FoodieChat

There is SO much happening this month for foodies in Sydney! This Saturday as usual the first weekend in October is the Good Living Growers Market - but beefed up, or should I say porked up! Some of Sydney’s best chefs will be participating in a nose to tail BBQ there, and it’s also open until 12pm for those of you can’t manage to make it by 11am

This is part of Crave Sydney, a month long festival of art, food, music and outdoor events hosted by the City of Sydney Council.  And it co-incides with the first ever Sydney International Food Festival www.siff.com.au, which is the old Good Food Month ramped up to make Sydney a serious global foodie destination.

The usual suspects are back - the $20 Sugar Hits, the $35 let’s do lunches, and the Chefs Showcase dinners.  Highlights this year include a whole new set of hands on cooking classes, as well as some new outdoor events to add to the always popular Sydney Food and Wine fair and the Danks Street Festival.  Let’s hope the festival is a great success and something to continue to wait 11 months for during the year!  See you at one of the events!

Coming up soon:

1. The Taste of Sydney festival is on this week at Centennial Park from Thursday 12th march to Sunday 15th.  There are a few tickets on special around the place, otherwise it’s $15 for entry, then $8 - 15 for each plate.  Restaurants exhibiting include Becasse, Assiette, Jonah’s, Balzac, Sailor’s Thai. 

http://79.170.40.165/tastefestivals.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=83

2. The Noosa Food and Wine festival - loads of cooking classes with your favourite chefs, degustation dinners and lunches. 1 - 3 May.

 http://www.celebrationofaustralianfoodandwine.com.au/

3. The Food of Orange Week - 17 - 26 April. I might try and get to this one this year as I have heard so much about it.  Wine tastings, markets, cooking classes, fresh produce and other events.

 http://www.orangefoodweek.com.au/

I’m so happy to have scored tickets to see Ferran Adria speak at a Good Food Month event in Sydney!! In case you haven’t heard, he runs the most famous restaurant in the world called El Bulli, in Spain.  He is heralded as the father of molecular gastronomy - basically using scientic methods to change the way food is presented, and making tastes into new and exciting and surprising forms.

Getting a reservation is near impossible - they take bookings only once a year according to Gourmet Traveller, and it is recommended that you put your name on the waiting list, book a two week holiday in Spain and leave your mobile on, ready to go if you are lucky enough to get a call!

But if not, and if you can’t afford the >€300 cost for a meal, you could buy his books, with the latest one to be released in October, and come to his talks in Sydney or Melbourne. Tickets from Ticketmaster on sale now - $40 talk only, or $75 for the talk and the book. Which is a bargain compared to the cost of eating his food

If you don’t know what he’s about, here are some articles by SMH:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/your-tweezers-sir-and-do-smell-the-rosemary/2008/09/01/1220121114863.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/new-age-food-appeals/2008/09/01/1220121114855.html

This is my favourite food event of the year, and I was ssooo looking forward to it.  I beat my record and spent 6 hrs there this year!  The trick is to get there early, and also to pre-purchase your tickets.  To be honest, this year was less enjoyable because it was overcrowded due to the massive crowds that Gordon Ramsay brought in.  Expect to see the very gorgeous Peter Evans who makes many a housewife’s heart skip a beat (from Fresh on channel 9), including one of my companions

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Well it’s that time of year again when Sydney foodies descend upon top restaurants, hotels, bars and even parks to eat and drink their way around town for the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Month.  And top of the list for the evenings is the Sugar Hit - the $20 plate of dessert and glass of dessert wine (up from $15 in previous years).  We went to the elegant Cafe Opera at the intercontinental, fully intending to have the Sugar Hit, but instead captivated by the dessert trolley before us, which offered an array of beautiful irresistable patisserie at only $8 each.  Well, there’s the bird in the hand theory - we could see before our eyes what we were going to get (and save $4 each too - since dessert wine is $8 a glass), or get the sugar hit. Well - bird’s good for me.

I’m quite familiar with the quality of the desserts at the Inter Cont as I had done a Hands On cooking class five years back, and returned frequently to have the cakes take away.

A favourite is the tear drop shaped black forest cake - chocolate sponge topped with sour cherry compote, whipped cream and finished off with a layer of cherry jelly.  Tempting tiramisu manifested as a cake - sponge fingers top, bottom and side, and a smooth thick layer of coffee liqueur flavoured marscarpone - and topped with a delicate rolled tuile.

The pavlova slice is deceptively light - filled with raspberries, mango and whipped cream - soft and fluffy with a slightly crispy meringue top.  And… DIY sugar hit hahaha.

But my absolute favourite of all time is the passionfruit mousse cake, which for me takes the cake (literally) for its tangy passionfruit that cuts through the sweetness in a light mousse; wrapped with a dotted sponge collar and a layer of jelly on top.  Butterflies or leaves of chocolate spiked on top, and a shard of speckled white chocolate for good measure.  The staff could have been a bit more generous with the dessert wine, but when you could catch them were attentive and polite.  The large couches are a comfortable way to rest and soak up the atmosphere - but be quick as there are no bookings on a Friday night - and the queue starts well before the 9pm starting time.

www.gfm.smh.com.au for more events.  Sydney Intercontinental Hotel  117 Macquarie Street Sydney 9240 1369