Drinking all of mum’s canned condensed milk when I was growing up was a favorite stunt of mine. Although I could never come up with enough reasons to make mum buy more from the supermarket; she somehow knew the school fete wasn’t on every week and that I wasn’t supplying the lunch ladies in the canteen with rum balls. (Yum, I love rum balls). I had been dying to try the Vietnamese signature iced coffee for quite sometime. It’s a strong blend of coffee served over ice and most often sweetened with a lot of condensed milk.  It was really sweet, sickly sweet actually.

I flew into Vietnam early last week for a ten day chef’s food and wine tour. We were set to sample everything the nation had to offer, from traditional street food to fine dining restaurants and the local markets packed full of the most amazing fresh herbs and vegetables.  Vietnamese cuisine has been heavily influenced by the neighboring countries such as Mongolia, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.  Each of these countries brought new styles of cuisine, cooking techniques and even methods of eating such as the use of chopsticks that came from China.  In the mid to late 19^th century the French colonised Vietnam and brought with them one positive at least: fabulous breads and pastries.  The baguettes are heavenly and if you get a chance try the Banh mi, a traditional sandwich made using a baguette filled with pickled vegetables, coriander, pate, mayonnaise and maybe some roasted pork and fresh cucumber. I had a great time visiting some small villages on the banks of the Mekong delta, where the locals were producing fresh rice paper to be used making Vietnamese spring rolls, encasing beautiful fresh herbs, peanuts and perhaps some prawns, always with a traditional dipping sauce to take the taste buds even further into flavour town.  Thinly sliced banana flower, mint, lime juice, peanuts, chili, shiso, beanshoots, lemon grass, coriander, fish sauce, crispy shallots, green mango, basil and cucumber were some of the more common ingredients put to use in the lovely, fresh salads that would fill a room with a certain inspiring essence that sang Vietnam.  Strangely enough by the end of the trip the locals stopped asking me if I need a lift on the back of their motorbikes, probably in fear my steadily growing belt size would cause a few dramas on the back wheel, I guess. What can I take away from this trip?  Vietnam is a country full of friendly and happy people who have been through some devastating times in the past at the hands of war.

The Vietnamese are hard and smart workers who make the absolute most of what they have and with a strong respect for their land and its produce. They have managed to bring life and culture back into their country in a world where they value tradition but also welcome influence from outside which has made a great impact on the cuisine we can enjoy there today.  I hope you enjoy my pictures and also have an opportunity to visit this great country for yourself sometime.

The first real cold snap set in early this week in Melbourne and it seems we may have to include some early winter warmers on the menu to keep everybody snug as bugs. Chestnuts are lovely at the moment and I have a terrific recipe for a chestnut soup we are serving with local yabbies, crispy ham hock and Jerusalem artichoke crisps. But even the yabbies don’t like the cold and it won’t be long before they go hiding in the mud until warmer weather comes around.
Game birds are in full flight and are featuring as a little something extra on the menu, served with a hazelnut tart that is topped with the wild mushrooms our keen eyed chefs are picking in local forests. We roast the breast in butter and thyme and stir the pan juices through a creamy mash potato to serve alongside.
The cold nights make me think of warm toasted spices and beautiful rich braises. I’ll be serving a spiced honey roasted duck stuffed with green raisins and walnuts; it’s big enough for two to share and I’m expecting it to be quite popular on these chilly nights.
I have been busy in the kitchen working on a Wagyu beef pie which uses a couple of different cuts of Wagyu that have been braised in stout. It will have the suspect wintery vegetables such as Swede, turnips and roasted shallots all baked inside a buttery puff pastry.
Beautiful quinces are arriving by the bucket-load from farmers and the wafts of cinnamon and clove are filling the air from poaching pots simmering the quinces towards the deep red color they become. It’s a time for that old classic apple and rhubarb crumble, and although Grandma’s version will go down in history as a household favorite, you may be pleasantly surprised by what we’ve managed to make of this timeless classic.
Stay warm, JN.

It’s always a big week of celebration in Melbourne for the MFWF, with so many international guest chefs and wine makers, as well as some top local talent.  Our restaurants, laneways and roof tops were full of fabulous foodie activities featuring anything and everything food & wine.  With so much on offer the MFWF is greatly anticipated each year.  And we’ve been lucky enough to host some of the worlds’ greatest talent across the culinary scene, who leave their faraway lives to share with us just what makes them so special.  It’s the time of year when every chef, every foodie, every wine lover and every home cook has a little fire reignite in their belly, one that fuels the passion we all share: a great love for our city, our food and our wine.

