Campion & Curtis Food and Wine Newsletter
September 2004
Welcome to the September 2004 edition of the Campion and Curtis newsletter. We hope this finds all readers
ready for another season of wonderful ingredients as the garden springs to life. This time of year also brings with it the
release of annual restaurant guides in Melbourne and Sydney plus great ingredients, this seasons olive oils and the first of the
2004 vintage wines about to be released. It's all happening really.
Click here to visit the Campion and Curtis website
In-season
The flavours of spring abound as local fresh produce heads to markets and fresh produce shops across the country.
Check out smooth leaf pineapples, honey murcott mandarins, pink grapefruit and tangelos in coming weeks and keep a keen
eye for Seville oranges to make a few jars of marmalade. Green is the favourite colour when it comes to fresh vegetables with
artichokes, broad beans, spinach, asparagus, peas, silverbeet and avocadoes to enjoy. Get to your
favourite fruit and veg retailer and get cooking! We've included our recipe for Twice-cooked lamb with romesco flavours and broad
beans at the end of this newsletter , try it with a bottle of tempranillo for a brilliant spring meal
The Age Good Food Guide 2005
Most years when the Age Good Food Guide is launched, a few chefs are happy and few are not - then everyone gets on with it. This
year however the judging panels decisions seem to have provoked much more discussion that normal, even the venue (BMW Edge)
came in for a fair bit of criticism, so we'll start there. For those at the back of the venue it was really difficult to hear
what was being said on stage and those in charge of sound were not particularly keen to be told about it. Drinks staff had a
serious case of butter fingers as trays of drinks kept crashing to the ground through out the evening. Speeches
seemed longer that ever before with senior Age staff, sponsors and politicians keen to bend the ear of all present for as long as possible.
To balance this out there was no shortage of cold beverages and the food was absolutely top class courtesy of the crew at Damm
Fine Food.
Now to this years awards - real crowd pleasers included Geoff Lindsay announced as chef of the year, his acceptance
speech had every woman in the room shed a tear, while young chef of the year went to Robin Wickens at Interlude and Peter and Tony Giannakis
from The Graham taking out the Age award for service excellence.
Not so pleased were the large number chefs who lost a hat from the previous years edition, although none were willing to make a scene on
the night. It was the two major awards which provoked the most discussion with restaurant of the year (and the only city three hat award)
going to Flower Drum and Ladro picking up best new restaurant). It seems an incredibly conservative move to keep Flower Drum in this
position - has nothing more exciting happened in the Melbourne restaurant scene all year? Ditto for Ladro - we've snuck in here
for pizza and roast of the day and generally enjoyed what's on offer, but it's hardly mind-blowing stuff. Again, is this the best
we have to offer in what many consider a great foodie city? Or has it been a particularly quiet year for new dining ventures?
From discussions we've had with some panel members it seems he (or she) who shouts loudest gets his or her way in regards to hats and awards.
Perhaps as the guide heads into its 26th year its time to leave the reviewing panel concept behind and take a more contemporary approach with
one or two brave editors calling the shots. Besides all that The Botanical was again the place for some serious inhaling of French champagne
after the show, no matter how many hats or points had been gained or lost. Long may the guide continue, but maybe with a braver editorial approach in 2006.
Major Awards:
Restaurant of the year Flower Drum
Country restaurant of the year - Stefano's, Mildura
Best new restaurant - Ladro
Chef of the year - Geoff Lindsay, Pearl
Young chef of the year - Robin Wickens, Interlude
The Age award for service excellence - Peter and Tony Giannakis, The Graham
The Age award for professional excellence - Olimpia Bortolotto
Best wine list - Botanical
Best Chinese - Flower Drum
Best French - Vue de monde
Best Greek - Stavros
Best Indian - Bhoj Docklands
Best Italian - Stefano's, Mildura
Best Japanese - Hanabishi
Best Middle Eastern - Mo Mo
Best steakhouse - A & V Lazar Charcoal Grill
The Age Good Food Guide 2005 (RRP $24.00).
Chefs spreading their wings
Melbourne chef Teage Ezard has taken the challenge to establish an outpost of his successful 'ezard at Adelphi'
restaurant in Hong Kong. Ezard will spend the rest of the year putting together the menu, wine list and staff in readiness
for an early 2005 opening at the JIA Boutique Hotel. The hotel has been designed by Philippe Starck and Ezard will be racking up
the frequent flyers points as he travels between his two restaurants. It'll be interesting to see how his mod-oz food goes down
in SE Asia. JIA Hotel We've also had news of another highly regarded Melbourne chef who's about to do a similar deal in Asia and we'll
bring you that news when the ink is dry on the contract. Until then our lips are sealed!
Collingwood Farmers Market
We're suckers for a good farmer's market and Collingwood is one of Melbourne's best. On Saturday 11th September roll up for new
seasons asparagus and mushrooms, potatoes, artichokes, broad beans, taste olive oils and nuts, try some amazing honey, bread,
cheeses and pick up a dozen free range eggs. There's also a great social side to a visit here as like-minded foodies catch up on
all the latest gossip and ingredients. Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market - St Heliers Street, Abbotsford (Mel ref 44 G5),
8.00 am - 1.00 pm. BYO plastic bags to re-use, baskets, boxes and trolleys as this is Melbourne's first plastic bag free market.
