Moving home

Not my physical space, but my cyber one. This blog in fact. From now on, I'll be blogging at:

http://blogs.news.com.au/couriermail/food/

Yippee, this means I can actually blog at work, ratified by those who pay my salary. Not a bad gig hey? Anyway, I hope you'll join me for what I hope will be an animated, lively and hopefully interesting blog about everything you put in a saucepan, on your credit card, or in your mouth.

Natascha
xx

RIP patch

Wondering how my urban patch is progressing? A very sad story indeed. Shortly after planting and thriving of said patch after much attention and tenderness we had a disaster. I thought it was just the usual smells (neighbours, the XXXX beer factory etc) but in fact it was us. The 100 year old sewerage pipes had given up the ghost and to replace them required two loud men who drank endless cartons of iced coffee and swore a lot and a mini digger. The neighbours hate me because while I was sick in bed with food poisoning, semi-delirious, somehow gave the impression to digger driver that the next door neighbours had okayed the removal of their fence and a digger leaving tracks all over their yard to get to mine!
A very rude note later, and I understand (and completely sympathise with their feelings) Trouble is, while I was busy vomitting, the digger driver drove straight through the veggie patch, totally decimating it.

He claimed they were weeds. I mourned long and hard and still hang over the verandah, hoping for a sign that something survived. The garden, after a month is still one massive hole. The pipes were replaced, but the trench is still there, the paving has not been relaid and the fence still has a big hole where the digger went thru. The boys aren't answering their phones- it seems that it's too small a job to come and fix it all. The kids enjoy it though, building bridges out of bit of offcut pipe, sailing leaf boats down the canal when it rains.

For now the veggies are on hold, until I can get the hole filled. Mavbe in the spring.

Jellyfish and young chefs

Yesterday was hardcore. A degustation lunch and a dego dinner in one day. Needless to say, I pushed through and managed ok. The first was at the brand spanking new Jellyfish, John Kilroy's newest venture under Friday's at the Riverside. It was a media launch, which is not always the place to make up your mind, but so far so good. It's totally different in feel to his other place, Cha Cha Char, which always feels a bit boys club to me. It has spare, clean lines, a minimal palate of white and charcoal with a glass wall allowing unimpeded river views. I admit, I went with a good dose of cynicism-as with Chinese, I find seafood restaurants to be constantly disappointing, but was very excited in this case to be proved wrong.

There will be eight fresh daily fish on offer, depending on what's fresh, cooked in different ways, depending on the type- (fish, as Kilroy pointed out, don't all respond to the same cooking methods- some suit grilling better than frying etc). We tried a few different things from the menu, and I couldn't fault anything-all were beautifully cooked, looked gorgeous and tasted seriously good. (I left my menu on the table or would list a few) Kilroy says that he'll try to keep mains between $35-39 which is pretty good for fresh fish.


A few hours to digest and it was off to the Courier Mail Young Chef's Dinner at Restaurant Two. This was the chance for six of Brisbane's best young guns to show off their talents each cooking a course for invited guests including Brett Graham from the michelin starred The Ledbury in London and Xavier Pellicer from Abac in Spain. (Ok, I know this is the 3rd time I've mentioned Pellicer, but really, I'm not obsessed!) All six courses were exceptional, no mean feat when you're serving around 70 odd people at the same time. For me one of the standouts was the dessert-only because by that stage of a degustation it takes something pretty special to re-ignite the palate. This was it though- a very un cloying rectangle of white chocolate mousse with a layer of white chocolate showing off small circle of salted caramel served with slightly spiced morello cherries and a teeny pinch of basil powder. Fabulous. The chefs, all in their twenties and from hotels and restaurants all over Brisbane obviously have big futures ahead of them. It was back to reality today with a cup of the Courier Mail cafe's tomato soup for lunch. :(

Masterclass Weekend Highlights

Despite feeling pretty average this morning, I dosed myself with cold drugs and headed off to the first day of the Masterclass weekend.

Interesting points and dishes for me were:
Martin Bosely- who pointed out the duh! factor in chefs propounding 'seasonal eating'. 'Many chefs think it's something new but its just normal to cook and eat whatever is best and in season'' Bravo! I think we've overdone the 'regional' eating too. If I hear one more chef pontificate about how their style cooking 'eating seasonal, regional food'', I think I'll vomit! It should just be the norm by now.

Bosely, who specialises in seafood, never uses seafood stock- it doesn't have enough fat, he says plus it's just hard to make a good one.

Loved Michael Richard of Citronelle in Washington's 'Beluga pasta'. He made it as a sort of tongue in cheek present for a friend with health problems whose doctor had banned real caviar. It's Israeli couscous, cooked in butter, onion, stock white wine and squid ink served with lobster,hollandaise and a poached egg. I suspect his mate's Doctor still wouldn't approve, but it was divine and so clever, served in a little caviar style tin.

Everyone's but everyone's doing sous vide. We had some different demos on how to do it, from the special sealing machine thingys to DIY with glad wrap.

Xavier Pellicer (who has a team of 35 in his kitchen to serve 55 odd customers!)made a fantastic deconstructed Spanish Omlette which, although horribly time consuming and fiddly proved the point, that you CAN have that type of super modern gastronomy that still eats like comfort food.

George Calombaris was good value- but as he told us he only uses Greek olive oil made me wonder. Surely it's not going to be as fresh as the local stuff (and what about all those air miles and talk of regional/seasonal hey?)plus if you're doing 'new Greek' in another country why do you need to use old country olive oil? While I got the deconstructed Greek salad, I didn't really get why it was served in one of those jars with the seal you'd normally store rice or something in?
The olive oil chocolate mousse I thought was kind of interesting, but I didn't really like the texture and I thought you could probably only eat about the amount we were given as a tasting- a spoonful. I think it would get very sickly. By far the best dish was his lamb neck--a lighter, more modern version of a Greek classic that was melt in the mouth good.

Not sure I'll make it tomorrow- need to go to bed with a hot toddy and stay there. All in all, a very worthwhile day out though

what chefs eat (not pretty)

I once shared a house with a chef who worked in a fairly salubrious restaurant cooking beautiful meals all night who'd come home having stopped at Hungry Jacks drive through or the dodgy kebab place on the way home and devour this rubbish with relish. I know another who had a penchant for those microwave chicken rolls you could only get a petrol stations.

