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The 4 food groups of Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2021 by thefidgetyfoodie

I am nostalgic at the best of times but at Christmas I am in overdrive.

For example, I am emotionally attached to every decoration I’ve grown up with so when one disappears from my parents’ tree I am immediately concerned. Last week I noticed that a (technically edible) decoration I made in primary school (a real orange spiked with cloves and dried) was gone.

“It rotted last year. I tossed it” said mum matter-of-factly without a shred of regret.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat????????????” I wailed with my arms in the air (an appropriate reaction given the severity of the disaster and on par with mum’s reaction when she thought we’d lost her beloved Rod Stewart Christmas CD).

I was devastated. I made that decoration with my own two infant-sized hands, it was priceless! Rotting was no excuse for disposing of it, no matter how decomposed it was.

If I’m like that about decorations, imagine what I’m like about the food????

I am extremely attached to our Christmas eating traditions. We have developed a very specific style over the years, a mélange of Greek, English, Aussie traditions with a few other random European touches. It’s unique and reflective of the extraordinary cooking talent that exists in my clan. Spearheaded by my dear yiayias – Alexandra and Maria – and deftly continued by my mum, aunties and sisters.

A highlights reel of Christmas day feasting over the past 25 years (spot the retro photography!)

In my typical nostalgic state over Christmas, I got to thinking about our foodie traditions and how special they are to me. So… what exactly is on our Christmas lunch* table?

(*I call it lunch but we’ve never eaten before 4pm.)

I’ve whittled down the magic into 4 key food groups. There are others of course – there’s always a healthy smattering of mezedes, salads, roast vegetables and carbs. But they ebb and flow with the seasons and the styles. Mum’s dining table wouldn’t have been caught dead without her signature potato casserole nestled beside her artichoke and avocado salad in the 90s. So chic. These days the salads are more artisan and the roast veg extend beyond the humble spud.

So here are the 4 key food groups of my family’s Christmas.

Prawns

Our family Christmas lunch always starts with prawns. I should know – I’m usually the poor sucker who has to peel and devein them. A facebook memory reminded me that 5 years ago I peeled 125. That was good context for this year as I peeled 65 and that felt like torture. I moan but it’s worth it – who wants to have to do all that work on their own plate? Apart from the effort, which is better channeled into pulling crackers, the prawn debris takes up valuable real estate for other delicious things. I happily take one for the team most years. And they are delicious whatever way you cut it – naked with lemon or in a salad with avocado and mango like this year.

Lasagne

Okay I know what you’re thinking. Lasagne is Italian. You’re Greek.

True.

(Although we are technically Italian too as my island was a hotbed for Venetians who used to sail past and get frisky with the girls. You only need to go about four generations back to see how our family name was Venetian. DNA tests show the same thing.)

But back to the food.

There are Greek variations of lasagne. Pastitsio – which uses penne instead of thin pasta sheets. There’s also the powerhouse of moussaka which switches pasta for eggplant and potato.

Why don’t we stay in our lanes here? Good question.

Yiayia Maria started it. Mum tells me that she remembers yiayia making pastitsio when she was young but at some point yiayia switched to lasagne and never looked back. Christmas isn’t Christmas without yiayia’s lasagne. It’s unbelievably delicious. She once showed me how to make it and technically there’s nothing flash about it and no secret ingredients but mine doesn’t even come close. Mum’s does though. The baton has been passed.

Big meat

For many years I thought everyone had a giant turkey, ginormous leg of ham and huge pork roast for Christmas lunch.

Nope. Just my family.

The turkey and ham are pretty self-explanatory, they are long-standing English and European traditions that have been appropriated by much of the world. The addition of pork is a nod to our heritage and the main ingredient of a traditional Greek Christmas feast because pigs were typically slaughtered in the weeks leading up to Christmas day.

The roast pork has faded out over the last few years. And we have all come around to the cold hard fact that a roast turkey is stressful, time consuming and never as tasty as the dream (making another one of yiayia’s lasagnes would have a better return on investment).

So instead we’ve gravitated to turkey rolls and even a turducken for kicks.

Does that mean less meat overall on the table? Hardly. We still had 60 souvlakia on the table this year, you know, in case anyone was still hungry.