Circa the Prince was, this year, graced with the pleasure of hosting a wonderful guest, a much celebrated cook amongst the Irish and the world over, a teacher and a mother, the lovely Rachel Allen.  Rachel was a guest in the kitchen on both the Wednesday and Thursday evenings during the festival where we cooked a five course menu featuring dishes from her new book ‘Entertaining at Home’. Rachel’s warm and ethereal nature shone through in her cooking, serving simple home cuisine that sang of freshness, seasonality and most of all had the restaurant guests eager to don the frilly home cook aprons and put her recipes to the test for themselves.  Rachel taught us how to make her lovely soda bread; I thought she was mad thinking that 30 minutes was enough to make bread for 130 guests.  But, as it happens, I was wrong – not everything that tastes so good should mean countless hours in the kitchen.  Rachel’s presence in the restaurant, along with her simplistic and seemingly effortless approach to cooking, drew smiles amongst the guests.  And her focus on letting the produce do the talking was most definitely a winning formula.

On the weekend I was to moderate for Rachel’s master class session.  Two hundred guests were treated to an hour long demonstration in which ‘The Queen of Irish cooking’ was to showcase some of her very own favorite recipes fit for any dinner table on every occasion.  Once again Rachel lived up to her name, in fact I don’t know why I was fretting about keeping the crowd engaged, she was a natural talent, smiling, laughing and baking all at the same time, no wonder she’s just released her seventh cook book.

I would personally like to say thank you to Rachel Allen for everything she brought to Melbourne this year, such a fond love for food, family and home cuisine and all the wonderful things that good cooking brings. Although she lives a world away from us I’m sure she has left just a touch of herself with everyone. That way we will never forget to cook from the heart and to smile with the food.

Thank you Rachel

I grew to love every part of being in the kitchen despite facing a mountain of dishes at the end of every evening.  My chef at the time Paul would sit and polish the cutlery and speak of the opportunities the industry held for travel and growth.  Paul always encouraged me even from this early age as to what could be achieved with a little hard work and determination.  Paul would flick through his photos of Europe where he travelled as a young chef to gain experience in kitchens overseas.  It was during this time I realised two things, I was ready to work hard and put everything I had into achieving just as chef Paul had shown me and also with a little encouragement, motivation and guidance even conquering a mountain load of dirty pots and pans alone was just a small challenge in what my journey would bring in the following decade.

I felt it was now my turn to share, pass on and encourage the younger generation of cooks today about the wonderful things this industry has to offer and the endless possibilities that can be achieved with a little hard work and a willingness to learn and grow within the industry.  I personally was lucky, my peers, mentors and family were a tremendous support and always encouraged me to leave my comfort zone to better myself within the kitchen.  For some this support and encouragement doesn’t come so readily, which is why I decided to contact my old trade school the South West College of TAFE and speak to a former teacher of mine Noel Middleton with the idea to give one young student the opportunity to come down to the city to visit the restaurant.  We sent out a short series of questions that the students filled in and returned back and in November last year we awarded a young 3rd year apprentice chef named Stuart Thomson with the inaugural Young Prince Award.  Last week Stuart travelled down from his home town of Hamilton.  He stayed with us in the hotel for 2 nights and enjoyed dinner at Circa.  Day two was a day in the kitchen with me.  I wanted Stuart’s day to be different to one he may have already experienced before, he looked a little worried when his first job was to completely bone out a young lamb, but as with any first timer  we went through the complete process together and ended up with a job well done.  I was really pleased with Stuart’s attitude and his interest in what he was doing, I’m really happy with how the weekend turned out and it was satisfying to know that I had been able to give this opportunity. I hope that Stuart has been able to walk away from Circa with even a little more enthusiasm and excitement for this wonderful industry and I look forward to offering further encouragement and support to all the people out there who wish to take on cooking as a professional career.

Ginger pannacotta, lychees, warm lime madeleines
serves 6

For the pannacotta:
Ingredients
250 ml cream
250ml milk
80g sugar
3 leaves Gelatin
2cm Ginger – peeled and chopped

For the pannacotta
Warm milk, cream and sugar together with the ginger, allow to infuse for 20 mins. Soak the gelatin in cold water until soft then add to the milk mixture. Pass through a fine sieve and set in moulds for 1-2 hours or until firm.

For the Madeleine
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 lemon zest
220g plain flour
170g melted butter

Combine eggs and sugar in a bowl, add zest, fold in flour then slowly add melted butter. Spray the Madeleine mould with a little cooking spray. Place a little mixture in each shell. Bake in a moderate oven for 7-9 minutes.

Serve with fresh lychees. I like to garnish with coriander shoots which complements the ginger in the pannacotta.

