Things Julia Child has Taught Me (That Have Nothing to do With the Art of French Cookery!)

Tags

Career Change, Cooking, Friendship, Health, Health Coaching, Julia Child, Learn to cook, Passion, Quotes

Isn’t that the BEST pic?
(Original image by Paul Child)

I’m a little bit in love with Julia Child. You could say I have a girl-crush on her.

Don’t know who Julia Child is? – Where have you been?

In a nutshell, Julia was a TV chef and author. She is most famous for adapting complex French cooking for everyday Americans, in a time when cooking was not in vogue, with her groundbreaking cookbook ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’.

Mainly, I love the paradox of Julia – so very sensible and yet, at the same time, so wonderfully kooky and eccentric.

And, I love that she was middle-aged before she found her true passion. She may have started cooking in her thirties (like me!), but it was much later that this became her driving force. And, she found such joy in her cooking.

Julia Child gives me confidence that I can change direction. In a big way, too.

So, today’s post is a celebration of Julia…

I totally relate to this. I didn’t really start to cook until my thirties, either. But I have always loved to eat! And if you haven’t yet really mastered cooking, it’s never too late to learn!

And, it took me a while to find my cooking mojo. Like any craft – learning to cook takes practice. It’s only by trial and error that you gain confidence.

But, the really great thing about being able to cook is that everybody has to eat.

Sure, some people enjoy food more than others, but everyone eats… And, it’s a skill that will ensure you never have to eat another take away meal again (unless you really want to!).

I’m not a fancy cook. Nuh-uh! In fact, my preference is to keep things pretty simple. Unless it’s a special occasion, of course.

But I do insist on good ingredients. The best I can find. By this I mean – as Julia says – as fresh as possible, minimally messed with (preferably organic), and locally grown if I can get it.

That also means I head to my farmers market every weekend. LM comes with me. So does Bella. And, anyone else I can drag along. I love it. I talk to the farmers. I buy what’s in season. And I get ideas for my cooking experiments. LM is a willing subject!

While I’m a big advocate of keeping things simple, I have learnt that some level of planning is key. Having a good stash of homemade stock (bone broth) at the ready in my freezer means I can always whip up something healthy and tasty, even on those nights I can’t face cooking from scratch. Once a month, I make a big jar of fermented vegetables (TSL’s House Kraut), which keeps my gut happy! And, I’m a fan of batch cooking.

You’ve heard me say it before – Cook once to eat twice or thrice. That way, there’s always something in your larder as back up.

I’ve discovered that I’m really passionate about getting healthy. I’ve been doing this by applying the principles of Sarah Ballantyne’s Autoimmune Protocol.

Over the past two years, I’ve changed the way I eat. I’ve changed the way I approach sleep (hint: it’s a priority!) And, I’m pretty committed to managing my stress levels, too.

Along the way, I’ve been voraciously reading, learning and trying out realistic ways we can apply healthy changes to our every-day lives.

And, it’s been so successful for me that I now want to share that knowledge by working with others to effect healthy changes to their lives. I’ve recently qualified as a Health Coach. I’m in the process of designing my website. And, this blog will eventually migrate over to the new site.

So, you’ll notice a few changes heading this way at Casa TSL in the coming weeks. More on that in a later post. I hope you’ll stick with me…

The more I explore this healthy living gig that we’ve adopted here at Casa TSL, the more I realise that I will never know everything there is to know about it. Impossible.

And, I’m not alone. New discoveries are being made every day.

For example: – even five years ago, we had no idea just how important the health of our microbiome was to our general well-being. We hadn’t made the connection between gut health and how it has the capacity to affect such diverse aspects of our physiology as our mental health and our immune system.

And, I’ve discovered I really like learning about health. It’s such a positive topic – especially when small changes can have such dramatic effects.

So, the wonderfully ebullient Julia Child has taught me a lot. I’ve followed her advice and found something I’m passionate about. And, I AM tremendously interested in it. It’s inextricably tied to cooking real food well. Which is mighty convenient – because that’s also a passion for me. 

Have you found something you’re passionate about?