Not quite in the same gross league, but today I met Xavier Pellicer, of the two Michelin starred Abac restaurant in Barcelona, (who by the way is a lot dishier in real life) who mentioned that one of his favourite comfort food treats was chocolate spread on bread with olive oil and salt. Put it in the microwave for ten seconds he reckons. Hmmmm.

Pellicer is known for his cutting edge cusine combining traditional Spanish flavours with the techniques of molecular gastronomy (or techno-emocional cuisine as the very precious choose to call it). He's appearing at the Brisbane Hilton Masterclass this weekend and apart from his dubious liking for chocolate-salt sandwiches, should be great value. I was really impressed by his dedication- he's doing all his mis en place himself, including deboning some 200 red mullet. Bet you wouldn't catch Ramsay doing that.
Apparently there are still tickets left for Masterclass, go here to check out the programme.
http://www.qldmasterclass.com/

It's a draw Mr McLeod

Brett's Wharf chef Alastair McLeod of Ready, Steady, Cook fame and I favour our strawberries from different parts of the South East and staunchly claim 'ours' are the best. I'm a Bayside girl and always look out for those big beautiful late picked beauties from Paul Wruck's Wellington Point farm, while McLeod gets them from the Twists near Caboolture.

I was having lunch at Brett's yesterday and Alastair sent me back to the office with a container of Twist strawberries, determined to prove his point. It was interesting watching a colleagues reaction when I gave him one-he sort of popped it in his mouth in a half-hearted automatic sort of way, then his eyes started to bulge as he really tasted it- that forgotten, 'real strawberry' flavour we all knew as kids. 'Oh my god,
he muttered, mouth still full. And yes, Alastair, I concede they were excellent.
What I'm really happy about(very selfish I know) is that these kind of 'picked when truly ripe' strawberries don't travel well, so we Queenslanders get to keep them all to ourselves!

Taste for the Love of Cooking

It was a fab do at Taste (http://taste-online.com.au)in Fortitude Valley last night to celebrate owner Jodie Macaulay's recent win of a Global Innovators Award at the Chicago International Homewares Association show. Well deserved too, as any keen foodie who's been into her vast shop of culinary equipment for a vegetable peeler and come away laden with bags of must-have kitchen items will know.

Macauley always put on a great show at Taste, after setting up in Brisbane just 2 years ago, with great products and cooking demos. She really is an innovator, filling the yawning gap there once was in Brisbane between chef-supply shops and chain store kitchen ware shops. She always seems to have something new and interesting.

In Chicago, she was competing against the best of the best in the show, including ancient luminaries such as Galleries Layfette, so a big, big well done to her for representing her adopted state so well.

It was amusing to watch the glamourous punters trying to look like they weren't waiting to snatch up a piece of the Beccofino pizza as it was pulled out of the wood-fired oven, yes me included. I've yet to taste a more authentic pizza in Queensland, or Australia for that matter than those made at Beccofino. At the next table, doyenne Suzanne Quinter whipped up Moroccan chicken, spiced potatoes and more using products from her range (My fave is the preserved lemon aioli), there were sweet litte cupcakes from the Cupcake Parlour, tastes of cocktails made on Grey Goose vodka, hot Raclette being spread on crisp bread, knife demos and more.

A great function as usual with a goody bag given out to attendees who were all customers and supporters. Very classy. I'm sure I'm not the only female there though who wants to know where did you get those killer heels Jodie?

Forget Buy Australian Made, Buy Queensland Made

According to the ABC the Western Australian government have introduced new labelling to indicate locally produced food products.
''The "Buy West, Eat Best" campaign is designed to allow shoppers to identify products that have been grown, farmed or fished in the state,'' says the ABC and so far over 200 retail outlets have supported the campaign. Eating locally not only supports our neighbour farmers but cuts transport emissions. (Eat local AND organic and you'll be even kinder to the environment.)

It's a slightly gimmicky, but nevertheless worthy marketing campaign and one I reckon would be pretty interesting to tackle here in Queensland. The WA'ers have around 50 named local producers who have gone with the new labellling. I think we could easily reach that number just here in our SE corner of Queensland! To the right are some of my own fave QLD products- there are many many more I know, so let me know your faves.

Corkage and Cakeage

Who can remember when corkage was first introduced? Showing your age then! For readers who don't have the benefit of BYO where they live, let me explain. BYO, (bring your own) is a bit of an Australian institution. It's when restaurants allow you to bring your own wine and it is a tradition that stems from the days when a very limited number of liquor licenses were sold. In my comparatively puritan State the tradition is particularly strong- it still takes lots of time and money to get a liquor license, so many places don't bother and the suburban BYO is alive and well.

Unfortunately, gone are the days when you could guarentee a cheaper night out if you BYO. Most places now charge 'corkage' ( a ludicrous term in these days when almost all wine is screwcap) which can be anything from $2 a head to $10 a head. This is to cover the opening of the wine.. labour costs such as serving it and glass useage. It's fair enough I guess but some restaurants honestly just seem to be taking the piss.

The latest charge is 'cakeage', which is a fee added to the bill if you bring your own cake. A birthday cake for example. Yesterday a James Street restauranteur was telling me about the irate barrage of emails he got from a customer after she was charged $6.50 per head cakeage. While $6.50 does seem steep, he pointed out that you wouldn't bring your own beer to a pub and ask the barperson to open and serve it for you. He also pointed out that 1) He will make a cake on request and 2)He loses income if people in effect bring their own dessert. 3) He adds, cream, fruit and ice-cream to the plate. He said the whole trend of people bringing their own cake is nothing but a bugbear for restauranteurs, there's also the issue of public liability if anyone gets sick from the cake. He's thinking of banning the practise altogether.

I think cakeage and corkage, are both necessary evils. We as diners need to remember that it's one thing to want to save money when we eat out, but this is someone's livelihood. Perhaps just don't BYO cake and champagne on the same occasion or your celebration might be spoiled by a big bill.

Tanbah

While it sounds a bit like a place you'd go to get a fake tan, Tanbah http://www.tanbah.com.au is a newish venue in Felix street in the CBD. The feel is a little bit moody, with long swathes of curtains, subdued lighting and dark fixtures, but very cool. The kitchen is currently chef-heavy, with Mark Maric, former of Lure and a protege of Neil Perry's and Sian Bressoles who last worked at Stone. Bressoles is waiting to go to the new West End venture owned by the same people but the opening date keeps being put off (don't you just LOVE builders?. Anyway, with two accomplished head chefs in the kitchen, you can be guarenteed of getting a good meal.

