“Do you keep track of how many months you’ve been with Tim?”, Ms M asked.

Me: “Uh…oops. Forgot.”

Then of course, he piped up “Yes, today is very special, we’ve been going out for 1497 days.”

oO;;

So since he was in Malaysia on day 1500, we thought to have a belated celebration on the 1509th day we’ve been going out (who keeps track of these things anyway?!). While we had initially planned for a quiet night in, I suggested we visit Xanthi, because I’ve been meaning to try it ever since I heard rumours of pork belly baklava at the now closed Perama. Happily, Tim agreed.

A sucker for eggplant, I could not go past the hot smoked eggplant dip, with coriander, cumin, lemon juice and a lovely richness offered by the bechamel and grated kasseri folded through. Major props too for the service, as when we had finished off the pita bread and were looking longingly at the remaining dip, a waiter noticed our forlorn looks and offered us more bread. Yay!

The fried calamari, served with lemon ouzo mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon was tender to the bite and deliciously moreish. We found ourselves fighting over the last scraps.

Onto mains, and while we tossed up between the pork belly baklava and lamb from the spit, eventually, it was the lamb skaras which caught Tim’s heart. Falling apart at the touch of a fork, the slow cooked shoulder of lamb was flavoursome and heady with garlic, lemon and paprika, though we would have loved just a touch more sauce. Crisp potatoes and green beans rounded out the dish.

We were worried we’d under-ordered, but the arrival of the piping hot truffle and mushroom moussaka soon proved us wrong. A rich creamy bechamel veiled glorious slivers of eggplant, potato and wild mushrooms, while the aroma of truffles washed over us and sent us into a dreamy food coma, alleviated only by the fresh crispness of the green apple and cucumber salad.

Full and defeated by the last few mouthfuls of the moussaka, we ambled down through the empty shopping centre to face day 1510…and many more to come, I hope.

Xanthi

Corner Pitt Street Mall & Market Street, City
Level 6 Dining Precinct

Open Fri–Sat 8am–midnight, Sun–Thu 8am–11pm
Bookings 9232 8535 or manager@xanthi.com.au

My my, hasn’t it been a while since we’ve seen this logo. It has also been a very long time since I’ve seen Ms Jen and Ms Donut, over a year in the latter case. But, the stars and schedules having finally aligned, we met up for a long-planned catch up and cake. N.B. While the collection is called Erratic, the same might be said about this post. My apologies for the lack of coherent transitions!

Indecisive as we are, we opted for a last minute change to the Manly shop over the Balmain fuelled in part by the hope that there would be seating, as we had done last time, although we noted on our return journey that a trip to The Star should have also been considered. Oops…

The orb of lychee-flavoured goodness above was my pick of the day, the Ssnowmanorr. A plump pâté a choux filled with lychee coconut crème légère, bubble tea custard and lychee gel sat atop a very anzac-biscuit tasting disc of coconut crunch. As we’d forgotten to bring or ask for utensils (geniuses, aren’t we?) it was quite difficult to eat…at times like this, I wish I were a snake, like my Chinese calendar year, so I could dislocate my jaw to take bigger bites. But the flavour of lychee was very distinct and I loved the fact the bubble tea custard had sago pearls resembling those in actual bubble tea!

Ssnowmanorr innards

Man Goes Peanuts

Ms. Jen had similar problems eating her cake sans utensils, except rather than being hamburger shaped, her Man goes Peanuts was more akin to a taco. With an ingredients list of “Peanut butter crunch, mango compote, mango burnt honey mousse, pain”, I’m slightly concerned…Pain? Oh dear! She was particularly fascinated by the candy like mango jelly at the bottom and describes the outer ‘shell’ as “nutty”.

√ Caramel - Passionfruit crème, ginger vanilla bavaroise, tonka bean caramel, ginger sable breton, caramel chantilly, caramel sponge

Ms Donut picked up a √ caramel, and it was fortunate that she had a gelato spoon in her bag, as the cake was very mousse like. The threat of ginger in the cake scared Ms Jen away from trying it, but Ms Donut seemed to enjoy it.