Kitchen gardens are all the rage these days and we all know how fulfilling it can be having your own personal plot.  Whether it be in the backyard or on the roof, planting your own vegetables and picking your very own fruit, with a little time and effort can provide a great sense of achievement. Some very good friends of mine look beyond the pretty edible flowers and beneath all the heirlooms vegetables to something our gardeners and chefs often consider a pest amongst the foliage, something that likes to get a cheeky head start on the seasons freshly grown produce – snails!  Specifically the edible snail variety Helix Aspersa that are bred under careful guidelines.  Helen and Rob Dyball from the Hunter Valley, NSW (known as Mrs. Snail and Mr. Slug to the locals) have been successfully breeding edible snails or escargot for just over 10 years now through their home based company Snails Bon Appetite. 

I was recently invited to the Hunter to meet the regions young apprentice chefs at their annual encouragement and recognition awards night which was held at the TAFE Cessnock campus restaurant, The Vinery.  This was not only a great opportunity to visit Helen and Rob at their home in the Congewai Valley but also a pleasure to meet and speak with the young industry professionals from the local area who prepared a fantastic three-course meal for all the guests showcasing the great local produce as well as some good local talent in the kitchen as well. It was a pretty wet old night up in the Valley and coming from Melbourne I had to take the blame for the bad turn in the weather, thankfully though  the rain finally cleared and the following morning Helen and I donned the gumboots and headed down to the farm  to check on the slow and slimy herbivores. 

The snails are most certainly alive and after a long winter of hibernation they are on a feeding frenzy filling their stomachs with a special feed that Helen has put together containing protein and limestone. Have you ever seen a snail’s mouth? Don’t worry neither had I.  Apparently a snail has something called radula in its mouth for grinding up its food. This radula is like a rough tongue, something like a file with rows of tiny teeth, which it uses to scrape up its tucker.  Helen explains the careful and interesting process in the breeding of the snails from purging (to make sure all the snails are free from any unwanted impurities) quarantine right through to the cooking, packaging and shipment.  Well all I can say is you either love ‘em or your not going anywhere near them, but personally I’m a big fan of the delicious escargot, quickly shallow fried in some garlic, parsley and butter and I’m pretty confident you’ll love them too.  Some questions for Helen…

How did you get into Snail farming?
Back in 1985 Rob & I read an article in the Daily Telegraph about a man who was farming snails in England and thought … oh that would be a good thing to do!!  When we moved onto our property in 2000 we looked at each other and said snails – placed an ad in the local newspaper for snails (breeding stock) and haven’t  stopped.

Can I eat the snails in my garden?
We don’t recommend eating snails from the garden as you would have no idea of what they have recently eaten!

Is business a bit slow sometimes? Ha don’t answer that

How do you control the quality of the snails?
By feeding them a special diet of dried food mix, fruit & vegetables

What is your favorite way to eat snails?
With Extra virgin olive oil, garlic, butter, cream, fresh herbs, lemon juice, lemon pepper

Seventeenth century writer Jonathan Swift is quoted as having said “he was a bold man that first ate an oyster” and I would have to agree. The common oyster is a complex little character, a filter feeder passing up to 5 liters of water per day, with a three chambered heart that pumps colourless blood to all parts of the body and two kidneys that removes the impurities from the blood. Chefs tend to treat oysters in many different ways - fried, crumbed, jellied, dressed in red wine, cooked with bacon, steamed, smoked and even made into a bavarois. In Spain I was shown how to remove the tiny skirts with scissors to make them look like flawless little plumps of goodness.

An oyster is such a versatile product, lending itself to a wide range of cookery and has the ability to add great contrast, flavour and texture to a dish.  It is my personal opinion that the best oyster is freshly shucked by oneself and consumed immediately to fully appreciate the full flavor and that distinct aroma of the ocean from where it grew.  Back in 2008 during the produce tour of South Australia for the Electrolux Young Chef award I had a great opportunity to visit Natural Oysters in Coffin Bay, where I met a great bloke in Jedd Routledge. Jedd took over his family business in 2004 after leaving behind his law degree at university. Following in his father’s footsteps, Jedd’s fondness for the bivalve molluscs led him to become a Coffin Bay oyster farmer.  We went out on Jedd’s boat and he shucked oysters fresh from the baskets- they we not like any I had tasted before, the pure saltiness of the cold ocean and the sweetness of the oyster was simply undeniable. It was amazing.  I wanted to serve the oysters just like the ones I had that day to our guests. That’s where our relationship with Jedd’s oysters began.  Every Wednesday and Friday they arrive fresh from our own little patch with Jedd in Coffin Bay. The chefs anticipate the arrival of each new delivery- we treat ourselves to one each when they first arrive, they seem to get better as the season goes on. More juicy, more plump…
If I close my eyes for a moment I can be back on that boat in the middle of Coffin Bay…
Oh hang on, check on- gotta go!