The menu is modern Asian, a cuisine I've always thought suits our Queensland lifestyle particularly well. An amuse bouche of succulent prawn topped with a deep-fried beetle leaf and a tiny wonton cup with a delicate runny sate sauce was apparently made by the twenty year old apprentice who is obviously a talented young lady and started the meal off on a high note.

As a main, I vacillated between the gold band snapper which came with a prawn dumpling, braised wombok & soy chilli broth but in the end went for the Roasted duck breast with Asian mushrooms, asparagus, lup cheung & chilli caramel sauce while my companion had the spatchcock. Both were lovely, I'm a big fan of exotic mushrooms and of course the sweet-savoury-spicy balance of Asian flavours goes so beautifully with duck.

The dessert too have an Asian accent, pandan creme brulee and Wolf berry creamed rice, palm sugar crust with dragon sorbet. Apparently wolf berry is some kind of dried berry from Asia, slightly tart. It was hard to decide, so we didn't, we had it all, in a sharing plate that also included Passionfruit & chocolate tarte with a Szechuan pepper tuille and sticky banana & coconut pudding with wild honey parfait as well as a Ginger & mango tiramisu with vanilla bean cream.


All absolutely and wickedly divine, but perhaps a little ambitious on my part- it's against my principles to leave any dessert on the plate, but in this case, even with my lovely dining companion doing her share, it just couldn't be done.

A loaves and fishes type miracle- but with cake

I'm not a religious person but I think I witnessed a miracle yesterday.
On the way to work, I stopped and bought an orange and almond cake from Pamela's Pantry. I don't know, I just thought it would be nice to have a treat. As the clock hands moved towards the earliest legal morning tea time, I reached for my cake to take it to the traditional communal cake spot, the Features area's fridge. However, I found there was already a cake waiting- also an orange and almond, from Joceleyn's Provisions. (see the gorgeous pic above) No-one knew who had bought it in, whose birthday it might be or where it had come from, but journalists, never ones to look a gift horse in the mouth starting hoeing in.
Mouths still full, as we decimated it, a colleague walked in with a chocolate cake, to celebrate his birthday. We commented on our good fortune and took a slice of that as well. The feeding frenzy over we all returned to our desks, but coming back later for a coffee (ok to pick at the crumbs!) I found yet another cake had appeared- this time a Jocelyn's chocolate cake with pretty little sugared violets. Again, no one claimed it and the mystery thickened further when yet ANOTHER Jocelyn's cake appeared sometime late, a very moreish Jaffa cake.

No one had seen anyone put any of these cakes on the fridge; they had simply appeared and no one claimed them. We are a fairly small department, yet we managed to eat all four cakes. (I saved mine for today) and were revelling in our communal piggishness when four dozen assorted Krispy Kremes doughnuts appeared. You'd think we'd be hitting our sugar high by then, but no, they disappeared post haste too.
(Apart from yours truly who believes doughnuts, unless they are hot and straight from the oil and just sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar are the work of the devil.

It's going to be an austere day today cakewise- unless I can somehow manage to weave a miracle and multiply my very small orange and almond cake.


Brisbane's Best Cakes (in no particular order)
Cakes by Judy C
Jocelyn's Provisions
The Welsh Lady
Cakestar

Kathmandu Newa Chhe'n

Did you know that the Nepalese flag is the only one in the world that's not rectangular or square in shape? Me either. Neither did I know about Nepal's many ethnic minorities, including the biggest, The Newa. According to Wikipedia the Newal are the indigenous people of Nepal's Kathmandu Valley and the term Newars applies roughtly to the descendants of citizens of Medieval Nepal.
Suraj Shrestha is Newl and his restaurant, Kathmandu Newa Chhe'n in Brisbane's Paddington serves up typical Newar cuisine.
Those used to Indian food or who like their spices won't find it too strange. Spices that feature heavily include mustard oil, cumin, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic, ginger, methi, bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chili and mustard seeds. Lemon and vinegar are also used for flavouring.

One of the NGC members and I recently went there, and over-ordered so wildly, we didn't make much inroad into the food, leaving an embaressment of half eaten dishes all over the table. At the end of this feast, after I'd slipped my shoes back on (we were in the purple room, where you sit on cushions on the floor) I went to pay and got the staff in a bit of a panic when I queried my bill. It wasn't that it was so exxy, just the opposite. I can't remember the last time I paid $50 for two for a meal (1989?).

Last night with no food in the house and no inspiration, I decided to try their takeaway. Sherpa chicken for the 9 year old, goru ko masu for me, plus some pappadums, raita and veggie and mango pickle. The Sherpa chicken, cooked in a creamy sauce with coriander, lime leaf and a little lemon juice was actually a surprise, quite complex and delicious, although flecked with hundreds of tiny pieces of chilli which just sat at the border of the nine year olds heat tolerance. All dishes come in 'mild' with no chilli, 'medium' ('a bit of a bite') and 'Hot' ('As hot as you like it') but the terms are very subjective, varying with who's at the stove at the time. My Goru, slow cooked beef with cardamom, cumin, coriander and cinnamon was perfect for a cold and rainy night, and had just enough chili to tingle an adult's tastebuds. The pickles however, didn't so much as have a 'bit of a bite', as ferociously attack our tastbuds until we wanted to rip 'em our ourselves.

It's interesting that menu, which also contains vegetarian and vegan dishes also has a good share of beef and other meat. The Newa'a people are, after all, a mix of Hindu and Buddhism, the former forbidding the consumption of beef, the latter of all meat. However, it seems the Newa'a practise either Vajrayana Buddhism or Tantric Hinduism. Both are characterised by the reversal of the values of orthodox Hinduism and Buddhism- so while normally, sexual abstinence, vegetarianism, non-violence, and teetotaling are practised, the Newa'a can 'copulate, eat meat, sacrifice animals, and consume fermented and distilled drinks ritually.'

I suspect there's a bit of catering to Western palates that goes on at the Newa Chhe'n, but it still offers an intriguing and good value menu.

Kathmandu Newa Chhe'n
72 Latrobe Tce
Paddington
3369 7272
(closed Fridays)

F**k me, what's happened to Gordon?

It's only a matter of time before Gordon Ramsay starts referring to himself in the third person. I caught a few episodes of that woeful 'Hell's Kitchen' and all I could think of was, is he embaressed? I don't know if it's because the Americans have got their hands on him or he's just been told he's god for so long he believes it, but it was truly cringe-making seeing a chef of his calibre bought so low. I'm sure he's getting paid mega-bucks, but F**k me Gordon, how could you??

