Australian Food & Wine
Newsletter
April 2003
Welcome to the April 2003 edition
of the C&C newsletter. This month we've
included lots of news about the Melbourne Food &
Wine Festival which is now in full swing. Also information about festivals,
cooking classes and seasonal ingredients from around the country, so enjoy.
Click here to visit the Campion and Curtis website
In-season
Mid autumn is an amazingly abundant time for
seasonal ingredients. We have been enjoying some home-grown figs and
quinces from a friends garden. The figs we've wrapped with prosciutto
and have been loved by all. The quinces we simmer for an hour or more
until they reach that beautiful rosy pink colour. They are beautiful
served in this way with vanilla yoghurt for breakfast.
We've also tried our hand
at making preserves with our home-grown cumquats. The results have been
excellent, even if we say so ourselves! Our olives are still looking a
little firm so we've left them on the trees for now, we'll bring you news
of their progress soon. Recipes are at the end of this
newsletter.
The Melbourne Food and Wine
Festival
It was celebrity chefs all round at Federation Square last weekend for
Masters On The Move and Delicious Double Acts. David Thompson (fresh
from winning Outstanding London Chef at the London restaurant Awards) wowed the
sell-out crowd with tastes like his Deep-Fried Bean Curd with Crab, Pork
and Spring Onion and Salad of Barramundi with Chillies and Mint.
Spanish whiz kid Paco Guzman presented his spin on 'New Tapas' with
Marinated Sardines with Eggplant and Greek Yoghurt a La Curry (yes really) and
his Dracula dessert.. He also oversaw the amazing Tapas Feast on Saturday night.
Fabio Guiffre brought a taste of Sicily to town with Seared tuna in Vino
cotto and Braised Onions plus his beautiful Baby Brioche Filled with Orange and
Chocolate Ricotta Cream. All this and Karen Martini, Kylie Kwong, Bill
Granger, Loretta Sartori, Chris Manfield and Geoff Lindsay, plus a homecoming
visit from Jill Dupleix and Terry Durack. Max Allen and Ben Canaider took
the wine room by storm (as only these two can) and put everything
from martini's and Yarra Valley bubbly to St Henri and Grange up for grabs.
But wait there's more, this festival has only just begun. Still to
come are events like a Festival Nights in the City at Chaise Lounge, Basement,
105 Queen Street on Thursday April 10 from 7:00 pm. We also like the
sound of the Indigenous Food Tour at Melbourne Museum, where you can learn
about the medicinal and nutritional uses of native plants, followed by
a cooking demonstration by well-known bush tucker chef, Vic
Cherikoff. Held on Sunday 6th and 13th April. Bookings on 03 8341 7777.
Then it's time for Restaurant Week from April 7 - April 13.
Also for the festival is the very timely Feasts of
Baghdad, promoted as a 'sensual feast of art and food'. This is
an exhibition of paintings and illustrations by Nita Jawary which will
be published in her forthcoming book on Judeo-Babylonian cuisine. Nita
will guide her audience through the paintings with stories of food and tales of
old Baghdad…tall but all true! Participants will be able to sip wine and sample
Baghdad cuisine cooked by Nita specially for the event each evening. Talk &
Taste Nites of 1001 Bites runs until April 12th at Steps Gallery, 62 Lygon
St Carlton Sth. Bookings on 9650 3577.
Some festival events have proved so successful that extra
dates have been added. Emma Pooles Elizabeth David
performance, An Omelette And A Glass of Wine is just one which is
putting on extra dates. You can now catch this inspiring piece on Saturday
5th April at 4.00 pm. Bookings on 03) 9685 5111.
Food and wine news
George Biron has passed on news of
up-coming events to be held at his Sunnybrae property in Birregurra,
west of Melbourne. Any of you who are familiar with the food and
hospitality of George Biron and partner Diane Garrett will know these will be
events not to be missed. Tony Tan is doing a banquet and hands on
class on the 24 May while Dr.Teresa Lebel, a young mycologist from the Melbourne Botanical
gardens, will take a fungi foray in the forest followed by dinner. To
be held on Saturday June 7. Inquiries sunnybrae@primus.com.au
While flicking through the current Brisbane Hilton
brochure we couldn't fail to notice two dinners on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th
May with Cheong Liew. What really caught our eye was the price - just $88
per person for a five course degustation dinner, including a glass of bubbles on
arrival. This is terrific value for money, even when you factor in a few
glasses of wine. A must-do event for foodies in the sunshine state.
Bookings on 07) 3231 3231.
Recent bottles
When it comes to Australian wines we're suckers for a well aged
shiraz. A couple of dinner guests brought a bottle of 1992 Mitchelton Print
Label Shiraz to our table recently and it was an absolute winner. Beautifully
balanced with a seamless mix of ripe, rich berries, mild vanilla and spices
it was hard to believe it was ten years old. It still tasted as fresh as
daisy and was absolutely magic with our rich chicken casserole. At around
$40-$50 a bottle for the current release, it's hardly an everyday wine, but if
the budget allows this flagship wine is a great example of why shiraz can
be so good in this country.