 

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Make Cooking Your (Next) Hobby

Tags

Cooking, food, Healthy Cooking, Hobbies, Hobby, Learn to cook, Sugar

If you want to get healthy, make cooking your(next) hobby!

I’m going to get mildly provocative for a moment and just put it out there that I believe you need to cook if you want to get really healthy. And, the corollary of that is, of course, that this will involve spending time in your kitchen. Unless you have as much money as Oprah, and have your own personal chef.

I have discussed this belief of mine on more than one occasion with The Paleo PI, most recently at our last Autoimmune Protocol Picnic. I quite like talking with PI. He’s male, and I’m not. He lives in a different city to me. And, there’s almost 20 years between us. He almost always gives me a different perspective. And he happens to be a great guy…

PI reckons he’s not much of a cook. I think he’s a little on the modest side. He’s successfully cooked for me, after all.

And – like anything – cooking takes practise. The more you do it, the better you get. And, given I happen to have a few years on PI, I’ve had a little more time to practise!

I didn’t start really cooking until I turned 30. Until then, I just ate!

I’ve mentioned before that my Mum is a great cook. We ate very well as a family growing up. My Mum’s chicken liver pâté remains a firm favourite for all of us. My annual birthday meal request was always filet of beef with Mum’s béarnaise sauce, usually served with duck-fat roast potatoes and green beans. And, I am still mourning the fact that I will never experience one of her 100% homemade Christmas mince tarts again (made with the shortest of gluten-filled pastry). They are so, so, SO good!*

But me, I didn’t really start to cook until I turned about 30. Don’t get me wrong, I loved to eat. Still do! But, cooking wasn’t really my thing during my traveling 20’s. I was too busy to do much more than reheat.

And, reheating is not cooking.

Now, I can’t help but wonder if I had cooked more and eaten out less; if I had taken more notice of what I was choosing to put into my mouth; if I had been more mindful about my food choices, would I still have had the same autoimmune issues…?

I suspect the answer is: probably. It’s never that simple. But, it has definitely contributed.

(Image from here)

I happen to quite like the actual craft of cooking. I definitely love eating good food. But, for me the real enjoyment is about the whole process – selecting the freshest seasonal and local produce at the markets, talking with the farmers (and sometimes the butchers) to understand where my meat comes from, learning about the nutrient density of the food I am ingesting, and the knowledge that the food I am preparing for those I love is doing them good.

And, occasionally, I like satisfying LM’s sweet tooth with a healthier version of traditional deserts and ice creams. And, in his case, this always means dairy free.

But, you don’t have to love cooking to make it your hobby.

You just need to want to make healthy choices. And, you can’t make healthy choices if you are always dining out or eating out of packets.

I dragged LM off to see That Sugar Film earlier in the week (I recommend the film!). Did you know that there is sugar added to approximately 80% of all products sold in an Australian supermarket? And that’s before we even start talking added preservatives, GMO foods, trans fats and other nasties.

‘That Sugar Film’ Q & A at the Orpheum cinema
(Image by TSL)

Do yourself a favour and spend some (more) time in your kitchen this week.

Commit to it. If you’re not a cook, start slow. Start easy. Make some bone broth. Make a frittata. Make a Jamie Oliver Inspired Four Hour Lamb (If you leave off making the gravy, it only has 3 ingredients!)

Do you cook? Have you made cooking your hobby? I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on this topic!

*Maybe I’ll start working on a gluten-free version…?

TSL’s Greatest Hits to Date

Tags

Autoimmune Protocol, Cooking, Jamie Oliver, Luke Mangan, MTHFR, Nigella Lawson, Nightshades, Pete Evans, Recipes, Sophie Digard

…only I’m not NEARLY as fit. Or as flexible. And, I don’t have any tattoos. And, frankly, my singing voice sucks. But otherwise…
(Image from here)

Some posts just keep on giving. And, recently there’s been a bit of movement on my ‘Greatest Hits’ page…

Of course, these are the ‘All Time Greatest Hits’. So, depending on when something is posted may well have an impact on its popularity.