I would never have believed if I hadn't seen it myself, but GR has become a pompous twat of the highest order. Last night, on the final episode of Hell's Kitchen he announced with much gravitas to the winner Michael Wray that if he wanted he could forgo his prize of his own restaurant and come to work in 'one of the world's best restaurants, under me'. Wray (who I thought was very odd, (but my appreciation has soared now) apparently declined both prize options and instead opened his own speciality knife company!

I met Ramsay more than a decade ago one night at his then only restaurant Aubergine. I was dining with a friend who was an aquaintance-he and Gordon they both cooked on boats in the South of France and after service he came and had a drink with us. Even then he was fond of the F word, but he was charming and funny and needless to say, his food had blown me away.

After being subjected to back- to -back Ramsay, with that other show where he went around fixing people's restaurants, (which was mildly entertaining for about two episodes) then Hell's Kitchen, apparently another one 'The F word' is about to start. I just can't watch. It would feel akin to slowing down to peer at a car-wreck.

An expensive habit

One of the reasons I never do a budget is that I'd be scared to see how much I spend on wine per annum! It was so much easier when I was young and the point of buying wine was to get as much as you could for your buck. Wine came in cardboard boxes, or for special occasions, in bottles with names like 'Passion pop'.

Gradually my limit per bottle has snuck up. When I first came back to Australia nearly ten years ago, my average spend was $10. Today, it's $25-28. (I don't know why I've settled on 28 except it seems so much better than $30).

In all that time, the steepest prices rises seem to have been in the last few months.
I suppose like everyone else, the grape growers are being hit by the drought, as well as rising fuel costs.

I've decided that the only option is to drink less often- keep my wine drinking to weekends only. Either that or go back to the Passion Pop.

I'm interested to see the habits of my fellow winelovers and where my own fit in, so have created the below poll.

poison or paranoia?

Not sure, but think I might have been poisoned. The only other time was ten years ago. I was in Mut, an Oasis in Egypt's Western Desert and I ate at one of the only two restaurants in the Oasis. (fittingly, I think it was mutton) I woke up a couple of hours later, felt like crap, vomited a few times, but was ok the next morning.

Before and since, I've eaten in a multitude of dodgy places, from roadside stalls in rural Vietnam to marketplaces in Malawi and Morocco and a hundred places in between and never been struck down. I even came out unscathed when practically every tourist in the village succumbed in Turkey. (Well, they would eat all choose to eat at the town's only 'Englische' restaurant!) However, it seems, that in Brisbane, Australia, my good fortune has come to an end. My previously iron stomach has succumbed to a bout of suspected food poisoning. I say suspected, because to be fair, I'm not sure, but I've never, ever had a gastro bug in my life.

It's remarkably difficult in a country with some of the strictest libel laws in the world, to actually prove anything. The burden of proof is on the sick person- they need to notify Queensland health immediately, provide stool samples, which will be cross checked with food from the restaurant. It's an expensive process and ultimately, does it really achieve much?

If I thought that this place I picked it up, which has a good reputation was likely a serial offender and had I been sicker than I am, I might do something about it. If I could be bothered going to the doctor or paying their extortionate fees that is.

All it takes is one mistake-one worker not washing their hands properly or leaving the chicken out to defrost too long or cross contaminating something though and if people are more motivated than me to do something about it, it can be the end of a business.

With our new 'name and shame' laws, if a business CAN be proven guilty of not taking undue care resulting in customer illness, they can be named here http://www.health.qld.gov.au/industry/food/prosecutions.asp
Thus far, it seems it's only a single one who've been taken all the way- been found guilty, fined and prosecuted.
They stay on the file for two years, the business gets its name taken off.

I have to feel sorry for this particular restaurant, Harem. I drive past it often and I think times have been very tough for them- it looks to me like they have had a lot of quiet times, after being pretty popular before. They're still hanging in there though.

Anyway, it's day four, and after a night and day of vomiting, and a couple of days of nausea, I figure that whatever it is, gastro or mild case of food poisoning, it's helped shed a couple of much needed kilos.

At which raunchy restaurant did diners get down and dirty??

Obviously there are no pics with this one- I couldn't think of anything appropriate that isn't pornographic. This snippet comes from a reliable source who was dining with friends at a reasonably salubrious Gold Coast restaurant (which will have to remain un-named!)recently. At a nearby table were a couple of older gentlemen (and I use the word loosely) with some younger ladies.

Suddenly, one of young ladies disappeared under the table, either not realising or not caring about the fact the whole restaurant could see what was going on. And I'll leave that to your imagination, dear readers. Presumably, given the gentleman's age it didn't take that long but sheesh, it's enough to put you off your creme brulee.

NGC

It stands for Naughty Girls Club and no it's not a Valley strip joint -it's our girls dining club. I'm not sure how the name evolved- but it probably is a fair description of it's members. Probably the crown wearing NG is J- a high flyer marketing manager of a resort who has a very wicked, non-stop sense of humour. C, a PR guru with her own company regales us with hilarious sex-and-the-city type stories of her life, (red silk g string anybody? and that was the BLOKE!)while D and K are both in relationships, so slightly better behaved, but still great for stories and the odd scrap of juicy gossip. I, of course, am always a paragon of virtue and restraint!!

So far we have been to the now defunct Acqualina at Portside, La Belle Epoque, Manx, Cinco, Montrachet and Simpatico (I think that's it)and have had some great nights and great food.
It's pretty irregular, but dining clubs like ours are a great way to get together with friends and try places you might not normally go to.
Sorry there are no pics- I'm sure the other NGC members prefer to stay anonymous!

More manners please. Thank you

My friends always know what's my next article is going to be about, because that particular topic becomes the centre of all my conversations for at least a week. Very dull for them I know. They all think they're home and dry now I've done my piece on manners but I think it's been a pivotal one for me that will have a (hopefully) long lasting effect.

As part of the research for the story, some colleagues and I went to lunch with Jodie Bache-Mclean and Lainey Loneragan, etiquette teachers from June Dally Watkins at the lovely and slightly posh United Services Club in Edward St last week.
During it, I was struck by how over the years the good manners I was bought up with have all but eroded away. Oh, there was no knife licking or tucking my napkin into my shirt (eh Khan?!) but definitely the finer points of the things I was bought up doing as a matter of course have gone by the by.

I wasn't the only one who came away with a new resolution. I think there were a few of my colleagues whose children, like mine are probably sorry we ever went 'to that stupid manners course!'.

