put it in your mouth | a sydney food blog

Last week, the Western Australian government made an announcement that deemed it legal for their state to sell horse for human consumption. WA butcher Vince Gareffa might be copping a lot of flack for being the first butcher to sell it, but the truth of the matter is that Australia sends around 50,000 to 70,000 horses overseas for human consumption. It’s part of many gastronomic cultures including French, Italian and Chinese, so why do we have such a hard time getting our heads around it?

While Australia is relatively young in terms of developing our own national identity and culture, and we tend to associate horses as domestic pets and beasts of burden - rather than cuisine – if we can justify eating kangaroo (which, like brumbies are culled by National Parks and Wildlife), crocodile and camel, shouldn’t we be able to accept horse on the menu, too?

If you were in Melbourne this week, French chef Nicholas Poelert cooked up a horse menu at his restaurant Embrasse, but until we get to a point where horse is more regularly seen on the menu, here are a few creatures we once found to be weird or inappropriate on the menu...and where to eat them.


Camel - Sydney Tower Restaurant

1/86-100 Market St Sydney
New South Wales 2000
(02) 8223 3800

While 'throw another camel steak on the barbie' might not have caught on yet, there is a huge argument for eating camel meat for the sake of saving our outback. The meat tastes a little like beef, is very lean and can be found through Camels Australia and on menus at restaurants like Sydney Tower Restaurant's roasted meat buffet.

Kangaroo - The Carlisle Castle Hotel

19 Albermarle St Newtown
New South Wales 2042
(02) 9557 4852

We've covered roo before, but this one is too good to not mention. Tucked away in the back streets of Newtown, The Carlisle has to be one of the best pub meals in town - unsurprisingly, it's managed by Ross Godfrey who also owns nearby fine diner Oscillate Wildly. Order from the specials board, where at the moment, you'll find a rare roasted loin of kangaroo with  chargrilled with baby beets, roasted chats and silverbeet with pepper jus.


Snails - Tabou Bistro

527 Crown St
Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
(02) 9319 5682

It really wasn't that long ago that eating snails was still considered a weird and slightly gross thing to do in this country. Fortunately long-time favourite French establishments like Tabou in Surry Hills have brilliant dishes like sautéed snails, veal sweetbread and shank, trompettes, turnip, puff pastry to convert the disbelievers.

This week, I PR'd a media launch for Spence & Lyda, a much-loved client of mine and to make matters larger, we flew in renowned British furniture designer Matthew Hilton in from London to especially for it. Unfortunately, 24 hours worth of plane delays later, he arrived in Sydney with just 36 hours to fit in client dinners, interviews, a huge party...and some sightseeing.




















With his official thumbs up, I thought I'd share my top picks for places to eat in Sydney if you've never visited before.

The hot restaurant: Flinders Inn
160a Flinderst Street, Paddington
(02) 9331 0208

After our 150-strong media event at Spence & Lyda's fabulous showroom in Surry Hills - an event that celebrated all things Cool Britannia (including canapes by Brit chef Tom Kime, served with Tom Collins and Bramble cocktails by Mitchel Bushell) - we thought we'd shake it up by celebrating Bastille Day at local Paddington bistro and perenially cool French restaurant, Flinders Inn.

17 people, including the Spence & Lyda team, Matthew Hilton, De La Espada genius Luis De La Oliviera, packed into the chic though compact space. Suffice to say, several bottles of wine and plenty of great French bistro fare were consumed, including confit of duck with lettuce, peas and aniseed jus, classic steak pomme frites, crêpe suzette and other quitessentially French specials crafted for the day. The hip hop playing in the bijou bathrooms and Molton Brown toiletries isn't too shabby either.

A special thanks to Lotus Bistro in Potts Point for another fabulous client meal, too.

