Day 2: Food Markets

After our arrival in Perth we headed to the markets in the neighborhoods of Subiaco for our weekend sustenance on our jaunt to Margaret River.  The indoor market was much like Monterey Market in Berkeley.  While the produce was labeled where it was grown, it was disconcerting being at the end of winter while in the US it was the end of summer.  It was hard to know what to expect to be local and in season.  We picked up zucchini, melon, green beans and asparagus, all grown in Western Australia but I’m still not sure if that was truly seasonal.  After that we headed to the cheese and meat markets. 

 

On the plane we met a very chatty Australian “bloke”, Darryl, who went on about the meat pies.  At the cheese shop, Daily Divine, they had a tasty looking array of flaky, savory pies.  We didn’t buy any then, but it was definitely on my list to try.

My sister complains about not being able to find American style bacon in Australia – that is it doesn’t crisp up and tastes more like Canadian bacon or ham.  It sure looks like American bacon, so I’m not sure why it would taste different.  We got some pancetta instead to make carbonara that night and lamb and spicy pork sausages to bbq over the weekend.  Just like at the better butcher’s in the bay area, the shop had signs indicating all the farms where their meat was sourced.

We picked up other food stuffs at “Woolworth’s” which I don’t think had any relevance to the US Woolworth’s as it was more like a Safeway than a five and dime.  In addition to the other dried goods, we picked up some Bundaberg ginger beer for our pre-dinner cocktails.

Food shopping was a great way to get a taste of the real local flavor right off the plane.  Next I was looking forward to some of the regional foods of the Margaret River area in the south.    

Day 1: Gourmet Farmer

I wish I could say better things about the food on Qantas.  However, while sitting like a packed sardine on a 16 hour transatlantic flight we did make a great local food discovery on the endless stream of movies and media that you can chose from on your individual screen.

On Australian “reality tv” series an ex Sydney food critic, Matthew Evans, buys a farm on Bruny Island in Tasmania in order to learn where his food comes from.  While he knows nothing about farming, he does know how to eat and cook (having previously been a chef as well as a food critic).  From episode to episode of “Gourmet Farmer” he focuses on a different aspect of his rural life – with an emphasis on making high quality food.  In one show, on prosciutto, we see everything from buying/ raising slaughtering the pigs, the process of air curing prosciutto, cooking dishes with all pig parts (heart/lungs/liver) to making sausage and bacon and selling it in the local food market. 

Other episodes include raising and killing chickens (yes they even show how the chicken is humanely killed), apples, fishing, making ice cream from goat’s milk, wood burning stoves…..In each show he engages other local food producers to show him the best techniques…and it always includes a feast with others of the products produced.   I apprecicated how the show covers not just the eating and cooking – but the realities of making a living and all the technical skills needed to farm.  Of course, the show makes it look easier and quicker than it is, I’m sure.  The other really appealing aspect of the show is seeing the countryside of Tasmania.   The idyllic, undeveloped land reminds me of New England crossed with California farmland….rolling wooded hills that are brown in the summer time – rough coast lines and tiny little hamlets.  

Gourmet farmer, in its second season,  and while in Australia you can watch episodes online, you can't from the US.    Matthew Evans is very endearing in a modest way with a charming ability to laugh at himself.  I hope to find some way to keep up with the show.

I did make one other delicious discovery on the plane – vodka and Bundaberg ginger beer (similar to ginger ale, but with a stronger ginger flavor and made in Queensland Australia). It was quite a refreshing alternative to a gin and tonic.   Bundaberg also makes a wonderfully smooth rum.  I had some both in hot chocolate and over ice on the flight home while watching the rest of season 1 of Gourmet Farmer.  Not a bad way to help pass a 13 hour flight.

Australian Food Adventure

My sister and her husband have been living in Perth, Western Australia, for a year now.  I hear varying things about the food in Australia – anything from spectacularly good, even better than the bay area, to nothing to write home about.  Stephanie and I set off on our own adventure to visit Johanna and Fred while scoping out about the local food first hand.  The following chronicles some of our discoveries.  

Equal Portions of Everything: A Journalist

A while ago, I read about a journalist in one of my cocktail books. It looked interesting at the time, like one of those classic cocktails the artsy crowd drank in the 30s at the Algonquin. I tried ordering one at Cesar’s where I know they have an extensive bar - but they hadn’t heard of it and at the time I couldn’t remember all the ingredients.

I forgot about it until recently when I was at Zut, a restaurant bar on 4^th Street, with a friend who asked for a suggestion for a dry drink. My mind jumped to a journalist, but then I was worried the bar tender there wouldn’t know what was in it either. John ordered an old-fashioned, but later that evening we looked it up and made them at his place. It’s a gin based drink that has both sweet and dry vermouth, triple sec (or cointreau if you are going upscale), lemon juice and a dash of bitters. Only problem is I didn’t read the proportions properly and mixed equal portions of everything. A few evenings later, I tried again – paying close attention to the ratios.