It’s interesting (to me, anyway!) just which posts make the top ten. Some of them are no brainers. Jamie and Luke tend to compete for 1st and 2nd place. But some, like my failed attempts to crochet (which is STILL holding firm at number 11) remain a mystery.

And, a couple of my own recipes – AIP compliant, no less, are fast moving up the ranks… Woop! The AIP movement is growing, too – two of my more ‘information oriented’ (and recent) posts on subjects like MTHFR and nightshades have surprised me in their popularity.

Hope you enjoy this wee trip down the memory lane of TSL’s most popular posts…

1. Luke Mangan’s SERIOUSLY GOOD Osso Buco

2. Jamie Oliver and His BEST EVER Pukka Spiced Slow-cooked Lamb Shanks

3. Sophie Digard & Her Creative Crochet

4. Not Quite Nigella (But Her Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake Recipe)

5. Heston’s Way to a Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg

6. Pete Evans and His SERIOUSLY GOOD Bliss Balls…

7. What is This MTHFR I Keep Hearing About?

8. Osso Buco – AIP Style

9. Autoimmunity and the Removal of Nightshades from Your Diet

10. RIDICULOUSLY GOOD Herbed Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks

(Image by TSL)

…and, in case you’re interested, THAT crochet post!

11. Learning to Crochet; a Lesson in Perseverance

My FAVOURITE Root Vegetable Soup

Tags

AIP, Autpimmune Protocol, Cheap Eats, Cooking, Family, frugal, Graham Kerr, Paleo, Recipe, Soup, Vegetable Soup, vegetarian

(Image by TSL)

I’m currently on the Autoimmune Protocol, a nutrient-rich elimination diet that removes foods that irritate the gut, cause gut imbalance and activate the immune system. You can read more about the protocol and why I’m doing this here.

What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents. (Michael Chiarello)

I have such fond memories of sitting down to a big bowl of my Mum’s soup on rainy winter afternoons when I was a girl. Mum had this thing about us all sitting down together as a family at meal times (which I now appreciate!). We would have lovely steaming bowls of soup served with toasted Vogel’s bread and butter. Dad’s favourite soup was a beef shin consommé. And mine was Mum’s root vegetable soup. I LOVED it. Turns out I still do.

Mum’s root vegetable soup was based on a Graham Kerr (aka the Galloping Gourmet) number. It’s a super thick and hearty vegetable soup. Chock full of goodness.

Even now, the memory of that soup takes me back to the round table at our old family home in Auckland…

Isn’t it lovely how certain foods can evoke such strong memories?

After I posted about bone broth the other day, a girlfriend asked for some ideas on how to incorporate more of this wonder-food into her family’s diet. One thing led to another. The synapses started firing in ways I don’t begin to understand, and I somehow arrived at my childhood root vegetable soup… A perfect way to use lots of yummy chicken bone broth. And, with the added bonus of including a seriously hefty amount of vegetables. Gotta’ be happy with that combo!

The beautiful thing about this soup is that, thanks to all those lovely root veggies, it is wonderfully sweet. Kids will love it!

And of course, this version is autoimmune protocol-friendly, too.

(Image by TSL)

Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor. Marge Kennedy

So, here’s my take on Graham Kerr’s soup. I reckon it comes pretty close to his in flavour – and, I’ve added some turmeric because its such a potent anti-inflammatory.

I’m pretty chuffed with how my soup turned out. I’ll definitely be making it again, and I’d love to hear from you if you give it a go, too…

The BEST Root Vegetable Soup

• Servings: 5-6
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy-peasy
• Print

(Image by TSL)

Ingredients

1 x Tablespoon fat (I used coconut oil)
2 x large onions, chopped
2 x cloves garlic
750g kumara or sweet potato (2 large ones)
750g carrots (about 5 large ones)
1 x teaspoon dried sage
1 x teaspoon dried oregano
1 x teaspoon dried basil
1 x teaspoon turmeric
2 1/2 cups chicken bone broth/stock (substitute with vegetable stock for a vegetarian option)
1 x cup coconut milk
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Method

1. Throw your fat into a large pot. Melt over a medium heat.

2. Add chopped onion and sweat for ten minutes (I use a timer) While the onions are working their magic, peel and chop the kumara and carrots. Peel and crush the garlic.