Sweets

This is where our Christmas really shines. The meat, salads, carbs, etc are just a warm up for the main event – the sweet table! No matter how full you are, space can always be found for sweets.

I’ve never seen a Greek sweet table with less than a dozen (big) dishes on it. I remember once my mum was entertaining and accidentally forgot to serve a huge cake that was waiting patiently in a cupboard. No one even noticed its absence because there were at least 10 other mammoth desserts on offer.

This is where we weave back in Greek traditions.

Mum prepares this year’s batch of kourabiethes

Starting with kourabiethes – those delicious toasted almond spiked crescent-shaped shortbreads that are groaning under the weight of icing sugar. Never sneeze while holding one or you’ll turn into a snowman. Apart from the toasted almonds, the other differentiating feature is the addition of ouzo.

There’s also melomakarona, a traditional orange and cinnamon scented biscuit doused in honey and crushed walnuts. And rozethes, a typical honey almost biscuit from my island of Kythera.

This is on top of an array of other sweet treats – tiramisu, trifle, mousse cake, white Christmas, fruit cake, pavlova and mum’s signature ice-cream cake made with glace fruit and Vienna almonds.

An obligatory fruit platter rounds out the offering and our bellies.

And because we’ve catered for a small army there are leftovers for days.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Tassie’s Top 5

Posted on June 4, 2021 by thefidgetyfoodie

I was a bit late to the Tasmania party. While seemingly everyone else has been skipping through Salamanca markets and MONA, or hiking the Three Capes – I only recently experienced the Apple Isle for myself.

There were 5 foodie highlights for me. At one point there were 7; I took out gin because that deserves a deep dive of its own. I also took out salmon thanks to Richard Flanagan’s book Toxic, which has left me horrified and scarred over the Tasmanian salmon industry.

Scallop pie

Full disclosure – I had my doubts about the scallop pie. I adore scallops and could eat them a dozen ways but swimming in a creamy sauce infused with curry powder was not high on my list. I generally believe that the less you do with seafood the better – some lemon and possibly a dab of butter/olive oil for a light sauté/bbq is all you need.

No one is exactly sure about the provenance of the scallop pie (although rumours it’s a descendant of devilled scallops seem sound), only that eating one in Tassie is mandatory. My pie had around 4-5 big whole scallops enveloped in a creamy sauce stained by Keen’s Curry. It has to be Keen’s as the 150y old spice mix actually heralds from Hobart. I grew up watching my dad pile tablespoons of the stuff onto all sorts of delicious dishes (poor mum) and I’ve never quite understood the allure – but I do think the packaging is iconic.

The pie was actually quite tasty and the scallop to sauce ratio was impressive. Definitely one to try for the simple quirkiness of it all.

Saltbush

I am (sadly) no bush tucker woman. But thanks to my regular trips to Margaret River and a few lessons in foraging by Peter Kuruvita, I have come to recognise saltbush when I see it. And I saw lots of it along the stunning beaches of the Bay of Fires. My hiking pals thought I was mad when I started grabbing leaves and chewing them energetically. Coastal saltbush grows on beaches and around salt lakes all over Australia but sadly I’ve never seen it on the NSW coast (although it pops up on menus here and there – like the Archie Rose distillery who use a sprig of saltbush as a garnish for their martinis). There is something very liberating about eating the natural ingredients around you (and not being poisoned).

Oysters

I love all seafood but oysters in particular. There were oyster farms littered all along the coast line of the mainland and Bruny Island and I couldn’t pass without picking up a cheeky dozen. I always looked in pity at the people who bought a dozen to share. My only hesitation was whether to buy two dozen…

Plump and creamy Pacific oysters are generally the order of the day in Tassie as they take half as long to grow as the native flat oyster, the Angasi, which was almost harvested to extinction in the 20^th century (even through Indigenous communities have been enjoying them for thousands of years). They are now sustainably grown and harvested from oyster beds to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I was a bit early for the Angasi season so will have to try them on my next trip, but the Pacifics were delicious and needed no more than a squeeze of lemon to reach perfection.

Cheese

The cheese game in Tassie was delightfully strong. It really punches above its weight – producing 10% of Australia’s cheese despite being home to only 2% of the Aussie population. All that rain comes in handy for creating fertile land.

