Taste of Sydney

What a weekend it was! It seems we are blessed with our

beautiful weather which gives us room to hold fantastic outdoor food festivals like Taste Sydney. Within the fourhourly sessions, there were loads to see including the numerous cooking demos by well-known pastry chefs like Vincent Gadan, numerous signature dishes of some well-known restaurants including Peter Kuruvita's Flying Fish, Miguel Maestro's Aperitif, etc.



I couldn't resist the opportunity to check out Vincent

Gadan's demo of his version of an Apple Tartin at the Patisse stand. I just love checking out the different versions of apple tarts made by different chefs. In my mind, I was expecting the classic apple flan but he surprised us

all with his hemisphere-like puff pastry acting as a shell to the apple and caramel. It was interesting to see how he adds caramel to the diced apples, plus the geletin and vanilla bean. It gave a beautiful sweet, buttery smell that floated around the room. The cooking utensils like the silicon baking moulds also raised my attention since most of us use those made out of metal. I should note that tip down for next time I do baking. Oui chef!

Since I never eat Spanish food too often, I couldn't resist the opportunity to taste Miguel's Regal King Salmon Curado with Chilli and Star Anise. As soon as I tasted it, it just melted in my mouth. Never have I tasted salmon that good. The dill and caviar go beautifully and hand-in-hand with the steak salmon. One of the highlights of that day was Miguel showing me around and talking through his cuisine which I thought was very generous and kind of him. I also loved his churros con chocolate which tasted very crispy and crunchy. I liked it because the plain pastry itself wasn't dipped in cinnamon sugar which also wasn't necessary. The crunchiness of the churros without the cinnamon sugar does enough justice. Whilst eating, I couldn't help noticing Manu Feidel dancing around and singing.

Other dishes which I also savoured my appetite for and

tastebuds included Peter Kuruvita's barbecued prawns on a stick flavoured with black pepper, citrus and curry leaves. I also loved the peaches cooked as a sweet/savoury dish with chopped bacon and rocket. What a unique way to combine fruit and savoury ingredients.

Some sweets like Sweetness the Patiserrie appear so beautiful. I couldn't help admiring the marble-like textures of their sweets plus the heart-shapes. Other things I savoured included the sweet wines and fruity cocktails. By the end of the day, my stomach became alcoholic.

More pics from the event can be seen here