Posted by Circa on July 10th, 2011
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 19th 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.
Posted by Circa on May 19th, 2011
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.
Posted by Circa on March 25th, 2011
Rachel Allen: Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
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
Posted by Circa on February 2nd, 2011
Growing up in the country town of Warrnambool, I fell into cooking at the age of 16 after seeing an advertisement for an apprenticeship at one of the local restaurants. I had already been in working in kitchens where I could, helping out after school washing dishes and doing all the fun jobs like making trays of scallop potatoes, mixing sink loads of coleslaw and potato salad or crumbing the brie in preparation for the deep fried classic of the time.
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.
Posted by Circa on January 16th, 2011
We would like to share this lovely, summery dessert with you…
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.
