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OzeVillage
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Issue 14 - Remembering old Favourites |
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Old favourites in any case very often become new favourites. Just recently I ate a wonderful meal at one of Melbournes top restaurants - Pearl. Under desserts were old favourites such as coconut ice, lamingtons and hedgehogs, which I had never heard about before but which turns out to be a little cake with slivered almonds standing up on the outside like so many quills.
It would be great to hear from our customers if they have fond memories of a favourite dish and what that would be. It would be fun to list some of these and possibly exchange the recipes in the hope that we will be able to keep old favourites alive in our food repertoires.
Easter - Remember old favourites
April has always been one of my favourite months - it has wonderful weather moving us from the heat of summer into the cooler months without winters bite. Cool but sunny days, wonderful colouring in the trees (particularly noticeable if you live in Canberra, Victoria or Tasmania) and the need for another blanket on the bed. Thoughts turn to soups or casseroles and something more filling than a salad.
It is also time for persimmons, pears, pomegranates, new seasons apples, grapes, mandarins, brussels sprouts, and the root vegetables such as swedes and turnips. It is also the perfect time to think about barbecues. Summer has never been the best time for cooking over the open flame - it is either too hot or the fire season precludes cooking outside.
We should all perhaps look at ways in which we can make our outdoor cooking more adventurous by adding to the traditional barbecue foods. Whilst we are expert at barbecuing meat and fish, vegetables are brilliant on the grill plate. Capsicums, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions we already use but eggplant, sliced potatoes or pumpkin, zucchini, Jerusalem artichokes, turnips, beetroot are all delicious when cooked this way. Another vegetable that is bliss on a barbecue is corn on the cob. Keep the outer leaves attached, strip out the silk, add salt, pepper and a little butter to the cob and tie it up again in its green sleeve which protects it from the flames and the heat. When cooked, peel back the covering and the cob will be slightly caramelised and wonderful to eat.
Having cooked the main course on the barbecue there is no reason not to also cook dessert on the grill plate. Whilst peaches and nectarines are on the decline in autumn, sliced apples, pears, bananas, pineapple have a special flavour when cooked with a little honey or alcohol.
Now that we have rediscovered autumn at the barbecue, we can also rediscover the great outdoors - as it is the perfect season for bushwalking, picnics and being out and about. Nobody wants to be walking in the heat of the summer and picnic baskets always need resuscitating after an hour in the heat of a summers day. Whether it is an adults wish to get back to the school lunch box, I love picnics at Easter. For me, no Easter break is complete without at least one picnic and I love a good pie or quiche, cheeses and fruits and a bottle of wine. The picnic seems at its best during Easter and it is a perfect excuse for reviving Mums pikelets or slices to have with coffee as a finale of the day.
I dont know why ones mind goes to old favourites as the winter draws near. Possibly it is because they are the comfort foods that we crave when it is colder or because nothing is better for the season than the soups and stews that we all remember so fondly.
Old favourites in any case very often become new favourites. Just recently I ate a wonderful meal at one of Melbournes top restaurants - Pearl. Under desserts were old favourites such as coconut ice, lamingtons and hedgehogs, which I had never heard about before but which turns out to be a little cake with slivered almonds standing up on the outside like so many quills. I did however ask the food icon Margaret Fulton what she thought a hedgehog was and she mentioned that it was sometimes a half pear turned upside down and covered with chocolate sauce and then the slivered almonds. You learn something every day!
How amazing and yet heart warming however, to see such things on an upmarket menu.
It would be great to hear from our customers if they have fond memories of a favourite dish and what that would be. It would be fun to list some of these and possibly exchange the recipes in the hope that we will be able to keep old favourites alive in our food repertoires.
In the meantime have a wonderful Easter around the barbecue or with your family and friends on a picnic. These are precious times that we should all treasure - much like the old, loved recipes in fact.
The Happy Gourmet
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