2014: A tale of two years

The 12 months of 2014 have been some of the craziest yet in my life, and not in that drunken, dazed manner of my early 20s. With new responsibility, the year has had so many distinct twists and turns that it feels like at least two years in one.

Here's some of the high points of the year in food, booze and events, including highlights from contributors Hendy, Janice and Kath & Mark.

House charcuterie at Nomad, Foster Street, Surry Hills

I fell head over heels for Nomad this year, which seems to be a collection of all the things I love in a space I wish I had and done in just a slightly more hipster manner than I can identify with, But with the calling card of the platter of completely house-made charcuterie, Nomad well and truly has my number.

Mac and cheese at Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Missenden Road, Newtown

My appetite for pasta, and carbs generally, hasn't waned one bit and the American-style mac'n'cheese at Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen above Newtown's Malbourough Hotel hits all the right spots. Ridiculously cheesy and rich, garnished with chives and a house chilli sauce on the side, it's pure cheese and carb bliss in a side dish.

Insalata Caprese at Cipro - pizza al taglio, Fountain Street, Alexandria

It's taken me a while to discover the joys of thick-based pizzas at Cipro - pizza al taglio in Alexandria. And it makes me sad that I didn't know about their sensational Caprese salad earlier. Heirloom tomatoes, pickled Spanish onion rings and smashed green olives take the classic insalata Caprese up several levels.

Mussels.... at Three Blue Ducks, Macpherson Street, Bronte

I've really come to like mussels over the last couple of years post realising that they're only rubbery when they're overcooked. The best version I've had yet has to be Bronte's Three Blue Ducks' steamed mussels with coconut sambal, fresh herbs and cherry tomatoes - dish licking good.

Club Limbo at Pinbone, Jersey Road, Woollahra

Kath: Pinbone wins for making the best club sandwich ever. Turkey, confit duck leg, bacon jam, crispy prosciutto, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and chips on the side. More than enough said.

Anchovies and fish pate at Bodega, Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills

A relatively quiet achiever in the quieter but burgeoning western end of Surry Hills, Bodega is the older but seemingly more experimental sibling to the wildly popular Porteño in the same suburb.

Argentinian tapas produces the likes of a creamy fish pate served alongside pickled anchovies, loud music and unmissable rockabilly style.

Fried chicken with chilli powder at Hot Star Large Fried Chicken, Liverpool Street, Sydney

The mere mention of 'Hot Star' gets me salivating. From Taiwan, Sydney's first Hot Star Large Fried Chicken outlet in the city south is what 3am dreams are made of. A half chicken breast, deep fried fresh to order with a sprinkling of house recipe chilli powder, served piping hot in a paper bag - sweet dreams are made of fried chicken.

from the 'A Taste of The Dairy' at Intercontinental Sydney, Phillip Street, Sydney

The 'A Taste Of...' series of dinners at Intercontinental Sydney earlier in the year were excellent opportunities to learn about local producers and enjoy them in a fine dining environment. As part of the 'A Taste of The Dairy' dinner, the baked Reblochon cheese with confit fig was a knee-weakening rendition of a cheese course.

Carbonara from Roscioli Deli and Restaurant, Rome, Italy

Janice: My favourite dish this year had to be the carbonara in Rome. It was so spectacular because it's my quintessential dish of carbs, cheese (pecorino romano) and cured meat (guanciale or pig cheek, in this case). I've taken to never eating it when I'm out any more because nothing beats the ones I had in Rome.

Grilled octopus and white beans at Alpha, Castlereagh Street, Sydney

I'm glad I got to tick Alpha in the CBD south off the list this year, as was Kath. The grilled octopus tentacles were an unexpected standout for me, cooked tenderly and smokily for one of the best occy dishes I've had in ages.

Kath: Alpha was a highlight for bringing a modern twist to traditional Greek food. The highlight of the menu for me was the melt-in-the-mouth pickled octopus with cucumber and sun-dried olives.

Bacon aioli and bread at Bishop Sessa, Crown Street, Surry Hills

Bacon. Aioli. It's all I needed to hear at Bishop Sessa at the quieter end of Surry Hills' Crown Street. Their 'I Dream of Pork' degustation was absolutely dream-worthy with all sorts of porcine goodness ranging from chicarrones to blood sausage.

They had me from the bread course which was served with a smokey bacon fat aioli that was probably a nutritionists' nightmare but dreamy on all other counts.

Pork cutlet bun at Chefs Gallery Wynyard, Metcentre, Margaret Street, Sydney

Undoubtedly one of the naughtiest things I've eaten this year are the Macanese pork buns at Chefs Gallery Wynyard. Featuring a deep fried pork cutlet and spicy mayonnaise on a deep fried man tou style bun, the fried-on-fried burger oozed with fatty deliciousness.

