grove & vine providore, south yarra

Grove & Vine Providore has a wonderful selection of organic and biodynamic wines from boutique wineries.

If you adore your reds, whites and everything in between, you'll love Grove & Vine Providore, located on 3/9 Yarra St, South Yarra, with their beautiful selection of fine wines from boutique, organic and biodynamic wineries lovingly hand-picked by owners Roger and Sherri. If you're not crazy about wines, however, you're still likely to be unexpectedly charmed by Grove & Vine - as I was.

I was alerted to Grove & Vine's wine tasting event on first on Twitter, then on Facebook and finally, on the day itself, while accompanying my cousin Daniel to a rental property inspection at Yarra Street, lo and behold, what do I spy but no other than an advertisement for the wine tasting perched on the reception desk in the foyer of the apartment building. The stars are aligned, and they are most definitely urging me to take a good look at Grove & Vine!

I'll have to confess I don't know a great deal about wine, and only drink it occasionally. I do come across a bottle I enjoy immensely every now and then, but generally, I don't see it as much of a priority in my dining experiences. Sacrilegious, I know.

Jars of jams and sauces at the food section of Grove & Vine Providore.

So when I first walked into Grove & Vine I was probably more taken in by the lovely gourmet produce they stocked. Teas, jams, chocolates, biscuits, cheeses... quantity there may not be, but every single item looked enticing. You'll find nothing but quality here, and what's more, they're affordable too - for example, a bottle of Maggie Beer verjuice was under $12, which I find to be quite a competitive price.

More gourmet produce at Grove & Vine Providore.

But of course, you can't visit Grove & Vine and bypass those wines. Daniel and I couldn't linger long as he had an appointment elsewhere, but we did manage to sample a few of the beautiful biodynamic wines available for tasting that evening, with guidance from the lovely Sherri (who's familiar with my blog, yay!) - and we found ourselves enjoying all of them. In fact, I fell in love with one in particular, the Krinklewood Lucia dessert wine. I took a sip and the sweet, clean flavours of apricot and peach just bowled me over. It was just so fresh... so smooth... so pretty. Perfect for a romantic night in, or anytime, really. I was sold, and happily bought a bottle to enjoy at Simon's place...

My gorgeous bottle of Krinklewood Lucia dessert wine. Exquisite.

I've always felt a little lost when buying wine at bottle shops or ordering wine at restaurants. However, Grove & Vine has opened up a whole new world of wines to me, and with their help, I think I can get used to this world. Oh, yes. I can get used to it very well indeed...

Click here to read the rest of the post!

chinese borscht / abc soup / luo song tang

If you have some kind of Chinese background, you probably know this soup, and you've probably made it dozens, maybe even hundreds of times before. At home, my mum calls this luo song tang (罗宋汤). My cousins call it ABC soup. I've seen Chinese restaurants with English menus refer to it as Chinese borscht. Whatever you choose to call it, it's delicious, ridiculously easy, and the meat and vegetables involved can be sourced very cheaply. Great taste-to-effort ratio, great ROI with simple ingredients. What's not to love?

chinese borscht, aka abc soup, aka luo song tang (罗宋汤).

Everyone seems to have their own way of making this soup, with slight (or not-so-slight) variations in ingredients plus other quirks. My mum always uses either chicken or pork, but I've seen others use beef. I've even tried making it with lamb, which is rather unorthodox but also wonderful. But that's not all. Which cut? On the bone or filleted? (For the record, I prefer using not-so-lean cuts, and I find meat on the bone tends to end up more lusciously tender.) Aside from that, the choice and balance of vegetables also vary. Then there's the matter of method and presentation. Some people like the ingredients fine and dainty in the form of little cubes - not me. Chunky and hearty is how I roll.

In the end, you play with the basic idea and make this your own. No one I know bothers with a recipe when they make Chinese borscht, at least not after their first attempt. It's rustic, adaptable, effortlessly delicious - and that's why we love it.

Without further ado, here's a rough guide to how I usually do it...

A lovely and nutritious soup-stew, perfect for any weather.

chinese borscht / abc soup / luo song tang 罗宋汤 (serves 2)

3 cups water (add more if it reduces too much during the cooking process)
2 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 medium carrot, sliced diagonally
1 large tomato, cut into wedges
1 small onion, roughly sliced
2 cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled (optional)
3 chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped, or 4 chicken drumsticks on the bone
seasonings: light soy sauce and white pepper, or salt and freshly ground black pepper

I usually approach this in a fairly casual manner: I pour the water into a large pot over a robust flame, and while waiting for it to boil, I set about chopping up my ingredients and throwing them into the pot as I go.