The lush North East highlands are known for their cheese, especially cheddar. I almost bought a giant cloth bound wheel of it from Pyengana Dairy (actually why didn’t I? Oh that’s right, I maxed out my weight allocation on gin). The farmstead cheddar comes from an 1885 recipe passed through the family. It’s the sharpest, craggiest version of this dinner table stalwart I’ve come across. And even better when mixed with pickled onions – unconventional but a genius ideas.

And did I mention the cows choose when to be milked via an automated system? Their incentive is grain and a mechanical back-scratch. No wonder all the cows looked so satisfied.

While I’m always a fan of a bit of cheddar, what I love even more is a pungent, unctuous washed rind cheese. The sort that leaves an indelible scent in its wake. I specifically wanted to try the famous washed rind cheese from the Bruny Island Cheese Co. called 1792, the year French explorers first landed in Tassie. This cheese is matured on a small round of local Huon pine (revered in Tassie), which gives it a subtle smoky flavour. It was a sensational cheese and I couldn’t help but think how brilliant the Huon pine element was, both from a taste and marketing perspective.

Pinot

I need to declare a bias and that is that I am a white wine kind of girl. If you ask me what wine I feel like, regardless of what I’m eating (yes Katia, even cheese!) red will never be my first choice. I will happily drink it, but it will never be the wine I turn to first. That’s probably why I start wine tastings with gusto, then run out of steam in the middle before perking up right at the end when the sticky comes out.

So it surprised no one more than me when I realised I was starting to like Tassie pinot more than I thought possible. Its softness and fruit seemed that little bit kinder on my palate. I’ve always had soft spot for cool climate wine regions like Canberra and Orange so this might have been a factor too. And I may possibly have been a bit caught up in the romanticism of a bit of grape picking (next year’s pinot release). I know from experience in Alsace this is hard yakka so was happy with just a light touch effort this time. Cheers to that!

What’s inside a foodie’s pantry?

Posted on November 11, 2015 by thefidgetyfoodie

A snapshot of my pantry

So what does a foodie keep in their pantry anyway?

A great book has just been published called Inside Chefs’ Fridges, which reveals what top international chefs keep in their fridge. A fridge is the window to the soul you know. I’ve always believed this, in fact my retro black Smeg fridge is the most beloved (and expensive) item in my home. Inside is a mix of fresh ingredients and panoply of condiments and sauces, but no pickled marigold flowers or frozen flies which is what turned up in some of the chef’s fridges.

But to me the real action is in the pantry. A quick stocktake of my pantry reveals a strange mix of ingredients from near and far, with bits and bobs from Greece, Croatia, France, Sweden, Finland, Mexico, Canada and Japan.

My prized Skandi ingredients – cloudberries and frukt soup

My love affair with cloudberries is no secret. I would probably devour a jar a week if this prized ingredient wasn’t so rare and expensive. My stocks are low at the moment and this beauty came from my colleague Sally who was in Sweden recently. I’m holding onto it for dear life until I can stock up again. The stuff in the packet is fruit soup from Sweden. My Swedish friend Johan introduced me to the whole concept of sweet soups through his love of blackberry soup and I had to have the supermarket version, in apple and cinnamon flavour.

Just a few of the sweet goodies lurking in my pantry

I have an entire cupboard of sweet-related bits and bobs but these are some of my favourites. The chocolate coated popping candy is from the UK and is yet to pop up in Heston’s range in Australia. The lavender sugar balls were gifted by my beautiful French friend Agathe who instinctively buys anything purple and edible she sees, just for me. I’ve waxed lyrical about the marzipan carrots before, they are one of my ultimate supermarket finds and look awesome atop any carrot cake number.

Mexicans love to flavour their food with lashings of chilli and sugar

I came back with a backpack of food when I went to Mexico – there were just too many tempting treats! My favourite discovery was Miguelito – this stuff is sensational. Part sugar, part salt and a whole lot of chilli, I love it on the rim of cocktails or to dip fruit in. The Mexicans eat it straight from the packet. The chile y limon mix is great for dusting on vegies or anything needing a kick. Read More

My 9 most random supermarket finds

Posted on June 22, 2015 by thefidgetyfoodie

Stocking up on frappé sachets in Greece

One of my favourite things to do in a new city or town is explore the local supermarket.

