This year has gone by super fast. What have I done? What have I have achieved this year? Um. I still climb at the same level that I climbed at before; in fact possibly have gotten worse. My technique has gone a bit to pieces. No longer am I watching what I spend, in fact, I'm quite scared of adding up how much I've spent so far this year - or rather, the past year point five. I've taken up surfing - so that's a new obsession to add to my current tally of expensive hobbies. I tried to give up coffee - twice, and then fell straight off the wagon a couple of days later. And I've just had a dental check up and don't need _any_ fillings. Hurrah!
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Monday, December 13, 2004
Becasse: the degustation
After some indecision in choosing between the al-a-carte menu and the degustation menu, we decided upon the degustation. After all, you only live once, and how often does one head into a restaurant like this? Tempting on the a-la carte menu were the fried courgette flowers, the venison and the risotto. I always like choosing a risotto to get the measure of a place, but well, I can get risotto any old time right?
This was the menu:
1. Amuse Bouche - root vegetable soup with foie gras chantilly
2. Cured Saltwater Char with a Salad of Abalone
3. Ballontine (terrine) of squab with salad & game bird consommé
4. Grilled mahi mahi with garlic chive potato, seared prawns and red wine jus
5. Oxtail with calves tongue and a (stack) of potato, sweetcorn
6. cheese platter - triple cream brie, washed rind, blue, sheep's milk camembert, (Pyrenees ewes milk cheese)
7. Pre Dessert - vanilla bean champagne granita with nectarine jelly
8. Baked Brioche with Orange Flower Anglaise and Praline Ice Cream
We also asked for the degustation to be matched with wine, and so for each course, you get a half glass (tasting size), resulting in 2.5 glasses over your meal.
We started with a small shot of a creamy root vegetable soup, with a final note of turnip. Amuse Bouche. An odd choice, I would have thought that root vegetables were past their prime, considering we are well on the way into Summer. But given that the weather has all been stuffed up recently, and how my jonquils bloomed in midwinter (no! no! go back into the ground! you're not supposed to come out till September!), I shouldn't be surprised.
Number two was also the first entree offering on the a-la-carte menu. Salt crusted rectangle of Char resting upon a bed of small delicate greens & thin slices of abalone. The char was crispy, but over salty. I couldn't believe it when I read in this week's good living that chef Justin North hopes that the next supply of char is saltier. Very light, pleasing dish, I really liked the salad. What are those small greens, looks a bit like baby bamboo/asparagus with segments, but very thin and delicate? Anyway, I'm a fan. Abalone was thinly sliced. A lot different to the big meaty chunks of abalone in a Chinese restaurant, it was hard to pick up on the delicate flavour, with the pieces melting almost as soon as you put it on your tongue.
A round stamp of terrine, a baby curly endive & green bean salad, a square shot glass with a medium brown coloured consume, drizzled round with (I think) the same consommé reduction. Wow. Hitting the hard stuff here. The texture on the outside of the ballontine was very similar to that of squab skin. Ballontine was meaty in rich in taste. The consommé itself was very very rich. It had an overtone of sweetness, almost like a light caramel or palm sugar. Although it matched the ballontine, it got to be too overpowering. I felt like I was drinking meat sauces straight from the pan, and could not finish it. The salad (I must have a thing for green things) had a great dressing. Instead of your usual balsamic vinegar/olive oil match; it seemed to be only slightly sharp, and the oil used seemed to be derived from some meat. The oil off the game consume? I\'m uncertain. A very rich dish.
The mahi mahi was beautifully presented, with a finishing circle of the red wine jus which was delicious. Still with a salty crust, but not as salty as the char earlier. On a bed of green garlic chive mash that tasted more like 'green' or had a bit of a grassy texture; The two prawns were oversalty again; I'm not sure if the intended effect was a salt crust or not...
Woo! Animal bits! My favourite dish of the evening, Oxtail with calves tongue, a (stack) of potato, and sweet corn. Oxtail, which I also thought was a winter-warming dish was a little cylinder with some ham (?) in the middle in place of the tailbone. It was brown. It was rich. It had fat. It was good. The calves tongue - even better. It was browner. Almost caramelised to crispness on the outside, it was crunchy, with pockets of rich almost liver like (putty! putty!) flavour. Ooohhh, it was gooood. Well worth it if you're a carnivore & don't mind bits.