Also in the glass this past month we
had the pleasure of a 1996 Hugel Pinot Gris which we've had stashed
away for a while. The wine was a lovely pale gold in the glass and had a
mild minerally flavour which was fresh and delicious. In fact it's richness
really makes a great match as we head into slightly richer Autumn
food.
Cascade Brewery in Hobart has just released the next beer in
it's seasonal range called Autumn Amber, a much fuller brew that the
previous Summer Blonde. We're not big on describing the various barley
and malt characters of a beer, but it did reminded us of the rich
chocolaty Belgian trappish ales we've tasted from Chimay. We could see
it going down a treat with hearty casseroles or grilled
meats with rich sauces. A 375ml four pack of Cascade Autumn Amber will set
you back around $15.00.
Autumn
Harvest
The wineries and eating houses of the King Valley in
North East Victoria are presenting their Autumn Harvest Festival on
Saturday 26th April, at the town of Whitfield between 11am and 5pm. Local
restaurants will team with wineries to provide fantastic fare, including Pizzini
Wines at the Mountainview Hotel. There's also music, a
farmers’ market and other activities planned for the whole family. Cellar
doors in the area will be open across the weekend.
The Food of Orange district is a well established NSW food and
wine event and will be running from April 4th - 13th. Special guests this year
include Maggie Beer and Bill Granger. Full details on www.orangefoodweek.com.au
Tea Time
Barbara Harper's Tea Corporation Australia is one of
the few specialist tea importers, wholesalers
and retailers around, in fact you've probably sipped her brews at
your favourite restaurants. She deals in quality teas from Sri Lanka,
Japan, India, Taiwan and China, the homeland of tea. They have just had a change
of address, which involved moving their entire fit-out and over 2000 kilos
of tea to their new premises in South Yarra. The up-side for customers is
the opportunity to visit and taste the entire range. Tea Corporation is at
28 Claremont Street, South Yarra. Tel 03) 9826 8611. Visit them at
www.teacorporation.com
Slow Food Congress
The Grand Hotel in Mildura was turned into Slow Food Mecca
recently for the Slow Food congress. Visitors came from far and wide to talk,
taste, agree and disagree about all manner of food and wine issues affecting
Australia. The main news to come from the weekend was the agreement to have
Barbara Santich head up the Australian Ark of Taste program, also
the launch of Slow Rivers program for the Murray/Darling. Changes were also
made to the structure of the organisation on a national level. We must
acknowledge the work done by chef Brigitte Hafner in coordinating huge
quantities of the most amazing food in the most amazing places. Drop by our
website at if you'd like to see a few of our happy snaps from the
weekend.
Interesting
Links
We had the great pleasure of meeting chef
Bernard Guillas while in Mildura recently for the Slow Food Congress. He was
there because he shares a similar philosophy about food and cooking with Stefano
di Pieri and decided to come and lend a hand for a few days while on holidays in
Australia. This French born chef has packed much into his career
beginning with his formal training in 1978 at La Bretagne in Questembert,
France, with the legendary Georges Paineau. Guillas
moved on to become chef de cuisine at Le Dolmen in French Guyana, South America.
This was followed by a stint as chef tournant in Maison Blanche in
Washington DC, and in 1989 to San Diego as chef de cuisine at the Grant Grill,
located in the US Grant Hotel. Nowadays he’s executive chef at
the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club resort's in Southern
California and responsible for directing the resort's three restaurants
and all catering operations. Recent times have seen a cookbook and
television appearances added to his CV. Find out more www.chefbernard.com.
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards
2002
All winners have now been announced in these hotly contested awards
(over
3500 entries from 60 countries) and locals have done
exceedingly well.
Australian titles come under the section of books published in English - Rest of the World.
Winners of this category included -
Best Easy Recipes Book- Campion and Curtis in the Kitchen, Michele Curtis and
Allan Campion
Best Chef Books - The Luke
Mangan Food Book, Luke Mangan
Best Mediterranean Book-
Arabesque, Modern Middle Eastern Food, Greg and Lucy
Malouf
Best Vegetarian Book- The
Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, Charmaine Solomon
Other awards of interest to included-
Publisher of the Year - Larousse -
France
Hall of Fame - El Bulli 1998-2002 By Ferran
Adria, Juli Soler, Albert Adria
Best Foreign Cookery Book in the World – Winner-
Thai Food by David Thompson,
Best French Cuisine Book in the World (published
outside France) - Winner - Cooking and Travelling in South-West France, by
Stephanie Alexander
Best Asian Cuisine Book in the World (published
outside Asia) - Winner - New Wave Asian, A Guide to the Southeast Asian Food
Revolution, by Sri Owen
Best Cookbook Design in the World - Winner -
Modern Classis: Book 1, by Donna Hay
Best Culinary History Book in the World -
Honourable Mention - Advanced Australian Fare, How Australian Cooking
Became the World’s Best, by Stephen Downes
Best Food Book Series in the World - Winner - World Food, Indonesia, Japan, Greece, Portugal,
etc. (Lonely Planet)Complete details on
www.cookbookfair.com
Cooking Schools
Queen Victoria Market Cooking School has two children's classes on offer this month during school
holidays. On Tuesday 15th Jenny Dalman hosts a class offering
interesting recipes that kids will love, then on the Tuesday 24th she's back
with dishes for entertaining and fun specifically for teens and 'mature' young
cooks. Bookings on 03) 9320 5835.
