Launch of 'Seizure' - Issue 1: 'Food'

        'Seizure is a new magazine for new writing'. This is a new publication of writing, which is released bi-annually and based on different themes. I received an invitation from subeditor Rosanna Stevens to attend the launch of their first edition which so happened to be based on FOOD. The launch was held at The Paper Mill, in Angel Place, Sydney. I was also a little nervous attending an event where I didn't know anyone but it was a relief to see some familiar faces. How do you spot food bloggers at an event? Huddled around the food prep/serving area with digital cameras snapping away at everything ;). Sandra from The French Wench did an amazing job covering the event (it helps when you have insider knowledge). I didn't mingle as much during the night, was totally out of my comfort zone. But I did have my eye on the food.

Christopher The, owner of Black Star Pastry.

        Coming straight from work (via home to grab my camera), I was pretty hungry and wine was not good on an empty stomach. I was excited that the catering was going to be provided by Black Star Pastry.

        Spiced pumpkin tarts. These were interesting, I think  they needed more of a flavour kick though. But then that's my personal taste, I love bold flavours over subtle ones.

        Green Olives in dukkah and honey. Wasn't in an olives mood so didn't try any of these. They did look yummy.

        Aussie burgers. How can anyone say no to these cute little burgers? Just a plain meat pattie with some relish between a mini burger bun but it hit the spot.

        Test tube of apple cider granita with champagne. It sounded like a great concept when explained to us however by the time I got to try one the granita had melted and diluted the champagne so it just tasted like watery apple juice. Shame. The gold flakes suspended in it did look pretty after you shook the test tube.

Time for the formalities. Alice Grundy - Editor in chief of Seizure.

We also had a few words from Australian novalist Delia Falconer.

        After the formalities we were all given a 'Miracle Frootie', which was a pill made from a miracle berry which was supposed to make everything taste sweet. (And apparantly changes the taste of bitter food too). The sensation usually lasts about 30 minutes to an hour.

        There was a selection of sour fruits for tasting. Lemons, limes, red grapefruit, green apple, strawberries. I actually had my pill after I tasted the rest of the food, just so my tastebuds were not too warped. It was a very strange sensation. My first tasting was the lime, I could taste the sour notes but my brain/tastebuds were telling me that it was okay to eat. There was no scrunching up my face type reaction at all, and it was sweet. I then had a piece of green apple which was quite sweet and pleasant to eat, I actually couldn't stop myself going back for more - that couldn't have been a bad thing though right? I was eating apples! Then I went back for a second piece of lime and felt my face scrunch up. 'It was like we were at a G rated rave party, but with food and happy pills.'

        Beetroot sherbet. These were interesting. Earthiness of beetroot but then sweetness and tartness of a sherbet.

        Goats curd on pumpernickle. I thought they tasted a bit odd, wasn't a fan of the taste and texture of the pumpernickle. It probably is an acquired taste though.

        Balsamic turkish delight with strawberry. One of my favourites of the night (not only because it was sweet). The turkish delight was just melt in your mouth with the slight tartness from the balsamic and the strawberry actually paired quite well with it.

        Guiness and chocolate spider. I don't think I've ever had guiness before. And I don't think I will ever have it again. Didn't like the taste of it at all. Was an interesting concoction though. I'm sure you'd love it if you like your guiness.

        Roasted chestnuts. These were freshly roasted but it was too cumbersome to try and eat with a camera and wine glass in hand.

        Creme brulee flambe. The little vanilla creme tarts were sprinkled with sugar and then sprayed with a mix of vanilla and alcohol.

        Flambe! These were absolutely delish. Soft short pastry, creamy custard, fragrant vanilla, caramalised sugar. Went back for more ;).

        The magazine was sold at a special price of $10 at the launch, so I grabbed myself a copy for some bedtime reading. You can find out where to get a copy here.

        I love how the contents are layed out like a menu. Very creative. The articles in the magazine make for some interesting reading, makes my writing look pretty ordinary (it probably doesn't help that I havn't done much creative writing since leaving high school, hence losing my touch on the writing world).

        Awesome article about ramen! And the wonderful person behind one of Sydney's best ramen spots Gumshara, Mori, whom I got to chat to briefly.

        It was not all literature, there was a pretty delicious looking recipe from Cafe Mint for Apple Cider Duck Tagine.

        And a recipe for 'Hugging Cake', contributed by Christopher The, of Black Star Pastry. It almost looks like a scientific diagram of sorts.