I do either the potatoes or the carrots first, then fling in the tomatoes, onion and garlic. By this time, the water is boiling quite merrily and I'll put the chicken in, turn the heat down and let it gently simmer, covered, for approximately 45 minutes or until everything is superbly tender and the potatoes and carrots are almost, but not quite falling apart into the gradually thickening soup. Now all it needs is a final touch of light soy sauce and white pepper - alternatively, salt and cracked black pepper is also always a good bet.

Serve this as a soup entree, or have it as a main meal with steamed rice.

Oh, and one more thing! Feel free to double or even triple the recipe if you have a generously sized pot and ample space in the refrigerator, for after you finishing cooking this, the flavours will continue to schmooze and mingle even as it cools down, begging you to re-heat it again hours later for another meal. Your Chinese borscht then transforms from a summer-friendly soup into a winter-worthy stew. Either way, it's homely bliss to warm one's soul, over and over again...

come on, have a spoonful of chinese borscht!

Click here to read the rest of the post!

books for cooks, fitzroy

Cheery foodie decor at Books for Cooks on Gertrude St, Fitzroy.

Books for Cooks (233-235 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy) is a little gem of a specialist bookshop I stumbled upon recently whilst doing a late-night Google search for cookbooks in Melbourne. A store that sells nothing but books on food! What a wonderful concept. I visited the very next day...

Books for Cooks - a down-to-earth and warmly inviting space.

I adored the place immediately: on a cold winter's day, it embraced me like a warm hug, with its wooden floorboards, well-worn couches, and, of course, the books. The floor-to-ceiling shelves of books. Books on regional cuisine. Books on baking. Books on the art and science of cooking. Books on restaurants. Books on wine. Books, books, books... books full of words, pictures and recipes... all stuffed together in one cosy bookshop and jostling to delight a food-loving girl like me.

I loved perusing the cookbooks in the South American section.

I'd only just bought two books I really wanted a week prior to this visit, so I satisfied myself with merely a leisurely browse before sinking into the big couch by the window for a little rest and relaxation. Most conveniently, there was a shelf of books on South American cuisine just beside me - what a treat! I flipped through a few before going on my merry way, feeling a renewed sense of enthusiasm towards the cooking I planned to do later that day, and making a mental note to return to this lovely cushy cookbook haven the next time I want to buy a little piece of food inspiration...

Click here to read the rest of the post!

flourless almond mandarin ricotta cake

Winter has arrived in Melbourne, and what better way to celebrate it than with cheesecake? But not just any cheesecake. A light yet soothing gluten-free mandarin ricotta cheesecake, studded with almond slivers, perfect as an almost-guilt-free treat with a hot cup of tea on a lazy afternoon. Alternatively, you may prefer the indulgent route, and have it with stewed fruit and fresh cream or ice cream, perhaps with the finishing touch of a drizzle of honey or syrup...

baked almond and mandarin ricotta cake.

Alright, so some of my almonds look almost a little too brown, and some of my cake didn't quite extricate itself completely from the bottom of the loaf pan. No matter. It was still delicious, and I can assure you that this is a great dessert option if you're looking for something that's relatively healthy and not too heavy. The crumbly baked ricotta, infused with the delicate citrus perfume of mandarins and laced throughout with the nutty, aromatic crunch of toasted almonds is quite a delight. If you're keen on a richer version, I would suggest that you could experiment by adding a little butter or cream to the mix.

sweet, sweet ricotta: fruity, nutty, and ready to be baked in the oven...

mini flourless almond mandarin ricotta cake
(mini loaf pan dimensions: 18cm (l) x 10cm (w) x 5.5cm (h) exterior, 15 x 8 x 5.5cm interior.)
(serves 2 - 4)

1 cup ricotta (approx. 250g or a little less), drained of excess liquid
1 large to extra large egg (55 - 65g)
1 very small and preferably organic mandarin (approx. 5 cms/2 inches in diameter)
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup slivered almonds
a pinch of salt
oil or butter, for greasing/brushing

Toast slivered almonds by dry-frying them in a pan till golden brown, moving them around frequently to prevent them from burning. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F fan forced (or 200°C/390°F normal).

Prepare a petite loaf pan by brushing the inside with oil or melted butter. You may also use ramekins or a mini cake pan, and I dare say it could work with cupcake or muffin trays as well.

