May 10, 2010

Weekend Degustation Lunch at Loam, Bellarine Peninsula

With just over three weeks until the big move to Canada, I wanted to get out of Melbourne for a weekend and eat somewhere that I couldn't go to any night of the week. Due to scheduling conflicts, degustation at the Royal Mail in Dunkeld was out (next time Gadget), but we were more than happy to secure a Saturday lunchtime booking at Loam, near Drysdale on the Bellarine Peninsula. It had been on my radar since a glowing review in The Age late last year, and has also recently been named by New York magazine Food & Wine on its list of '100 Best New Food and Drink Experiences'. The fact that chef Aaron Turner has spent time at Noma
 in Denmark (the new #1 restaurant in the world) and Spain's El Celler de Can Roca (#4 on the same list, behind El Bulli and The Fat Duck) in the past year or two certainly gives it a decent pedigree.

After a takeaway coffee from Seven Seeds, we headed off down the Princes Highway. Loam is located on a dirt road not far from Queenscliff, Point Lonsdale and Portarlington, in a light-filled, spacious room - The Age article describes it well. It also makes mention of the service, which was impeccable - Jo, who described the ingredients with an unbridled enthusiasm ("oh, you need to see it" in response to our question about Black Turnip), and Aaron's wife Astrid, who listened to my childhood tales of picking Samphire by the bag on the North Norfolk Coast with immense patience.

We went for the 7 Course degustation (including matched wines), none of which was listed up front on a menu. Instead, we were given a list of ingredients in season, and asked to point out anything we didn't like. From there, it was a big surprise.

First up was a palate cleanser of Radish with a Coffee 'Soil' (a recurring theme, given the name of the restaurant.) From what we could figure out, the soil consisted of coffee grounds, with salt and sugar for extra crunch. Presented on a slab of slate, it looked beautiful, and I was dipping my finger into the soil long after the radish had gone.

Our first 'proper' dish was lightly sautéed Pine Mushrooms ("from a secret location) with silverbeet, all sitting on a pine needle infused yogurt. It was the latter that was the real standout here - a slightly-sour contrast to the rich earthiness of the other ingredients.

Next came a piece of Pink Ling, soused in Sherry and then pan-fried Medium-Rare. It came sitting on a Celeriac Puree, with Daikon Noodle and Cucumber. The fish was beautifully cooked with a crispy skin, and the puree was smooth and sweet.

The second fish course was the best-looking dish of the day - Barramundi on Pumpkin Puree with Brussels Sprout Leaves and little dots of Bread Sauce. If anything, it was a little similar in construction to the course that proceeded it, but you couldn't fault the taste.

From here, our food diverged (as you'd expect with one half of us being vegetarian). I had squab on a bed of rhubarb, covered in milk skin and seasoned with saltbush ash and samphire. I wasn't totally sold on the milk skin (too many bad memories of school dinners and custard) but the poultry was complimented beautifully by the tang of the fruit. Sarah was presented with a poached egg, cooked at 64 degrees for an hour, which came with a homemade miso. Simple, but apparently a highlight.

Next up for me was duck, served on heirloom beetroot with sesame and a sorrel leaf. If you'd have shown me a menu beforehand, I wouldn't have necessarily picked it as my likely favourite, but that's exactly what it ended up being. Sarah received a similar dish, with the duck substituted with roasted parsnip, and more milk skin.

Then came the cheese course - Ossau-Iraty (a semi-hard, 100% Ewe's Milk cheese) mixed with Spelt 'rubble' (AKA crumbled biscuits), on picked carrot and topped with tiny celery leaves. It was fantastic - the cheese crumbly and nutty, and the carrot providing the sweetness. Another highlight.

Over three hours after we first sat down, dessert came. And boy was it worth the wait. A quince parfait on a bed of Edmonds Honey (pale, floral and with a slight grain) and rolled in/surrounded by homemade honeycomb and fruit breadcrumbs, rich with ginger, and a topped with a small sliver of candied lemon. Each of us went with the smaller spoon to make it last as long as possible.

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I honestly can't praise Loam highly enough - the food is inventive but the flavours simple and uncomplicated; the service friendly yet passionate, and the view over the olive grove (which we walked around whilst waiting for our taxi back to Point Lonsdale) tranquil and serene. 

Highly recommended.

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

April 28, 2010

Macarons @byduncan from @EARLCanteen

Twitter is awesome for food geekery amongst other things, and today I learnt via Melbourne Gastronome that  EARL Canteen, a new cafe near Movida Aqui was stocking Macarons made By Duncan. Not only that, it was opening TODAY. Luckily, I was passing through the CBD on my way home and was able to pick some up for dessert.

Currently there are two flavours available - the 'Clancy' [Finger Lime and Dark Chocolate] and the 'Zara' [Passionfruit and White Chocolate]. Both were amazing, and by far the best macarons I've had in Melbourne (blowing Baker D Chirico and Cafe Vue out of the water). S's housemate Fi described the Clancy as "like a sour warhead going off in your mouth" which, quite frankly, I can't top as a description.

Go there.