3. Add the garlic to the pot. Stir for a minute or two. Add the kumara, carrots, herbs and turmeric. Season generously with salt. Sweat the mixture for a further ten minutes. Give it a good stir every now and then.

4. Add the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil. Pop on the lid and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for thirty minutes.

5. Carefully purée your mixture (in batches) in your blender. Add the coconut milk as you blend.

6. Taste for seasoning and serve with freshly chopped parsley as a garnish.

E N J O Y !

Shared on the Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Round Table

My Salt isn’t as Pretty as Simon Johnson’s Salt…

Tags

Cooking, craft, food, Gail Simmons, Garlic, Garlic salt, Homemade, Homemade Christmas Present, Preserves, Salt, Sea salt, Simon Johnson

Garlic Salt à la TSL
(Image by TSL)

Dark chocolate, and salt and vinegar chips are my weakness – but not together. (Gail Simmons)

When I told you I had a toothache last week, I was understating things a little. Tooth issues can be nasty. So much so, that I don’t think we want to relive it. So we won’t.

What I will say is that when I was in the city having yet another dental appointment on Friday, LM and I happened upon Simon Johnson’s pop up at the MLC Centre. Apparently, its been there since October. Huh.

I love Simon Johnson’s.

For the uninitiated, the man himself (originally from across the ditch in New Zealand) is a serious food providore. He now has 8 Simon Johnson retail stores around the country –  all stocking some of Australia’s best ranges of imported and home-grown quality foods, sourced from over 80 producers internationally. His Woollahra store has the most divine cheese room AND the well-trained crew he has on board offer you a complimentary coffee when you step into the store. And, it is great coffee!

So, since the pop up shop was there, I had to have a browse. Two reasons for this, really. It would have been rude not to. And, when you can’t find Christmas presents for anyone on your list, the rule is you can buy something for yourself. Well, that’s my rule, anyway.

Time for a small segue – I’m making a few Christmas presents this year. One of the homemade items in my repertoire is flavoured salt. I’m actually getting a little obsessed with the whole idea. Have you tried it? It’s so good! Salt is a natural preservative and holds flavour incredibly well. It will extract the moisture from whatever ingredients you choose to add to it – say fresh herbs, citrus, garlic – and preserve the flavour. Those favours are then imparted into whatever dish you add the flavoured salt to. Genius!

At dinner parties I sit below the salt now. There are a lot of interesting people there. (Donald T. Regan)

I started with garlic salt. As with all things, the better your ingredients, the better your end product. So, I roasted some lovely organic garlic before squishing the meat out of each wee clove and then mashed them all up and mixed them with some Himalayan sea salt, before dehydrating the resulting mixture in a very low oven…

This is what mine looked like…

Garlic Salt (sans label) à la TSL
(Image by TSL)

Yep – it looks like plain, unadulterated Himalayan sea salt. BUT, it actually tastes fantastic – full of roasted garlic flavour. I have been adding it to all sorts of dishes with gay abandon and achieving great tasting results.

So, while I wasn’t wildly enthusiastic about my salt’s visual appeal, I was ok with that…

Until I saw this at Simon Johnson’s…

Falksalt Wild Garlic Salt Flakes
(Image from here)

For just $7.50 you can get this beautiful looking flaked salt with lovely speckles of wild garlic mixed throughout. SO much prettier than mine. And, that’s not all.

Check out these flavours.

Falksalt Smoked Salt Flakes
(Image from here)

Falksalt Rosemary Salt Flakes
(Image from here)

Falksalt Citron Salt Flakes
(Image from here)

Clearly, the presentation of my flavoured salt needs some work. I had to pick up some Ortiz anchovies and some Aphrodite halloumi to console myself (so perhaps that will go some way to make up for my disappointment!)

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

If you’re a foodie visiting Sydney, pop Simon Johnson’s Woollahra store onto your list. You can find it at 55 Queen Street, Woollahra, NSW, 2025. It’s open 7 days and chock-full of lots of wee goodies.

And, if you’re in the city, William at the MLC pop up store was most helpful when we visited!