The Essential Ingredient has a couple of the Food and Wine
Festival presenters in their new cooking school this month including
David Thompson (5th) and Fabio Giuffre (7th). Also making an
appearance this month is Michael Lambie from Circa, The
Prince (30th) with a class focusing on small tastes and appetisers using
fish and seafood. Bookings on 03) 9827 9047.
Tony Tan is offering a number of classes in
Melbourne this month including Tony's choice on 28th and 29th. These are
very seasonally driven classes where he explores freestyle cooking and creative
dishes, perfect if you're looking for ideas for your next dinner party. Bookings
on 03) 9827 7347.
Gourmet Safaris is a Sydney based company
offering walking tours, lunches and evening banquets in the exotic food
suburbs of Sydney and places beyond. Check them out if
you're interested in exploring food and culture beyond the CBD with
tours to the Greek, Lebanese, Turkish and Portuguese side of the
harbour city. Plus there are food and wine weekends in Mudgee, Port
Douglas and Tasmania, as well as overseas destinations. Tours fill fast so
check out the details at
www.gourmetsafaris.com.au
Simon Johnson, Purveyor of Quality Foods has the
goods this month with Talk+Eat+Drink classes featuring modern French bistro
food from Tony Bilson (April 8th) and Spanish delights with Eduardo
Gonzalez (April 12th). Plus a chance to find out if restaurant critics
can actually cook when SMH restaurant reviewer Matthew Evans (April 5th)
leads a tour of the Good Living Growers Market followed by a seasonal cooking
and eating class. Considering Matthews a qualified chef participants should be
in good hands. Bookings on 02) 9552 2522.
Farmers Markets
The 6th Annual Avenel
Farmers Market will take place on Sunday 6th
April behind the Harvest Home Country House Hotel, 1 Bank St
Avenel. Over 60 stallholders are expected to
attend including wineries from the Nagambie Lakes and Strathbogie Wine
regions, along with masses of local ingredients and
products. Entry is $2 (Adult), $1 (Kids under 16), $5 (Family)
and parking is free. The event runs from 10am to
6pm. Avenel is approximately 70 minutes north of Melbourne, just
off the Hume Highway. Lunch will be available in the gardens of Harvest
Home from 12.30pm.
Also the Yarra Valley Farmers market will
take place on Sunday April 20th at The Barn, Yering Station,, Melba Highway,
Yarra Glen. Sales kick off at 10am.
Don't forget if you have any food or wine news you think we’d like to hear
about, contact us at
michele@campionandcurtis.com
Cheers, Allan and Michele
Cumquat jelly
Jelly is incredibly easy to make because you don't have to chop any of
the peels or try to remove hundreds of tiny pips from the cumquats. The end
result with be a rich, intensely flavoured citrus jelly that tastes like no
other. Perfect on hot buttered toast!
Note - These instructions will work for virtually any quantity of fruit, so
even if you can only get a kilo of cumquats it's well worth the effort. The only
other ingredients are water and sugar.
Cumquats - as many as you can get your hands on or are willing to cook
Cut your cumquats in half and place into a saucepan.
Add enough cold water to cover and bring to a gently boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook fruit for 2 hours.
Regularly skim off froth as it comes to the surface.
Allow the liquid and fruit to cool slightly then ladle it into a cloth
lined colander or sieve.
A large clean tea towel is fine or muslin if you have it.
Allow the liquid to drip through into a large bowl.
When the dripping begins to slow gather the edges of the cloth together and
tie together with string.
Hang the cloth and allow the remaining liquid to drip
through.
Measure the liquid into a saucepan and add equal sugar to
liquid.
For example you would add 500g sugar if you had 500ml of liquid.
Return the liquid and sugar to the heat and bring to the boil.
Reduce to a simmer and again regularly skim off froth as it comes to
the surface.
Check to see if jelly has reached setting point by placing a teaspoon
of mixture onto chilled plate.
Tip the plate and if it runs it's not yet ready, so cook for a further 5
minutes then try again.
Carefully pour the hot jelly into sterilised jars.
Poached
quinces
Quinces have a tendency to discolour as
soon as they are peeled, so we usually get the poaching syrup ready first then
add the peeled quince wedges directly into it.
1 litre (1 2/3 pt–4 cups)
water
220g (7 2/3 oz–1 cup) caster
sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 lemon, cut in half
2 cloves
4–6 quinces
Prepare poaching liquid by placing
water, sugar, vanilla, lemon and cloves in a large heavy-based saucepan.
Bring liquid to a rolling boil.
Peel, quarter and core the fruit,
adding quinces immediately to poaching liquid to prevent discolouration.
Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 1
- 11/2 hours, or until the quinces are tender and ruby red.
Refrigerated in the syrup these quinces
will keep for up to 1 week.
(C) Allan Campion and Michele
Curtis