Quite full, but eager to try some French Cheeses, so I made room in my cheese stomach. I'm not sure if I tried these in the right order...and unfortunately I remember only what the cheeses were made from, and not anything else about them. I know that you're supposed to try from the lighter cheese to the more strongly flavoured ones - and to me, washed rind tends to be more stinky than the blues. Served with a whole-wheat ryvita-like cracker, a lighter pepper cracker & a warm walnut & date bread; also apple slices & grapes to clear the palate. Anyway, this is what we had:
A round stamp of terrine, a baby curly endive & green bean salad, a square shot glass with a medium brown coloured consume, drizzled round with (I think) the same consommé reduction. Wow. Hitting the hard stuff here. The texture on the outside of the ballontine was very similar to that of squab skin. Ballontine was meaty in rich in taste. The consommé itself was very very rich. It had an overtone of sweetness, almost like a light caramel or palm sugar. Although it matched the ballontine, it got to be too overpowering. I felt like I was drinking meat sauces straight from the pan, and could not finish it. The salad (I must have a thing for green things) had a great dressing. Instead of your usual balsamic vinegar/olive oil match; it seemed to be only slightly sharp, and the oil used seemed to be derived from some meat. The oil off the game consume? I'm uncertain. A very rich dish.
The mahi mahi was beautifully presented, with a finishing circle of the red wine jus which was delicious. Still with a salty crust, but not as salty as the char earlier. On a bed of green garlic chive mash that tasted more like 'green' or had a bit of a grassy texture; The two prawns were oversalty again; I'm not sure if the intended effect was a salt crust or not...
Woo! Animal bits! My favourite dish of the evening, Oxtail with calves tongue, a (stack) of potato, and sweet corn. Oxtail, which I also thought was a winter-warming dish was a little cylinder with some ham (?) in the middle in place of the tailbone. It was brown. It was rich. It had fat. It was good. The calves tongue - even better. It was browner. Almost caramelised to crispness on the outside, it was crunchy, with pockets of rich almost liver like (putty! putty!) flavour. Ooohhh, it was gooood. Well worth it if you're a carnivore & don't mind bits.
Quite full, but eager to try some French Cheeses, so I made room in my cheese stomach. I'm not sure if I tried these in the right order...and unfortunately I remember only what the cheeses were made from, and not anything else about them. I know that you're supposed to try from the lighter cheese to the more strongly flavoured ones - and to me, washed rind tends to be more stinky than the blues. Served with a whole-wheat ryvita-like cracker, a lighter pepper cracker & a warm walnut & date bread; also apple slices & grapes to clear the palate. Anyway, this is what we had:
a) triple cream brie (or camembert? I get them confused) - light & oozy but has that white mould/farmyard sort of 'breath' if it makes sense;
b) a washed rind - had a texture like edam, really not as stinky as expected;
c) a blue -yummy, my fave, went really well with the walnut & date bread;
d) a sheep's milk camembert (wooo, stinky!!);
e) an ewes milk hard cheese - has that nutty bit like the heidi tilsit, but not as much.
And the grapes/apple slices did NOTHING to cleanse the palate. the cheese just made em taste horrible. What's the difference between sheep milk & ewe milk? is an ewe a goat?
Pre-dessert of vanilla bean champagne granita with nectarine jelly came in a little shot glass. I wonder - is it a popular thing in Banc-trained chefs, or just in classically trained chefs? At both Banc and Balzac (hey ... at Becasse too, is there a thing with the 'B's here?), the pre-dessert was a little shot of something involving jelly. This one was gorgeous, a shot of light pink jelly with two nectarine slices, topped with a white granita with the telltale vanilla specks throughout. Mmmmm. I have had a champagne granita once, with natural oysters, and that was alcoholic and horrible. This was a divine, melt in the mouth, matches with all the notes type dish, and I wish I could have had more.
