FRESH
Keeping your knives sharp
One of my greatest fears when someone asks me to cook with them is the prospect of blunt knives in their kitchen. I hate being asked to finely slice an onion or trim a piece of meat with a large dull-edged kitchen knife. Ugh. I believe I've once successfully nagged a friend into getting some decently sharp knives.
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OMG I can still make macarons!
Ten months after I last donned my patissier gear and squeezed out a few hundred macarons, I returned to the piping bags for a brief baking blitz. My back hurt for two weeks. So then I made a cake instead.
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Pierre Hermé's book on macarons is now in English
The most impressive book on macarons is now in English! Pierre Hermé's 2008 French book "Macaron" is out this month in English.
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Vanilla slices – glorious, perhaps mundane, quite mysterious
The vanilla slice is one of those standard, humble Australian bakery items that qualifies as "good old" for its longevity and as "humble" because of its modest level of finesse. But there are mysteries in all this (and questions for readers at the end)… What was your childhood vanilla slice like? Did it have a different name? And how long has it been around?
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Eating your politics (or prejudices)
I'm curious about how political/social beliefs or traditions shape where people will shop or dine. A timely example is that of Max Brenner, the Israeli chocolate company, which is broadly popular in Australia, but an unacceptable place to visit for some consumers. I wonder what other examples exist here or elsewhere?
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Canelés de Bordeaux (or: my love of copper moulds)
I feel myself drawn inexorably to baking projects that have no end, just a rocky path of discoveries, flops, experiments, successes, flops... Not content with macarons and pasteis de nata to add girth and grey hairs to my existence, I started playing with canelés de Bordeaux...
Read more Fri 25 Dec, 2009Three flavours of macaron
Many of my readers know of my macaronic obsessions. As the latest batch, made for the foodblogger get-together in March, was well received I thought I'd publish some pretty photos of them and tell you more about the flavours, add a tip or two, and alert you to a macaronic...
Read more Sat 21 Mar, 2009Macarons, desiccation and prettiness
I am lining myself up to compete with Pierre Hermé himself. And I've done something completely new. These beauties are the first completely desiccated macarons ever presented for public delectation. Read more about this limited edition from Maison Duncan. Gasp in awe! (And there's a pretty surprise at the end too.)
Read more Sat 14 Feb, 2009Does Slow Food know its audience and goals?
Melbourne is alive with the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. A special event as part of the two-week festival is 'A Taste of Slow', held this...
Read more Sun 24 Feb, 2008Breakfast time and pancake temptation
For the most part, I'm not the kind to dally over, under or prior to breakfast. Once upon a time, I could barely manage the few minutes of showering before my stomach felt like it was devouring me. Breakfast easily becomes a torture of digestive impatience and longing for tasty treats,...
Read more Sat 24 Apr, 2010- Canelés de Bordeaux (or: my love of copper moulds)
- Three flavours of macaron
- Macarons, desiccation and prettiness
- Does Slow Food know its audience and goals?
- Breakfast time and pancake temptation