Outback Game Meat

I have been away on holidays again. It is so hard to keep up with the blog when you are on holidays. I have been ambitious, planning to keep up with the posting with my Netbook, in reality you just cannot focus on the blog while on holidays.

My holidays took me to the Red Centre of Australia. This place is also known as the outback of Australia. We stayed the town called Alice Springs, a remote city surviving on activities from the gas fields, cattle farming, and a major stopover for trucks and trains from Adelaide to Darwin (northern end of Australia).

We camped in the caravan and National parks. While at Alice Springs we get to eat out at Red Ochre Cafe , a local restaurant on one cold and rainy afternoon. Here we get to sample some local fare. We had a camel pie, and a plate of assorted items ('antipasto') which include Emu and Kangaroo meat served with turkish bread and some dips.

Camel is considered a pest or unwanted species of animals, or ferals. They have been imported during the mid 19th to early 20th century to transport goods in the harsh and arid land. During that time, the Afghans were hired as the camel drivers. The camel population has grown steadily and is believe to have reached a million, the government recently allocated $17 million to get rid of this animals. Some of these has been captured and slaughtered in abattoir. So the meat are readily available. Similarly kangaroos has been culled to control the population. These animals ended up on the dining table as game meat. Not too common in Melbourne, but more so in the bush country.
I find the Emu and roo meat a bit tough and chewy. They are usually cooked rare, or alternatively they should be stewed for many hours to tennderise them.

The camel meat pie is excellent. Juicy and mildly flavoured with dried kumquat or orange peel.

At Kings Canyon (National Park) grocery/fuel station store, we came across frozen Kangaroo tails about one and half foot long. I wish they sell these in Melbourne. I would love to cook a delicious stew out of these. At the store, we picked up some camel steaks (and together with some crocodile meat which we bought at the butcher in Alice Springs), we cooked them camp. I must say I like the flavour and texture of the camel meat.

Guling Celeng - Balinese Roast Suckling Pig

The Balinese daily food are quite simple. Usually they have rice accompanied by a selection of dishes, which includes vegetables, maybe a small amount of meat or fish and a variety of condiments (sambals). You can get a feel of this simple meal by ordering ‘Nasi Campur’ at a ‘warung’ (small eatery) in Bali.
In contrast, during a festival or ceremony, they prepared lavish dishes and eat together in a community.  One of those traditional dish that is usually served during ceremony is ‘Babi Guling’.

Today, it is quite common for this dish to be served in restaurants all over Bali.  One of the more well known restaurant serving this dish is ‘Ibu Oka’in Ubud.

This restaurant only serves this dish in various configuration. Business starts at 10am and usually sold out by about 3pm. I was told they can sell about five pigs a day. When we were there, we ordered the ‘special’ option which includes some crunchy bits of the roasted tribe and intestines. The standard option is just a plate of rice with a few slices of the pork and a small piece of crackling. The sauces from the marinade are poured over the serving. The marinade are made from ingredients which include garlic, shallots, fresh ginger, candlenuts, turmeric root, coriander seeds, galangal, bird’s eye chillies, lemongrass, black peppercorns, kaffir lime leaves,  dried shrimp paste and salam leaves (balinese herb).

I find the serving quite small, with a small piece of the pork. Lots of rice though, with generous amount of sauce poured over it. It is not like 'Wow, this is really good!' response. The sauce is very gritty with the residual of the spices.

Straits Cafe

Having found this restaurant is like stumbling on the 'El Dorado' of Malaysian cuisines. Each and every Malaysian dishes served here can be used as reference standard for most, if not all Penang-style hawker food (street food that are cook in a distinct cooking style well known in the Penang Island, Malaysia). This restaurant is own by Aaron Tan who also the Chef (photo on the far right below).

In the past two weeks, I had three meals there with the family, sampling the different items on the menu. On the first visit I had Lobak (fried pieces of minced pork and prawn wrapped in bean curd skin)  as a starter, Sar Hor Fun (Stir fried flat rice noodle with seafood bits and eggs), Curry Laksa and Pulut Hitam (thick black glutinous rice porridge with sugar and coconut milk) for dessert.

On my second visit we had Nasi Lemak, Rojak (Malaysia fruit and vegetable salad with a dash of prawn paste), Mee Goreng ( stir fried noodles) and Char Koay Teow. And the third visit we had Assam Laksa (thick rice noodle cooked in fish and tamarind broth with fresh herbs), Sar Hor Fun (again!!) and Crispy Chicken Rice. That covered the major items for Penang-style street food. I must say that every dishes met my expectation. They are authentic, flavoursome and balanced in terms of spices used and seasoning. Each dishes are also very well presented considering that this is not at the fine-dining prices.The services were excellent, we were being well look after by the restaurant front manager, Ms Jackie Wang and her staff.