Events

Long lunch for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival at Red Spice Road, Melbourne

I made it to Melbourne for their annual food and wine festival this year, joining in on the long lunch action at Red Spice Road. With numerous courses of shared dishes, heaps of seafood and wine flowing, it was a most pleasant lunch experience in one of Melbourne's iconic laneways.

Strawberry caipirinha from Flavours of Brazil dinner at Bridge Street Garage, Bridge Street, Sydney

Hendy: The emotional roller coaster that was the World Cup was hosted in Brazil this time round. We all shared moments of tears, laughter and joy at the Flavours of Brazil dinner at Bridge Street Garage, including this lovely and colourful Caipirinha. Unlike at the soccer, this was a winner from Brazil.

Atura Blacktown, Cricketer's Arms Road, Blacktown

A famil to Blacktown this year was quite an event for this inner city/inner west dwelling girl. Atura Blacktown is a relatively new boutique style hotel in the area next door to one of Sydney's only drive in cinemas. The hotel is modern, quirky and very well equipped for the Wet'n'Wild guest, business travellers and western suburbs tourists alike.

Chauffeur pick-up for Tanqueray Bar Hop for Good Food Month 2014, Sydney

Definitely the most fun event of the year was the Tanqueray Bar Hop as part of Good Food Month. One night, two girls, one chauffeur and four bars serving Tanqueray gin cocktail specials. I still keep a hopeful eye out for a chauffeur outside my work to pick me up and take me to a bar for cocktails.

Table of 10 dinner at OzHarvest HQ, Maddox Street, Alexandria

One of the more heart-warming events of the year was OzHarvest's 10 year celebration dinner at their new warehouse headquarters in Alexandria. With a combination of rescued and donated food, OzHarvest's chefs whipped up an amazingly homely, comforting and thoroughly scrumptious dinner, shared with great wines and even better company.

Carrots with organic yoghurt, black olive crumb from Sustainable Table dinner, Studio Neon, Raglan Street, Waterloo

Hendy: Also for Good Food Month Sustainable Table, an  innovative not-for-profit organisation from Melbourne, launched a clever campaign to raise awareness of food wastage. The food that was presented at the campaign dinner not only demonstrated the elegance of simplicity but also reminded us that good food and good produce can also look a tad imperfect.

Dîner en Blanc Sydney 2014, McKay Field, Centennial Park

The sea of sophisticated white that is Dîner en Blanc returned to Sydney bigger than ever. About 4,000 guests participated in the great white picnic in the secret location of Centennial Park this year and thanks to Seppelt Wines, we were wined and dined in total style - in full whites, of course.

Goodbye 2014!

As the year comes to an end, I'd like to send a huge thanks to my team of contributors - Hendy, Janice, Kath & Mark - for their inspired food-eating and photographing efforts this year. It's been loads of fun, sharing the passion for food and booze (perhaps less so the shoes?).

Thanks also to all the readers and followers over the past year, and the five years before it. It's been a year of change, some stress and new responsibilities - and always plenty of food, booze and shoes - thanks for joining me and the team along the way. See you around in 2015!

Postcards from Rome - part III: Roscioli

Posted by Jan

In Rome, Roscioli Deli and Restaurant is probably the most well known example of a combined salumeria or deli and restaurant/wine bar style of venue where the products for sale in the deli are also used in the restaurant.

It's packed with Italian products - wine, cheese, salumi, pantry items - but not to the exclusion of quality produce from other parts of Europe.

Cheeses in the cabinet at Roscioli Deli and Restaurant, Rome, Italy

In for dinner, I had the best seat in the house: in between the racks of wine and next to the cheese display. One look at the menu and I knew that I would need much looser pants - this was my Disneyland and it was going to be a dinner of all my all-time favourites.

Not being very familiar with Italian wines, I asked our waitress to use her discretion and she did not fail me all night. Glass after glass of different types of wines, with names I could not pronounce much less spell.

Arancini

We were served a little dish of complimentary arancini balls to get the night started, signalling the start of a deliciously memorable meal. There was also a small dish of marinated olives for us to nibble on.

La Burrata di Pisignano con Caviale

Being our last night in Rome, we spoilt ourselves with an indulgent starter of burrata cream-filled mozzarella cheese, served split open with caviar on top.

The burrata in Italy is so different from what is available in Australia. It was so soft, heavenly rich and unctuous with the cream and cheese curds pairing perfectly with the soft, salty fish eggs.

Italy vs Spain: Prosciutto and jamon

Given my professed love for cured meats, I could not pass up the opportunity to compare some of the best of what Italy could produce against my beloved jamon iberico from Spain.

Roscioli's idea of this world title match was to serve the Italian culatello of Zibello DOP, aged 36 months, against the Spanish Pate Negra Sanchez Romero "5 Jota", aged 42 months.