The tourist centre respite: Number One Wine Bar
1 Alfred St, Sydney 2000
(02) 8252 9296

When you're walking around The Rocks as a tourist, there are plenty of traps set to help you part with your converted dollars. The restaurant trade has picked up somewhat in the past few years with establishments like Wine Odyssey, Sake and Baroque opening, but if you're starting out in The Rocks and heading around to the Sydney Opera House, one of the best stop-off points has to be Tony Bilson's Number One Wine Bar. Around half way between The Rocks and The House, it's the perfect place to pull up a chair and the bar, chat to the friendly staff and have a glass of great wine and a bite to eat, before setting off again. High on the list are the salt-cod croquettes and the duck liver pâté with cornichons and toast. 

The newest Thai establishment: House 
202 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills

Near the original Spice I Am on Wentworth Avenue, the guys have extended their management empire to include Issan-skewed Thai food - think hotter, more sour flavours, sticky rice, ofally bits and lots of spice. The site, once an Italian restaurant, has indoor and outdoor seating, depending on how much sun and/or carbon monoxide you want served with your lunch or dinner, House is a welcome addition to the often pricey or crappy nature of the some of the food in this area...it's open till 2am on weekends, too. Try the duck salad.

It's almost the end of winter, so before the weather starts getting warmer, there's still time to enjoy cold weather-friendly food and drink.

Hot cocktails are...well, hot right now. After all, who wants to be sipping frozen cocktails in their thermals? Traditionally, there are a few well known hot alcoholic drinks including Christmas favourite, eggnog (cream, whisked egg, cinnamon, nutmeg and brandy), hot buttered rum (as served at the recent TOYS dinner by cocktail whizz Luke Ashton) and of course, popular flu-favourite, the hot toddy.

Here are a few places you can try hot cocktails this winter:

Aperitif 
7 Kellett St
Potts Point NSW 2011
(02) 9357 4729

Known for it's late-night bordello-chic supper club stylings, the food continues to rock - the veal tongue, boudin noir, celeriac puree, grilled apple rocks - but as the name suggests, they know a thing or two about the business of (classy) booze. Aperitif currently have a few hot cocktails on the specials list including their take on the classic brandy eggnog, but ask Christian and team to create something special and they'll most likely be up for the challenge: the hot whiskey with cloves and orange peel will cure what ails you (or at least kill it), just don't inhale as you sip.

The Gourmet Viking
33 Enmore Road, Newtown
(02) 9557 8999
www.gourmetviking.com.au

This kitschy little restaurant is largely Danish, reading from the menu but in general, The Gourmet Viking specialises in Nordic food favourites, including plenty of smoked, cured, salted fish: 'sill' (pickled herring), laks (salmon) and pickled pork and more. Swedes know a thing or two about dealing with ridiculously cold weather and glögg is a perfect example. A take on the mulled wine concept, glögg is red wine, cinnamon, almonds, orange peel, cardamom, ginger, vanilla, brandy and raisins - gently heated to create an aromatic (and potent) drink. The Gourmet Viking is making vats of it this winter, so drop by for some roast pork loin, picked herring and a glögg to warm your bones.


Mulled Wine Recipe

Here's an easy mulled wine recipe to try out at home:

Ingredients

1 bottle red wine (clean skins these days are generally good quality and great value - perfect for this kind of recipe)
2 cinnamon/cassia quills
1 star anise
3 cardamom pods, cracked
1 heaped tablespoon of brown sugar
1 generous slug of honey
A peel of orange rind


Method

Combine all ingredients into a saucepan and heat gently for about 15 minutes until the mixture becomes aromatic.
Drink immediately!

Check out some other hot cocktail recipes here.

 Almost everyone loves pork, even if they don't admit it. There are entire websites devoted to all kinds of pork products - Bacon Today's daily dose of cured pork products is an online mecca for lovers of the salty stuff, while more than one chef has the St John Restaurant logo's pig tattooed on them.












So it comes to no surprise that National Ham Week is upon us - this week, the best in Australia will go leg to leg, to decide who does the best ham in the country.






