Six questions for Jedd Routledge

What makes Coffin Bay so unique for farming oysters?

Coffin Bay has been a mecca for oysters with the first operations involving dredging the mud oysters in the 19th century. The pacific oyster was first introduced in 1969 and due to its success in these waters has been the primary specie cultured throughout the bays. The oyster industry in Coffin Bay, known throughout the world for exceptional quality, really took off in the late 1990’s, and the decade from 2000 to 2010 has seen the bay reach its full production capacity.
Coffin Bay also benefits from the nourishment provided by the nutrient enriched seawater from the Southern Ocean. Coupled with low rain-fall in SA leading to little run-off from roads or agriculture, and an incredibly low population density, these above factors combine to make Coffin Bay unique and great at producing world class oysters.  

How has oyster farming in Australia grown and evolved since your family began in 1988?

Luckily for oyster growers in SA and Tasmania, the BST concept of oyster farming was developed in Cowell (SA) early in the picture. The adjustable long line system with round oyster bags which clip onto the line has been instrumental in making the industry what it is. Most oyster farming in SA and Tasmania (and indeed NSW) is intertidal and uses this technique or incorporates some element of the BST adjustable long line concept.
The BST system allows oyster farmers to have great control over the grow-out phase and conditioning phase involved in oyster aquaculture. Oysters are grown on sandbanks (intertidal) suspended above the sea floor on the long lines held in place by wooden posts (checkout Natural Oysters for pictures of ‘oyster racks’). The BST system allows for the clean shell and deep cup synonymous with pacific oysters from SA and Tasmania, and the great meat quality and fresh oceanic flavour.
Mechanisation has also improved production capacities, with the SED grading machine developed in Tasmania becoming a fixture in most of the bigger sheds in SA and Tasmania. This grading machine is capable of sizing and counting up to 400 oysters per minute, hence taking away a lot of hand grading done in the past.
Still, we use a combination of machine and person grading, as there is nothing quite like a final hand grade to ensure complete customer satisfaction.

The oysters seem to get better as the season goes on, what’s happening?

Oysters will exhibit different flavours over the course of the year, reflecting their own personal reproductive cycle and the algae present in the waters in which they are grown.
At the beginning of the season (generally March) Pacific oysters are just starting to recover their condition from spawning over late December and January. As the season goes on, especially over the winter months, pacific oysters put on more ‘condition’ (glycogen) in preparation for when the ocean warms up and they commence spawning again. This is an annual cycle which repeats itself over the life of an oyster.

In your opinion what qualities should we be looking for in an oyster?

Now, this is only MY opinion… bigger is not better when it comes to oysters. As a grower, I take home bistro and smaller to eat, and generally bigger oysters I leave to the guys to taste.
The size we sell to  Circa is my personal favourite…….. I feel smaller oysters are  sweeter and demonstrate all the necessary elements for a great entrée…. Namely, taste of the fresh ocean, but importantly a nice half dozen or dozen Circa oysters are a fantastic way to get the gastric juices flowing for the next course without filling one up.
In general, a nice shape and good clean shell are important. When shucking the oyster the harder it is to get into, the better the abductor muscle, which lends itself towards a longer shelf life. Once opened, the smell should be fresh and oceanic, almost neutral if unfamiliar with the ocean.
Once the abductor muscle has been cut and the oyster turned, the shell should be quite full of oyster, and there should be little or no gut visible.

The small muscle known as the abductor is commonly removed before consumption, what do you think about this?

An oyster is one of the most nutritionally balanced foods available*. It is also one of the few seafoods that you can eat straight from the shell. The abductor muscle can be the same size as a scallop and has the same texture, so it is soft and sweet, a nice inclusion into the overall taste profile.
*(oysters contain proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. They are a great source of vitamins A, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), C (ascorbic acid), and D (calciferol). A half dozen oysters will supply the recommended daily allowance of iron, copper, iodine, magnesium, calcium, zinc, manganese and phosphorus).

Your business enables you to travel overseas to promote Australian oysters, is there a strong market for Australian oysters OS?

There is a strong demand for Australian oysters overseas, especially in countries that appreciate the qualities of Australian produce.
Our oysters are generally more expensive than oysters farmed in China or South America, of course due to labour costs but also farming techniques. Our end product is vastly superior in terms of shape and cleanliness, but more importantly, Australian oysters reflect the waters they are grown in…….. for pacific oysters, the clean, fresh ocean taste.

