Latest Content:
Beef Wellington for reformed romantics
The first time I cooked for show I went for broke: Beef Wellington with all the trimmings. The occasion provides vivid memories. I had just moved into an unfamiliar house, I had no idea how the oven worked, and would not have picked the difference between a beef fillet and a shoulder of lamb.
Such a [...]
The perfect steak, very rare; a parable for meat lovers
It took me a long time to decide how best to serve a steak. The ‘How rare is rare?’ syndrome. But it all came together one dreary winter’s night when the front door of the restaurant was swept open and into our presence came a gentleman who was wearing the clothes he had received at [...]
Lamb and Beef, Pork and Veal
The best way to cook meats well at home is to cultivate a good butcher. And the best way to cultivate a good butcher is to open an account.
Accounts are strange social instruments. They guarantee a happy repartee until one party lets down the other. So, you will get to know your butcher, and he [...]
Antipasto
I was getting a little tired of all the salt-laden antipasto around town: all sorts of olives, prosciutto, pickled vegetables, the ubiquitous bottled artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, sardines and such. Too much salt; too much deadening of the palate, but worse, not enough hard work from the kitchen. Then I went to Sydney and tried the [...]
Pine mushrooms, colourful pals
There’s an old rule which pops up whenever mushrooms pop up in the fields and paddocks and forests. Don’t eat any which display blazing colours. But, like all rules, there is a wild exception. Pine mushrooms are bright orange, and their gills turn green when you rub them. If ever nature was trying to warn [...]
Cauliflower with onions and garlic
Cauliflower happens to be a wildly under-rated vegetable, and it’s served poorly, more often than not. A cauliflower, picked at its peak in the middle of winter, has a feel and flavour like few other vegetables. Cauli should be cooked longer than is conventionally believed. I like to cook it until it takes a knife [...]
A colourful pastry: a French routine with Greek flavours
I made this up on the telephone. An old friend had organised a picture shoot of his home for Belle magazine. The shoot was to include a few restaurateurs and me, and our food. My job was to provide the entree. I wanted something which would work in pictures, as well as flavour. I was [...]
Aaah, Asparagus
haven’t always enjoyed asparagus. Again it comes down to the influences of youth. I seem to recall trying asparagus at a pub counter lunch years ago. It was mushy, yellowing at the tip and tasted aggressive. But not as aggressive as it smelt, afterwards, you know, afterwards. It was an altogether unpleasant experience, and not [...]
Sorrel soup
When my precious took the first slurp of my sorrel soup, I thought a horse must have tip-toed into the room and left a message on the easy chair at my back. Her eyes widened and took on a slightly acidic sheen, her nose shot up, and her lips curled the curl of utter contempt.
I [...]
Radicchio braised with blue cheese, compliments of Stephanie’s
When it comes to the re-awareness, or re-interpretation of dishes, or discovery of ingredients, then nobody works harder or does it better than Stephanie Alexander, the well-known restaurateur and brilliant writer on food and food matters.
I think if I could wish for anybody in the business to cook for me at home, it would be [...]