Last night, Kings Cross French supper club Aperitif (it's reputed that the best hams historically came from Gaul) hosted the launch for Ham Week, with head chef Derek Baker hamming it up with a host of canapes including Jambon Glacé au Caramel, Soupe au Jambon & Petits Pois, Croque Monsieur, Croquettes de Jambon, Croûtes à La Diable and Terrine de Jambon.















Porkstar's prince of pork Mitch Edwards quite literally carved it up, serving some of the award winning ham with cornichons, sourdough and Échiré butter.






And the winner is: Barkly Smokehouse, Preston Vic for best overall ham in Australia.







While Ham Week is designed to have a bit of fun and celebrate the noble beast, it's also important to know how you tell if you're buying Australian ham: Look for the pink Pork Mark sticker when you're shopping, plus remember this little diddy: "If it's on the bone, it's one of our own."

If it's "beginning to feel a lot like Christmas", then you're probably from the northern hemisphere. With the 'retreat to the doona' weather upon us, in the coldest June/July Sydney's seen in 60 years - there's nothing like channeling your inner Santa and making the most of it.



Hi, Tea.   
The Loft
13 Lime St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9299 4770‎

The Loft have been championing their own version of high tea over the past year or so - theirs involves booze presented in tea pots. Considering how seriously The Loft take their cocktails, it's a sure bet that Christmas in July will turn up a few alcoholic gems. On the food front, expect fine finger sandwiches of turkey & cranberry, honey-roasted ham with mustard pickle, mince pies and white Christmas rum ball truffles.

Christmas Feast 
3 Weeds Rozelle
193-197 Evans Street 
Rozelle NSW 2039, Australia 
(02) 9818 2788‎

Cold climate Christmas is all about the feasting. Shiny glazed hams studded with aromatic cloves, roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, mulled wine and mince pies. It's a lot of work though, so hours slaving over ovens sounds like more than you can handle, leave it to head chef (and pub Porkstar) Leigh McDivitt. Including dishes like quail consommé with foie gras tortellini and slow cooked pork cheek with pork neck agnolotti with seared scallops and spiced pear purée, you'll chow down on six courses for $95 or $140 with matched wines.

When: Thursday July 22
Book: 9818 2788
More info here

Yulefest
The Mountain Heritage Hotel and Spa
Corner Apex and Lovel Street
Katoomba, NSW 2780

If one meal is not enough, The Blue Mountains is arguably the home of cool Yule. The Blue Mountains website has a host of events happening this July, but the pick of the bunch has to be The Mountain Heritage Hotel, where it all started. Expect feasting, open fires, carolling, candles...and cabaret. Yulefest may also be code for Cheesefest, but if you're a devotee of all things Christmas, then at least you don't need to wait until December to get your fix.
More info here

And finally, you really can't mention the world 'Yule' without talking about Geoff Yule Smith. Check him out...and fall in love.

...cuts of meat, that is. And what to do with them.

This week, I had my first MC gig for a cooking demonstration at the Sydney Seafood School. That's right; me, 100 butchers, 2 very talented chefs - Darren Robertson (ex-head chef, Tetsuya) and Andrew Gimber, (current head chef, Jimmy Liks).

The purpose of the evening was to inspire butchers to see the possibilities of less popular or harder to sell cuts of meat, which leads us to this week's FBi Friday Delicious show.

Winter's a great time to stew and slow cook meat, and go for slightly fattier bits of animal (though if you ask a chef, anytime's a good time of the year for a cut of meat with a bit of fat on it - fat does = flavour, after all).

Shopping List (cut's of meat to ask your butcher for)

- Ham hocks (great for making soup, stews)
- Beef cheeks (in a slow cooker with red wine, garlic, herbs, stock = win)
- Brisket (not just a Jewish fave - this one's good for braising, smoking or BBQing)
- Pork belly (salt it, braise it, then pan fry it to crisp the skin)

Here are a couple of restaurants around the traps who are doing great winter dishes.