OzHarvest – What a Cause…

Tags

Bill Granger, Charity, Cookbook, Cooking, food, George Calombaris, Maggie Beer, Neil Perry, OzHarvest, Peter Gilmore, Ronni Kahn, Sydney OzHarvest

It’s been a little quiet on the TSL front lately. Sorry about that – the change in seasons brought about a spot of the bot. And then, well – life just got in the way. But here I am…

OzHarvest Cookbook Image
(Image by TSL)

If you live in Australia, particularly Sydney, you kind of have to have been living under a rock if you don’t know about what the seriously fabulous peeps at OzHarvest achieve.

OzHarvest is a charity that rescues excess food which would otherwise be discarded. This excess food is then distributed to other charities supporting the vulnerable and under-privileged in Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Ronni, OzHarvest Founder
(Image from OzHarvest)

Founded in Sydney by the very charismatic and inspirational Ronni Kahn in November 2004, OzHarvest began with one van and delivered 4,000 meals in their first month of operations. In Sydney, OzHarvest currently delivers over 320,000 meals per month with a fleet of 11 vehicles. And yes, you read that correctly – 320,000 meals.

Australia wide OzHarvest delivers 441,500 meals per month with a fleet of 15 vans. That’s about 147 tonnes of food each month.

To our friends at OzHarvest,

You help us out immensely with all of the food that you donate to us. We are able to provide our community with fresh fruit, vegetables and other things that help us make delicious meals for all to eat. The residents really appreciate all the stock that is donated by you and are very thankful. Keep up the great work.

(Sarah M, OzHarvest Recipient)

When you check out some of the statistics around food wastage, it really is pretty scary. Well, it was to me. See what you think…

* Australians waste up to 20% of the food we buy. That means for every 5 bags of groceries we purchase, we throw way 1 of them
* Australians throw away $7.8 billion worth of food every year. That’s about $1036 per household. I know I’m guilty of throwing away food.
* Of every 10 pieces of fruit or vegetables grown by suppliers, between 2 and 4 pieces are rejected by supermarkets, usually because they don’t meet the strict cosmetic guidelines of colour, shape and size. Seriously? Let’s hear it for sexy-ugly heirloom tomatoes…
* More than 25% of all school lunches end up in the bin I wonder if the teenager has contributed to that statistic?

And, that’s just here in Australia. Worlwide, try these numbers on for size…

* The world’s richest countries have nearly twice as much food as their populations require
* Up to 50%of the entire food supply is wasted between the farm and the fork
* ALL the world’s hungry people (nearly 1 billion of them) could be saved from malnourishment by 25% of the food wasted by rich countries

OzHarvest Cookbook
(image by TSL)

I suspect one of the reasons OzHarvest has established such a huge level of awareness, not to mention success, is the calibre of the ambassadors it has recruited from the local food industry down under. Many of them are represented in the recently launched OzHarvest Cookbook, which uncovers secrets from top chefs’ for using leftovers and is very much a who’s who of the Australian cooking scene. It includes leftover recipes from Maggie Beer, George Calombaris, Peter Gilmore, Bill Granger and Neil Perry.

I have posted about the gorgeous Maggie Beer and her plum cobbler recipe here, and I still think she’s wonderful. And, her recipes, too! But, the OzHarvest Cookbook recipe that I most want to try is Peter Gilmore’s garlic custards with smoked ham juices and peas…

Garlic custards with smoked ham juice and peas by Peter Gilmore
(Image by TSL)

I do love a savoury custard. And, if it’s a Peter Gilmore recipe, you know it will be something special. I’m just not so sure I can translate it into a successful dairy-free version for LM.

If you’d like to learn more about the amazing work carried out by OzHarvest, or if you’d like to order a cookbook or donate, head to the website here.

Blog Stalking Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind

Tags

Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind, Cooking, Dairy Free, dessert, Food Porn, Paleo, Primal, Real Food, Recipe, San Diego, Sea World, Trifle, United States, Wordpress

Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind Header
(Image from CEWADM)

I want to tell you about a fabulous woman. We have never met in the flesh, but I follow her gorgeous blog. It’s called Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind (CEWADM).  I can’t even remember how I found her. Probably through one of my random WordPress searches.