In our house, we've gone back to proper dinners at a properly set table with table cloth and lots of reminders about the correct way to use a knife and fork, keeping elbows off the table and closing mouths while eating. (I'd love to hear what other's manners peeves are?)

Bache-McLean and Loneragan were fabulous and the lunch was instructive but lots of fun. If you'd like to read the story, or see a little of the video of Loneragan, showing us the right way to do things, go to http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/, To see the video,on the right under 'video' click on the one that says 'manners'.
If you don't mind. Thanks terribly.

The bad, the good and the downright ugly- my fave chefs

Ok, I'm NOT going to tell you who the bad and the ugly are. I won't tell you about the chef who only speaks though his PR person and charges money to publish his recipes, even if it is part of an article extolling his virtues. (And no, we don't bother!) I won't tell you about the chef who has a PA who promises to get him to call for an interview/statement but never ever bothers to call back. Or the name who is so incredibly BORING and arrogant I wouldn't even know where to start.

As a food writer, it's always a surprise to me to discover who is and who isn't polite and ready and willing to speak to the media.
I've been lucky to speak to some very fine chefs and by the same token, I've been lucky NOT to speak to others who perhaps have inflated ideas of their own worth. As a chef said to me lately. ''It's not rocket science, we're just cooking meals for people''. Bravo. Ok they *do* get paid ten times more than me to do their job and I have enormous respect for those who are master of their craft but why does regognition or fame often equal arrogance and the loss of good manners?

I admit, sometimes I am surprised by the ease and grace by which some big 'names' agree to speak to a no-account food writer in Brisbane, but I'm always grateful when they do. More so when they do it with genuine good humour and interest. The ones who don't, who are rude, arrogant or don't even deign to answer an interview request, I leave in Karma's capable hands.

In no particular order, here are some of my fave interviewees.


Matt Moran.
He's a busy boy, but seems really well grounded. He is always polite and gets back to you swiftly and always answers the questions.

Maggie Beer
A legend. She is lovely. Unaffected but a very strong woman who gives great quotes and always makes time to talk.

Belinda Jefferies
One of the most genuinely nice people I know. Unassuming, lovely and very talented. Possiblty a bit under-rated.


Skye Gyngell
She is incredibly honest, unaffected and I love her vague, scatty sort of way of talking. An eccentric artist.

Greg Malouf
He left a lasting impression. He's someone who's had obstacles in his life, particularly with his health, but he's overcome them all to be very sucessful. His books are stunning!

Curtis Stone
Despite spending most of his time in the US, he's still a good Aussie boy, great value and frankly, damn fanciable!

Margaret Fulton
It's always such an honour to talk with her. She was instrumental in changing the way a generation cook. She always makes time and is actually much less conservative than you'd imagine. In fact, she's very funny and quite earthy.

Martin Bosely
Accommodating, intelligent and a very interesting guy. I respect his beliefs. He lives by them when many chefs just talk the talk.

Michel Richard
Funny, warm and not too posh to make time to talk to a lowly Brisbane journo!

Rick Stein
I reckon he must have been an Aussie in a previous life. Laid back, friendly and intelligent.

If I were a young chef, one of these people are who I'd aspire to be. Great at what they do, but always gracious.

Exciting News. You heard it here first!

It might seem like it, but I don't have a truffle obsession, honest! It's just that it's the start of the Australian truffle season and they seem to be everywhere.
Not only is the Australian truffle industry going great guns, but we may not have long to wait until we taste the first Queensland-grown truffles.

There are currently three truffieres in Queensland, two in the cooler south west and one in the hills of Maleny. The newest, just eight months old and located on a cattle farm near the town of Killarney have just put in 440 innoculated oak trees and hope in 2 or three years times to be reaping the harvest (and at around $2600 a kilo that's a rich harvest!) Truffles are a tuber that grow on the roots of an oak or hazelnut tree and Australia is sucessfully innoculating the trees with the spores of the Perigord truffle which then take around 4-5 years to grow.

Truffles being such a lucrative business, the Killarney outfit prefer not to be identified and who fair enough too. You wouldn't want to encourage truffle thieves like the poor olive grove owners who recently found their trees decimated.
The Stanthorpe mob feel the same- but while I was up there recently, I did hear of a winery who are considering diversifying into truffles and even the chef at Robert Channon Wine's new cafe has planted some on his property. The Granite Belt, with its hot summers and cold winters would seem like a good place to grow truffles, but we'll have to wait and see.

Maleny on the other hand, seems like a fairly unlikely location for a truffiere, but accountant Frank Cassells who’s involved in the truffle industry in Tasmania is hopeful that it will prove cool enough. "I’m just tiny- only 80 trees, but I’m hoping to get some return by next winter." Cassells said. He has had his trees in for three years, and so far it’s looking hopeful. By this time next year you may be able to taste Queensland's very first truffle!
If you want to read more about Australia's infant truffle industry go to I recently did a piece you can read at http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/foodandwine/

Sirromet and the world's most indulged child

Yes, I confess it's my child and he's eating seafood risotto with a very generous amount of real truffle! Lurleen's at Sirromet (www.sirromet.com) is one of my favourite places to eat. I'd enjoy going there anyway, but my brother is the chef so I admit to a certain bias.

Lurleen's is huge. It has 220 seats and usually on weekends, does two sittings (that's not including the breakfast trade). That's an awful lot of plates to come out of the kitchen and to his credit, Andrew and his team do it really well. Now, just to make sure he doesn't get a big head, here's a pic of his ugly head!

I was there having a very late lunch with my friend B, her son Angus and friend Sonya as will as the two nine year olds (who ate all the tapenade before I even reached for my bread- despite neither of them liking olives!). Lurleen's menu is huge and always supplemented by heaps of specials which makes choosing very hard. Master Nine (who has refused to eat from any 'kids menu' for at least 3 years)was very happy with his risotto, especially when Uncle Andrew came out and shaved some truffle on it for him, while Miss Nine, originally ordered spag bol from the kids menu, but was over-ruled by the chef who cooked her some whiting instead (It's practically illegal to dislike fish in our family). She cleaned her plate, declaring it the best she'd ever eaten.

The grownups squeezed in three courses, all of it excellent, plus wine while the lucky non-driver got to finish off with a glass of Sirromet's own dessert wine.

It was dusk by the time we left and the wallabies were out nibbling the grass.