Peel the mandarin and remove any seeds. Blend or process egg, mandarin peel, mandarin flesh, sugar and salt, then add to ricotta and combine well. Stir in toasted almond slivers. Pour into the greased loaf pan and smooth the surface of the mixture with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until golden brown on top and firm to the touch. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then turn the loaf pan over onto a plate or chopping board. Tap it to release the baked ricotta cake.

Slice and serve immediately, or store in an airtight container. If for some ridiculous reason you can't devour this lovely flourless cake the same day you make it, it will keep in the fridge for a few days.

I particularly adore this ricotta cake when it's still warm and moist after emerging from the oven, though it also tends to be more fragile at this time. But honestly, do I really care if my freshly baked ricotta falls apart a little when I'm shoving it into my mouth? No. I'm too busy shoving it into my mouth...

warm, freshly baked mandarin almond ricotta cake, sliced and ready to be consumed.

Click here to read the rest of the post!

fresh from the market... feijoas

feijoas, lime and ginger, ready to be blended together for a fresh breakfast juice.

I don't come into contact with feijoas very often, so recently, when a pack of 5 organic feijoas beckoned to me at South Melbourne Market for the relatively affordable price of $3, I wasn't about to turn them down.

Feijoas, also known as pineapple guavas or guavasteens, are a fairly new addition to my life as an Australian resident. A few trips to New Zealand further cemented the presence of this rather unique fruit in my mind - fresh feijoas are ubiquitous there, and the New Zealanders use them keenly in a variety of applications - jam, candy, and even vodka.

However, this is the first time I've ever bought feijoas for myself. The very first thing that seduced me was their intriguing fragrance, which, to me, is a sweet whirlwind of strawberry, guava and mint - intoxicating, addictive and almost reminiscent of a scented candle. I had to wait a few days for my feijoas to fully ripen at room temperature in their brown paper bag, and during this time I would often gather them close to breathe in that pretty scent.

feijoas, sliced in half vertically. sweet, fragrant and ready to be eaten with a spoon.

When the feijoas finally yielded gently to my touch, signalling that they ready to be eaten, I sliced some of them in half, and simply scooped out the flesh with a spoon. I found the texture of ripe feijoas to be quite soft and creamy, but at the same time, it also had a hint of grittiness. The taste was, again, complex and fascinating. It was like the Fruit Gods got together one day to decide what a feijoa should taste like, and the following conversation ensued:

"They're related to guava, so I reckon they should taste like guava."

"You know what, I love the fresh taste of mint. Can we incorporate that somehow?"

"My dear compatriots, let's not forget about acidity. Something like pineapple and strawberry would be nice, yeah?"

"Oh, oh, how about soursop?"

The Fruit Gods are a quirky bunch indeed.

You can also peel feijoas if you like - I did this to the remaining feijoas, which I then popped into the blender along with some fresh ginger and lime for a quick and exotic breakfast juice. It was all gone in no time. I'm definitely going to purchase feijoas more often from now on, and experiment with them further to create some feijoa recipes.

What are your thoughts on feijoas?

Click here to read the rest of the post!

video! candy blowing in beijing, china

the candy man's wares.

Did you like my post on Beijing? Were you hoping for more? Well, wait no longer - I have a candy blowing video for you!

I knew before I went to China that the ancient folk art of candy blowing (also known as sugar blowing) was something I really wanted to catch in action. The number of craftsmen who practise it these days is on the decline, but luckily for me, we did see two or three of them scattered across the city.

One of them, whom I'll just refer to as Candyman, does his work on the vibrant Wangfujing snack street. Busy as this place was, getting business can be a tough gig if you're not selling practical food items. Whilst we were there, we saw hundreds of passers-by glance over at this guy's stall with a mild curiosity, but no-one stopped to buy. Fortunately for street artists like these, there will always be an enthusiastic traveller (*cough* sucker *cough*) willing to pay the price for a blown candy lollipop, and that night, that enthusiastic traveller (*cough* sucker *cough*) was me.

So I asked Candyman how much a lollipop would set me back. He offered three different options - from memory, it was something like 20 yuan, 30 yuan or 40 yuan. Even though I was regularly mistaken for a local in China, thanks to my appearance and my fairly fluent Mandarin, this is quite steep by local standards, and while it may be due to the rarity of candy blowers in modern China, it is also possible that I got a hiked-up quote because I had a white boy with me (hello Simon!). I did make a half-hearted attempt to haggle, but I think secretly we both knew that this girl wasn't leaving without some hot molten candy action so there really was no point wasting our time.

