View of the Opera House with a reflection of the Harbour Kitchen & Bar

“A what what??” my friends ask. “A Global Ambassador for Tequila” I reply. They’re stunned into silence, wondering how on earth they missed this employment opportunity. Forget Marketing or Medical degrees, it seems that our careers guidance counselor missed this crucial job description. For who was about to grace our shores than Tequila Herradura’s Global Brand Ambassador, Ruben Aceves. An MBA graduate who just happens to travel the world spreading the love and good knowledge about Tequila. Yes, along with professional shopper and Pierre Herme macaron taste tester, put that under “Dream Job” category.

A great many of us are gathered at the Park Hyatt for this evening’s event, firstly for canapes and cocktails at the upstairs rooftop terrace. I’m afraid my two bags, spike heels and jostling crowd prevent me from photographing the canapes but they were indeed delicious. There was a choice of baked polenta with gorgonzola cheese, Wagyu Bresaloa on goat’s cheese cruton and crabmeat and fennel tartlet. There is also Aloe Seniorita aloe vera, lime juice and tequila cocktails finished with egg white and the Horseshoe Bramble with Herradura Silver, lemon juice, syrup and chambord liqeur.

At 7.30pm we are moved to the Harbour Kitchen & Bar downstairs, home of, of course one of the most gorgeous views of Sydney Harbour. I have fond memories of staying at the Park Hyatt on our wedding night and waking up to that view so I get a wave of sweet nostalgia. I’m seated with the lovely Em as well as a crowd of interesting diners. Executive Chef Alessandro Pavoni’s menu looks fantastic.

Ruben Aveces discussed all things Tequila

Ruben Aceves is introduced and he proceeds to educate us with a brief slideshow about Tequila. Despite misconceptions, Tequila is not made from Cactus but rather the Blue Agave plant. And Ruben was born in the heart of Blue Agave country. It is said that Tequila was first discovered when Aztec Indians first saw a lightning struck Agave plant and the resultant milky liquid and when they fermented and drank it they experienced a euphoric happiness. Established in 1870, Tequila Herradura is handcrafted and made from 100% blue agave and is the only all natural tequila in the world. They also pioneered the Resposado and Añejo varieties (yes luvvies, there are varieties, who knew? I certainly didn’t).

Petuna Ocean trout carpaccio, herradura anejo mascarpone, walnut oil, pickled fennel and beetroot chips matched with Herradura Anejo.

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I’ve heard that there was a time in Australia when the only seasonings or flavours used were salt and pepper. To me, that sounds unfathomable and a little frightening. Where would we be without the rich scents of the herbs and spices that routinely feature in our recipes today? It goes without saying that Herbies herbs and spices are the best in Australia. If ever there was an area to splurge it’s on good quality herbs and spices. They only cost you a dollar or two more than other but are well worth it as they contain no fillers, starches, MSG, free-flow agents or additives of any kind. Just pure unadulterated spice. I often see Ian Hemphill from Herbie’s on Fresh TV in the morning (my version of the “morning news”) and he often shows how to use these herbs, his knowledge shining through.

This month, we’re giving away two Herbies Spice Kits worth $30 each. For those of you still battling the cold weather (me included), we have one Comfort Foods Spice Kit - Seven spices and blends (ground rosemary, mixed spice, Baharat spice mix, tagine mix, chipotle chilli powder, samber spice mix and thyme) with recipes for Apple Crumble, Bean Mash with Rosemary, Lamb Tagine, Smokey Vegetable Soup, Slow-cooked Ox Cheeks, Sambar and Farmer’s Potato Bake.

For Lovers and Wannabe Lovers we have one Aphrodisiac Spice Kit- Six aphrodisiac spices (Pasilla chilli powder, nutmeg, cardamom, saffron and cumin), plus Za’atar which you could team up with known aphrodisiacs like oysters, olives, artichokes and figs in recipes for making Oyster Soup, Bruschetta with Artichoke Puree, The Bird Stripped Bare, Pears with Saffron Jelly,and Spiced Figs. I’d say these will get you some action better than the phrase “I’ll do the dishes tonight honey, you relax!” or “Go ahead and buy that new Chanel bag, it’s worth every cent!”