With views over the trees to Moreton Bay and Straddie, you can't help but indulge in a long, leisurely lunch here. Oh and the food is good. Just don't tell my brother I said that!

Urban patch

It's tiny and in a fit of pessimism, highly, overplanted. I started a veggie patch in my tiny back yard about a month ago- not expecting much, but all the rain we've had has made everything sprout. I over-sowed and now have hundreds of little seedlings, that to me are indistinguishable from weeds. Plus, apart from Cos lettuce and some heritage tomatoes (including delicious stripey Tigerellas) and some carrots, I have no idea of what is what. I blithely scattered seed all over the place and now I'm too scared to pull weeds in case they're not.

I do remember somewhere there is some asparagus, peas, beetroot, cauliflower (which I think has died off. The bok choi is doing well, but something's been having a good nibble at the lettuce. I'm doing it all organically-so will make up some kind of chilli spray to keep the bugs off. It's all looking a bit bedraggled really- not at all cute and cottage garden, but if we get some good fresh veg eventually I'll be happy. I think come Spring I'll turn it into raised beds and be a bit more methodical. Here's a recipe I got from garden guru Annette McFarlane's web site (www.annettemcfarlane.com). It's kind of exxy for me, as I only have organic garlic and good olive oil but it's now soaking overnight so will see how it goes.

Garlic Spray

Three large cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
One teaspoon of liquid soap
One litre of water
Combine the garlic and vegetable oil and leave to soak overnight. Strain and add to the litre of water along with the liquid soap. Spray regularly. Garlic in known for its antifungal and antibacterial properties, but it is its insect repellent qualities that most gardeners admire.

Coffee Snobbery

It's a great disappointment to me that you cannot rely on getting a decently made coffee in this town. There ARE people who can make coffee, and true espressoheads know where they are, but I'm just not willing to travel all over town to get a single cup of well made coffee. I don't know why it's so hard- I can make a better coffee than many of the best equipped so called baristas, armed with just a cafetiere and some beans.

Personally I'm a fan of the stove top. I don't think home coffee machines except for the most expensive are really worth the money. They don't seem to get the water hot enough for one thing. After so many years of drinking coffee I can also tell almost straight away when the beans used are stale and I have to say it happens alot. They develop a sort of soapy, flat taste to me, and a faint smell of stale oil. I buy mine weekly, from Aromas on Montague Road in West End. I like it because it's not a trendy roastary at all- it's a proper no frills working business. You walk straight into the roasting room where the guys are working with the big shiny machine and choose which beans you want from the big black barrels. I like mine full and rich with those chocolatey/caramel flavours that come with a longer roasting.

Good coffee is like good wine. Once you've had a couple of good ones, it's hard to go back. And a bad one is always disproportionatley disappointing.

If anyone knows good baristas in Queensland, let me know- I'm always interested in creating a mental map, should I ever be stuck and desperate for a caffeine fix.

Mmm Chocolate!

There's real chocolate and there's those bars full of vegetable fat and other horrible stuff you get from refrigerated machines at work that should be eaten only in an absolute emergency. (PMT or a hangover for example) I love real chocolate-dark and a little bitter, even savoury. Lindt 85% is my choice. However if I crave something sweet and chocolatey, it's often fairly specific. Top of the list is Dello Mano brownies. I'm a long term fan, in fact, I've known Deb and Bien Peralta pretty much since they set up shop. Their product is truly special. Made with eggs, Belgian chocolate and no rubbish at all, you can buy them from their kitchen at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane or online (www.dellomano.com.au) and have them beautifully packaged, presented and hand delivered by a gloved delivery person (usally Bien himself.)

I've been lucky enough to be used as a sort of taste tester and whenever the talented Peralta's whip up something new, a sample usually arrives at my office. (Usually the day I start a diet) This week it was their Gluten Free brownies-perfectly apt as I was just diagnosed as having an intolerance (which am currently choosing to ignore) They are divine. Rich, slightly goey in the centre but for me, the bit of almond meal replacing flour made them taste even better than their classic varieties.

I'm not Dello Mano's only fan by a long shot. They've been asked to send their brownies and truffles to some pretty big names. At the moment, it's for the cast of Get Smart, including Ann Hathaway and Steve Carell due to arrive in Australia to promote the movie who'll find them in their rooms. Sure beats a box of Roses!

Have esky will travel

One should always set off with an esky. You never know when you're might come across beautiful fresh produce. Of course, I don't follow my own good advice, that would be way too organised, but luckily, this weekend's travel companion my mother who could out-Martha Martha stewart does.

Turned out it came in handy for our trip to Stanthorpe. There, were, as I promised myself, the apples- the very last of the season. We were given a bag each, including the kids, and told to go for it. All that was left were some pretty spotty grannies, but get past the unappealing outer and they were still crisp and delicious inside. We spent half an hour in the orchard, alternatively eating and dropping the very large ladies into our bags. The kids were so excite- Miss nine who I suspect thought apples grew on trays covered in plastic at the supermarket took one to school today, saying that her teacher 'probably wouldn't believe she picked it from a tree'. They are currently stewing in a pot, sending out lovely apple-cinnamon smells all over the house.

As well as the apples we tasted some cheese, from a new talented and self taught cheesemaker, Karen Deeth. She and her husband have their own small jersey herd and she uses their milk to make around six different cheeses including a blue, two soft cheese, a matured cheddar, marinated fetta and a smoked cheese. The district has embraced her cheese- she can't keep up with demand.

At the new deli Olga and Agnes (ex Samuels) we picked up some locally made salami as well as some fab curry pastes and spices. I think it will do really well. The owner Kath is a huge foodie and seems to know her stuff.

At Jam Works, once a tiny old country school house there are around 40 different jams, all lovingly handmade. THe kids decimated the tastings and when allowed to choose one to take home bought lemon butter with ginger (master 9) and strawberry and raspberry (miss 9). I took at capscium and chilli relish which is lovely- the owner/jam maker Sue has a very good palate for spices I reckon- she balances them so perfectly.

At Bella Rosa, a tea shop in Thulimbah, we stopped for lunch. They have just started making some rather nice chocolates, using the local liquers from Castle Glen down the road. Not being a fan of liquer chocolate, I was pleasantly surprised. I promised myself I would eke them out, but needless to say, they were cracked open in the car on the way home. They were nicely restrained (unlike me) and the limoncello was a particular favourite.

At Vincenzo's aka the big apple, we got little packets of Summit seeds- pumpkin, seasame and other seeds, lightly dusted in chilli as well as 2 litre bottles of local unfiltered, unheated olive oil.