The real dessert-dessert was Baked Brioche with Orange Flower Anglaise and Praline Ice Cream. Praline Ice-cream, tasty, and not overpoweringly sweet; Baked brioche; also came with the little sugared citrus or orange peel & a syrup on top. the anglaise I presume was that fluffy whipped cappuccino stuff to one side. Good for the sweet tooth. I, alas had no space left in my dessert tummy, having converted it to a cheese tummy, and I could not finish it. I had saved a little of the pre-dessert though, and it was great as a meal finisher.
These were the matching wines:
2. 2002 Domaine Pierre de la Grange Muscadet (Loire Valley). On its own it had a Verdelho's peach nose & the body was similar to both Verdelho & a Semillon. It matched all elements of the Saltwater Char dish beautifully.
3. 2001 Scarborough Chardonnay (Hunter Valley). A bit of a so-so wine, typical chardonnay nose, but not much on the palate. Seemed to just match the Ballontine, but not the salad or the consommé.
4. 2003 Bries Pinot (Yarra Valley). This was pretty cold & dead when it reached the table. Some swirling of the glass produced a slight berry/strawberry nose, but that was all I got. Oxidised? Dead fruit wine? Unsure. It did not go with the dish at all.
5. 2001 Reydon Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Langhorne, SA). Big nose. Big body. Very dark purple colour. Cut through the oily richness of the oxtail very well.
6. 2002 Peter Howland Shiraz (Donnybrook WA). I haven't yet work out how to match a wine to a cheese, and possibly since I destroyed my palate by eating the cheeses in the wrong order, it didn't seem to match any of them. Sorry.
8. Domaine de Bernardins Muscat Beaumes de Venise (Rhone Valley). Supposedly with raisin & floral notes that the sommelier thought would match the orange anglaise of the dessert; I picked up on more of an apple jelly kind of nose, possibly something herbal. Tasted like a sticky.
So as you can tell, I really enjoyed my dinner at Becasse. I don't know how other people have managed to have the degustation menu and _still_ feel the need for pizza afterwards to fill the gaps. Go & do the ramen challenge if you don't appreciate it! Service was 2/3rds good, I'm afraid one person just grated on my nerves. The degustation menu, matched with wine, if you're a drinker is well worth it and highly recommended. I saw two other tables doing the degustation thing, and declaring that it was the best meal they had ever had. If you can save up the cash, do eeet!
This was the menu:
1. Amuse Bouche - root vegetable soup with foie gras chantilly
2. Cured Saltwater Char with a Salad of Abalone
3. Ballontine (terrine) of squab with salad & game bird consommé
4. Grilled mahi mahi with garlic chive potato, seared prawns and red wine jus
5. Oxtail with calves tongue and a (stack) of potato, sweetcorn
6. cheese platter - triple cream brie, washed rind, blue, sheep's milk camembert, (Pyrenees ewes milk cheese)
7. Pre Dessert - vanilla bean champagne granita with nectarine jelly
8. Baked Brioche with Orange Flower Anglaise and Praline Ice Cream
We also asked for the degustation to be matched with wine, and so for each course, you get a half glass (tasting size), resulting in 2.5 glasses over your meal.
We started with a small shot of a creamy root vegetable soup, with a final note of turnip. Amuse Bouche. An odd choice, I would have thought that root vegetables were past their prime, considering we are well on the way into Summer. But given that the weather has all been stuffed up recently, and how my jonquils bloomed in midwinter (no! no! go back into the ground! you're not supposed to come out till September!), I shouldn't be surprised.
Number two was also the first entree offering on the a-la-carte menu. Salt crusted rectangle of Char resting upon a bed of small delicate greens & thin slices of abalone. The char was crispy, but over salty. I couldn't believe it when I read in this week's good living that chef Justin North hopes that the next supply of char is saltier. Very light, pleasing dish, I really liked the salad. What are those small greens, looks a bit like baby bamboo/asparagus with segments, but very thin and delicate? Anyway, I'm a fan. Abalone was thinly sliced. A lot different to the big meaty chunks of abalone in a Chinese restaurant, it was hard to pick up on the delicate flavour, with the pieces melting almost as soon as you put it on your tongue.