I am probably biased but I still prefer the Spanish jamon because it was just a little bit sweeter and I like the nutty taste that comes through at the end.

La Carbonara

My mission was to find the best carbonara in Rome. The carbonara sauce at Roscioli is made with Paolo Parisi eggs, which have an almost cult-like following and are used by all the great restaurants of Italy.

Together with crispy guanciale cured pork jowl and good, strong Roman pecorino, this simple dish of spaghetti with lashings of cheese was simply sublime. Best in Rome? Some say so.

La Matriciana o Amatriciana

The Amatriciana could be seen as a tomato based version of the carbonara with the use of guanciale and pecorino romana minus the egg.

Despite a misconception that fresh pasta is best, I believe that the Romans have the right idea with using dried rigatoni pasta when making this classic dish. I liked the chewy texture of good quality, dried pasta cooked al dente.

Sugar cookies with chocolate dip

Full after two luxurious pasta courses, the lovely waitress was  understanding and gave us some time to gather ourselves before quietly slipping cookies in front of us as a little reminder that dessert was yet to come. I thought it was such a lovely idea to provide a dark chocolate sauce for dipping the cookies into.

Mimolette Classica 12 Mesi

I decided to go for a couple of cheeses as my dessert course instead of a sweet. I asked the waitress to pick her favourite hard cheese  for me to try and she surprised me by choosing a lovely French Mimolette. 

Aged for about 12 months this hard cheese was a lovely orange hue with a taste that reminded me of parmesan but with an added nutty flavour.

Erborinato con Marasche e Petali di Rose

The best thing about Roscioli is that everything in the deli can be ordered. Being rather fond of blue cheeses, I couldn't help but be intrigued by the erborinato in the cheese cabinet next to me.

The crust of this beautiful goat's milk blue cheese was covered with rose petals and cherries, giving it a lovely deep pink-purple hue as it ages. The scent of the rose petals lightly perfumed this mild blue cheese and made it such a pretty cheese for dessert. 

Cannoli

On the other side of the table it was the simple cannoli for dessert. Not surprisingly, I couldn't help myself and just had to have a bite. The simple ricotta filling was light and fluffy but it was the candied fruit peel that packed punches of flavour within the crumbly pastry.

Roscioli felt like all my dreams had come true in one space. Wine, cheese and salumi - all in one spot. I can think of no other way I would have liked to end my trip to Italy other than a belly full of good food and wine. But sometimes, it's not always the best policy to save the best for last.

Postcards from Rome - part II: Pipero al Rex

Posted by Jan

On a last minute whim I booked us in for dinner at Michelin-starred Pipero al Rex in Rome; a small restaurant within a hotel, with just six tables. Opened in late 2011, it received its first Michelin star within a year under restaurateur Alessandro Pipero and chef Luciano Monosilio

We were received by Pipero himself, who made it a point to chat with us about the menu, offering to tailor the tasting menu to our preference. He was more than happy to accommodate my request to try their famous carbonara as I was on a quest for the best carbonara in Rome.

Pata negra from Pipero al Rex, Rome, Italy

As a welcome we were presented with a complimentary glass of prosecco and a lovely nibble of pata negra Iberian cured ham with a dot of balsamic vinegar.

I love cured meats and the soft, salty fattiness left a wonderful aftertaste which only served to make me hungrier for the meal ahead.

Parmesan and cream marshmallows with hazelnut cream and orange twist

The tasting menu began with a series of appetisers which showed up in quick succession, starting with a parmesan cheese and cream marshmallow.

I adore all things dairy and this morsel of fluffiness was a light, savoury version of a marshmallow, garnished with a tuft of orange zest.

Blue cheese semifreddo balls with spinach cream and potato chips

Next was a foreign-looking green sphere that Pipero explained was a blue cheese semifreddo covered in spinach cream and squares of potato chips.

The blue cheese sphere was not too overpowering and had just a hint of the tang that I love about this group of cheese.

Waffles with chicken liver pate and sweet wine gel

The appetisers menu turned out to be a list of my favourite entrées. The chicken liver pate was creamy and mousse-like, offset by a sweet wine gel ball on a thin, crisp waffle base, and tasted as good as it looked artful.

 Crispy pork Chips with& yoghurt and olive oil Sauce

The final appetiser, and certainly the most unique for me, were the crispy pork chips. The circles looked like an emulsion of pork fat, of sorts, made into a crisp; reminding me of pork crackling but an extremely fine and light variation. I wish I could figure out how to make this.

Raw duck, mustard and apple cream

Moving on to the first and second courses in the tasting menu, we were presented with raw duck served with a mustard and apple cream.

I have never eaten raw duck before but I really liked the way the soft tartare was offset by the crunch of the crostini rounds. I've always associated duck with orange but apple turns out to be a pretty good match too.

