“Use the chopsticks!” my mother used to always tell me when I was little and would take a jar of these out of the fridge. I never listened of course, as I knew I’d eat my size in these delicious pickles so there was never any need to take them out of the jar with a clean pair of chopsticks. For some reason I was never a child that hated vegetables and the regular ingestion of a jar of these would prove testament to this.
Since moving out of home I realised that I hadn’t eaten these for years and years and with a glut of cucumbers I pestered my mum for the recipe. And this is where the dance began. My mum is quite protective of her recipes and she is also one of those “a bit of this and that” cooks so when I asked her by email she responded
Hi Lorraine,
All you have to do is to peel and slice the cucumber and add salt ,vinegar and sugar. Usually I just do it by trial and error i.e. I’ll taste it then add in more of what is required to my satisfaction.
I think you need more sugar than the other two. Lastly, add in chilli, pepper and sesame oil.
Bye,
Mum
If you do have some cucumbers I do urge you to make one batch of these. They are so good indeed. And don’t be put off by the amount of sugar in it – most of it ends up in the pickling liquid which you don’t drink. After a bit of back and forth she gave me the quantities and I was pleased to note that it tasted pretty much just like I remembered it. Perhaps she is coming round. Dare I ask her for more recipes? Tell me Dear Reader, is your mum or grandmother similarly protective or quantity-vague when it comes to sharing recipes?
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“They have a Tea Master!” says my friend, the PR superstar The Second Wife. She knows of my major love of tea and she tells me that the kind people at the Sir Stamford have invited me and a friend to High Tea at their Circular Quay location so I’m taking along Queen Viv for today’s ride. And at 2pm I’m walking along the marbled floors, past the huge gilt edged paintings and into the gorgeous Bar where High Tea is held every afternoon in a very hushed, elegant style.
Queen Viv and I are poured water from a silver jug and sparkling wine as soon as we sit down which is lovely for our parched souls. After browsing through the tea menu we see why they have a tea master – they take their tea very seriously here and the brand of choice is Ronnefeldt of Germany, one of my favourite teas.
There are enticing Green and White tea varieties and a South African Vanilla Roibosh (Rooibos) that Queen Viv selects but I’m more of a black tea drinker so I select the Wild Cherry from India. I’ve often spoken of my witching hour around 4pm when I feel vulnerable to sugary snacks and concoctions in order to boost my energy levels. Apparently according to the tea menu, the Countess of Bedford felt the same calling it “a sinking feeling” during this time.
Teapots and hourglass
The teapots of tea arrive with The Austrian Tea Master, Robert Gachiel who sets down an hourglass timer set to 3 minutes for our tea to steep. He tells us he is one of five Certified Tea Masters in Australia. Ronnefeldt started training tea masters a few years ago when they saw a gap in the market. Gachiel is currently on silver status with the gold status to come next year when he completes the Gold programme in Sri Lanka where they are required to oversee and participate in all aspects of tea from the very beginning where it is grown to visiting the old tea factory. Tea Masters need to identify 18 types of tea leaves both wet and dry and complete oral and written examinations before they reach Gold Tea Master status and join the 60 or so people around the world that share the title.
Robert Gachiel, Tea Master
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When I first heard of the British National Trust’s Historic Cake recipes, my mind immediately flipped to Seinfeld, as it is want to do in relation to almost anything. When recalling Historic Cakes, I was remembering the episode when Elaine stole a forkful and then the entire slice of the King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson wedding cake that her boss J. Peterman had purchased at auction for $29,000.
Bizarre as it may sound, British royal wedding cake slices do go up for auction from time to time with a slice of the Princess Diana and Prince Charles wedding cake going for auction for £1000 – not quite the dizzying heights of the Seinfeld slice ( in 1998, the year Princess Diana passed away a slice of this wedding cake sold for £17,000) but if anything, one with a sweet story behind it. The 9 inch slice – from the top tier of the cake no less – was given by the Queen Mother to a former royal servant Moyra Smith who promptly wrapped it in clingfilm and kept it in her attic for 27 years. After Moyra Smith died, her husband sold the cake and gave the proceeds to charity which was her wish.
Seinfeld and royal wedding cakes aside, I was immediately drawn to this Gloucestershire Apple and Cheese cake as it wasn’t a cheesecake as such, but a cake that just happened to have a generous serving of cheddar cheese in it. And if that doesn’t win you over I think you might just have a heart of stone.
I used pears as I happened to have those to hand but of course you could use apples as the original recipe stated. It is easier to grate a firmer pear than a soft one where it will disintegrate into mush. Gloucestershire cheese is fairly widely available or any fabulous cheddar will do. The resulting cake is gorgeous – it’s more of a loaf actually owing to it’s shape and lack of “icing”. The texture is very light with a delicious taste of cheddar and little moist droplets from the grated pear. The staying power for this loaf is rather good with it lasting for about 5 days in an airtight container and not losing any of it’s moistness or tender texture.
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Zumbo’s Bedroom Bookshelf
So the story goes, I was in Adriano Zumbo’s bedroom so I took a snap of his bookshelf but more on that later. And what was I doing at his house? Getting a preview of his new collection: 40 Days and Nights in Paris (due out May 23rd) for my birthday! For a food blogger, this is as close to the best birthday gift you could ever get. “You’re the first to see the whole collection” he says “even the guys in the kitchen have only seen two of them” and I suppress an internal squeal. Oh yes, birthdays are a good thing indeed.
Kitchen bookshelf
Zumbo recently returned from two months in the City of Lights which included attending the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (World Pastry Cup) and working at Pierre Herme, hence the collection’s name, and he came home eager to get back into his own kitchen and get started on his new collection. Speaking of his kitchen, the minute I walk through the door, I know I’m in the home of a chef. It’s a huge, gorgeously spacious kitchen with a massive island and one of those heavy duty restaurant kitchen faucets. I spy a bookshelf full of cookbooks (including Nigella’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess”) and when I ask if I can take a photo of them, he says “Let me show you the real bookshelf”. This is the one he spoke about in his interview with me which is in his bedroom. It’s packed with some amazing cookbooks of the professional calibre from the Libarie Gourmande in Paris.
Zumbo’s home kitchen
As for the cakes, let me present a preview of them without any further ado. As the cakes remain unnamed at this stage, if you’d like to suggest some names for them, please leave a comment as Adriano will be checking this page. Who knows, he might get inspiration from your suggestions! He said that he loved reading the comments from all of you in his interview so get your thinking caps on and name away! 
Cake #1
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My husband has always disliked risotto. Yes I know, let us all pick up our collective jaws off the ground together. I couldn’t believe it either. I’ve tried plying him with all different kinds but no, he steadfastly rejects it or picks at it sulkily as if I served him burnt toast. This dish however, changed his mind.
Stuffed vegetables are an impressive way of serving vegetables to the vegetable fearing children and a good way of getting hardened carnivores to try a vegetarian dish – even if it is unwittingly. I think it’s the unknown promise of what’s inside and the fact that a lot of stuffed vegetables use meat in some way. This one does not, although you could certainly add some. I don’t think this really needs any to be honest though as it stands on taste alone.
I considered fancying this up with truffle oil but decided against it, after all its appeal is that it is simple, rustic food that happens to be inexpensive and easy to cook. It can be eaten as a side dish to a meat main or by themselves. They tomatoes can be filled ahead of time and put aside so they are ideal for a dinner party. And as you’d expect try and use truss tomatoes – using a tomato without the greenery on top just doesn’t look the same.
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