Not everyone loves Valentine’s Day. In fact when I talk to some people about Valentines Day their reaction is to sneer at it and talk about “crass commercialism.” I’m not sure what to answer to that because of course it is quite true and I can only offer “But this is a day to eat more chocolate! Why the hate? Have some chocolate!” A friend of mine hated it because she thought that it was silly to celebrate on just the one day when you should celebrate it every day. To which I answered ”But this is a day to eat more chocolate! Here, have some chocolate!”
Chocolate and I are sort of new found lovers. For the first 17 years of my life I hated the stuff and every time I was given some chocolate I would pass it onto my sister. A couple of times I got curious about what it tasted like and ate it only to and how do I put this delicately…I would throw it up afterwards. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to go through that every time that they ate chocolate (I didn’t understand that my reaction to chocolate was not normal and thought that everyone did this) and I left it alone until I was at uni.
It was then that our love blossomed and I came to love and appreciate chocolate-in moderation of course. I know that there are people that have been saying lately that sugar is the cause of obesity and should be regulated or banned for minors but I still believe that everything should be eaten in moderation. Also I am one of those difficult people that if you banned me from doing something, I will only want it that much more 
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| February 8th, 2012 - 5:00 am
It was Saturday afternoon and I was hunting for a place for Mr NQN and I to have dinner with Queen Viv and Miss America that evening. The latter is very easy going but Queen Viv always needs convincing so I texted Queen Viv ”How about Toshiya in Cremorne? They have sashimi tacos.”
“That sounds interesting and possibly revolting, let’s give it a go” she answered back straight away. A shrinking violet Queen Viv is not
Which is how we found ourselves in her car driving at what seemed like warp speed with Queen Viv at the wheel. I had already stalked the menu online and from all reports the food was delicious and good value so I wasn’t in the slightest bit worried about Queen Viv’s foreboding text.
There are all of the usual items on the Japanese menu but what really caught our eye was the page with the sushi specials. With items like the aforementioned sashimi tacos as well as 3 way salmon, tempura sushi and scallops, hi -ha rolls and pari pari chicken. “Let’s try the weird stuff” Queen Viv said and Miss America agreed and they reminded me of why I enjoy dining with them so much. The only criticism that I had read of Toshiya was that dishes seem to come out with gaps between them but that to me isn’t a problem as we share everything. There are also add ons like Hon Wasabi (freshly grated real wasabi) and their home made soy sauce.
Sashimi tacos $13 for two
The salmon sashimi tacos came in a deep fried gyoza wrapper curved around like a taco and filled with diced, marinated salmon sashimi. I find that there’s a bit too much dressing in there and it makes the taco shell a bit wet if you waited much longer and I actually prefer the sashimi outside of the shell but Queen Viv and Miss America love it and Queen Viv rescinds and literally eats her earlier words.
Wakame salad $7.50
The wakame salad comes out in a beautiful bowl and features seasoned wakame salad, salad leaves, tomato and red onion with a home made sesame dressing. There is also some dried, shredded laver seaweed on top which provides a nice contrast.
Tempura sushi?! and scallops (6pieces) $15
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| February 7th, 2012 - 5:00 am
Someone once left a karaoke microphone behind at our place (if I were to hazard a guess when it was probably one of our theme nights) but since it doesn’t connect to anything I use it to annoy Mr NQN by pretending to interview him and sing to him. I think he has hearing like a dog because his face cringes whenever anyone but certain people with perfect pitch sing. And that means that whenever I emerge from the study bedroom ready to sing at him he looks as though in pain.
That’s because I cannot sing.
Sometimes he puts up with it for longer but sometimes he gives me a look that says “enough!” One evening I was making a jam and waiting for it to boil and I was killing time while waiting for it to finish. A recent trip was postponed due to a cyclone so I found myself at home alone for most of the day. I tend to get so excited when there’s an actual human in front of me so I talk a million miles an hour. So I combined the two and interviewed Mr NQN on my karaoke microphone about the jam.
Let me tell you about this jam or really, a preserve. From Macedonia, slatko as it is known, is a jam made up of the white part of the watermelon that we usually discard. I first tried it at an Elliott gathering. Our brother in law Laporello is Croatian and his parents came over to cook for their wedding. One day when we dropped something off, his mum was making this with the summer fruit that we had a glut of and I was fascinated by how unusual and delicious it was.
He tells us that you have a tablespoon of it first thing in the morning with a glass of water or very bitter coffee. It is extremely sweet (the name slatko translates into sweet) and it is also made with cherries and apricots but since we have so much watermelon at the moment I wanted to try it with that.
There was the bonus of making something out of something that would have been discarded. I hate to waste food (see banana skin cake) and if it is perfectly edible I’m willing to try and see what it tastes like. The sample that Laporello’s mum gave me was so delicious I wanted to make it again. So one hot summer’s day I sliced up the watermelon separating the white (pith) and green (rind) from the red part (best to slice it before teeth get into it for sanitary reasons) and then cut it up.
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| February 6th, 2012 - 5:00 am
Here is the second part of my list of fun things to do in Edmonton, Canada.
Do a cooking class & market visit at Gail Hall and Seasoned Solutions
“Julia Child is smiling down from heaven about the amount of butter we are using today” says chef Gail Hall as she is standing in her kitchen frying some butter in a pan as it sizzles and hisses in agreement. Today we are having a taste of Edmonton-literally by going to the Edmonton Farmer’s Markets and participating in Gail’s cooking class.
Chef Gail Hall
Before we arrived at Gail’s loft, we spent some time wandering around the Edmonton farmers market. An Edmonton local, Gail is a chef that has previously owned a successful catering company. She is now a radio columnist, president of Cuisine Canada and holds cooking classes in the loft that she shares with her husband. As well as conducting culinary tours around the world and within Canada, she is also an avid supporter championing local produce. At the beginning of our cooking class, she takes us around to four different stands to introduce us to the food of Alberta.
Our first stop is a fruit stand where the fruit comes from the British Columbia region. They practice organic principles in that they don’t use sprays and they rotate the crops but aren’t certified organic. They go around to about 24 markets in the area and this is one of them. And the blueberries are just divine, the sweetest.
Our next stop is the Prairie Bakery where they bake breads and buns using freshly milled flour in their very own flour mill. This makes a difference because freshly milled flour has additional properties that commercially made bulk milled flour doesn’t as this has been removed so that it lasts longer and doesn’t go rancid. As a result, the protein levels with their bread are higher than other breads.
Our third stop is the Sunshine Organic Farm stall where they sell certified organic beef, pork, turkey, chicken and eggs. They also make nitrate free ham and bacon and their beef is all dry aged for a minimum of 21 days. They point out that their ground meat is just meat – no snouts or tails!
Dark purple beans
Red potatoes (creamy underneath the skin)
The last stop is the Dutch family at Riverbend Gardens who have a great range of items including black long beans. They are one of the very own farms within the city limits and their farm has sandy soil that drains well even during wet season.
Dill flower bunches
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| February 5th, 2012 - 5:00 am
Tickets from last year’s event
Ever been curious about what Rene Redzepi (Noma), David Chang (Momofuku) and Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana) think is the future of food? How about a home grown opinion like that of Neil Perry or Peter Gilmore? At the upcoming Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, the Chef Jam event is an industry focused event with quick-fire sessions followed by a networking event designed to allow all in the food industry access to these amazing chefs. The event is on the 12th of March from 2pm-6pm at the Showtime Events Centre, South Wharf.
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| February 4th, 2012 - 5:00 am
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