The Straits Cafe is located at 241, Stud Road, Wantirna South, Melbourne

Coffee Encounters

Melbourne have a very strong coffee and cafe culture. You can find cafes in every little corner or lane way in Melbourne. Melburnians love their coffee and they have very discerning taste when it comes to coffee. Therefore, you will find many cafes here serving good coffee.

The coffee culture here is very much influenced by the large number of European migrants arriving after the World War II. And with subsequent migration from the other Continents, some interesting coffee culture are seeping in.

Here are some of my coffee experiences or 'encounters':

Froth Art - The art of drinking coffee has now advanced into 'fine arts'. I was quite delighted when served a cup of coffee with the beautifully crafted image of a woman's face. This was in a cafe at Swan Street.

Ethiopian Coffee - It is a great treat to have someone prepares fresh coffee while you finish your meal at Harambe Restaurant, Footscray. When I mean fresh, this is truly fresh, it starts off with roasting of the green coffee beans, grinding and brewing the coffee. The coffee is then served in a clay jug. It is believe that the Ethiopians were probably the first to discover coffee. In the Ninth Century, the coffee were only found in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian highlanders are the first to cultivate the native coffee beans. This explains why the coffee is so deeply rooted in their history and culture. I cannot help but noticed that Ethiopian have their coffee in Chinese teacups. Chinese influence in East Africa dates back to as far back as in the 14th Century. The East African have early contact with the Chinese traders, among the items that were traded are porcelain, silk, elephant tusk etc., Frankincense was much sought after.
Home Brew - At home, I brew my coffee using a Bialetti moka pot. The one I have is quite fancy with two spouts and a convenient platform to hold and heat up two espresso cups. This is the next best thing to an espresso machine. I enjoy the time spent grinding and waiting for the coffee to spew out into the cup. It is so typical of my lazy weekend; chilling out - no rush, just relax, and the aroma of the coffee that fills the air.
Indulgence - When you like your coffee so much, you can have a big bowl of it at Laurent Patisserie, in Chadstone Shopping Mall.

Lim’s Nyonya Hut - Malaysian

When I migrated to Melbourne about thirteen years ago and first settled in the suburb of Glen Waverley, I did not realised that this suburb has such a large population of Malaysians (comparatively to all other suburbs in Melbourne). It is by chance that we ended up living in this area because we found a house that is comfortable and was in a convenient location.
Many Malaysians who came over to do their tertiary studies in Monash University naturally ended up settling in and around the suburb close to the campus. Therefore it is here you find a large concentration of Malaysian restaurants and grocery stores. Many have asked us if we miss the food in Malaysia. Well, living at this end of the town, the answer is ‘No’.

One of my favourite restaurant here is Lim’s Nyonya Hut. They are located closed to the Syndal Station on Blackburn Rd.
This restaurant serves Malaysian hawker food and traditional cakes. 
Typical Malaysian cuisines served here are Nasi Lemak - rice cooked with coconut milk accompanied by anchovies cooked with chilli and prawn paste (photo above), three variation of Laksa, i.e. Assam Laksa, Thai Laksa (photo below) and Curry Laksa.  This is probably the only place as far as I know, which serves authentic Penang Assam Laksa. 
They also served Char Koay Teow, which is rice flat-noodles fried with garlic, bean sprouts, prawns, fish sauce and eggs. 

Among the hawker’s food, I like their laksas and the Char Koay Teow. I tried their Hor Fun (flat rice noodles with eggs, prawns and pork cooked with starchy sauce) and their Hokkien Noodle (yellow wheat noodles cooked in dark soya sauce) and found not quite meeting my expectations. For the latter two dishes, the Palms restaurant across the road (will write-up on this place soon) cooks them better.

Warung Gudeg - Indonesian

An Indonesian friend suggested that we should try the Gudeg dish. We do not know what to expect when we dropped by this ‘warung’ (Indonesian word for small family-owned restaurant).

We ordered their speciality dish, i.e. ‘Nasi Gudeg Komplit’ (Translated: Complete meal of Rice with Gudeg). This is a traditional cuisine from Jogjakarta, Central Java. The main item is Gudeg, which is the green Jackfruit slow-cooked with palm sugar and coconut milk with spices, which include garlic, shallot, ‘buah keras’ (Candlenut), coriander seed, galangal, bay leaves and teak leaves. The Gudeg is served with steamed rice, a braised hard-boiled egg, chicken, tofu and ox rind stew.

Other than the Gudeg, they also served a wide selection of dishes such as Lontong, Ayam Goreng Kalasan, Sate and soup noodles. Most of the dishes are not too spicy,  you have the option to raise the spiciness with the hot chili paste that accompanied the dishes.

The restaurant ‘Warung Gudeg’ is located at Clayton, about 22km SE of Melbourne CBD. The restaurant is owned and run by the Rumayar family. I met Tina and her husband at the restaurant (in the photo).