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

March 7, 2010

Sparklehorse (feat. PJ Harvey): 'Eyepennies'

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse committed suicide yesterday. I remember seeing them back in Norwich in 2001 when they were touring 'It's A Wonderful Life',  which remains one of my favourite albums. This song is a duet with the equally awesome PJ Harvey, and features some wonderfully rich, yet understated harmonies...

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

March 4, 2010

I can haz Macaron

Picked these up from Baker D Chirico in Fitzroy St at lunch. Yummo.

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

February 24, 2010

Bourke St, #Melbourne, 8.30am. Three girls, dressed like hookers.. .

...or like they'd been out all night, yapping away whilst looking in a shop window.

Only then did I realise that the shop was Supré and that they actually worked there...

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

I may have just made (and eaten) my best 'work lunch' EVER...

Having now had the Cauliflower and Halloumi Fritters from Three Bags Full on two separate occasions, I thought it was time to attempt my own version.

I used Broccoli for a bit more colour, and threw in a few other veggies that I had lying around as well. My inner perfectionist says there's still a bit of refinement needed...but I'm really happy with them as a first effort. I'm no vegetarian (mmm, crispy bacon)...but anyone who says you can't make tasty food without meat is lying.

Recipe to follow in a day or two.

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

February 5, 2010

in the line for the xx

So, the other night The XX played at the Corner Hotel. There were 20 spare tickets on the door. I was 14th in line. Didn't get one when they went on sale as thought i'd be out of town. All is well and good, but whilst in queue I get stuck next to the most infuriating conversation ever - the most cliched Melbourne indie snob (cynical, opinionated, judgemental, prone to constant one-upmanship, blanket dismissal of any 'pop music', refers to the 'pretentious people' whilst simultaneously being the most pretentious person on earth) arguing with keen, but slightly naive young Asian fan. Petty points scoring ahoy. The ferocity that indie snob went on the attack with was guite astonishing, but she got her comeuppance soon enough. All it took was a comment that she looked like Romy from The XX...and she was MORTIFIED. It was a more extreme version of the Gig Tshirt faux pas - implying that someone who thinks she's oh-so-individual is basically a dodgy imitation of someone in the band they're about to see... Also, I don't think I was ever THAT bad in terms of music snobbery. I certainly wasn't that vocal, and I like to think my musical taste is more open and rounded these days...

Posted via email from Ian's New Life Down Under

January 30, 2010

Hello Posterous

I'm cheating on Blogger. Don't tell anyone...

Posted via email from

January 25, 2010

Lunch or Dinner: Larb Gai (i.e. Thai Chicken Salad)




Today is a Public Holiday in Australia, and I decided to take yesterday off work and create a 4-day weekend/3-day week. Last week was really busy, with work [obviously], plus multiple gigs (Joanna Newsom and The Decemberists [both awesome]), trips to the tennis, leaving drinks, and a splitting migraine which wrote off most of my Tuesday. Yesterday was a chance to have a well deserved lie-in.


Once I was back in the land of the living, I walked around the corner to Victoria Street (home of many a Vietnamese restaurant, Asian Supermarket and the odd person who really, really likes heroin), via the aforementioned detour to Three Bags Full. The plan was to pick up some ingredients for Larb Gai (a Laotian/Thai Salad of Minced Chicken with Toasted Rice, Lime and Chilli) and Banana, Coconut and Walnut Bread (recipe to follow later in week)


Having had Larb made by friends, and eaten it at restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised with how my effort turned out - sweet, sour and salty with a decent chilli kick and a nice bit of texture added by the ground rice. Plenty of leftovers to take to work for lunch too...


LARB GAI (Makes approx 6 serves)


Ingredients


1/3 cup glutinous/jasmine rice


1/3-2/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tbl sugar
2 tsp Roasted chilli paste chili-garlic sauce (nam prik pao)
100ml Chicken Stock
700g minced chicken
1 cup thinly sliced spring onion, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 tbl minced lemongrass
1 tbl minced ginger or galangal
1 tbl thinly sliced (hot) Thai chilli
1/4 cup chopped fresh Vietnamese Mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander


small handful of green beans, chopped small.


Lettuce/Asian Cabbage Leaves, sliced cucumber and carrots to serve.


Method
  1. Whisk lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli paste together in medium bowl to blend; reserve sauce.
  2. Bring stock to simmer over medium heat. Add chicken. Simmer until cooked through, breaking up meat with spoon. Add onions, lemongrass, ginger/galangal and stir for a minute of so until most of liquid has evaporated. 
  3. Meanwhile blanch the green beans in boiling water for one minute. Refresh under cold water once tender.
  4. Remove chicken from heat. Stir in sauce, coriander, sliced chilli, green beans and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.
  5. Toast rice in a dry pan for a few minutes until fragrant and lightly coloured. Grind into a coarse powder using a food processor or pestle and mortar.
  6. Before serving, stir rice powder into chicken to add texture and partially soak up the sauce.
  7. To serve, spoon into lettuce/cabbage leaves with finely sliced carrot and cucumber.