2 oz gin

1/4 oz sweet vermouth

1/4 oz dry vermouth

1/4 oz triple sec

1/4 oz lemon juice

dash of bitters

Perfect! Not sweet, but not killer dry like a martini either. Despite all those ingredients the flavor of the gin really comes through, enhanced even. I used pretty cheap ingredients for everything but the gin. To be local, I used No 209 which is distilled in SF. For those you in Philadelphia, you could use locally made Bluecoat gin. Apparently the cocktail first made an appearance in “The Savoy Cocktail Book” out of London in the 30’s. I wonder which journalist was its namesake. I like to imagine Hemingway drinking them. Cheers!

Mushroom Risotto with Grilled Sardines and Squid

Last week on Top Chef Tre lost because of his risotto recipe – too much garnish and too stiff. My first experience with risotto was when living in Italy. After a year of eating consistently creamy and flavorful risotto, I was typically disappointed whenever I would try and order it in a restaurant in the US. Often the ingredients seemed to be mixed in at the end and it was not at all creamy. In Italy, it’s typically made when ordered and they warn you it will take at least 20 minutes. I can’t imagine most restaurants doing that here, so I just make my own. Luckily it’s not very difficult, you can make all sorts of variations on it, and it’s a crowd pleaser.

One of the most popular risotto types in northern Italy is mushroom – or funghi. While living there, I still wasn’t a fan of mushrooms but seemed to find myself having to eat that dish more often than I would have liked. Maybe that prepared my palette for the day when I did like mushrooms. Mushroom risotto is now one my favorite risotto dishes.

Last weekend, John (my friend and duplex co-owner) suggested we barbeque after our day of gardening. (Yes, it’s warm enough in CA to bbq in February when much of the rest of the country is buried in snow). His family was coming to help, so it would be a good way to show our appreciation. As I had planned to make mushroom risotto earlier in the week but had to abort the plan when I found out my friend could not eat fungus for health reasons, I suggested that I make it that night. We just needed to figure out what to grill with it. John suggested fish and sausages. We walked up the street to Monetery Fish and Magnani’s, two of the best purveyors of sustainable fish and meat. We decided on squid (also known by its Italian name – calamari) and sardines because we both like them, want to perfect our cooking technique of them and they are cheap! The squid was $2.50 lb while the sardines were a whopping $3.50/lb. Plus, after listening to the show on Forum the day before about sustainable fish, they seemed like a good choice. At Magnani’s we picked up an assortment of sausages; linguisa, lamb, bockwurst and some hot dogs for the kids.

The mushroom risotto is really easy and has few ingredients.

1 1/2 cups of Arborio rice

5 cups of broth (I had picked up some funghi bullion at Claudio’s in Philadelphia, which I think is part of what makes this dish so good in Italy)

1/2 large onion diced

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 c grated romano or parmesan cheese

olive oil and butter for sautéing

1/2 cup marscapone (half and half will work if you don’t have any)

3 to 4 cups of diced mushrooms (I just got what looked pretty – lots of choice since it’s mushroom season – a mix of baby shitake and hedgehogs)

herbs as you like – thyme and parsley are good choices

In a fry pan melt several tablespoons of butter and then saute the mushrooms until soft. Add thyme (or any other herb) and some salt. Set aside. On another burner, simmer the broth. Saute the diced onions in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a big pot (a dutch oven is good), when soft add the rice and stir so all the grains get coated with the olive oil, then add the wine and coat again. When all the liquid is absorbed, start adding the broth a ladleful or two at a time, keep stirring so the rice doesn’t stick, and adding liquid as it gets absorbed. About 18 minutes in, when the rice is still al dente but getting close to be cooked, add the mushrooms and stir. After using almost all the broth add the marscapone and 1/2 of the cheese, and chopped parsley, stir and add the rest of the liquid. Turn off the stove just before the rice is totally soft – it will continue to cook while it rests in the pan. The consistency should be similar to porridge. It’s best if it rests for about 5 to 8 minutes. The longer you wait to eat it after that, the more stiff it will get, but the flavor is still good. Serve sprinkled with more cheese.

Part of the reason sardines and squid are so cheap is you are still left with a fair amount of prep work before being able to cook and then eat them. John worked on gutting the sardines. Then he rubbed them in olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The squid preparation was the most interesting part. Squid have 3 parts – the body, the eye and the tentacles. John pulled instructions from Marcella Hazan’s cook book on preparing them. He and Eduardo, our neighbor, set about prepping them You cut the body and tentacles off the center eye. You then pull the innards from the tube of the body and squeeze the bony hinge from the tentacle side. After that, just like the sardines, rub them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. They only need about 4 minutes on each side before both the sardines and squid are cooked.

The calamari was amazingly tender. Most everyone remarked on how good it was. I was worried about them before eating them as a friend had poor luck with her squid which she indicated required forceful pounding to ternderize only to still have a tough dish. Maybe ours were so good because they were fresh, not frozen, and on the small side. We brainstormed a good idea for the calamari next time which is to stuff them with a paste of herbs, peas and any other vegetable – then bread and fry – much like a variation on a chile relleno.