We were eyed by several seagulls. Did you know that the usual red-footed and beaked seagulls are actually the adult of the species and that the ones with brown legs and beaks and mottled feathers on their wings are the juveniles? Neither did Ms Donut. But now you do too!

The returning ferry, onto which we collapsed, sugar-filled, and played Shoot Bubble, all the way home. Let’s hope it’s not another full year until we see each other again.

Adriano Zumbo – Manly is located about 2 minutes walk from the ferry terminal and is open 7am to 7pm Monday-Friday, and 8am to 5.30pm weekends.

Shop 1a/40 The East Esplanade
Manly, NSW 2095

Tis the season to be jolly… Well, actually, it’s halfway through January (just in case you weren’t sure) and that time of year when the Sydney food bloggers descend upon Centennial Park. Having missed the last major meet up due to academic commitments, we were determined to attend this one…and make, shall we say, a flaming impression.

So we brought marshmallows, lemon sherbet and chocolate-malt, skewers and a blow torch and set them alight, to leave the toasty sugary caramel smells drifting over the picnic rugs. But other food abounded, and we were ridiculously full by the end of it. I apologise in advance for the multitude of photos and lack of links – please feel free to fill me in if you made one of the displayed dishes!

We never found out who brought these adorable insects, but we thought they were really cute! (Turns out they were from bellyrumbles)

The pop-up bar, courtesy of Simon Food Favourites, was a definite highlight. With Gin & Tonics and an amazing cocktail called  Samuels Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice made to demand, there was plenty to go around, definitely setting the bar high for the next food bloggers event.

Bacon-wrapped stuff = love, courtesy of Lateral Eating.

These roast beef baguette sandwiches by vxdollface were really yummy as well, filled with sundried tomatoes, runny cheese (brie?) and eggplant.

What really impressed us was the two paellas sitting on the picnic area when we arrived (major props to Ramen Raff and Lex? I think?? who brought them!). Generously scattered with chorizo, mussels and prawns, they were definitely popular. We found this year was more balanced in terms of savoury to sweet ratio, with more savoury dishes in previous years. But, onto dessert!

So many pretty cupcakes (the white ginger and cream cheese ones above are from Love Swah, whilst the over exposed shot of the pandan ones in the 2nd photo are from Lay’s Kitchen!)

The most AMAZING (that’s right, worthy of capital letters) pate choux made by Rhonda of the dainty baker. We went back for seconds, and contemplated thirds (or the entire unopened tray on one of the picnic mats). Might need to place a bulk order for my upcoming graduation…

I didn’t get to try these petit fours from Croquembouche, but they looked delish. The dip and pita bread in the background was also incredibly moreish.

These were also extremely popular, as you can see from the picture. I distinctly remember Suze and Karen on a quest to hunt them down. Courtesy of Rita from Spoon, Fork and Chopsticks.

Tim, cradling the second pate choux…this time, I got the big one on the bottom.

A food blogger‘s gotta do what a food blogger‘s gotta do. Especially when it comes to pandan coconut macarons.

Paprika popcorn – om nom noms from food booze and shoes.

Another cocktail? Yes please.

Stalker shot…Love the tatt.

Finally, it was time for the traditional group shot…well, not really that traditional. After a few bumps and false starts, we got the remote timer working and everyone in the frame. Much thanks to Simon from the heart of food for getting everything in place.

As always, a big shout out to Suze and Helen for organising. It was a great day and we had heaps of fun and food.  To everyone I met and didn’t link, please drop me a message, I’d love to hear from you because I’m so terrible with names.