For me it’s the heart and soul of a country, culture and cuisine. What could be more insightful than a look at what people eat every day? That’s why it was a no brainer for my list of 6 steps to scoping out a city like a true foodie.

Bear in mind that this is written by someone who gets a thrill from visiting even her own local supermarket. From a young age, mum would always take me on her weekly Thursday night shopping trips and I LOVED to pour over the shelves, suggest new products (sometimes even helpfully throwing items straight in the trolley) and help her unpack.

The best part about foreign supermarkets is the potential for quirky and unusual items that I may never have seen or been able to get my hands on before.

I pick up a packet of marzipan carrots whenever I’m in Switzerland

This is how I discovered some of my favourite supermarket finds, like mini marzipan carrots from Switzerland (perfect for decorating carrot cakes) and frappé sachets from Greece (because real Greek frappés must have Greek Nescafé in them).

Then there are the items that stop me in my tracks and have me asking how, or ever why?

blk. That’s black water to you and I.

1. Like the black water I came across in Mexico City. Otherwise known as ‘Alkaline Fulvic Trace Mineral Infused Water’ and supposedly containing superior minerals to assist better hydration than normal water. I’m not sure how water can become more hydrating but ten points to the manufacturers for being attention grabbing.

What a load of crap

2. I’ve already told you about my discovery of crap in Romania but it surely deserves another mention. I don’t think anything else has ever stopped me in my tracks quite as quickly as this towering collection – holy crap I thought! Even though I now know that crap means carp in Romanian, it still makes me smile.

Clever Romanians eat Big Ben it seems

3. Another thing I noticed in Romanian supermarkets is how they love to use English names to brand everyday products. This is how I came across chocolate called ‘Big Ben’, ‘Laura’ and ‘Clever’. It was a marketing ploy that worked on me – I bought one of each.

Swiss eggs for Swiss National Day

4. When it comes to clever branding, the Swiss are ahead of the game. What other country would brand eggs with their national flag? I discovered these around Swiss National Day on the 1^st August which celebrates the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy. Around this date practically everything is coated in red and the distinctive white equilateral cross – eggs included.

Spam flavoured macadamias, what are the Hawaiians thinking?

5. Branded red eggs I have no problem eating. Spam flavoured macadamia nuts? Not a chance. Spam is massive in Hawaii, with a yearly festival devoted to the stuff (called the Spam Jam, of course). Obama even orders it when he goes home. I guess it’s the Aussie equivalent to chicken salt. Read More

The 10 best foodie habits I’ve learned from my mum

Posted on May 10, 2015 by thefidgetyfoodie

I’ve written about cooking with my yiayias but it’s time to give some credit to the generation I missed – my mum, inspired by today being mother’s day.

The thing is, I don’t have reams of photos of mum’s food because, well, it’s mum’s food. It’s delicious, reassuring and dependable which is precisely why I rarely think mid meal – ooh, better capture this. It’s not exotic, boundary-pushing or haute cuisine. And thank god for that. I love to chase that stuff when I travel around the world but nothing, but nothing beat’s mum’s cooking.

I don’t think I really appreciated how good mum’s cooking was until I was out in the world tasting other people’s cooking. Then the penny dropped. I’ve definitely taken some of my mum’s staple recipes on board but more than that, I think I’ve taken on a lot of her practical ways when it comes to the kitchen. Once I started thinking about her pearls of wisdom I couldn’t stop. For example:

1. When entertaining, estimate how much food you’ll need. Then double it.

A standard afternoon tea spread at mum’s place

You all know the legend of the Greek hostess who will always ply her guests with food. Well her name is Vicki and she’s my mum. And I have taken on the exact same practice. The upside is a week’s worth of leftovers. Plus when the guests have left, we have a habit of all congregating in the family room, with plates of cake in hand, swapping stories and gossip about what’s happened that day.

Mum’s prawn and avocado platter – we can never get enough

2. Make it look effortless

I don’t think my mum intentionally tries to make entertaining look effortless but that’s always the end result. The kitchen and dining room will be overflowing with handmade dishes, mezethes are doing the rounds and everyone will have a drink in hand. Oh and the house is spotless of course. Once I started hosting my own parties I realised just how much work is involved in all that. And my parties are small. Mum’s hosted parties for 100+. I think this is where her eagle eye English teacher skills of forward planning and strategising come into play and I always hope that I’m pulling it off half as well as she does.