Now I also know there is no need to be frugal when travelling in China, but I chose the cheapest option. When you can get a bowl of noodles for 10 yuan, paying more than double that for candy just seems a little out of whack, even if it is candy art. So I put in an order for a basic, no-frills, 20-yuan lollipop. With the exchange rate at the time, that would be about 3 Australian dollars. I do have a slight twinge of regret at not going all out now. I guess this just means I'll have to return to China and do it all over again. Hey, you don't have to twist my arm.

Candyman asked me to pick an animal, suggesting that I could go for something from the Chinese horoscope. Simon and I were both born in the Year of the Dog, so a dog it was.

But I've rambled on long enough. Here's the video, courtesy of Simon. Enjoy!



P.S. In case you were wondering, the candy featured here is edible - though I'm not sure many people will want to eat it, with all that blowing and sculpting. It didn't last very long either, probably because we had the heater on in our hotel room - my lollipop became increasingly crumpled over the next few days, and was all but collapsed by the end of the week.

I didn't mind - I regard this as street art that you can take home and admire for a little while. What I really paid for was the up close and personal experience of watching a candy blower in action, and I think I totally got my money's worth, especially with this video shot at just the right spot - watching this is like being briefly transported back to Beijing again. The sights. The sounds. The hustle and the bustle. Thank you, China, for the good times!

If you would like to read more about candy blowing, try here, here and here - the guy in the last link, it turns out, is no other than the Candyman in my video!

Click here to read the rest of the post!

a lemony pomegranate cordial

cross section of pomegranates.

Hands up if you adore the pretty pomegranate, with its jewel-like aril-covered seeds that burst and tingle with sweet and slightly tart juices upon their procession through the annihilation machine that is your teeth. In plain English, I usually enjoy them quite heartily with a spoon - but as I like a bit of variety and experimentation, I recently decided to do something a little different. I had two pomegranates. I had a gorgeous, freshly plucked lemon that I was just itching to zest. Thus I put two and one together, and made a lemony pomegranate cordial.

ingredients for the lemon-pomegranate cordial in a pot.

lemon-pomegranate cordial

2 pomegranates (approx. 1 cup pomegranate seeds)
grated zest of 1 lemon (approx. 1 tablespoon)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1.5 cups water
juice of 1 lemon (2 - 3 tablespoons)

Place pomegranate seeds, lemon zest and sugar in a pot. Pour in the water and bring to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then turn down to medium heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, pressing the seeds with a wooden spoon every now and then.
Remove from heat, add the lemon juice and stir well. Let the cordial cool slightly before pouring through a fine mesh sieve into a sterilised jar or bottle. Press down hard on the seeds as you do so to extract the last traces of pomegranate juice, you don't want to waste any of that stuff!
This cordial will keep in an air-tight jar or bottle in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

*The cordial might appear murky brown at the beginning - but once you add the lemon juice, it is reborn a glorious ruby red.
*I sterilise my jars by washing them thoroughly and then letting them sit in boiling water for a couple of minutes.

straining my lemony pomegranate cordial into a glass jar.

I drink this two ways.

Lightly muddled with a sprig of mint and icy cold water, it's light, bright and refreshing.
Pair it with freshly boiled hot water, and it instantly transforms into a warm and soothing fruit tea.

Really, you can't go wrong either way!

a lemony pomegranate cordial.

Click here to read the rest of the post!

burch & purchese sweet studio, south yarra: sensational desserts

Burch & Purchese finally have a home! There's been a lot of buzz lately with the opening of Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio in April at 647 Chapel St, South Yarra. The supremely talented pastry chefs Ian Burch and Darren Purchese, along with their fantastic team, have been busy creating a dessert haven about a 15-minute walk from where I live. Aren't I lucky! After a few weeks - I know, unforgivable considering my proximity - I finally made my way over there. And can I just say, I was like a kid in a candy store. In fact, I spent such a long time in the studio that Cath, the manager, wandered out and exclaimed, with some amusement: "You're still here!"

the burch & purchese sweet studio - where they fuse science with sweetness.

But who could blame me? The desserts here are so creatively designed, the sort that prompts you to go for a second look, and a third and a fourth. Then, when you're finally visually satisfied, there was the difficult and unenviable task of deciding which ones to buy and take home...