The Burlington Bar and Dining
www.burlingtonbardining.com.au

6 Burlington St
Crows Nest NSW 2065
(02) 9439 7888
google map

The lower north shore is looking pretty good these days, with the strip along Willoughby Road and surrounds turning up great food, from burgers (Counter Burger, Grill'd) to Ramen (Ryo's Noodles) and fine dining. Nothing says 'hearty' more than a pie and at The Burlington Bar and Dining, while their current menu is looking pretty heart warming in general, there's a steak and kidney pie with pan-fried liver, onion and speck that has 'quintessential winter meal' stamped all over it. We're told there's also a ham hock on the menu worth trying, too.


Ash St Cellar
320/330 George StSydney New South Wales
Australia
(02) 9240 3000

google map

Chef Lauren Murdoch's food at Ash St Cellar bistro menu in this cute little wine bar is great for sharing - the menu is made up of tapas-sized dishes, great for a snack with a couple of glasses of vino, or for when you're feeling indecisive and want to try everything. It's tucked away at the back of the Ivy building, uber-bar skeptics can rest assured it feels like it's own little den, rather than like you're dining in the the machine. At the moment, Lauren is doing a beef brisket, braised in Guinness, with parsnip mash, parsnip crisps and mustard butter..who says there's nothing to look forward to in winter?

Sandwiches are so hot right now. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration...they've been back on the foodie friendly list for a little while..and for good reason: Sydney is doing some great things with the whole 'two pieces of bread and something in the middle' concept.

There's even a great new blog, dedicated to the beauty of the sambo: Bianca Khalil's photoblog Sandwichface is an ode to her home made creations with partner in crime, FBi's own Andrew Levins, as well as some of the more interesting ones around town. I particularly like this deep fried camembert one. There's also a great website called Scanwiches - scans of cross sections of sandwiches. Guess it really is good to be the filling between the bread...

So, if you don't live with these crazy kids, where can you get a good sammich in Sydney?

Malibu
62-64 Foster St, The Georgio, Basement, Surry Hills 2010
(02) 9280 2233

If you like 'em big, then this Surry Hills destination will be your new best friend. It's all about the doorstop of bread, generous fillings and tasty combinations that keep regulars coming back for more. Locals love the chicken schnitzel with mayo and cos lettuce and the seasonal vegetables on brown Vienna bread, despite sounding completely boring, puts up a good fight for tasty, substantial vegetarian fare.
Four Ate Five
485 Crown St, Surry Hills, 2010
(02) 9698 6485
www.fouratefive.com
Four Ate Five has been killing it since the day they opened. Pretty much everything these guys do is great, including the housemade creamed corn on the breaky menu, but when it comes to sandwiches, the pick of the litter is the pulled pork sandwich. What's pulled pork? Marinated, slow cooked pork (usually the shoulder), known as carnitas in Mexico - until the meat literally falls apart. Teamed with crisp cucumber and apple, smothered in tomato chutney and aioli on dark, almost caramel-flavoured sourdough...it's worth starving all morning just to stop by and order this lunchtime gem.

Big Bite
Shop 3, 250 Pitt Street, Sydney
(02) 9283 4700

If you're in the city and stuck for lunch ideas, then you're in luck. Just make sure you get there before the lunch rush hits, or be prepared to wait. Again, this is big sandwich territory - good for ravenous lunchers, or to share, if you're not up for the challenge. Try the grilled chicken, with basil oil, lemon & chive mayo, roma tomatoes, mixed lettuce, rocket and snow pea sprouts.

Honorable mentions:

Ham, mustard, pickle and mayo @ Youeni Provides
379b South Dowling Street, Darlinghurst 2010
www.youeni.com.au

Italian sausage @ Little Vienna
Hunter, Barrack and Pitt Sts, City, North Sydney
www.littlevienna.com.au

Crab sandwich (posh entry) @ Guillaume at Bennelong
Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Circular Quay
(02) 9241 1999
www.guillaumeatbennelong.com.au





Image courtesy of Bianca from Sandwichface.

As heard on FBi Radio

With the long weekend upon us, it's a good opportunity for many to abscond city limits and head for the hills....or at least to fit in a few more recreational activities that the extra day affords.