3. Kids will believe anything

Like the time mum served us ‘crumbed chicken’ which we wolfed down hungrily. Then my brother made a joke about it kinda looking a bit like brains. Unfortunately mum can’t keep a straight face so the cat was out of the bag. I’m pretty sure my brother still doesn’t eat brains to this day. Moral of the story is, kids won’t know any better unless you tell them. And yes, I still eat brains.

Perfect turkey every year

4. When you’re on a good thing, roll with it.

This is what led to the artichoke and avocado salad era of the 80’s, the tiramisu times of the 90’s, the smoked salmon decade and the more recent mango mousse years. And that stretches into seasonal specialties like perfect roast turkey and ice-cream pudding at Christmas. Mum fine tunes a recipe and sticks with it, which means the requests come through thick and fast for said dish at family and friend gatherings.

5. The lunchbox is the key to a happy childhood

Sometimes I think wistfully about lunchbox days. When the most difficult decision of the day was – should I eat my Tiny Teddies for recess or save them lunch? Mum put a lot of effort into our school lunches and we usually had nice salad sandwiches or if she was super busy, devon and tomato sauce (which was our favourite back then – I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole now). Then there was the poppa that had been frozen from the night before so that by lunchtime it had defrosted to the perfect chilled temperature. Plus a piece of fruit and a miscellaneous snack. Lunchtimes have never been so much fun. Read More

How to scope out a city like a true foodie in 6 steps

Posted on February 3, 2015 by thefidgetyfoodie

Stunning aubergine at the Kowloon City Market in Hong Kong

Museums, art galleries and walking tours all have their place on any of my travel itineraries, but not before I’ve made a dent in a city’s key foodie hubs. And if I’m fortunate to have time up my sleeve then these are the places I will revisit again and again. They are also the best way to fast track your way into the culinary heartland of a new culture.

Slippery eels at the Kowloon City Market in Hong Kong

1. Food Markets

There are not many cities and towns without a food market of some sort. After all, this was how people shopped before supermarkets came along (not that I’m dissing supermarkets as you’ll see in the next point). Countries like France, Finland and Hong Kong are experts at food markets and even have themed markets for your every gastronomic desire.

Starfish at the Tai Po Hui market in Hong Kong

This is where you will see first-hand what produce and ingredients are in season and sourced locally. You’ll find gems that you won’t find anywhere else. And those gems will likely be cheaper than anywhere else too.

Dried seahorse at Wanchai market in Hong Kong

Dried seahorse at a market in Hong Kong

Fave pick: the plethora of wet and dry markets in Hong Kong are an exotic adventure in the making. Wander through produce in a myriad of vivid colours and relish random finds like dried seahorse and starfish.

An eponymous herb range I discovered in a Romanian supermarket

2. Supermarkets

Don’t be fooled into thinking that supermarkets are purely the domain of locals and backpackers looking for cans of tuna. I can (and do) spend HOURS in foreign supermarkets; just ask any of my patient travelling buddies.

Fancy some crap? (relax, it's the Romanian word for carp)

Fancy some crap? (the Romanian term for carp)

I love to see what’s stocked on the shelves, the more random the items the better. If I come across something I’ve never seen, that’s grounds enough for me to buy it. I also get a kick out of quirky packaging, unusual names (crap anyone?) and in-store advertising (must be my inner marketing nerd). Read More

Arty food or foodie art?

Posted on January 27, 2015 by thefidgetyfoodie

Jelly St Paul’s Cathedral by Bompas & Parr

There has long been a connection between food and art. Post-Impressionist painters would famously pay for their meals in paintings, kicking off the artwork-in-a-restaurant aesthetic.

Damien Hirst’s formaldehyde cow at Tramshed

Some have taken this to the next step, such as the formaldehyde cow-in-a-restaurant look that Mark Hix has gone for at his London restaurant Tramshed. You can’t miss the giant Damien Hirst ‘artwork’ of a cock and bull which references the chicken and beef dishes on the menu. It’s hard to focus on your whole stuffed upside down chicken with the suspended animals in your line of sight.

Salvador Dali purposely created art with maximum shock value and has inspired many in the restaurant business. Dali Café & Art in Riga is a culinary temple to the great Surrealist artist which includes plenty of his trademark motifs like eyes, lips, curved lines and draped fabric.