She lives in San Diego. At least, I think she does. She’s irreverent and funny and she conducts amazing experiments with paleo-oriented recipes which she tests on her non-paleo partner and various friends. If they make the grade, she posts them on her blog. I kind of wish I lived in San Diego so she could use me as one of her foodie guinea pigs. San Diego has Sea World, too…

(Image from Comic JK)

Sidebar: For those of you who aren’t aware, LM and I sort of, kind of, follow a paleo-ish diet. With LM’s dairy and shellfish allergies, and my problems with gluten AND a real interest in eating less sugar and less processed food, a sort of paleo/primal/Weston A. Price/’real and traditional food’ hybrid is slowly evolving at Casa TSL.

Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies by CEWADM
(Image and recipe from here)

That being said, a lot of the recipes in CEWADM fall under the category of ‘sweets’. And, as mentioned, I try not to eat too much sugar. So, for a while, I looked but didn’t touch. The blog was a source of food porn, but I hadn’t tried any of the recipes. All that changed with the Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies. Seriously good. Seriously. Even for non-paleo peeps.

And then, I might just have mentioned that LM’s favourite dessert of all time was trifle. Just in passing, you understand…

Guess what happened? THIS happened…

The oh-so-fabulous Vanessa at CEWADM created a paleo (read: dairy free) trifle recipe for LM. More specifically, she created two trifle recipes for him – a peach crunch number and a raspberry chocolate hazelnut version. HOW COOL IS SHE???

Check it out…

Paleo Trifles by CEWADM
(Image and recipe from here)

Go and check out Vanessa and her fab’ blog, including the special trifle recipe, (here) before she gets her cookbook deal. Trust me – you don’t have to be paleo to appreciate it!

Best Sydney Breakfast (& Lunch) Spots: Cornersmith

Tags

Cheese Making, Cooking, Cornersmith, food, Michael Pollan, Ploughman's lunch, Sustainable Food, Sydney Dining, Traditional Food, Urban Beehive

Cornersmith Ploughman’s
(Image by TSL)

Cornersmith Lunch
(Image by TSL)

Cornersmith Egg & Greens
(Image by TSL)

I know. I know. Before you say anything, I know that that first image of me chowing down on Cornersmith’s take on a Ploughman’s is hardly breakfast fare. But, when you hear how good it was AND that this place might just be my newest foodie obsession (I’ve been there twice in the past week, once for breakfast and once for lunch), perhaps you’ll allow me a little grace…?

Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.(Michael Pollan)

If you subscribe to Michael Pollan‘s way of thinking about food, then you will love, love, LOVE Cornersmith. I promise.

I have been hearing such great things about this quirky-yet-cool cafe for quite a while, and then my special blogging buddy, BCD recommended it – so, I had to drag LM off for a look-see. I only wish I hadn’t left it so long.

Cornersmith
(Images by TSL)

Located on the corner of Illawara and Petersham Roads in Marrickville – great if you’re an inner-westie like me! – the very hip Cornersmith offers a frequently changing blackboard menu made up of locally sourced and fresh produce, coupled with preserves and pickles made on site. If that’s not enough to tickle your taste buds, they are even part of the Urban Beehive project AND offer cheese-making classes. It’s a wee foodie nirvana…

This morning, my avocado, coriander, citrus and chilli with sprouts on rye (well, in my case gluten free toast) was just what my tummy wanted. LM had the poached egg roll with free range salami, quince aioli, pickled fennel and brussels slaw. He chose to save the top half of his roll so he could taste the house-made crab apple jelly. It was so good we had to take a jar home with us. We’ve already got a jar of the zucchini pickles from last time – I had them with the ploughman’s and they were sooooo yummy.

Cornersmith Pickles and Preserves Retail Station
(Image by TSL)

A word of warning – Cornersmith ain’t huge. There was lots of room for us this Monday morning, but it can get mighty busy come peak times. Be prepared for a wait at the weekend.

