ASIAN FOOD – SYDNEY HAS IT ALL

Sandra Tiltman with Lord Mayor Clover Moore & The Hon. George Souris, MP Minister for Tourism

Eating great Asian food with all the variations of flavours, no longer means a trip overseas.  Sydney now has an enormous range of restaurants and take-aways covering every price bracket, offering cuisine from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and the regions within those countries.  Sydney food lovers are spoilt for choice.

Almost any Asian food item is now available in Sydney at specialty Asian supermarkets and small shops.  Even many of the mainstream supermarkets have large Asian sections offering a wide range of products.

At Sydney Town Hall on Wednesday evening, Lord Mayor Clover Moore launched Asia On Your Doorstep, a special initiative designed to celebrate the fabulous feast of flavours on our doorstep during Sydney Good Food Month.

The Lord Mayor commented the Festival gave Sydneysiders the opportunity to visit one of the city’s most popular cultural precincts and to taste their way through Asia without leaving the city.  “People will be able to see some of Chinatown’s best chefs at work and try out some of their offerings” said the Lord Mayor.

The annual City of Sydney backed Festival runs until 31 October and helps diners discover the secrets of top chefs and also enjoy some of Chinatown’s signature dishes.

A Festival highlight is the one night only ‘Little Eat Street’ night markets which will be held in Little Hay Street on Friday, 25 October, where more than a dozen restaurants will bring their best street food and snacks to Haymarket.

Students from the City of Sydney’s inaugural International Student Leadership and Ambassador program will act as Festival Ambassadors, helping businesses in Chinatown, Thai-town (Campbell Street), Korea-town (Pitt Street) get involved in the event.

MC Lee Lin Chin of SBS with Adam Liaw

Adam Liaw, MasterChef Australia winner and SBS TV chef, will demonstrate some of his favourite dishes at lunchtime from 10-13 October at Market City. He will also judge an Asian cooking competition between TAFE students, with the winner taking home a $1,000 prize.

More than 70 restaurants across Haymarket will create signature dishes for the Festival, using their five favourite and most interesting ingredients, all for $10-$20.

By enjoying a meal at a restaurant participating in Asia On Your Doorstep, diners will be able to enter a competition to win a trip to Thailand.

Another foodie event currently underway is the Macau Food Festival in Feast Restaurant at Sydney’s Sheraton on the Park, running until 20 October.

The lunch and dinner buffet features a selection of new dishes, along with Macau food specialities of Macanese curry prawns, Caldo Verde (a Portuguese potato based soup), a casserole of bacalhau (cod), and Minchi (mince topped with a fried egg), plus the traditional Serradura and Macau egg tarts for dessert.

As part of the Macau Festival, family friendly events will be held in Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park over the weekend of 19-20 October.

Sandra Tiltman  Photos:  John Pond.

NEW ZEALAND, MORE THAN A TOURIST FAVOURITE

Known around the world for its sheep, dairy industry and magnificent scenery, or not necessarily in that order, New Zealand is fast becoming a world leader as a producer of fine quality food and wine.

I recently attended a demonstration of an innovative New Zealand product with a hard to forget name, Mad Millie Cheese Kit.  Held at Neilson Park, the demonstration was presented by Danielle Dixon, who appeared as a contestant in season three of Masterchef Australia.  Danielle held us all spellbound as she made cheese making, look so easy and so much fun.  Just to prove how easy it was, Danielle asked several members of the audience to come up and assist her.  I am not known for my culinary skills so I did not rush to volunteer, but after watching the demonstration, I can’t wait to try making some cheese myself.  Mozzarella appeared to be one of the easier varieties to make, so I think I will start with that.

With their head office in Auckland, Mad Millie creates DIY food kits that enable the adventurous, and not so adventurous, home cooks to create many varieties of cheese in their own kitchen.  These easy to use kits provide everything needed to get started, except the milk.  Even the most inexperienced home cooks can create their own mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone and feta to name but a few.  Once they become more confident they can move onto other varieties such as camembert and blue vein.

Cheese is made from souring milk by adding an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar or by using a bacterial culture.  This causes the milk to separate into the curd, the solid part from which most cheese is made, and also the whey, which is the liquid.

One of the most important reasons for making your own cheese is that you know exactly what has gone into it and that there are no artificial ingredients.  Imagine how impressed your friends will be when you present your own hand made cheeses that taste so good.  Sandra Tiltman

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