        The next edition of Seizure is already in motion and it's theme is 'Sci-Fi'. Food is an easy topic to write about, but I wonder what sort of things will be written about Sci-Fi? Shame I'm not into Sci-Fi at all!

Wenger Knives & Calabrian Masterclass at Carrick Cooking School (2nd August)

        The lovely Sian from Mark Communications emailed me last minute about a Calabrian Masterclass run by Chef Antonio Ruggerino that was being sponsored by Wenger and held at the Carrick Institute to help promote their range of kitchen knives. Having not ever heard of Wenger before and knowing that they do knives meant that the class would involve some sort of 'knife skills' which I lack, so I thought why not. I was also keen to be educated a little in the area of Calabrian cuisine as it's not something I'm too familiar with, everything is generically 'Italian' to me still.

        As I walk up the stairs, the first thing that catches my attention is the very large brightly lit commercial kitchen that is behind a glass barrier. Outside the kitchen is a sort of viewing area where two tables have been set up for dining. We are offerened welcome drinks and spend some time mingling with the people from Mark Comms and Wenger. It was nice to see there were other food bloggers too but didn't really get the chance to talk much to any of them. I also found myself rubbing shoulders with other media who were also present.

        Once everyone has arrived we are given a brief introduction to Wenger and then ushered into the kitchen where Chef Antonio Ruggerino and his assistant chef demonstrate the dish that we will be cooking as an appetiser to our meal. We are split into two groups as there are two cooking areas we will be cooking in.

        Every station is set up with bowls of ingredients, a chopping board and two brand new beautifully boxed knives from Wenger, a large chef's knife and a smaller paring knife. I totally do a dodgy job of finely chopping my vegetables, scared that I will slice my fingers off!

        Half a tomato, wedge of lemon, short batton of celery including leaves, and a splash of olive oil, white wine and a sprinkle of salt and pepper with about half a dozen of mussels. All mushed up together with your hand in one pot. Simple as that!

Spotted some friendly faces as I waited for my mussels to cook.

        Some crusty bread is passed around and we eat straight out of the pot. It smells and tastes absolutely delish! I seriously could have done with just a big pot of these and be happy.

        Our second demonstration involved dicing some carrots and onions for the 'garnish' for our main meal (which is actually already stewing away as there wasn't enough time for us to be all cooking it from scratch).

        I am amazed at the speed at which chefs are able to chop and dice. Something I don't think I'll ever master as I am hopeless with a knife - give me an egg beater or wooden spoon anyday!

        My dogdy knife skills - inconsistent and rough. The knife was a dream to use though, I like my knives a little on the heavy side and it is so sharp.

        The two knives we got to work/play with. I'm amazed my fingers are still all intact, especially working under the influence of a glass of champagne!

The other half of the class hard at work.

        One of the other ladies struggles to dice her onion so the chef gives her some hands on help.

Amazed yet again at the knife skills.

        As we're caught up with the onion demonstration we miss out on a little of Antonio's little demo but he pretty much shows us how to do the 'garnish' part for the Osso Bucco.

        We leave our stations and head back out and take our seats at the dining tables where we are served a 3 course meal. Before long we are served an entree of cheese stuffed zuchinni flowers, they were crispy on the outside, and oh so creamy and tasty on the inside.

        Our main was osso bucco served with mash and our chopped vegetables sitting atop there. The osso bucco was well cooked, tender and melts in your mouth. The mash was soft and fluffy as mash should be. There was also a side salad of rocket, pear and parmasen.

        I really enjoyed the dessert of Limoncello pannacotta and crisp almond biscotti, always room for dessert!

        At the end of dinner we are all given a nice little goodie bag containing the knives that we used in class all cleaned and boxed up for us to take home, a very nice suprise indeed, we also got to keep the aprons we wore in class. At first I thought to myself 'drats if I knew I wouldn't have bought the Lyndey Milan knife for Ryan' but it was a nice gesture and now I have my very own knives to play with at home. Wenger are also known for their swiss army knives and range of watches. They do a whole lot of other products so check out their website which also tells you where they are sold.

Event for Table of Plenty Dukkah Range @ Souk in the City

        When I received an invitation from Mark Communications to attend an event for Table of Plenty held at Souk in the City I thought why not. I'd heard plenty of good things about Souk in the City and I havn't really experienced Moroccan food before and the story behind Table of Plenty sounded quite interesting so I thought I would give it a go and take on a new experience. I love the fact that starting this blog has given me so many opportunties to learn so much about all things food related, not to mention all the cool people I get to meet.