All you have to do is tell me “What is the difference between a herb and a spice?” and which kit you’d prefer. Email me on: nqn.herbies.comp@gmail.com with your name, email and postage details. You can enter once daily but because the prize is food, I’ll have to keep the entries within Australia -we don’t want the precious spices to get caught at overseas customs! The competition ends midnight AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday the 30th of September so you have plenty of time!

If you can’t wait to get your Spice Kits, they are available from the Herbies website or at their store:

Herbies
745 Darling Street ROZELLE
NSW 2039 AUSTRALIA
Tel: (02) 9555 6035
Fax: (02) 9555 6037
Email: herbie@herbies.com.au

http://herbies.com.au/

Let me start off admitting that I had to be somewhat wrangled into going to the Snow this year. My husband and his equally sporty family couldn’t wait to go skiiing whereas all I could think about was how damn cold I would be and given how bone-chillingly cold Sydney has been lately, why on earth would I want to go somewhere even colder? I’m no romantic, starry eyed snow virgin either, having lived in Tokyo where it does snow and my firm belief is that snow is awfully pretty to look at - when you are inside. When you have to face it directly, it’s nothing but a pain in the bottom - literally - when you fall on your ass.

However my interest grew when my friend M gave me the low down on skiing. Being Austrian, she grew up skiing at school and her tips were:

• Carry a chocolate bar with you at all times. If you get cold, eat it and warm up and then you can keep skiing
• Never ski when you are cold
• Stop by positioning your ski tips together in an inverse V

But like the saying “You had me at Hello” goes, she had me at “Carry a chocolate bar with you at all times”. I confirmed the chocolate point with her and she nodded emphatically saying that I will eat lots of chocolate as I’ll need it. OK sign me up for 4 days of this! And hardly a whimper was heard from me again.

After some cross country skiing, tobogganing (we became Champion tobogganers, is there an Olympic division?) and tube riding, we worked up a very hearty appetite. So with the help from a Vogue forum member rainbowcloud who asked her mum for the lowdown on where is good to eat, we converged, hungry and cold, on Jazz River restaurant in Tumut, reportedly the best place to eat in town. Housed inside an arcade, a sparkling glitter sign announced its presence.

We are directed to our table. It is a still little cold there and we were hoping for a warmer restaurant. The menu on the blackboard has some tempting dishes. I choose the sirloin with mash, my husband chooses the veal scallopine, Figaro chooses the pork and Anneli chooses the salmon. When I had rung ahead to make the booking, I told them that we had some vegetarians in our party and asked whether they had any dishes. They were only too happy to make up some meals so A, Tuuliki and The Assman choose the porcini risotto and a vegetarian tapas plate.

Grainfed sirloin with creamy mash, greens and caramelised onions $29

It’s a while until we get our meals and as we are next to the glass doors, it’s a little chilly. When the meals arrive we are ever so grateful and pounce on them. My sirloin, despite one or two gristly corners, is delicious with a sublime sauce and a huge serving of mash.

Veal Scallopine with baked polenta, greens and herb glaze $28

My husband’s veal Scallopine is tender, thinly pounded pieces of veal with alternating pieces of crumbed veal. Despite its simple description, it’s well executed and satisfying.

Tasmanian Salmon with warm potato salad and beurre blanc $28

I try some of Anneli’s salmon and it’s divine, moist and perfectly cooked inside with a delicate side of diced potato salad. She is in raptures over this having just recently become a Pescatarian (fish eating vegetarian) for health reasons.

Pork fillet with baked vegetables, greens and red wine jus $27

Figaro’s pork is reportedly “ok but nothing special” and something that he feels he could make at home.

Porcini risotto $22

I try some of the porcini risotto, it’s not bad although as a confirmed omnivore I would want for something with more meat, however the vegetarians seem very happy with this.