Rabbit gravy 

If there ever is an award for best gravy in the world, the Rabbit Gravy dish would be a hot contender. A rich, hearty, broth-like sauce was served with fried potatoes and a goat's cheese sauce so good, I practically licked the plate clean.

Shrimp, coffee and milk

I hadn't expected raw shrimp would be a common dish in Europe but it showed up twice in different tasting menus I had in Rome.

The texture of the finely sliced shrimp takes a bit of getting used to as it can feel a bit slimy, but this was a pleasant combination of raw shrimp with a coffee sauce and a creamy milk sauce.

Tortellini with chicory, mozzarella and anchovies

The tortellini was yet another understated but tasty dish, with a unique presentation and construction of the filled pasta.

I particularly liked the smoked anchovy flavour that was incorporated into the dash of cream sauce, in addition to the segments atop the tortellini and mozzarella cheese.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I was getting quite full at this point but miraculously, managed to eat all of the carbonara when it showed up. Pipero al Rex is well known for its spaghetti alla carbonara, which is normally sold by weight in 50-gram increments.

It was a rich and creamy dish with lashings of parmesan cheese and the typical Roman addition of salty and crunchy guanciale cured pork jowl. It was a great dish and definitely ranks among my top carbonara picks in Rome but still, it wasn't my favourite (look out for my next Rome post).

Lamb and smoked tea

I don't know how I ever made it through the whole tasting menu because by the time the lamb arrived, I was stuffed.

I powered through the lamb which was cooked rare, leaving it nice and tender, and enjoyed the gentle smoky flavour of the lapsang souchong tea against the raspberry and balsamic sauce.

Pipero returned at this point and kindly offered to pause the menu for a little while I readied myself for dessert.

Sandwich of tiramisu

The first dessert was an interesting take on the classic Italian dessert of tiramisu. I'm not sure what it was made up of entirely but there was a delicious combination of coffee and mascarpone, which was surprisingly a good palate cleanser for the next dessert course.

Apple, yoghurt and almond

The apple-based dessert we had was a great example of a few simple ingredients with different textures, made into something special. The apple gelees and pastes were joined by unsweetened dabs of yoghurt and almond gelato, coming together just right and not overly sweetly.

At this point, the hubby decided that he needed a whisky and ordered a 12-year old Ardbeg. We were so surprised when they poured him a generous serve, left the bottle at our table and asked us to top up as much as we liked. This generous gesture was invariably repeated a few times on our trip at different restaurants in Rome.

Petit fours

I just could not manage another mouthful, but was reliably informed that the almond, hazelnut and pistachio brittle was delicious, as too the almond cookie with dehydrated raspberries and raspberry sauce, and the unidentified geelee squares.

The tasting menu was an experience I would recommend to any visitors to Rome, pairing the many years of experience from restaurateur Pipero and the creativity from chef Monosilio.

Pipero al Rex was not our only Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome, but I felt it was much more representative than others of a blend of local cuisine, seasonal produce and new methods of cooking which seem to be the hallmark of new European cuisine.

More postcards from Rome come.

Postcards from Rome - part I

Posted by Jan

Il Colosseo - the world famous Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Fontana di Trevi - Trevi Fountain

Foro Romano - The Roman Forum

Basilica di San Pietro - St Peter's Basilica after midnight mass on Christmas Eve

I've always thought that I would only go to Italy when I felt ready for it. To me, France and Italy were always going to be serious food destinations that I could never experience properly without spending months and years there, in the romantic style of Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence".

Rainbow Christmas lights on Via del Corso

We chose two weeks in Rome because it met the important criteria of delicious food and a mild European winter, and it was well suited to our random exploration style in getting to know a city.

Modern and old blend together at the Vatican Museum

I have to confess that it sometimes got a bit overwhelming. The sheer number of things to see and do made me feel like I was never going to get through all the key sites, especially since I had such a long list of food to eat.

Knife-cut "Prosciutti" (Parma ham)

Pizza by weight from Pizzarium

In Italy, ordering anything but an espresso after 11am is a big no no. It's pretty hard to get a bad coffee in Italy but the ordering system baffles me. In some instances I had to pre-pay for my coffee before ordering at the bar. Other times, I got the 'chill out, have a coffee first' look. The only thing I know for sure is that coffee always costs more if you sit down at a table. 

The sights of Rome on sugar sachets

Drinking a few espressos a day sounds like a recipe for insomnia. But as the coffee is weaker than what we have come to expect in Australia, it allowed for multiple espresso breaks all day long which was essential when battling the hordes of fellow tourists got a little too much.

Sunset over the Tiber River

It is difficult to describe Rome. It's magical, dirty, noisy, serene, new and old. It was an assault on my senses but also restorative to my soul. I miss the Eternal City already. And the carbonara, but that's a story for another time.

More postcards from Rome to come.