A round stamp of terrine, a baby curly endive & green bean salad, a square shot glass with a medium brown coloured consume, drizzled round with (I think) the same consommé reduction. Wow. Hitting the hard stuff here. The texture on the outside of the ballontine was very similar to that of squab skin. Ballontine was meaty in rich in taste. The consommé itself was very very rich. It had an overtone of sweetness, almost like a light caramel or palm sugar. Although it matched the ballontine, it got to be too overpowering. I felt like I was drinking meat sauces straight from the pan, and could not finish it. The salad (I must have a thing for green things) had a great dressing. Instead of your usual balsamic vinegar/olive oil match; it seemed to be only slightly sharp, and the oil used seemed to be derived from some meat. The oil off the game consume? I\'m uncertain. A very rich dish.
The mahi mahi was beautifully presented, with a finishing circle of the red wine jus which was delicious. Still with a salty crust, but not as salty as the char earlier. On a bed of green garlic chive mash that tasted more like 'green' or had a bit of a grassy texture; The two prawns were oversalty again; I'm not sure if the intended effect was a salt crust or not...
Woo! Animal bits! My favourite dish of the evening, Oxtail with calves tongue, a (stack) of potato, and sweet corn. Oxtail, which I also thought was a winter-warming dish was a little cylinder with some ham (?) in the middle in place of the tailbone. It was brown. It was rich. It had fat. It was good. The calves tongue - even better. It was browner. Almost caramelised to crispness on the outside, it was crunchy, with pockets of rich almost liver like (putty! putty!) flavour. Ooohhh, it was gooood. Well worth it if you're a carnivore & don't mind bits.
Quite full, but eager to try some French Cheeses, so I made room in my cheese stomach. I'm not sure if I tried these in the right order...and unfortunately I remember only what the cheeses were made from, and not anything else about them. I know that you're supposed to try from the lighter cheese to the more strongly flavoured ones - and to me, washed rind tends to be more stinky than the blues. Served with a whole-wheat ryvita-like cracker, a lighter pepper cracker & a warm walnut & date bread; also apple slices & grapes to clear the palate. Anyway, this is what we had:
A round stamp of terrine, a baby curly endive & green bean salad, a square shot glass with a medium brown coloured consume, drizzled round with (I think) the same consommé reduction. Wow. Hitting the hard stuff here. The texture on the outside of the ballontine was very similar to that of squab skin. Ballontine was meaty in rich in taste. The consommé itself was very very rich. It had an overtone of sweetness, almost like a light caramel or palm sugar. Although it matched the ballontine, it got to be too overpowering. I felt like I was drinking meat sauces straight from the pan, and could not finish it. The salad (I must have a thing for green things) had a great dressing. Instead of your usual balsamic vinegar/olive oil match; it seemed to be only slightly sharp, and the oil used seemed to be derived from some meat. The oil off the game consume? I'm uncertain. A very rich dish.
The mahi mahi was beautifully presented, with a finishing circle of the red wine jus which was delicious. Still with a salty crust, but not as salty as the char earlier. On a bed of green garlic chive mash that tasted more like 'green' or had a bit of a grassy texture; The two prawns were oversalty again; I'm not sure if the intended effect was a salt crust or not...
Woo! Animal bits! My favourite dish of the evening, Oxtail with calves tongue, a (stack) of potato, and sweet corn. Oxtail, which I also thought was a winter-warming dish was a little cylinder with some ham (?) in the middle in place of the tailbone. It was brown. It was rich. It had fat. It was good. The calves tongue - even better. It was browner. Almost caramelised to crispness on the outside, it was crunchy, with pockets of rich almost liver like (putty! putty!) flavour. Ooohhh, it was gooood. Well worth it if you're a carnivore & don't mind bits.
Quite full, but eager to try some French Cheeses, so I made room in my cheese stomach. I'm not sure if I tried these in the right order...and unfortunately I remember only what the cheeses were made from, and not anything else about them. I know that you're supposed to try from the lighter cheese to the more strongly flavoured ones - and to me, washed rind tends to be more stinky than the blues. Served with a whole-wheat ryvita-like cracker, a lighter pepper cracker & a warm walnut & date bread; also apple slices & grapes to clear the palate. Anyway, this is what we had:
a) triple cream brie (or camembert? I get them confused) - light & oozy but has that white mould/farmyard sort of 'breath' if it makes sense;
b) a washed rind - had a texture like edam, really not as stinky as expected;
c) a blue -yummy, my fave, went really well with the walnut & date bread;
d) a sheep's milk camembert (wooo, stinky!!);
e) an ewes milk hard cheese - has that nutty bit like the heidi tilsit, but not as much.