Happy 2012 gorgeous people! I hope you had a fantastic holiday season and wish you all much joy and laughter in the coming year. I spent New Years Eve in Albany, WA and while I meant to catch the midnight fireworks and had my tripod and camera ready to go, I realised (at midnight) that our hotel window did not quite have them in view. So while 2012 came with many many loud bangs, I have no pretty fireworks to share!

However, I do have some photos from those distant Western shores to share, and my absolute favourite so far was the long exposure shot of the Bussellton Jetty that opened my post. Doesn’t the Tokina 11-16mm have such pretty sunstars?

Of course, travelling down to Albany from Perth meant we drove through some amazing food and wine country in the Margaret River region- we feasted on stone fruit (donut peaches are my new obsession), cheese, strawberries and had a few wine samples (remember folks, don’t drink and drive). And while there weren’t too many restaurants that impressed us, particularly value-wise (except one fish and chips store that was stunning in its freshness), there was one restaurant meal on New Years Day that left us sated and content. I speak of Lime 303, a restaurant literally a stone’s throw from our hotel room (okay, so I can’t throw very far, don’t judge).

The sister went for a classic surf and turf, which we had to say was the best steak we’d had so far in WA (that being said, the other ones were so terrible, I dare not mention the places we had them) – a beautiful medium rare and topped with leader prawns. The sister didn’t share =_=;;

Dad went for the more adventurous version, dubbed “Swamp n’ Chomp”, which consisted of a grilled buffalo steak swimming in a native pepper-lemon myrtle cream. A golden disk of confit crocodile made up the ‘Chomp’ component. While I’ve tried crocodile a long time ago, I didn’t remember much about it, so I was surprised that its flavour does indeed resemble chicken, albeit with a slightly more gelatinous texture. Strange. But the buffalo was definitely well-cooked, lacking the expected toughness and given a zesty boost by the lemony cream.

I was eyeing this dish while choosing from the menu, because I was horribly tempted by the sound of “lemon-oregano scotch duck egg yolk “. I’m a sucker for egg yolk. So when mum offered me a taste, I pounced, not on that beautifully roasted quail, but on that unctuous gooey, only just pliable egg yolk. And I was not disappointed. Enough said.

And last but by no means least, my own garlic infused lamb loin, on a smoky mix of baba ghanoush, jewel speckled couscous and grilled zucchini. Cooked a beautiful pink and topped with mint labna, I was content, although a bit more of that sticky onion glaze would have been welcome. Indeed, it probably speaks eloquently about the meal to say that while some amazing sounding dessert options were on offer, we were so full that we did not dare order more for fear we wouldn’t make it back up the hill to our hotel room (rolling being out of the question.

So we ambled back and watched movies on Foxtel. Far better than the previous night’s ‘festivities’ (Red Dog is such a tear-jerking movie), and far more content than with any other restaurant meals in Western Australia even given the public holiday price hike (although a caveat: cooking yourself with the amazing produce? Definitely priceless). Definitely not bad for a hotel restaurant.

Lime 303

The Dog Rock Motel
303 Middleton Road
Albany, Western Australia, 6330.
Ph :+61 8 9845 7200

]]> http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com/2012/01/09/lime-303-albany-western-australia/feed/ 7 http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com/2012/01/08/eatdrinkblog-2011-sydney/ http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com/2012/01/08/eatdrinkblog-2011-sydney/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:38:45 +0000 chris http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com/?p=1218

What happens when you put 70-odd food bloggers in the same room, alongside coffee, artisan bread, macarons, freshly squeezed juices and Singapore chilli crab?

I don’t know, I was too busy playing photographer ;) Of course, I’m joking. When you have that combination, the obvious ensues. A jam-packed day full of eating, food related discussion, with the odd burst of legalese, ethical debate and deep fried lamb bacon.

Given the lateness of this post, I suppose the only thing to do is show you the day from this side of the lens, but just a few snaps, mind you. For a fuller picture of the day, visit the media hub here.

Oh I almost forgot. If you like what you see and want to see a few not-necessarily food related photos, I’ve put together a small photoblog here or you can always visit my flickr.