As part of the Electrolux Young Chef of the year program I was given the opportunity to travel to Tokyo and work with Luke Mangan at his restaurant Salt and to visit the famous Tsukiji fish markets. Being a city that boasts more Michelin stars than anywhere else in the world, I was certainly looking forward to the trip.

After a busy Saturday night service at Circa I rushed home for an extremely early morning flight to Tokyo.  Coming from Melbourne I was all rugged up, so when I was hit by the wall of heat at Narita airport I quickly adjusted into more suitable attire of shorts and thongs, as it was in fact 35 degrees with the humidity causing similar grief.  I was immediately taken by the friendliness of the Japanese, they were so welcoming and the city streets were immaculate with not a piece of rubbish to be found despite the fact there are no rubbish bins!

After discovering the amazing quality of the local food I turned my attention from the top end restaurants to the lesser known eateries such as the sushi bars and underground izakayas. It was here that I found the freshest of sashimi, handmade soba noodles and sushi masters doing what they do best.

I made the early morning trip to the Tsukiji fish markets (the largest wholesale fish market on the planet) at about 4am which is when it’s all happening.  The sheer amount of seafood was mind blowing, everything from seaweeds and caviar to the poisonous blowfish and live conger eels. The famous tuna auctions that begin at around 5am are now closed to the public but I managed to accidently wander in the wrong direction and catch a glimpse at what was happening.  It was a flurry of activity, the tunas were massive with some weighing up to 300kg. 

I was getting hungry and sought out a sushi bar called sushi dai which I had been told was the best around.  I joined the small queue that streamed from just outside the little door of the bar.  I was lucky enough to only have to wait for one hour as I’d heard a three hour wait was not uncommon.  I knew I was in Japan when I finally made it inside and greeted with a green tea and a bowl of miso soup.  The three sushi masters work from 5am until 2pm dishing up the finest of the mornings purchases, the rice was still slightly warm and molded with a touch that could only be produced with a wealth of experience and knowledge.  Piece by piece they fed me; tuna belly, mackerel, sea eel, salmon roe, sea urchin, abalone ‘still alive’ they told me as I was handed a moving portion of shellfish.  The fresh pickled ginger was offered as a cleanser between courses and as my stomach filled with the fresh flavor of such a brilliant attack of the worlds best seafood offerings I entered what I could only describe as a gastronomical sense of complete happiness. I don’t think we can expect to see the Circa menu flooded with seaweed or miso glaze, I’ll leave that to the masters but if there is one thing that can fuel the fire for me, it’s that understanding and respect for the produce that Japan does so well.  That’s what I’ll bring back from this trip.

Roasted carrot, grape, avocado and red quinoa salad, fromage frais, citrus dressing
serves 6

18 baby carrots (peeled)
1 teaspoon ras-el-hanout
1 avocado
200g red grapes (halved)
1 baby cos lettuce
1 red trevise
2 ruby grapefruits (juice and segments)
2 oranges (juice and segments)
120g fromage frais
100ml olive oil
200g red quinoa (cooked)
30g butter
Salt and pepper

Pan roast the carrots in a little olive oil, until nearly cooked. Dust them with ras-el-hanout to finish. Halve and peel the avocado, discard the seed then cut into wedges lengthways and place into large bowls. Remove the carrots from the pan and add them to the avocado. Segment and juice both the orange and the ruby grapefruit. Add the segments to the bowl of avocado and carrots. Mix the citrus juice, olive oil and red quinoa in a separate bowl. Toss in the salad leaves, red grapes and some salt and pepper, dress with the citrus and red quinoa vinaigrette, and finish with some dollops of fromage frais.

 

Apple, radish and watercress, honey yoghurt, buckwheat vinaigrette

serves 6

Salad
4 red apples, peeled and sliced
4 green apples, peeled and sliced
6 breakfast radishes, finely sliced
200g watercress, picked and washed
2 avocados

Vinaigrette
200g buckwheat cooked
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tbs grapeseed oil
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar

For the vinaigrette
Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice.  Combine the oils then whisk slowly into the vinegar mix.  Placed the diced cucumber and buckwheat in a bowl and add the dressing.

Honey yoghurt
150g natural yoghurt
½ Tbs honey
Pinch salt

For the yoghurt
Slowly melt the honey on the stove, then mix through the yoghurt and season

Presentation
Smear each plate with a good amount of honey yoghurt.  Arrange the apple, avocado and watercress neatly on top.  Then spoon over the buckwheat vinaigrette.  Season with a turn of black pepper.

Perfect with a glass of  Pichot’Le Peu de la Moriette’ Vouvray Demi-Sec, 2007