Turkish delight

After a night off cooking, I was looking for something more exotic besides

the usual chicken and chips. I was craving for pizza but my friend said that she had gourmet pizza the previous night. As much as I was craving for pizza, I struggled to think about the next best option. My friend suggested that we head for some Turkish food. Mmmmmmm that sounds good, I thought.

As I stepped in, there was the wonderful Turkish aroma. I thought, this is it. I felt like sampling the different dishes like how the Lebanese do it in mezze style but I didn't want to end up overloading myself. I couldn't resist having the taboulleh since it was a classic middle-eastern salad. As soon as it entered into my mouth, I could taste the crunchiness of the parsley and mint which goes beautifully with the chopped tomato.

Next came the irresitible dips which I thought go hand-in-hand with the

salad. The pink one is the beetroot which had a fruity flavour. Then there was the orange one which was the most spicy as well as the classic hummus. I also loved having it with the Turkish pides which is a Turkish version of their pizza. The dough was crowned with flavoured sausages, herbs and cheese.

Not only was the food splendid but it was great value. The dips, pides and tabbouleh amounted to just over $20.00 which is equivalent to a whole pizza. Thirdly, it's a great place for anyone living around Sydney's upper north shore who is craving for middle-eastern food.

Sultan Turkish Pide & Kebabs
63 Pacific Hwy
Waitara
Ph: (02) 9489 1700

It's Heston!

"I'm Heston and I don't do food in a normal way" (Cheers and rounds of

applause). That pretty much sums up Heston Blumenthal's approach to food. Even though I wasn't familiar with Heston's approach to food, I was curious because he has a multisensory approach to food.

"True eating is a multisensory experience. In other words, it involves all the senses, depending on the surrounding weather and environment. For example, going to the French countryside and having a Mascadet". I could recall how tasting Malaysian dishes tasted better while I was holidaying in Malaysia with the humidity, spices, and of course, eating together as a family.

Interestingly, he comments on food back in his time when he was growing

up. "The 70s was the worst decade for food. Britain had the worst kind of food second to Finland...Olive oil was something to be purchased in the chemist, not in the supermarket". That made me feel grateful that we now have stuff that can be easily purchased from the supermarkets. I especially don't know where we would be without olive oil. We have come a long way in terms of food thanks to immigration.

Just thought I'd highlight some dishes which caught my eye and would love to try when I head to his Fat Duck restaurant.

Heston Blumenthal's mock turtle soup
I was impressed with how this dish reflects on Heston's fascination

with fairytales like Alice in Wonderland and historical receipes. Heston goes on about how the Mad Hatter in Alice dips his fob watch into his tea. At the Fat Duck, he made a fob watch from freeze-dried and concentrated stock and wrapped it in gold feck. When you pour hot water into the teapot, it dissolves into a beautiful brown liquid. This is served with mock turtle soup. So food can be quite theatrical.

Sounds of the sea
The idea of serving seafood with an ipod recording of the crashing waves

just blew me away. I was even more amazed at the ingredients he uses for make it look like sand, like tapioca, fried breadcrumbs, shrimps, oysters, etc. A clear example of how food is multisensory and that sound and eating can be combined.

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

Sydney Cellar Door

Hey guys! Just finished the weekend of wine tasting at Hyde Park, Sydney. As a non-expert in wine tasting, I found it difficult to pick which wine brand or flavouring I was going to taste. There were a range of tastes, including the typical dry taste, fruity flavours and of course, the sweet wines which matches my sweet tooth.



As someone who is curious about the world of wine appreciation, I thought this

event was a great way to introduce people right in front of their doorstep unfamiliar with the wine world into wine appreciation, particularly when one doesn't have to travel all the way to the Hunter. I also couldn't help myself noticing the range of foods available for passbyers even though this is primarily a wine tasting event, including Thai dishes cooked on a paella pan and the famous Lebanese baklavas. Like most outdoor food events, I couldn't resist the aroma.

I must say that there were a few wines which caught my taste. This included

Windowrie's Verdelhol which had a tropical aftertaste alongside with its dry taste. I also loved Logan's Moscato which is a dessert wine that upholds the beautiful combination of sweetness and fizz. I have to admit that some wines had a rose aftertaste. Interesting combination.

More pics from last weekend's event can be seen here

South American festival at Bondi

Hey guys!