Latest Tastes
We've been doing some serious product tasting lately and have come across some great products from Australian
producers. We have been very impressed with the latest release oils from Kyneton Olive Oil and Mt Zero - perhaps we're seeing
the start of a seriously good year in olive oil? Cheese is another great love of ours and we recently picked up a 'Black Silky'
ash covered goat's cheese pyramid from Holy Goat. It was one of the best local cheeses we've tasted in a long time and we'd highly recommend
it to other cheese lovers. We got ours directly from the makers at the St Kilda Farmers Market. Also making an impression in the Campion-Curtis
kitchen have been the Pane Croccante breads from Sydney's Brasserie Bread Co. These long, crispy flat breads are available plain or with rosemary and
are fantastic with dips or a plate of antipasto. Daylesford based chef Annie Smithers has created a range of amazing preserved
under her fructus fructus brand and Annie Smithers preserves. Her bordello jelly made with dog rose hips, hawthorn berries and
French crab apples, is made with ingredients gathered by the roadside and is an amazing creation which is fab with charcuterie. Her
morello cherry jelly is also an knockout. Available in limited quantities at central Victorian farmers markets.
Heathcote Wine & Food Festival
Heathcote is hosting the third annual “Class In A Glass” festival at Heathcote’s Showgrounds on Saturday the 2nd & Sunday 3rd
of October 2004. Visitors can meet local winemakers; do a guided tasting and even attend a seminar and learn more about the
local award winning releases. A few games of lively Petanque will also be held along with live music, local chefs demos and lots of
local food producers showing their wares. Find out more here
Food tours and classes in September
Convivial Times
Book now for gastronomic tours to Italy in October, Tasmania in November and an upcoming visit to Thailand with David Thompson.
Queen Victoria Market Cooking School
Lots of activities over the school holidays with teens classes on September 23rd and 30th, plus younger children's events on the 21st and 28th.
Cooking Co-ordinates - Free events coming up soon here include pasta pronto on September 11th and knife sharpening on the 30th.
The Essential Ingredient
Big name chefs here this month include Philip Johnson from e'cco in Brisbane, Raymond Capaldi from Fenix plus the talented
Val Glaskell from Rickett's Point showing how to make magnificent ice cream and sorbet.
Sydney Seafood School
Great options here include classes on making tapas, stir fries, chowder and seafood bisque plus pasta making with Stefano Manfredi
and Damian Pignolet demonstrating his fine French bistro food.
Talk + Eat + Drink
Andy Harris has a class on Greek food, Serge Danserau is showcasing food from his latest book 'For The Love of Good Food' and Justin North of Becasse also leads a class.
Tony Tan
Tony Tan classes includes Singapore style, modern Spanish and Sichuan hot and spicy.
Gourmet Safaris
The world in a day tour explores the food and cooking of Lebanon, India, Malta and Iraq and South America. There's also a Greek walking tour of Marrickville.
Click here to visit the Campion and Curtis website.
Twice-cooked lamb with romesco flavours and broad beans
It takes four hours of long, slow cooking to get the lamb to the required falling apart, melt-in-your-mouth consistency.
But it's well worth the wait. Put it on to cook, then sit back and relax, this delicious dish will be your just reward.
1 easy-carve leg of lamb, approx 1-1 1/2 kg
Olive oil for cooking
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red capsicums
80 g (1/2 cup) blanched almonds
80 ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp smoky paprika
Pinch of saffron threads
2-3 bay leaves
160 ml (2/3 cup) white wine
750 (3 cups) chicken stock
500 ml (2 cups) tomato sugo
1 kg broad beans, podded
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Couscous to serve
Preheat oven to 180 C.
Rub lamb with olive oil, salt & pepper.
Cook in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours.
Prepare sauce by rubbing capsicums with olive oil and roasting in oven until skins blister, approx 20-30 minutes.
Place them in a plastic bag and seal to allow steam to lift skins. Peel, discard seeds and cut capsicum into 1 cm slices,
then set aside.
Roast almonds in oven until golden brown, allow to cool, then grind in food processor. Set aside for later use.
Heat a large ovenproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat. Add olive oil and cook onions for 6-8 minutes until soft.
Add garlic, paprika, saffron and bay leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Add wine, bring to the boil and allow to reduce by half. Add stock and sugo and bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Add roasted leg of lamb to sauce and season with salt as needed.
Cover with a lid. Lower oven to 160 C and cook casserole for
2 hours in total.
After one hour, remove casserole from oven, turn lamb over, cover and resume cooking for the remaining hour.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, blanch broad beans, then refresh under cold water.
Remove outer pale green skin and set
beans aside.
Lamb should be tender and falling off the bone by now.
Break meat apart into large chunks using forks and remove the bone.
Add cooked capsicum and enough roasted ground almonds to thicken the sauce.
Add broad beans and parsley, season and serve with steamed couscous and a green salad.
Serves 6.
Recipe from The Seasonal Produce Diary 2005 by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis - (Hardie Grant Books RRP $29.95).
Wine match
This dish is a beautiful Spanish style casserole laden with tender lamb, smoky paprika and the herbaceousness of broad beans; it demands an earthy European wine. Douro Tinto from Quinta do Vallado in Portugal is bursting with intense cassis, berry and red cherry flavours and has a bittersweet chocolate finish. A perfect match in our book.
Any tempranillo would also work wonders, be it Spanish or Australian in origin. The Torres Coronas tempranillo is outstanding, as is their Sangre de Toro blend, which in our opinion anyway, one of the world's best value for money food wines. Australians winemakers are producing more tempranillo, look out for Zilzie, Nepenthe and d'Arenberg