Campion and
Curtis
Australian
Food & Wine
Newsletter
April 2004
Welcome to the April 2004 edition of the
C&C newsletter. We've been enjoying a burst of warm autumn weather
in the southern states which has made getting out and about an enjoyable
experience. This is especially handy with so many activities around
with the Melbourne food and wine festival on. One of the festival
events which rarely gets a lot of publicity is the announcement of the
Festival Legends. For 2004 these have been awarded to winemaker Rick
Kinzbrunner (Giaconda), butcher extraordinaire Jonathan Gianfreda
(Jonathan's of Collingwood) and restaurateur Gail Donovan. We always knew they
were legends, now it's official!
Click here to visit the Campion and Curtis website
In-season
One of our favourite autumn fruits is the quince.
We're lucky enough to have friends who have a tree laden with fruit, so it
will not be long before we're enjoying poached quinces for breakfast,
lunch and dessert. No doubt they'll start to appear on market stalls before
too long. We've had some excellent apples recently with varieties such as royal
galas and Jonathans standing out. Pears are starting to appear in good
quantities and grapes have been excellent eating in recent weeks. Our soup pot
has been getting a serious work out already this year and has been
starring some beautiful vegetables including potato, pumpkin, tomato, zucchini,
green beans, roma tomatoes and cauliflower. Liberal handfuls of lentils,
dried beans and chickpeas have also added a great earthyness to the
soups. We've included a few of our favourite soup recipes at the end of
this newsletter to get you started on soup season too.
Festival time
We've been out and about over the last few weeks having a
look at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2004. The highlights for
us have been new events like Art Play cooking classes for children, the
Spice Bazaar at Victoria Harbour and The Culinary Pro-Am at Federation
Square. There's still a few days of feasting left including the Pub Brawl
at The Kingston Hotel in Richmond on Sunday 4th April when food and wine
'personalities' (for want of a better word) will be getting their 5 minutes on
the soapbox. We'll be there putting forward our belief that 'food is much more
important than wine' - as well as heckling from the sidelines. Bookings on
03 9428 5841. The festival website has details of this and other remaining
events
www.melbfoodwinefest.com.au .
Gippsland Slow Food Group
has a weekend of events planned for April 2nd - 4th
with dinners, markets and special food and wine celebrations.Love the sound of
the pig & the fig - a slow food fable and the long Greek Banquet. Full
details are available from the online Slow Festival Brochure
available from
www.koonwarrastore.com.au
The Big Cheese. Nick
Haddow is a name many might associate with the cheese room at Richmond Hill
Cafe & Larder in its early years. Since then he's been travelling with
partner Leonie Struthers exploring cheese making in many different
parts of the world. The good news for all of us is they've settled on
Bruny Island in Southern Tasmania to start making cheese under their Bruny
Island Cheese Co brand. They'll be producing a fresh cheese called
ODO, which stands for One Day Old. A vine wrapped washed rind
cheese titled OĒN, as well as SAINT made with a light bloom of white mould
and a mildly pungent rind. And finally TOM which weighs in at 1.5 kg and
has a natural rind. It's not everyday a new cheese making venture
starts up in this country so give it a try when it appears in your local
deli. Contact Nick on
brunyislandcheese@bigpond
Paterson’s are well known as
one of Melbourne’s longest running bakeries, in recent times they also become
one of the fastest growing. A third store has just opened at 555 Riversdale
Road, Camberwell and is packing them in according to local reports. Order you
Easter favourites from them now on (03) 9882 7190.
Gourmand World Cookbook
Awards are considered the international 'Oscars'
for food and wine books and Australian authors are usually well represented
in the finalists and winners categories. Awards are given in a total of 47
categories comprising 32 categories for cookbooks and 15 for wine books.