Vegetarian Tapas plate $22

I sample some of the vegetarian tapas plate, the spinach omelette is a little dry but the semi dried tomatoes are a serious slice of heaven - sweet and deliciously juicy but still full of flavour, they’re probably the nicest I’ve had. The baked polenta is delicious, crispy on the outside and soft inside.

Vegetarian tapas plate

On the way back we saw lots of kangaroos near the road, emerging through the misty thick fog. There’s even a sign warning us of Kangaroo and Emu on the way although we were out of luck Emu spotting!

Road Sign (taken on another day)

Jazz River Cafe Bar Bistro

The Hub - 34 Wynyard Street Tumut NSW 2720
Tel/fax: +61 (020 6947 6966
email: jazz_river2@bigpond.com

When I come to France, all I want to do is eat pastry. Should an immigration officer ask me my reason for entering France, I’ll simply say “To eat pastry”. Forget chocolate, I can always get good chocolate in Sydney, Tokyo, London or anywhere else I travel. However pastries like this are much harder to find. Poilâne is an institution, their sourdough bread of miche is said to be legendary. Using stone-ground flour, sea salt from Guérande and a wood-fired oven they set about conquering the world, one loaf at a time.

So a visit to Paris isn’t complete with a visit to their flagship store on the rue de cherche Midi. I have tried Poilâne bread before as it is available in London so we visited just to “take a perv” at the store and buy some pastries and some other breads. It’s an unusual set up. The shopfront is in a small street and hints not at the auspiciousness of the bakery. A stern looking unsmiling woman sits at the counter taking money while a group of older and younger woman flutter about backs to the wall watching customers and straightening displays of bread.

There is a small selection of breads and pastries and a sample box of their flower petal shaped butter cookies. The miche is sold by the weight and you can choose the amount of thinly sliced bread that you want. One woman offers me a sable biscuit from the box while I am browsing and a friendly young woman, a dead ringer for Natalie Portman offers her help. They package up the items for you, you don’t help yourself, and they wrap it and write the price on the paper bag and hand it to you and you then pay the stern madam behind the counter.

Le haul

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Like an abused pet that is shown signs of kindness, I approached macaron making again with a little nervousness and trepidation. I’d had a semi successful attempt with a Nigella recipe after a few terrible attempts with a Martha one so I was given a little encouragement. Not enough to make me cocky, far from it in fact. But enough to make me give the recipes a shy, sidelong look every now and again and even think to myself “that would be wonderful in a macaron” (although I’d never say that out loud, that would err on the cocky side, or at least confident side, which I am not on).

I even stocked up on supplies to make them, purchasing a 1kg bag of almond meal. This meant that I was either thinking of making multiple batches of macarons or making friands. As I don’t have a friand tin, all evidence points to the former. So urban-cavewoman style, I brought home my big bag of almond meal like a fresh kill and set it down on the counter proudly, like I had picked the almonds and ground them myself.

This is a fiddly cupcake, I’ll make no bones about it. You need to make the macaron to top it and then make the cupcake base and the rose cream and slice up berries and lychees to fill it and top with a rose petal. But the overall effect is quite spectacular. I made the macaron top first as I knew that if I wasn’t successful at that, then I wouldn’t bother making the rest. You see, I’m still slightly scarred by my failed attempts.

I suspect that Pierre Herme, the creator of the Ispahan would be quite horrified at the idea of his lauded creation being turned into something as cute and kitsch as a cupcake, indeed I saw not a single cupcake in all of my travels in Paris. However it’s not exactly like an Ispahan in that the base is a strawberry rose cupcake and the filling is buttercream and not a buttercream and custard creme anglaise combination (I only have so much patience). Also being Mid Winter in Sydney meant that only strawberries and some blueberries make an appearance so I had to improvise and use strawberries rather than raspberries.

I hope you will find these a fitting homage to the Ispahan, the taste of these are ambrosial and well worth the effort.

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