Hello world. Did you miss me? I must admit, when I wearily crept out underneath from the pile of thesis drafts, references and textbooks that has plagued my life for the past couple of months, the sun blinded me. That might have been the lack of sleep though.

But, it’s over! It hasn’t quite sunk in, as there are Masters applications to consider and PhD supervisors to research (so, if there are any psychology researchers who are interested in Heston Blumenthal-esque experiments, do drop me a line) and far too much part-time work to get back into. But in celebration, Tim took me out to dinner…to Tetsuyas. *happy dance*.

We started with potato soup, topped with avruga. Hiding beneath the velvety lightness was a perfectly runny coddled quail egg. A perfect start, that left us trying to scrape up every drop. We indulged in copious amounts of whipped truffle butter (with the unami of parmigiano reggiano and clouds of ricotta) and sourdough to soothe the absence of the finished soup.

Pacific oysters with rice vinegar and ginger were an optional extra which we were glad we chose. A perfect blend of sweet, tart and sea-scent, these were by far the most memorable oysters I’ve had for a long while.

 Chawanmushi, or lightly steamed savory egg custard, topped with uni and wasabi was one dish I was afraid Tim wouldn’t be able to eat, because he doesn’t like egg, sea urchin or wasabi, but he seemed to handle it reasonably well, except for the fact he managed to get a nose-ful of the wasabi in his first bite. For me, the barely set silken custard and the sweetness of the uni was well complemented with the not-too-sharp bite of the wasabi. Actually, I’m craving some now, because it was so comforting.

Continuing with the seafood courses, the sashimi of Hiramasa kingfish was beautifully presented, topped somewhat unusually with blackbean and orange. Listening to the waitress explaining the sauce (‘secret’, she said), the quintessentially Japanese trio of soy sauce, mirin and sake featured, while the blackbean added earthiness to counter the zest of the orange. While I’m normally not a kingfish fan, preferring my salmon, the clean flavours and freshness of the fish drew me in.

The signature dish, the one that everyone thinks of when the name Tetsuya is mentioned immediately captured our attention as soon as it was brought out. The konbu encrusted confit of Petuna ocean trout was succulent, with unami and salty bursts of flavour from the crust. We were also quite taken with the unpasteurised roe, while the fennel salad added crunch and freshness. A fitting signature dish indeed.

The last seafood dish of the day evoked our curiousity. See, it was presented with a strange looking spoon with a notch on the side which puzzled us. Our server enlightened us, the spoon is known as a saucier, and is used to scoop every last bit of the sauce, which was actually quite useful, because the sauce which accompanied the steamed spanner crab was divine. A conglomeration of soft, melting textures, from foie gras and silken tofu to the crab, enveloped with a delicate sauce.

Braised veal shank with broad beans and smoked bone marrow signalled the beginning of the meat courses, heralded by the smoky aroma as the dish was set down in front of us. While the tender veal fell apart at the touch of a fork, we did wish there was more sauce, simply because the meat at the centre of the cylinder was a little drier than the rest.

Tim really felt the breast of quail cooked on the crown and deboned was a standout dish, on par with the ocean trout, and I have to admit, the puffy rice grains and garlic sauce were great. What stood out for me was the paleta iberico, slivers of melting pork goodness.

Cape Grim beef fillet with wasabi and braised mustard seeds and beef tendon. It always surprises me when I’m not presented with a steak knife when, well, eating steak. Needless to say, we didn’t need it. Beautifully cooked to a perfect medium rare, the beef was perfectly complimented with the mustard and wasabi, the latter without its typical sharp heat. We did wish for a vegetable of some sort, perhaps a potato or some greens, but the tendons on top offered chewy, gelatinous goodness.