Well done to the following local winners:
Best Health and Nutrition Book in the World
Recipes to Nurture. Over 130 Delicious whole Food Recipes - Aine
McAteer (Penguin – Viking – Australia)
Best Culinary History Book in the World
The Market - Stories, History and Recipes from the Adelaide Central Market,
by Catherine Murphy (Wakefield Press)
Best Drink Book in the World (Other than wine)
The Liquid Kitchen, by Hayden Wood (Drink Australia)
Streetsmart Results have come in from the first ever Streetsmart
campaign held in Australia in the lead up to Christmas 2003. 19
participating restaurants across Melbourne asked their diners to add on a dollar
to their bill to help the homeless. The campaign raised $16,573.90, with
one diner in particular taking the opportunity to donate $100.
Some of Melbourne’s leading restaurants taking part in the
fundraiser included: Mecca, Verge, Livebait, Mecca Bah, Syracuse, Bottega, Punch
Lane, Italy 1, Ah Mu, Bistrot D’Orsay and Number 3 Station Pier. StreetSmart
distribute 100% of the donations collected by the restaurants from the public
The first grants have just been announced and will be made as follows: Stopover
Youth Refuge - $4000, Family Access Network - $4000, Open Family Australia -
$4000, One Umbrella - $2286.95 and Matthew Talbot Soup Van - $2286.95. Quite an
effort we think and one the C&C newsletter is keen to support in
2004!
Food tours and classes
Fenix Restaurant in Melbourne are offering a
couple of unique classes this month including From Chef to Scientist – Behind
the Food with Raymond Capaldi and Food Scientist Ron Hull on Monday
5th April . Dads and Kids Cooking Class with Gary Mehigan is on
Saturday 3rd & 10th April from 10.30am. While Doctor
Booze and the wine Rats Club aim to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon tasting fine
wine from across Australia, without the snob factor. Bookings on 03)
9427 9257.
Convivial Times are hosting a Grappa
Tasting & Appreciation at Mezzaluna Restaurant with Marc Polese
on April 1st, or if frozen delights are more your thing book in for
the Ice Cream Master Class at Serendipity on April 3rd
from 9.30am till 12 noon. The Olympic games this year is casting a focus on
all things Greek, including food. Convivial times are hosting a 'Greek
Workshop Sydney-style' with David Tsirekas of Perama Restaurant on April
14th. Learn the intricacies of making pita bread, Easter Eggs and
lamb skaras, David's signature dish. Full details and bookings on
www.convivialtimes.com.au.
Queen Victoria Market Cooking School Children's classes are offered here during the
April school holidays with something for all age groups. Junior chefs can learn
from Karen Green on Tuesday 6th and Friday 16th while
teens are well catered for on Tuesday 15th. Adult classes include the
fundamentals of seafood with Paul Le Noury of The Hotel Charsfield on Thursday
22nd and Fast mid week meals without too much meat with Geraldine
Dawes on Saturday 24th. Bookings on 03) 9320 5835.
Cooking
Co-ordinates are continuing with children's cooking classes this
April holidays with a variety of classes including Kids in the Kitchen, Big Kids
Budding Chefs & Little Kids Can Cook Too. Adults can book for two very
special sessions with Margaret Fulton who will be signing copies of her
re-released classic The Margaret Fulton Cookbook (RRP 59.95). Sessions are
available on Friday April 30th at 11.00am and 3.00pm. Margaret Fulton
has been credited as the woman who taught Australians how to cook and this new
release is a completely updated reissue of her classic cookbook, first
published in 1968. Bookings via the website
www.belconnenmarkets.com.au or telephone 02) 6253
5132.
The Essential Ingredient have pastry queen
Loretta Sartori showcasing Easter baking from around the world on Saturday 3rd
April and Martin Boetz with some of the spectuclar Thai dishes he presents
at Longrain in Sydney. Martin is still being mum on where his new restaurant in
Melbourne might be, but it sounds like it might be getting closer to a reality.
Bookings for classes on 03) 9827 9047.
Sydney Seafood School Learn to prepare the
world-famous Singapore Chilli Crab and stir-fried crab on Wednesday
7th April or improve you Japanese cooking skills on Saturday
17th April with a Sushi and Sashimi Workshop. Well known Sydney chef Matt
Moran from Aria is coming on Monday 19
th to showcase his expertise
with seafood. Lots more too including classes on Paella, Tapas and Thai food.