And the grapes/apple slices did NOTHING to cleanse the palate. the cheese just made em taste horrible. What's the difference between sheep milk & ewe milk? is an ewe a goat?
Pre-dessert of vanilla bean champagne granita with nectarine jelly came in a little shot glass. I wonder - is it a popular thing in Banc-trained chefs, or just in classically trained chefs? At both Banc and Balzac (hey ... at Becasse too, is there a thing with the 'B's here?), the pre-dessert was a little shot of something involving jelly. This one was gorgeous, a shot of light pink jelly with two nectarine slices, topped with a white granita with the telltale vanilla specks throughout. Mmmmm. I have had a champagne granita once, with natural oysters, and that was alcoholic and horrible. This was a divine, melt in the mouth, matches with all the notes type dish, and I wish I could have had more.
The real dessert-dessert was Baked Brioche with Orange Flower Anglaise and Praline Ice Cream. Praline Ice-cream, tasty, and not overpoweringly sweet; Baked brioche; also came with the little sugared citrus or orange peel & a syrup on top. the anglaise I presume was that fluffy whipped cappuccino stuff to one side. Good for the sweet tooth. I, alas had no space left in my dessert tummy, having converted it to a cheese tummy, and I could not finish it. I had saved a little of the pre-dessert though, and it was great as a meal finisher.
These were the matching wines:
2. 2002 Domaine Pierre de la Grange Muscadet (Loire Valley). On its own it had a Verdelho's peach nose & the body was similar to both Verdelho & a Semillon. It matched all elements of the Saltwater Char dish beautifully.
3. 2001 Scarborough Chardonnay (Hunter Valley). A bit of a so-so wine, typical chardonnay nose, but not much on the palate. Seemed to just match the Ballontine, but not the salad or the consommé.
4. 2003 Bries Pinot (Yarra Valley). This was pretty cold & dead when it reached the table. Some swirling of the glass produced a slight berry/strawberry nose, but that was all I got. Oxidised? Dead fruit wine? Unsure. It did not go with the dish at all.
5. 2001 Reydon Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Langhorne, SA). Big nose. Big body. Very dark purple colour. Cut through the oily richness of the oxtail very well.
6. 2002 Peter Howland Shiraz (Donnybrook WA). I haven't yet work out how to match a wine to a cheese, and possibly since I destroyed my palate by eating the cheeses in the wrong order, it didn't seem to match any of them. Sorry.
8. Domaine de Bernardins Muscat Beaumes de Venise (Rhone Valley). Supposedly with raisin & floral notes that the sommelier thought would match the orange anglaise of the dessert; I picked up on more of an apple jelly kind of nose, possibly something herbal. Tasted like a sticky.
So as you can tell, I really enjoyed my dinner at Becasse. I don't know how other people have managed to have the degustation menu and _still_ feel the need for pizza afterwards to fill the gaps. Go & do the ramen challenge if you don't appreciate it! Service was 2/3rds good, I'm afraid one person just grated on my nerves. The degustation menu, matched with wine, if you're a drinker is well worth it and highly recommended. I saw two other tables doing the degustation thing, and declaring that it was the best meal they had ever had. If you can save up the cash, do eeet!
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Bus Rant
Annoyance #1: people who sit on the 'aisle' seat of the bus, and refuse to move even if you're loaded down with shopping.
Annoyance #2: the idiotic person, who insists on standing in the aisle of the bus, in some random spot, just so that they can continue talking to their friend. Firstly, it f00ks up the whole flow of people who get on the bus, because they won't bloody move, and because everybody has to push past them. Secondly, they talk in a stupid cockney accent, in 6 syllable bites so I can't bloody eavesdrop. Guy on the bus, you know who you are.