Dessert. Wow. Sorrel granita danced and melted across the tongue, refreshing the senses, whilst the hay-infused icecream provided the creaminess. We couldn’t quite pin down the flavour, that odd mix of sweet and tart and green and somewhat squeaky on the teeth because of the cream, but then it clicked. “It tastes like green grape skin”. “Really, really awesome green grape skin.”

The waitress had asked us if there were any desserts we couldn’t eat, custards, fruits, chocolate. Apart from banana, its hard to find a dessert that we don’t enjoy, and so when we started on the bread and butter pudding with bruleed top, we were sold. Sweet custard, plump sultanas, the only small let down was that there was no crack to the brulee top.

Finally, cream cheese icecream and cinnamon twigs sat pretty alongside…

A rich, mousse-like chocolate pave, enrobed in a flawless dark chocolate glaze with specks of sea salt. I’m out of adjectives.

We finished off the meal with macarons, intense bites of coffee and strawberry. Tim was well pleased to have his hot chocolate (His facebook status reads “Finally, a restaurant that doesn’t make a fuss and try to charge you extra for a hot chocolate during the complimentary ‘tea and coffee’ phase of a meal…”) while for me, a genmaicha (brown rice tea) washed away the sweetness of dessert and rounded off the night.

So, what was the verdict? To be honest, in my head, the entire meal so far had been comforting, nothing really pushing the boundaries. The flavours, while tasty, didn’t challenge, say, compared to say, Tomislav (which remains to be blogged) or Assiette, which although slightly less consistent, had dishes which did push the envelope a little.  But then, I’m reasonably adventurous and generally, it’s rare for Japanese food to phase me. Overall, I can see why Tetsuya’s is such a tried and true Sydney institution. Everything, from the decor, presentation and service was polished and refined. For me, I’ll be back, when I can afford it, and I’ll recommend it to my parents for their 25 year anniversary.

For now, there’s a sleep debt which needs recovering and a future to be thinking about…but hopefully far more time and food exploits too. I’m glad to be back.

Tetsuya’s Restaurant is located at 529 Kent Street, Sydney.

+61 2 9267 2900

http://www.tetsuyas.com/

However, as you can see by the evidence of this post, I did indeed make that phone call and we drove down to Tarago, a sleepy (hah, see what I did there?) little town about 30 minutes out of Canberra city itself. Rather than recap all the details of the hunt though, I decided a video was in order, having just discovered that my baby (the camera =P) can film videos.

As you can see by the video, the truffle producers use dogs to sniff out the truffles. Traditionally, pigs were used as they don’t need to be trained, but because pigs actually like to eat truffles, they need to be pulled away as soon as they uncover one. Dogs need to be trained but won’t eat the truffle itself – as you can see, Lucy was quite determined on getting her treat. Lucy is one of the longest serving truffle dogs in the country, and apparently she and her handler go up and down from Canberra all the way to Tasmania during the truffle season.

About the truffle itself? Well…it’s pungent. I can see where the old socks and sex description comes from. They smell earthy and musty and moist, but also somewhat green. At first sniff, I wasn’t sure I liked it. I’ve tried truffle oil (my family loves making truffled mash) and I’m used to and enjoy the smell of that, but the real thing is really strong, almost overpowering for me. Almost like the smell of strong alcohol, with that slight burn in the back of the throat. Very distinct indeed. Once you get used to it though, you can pick out spicy and even floral notes. We bought about $150 worth of truffles to take back to Sydney (at $2.50 a gram).

Then it was time for the optional lunch at the Lake Georges Hotel in Bungendore, where we were promised 2 courses full of truffles with matching wines.

Cauliflower soup

You could smell the truffles the moment the waiter walked into the room with these bowls, and I think it was here that the flavour enhancing properties of the truffles really worked their magic, making the cauliflower somehow richer and earthier. I make a mean cauliflower soup myself, but somehow, the truffles just lifted the flavour from awesome to jaw-droppingly-not-going-to-share-this-with-my-girlfriend awesome (it was Tim’s entree). Mind you, I was holding the duck hostage, so I did get my half of the soup in the end.