Sardines seem like they would be challenging to eat with all their bones, but it’s surprisingly easy to debone them. Just pull open the body, peal the head back and the spine will come with it – bones and tail too. The meal was also served with roasted brussel sprouts, a seasonal green salad that our neighbor Susie brought over and plenty of bottles of wine – both red and white.

When John’s sister heard what we were making she asked what are we making for the kids as mushrooms and squid and sardines are not typically choice food for kids. We told her we had hot dogs and she decided to make a “squid friendly” kid dish she had seen recently. You cut the hot dogs into pieces into which you insert uncooked spaghetti noodles. You boil them together in a water and when done the noodle strands look like tentacles - there you have your “squid”!

Next month I am going mushroom foraging along the coast, so I need to think of another creative mushroom dish.

Feast of the Seven Fishes

There is a southern Italian tradition of having seven fishes for dinner on Christmas Eve. I am still unclear to the significance seven fishes specifically. Some explanations are that it symbolizes the 7 sacraments or the 7 days of the week, but there doesn’t seem to universal agreement on this. Recently, I’ve been curious to try the tradition myself.

My friend Sam, who is Indian, doesn’t have any personal traditions around Christmas Eve, so she was into following the ritual, especially since her husband is of Italian descent and she loves fish. Last year when we cooked up the feast, it was extremely elaborate with multiple courses all in involving fish – the most involved being a salt baked sea bass. This year as she has a young baby and I was working on Christmas Eve, we decided to try and make it simpler. Our brilliant shortcut was to make cioppino, an Italian fish stew. I found a recipe that had a total of 6 fishes in it, so all we needed was one more fish dish.

The weekend before Christmas I made a trip to the Italian market in Philadelphia. I can’t say the food is sourced locally or sustainably at the market place, but it sure is an authentic experience to the City. My favorite shop is Claudio’s. The place, especially the smell of the cured meats, brings me back to living in Venice. Many other people had the same idea I did, as the line both to order and pay snaked through the entire store and backed out the front door. We decided to go for it as we had already made the trip down there. It was an experience – all types of people were there from housewives from New Jersey, a young Italian couple, to food lovers like me. I knew they carried marinated fresh anchovies which are a thousand times better than the canned ones. Anchovies on toast would constitute our seventh fish. In addition to anchovies I bought mushroom bullion cubes, panettone, Italian marscapone and ladyfingers (for making tiramisu). I was happy as a clam.

Once we had the seven fish determined, the rest of the menu was figured out quickly.

Appetizers: sautéed mushrooms with marscapone on polenta rounds + anchovies on bruschetta with an herb paste

Salad: mixed greens with fennel, pomegranite seeds and oranges

First course: butternut squash ravioli with a walnut cream sauce

Second Course: Cioppino

Dessert: Assorted cookies and gelato

Sam agreed to take on the cioppino and my mom handled the dessert. Making the ravioli filling a day in advance was helpful too. I was thrilled to have the Market on Main Street in Manayunk finally open and even more impressed that they carried everything I needed for the meal – except for wonton wrappers for ravioli. Too bad the shop wasn’t there the four years I was living in Manayunk!

The appetizer course was pretty easy to assemble. I found a cylinder of pre-made polenta at the market so all I had to do was slice it, then brush them with olive oil before broiling them in the oven until golden. While the rounds were cooking, I sautéed and assortment of mushrooms – chantrelles and baby shitakes – in olive oil, butter, garlic, a dash of wine, and some salt. Towards the end, I added chopped thyme and sage. When the rounds were browned, I spread marscapone on them and topped it with the sautéed mushrooms. They were a big hit.

For the anchovy toasts, I bought Italian green sauce (herb paste) in a tube from the market, spread that on bruschetta toasts and topped with a marinated anchovy (or not for the vegetarians in the crowd).

I did a little research online for various ideas around squash ravioli and walnut cream sauces. Here’s what I cobbled together. For the filling, roast a medium butternut squash and a sweet potato. The latter helps absorb some of the water in squash in addition to adding flavor. Next scoop out the cooked innards into a bowl and mash together with some sautéed shallots or onions (about 1/2 cup), nutmeg, a pinch of cayenne, and salt. Brush each side of wonton wrapper with egg yolk and place a spoonful of filling in the middle and pinch closed the edges. When ready cook in salted, boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.

For the sauce, I toasted 1 1/2 cups of walnuts and then ground them coarsely in a food processor. In a sauce pan heat a stick of butter with 3/4 cup of cream and some salt and pepper,. Cook down at a low heat. When thickened slightly, add the walnut powder, a pinch of nutmeg, and some cracked pepper. Serve over the cooked ravioli with grated parmesan on top. The dish is very rich, so 3 or 4 raviolis per person would be fine for a big dinner like this. The recipe will make enough for 40 -50 ravioli, so you can freeze the uncooked ravioli for future quick meals.

The recipe for the cioppino came from All Recipes online. Sam read through the reviews and incorporated some of the suggestions, like adding clam juice and cooking the crab and cod in bigger chunks so they don’t break down too much in the soup. We were all pretty full by the time this course arrived, so there were certainly leftovers. It was delicious and would make a great, hearty meal all on it’s own!

Maybe next year I’ll try and simplify even further.