Then of course, there was the wine. I am currently sipping a particularly fine Reserve Cab Sav from Argentinian winemaker Paola Cabezas Rhymer at Summit Estate. I picked up a few other select bottles from half a dozen other wineries too. I defy anyone these days to pick a wine as being 'Queensland' (once pretty much equal to 'v v bad'.) I think we're always going to be pretty small- given the limited wine grape growing climate we have but who says we can't in time, make not just good wines, as we are now but really great ones?

I love Stanthorpe (despite the fact it was something like minus 1 on Sat night) and I'm happy to see that finally, food in the area is catching up. We had a great dinner at a fairly new place, Shiraz at Ballandean too. There's nothing that beats a day wine tasting that rounding it off with a good food. Unless it's a unpacking a full esky of delicious things straight from the people who make it when you get home.

Sprout Cafe, Auchenflower

No, there are no pics. I'm a very very bad blogger- my camera is rarely in my bag and I feel sort of embarressed about taking pics of plates in public- sort of like I'm some kind of perv. Or one of those rude people who use their mobiles in a restaurant. So you'll just have to use your imagination.
- Sit comfortably. Imagine the barest whiff of cinnamon. Now add the smell of some rich braised beef cheek, cooked until fall- off- with- a fork-prod tender. A delicate little Asian broth, scented I think with ginger, and perhaps some star anise-a nest of rice noodles, slippery on the fork. Another dish of rich, crispy/cloud-soft pork belly, its unctuousness cut through with some a tangy touch- of- acid pineapple and green onion salsa..
A braised rabbit leg, a little smokiness given by pancetta. Shitake mushrooms and a rich-stocked white bean cassoulet, the whole thing smelling like you'd imagine something that would emanate from a snow covered hunters lodge in the middle of a forest.

Sprout is pretty local to me and I've been quite a few times over the years and fallen in and out of love. On the last occasion we had a bit of a lovers tiff frankly- the food was lacklustre but last night I rekindled our relationship. I was actually feeling like shit with a red nose, hacking cough headachey sort of cold and didn't want to go out at all, but this was my next to last review of the year and just had to be done.I stopped at Chalk and Cheese bottle shop and asked them to recommend a 'cold-killing red for around $25' as Sprout is BYO and they suggested a Langhorne Creek Brothers in Arms no. 6 2004 Shiraz-cabernet. It worked well with the beef and went a good way towards curing my cold, -I polished off the rest of the bottle tonight and feel better already.

The lessons for me were this-
1.Experimenting with new places is one thing, but sometimes a more established place you may normally overlook can come up with the goods
2. We expect a lot from restaurants. How many of us in our jobs do it perfectly everytime? It's worth giving restaurants a couple of goes- sometimes shit just happens, even in the best run kitchens.

Over eating and Ossobucco

That's over-eating and so OVER eating. I'm craving home cooked, simple food. I've been doing restaurant reviews for the 2009 guide for an Australian food magazine as well as The Courier Mail Food and Wine Guide 2009 (out in October) pretty much since February, which involved a hell of a lot of eating out. All strictly paid for and incognito, mind. Somehow I don't think I'll ever get to the stage of needing to wear a wig and glasses like the venerable food critic Ruth Reichl, but having an unusual name, I use a variety of pseudonyms and try to curb my natural curiosity and not ask too many suss questions about the food. (I'll ring later and ask those)
The whole point is to get the same experience, good or bad, everyone else does. If a restauarant realises someone is there to critique them, service is suddenly obsequious, and all sort of complimentary special treats begin to appear. Which actually makes your heart sink, as it usually means another visit, perhaps on a busier night when you can blend in with the crowd.

Getting paid to eat out sounds fantastic in theory but honestly, sometimes you just feel like some soup and toast at home. Which is why, combined with the first days of winter I've been craving comfort food, mashed potato, spinach dhal, beef casserole, pasta with a proper bolognaise ragu. Tonight there is some osso bucco slow cooking as I write. (those Italians OWN comfort food!). I love osso bucco- it's not pretty, but it's so full of flavour and so perfectly warming who cares? I'm going to serve it traditionally, with some risotto Milanese. The kids haven't eaten it before, but I've prepared them with some creative white lie-ing- telling nine year old (f) that it's a special Romanian dish (her mother is Romanian) and the other nine year old (m) that it has truffles in it, (his current favourite thing to eat, after having had pasta with shaved truffles recently.) Will they like it? Do I care? Ossobucco is always better the next day in my opinion. They can always have toast.

Breakfast at Anouk

For my money, Anouk in Paddo do the best breakfasts in town. I don't do breakfasts out on weekends anymore. Breakfasts on Saturdays and Sundays should be taken in pajamas. (I reckon there's a niche in high quality delivery breakfasts someone should exploit) plus I absolutely HATE having to line up. It takes away from the whole leisurely breakfast experience for me and by the time I'm seated I'm inevitably cranky. Justifably popular, Anouk always has a healthy weekend line up, which is why I take the opportunity to go on the occasional weekday morning.

Today, was the (now) nine year old baby boy's birthday, so we went out for breakfast on the way to school. What I like about Anouk is its imaginative menu. You won't find eggs benedict or any of those Coffee Club breakfast staples here, and there are always different specials. The birthday boy decided on a cinnamon brioche with a roasted apple, and lemon mascarpone, the other nine year old had rhubarb 'crumble' with yoghurt and the Godmother had chili corn hash while I had huevos rancheros, eggs cooked in a kind of salsa with black beans and coriander. It was delicious, although not as spicy as the versions I've had in Mexico (one country where I'd happily eat breakfast three times a day). The corn hash though, was so oversalted it was inedible.

The kids enjoyed their dishes, but the whole thing took 45 minutes to arrive and we had to stuff it down to try to get the kids to school on time. When I was paying, I hesitated when I was asked if we'd enjoyed it, but I always think that it's better than places get real customer feedback (but I'd love to hear from cafe/restaurant owners as to whether I'm deluded on this point?). So I told the truth and the person who took my order went and spoke with the owner, Justine Whelan (ex Gunshop owner) who came over and apologised and offered the meal on the house. (and no I wasn't reviewing and she wouldn't know me from a bar of soap) I really appreciate when cafe and restaurant owners admit their occasional fallibility and that the customer can be right sometime. It was a nice move on her behalf because I'll go there again- only ever on a weekday still though. Unless, of course it suddenly becomes acceptable to wear your pajamas out in public.