        The actual main event was during lunchtime however due to work I couldn't attend but there was also an evening session on offer which is the one I went to. It was an intimate setting with Kate Weiss (of Table of Plenty), Mary Jane from Mark and three other bloggers, Daphne and her partner Harry from foodie-central, and Mark (sorry but I didn't catch the blog as we were sitting on opposite ends of the table and didn't get a chance to talk during the night).

        Kate Weiss tells us her story, about her background and how she came about forming the company and it's products. It's such an inspirational story and Kate was just so lovely as she interacted with us throughout the night. The purpose of the night was to relaunch her range of dukkah and to raise more awareness of the product. Dukkah is pretty much a blend of ground nuts and spices and sesame seeds. She wanted to show us that there was much more that could be done with dukkah, other than the traditional method of it being used for dipping bread and oil into.

        The menu that we have for the evening is the same as the one that was on offer during lunch and has been designed to incorporate the range of dukkahs. We do miss out on the belly dancing, henna tattoos and cooking demonstrations though.

Pumpkin dip with dukkah (can't seem to remember which one).

Hummous with dukkah.

Our customised menus.

        First Entree - Grilled Haloumi, poached sweet & sour figs, sherry, vinegar, rocket and Macadamia Dukkah. Enjoyed this very much, all the different flavours and textures worked well together. The dukkah gave the salad another dimension. This dish is actually part of the regular menu minus the addition of the dukkah of course.

        Second Entree - Almond Dukkah Lamb Brochettes, with smoked eggplant and pistachio and argan oil. This was voted the favourite of the night, best dish and also best use of the dukkah. The lamb was cooked beautifully and encrusted with the dukkah. The eggplant was creamy and paired well with the lamb. This is also a regular menu item which has been adapted.

        Third Entree - Pistachio Dukkah crusted Prawns with sour tomato, mint and preserved lemon mayonnaise. So tasty, the prawns were well cooked and the tomato sauce was not overly sour at all. Regular version also available on the menu. We were all getting full already and were only half way through our meal.

        First Main item - Vegetarian cous cous, steamed in a couscoussier with chickpeas, glazed Moroccan spiced vegetables. This unfortately remained mostly untouched. I think it was more to cater for the vegetarians but we were all happy to eat our meat.

        Second Main item - Moorish Lamb meat balls with rich tomato chermoula, crispy carrots, coriander & tomato chechouka. This was a favourite of the mains, the meat balls were juicey and the sauce was so flavourful, and balanced well. (This is a also regular menu item).

        Third Main item - Corn fed chicken Tajine, cooked with saffron, preserved olives and crispy Dukkah potatoes. Another regular menu item adapted for the event. The chicken was lovely and tender, loved the potatoes coated in Dukkah.

        To accompany our mains we had a choice of saffron rice and fluffy steamed cous cous with raisens and almonds, had to try both of course. The cous cous was indeed fluffy and the raisens were a lovely contrast in flavour and texture. There was just so much food on offer that we couldn't finish it all, Kate happily asks for a Doggy bag so that the food doesn't go to waste.

        The finale, the one we have been waiting for, dessert tasting plate with Dukkah Ice Cream! Yes you heard right, dukkah ice cream! Dessert tasting plate included a banana crumble, dukkah ice cream (not sure which one though), lavender milk jelly, chocolate truffle and a moroccan pudding with date and figs. Loved them all!

        I think the base of the ice cream was honey flavoured, and the addition of the dukkah gave it a whole new dimension with the nuts and spices. We were all quite amazed at how tasty it was. This will be a must try at home.

        At the end of dinner Omar (the restaurant owner) serves us some minted tea. He puts on a little bit of a spectacle with the whole process of pouring and cooling the tea. He is an absolute gem, making me feel welcome from the minute I stumble through the door from the wet pavement, througout dinner, until I walk back out the door again.

        He will definately be seeing my face back there again, when,  I'm not entirely sure but definately a must visit again soon place. The food was great, even though it was tailored for a specific event and the service throughout the night was absolutely spot on without being too overbearing which is exactly how all restaurants should be. He also tells us a little story of how he got the name for the restaurant, it's quite cute, you should ask him ;)

        At the end we're all given goodie bags to take home. There's one each of the dukkah range, some recipe cards, a jar of preserved lemon which leaked into my bag and also a box of something quite special.

        We all receive a set of the same glasses which were used to serve tea at the restaurant, they're just so pretty. I've already used two of the 3 different dukkahs to make dinner on the weekend so look out for the post soon. Thank you so much to Kate and Mark Communications for a wonderful dinner.