Annoyance #2: the idiotic person, who insists on standing in the aisle of the bus, in some random spot, just so that they can continue talking to their friend. Firstly, it f00ks up the whole flow of people who get on the bus, because they won't bloody move, and because everybody has to push past them. Secondly, they talk in a stupid cockney accent, in 6 syllable bites so I can't bloody eavesdrop. Guy on the bus, you know who you are.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
2004 Sydney Food & Wine Fair
Went to the annual smh food & wine fair today in Hyde Park. Fundraising for the Aids Council of Australia, the deal is you purchase 'coupons', and then redeem the coupons at various stalls throughout the park. The stalls of course are representatives of several esteemed establishments around Sydney, places in which I could never afford ordinarily. The prices are pretty good - 4x coupons ($8) for a 'main' , 3x for a dessert, 1x for coffee. The places from which I tried wares were Flying Fish, Longrain, Kingsley's Steakhouse, Pello, and of course, a dessert & coffee. The food & wine fair is part of the Good Food Month promotion that the herald runs every October.
First up was Pork Crackling & Pork Belly with Seared Tuna & Ruby red grapefruit, from Flying Fish restaurant in Pyrmont. Just before serving a warm sauce was added to the container. This was really tasty, the pork belly was tender, and surprisingly, the ruby red grapefruit worked really really well with the whole lot. Not a bad serving for $8, and the sauce was super tasty. I think it had some sugar, fish sauce, honey, pepper & a little pink grapefruit juice.
Number two was from Longrain. The queue was enormous, and quite easily the longest one at that time. Longrain's food is always popular, and I've heard reports that during the night noodle markets, also held during the Good Food Month promotion, they quite often run out of food. Anyway, I tried the noodle salad with bbq pork (chinese style), and the yellow chicken curry. The curry was delish, and came with a pickle of cumcumber, ginger & onion. The pickle is worthwhile marking at home, and the dish was very Malaysian in style. A little bit hot (coming from a chilli coward), but tasty. The noodle salad was - average. Big on serving size, but it's a salad for goodness sake. Nothing resembling a decent carb or protein, so the instant you eat it, I'm sure you'll be hungry again. I saw them mixing it up fresh, but a raw bean sprout is a raw
bean sprout , and I don't like them that much.
Kinglsey's steakhouse dish was an Angus Steak (sliced after being cooked on the BBQ), served with a potato mash/salad, and a bit of rocket salad. The meat was very tender & juicy, and I think the long queues for this stall were fairly justified.
In my quest to become a photographer (& with digital cameras these days, who wouldn't?), I found a place with a great smoking bbq, & the sounds of ribs sizzling. Pello, was serving up bbq ribs. It was a bit of a lottery as to how skin & bone your ribs were, but if you were lucky enough to get a meaty version, they were pretty tasty. A friend said though, that the sauce was a bit typical for a bbq rib sauce, and really, I should head over to Hurricanes someplace near bondi which has ribs to-die-for.
After this, I thought it was time for dessert - so eyeing off quantity over quality equation, I went to the Simone Logue foodstall, & got the most enormous slice of lemon curd cheesecake, and won on both counts. Simone Logue is one of those insta-meal type places, where the plan is you pop in after work & grab a takeaway container of something to reheat at home. With convenience comes an added price tag - but afaik, this mob were pretty much the first on the block with this concept in a stand-alone stall. The cheesecake was gooood. It was 1/8 of a cake, about 8cms tall & divine & melty. Highly recommended if you can find it for $6 a slice!
Finally - one of the great addictions of my life. coffee. Tried a one from Allpress espresso, and one from Forsyth's coffee. Both of these guys have stalls at the good food markets in pyrmont, and I've generally gone for the stall with the shorter queue. Having tried the markets' tobys coffee a few times, I've never been impressed, and cannot understand why the long queues (at least 50 ppl) each time I walk past the toby's stall. It tastes like coffee flavoured milk! Get over it! In any case, it was interesting to try coffees from both of the other vendors side by side, a flat white being my (oooh, I'm so 90s) method of comparison. Forsyth won out by a mile. It had a good depth of flavour, at least some hint of a crema, and the flavour lasted throughout the brew. The beans? I can't quite recollect what they were using. It went well with the cheesecake as well. Allpress I _think_ were using Vittoria beans. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. No crema, tasted bland & too milky all the way through.
More proof that the skill of the barrista is what makes the pudding...
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