Here are my picks on what to check out in Food Town this long weekend.

Riverside Organic Markets

A new organic or farmers market is always worth checking out. This time, Gladesville gets a food boost with the addition of a new organic market happening each Saturday from 9am to 1pm. This weekend heralds Riverside's first market so there's sure to be plenty of pomp and celebration to welcome it to town.

Find out more about Organic Food Markets, the guys who put these (and other) markets on here.

Riverside Girls High School
Cnr Victoria & Huntleys Point Road, Gladesville
June 12 and every Saturday from 9am - 1pm

Flavourfest

...when just a few flavours aren't enough, jump in to the car and head to the Hunter Valley for this self proclaimed festival of produce, good food and of course, plenty of wine.

Check out celeb chefs Pete Evans and Toby Puttock and Janelle Bloom performing live demonstrations, meet the growers, stroll the hawker-style eat street and work it off to a beat coming from live bands and entertainers.

Hunter Valley Gardens
2090 Broke Road Pokolbin, NSW 2320
June 12-14

Truffle Hunt

For the foragers, if the idea of running around in the freezing cold with a dog in a scent-crazed frenzy sounds fun, then Oberon's Truffle Hunt is for you. Australian truffles may get a bit of a bad wrap from food writers occasionally, but short of booking a ticket to Europe, Australian truffles are improving from season to season and this is a great opportunity to see, first hand, how it's done.

Lowes Mount Truffiere
927 Lowes Mount Road Oberon 2787
02 6329 8210

More info here.

Kitchen Stadium: Creative Sydney Session #6

If food be the music of love, play on.

We already know that DJs like Levins from FBi are known for being great cooks, so here's a concept: This Saturday night, The MCA will host a dj battle/cook off where two teams will sample and generate soundscapes while creating culinary masterpieces at the same time.

Featuring Siberia Records which includes djs and members of Lost Valentinos and more, it's the ultimate combination of food and beats to kick your long weekend into gear. Who's hungry?

Museum of Contemporary Art
Circular Quay, Sydney NSW 2000
June 12
8.30pm-10.00pm

Info from twothousand.

As seen in Daily Addict

The arrival of a new baby is always a cause for celebration. In the case of owner chef Andrew Cibej of hip Italian trattoria Vini in Surry Hills, his new restaurant, Berta is an exciting addition to the family.

Tucked away in a quiet back street in Surry Hills, near Central station, Berta’s blink-and-miss-it entrance may be hard to find, but it’s well worth it when you do. If the front of house face looks familiar, that’s because Vini’s much-loved manager Kristen Allan has come across to rock the cradle.

Stark rendered walls, raw concrete finishes and tilted mirrors give a sense of industrial understated cool, but the food created by head chef O Tama Carey is quite the opposite: think bold flavours, big aromas, fantastic produce and a knowledge of what makes Italian food rock.The dishes are designed to share, a kind of Italian tapas if you will.

Start with the baked scallops topped with sugna (crunchy cumbs of rendered pork, Sonoma miche breadcrumbs and capers), move onto ox tail broth with wild green tortellini and order up on the spectacular suckling pig, roasted with fennel and served with braised lentils, leek and chickory.

Buffalo milk ice cream with poached apples and candied rosemary and sage makes a fragrantly sweet way to end the meal.There’s a wine list of cool Italian finds, sourced regularly from Italy by Andrew and the team, so there’s plenty of interesting vino to sit at the bar and sip, too.

Vini’s edgier younger sister looks set to be a welcome addition to this end of the Surry Hills dining scene and as far as sibling rivalry goes – here’s a case of the bigger the family, the better.

Berta
17-19 Alberta Street, Sydney 2000
T: (02) 9264 6133
Opening hours: Monday - Saturday 5pm-late

At FBi radio, we believe in sharing the love. One of my most popular blog posts so far has been about dumplings in Sydney (find that post here), so when FBi's Saturday morning show All the Best asked me to talk food, I thought it'd be a good topic to drag back out, now that the temperature has dropped. Click here to listen to the podcast.