A ‘melting clock’ style chocolate crepe

Melting clocks come by way of the chocolate crepe, served to look like The Persistence of Memory. There are also plenty of blue and gold tones, Dali’s favorite colors, to highlight the eccentric fit-out.

Glow-in-the-dark gin and tonic jellies

The idea of food itself becoming the artwork is growing in popularity. My all-time favourite foodie artists are Bompass & Parr, two English gents who call themselves jellymongers.

The roof of Selfridges becomes an emerald lake

The roof of Selfridges becomes a lake of lolly water

Their CV has the most absurd but fantastical list of projects you could imagine; a chocolate waterfall in the middle of a shopping centre, flooding part of the Selfridges roof to create a lolly water emerald boating lake, glow-in-the-dark gin and tonic jellies… Read More

3 foodie gems on the NSW South Coast

Posted on January 5, 2015 by thefidgetyfoodie

Cronut & coffee heaven at Orient Point Bakehouse

When I was a wee little thing, mum and dad would bundle my siblings and I into the car (sometimes in our PJ’s – always a little embarrassing when you pop into Macca’s for a late night supper) and we’d head to Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast for weeks of swimming, fishing, prawning, over-eating and building quirky ‘installations’ out of shells.

Even the local birds eat well on the South Coast

I still try and make it down at least once a year (fully clothed) to recreate those fun times and it’s all the more attractive now that impressive foodie spots have popped up along the coast from Wollongong to Ulladulla and beyond. Here are my three favourites, all worth a detour on your next road trip.

Orient Point Bakehouse, Orient Point

Orient Point Bakehouse

It’s not unusual for chefs to start their careers in small towns and then move into the city but it doesn’t often happen in reverse. Sydney’s loss is Orient Point’s gain now that Scott Mason has done just that with his wife and chief baker Tobie.

The ultimate chocolate cronut

Scott formerly headed up the kitchens of prestigious Sydney restaurants including Bistro Moncur and Bambini Trust before he and Tobie decided a sea change was in order and set up the Orient Point Bakehouse in 2013 (a 2 1/2 hour drive from Sydney).

Yep, just as drool worthy inside and out

It’s unlike any bakehouse you’ve been to, unless your local also offers scrumptious chocolate cronuts filled with mouth-watering chocolate custard or cinnamon and pecan scrolls topped with thick smears of icing. No lamingtons or finger buns in sight.

Egg & bacon roll with nana’s tomato relish

There’s a full breakie, lunch and dinner menu which sits a notch above your ordinary café menu with items like a braised wagyu beef sambo. It’s not hard to spot Scott’s impressive culinary past and it means that simple items are done exceptionally well, like the egg and bacon roll served with nana’s tomato relish. Coffee is locally roasted by Hyper Hyper Coffee Roasters and is damn good.

The bakehouse roadie mural

I’m going back for Big Fisho’s breakie which includes Scotty’s pork and fennel sausage and bubble and squeak and I definitely want to try his freshly caught local blackfish and chips.

Where else would you want to eat fish and chips?

It’s a whole family affair here with Scott in the kitchen, Tobie on the coffee machine, Tobie’s mum managing the tidal wave of customers and family photos adorning the walls. On a beautiful day you can’t beat sitting outside but inside has drawcards too, like the roadie mural and tabletop shrine to fishing.

Orient Point Bakehouse, 71 Orama Crescent, Orient Point NSW 2540

Jindyandy Mill, Pyree

Historic and quaint Jindyandy Mill

If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Nowra, you MUST head for this gem about a twenty minute drive east and 2 1/2 hours from Sydney. My birthday always coincided with our road trips and this was my favourite place to visit for a birthday treat.

Jindyandy is set on picturesque pastoral lands and the original Jindyandy Mill was built by convicts in 1830, making it one of Australia’s oldest convict buildings. The area is now home to a whimsical range of antique shops, crafts and food stores.

Who can say no to free, home grown local produce?

You can pick up an assortment of fresh produce that changes with the seasons. On my last visit there was even a help-yourself-box of vegies offered by a generous local.

Pick up macadamia nuts and a nut cracker

There are plenty of enterprising local producers of jams, honeys and crafts which are on offer, or grab a bag of macadamias and a nut cracker to let out some aggression.