The duck was served on top a bed of watercress, baby beetroot and witlof, a great mix of sweet, fresh and earthy. A sweet balsamic reduction accented the gaminess of the duck. The shaved truffle itself was surprisingly mild in flavour, given its aroma, but almost melted on the tongue.

So I’m a little antisocial, and so Tim made conversation with the lovely couple from Canberra who were going to Italy the week after while I took abstract photos of the wine. Speaking of which, we felt the wine was a little unremarkable, but this may be due more to the fact that neither Tim or I are big wine drinkers.

Roast chicken served on a bed of truffled risotto and rocket was tender, but it was the risotto that caught our attention. The truffle flavour wasn’t immediately apparent, but the al dente grains of rice, avoiding the gluey feeling when overcooked, and made fresh with parsley (and possibly lemon, if my memory serves me correctly), was stunning.

But admittedly, it was the lamb casserole that caught our eye and hearts. Served with truffled mash (that doesn’t need further explaining), the lamb fell apart at the touch of the fork. I only wished there was bread to mop up the comforting sauce. Drooling at the thought of it right now.

So…what to say about the truffles? Admittedly, we have a container full of truffle-scented rice and eggs still in the fridge that need cooking, and the truffles themselves were used to stuff chickens, grated into mash and over truffled scrambled eggs, with the last few grams stored in butter in the freezer to be melted over steak. But we’re more or less truffled out, I suspect, at least for the next few months. And that’s probably a good thing for our wallets.

Learning something new usually scares and excites me. I’m not usually one to back down from a challenge, and while it may take some time to talk myself into and some well-aimed kicks to get me to stop procrastinating and actually do it, things typically turn out well in the end. Going away sans (responsible) ‘adult’ figures for the first time in my life with a whole bunch of people I didn’t really know for 3 days to the Blue Mountains, for example. Learning to use a tripod properly (Thanks Mr Canon!). Going beyond f 1.8 (*shockhorrorgasp*). Standing around Circular Quay by myself as the sun sets and people give me strange looks as they hurry past. Yes, a whole lot of new skills that I’ve acquired in recent times.

Whee, long exposure.

It was this latter point that was one of the more interesting experiences. See, VIVID Sydney was painting the town red, blue, green and many other colours and while I had checked it out briefly with the UNSW Photoclub earlier, I hadn’t had the chance to go across to the ferry terminal side to get a good idea of what was going on. So, one late afternoon, I stood at the end of the wharf as the sun slowly slipped over the horizon and the winter chill we’ve become familiar with slowly seeped into my bones. As the sky turned from golden to blue to black. And I shot. Using a tripod.

But, this is a food blog after all, so I’ll fast forward about 80 odd photos or so to dinner, when Tim finally left work (More photos may be found after the break if you’re interested) to accompany me on the insane venture of shooting in the freezing wind. We um’ed and ah’ed over where to go, but in the end, we opted just to retreat a few metres and go to the warmth of the Ocean Room. After all, it was right there behind us.

We started with their signature Tuna Creation, with 5 cubes of tuna served in different styles, each matched with its own condiment. This was a tricky dish to split between two, but after some negotiation, we came to an agreement and each enjoyed the freshness of the fish. I’m not usually a huge fan of tuna, usually preferring salmon or ocean trout, but the novelty of the dish was in the matching salts, which gave it a certain punch that would otherwise be missing.

On the other hand, the Ocean Trout Indulgence was right up my alley, with 12 pieces of meltingly tender ocean trout belly, some seared just enough to add that smokiness and hint of warmth. Ginger, scallions and roe added bursts of flavour as we savoured each piece for as long as possible. It was a sad moment when we saw the empty plate.

