Month: July 2014

Might be cold in Canberra but there was no end to the Saturday food delights about town

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Breakfast at The Cupping Room – Civic
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‘Not So Raisin’ Toast  Maple and Cinnamon Ricotta on Fruit and nut loaf (good for two)

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Cooking Mexico Masterclass with Andrea
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Andrea’s Mexican Black Bean Soup
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Andrea’s Green Chilaquiles
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Penny University

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Coffee and Almond Crossiant
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‘Window shopping’ at Ricardo’s Jamieson

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The Forage Street Food Festival New Acton
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Poacher’s Pantry menu- so hard to decide

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Smoked Chicken on flat bread with pumpkin kasundi, labna and salsa (and wine)
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Smoked tomato soup with lamb, pesto, puy lentils and soda bread looks great too

Cooking Mexico – Andrea’s passion for Canberra

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Andrea Rodriguez started Cooking Mexico to share her passion for Mexican cuisine with Australia. Now based in Canberra she launched her Cooking Mexico cooking sessions today at the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets. Participants were treated to Mexican coffee and a two course lunch as Andrea demonstrated and served Black Bean Soup and Green Chilaquiles, two simple, traditional dishes using classic Mexican ingredients sourced in Canberra.

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Andrea demonstrating and sharing Mexican culture and tradition

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Epazote herb used in the Black Bean Soup

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Tinned green tomatoes

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Green Chilaquiles with Pulled Chicken

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Mexican coffee flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla sugar to start

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Warming black bean soup garnished with sour cream, Avocado, corn chips, feta and a roasted smokey/chocolate flavoured dried chilli

My thanks to Andrea who included me today in her cooking session as a guest.

Cooking – a lovely part of food travel

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IMG_3141 IMG_3428 IMG_3429 IMG_3441OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA IMG_4966 IMG_4145 IMG_4206 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA An easy and fun way to ‘unpack’ the cuisine and food culture of a country when travelling is to join a small local cooking class. The leader is usually a great source of local and regional food knowledge, but often happy to also talk about food in a wider cultural context. But there are many other lesser known opportunities if you ask around. Guest houses, bed and breakfasts and home stays are often more than happy to allow you into their kitchen to watch and chat.

Cheers for helpful Canberra restaurants & cafes (for sharing)

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When a restaurant or cafe has tried really hard to make it easy to share, they deserve a special mention:

Noy at Thai Chiang Rai, Kingston was more than happy to prepare 1 1/2 serves of his wonderful Five Spice Prawns and serve them in two dishes.

3/4 serve Five spice prawns (about 10 prawns per one serve)

3/4 serve Five spice prawns (about 10 prawns per one serve)

The staff at Chong Co, Kingston, likewise, did not hesitate to offer 1 1/2 serves of their soft shelled crab and duck salad dishes.

Pho Quoc in Dickson and Meccabah in Manuka, both happily offered extra serving bowls and spoons to split their soups.

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Rare beef Pho at Pho Quoc – delicious

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Meccabah’s Harira Soup

A delightful new wait person at The Palette Cafe (Beaver Galleries, Deakin) surprised us by arriving with our soup already split into two bowls.

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Half serve of soup at The Palette

Soju Girl have been really great at making sure small plates come with enough pieces to share.

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The Penguin Food Guide to India – an excellent read for food lovers travel

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I am truly loving Charmaine O’Brien’s Penguin Food Guide to India. An Aussie author, her style is infinitely readable and it really is like having as good friend to guide you through the delights of Indian food. I’ve used it to plan each meal for a visit to Mumbai later this month, based on the best spots for the best dishes.

From Charmaine recommendations I know to go to Sassoon Docks early to see the historic fish market of Mumbai’s original Koli inhabitants who supply Mumbai’s seafood, to visit Victoria Station at noon to catch the city’s dabba-wallahs in full swing delivering tiffin lunchboxes to office workers and not to miss India’s best street food, easily explored at Chowpatty beach in the evening.

I’m told Mumbai is famous for Parsi cuisine and I’m heading to the iconic Brittania and Company for their berry pulao and to Jimmy Boy for a full Parsi wedding feast.

Cheaply available from iBooks ($15) (an easy version to take with you) or the Book Depository ($19), I agree wholeheartedly with Penguin Books who say:

‘This first-ever comprehensive guide to regional food across India takes you on a mouth-watering journey through the homes, streets and restaurants of each state, exploring exotic and everyday fare in equal measure.…..Laden with historical information, cultural insights and personalized recommendations, The Penguin Food Guide to India is your ideal companion to the delightful world of Indian cuisine.’