As a restaurateur, whenever my husband Francis and I returned from travelling, customers would ask for recommendations on where we stayed.... what restaurants we liked, and what were the highlights.
So I started putting out a newsletter which talked about all sorts of things that interested me.... food, travel notes, art, Slow Food and even what home espresso machine I liked. Then technology took over, snail mail/printing became too expensive and I discovered blogging.
This blog doesn’t fall comfortably into Food Blog territory and has ended up being a lot about travel. Particularly travel to France. The easiest way to access these stories is to enter ‘Paris” or ‘France’ into the search engine in the right hand column. I’ve also written about Shanghai, Istanbul, Spain, Tasmania, Margaret River, New Zealand and New Guinea.. So, good eating ... and travelling!
Marilyn October 10th, 2007
I think I have discovered my all-time favourite area to stay in Paris — Ile St Louis, the little island behind Notre Dame. This was the first part of Paris to be settled by the Romans and is like a separate little village in the heart of Paris. It’s also an easy walk to the interesting bits of the Left Bank and the fascinating old jewish sector, The Marais.
As you can tell by the photo (left), it was World Cup time Continue Reading »
Marilyn October 10th, 2007
The outside temperature is minus 59C and I’m on to my second glass of Champagne. My flight back to Oz, after 3 intensive weeks of eating and drinking in France, was supposed to be the start of my diet … but what’s one more day?
I’ve consumed more than my fair share of foie gras, duck confit, cepes, terrine, french bread and sublime butter (what is it we do to Australian butter to make it so … ordinary?). With some of the family we have rented a village house for a week in the Dordogne (or Perigord) –in south west France. This is an area that still feels quite traditional, with many medieval walled (bastide) villages, beautiful rivers, forests and superb markets (marche) are a regular feature of town life – the sheer variety and quantity of lovely handcrafted food leaves me breathless. Continue Reading »
Marilyn August 1st, 2007
This is (Baguette’s Head Chef) Bruno Loubet’s version of a classic French veal casserole. It never disappoints but you will need to source top quality, young veal. It is easy to make at home and serves 6:
700gm veal shank and 800gm veal breast
200gm carrots & 100gm each of leeks, onions, celery
3 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 lemon
250ml cream, 30gm butter, 30 gm plain flour & celery salt to taste
Cut veal into chunks & cover with water in a pot with 4 pinches of salt – bring to the boil, lower heat to simmer, skim.
Add vegs cut into lg pieces and tie up herbs into a bundle with the leeks (easy to lift out). Simmer for about 1 hr or until tender.
Strain the stock and reduce by half. Melt butter and when foamy add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. Pour the stock over the butter and flour mixture, whisking continuously to avoid lumps. Add half the cream. Simmer for 15 minutes, add a squeeze of lemon. Taste for seasoning and then add remaining cream and the meat.
Serve with rice or baby vegetables. Garnish with chervil.
Marilyn July 27th, 2007
Stuart and Lidia Darlow live in the beautiful city of Nimes in the south of France. They visit Brisbane every year, bringing details of houses for sale in the Languedoc Roussillon region — houses by the sea, 17th century village houses, farmhouses, maison de maitre (master’s house). They have some very happy buyers in Brisbane and next visit will also go to Sydney and Melbourne.
It is very easy to buy property in France and they can arrange 100% finance at 5% fixed interest for 25 years. You can expect 8-10% capital gains per year and 3/4 of the mortage could come from rentals. You will however have to find 8% of the purchase price for legals etc. Continue Reading »
Marilyn July 23rd, 2007
One of my favourite blogs is Waiter Rant (see recommended blogs on the right). His comments are always perceptive, occasionally outrageous and usually a ‘belly laugh’. If you ever wondered whether you can drop into your favourite restaurant but it’s after 10pm so will you be welcomed? … go to Ask the Waiter — Late Night Dining, July 19, 2007 on Waiter Rant.
Marilyn June 13th, 2007
This dynamic city (and region) today produces half the wealth of China and is a showcase for development in this emerging communist country. It has had a fascinating history of foreign occupation (French, English, Americans and White Russians) during the period when China was closed to the world from 1650 to the early 20th century. In the 1920s it was a modern, decadant city of opium, Chinese ‘mafia’, liberal sexual mores and was known as the ‘Paris of the East’ or ‘Whore of the Orient’ — it was a very exotic port of call. Continue Reading »
Marilyn June 13th, 2007
The best meals in Shanghai are not where you expect them to be, so be adventurous. Yes there are expensive western fusion restaurants (about the same cost as Australia), but you can also eat for almost nothing in Chinese cafes. Most have shortened English menus with photos of the food.
Some of the dishes though are only for the adventurous. Here are a few examples:
* Salt and pepper king snake
* Braised bullfrog legs, or tortoise in casserole
* Cows lungs soaked in chilli sauce
* Steamed rabbits ears or goats’ feet tendons
* Red stewed fish lips and shark mouth
… get the picture? MSG is alive and very well too, so if you have a sensitivity to this chemical you’re in real trouble. There is quite a lot of protocol involved if you are a guest at a restaurant, so my advice is to read carefully the Lonely Planet’s guide to China (or the slimmer version just on Shanghai).
Marilyn June 13th, 2007
Shanghai’s steamed dumplings are world famous and can make a cheap, delicious meal. There is a trick however to eating them as they are full of scalding broth. Put one onto your chinese spoon, nip off the top with your teeth, blow to cool and slurp the whole lot down.
On a recent trip to Shanghai we sampled a number of restaurants specialising in dumplings. One modern one with 3 branches is Din Tai Fung which has the lightest dumpling dough, delicious fillings and queues. Expect queues anywhere popular, in a city of 12 million people.
Dumplings are bought by the steamer basket and shared. Dip the slippery ‘ravioli’ into little bowls of vinaiger and fresh ginger. Tricky so be prepared to be messy. They are generally stuffed with meat, spring onion and greens. Cost? About $9pp for more than you can eat.
Marilyn May 6th, 2007
Why is it that fast food companies are hell bent on bastardising a classic food item? And why do we buy this rubbish? We all love a good hamburger and I am old enough to remember the home made ones we used to buy at the corner shop. But that was not good enough for McDonalds who spent enormous time and money reducing the hamburger to a tasteless, grey piece of cardboard (with pickles) between a sweet, spongy bun. Then came tinned pineapple on pizzas. Now Pizza Hut have surpassed themselves — Elizabeth Meryment in The Weekend Australian reports:
‘Most repugnant food item spotted this year: Pizza Hut’s new meat-pie pizza, in which a greasy pie is somehow baked into the body of a cheese-laden pizza. Surely up there with deep-fried Mars bars.’
Marilyn April 14th, 2007
The highlight of our recent trip to Tasmania was 2 overnights spent at Peppers Calstock just outside of Deloraine and a 45 minutes drive west of Launceston. Although marketed under the Peppers umbrella, it is boutique accommodation (only 7 rooms) at its best and run by a couple — Frenchman Daniel Tourancheau and his Australian wife Linda.
Calstock is a 19th century Georgian manor house, with large elegantly decorated bedrooms ensuite. Daniel’s French country food is refined and unlaboured, using only superb local produce. It is only available to guests and you must let them know you are staying for dinner, at least 24 hours in advance. Cost for an unforgetable 3-course meal is $75 pp. They also have an outstanding wine cellar. Cost per night for a couple including breakfast is around $335 and worth every penny. www.peppers.com.au/Calstock or ring 03 6362 2635.
Tasty Bites
Restaurant and food stories, gossip & recipes.
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