We briefly contemplated ordering more of the ocean trout, but then the next dish arrived, saiyko miso cod. Now, this is one of my favourite ways of preparing cod and I’ve been moaning recently about the death of Satsuma, so it was great to see it again. The grilled baby leeks were a little too strong for me, but the fish was gorgeously flaky and paired surprisingly well with the ginger risottto. Looking at the menu, I don’t recall the orange miso sauce tasting particularly like orange, but overall, a great dish.

The Scallop Melt roll confirmed I don’t really enjoy cheese in my sushi, but Tim enjoyed it. Once I dissected each piece (I can’t actually fit whole pieces of sushi in my mouth, despite my propensity to talk), I found the garlic miso sauce much to my liking, though I wasn’t sure about the crispy herbs. They certainly looked pretty though.

Finally, the cutest little charcoal grill was brought out to us (and I wish I had one now, because it is freezing!), along with a platter of wagyu beef served ‘bleu’. While I was tempted to just dig in right there, especially after eyeing the ribbons of fat marbled through the meat, Tim was sensible and manned the grill.

The aburiyaki wagyu was served with garlic miso and spicy soy sauces, which we alternated bites of to see which we liked, as well as some bamboo shoots, and was gone far too quickly. Then, as I spotted a pattern on the Opera House that I had not shot yet, I bolted out the door while Tim paid the bill. Such an understanding boyfriend hee.

Ocean Room

Bay 4 – Ground Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal,
Circular Quay West, The Rocks
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 9252-9585
www.oceanroomsydney.com

Click through for more picture of Vivid

Lighting up the Sails was probably my favourite part of Vivid. I’ve spotted more examples around the net, and I realised I haven’t gotten all the different patterns, but it got too cold to camp out for so long.

The melted polar bear. When I first went, this guy was still almost completely covered in ice. His skeleton is far more creepy.

Lights and ropes are surprisingly effective.

At making people look creepy oO;;

UFO-like, hovering, jellyfish…things.

I turn to Tim, “You know, it’s been a really long time since I’ve photographed food.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, not since tres leches at Easter.”

“You know…that was only two weeks ago.”

But what a long two weeks it has been. For once, there are photos of people in my camera, when once upon a time, you could literally scroll through my memory card and not have a single glimpse of a human…well, except for maybe someone photobombing the cake. There are photos of flowers, and buildings and three-headed dogs (learning to use the multiple exposure function – Tora was not terribly impressed). And now, souffle.

It was Mothers’ Day on Sunday, and all morning I had been dreaming of a pink dessert. Musing out loud “raspberry souffle…rose and lychee sabayon…raspberry coulis…” (Dad replied “Sounds good.” Mum: “…What?”). Not that Mum is a particularly pink sort of person (except after a couple glasses of wine), but I wanted to do something that would be challenging, but also sweet and light.

So Mum went off to visit Grandma, Dad cooked french onion soup and roast lamb with cider and honey, and I made dessert.

It was far easier than I had assumed.

I was a little worried when Tim, recalling a scene from Glee, piped up “Did you leave room for them to rise?”. Me: “Uh…recipe didn’t say so”, but the souffles rose beautifully, if a little unevenly. When the timer went off, I whispered “No one sneeze”, gently opened the oven door, and holding my breath and a pair of kitchen towels, cautiously slid them out of the oven and onto a heat mat on the table. A dusting of icing sugar covered any surface imperfections, and then I “plated up”, with a drizzle of raspberry coulis, some of my aunt’s heart-shaped Napoleons and a jar of rose and lychee sabayon.

All the components were perfect. The souffle was airy and disappeared like a wisp of cloud on the tongue, the tart raspberries balancing the sweet floral sabayon. A perfect dessert for my Mum.

Recipes

(based loosely on Bill Granger’s Raspberry Souffle and Maggie Beer’s Sabayon, inspired by Pierre Herme’s Ispahan)

Rose and Lychee Sabayon

4 egg yolks
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 can lychee, pureed in syrup and strained – reserve 100 mLs of lychee juice
1/2 tsp rose water essence

Whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until pale and creamy. Add the lychee juice. Place over,but not touching a pan of simmering water, whisking continuously. Be sure to control the heat so that the eggs do not scramble.