Restroom for wenches

I haven’t dined at the nearby Butterfactory restaurant but have heard from many that the food is exquisite and it’s a great venue for weddings. Something to think about for all the wenches and their grooms out there.

Jindyandy Mill, 719 Greenwell Point Rd, Pyree NSW 2031

Heritage Bakery, Milton

The Heritage Bakery, est 1870

Meat pies are (apparently) Australia’s national dish. We take our meat pie consumption very seriously and nowhere is this more apparent than the Heritage Bakery in Milton (3 hours from Sydney) which was established in 1870.

A nice short queue on this visit

I’ve seen queues at this place which would put Gelato Messina to shame and if you’re not early enough you may well as well kiss goodbye to that traditional mince meat pie you were craving.

Vegetable stack, curry pie, peppercorn pie, steak & kidney pie

There are 12 pies on offer plus an assortment of sausage rolls, pasties and vegetarian options. Classics like steak and kidney and country chicken sit alongside Thai chicken and Mexican chilli. The only way to navigate this menu is to order a few and share.

A look inside the curry pie

The curry is always a favourite of mine and reminds me of my dad’s penchant for Keen’s curry powder. The pastry is crispy and there’s a lot of it. This is not a destination for carbophobics.

Get in early for the best selection of fresh bread

The coffee is decent and can be accompanied by a number of sweet baked goods, from apple pies to old school custard tarts. There’s also plenty of bread available including a delicious fig and cranberry sourdough. The bakery is a few minutes’ drive from the main street of Milton so makes for a good stopover on your way in or out of town.

Heritage Bakery, 197-201 Princes Highway, Milton NSW 2538

Do you have a favourite South Coast foodie gem?

The Singapore sojourn every foodie must make

Posted on December 22, 2014 by thefidgetyfoodie

Bright purple aubergine

If you only have one day in Singapore (like I did on this occasion) and you want a local foodie experience (as I always do), then hightail it to Tekka Wet Market in Little India, preferably with an empty stomach.

It’s lauded as Singapore’s most culturally rich market for a reason. Ethnic communities from Mandarin and Malay to Hokkien and Tamil come here to preserve their culinary cultures.

Dragon fruit

A wet market refers to a fresh meat and produce market, differentiating it from a dry market which sells durable goods. With 284 stalls, Tekka Market is the largest wet market in Singapore and I doubt there would be anything on your shopping list that you couldn’t find here. Having been renovated in 2009 it’s also extremely organised and clean. How very Singapore.

Banana flowers

After a long stint in the northern hemisphere I was ecstatic to be presented with sky high piles of brightly coloured tropical fruits. Jackfruit, rambutans, dragon fruit, guava, starfruit, longans, mangosteens and even (hold your nose) durians.

Ginger or rojak flowers

Banana flowers and ginger flowers were stacked up next to their fruit offspring. Ginger flowers are called rojak flowers in Singapore because of their use in fruit rojak – a traditional spicy fruit and vegetable salad that also includes cucumber, pineapple, turnip, fried tofu and fritters mixed with a sweet peanut sauce.

A section of aloe vera plant

I also spotted a thick and fleshy leaf from an aloe vera plant which would have come in handy a few days before as a soothing remedy when I burnt my hand in the kitchen.

Freshly cut tuna steaks

Green-lipped mussels

Whole baby sharks

The fish section was another favourite of mine, the sea creatures seeming a tad more dramatic than what you usually see at fish markets. Giant slabs of tuna sat next to green-lipped mussels, huge Sri Lankan crabs and baby sharks. There was also a massive meat section where butchers were happy to cut and prepare the meat to order.

Coconut grating machine

I’d never come across a coconut grating machine before and unfortunately it wasn’t in action while I was there. The white floss that comes out of the machine looks like desiccated coconut but is used to create coconut milk by being soaked in warm water and sieved.

The place for prata

Next to the wet market is a big food court with a mix of Chinese, Indian, Muslim and Western food stalls. As much as I wanted to go crazy and try everything, I knew we had impending lunch plans so I struck a deal with my friend Alex and her son Callum to pick one thing and share.