I know it's been a while since I did an update but now that I've got a laptop, I can write away on how awesome was that South American festival

was. I couldn't help not resisting those mouthwaterig churros, the long sugary donuts flavoured with chocolate or caramel. I can't help tasting the beautiful blend of cinnamon and sugar which melts in my mouth.



One of the food highlights was the Cuban salad. It has this beautiful

tangy combination of salt, black pepper and vinegar. I loved how the chickpeas and red capsicum go so well together. I have to say how this was a refreshing change to the usual green salads I have during the week.

Besides the food, the performances were eye catching, especially the brilliant combination of martial arts and acrobatics, known as capoeira.

Everytime I head to a Latin-American festival, I always tell myself that I have to watch it. I loved the beats playing as the performers make impressive moves.

Tea Zensations

Since no one has done a blog entry on tea sampling, I thought I'd be the first one to add a tea twist to it given that Chinese New Year celebrations are still going on at the moment. As sweltering as it was today, I couldn't resist the opportunity to get in touch with my culture I was brought up in. Since this was an indoor thing, I much preferred to do something like this where I'd be surrounded by tea fans and foodies, as opposed to dancing in the heat at an outdoor music festival. As I stepped in, I was awed and impressed by the range of clay and porcelein teapots displayed. Immediately, I knew that I was in the right place.


I couldn't wait to sample the different teas. I was surprised that there

were cold teas like the Hibiscus Blossom Tea which was a perfect summer thirst quencher. I couldn't help admiring the ruby red colour which could have been mistaken as a juice. What was even more perfect was the fact that we drank the tea in combination with eating steamed lightly-salted fresh soya beans. Gee, this is really healthy I thought.



Next came along the green tea Long Ching (Dragon Well) tea which comes

from Hangzhou. This is considered to be the most premnium green tea all around. The tea leaves are shaped like a flat sword which gives a cleansing nutty flavour and bitter aftertaste. I could always recall Raymond always smelling the teas and chewing the tea. This went beautifully when eating when buckwheat soup noodles.




Thirdly, there was the Milky Oolong which came from Taiwan. I tried to

emulate and learn how Raymond poured the tea in a cute little cylinder-shaped cup and placed the small bowl-shaped cup on top of the cylinder. He then places his thumb and 2nd finger and turns it upside town and rolls the cylinder in both palms while smelling it at the same time. I could smell and taste the sweet vanilla aroma.

Second last was the Pu-Erh (Vintage Black teas) which was presented as a cake form. I loved it how Raymond described the tea as being "deceptive because most people thought of it as being high in caffeine levels with its dark appearance than green tea leaves when it is actually milder than most green teas. This went perfectly with the assorted Dim Sims.





Then there was the bouquet tea which I could clearly describe it as having

a sea urchin and floral appearance. As I poured, it gave a lovely golden colour. During the numerous tea demos, I noticed how Raymond prepared one of the teas by cleansing the little cups and pouring the tea onto a clay teapot. He emphasised that a good clay teapot should have a lid that tightly seals the fitting. More shots from the session can be seen here.

Chinese New Year markets

I can't believe Chinese New Year has finally arrived! Here I was in Belmore Park across Eddy Ave. I was surrounded by traditional red lanterns hanging in the tree, numerous food and craft stalls, stage performances, cooking demos and more. Interstingly enough, some people were wearing red since red symbolises good luck and fortune especially at this time of the year. Besides the food, I couldn't help checking out the numerous performances happening throughout the day and the mainland Chinese art and craft stalls.



I loved noticing and tasting the variety of Chinese foods, including the

har gow (prawn dumplings), martarmek (Indonesian savoury pancakes filled with shallots, onion and chicken), satays, and Malaysian style sweetpancakes given the variety of stalls. Having tasted the martamek, I thought it was a refreshing change from the spring rolls which is typical of Chinese food. The outside felt like the crunchiness of spring rolls.

But there is more to the markets besides the food. Observing the folk art and the performances helped me to keep in touch with my culture. It raised my awareness of how rich in culture it is, artistically speaking. I personally reckon that these performances and folk art should be done at the Art Gallery of NSW if we are to promote and raise awareness on aspects of Chinese culture, especially for Chinese New Year. I admired the bamboo carvings which dictates scenes of ancient China, papercrafts, traditional Chinese paintings and woodblock printing, and the folk embroidery works on shoe soles. More pics from the markets can be seen here.