On my second visit to the Warung, I tried the Lontong Cap Gomeh and Ayam Goreng Kalasan. As the name of the dish sounds a bit Chinese, I learned that Tina has Chinese descendancy. Very much so in South East Asian countries,  the food has a mixed influence of different cultures.  For example,  Filipino dishes like Pancit and Lumpia has Chinese influence. 

River View Cafe - Mediterranean

I wrote about my Fragola grapevine in my garden. Well, this is where the cutting came from. This summer we dropped in to this favourite cafe of ours in Warburton for lunch with some friends. The cafe have a patio with grapevine over it. From the patio, you can get a view of the Yarra river. We had a light (light?) lunch of smoked salmon risotto, gourmet pizza and Turkish breads with dips. 

Warburton is a little countryside town in the Yarra Ranges (mountains) about 77km from CBD Melbourne. If you have heard in the news about the dreadful bushfires that is burning here in Australia, this town is still under threat from the bushfire as we speak. This town is about 45 km south of Marysville, the town that was totally destroyed by the bushfire on last Saturday. Warburton almost suffered from the same fate during the 1939 ‘Black Friday’ bushfires. The town was quite different then with a bigger population than it is today. About six hundred men defended the town and the womenfolk and children took refuge in the river. Fortunately they were able to hold off the fire until the wind changed its direction.

Tao's - Asian-Western Fusion

I am going to break my own rule here and list this restaurant which does not belong to any ethnic group. This is a modern fusion cuisine, combining East Asian (Japanese, Korean, Chinese) and Western. It is too good and need a mention in my blog.

This is a lunch we had at the Tao's restaurant on Sunday. Tao's is located at 201 Bulleen Road. We had 4-course set lunch. The presentation is so creative and a sight to behold that it took me a while to start to dig my fork in. I had sashimi as the starter, followed by beef carpaccio entree, and a baked rockling fish as the main course, and finish off with creme brulee. The sauce for the fish is a blending of butter and miso (japanese bean paste).

Hudadak - Korean

Clayton is the suburb where Monash University, a well known Australian university. Over here, there is a large Asian student population from China and Korea. The number of students from this two nations has now outnumbered those that come from the South-East Asian countries. It is not surprising that you will find many restaurants catering for the 'homesick' students who missed their Mum's cooking. This Korean restaurant, Hudadak,  is run by Jina Choi (in the picture), the owner and the cook, she serves good homestyle traditional Korean meals.

We ordered some special dishes off from wall menu, i.e. noodles in white bean broth and soba with traditional korean soya bean paste sauce for lunch. 

The noodle with the white bean broth has an interesting monotone colour, so Zen. It has a nice texture and flavour of raw ground bean. It is served cold, and perfect for that hot summer afternoon.

Harambe - Ethiopian

There are a few suburbs in Melbourne where migrants comes from Eastern regions of Africa (e.g. Sudan, Erithrea and Ethiopia) settled. One of the suburb is Footscray. Here there are several Ethiopian restaurants. On a weekend, we went to one of our favourite, Harambe, which is at the end of Nicholson Street.

Harambe has an interesting setting, with thatched roof and a decor that virtually transport you to a cafe in Addis Ababa.

We ordered a sampling of traditional Ethiopian cusine consisting of vegetable and meat side dishes and entrees (see photo), i.e. wot, a thick stew,  and minchet - a spiced minced meat stew.  The dishes are served on top of Injera, a large sourdough flat-floppy bread. These are served in a large brightly coloured enamel pan, which is shared by all around a table. The food are first served in small bowls of different size and shapes, brought to the table on a trolley, they are then served (or poured) on the big colourful enamel pan. No cutlery is provided, it is a usual custom to have your meals with hands. This is what the Western culture probably missed when food are eaten with fork and knife, i.e. the feel of the food, the texture and warmth. You will notice that Ethiopian do not serve pork or shellfish, as they are forbidden by their religion, which is Islam, Jewish or Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

To complete Ethiopian experience, we finished off with a glass of Ethiopian 'Dashen Beer'.

Breizoz - French

We tend to associate French cooking to a more formal and elegant dining. Here at Breizoz, a french creperie tucked at the shore front of Williamstown, you can savour some galettes in an casual and relax setting. The creperie is housed in a former missionary centre with a little 'chapel' behind. If you like to have your galettes alfresco, you can have it in the courtyard in the middle of the creperie.

The photo above is the galettes that I ordered (I know...I know.. it is ugly, looks like a p____ ,but it is delicious). It is a galette with black pudding and onions. There is quite good selection on the menu, you can have your galette with cheese and eggs, praline, or seafood, etc. When I ordered this combo, Catherine who took my order said,' You're my type of man'.

Galettes are French pancakes or crepes made from buckwheat flour. Galette is an essential food to the French who lives in the region of Bretagne,  north-west of France. Since my first visit to Breizoz, I have been making galettes at home.

Try some of their refreshing cider, which certainly go well with the galettes.

The creperie, is run and owned by a chef, Jean-Marie Blanchot (on the right) and Catherine (not in the picture).