Passion for tarts

I found myself this morning like some kind of cake addict with my nose pressed against the sliding glass door of The Welsh Lady's cake shop. It was 8.59 and on the way to school the 9 year old birthday boy had asked whether I could get him some cake to take to school. Considering I've had, and are having lots of b'day celebrations for him over the next few days I hadn't even considered a 'school cake'. But I felt like a bad mother, so I thought I'd get him one.
I've never been able to buy those mock cream horrors on offer at the supermarket and the nine year old seems to have some kind of sensitvity to them, invariably throwing up bob-the-builder-blue icing shortly after eating it.

So I decided to pop into the Welsh Lady (despite the fact we were running late for school- more on that to come) and get a cake. Gwen Gedeon, aka The Welsh Lady (http://www.welshlady.com.au)is an cake artist bar none, but as beautiful as they looked, I thought something small was better, seeing I had no knife and knew the teacher wouldn't appreciate the bitching over piece sizes a cake that had to be divided by 19 would cause. So the nine year old and I decided on some passionfruit tartlets and he went off with his posh box of tiny treats looking very pleased with himself. Appparently there were almost fisticuffs in the playground over who was to get the very last one!

How'd ya bee?

Ever tasted native honey? Truly one of god's foods, it comes from the Australian native stingless bee, the sugarbag. Unlike most commercial honey, it comes untreated; no heat is applied and its not filtered. It's runnier than honeybee honey and has a slight porty/lemon finish. Unfortunately, because the bees make so little of it (about 1/2 kilo a year from memory)it's very expensive. Luckily a little goes a long way. I love it drizzled over some really good quality vanilla ice-cream best.
(Stephane Bremont of Tukka in West End uses it in his restaurant and you can also buy it from him).

In Brisbane you can also buy your own hive from Tim Heard, an entomologist with the CSIRO. He rescues the native hives from land being cleared (plenty of that around here unfortunately)and 'rehouses' them in specially built hives. As well as (eventually) producing honey, they are fantastic pollinators for the garden, and Heard says do very well in suburbia. The bees, as the name says, are stingless and they look nothing like their honey bee cousin. They're a lot smaller and black and look more like flies than bees. I bought a hive from Heard about a month ago and am enjoying watching them. They don't seem to mind inner city living either. One of the concerns about the sugarbag is that with all the land development going on they'll disappear before scientists have had the chance to really study their honey and find out what medicinal qualities it might have. Certainly Australia's indigenous owners have long used it for healing. There's a bit of a wait if you want a hive, but I'll put up Heard's contact details later, so if you interested in both helping our environment, your garden and getting a real treat for your taste buds, you can contact him.

Making his Mark

I had lunch last week with Bill Samuels, who is the owner of Maker's Mark Bourbon in Kentucky. He was in Bris for a little promo tour- to persuade us to drink more of his product and conduct some tastings for bar professionals. What a lovely man. It's fantastic seeing people who really care about crafting their product and being proud of what they make. The Bourbon is made in small batches, each bottle dipped in wax, so each one is individual.
Bill is such an interesting man and has some great stories to tell about his ancestors and the Bourbon biz. He was even related by marriage, generations ago to the notorious Jesse James and today owns his pistol.
Bill took me through how to taste Bourbon, the characteristics of a good one and was kind enough to present me with my very own signed bottle of Maker' Mark. If you'd like to read more about him, you can read my piece in Tuesday's Good Life in the Courier Mail, or online at www.couriermail.com.au Go to 'lifestyle' then 'food'. I'm so fortunate to have a job where I get meet to meet some fascinating people.

Where's the Cheese?

Actually I ate it. Last year I was lucky enough to do a cheese course http://www.cheesemaking.com.au/ run by the very experienced and fabulous Graham Redhead. It was over two days and while pretty full on, we learned loads. I was very proud of my mozarella, which I ate that night, on a perfect (pre electric oven) thin crust handmade pizza. I also made both Persian feta (the soft kind) and a harder mature cheddar as well as some fresh soft curd cheese and ricotta. My fave though was the cheddar. We put the curds into moulds and pressed them over night, between wooden blocks and wrapped them in muslin. The other night at a family gathering, I finally cracked it open and was very proud of myself. Everyone was mightily impressed too, commenting that it 'actually tasted like real cheese'.

Graham has taught a who's who of cheesemakers to do their stuff, but even if like me, you're interested in making cheese just for a bit of fun, I can't recommend it or him highly enough.

Age over beauty-late picked grannies

Apples that is. I've rediscovered the joy of a real apple and see I'm going to have to make a few trips to Stanthorpe to get them fresh from the growers. I haven't really eaten a good apple for years, but twice this week, once at the Bundall markets at the Gold Coast and last night at the FBI meet-up (Food and Beverage Industry) I've came across an apple called The Frosted Granny. Doesn't look like much I know, which is why you or I probably haven't tasted them. The supermarkets only want the supermodel apples- young and unblemished, covered in wax and buffed to a mirror shine.

These grannies, according to apple grower Dave Sutton may be unsaleable to supermarkets but are much appreciated by those in the know. Ok, they won't win any beauty contest but these late picked ladies are delicious, crisp and full of flavour- unlike those pallid, tasteless examples at the supermarket. Choose late picked for quality I reckon, both in love and apples.

Getting to grips

I've always had a gas oven. Now following a bit of a kitchen reno, I have a fan forced electric one and the inedible and overcooked leg of lamb in the bin to prove it. I also have a few new burns to add to my already unattractive hands. It's not the oven I know, I'm just getting to grips with the super fast cooking times. I miss flame. Really, there's something Martha Stewart like about the satisfaction I get in sliding a loaf of freshly baked bread out that seems to be missing when there's not that blue tipped flickering flame at the back of the oven. Plus flame doesn't hurt as much when you accidently touch it as electric bars do.

I don't know if it's my imagination either, but my new oven doesn't seem to emanate smells as much either. I never time anything, but have always used my sense of smell to know when something was done, but am having trouble now- hence the overcooked leg of lamb. (A very expensive organic one too!) Actually, come to think of it, it's probably the rangehood sucking smells away. I never had one of those in my primative previous kitchen either.

I know I'll come to appreciate my new oven in time, but for now, I'm feeling a bit regretful about the demise of the old one. It's gone to a good place though-my ex cleaning lady took it. OK, the truth is I gave her the whole kitchen in the hope this might persuade her to come back- I'll need someone to clean my new oven after all!