I'll set that aside for a moment, though, and take you through a photographic tour of the place. If you have a weakness for sweet things, you might want to have a bar of chocolate ready to temper the cravings that will no doubt result. (Ha, see what I did there?)

Alright, so the first dessert creations I saw when I walked in were these edible greeting cards on the counter. How cool are they?

edible greeting cards - $22 each.

The chocolate flower lollipops, stuck in edible soil, are also awesome.

chocolate flower lollipops in edible soil, $3 for each flower.

These are blackberry meringue clouds. I picked a sample from that tray in the background, and while I'm not a meringue person, I didn't mind eating these - the freeze-dried blackberry powder cut through the sweetness with a pleasant intensity.

blackberry clouds, $4 each.

There were a couple of magnificent cakes on display in the studio. You can spot the "flavour wall" behind them - this is where you can receive a consultation for designing a unique made-to-order cake, and apparently there are over 250 ingredients from which you can choose for mixing and matching.

a gorgeous chocolatey looking cake, and the flavour wall.

There were about a dozen different types of cakes for sale at the counter, all of which looked absolutely exquisite. The flavours and techniques that go into these cakes are truly impressive - they were comprised of fancy-sounding molecular gastronomy things like choc aerated shortbread, violet custard, rose gel and maple jelly spheres.

an assortment of individually portioned cakes, $9 each.

Burch & Purchese also offer edible art - a big one like this flowery picture, made from a variety of freeze-dried fruits, could cost somewhere in the vicinity of $1200!

edible art made with freeze-dried fruit - i think this was actually $1200!

I don't think they have Willy Wonka golden tickets, but I did find some glittery gold ingots.

chocolate gold bars.

There were also nougats...

i can't remember what flavour these nougats were.

And chocolate clays, which can be tossed into cookie batter or ice cream mixtures...

raspberry and white chocolate clay. there were also green tea ones. $6.

And a variety of spreads, jams, curds and honey...

spicy pineapple jam and chocolate hazelnut spread. single flavours are $10.5 and 2-in-1 jars are $12.

There were also cookies, crumbles, honeycomb, ice cream and fudge. You get the idea. I didn't take pictures of everything because at this point I was starting to feel like some kind of obsessive dessert stalker.

As fate would have it, I had put most of my money into a term deposit just the day before. This meant I could only buy a limited number of goodies. Just as well, enforced frugality is probably for the best when so many temptations abound.

Just to give you an idea on how dangerous a visit to Burch & Purchese can be, I'll tell you this. I'm not big on white chocolate, but I somehow ended up walking away with two white chocolate items. I mean, those passionfruit white chocolates lightly brushed with dark chocolate, they just looked so tart and alluring. And it was hard to turn down caramelised white chocolate with toasted macadamia nuts. It doesn't even look like white chocolate anymore with that lovely tint of golden brown. How can you reject white chocolate when it doesn't even look like white chocolate? How, I ask?

Now, first of all, I have to say that, unfortunately, these chocolates don't quite have that sought-after silky-smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture. I am guessing that this may be the inevitable side effect of all the fancy-schmancy stuff they do to it. However, I really liked the flavours.

The passionfruit chocolates had the characteristic fragrant astringency of passionfruit, with the taste of the white chocolate itself being fairly subdued. It's a great chocolate for someone who doesn't want something very chocolatey, and I mean this as a compliment.

white chocolates with freeze-dried passionfruit, $9.

The caramelised white chocolate was like a solidified version of dulce de leche, and I adored the addition of the toasty macadamia nuts, which balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate.

toasted macadamia caramelised white chocolate, $9.

I also bought this parfait-like invention from the individual cakes section. Tagged as Coconut, Passionfruit, Ginger, Mint, it is an intriguing concoction of - let's see - white chocolate mint wafer, ginger macaron, coconut mousse with brilliant white chocolate spray, passionfruit curd, coconut caviar, salted oat and ginger crumble.

coconut, passionfruit, ginger and mint dessert, $9.

I had great fun eating this and identifying each element! Once I had a taste of every component, I dug in properly and combined them all in a single bite. Sweet, tangy. Soft, chewy. Smooth, crumbly. It was an exhilarating symphony of flavours and textures.

a scrumptious spoonful of  burch & purchese dessert.

So... will I return to Burch & Purchese? You bet! They've created such an exciting space that is taking the Melbourne dessert scene by storm - and I am all caught up and keen to try more of their beautiful offerings.



Click here to read the rest of the post!