Mr Zulkifli is a prata maestro

I think it was Callum who made the call to choose prata from the Prata Saga stall. Winning decision Callum. Owner and chef Mr Zulkifli from Kerala was not only super friendly, he took the time to give me the low down on how he makes his prata, a fried flour-based pancake cooked over a flat grill.

Prata making, step by step

His secrets are to make the dough the night before and once it’s cooked, to fluff up the finished product with your hands. Considering he has taught at the CIA (that’s the Culinary Institute of American not the Central Intelligence Agency) I believed every word.

Plain prata with curry sauce

There were plenty of filling options but we stuck with the classic unadorned prata, accompanied with a delicious curry sauce for dipping. The prata was crispy on the outside and airy in the middle (no doubt a result of the hand fluffing technique). Mr Zulkifli makes 400 prata a day and has been doing this for 30 years. That works out to be something like 3 million pratas!

With a flight that evening I was forced to walk away from the markets empty handed rather than with bags overflowing with fresh produce. So I’ll be back again Singapore, just you wait.

Zurich Christmas Markets

Posted on December 14, 2014 by thefidgetyfoodie

Christmas market in Zurich old town

At this time of year, most European cities are filled with twinkling lights, roast chestnut stands and the heady scent of cinnamon and mulled wine in the air. It’s a compelling argument for a white Christmas.

Christkindlimarkt in Zurich Hauptbahnhof

Zurich really gets in on the Christmas cheer with seven markets strewn through the city. The flagship is the Christkindlimarkt in the main station or Hauptbahnhof, one of Europe’s largest indoor Christmas markets.

The cavernous space is filled with over 150 stalls, many with a distinct Germanic feel given Zurich sits in the German speaking part of Switzerland.

You’re looking at 7,000 Swarovski crystals

The highlight for most visitors is the 15 metre tall Christmas tree decorated with 7,000 sparkling Swarovski crystals. And to be fair, it is rather impressive.

Of course the highlight for me was the amazing range of food on offer, some of which is only available during the festive season.

Let’s start with the cheese. The Swiss churn out plenty of the stuff and it towered in tempting displays; giant wheels encased in vine leaves or crushed raisins, white rinds stuffed with truffle butter and topped with shaved truffle, even whisky käse. And of course there was plenty of raclette, pimped up with shaved truffle if you fancied.

One of my favourite festive treats is always the German Christmas cake, stollen. It’s a dense, buttery cake studded with dried fruit and candied citrus peel, occasionally marzipan, and topped with icing sugar.

The original Dresdner stollen

The recipe originated in Dresden in the 15^th Century and remains the most famous version. Dresdner stollen can legally be made by only 150 Dresden-based bakers and is distinguished by a special seal depicting King Augustus II.

Apple fritters with custard

Before long my local friends, Michael and Karin, steered us towards the Apfelhuis stand for some delicious apple fritters swimming in custard. Having now been to a dozen or so German Christmas markets, I can safely say that you will never find a whiff of fresh produce in one. Fried, battered, pickled and preserved is what it’s all about.

Grittibaenz are eaten on St. Nicholas Day

Swiss Germans mark St. Nicholas Day on 6 December by eating traditional sweet bread baked into the shape of a man with raisins for eyes and a chocolate ‘stick’. This fella is called Grittibaenz and represents an early form of Santa.

Lussekatt are eaten on St. Lucia Day

I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a Swedish stand offering lussekatt. These saffron tinged buns are traditionally eaten on St. Lucia Day on 13 December to celebrate the festival of light. I have happy memories of baking them with my Swedish friend Johan and they taste just like brioche with a soft yellow hue from the saffron.

Pretty lebkuchen for your loved ones

I think the most picturesque stand at any Christmas market is always the one embellished with gingerbread hearts or lebkuchen. Hanging from ribbons and displaying cute phrases, the idea is to give them to loved ones to express your feelings.

I can usually be found near the glühwein stand

The busiest stand of course, is almost always the glühwein stand. It’s usually my first port of call so I can then wander through the markets sipping a cup of intoxicating wine spiked with the flavours of cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and citrus.

Red glühwein for me please

I was pleasantly surprised to see red and white wine versions on offer but red inevitably wins my heart every time. In my eyes, the only downside of a hot Southern Hemmisphere Christmas is the impracticality of serving this aromatic concoction. Maybe I’ll look into a chilled version this year…

Do you have a favourite Christmas market find? Please do share!