Cornersmith in Marrickville
(Images by TSL)

Cornersmith is now open 7 days and can be found at 314 Illawara Road, Marrickville. I reckon’ its fab’.

I Have a Crush on Peter Gordon…

Tags

Book, Cookbook, Cooking, food, Gift, Kiwi, kiwi hospitality, London, Marylebone High Street, michael mcgrath, New Zealand, Peter Gordon, Recipe, restaurants, Shopping

Image of Peter Gordon taken by Jonathon Gregson
(Image from here)

When I last lived in London, a million years ago now, I could often be found at The Providores and Tapa Room on Marylebone High Street. I loved it for its laid back Kiwi hospitality. I loved it for its most excellent flat whites. I loved it for its amazing cocktails. And, most of all, I loved it for the seriously great brunch menu.

When LM and I were in London earlier this year, I think we visited the Tapa Room four times for breakfast. It is still as good as I remember. If you are visiting London, a visit to Peter Gordon and Michael McGrath’s institution (it has been around since 2001), is well worth a look-see.

If you have not yet come across the understated and talented Mr Gordon, you should know that he is widely credited as being the ‘godfather’ of fusion cuisine. He is famous for his unique culinary philosophy where he mixes cuisines, flavours and styles of cookery. I think his food is also very clean on the palate. And, of course, the fact that he happens to hail from New Zealand, makes him just a wee bit special.

So, when I was out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping yesterday, I was very pleased to see Peter has come out with a new book. Better still, it is called ‘Everyday’ and is all about how one can create fusion-style food at home. Of course, I bought it (duh!). I have yet to cook from it but after spending a happy hour reading through it, I can tell you there are several recipes I want to try toot sweet…

Peter Gordon ‘Everyday’ (Australasia Edition)

Five Spice Steamed Pork with Noodles and Broccoli, anyone…?

You can pick up a copy of Peter Gordon’s Everyday here. I think he’s fab’…

Destination Victor Churchill – Meat-lover’s Paradise…

Tags

Butcher, Charcuterie, Cooking, Design, food, Meat, Nat King Cole, Peter Gilmore, Protein, Retail, Sydney, Travel, Victor Churchill

Victor Churchill Shop Front
(Image from here)

Primarily I’m a meat man, although once in a while I toy with a few vegetables. (Nat King Cole)

If you ask LM what he’d like to do on a lazy Sunday, he will suggest a visit to Victor Churchill’s. It’s his happy place.

When my father comes to visit from New Zealand, he considers Victor Churchill a favourite destination. We bought him a full-day Charcuterie course for Christmas last year. He was not disappointed (and we dined extremely well on his confit of duck).

Peter Gilmore, Executive Chef of Quay restaurant – which currently sits at number 29 in the San Pelligrino top 50 – says it’s his favourite food shop anywhere in the world. If its good enough for Peter, I reckon it’s worth a blog post…

The original Victor Churchill’s was established in 1876. Father and son team, Victor and Anthony Puharich, founders of the highly regarded Vic’s Premium Quality Meats, are the fourth owners of the butcher shop in its 136 year history.

Inside, it is a shrine to protein and has literally changed the way people look at butcheries. It’s got major bells and whistles in the form of a Himalayan salt-brick wall and the kind of visual merchandising you would more likely associate with high-end fashion (in fact it has been dubbed the Tiffany’s of butcher shops) but it more than backs up with a superb meat and poultry.

If you consider yourself a meat-lover or a foodie, or you just love great design, this is one spot to add to the list when you visit Sydney…

Victor Churchill Shop Interior
(Image from here)

Victor Churchill Himalayan Rock Salt Wall
(Image from here)

Victor Churchill Rotisserie
(Image from here)

Victor Churchill – the product!
(Image from here)

We have some good friends visiting from Auckland next weekend. I have suggested to them we might plan a visit to Victor Churchill on Saturday so they can hand-select their protein of choice for the barbecue that evening…

Victor Churchill can be found at 132 Queen Street, Woollahra. The shop is open 7 days AND if you happen to live is a selected part of Sydney, they deliver. For those of you who just want a squizz at the fabulousness that is Victor Churchill, check out their website here.