new menu, that is, if I can get a reservation.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Invisible Man
I stumbled upon the Invisitble Man from China today in the papers. He's Liu Bolin, a young Beijing based who paints himself and 'blends' into his surrounding.
Liu wishes to convey with his art the disintegration of individual values as China hurtles towards a 'modern' future. His subjects are portrayed as isolated, blend seamlessly from one background to another without soul and awareness of his surroundings. By blending into their surroundings, the subject escapes social constructs and achieves freedom at the cost of their individual values.
Each photograph takes up to 10 hours to work on which explains the high level of detail in each art piece.
http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/24469/11042/214473/eli-klein-fine-art-new-york/artist/liu-bolin/
Liu wishes to convey with his art the disintegration of individual values as China hurtles towards a 'modern' future. His subjects are portrayed as isolated, blend seamlessly from one background to another without soul and awareness of his surroundings. By blending into their surroundings, the subject escapes social constructs and achieves freedom at the cost of their individual values.
Each photograph takes up to 10 hours to work on which explains the high level of detail in each art piece.
http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/24469/11042/214473/eli-klein-fine-art-new-york/artist/liu-bolin/
Is Fish Good for You?
Close your eyes if you do not want to read about toilet, fart, oil.
People say eating fish is good for you... maybe, maybe not?
This morning, I realised I had oily farts. Bright orangey droplets of oil spewed out of my rectum when I released gas. It is actually quite funny, if it wasn't happening to me. In the toilet, the droplets of bright orange oil floated on the top of the water. After some research on the Net, the culprit was identified as a fillet of butterfish we consumed yesterday night.
Escolar is marketed as butterfish and oilfish, sometimes also deceptively sold as codfish or sea bass. It is consumed in several European and Asian countries, and the USA. Escolar has a white flesh and black skin, similar to codfish. Sometimes it is served raw as sashimi or cooked. I steamed mine with ginger and spring onions yesterday night. Texture wise, it was akin to cooked tuna. Taste wise, it had the aftertaste like from a flake fillet (shark) which I generally do not like. It leaves a rough taste in the mouth, is not sweet as expected from fish.
So why can escolar cause oily farts? Escolar cannot metabolize the wax esters found in its diet, therefore it accumulates throughout its life as oil in its meat. While the esters are similar to Omega 3 oils, the difference is that it cannot be consumed. Wax esters are used by the fish to aid bouyancy. In the human body, the wax esters may cause gastrointestinal symptoms following consumption such as oily orange diarrhea, stomach cramps, loose bowel movements, headaches, nausea and vomitting. These symptoms are short term, which lasts a day or two. Long term side effects of continual consumption of this fish is called seborrhea, where the wax esters are released through the sebaceous gland of the skin, blocking the pores and potentially interfering with metabolism.
Consumption of the fish is actually banned in Japan as the goverment considers it toxic. It is also banned in Italy. The Canadian government has not banned consumption of the fish but recommends consumers speak to their retailer to verify the species of fish and consume the fish in small portions (6 ounces or less) using preparation methods that reduce oil content (such as grilling, or steaming).
I'm not sure if I'm an anomaly in the charts, but my consumption of the fish last night was DEFNITELY less than 6 ounces - it was half a small fillet, and cooked totally oil free by steaming but I still had the symptoms. Luckily it was not as severe as it could have been. So for me, I will definitely not go near a butterfish again!!
People say eating fish is good for you... maybe, maybe not?
This morning, I realised I had oily farts. Bright orangey droplets of oil spewed out of my rectum when I released gas. It is actually quite funny, if it wasn't happening to me. In the toilet, the droplets of bright orange oil floated on the top of the water. After some research on the Net, the culprit was identified as a fillet of butterfish we consumed yesterday night.
Escolar is marketed as butterfish and oilfish, sometimes also deceptively sold as codfish or sea bass. It is consumed in several European and Asian countries, and the USA. Escolar has a white flesh and black skin, similar to codfish. Sometimes it is served raw as sashimi or cooked. I steamed mine with ginger and spring onions yesterday night. Texture wise, it was akin to cooked tuna. Taste wise, it had the aftertaste like from a flake fillet (shark) which I generally do not like. It leaves a rough taste in the mouth, is not sweet as expected from fish.
So why can escolar cause oily farts? Escolar cannot metabolize the wax esters found in its diet, therefore it accumulates throughout its life as oil in its meat. While the esters are similar to Omega 3 oils, the difference is that it cannot be consumed. Wax esters are used by the fish to aid bouyancy. In the human body, the wax esters may cause gastrointestinal symptoms following consumption such as oily orange diarrhea, stomach cramps, loose bowel movements, headaches, nausea and vomitting. These symptoms are short term, which lasts a day or two. Long term side effects of continual consumption of this fish is called seborrhea, where the wax esters are released through the sebaceous gland of the skin, blocking the pores and potentially interfering with metabolism.
Consumption of the fish is actually banned in Japan as the goverment considers it toxic. It is also banned in Italy. The Canadian government has not banned consumption of the fish but recommends consumers speak to their retailer to verify the species of fish and consume the fish in small portions (6 ounces or less) using preparation methods that reduce oil content (such as grilling, or steaming).
I'm not sure if I'm an anomaly in the charts, but my consumption of the fish last night was DEFNITELY less than 6 ounces - it was half a small fillet, and cooked totally oil free by steaming but I still had the symptoms. Luckily it was not as severe as it could have been. So for me, I will definitely not go near a butterfish again!!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
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