Bookings on 02) 9004 1111 or visit
www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au
Talk + Eat + Drink.
Steve Manfredi will be offering a class he calls Barnyard Fowl on April
20th - exploring the very best ways an Italian cook prepares this most
popular of birds. Will Meyrick's is in the house on April 27th showcasing the
many of his Thai dishes from Jimmy Liks. Bookings on 02) 9552 2522.
Divine Tasting Andrew Wood of
Divine magazine is never one to accept generalisations about food and wine - his
next target is the accepted wisdom that red wines from 1998 are so good they
eclipse all others - including the vintage that followed. He'll be putting this
to the test with a series of tastings which will line up benchmark wines
from 1998 and 1999 so participants can judge for themselves. These include
Coldstream Hills Reserve Cabernets, St Hugo Cabernet, Tatachilla
Foundation Shiraz, Wendouree Shiraz and Jim Barry Armagh. You get the
picture. Melbourne on Wednesday 21st April and Sydney on Thursday
22nd. Cost is
$55 (inc GST) and
bookings on (03) 5422 7500 or go to divineonline.com.au
C&C Tastings We have been busily working our way through substantial food and
wine over the fast few weeks for a book of our which is due for release
in Spring. Yes, it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it, so it
may as well be us! A real stand out wine was the Foxeys Hangout pinot noir
made on the Mornington Peninsula. This really got our attention due to its
beautiful balance of flavours and ability to sit well with food,
especially if you're serving up pan-fried lamb with a side dish of
caponata, as we did. As always any bottle of pinot to make it over the
doorstep never lasts more than one night.
Cheers, Allan and Michele
Roast tomato
soup
Roasting tomatoes brings an extra intensity
to this soup. Adding a dollop of pesto as you serve it takes it one step
further.
1 red
capsicum
500 g roma tomatoes
Olive oil for cooking
Freshly ground
black pepper
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small red chilli,
halved
2 small celery sticks, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
2 potatoes,
peeled and diced
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
Pesto to serve,
optional
Preheat oven to 200C. Cut capsicum in half and remove seeds. Cut
tomatoes in half and place on baking tray along with capsicum halves. Lightly
drizzle with oil, sprinkle with ground pepper and cook in preheated oven for 30
minutes, or until tomatoes are soft and browned. Place capsicums in a plastic
bag and seal to allow steam to lift skins. When tomatoes and capsicums have
cooled, peel and discard skins.
Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add a splash of oil,
onion, garlic, chilli, celery and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring
occasionally, until softened. Add potatoes, cook gently for another 5 minutes,
then add peeled tomatoes and capsicum. Add vegetable stock and bring to the
boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Puree and pass
through a strainer into a clean saucepan.
Return soup to the boil, check seasoning and adjust
consistency. Add a dollop of pesto to each bowl of soup if desired.
Serves 4.
Recipe from Every Day in the Kitchen RRP
$29.95
This is a simple yet satisfying soup, and it’s
also incredibly versatile at incorporating varying flavours and ingredients. The
choice of dried beans we’ll leave to you; we use everything from borlotti to
butter beans and even haricot beans.
90g dried beans, soaked overnight in cold
water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 leek, thinly sliced
60g bacon, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/5 litres light chicken or vegetable
stock
1 tbsp chopped parsley, basil, oregano or
thyme
Drain beans and place in a saucepan, cover
with plenty of water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and cook for 20–30
minutes, or until beans are soft. Drain and set aside.
Heat a large pot over a medium heat, and add
oil and onion, carrot, leek, bacon and garlic. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring
well. Add stock and bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper and reduce to
a simmer.
Cook for 20 minutes. Add cooked beans and cook
for a further 5 minutes.
Check seasoning, add herbs and serve.
Serves 4–6.
Recipe from Every Day in the Kitchen RRP
$29.95