Once a figure of 8 can be drawn across the surface before disappearing, remove from heat, add rose water and continue to whisk until cool. Serve within an hour.

Raspberry Souffle

Raspberry coulis

300 g frozen raspberries
1/4 cup caster sugar

Place raspberries and sugar in a pan over low heat along with a splash of water, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Take off heat and allow to cool, then puree and strain.

Base

2/3 of raspberry coulis
2 tsp cornflour, dissolved in 2 tsp cold water.

Bring the raspberry coulis to a boil, then whisk in cornflour mixture. Immediately take off the heat and whisk until cornflour has fully dissolved. Allow to cool completely – this may be made hours in advance of dessert time.

Souffle

4 egg whites at room temperature
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Butter and caster sugar to line the moulds

In advance (I did it at the same time as I made the base), brush the ramekins with melted butter, being careful to brush vertically up the sides of the moulds, which will allow the souffle to rise. Sprinkle with caster sugar, tipping out excess (the original recipe said to do this twice, but I think once would be quite sufficient). Place ramekins in fridge until ready to use.

Preheat oven to  170 degrees C.

In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites and salt together at medium-high speed until soft peak. Gradually add the caster sugar in until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Stir a third of the egg whites into the base, incorporating thoroughly, before folding the remainder through gently, just until no white streaks remain.

Take the ramekins out of the fridge, and drizzle coulis down the sides of the ramekins to get the pink stripes you can see in the photograph above. Spoon the souffle mixture into each ramekin, smoothing the surface with a spatula and cleaning the edge of the ramekin. Place on a tray and into the hot oven for about 15 minutes, or until well risen and slightly colouring on top.

Serve immediately, with an autumnal snow’s dusting of icing sugar, the sabayon and remaining coulis.

P.S. We had two big ramekins of souffle leftover – they sank overnight in the fridge, but we reheated them in the oven and they rose a good inch above the ramekin again, and were just as good for the next night’s dinner of leftovers. The sabayon doesn’t keep, but I had some vanilla custard that I warmed up and served with the raspberry coulis. <3

We try to capture the last rays of light in hurried moments, lingering over slippery noodles made lively with a squeeze of lemon. A gentle nudge and the conversation and egg yolk flows, words like liquid gold to soothe the heart.

Mappen was one of those places I knew we had to try, but Tim was less convinced. He doesn’t like egg, so I could not persuade him of the wonders of tamago onsen, the glorious just barely cooked eggs, nor was he convinced of the cold udon I knew I craved. He likes his udon piping hot, whereas in the heat of summer, I was craving cool slippery noodles. Luckily for us, Mappen caters for both of us, with a large size bukkake udon above for him, and a small onsen bukkake udon for me, with copious amounts of self serve shallots and tempura drippings.

There’s also deliciously crispy tempura you can choose to serve on the side. This vegetable ball is one of my favourites, though admittedly, my chopstick skills suck, so Tim usually has to tear it apart for me. We also love having tempura tofu and chicken, and occasionally sweet potato the size of my hand. All for very reasonable prices.

Tim likes his whitebait, but he usually has that all on his own, because I have issues with little eyes in my food (and big eyes. I can’t eat steamed fish if it’s still looking at me. With teeth. *cringe*). The tempura is crispy, perfect for drowning in the sweetly salty dipping sauce.

Mappen is located just behind the 85c Cake Shop on George Street, right next to the indoor seating area of Pepper Lunch. Just remember, you’ve got to queue on the left hand side, and move to the right to pay.

Shop 11, 537-551 George Street, Sydney
Ph: (02) 9283 5525

Opening hours:
Sunday to Wednesday 11.30am-10.00pm
Thursday to Saturday 11.30am-10.30pm