The Gourmet Forager - foraging for tasty finds in Sydney and abroad

A taste of the NSW South Coast and Southern Highlands

October 5, 2012

There’s a mantra that’s gaining momentum: local produce is king. It seems to be an all-pervasive mantra and is no longer a niche philosophy reserved for the progressive and early adopters. It’s one that is being increasingly repeated from market stall to kitchen tables; from small diners to fine dining kitchens where menus proudly tout [...]

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What’s blisteringly hot? David Thompson’s Nahm, Bangkok

September 10, 2012

One of the most popular posts on The Gourmet Forager is one recreating David Thompson’s tom yum goong recipe (Thai hot and sour soup with prawns) – one that is at first glance intimidatingly complex yet once attempted, I found it was simple, reliably reproducible yet no less impressive. The flavours were so punchy and [...]

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Thai Honeymoon Sessions, love you long time

August 12, 2012

On our wedding day, sometime after the ceremony, sometime between mouthfuls of pork belly rolls and champagne and nightfall, it dawned on us that we were leaving the very next day for a week of relaxation in Thailand. The lead up to our wedding had been all-consuming, so we chose a destination that would provide [...]

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Jamie Oliver’s Italian bread and cabbage soup

July 16, 2012

Cold wintery nights cry out for warm crackling fires, steaming cups of mulled wine and hearty, belly warming comfort food. That’s exactly what’s on the itinerary when the Co-pilot and I head up to Wollombi, a sleepy little town south of the Hunter Valley for a few days of sorely needed relaxation. We’re staying at [...]

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Kitchen Table Confidential at The Aviary, Chicago

July 7, 2012

When a new food establishment pops up in my consciousness, I transform into a virtual tyre kicker, sniffing around for potential and perusing the menu surreptiously. If it holds promise, there is a semi-serious attempt to mentally file away the find with the vague hope that it’ll be dredged up at will to save the [...]

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Knuckle sandwiches and foraged goods at Sixpenny, Stanmore

June 3, 2012

There has been a renaissance of late, of young chefs stepping out from behind the shadows of more illustrious and visible chefs and embarking on their own ventures. Sixpenny is the first restaurant for chefs Daniel Puskas and James Parry, and they’ve brought in pastry chef Julie Niland. Together, the trio’s CVs sounds like a [...]

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The food fair that doubled as our wedding

May 22, 2012

You would think that by default, everything that appears on one’s blog should be personal. But there are of course, varying degrees of personal. I finally overcame my immense procrastination barrier and curated all the photos for this wedding wrap up post. In my defense, this was a very difficult one to create – not [...]

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Win one of five double passes to Jiro Dreams of Sushi!

May 8, 2012

To be an award winning chef, one might not expect to conquer the culinary world in a day – but might expect that years of grueling training would arm them with an impressive repertoire of skills that allow them to create miracles out of any boring food stuff presented to them. In Japan, the opposite [...]

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How to plan a wedding in 3 months

April 28, 2012

Simple. It’s all about trade offs. You can have a relatively simple event at a wedding venue, or hand over great wads of cash to a wedding co-ordinator and laugh at the follies of other brides who do otherwise. These are the recommended options to plan a stress free wedding in 3 months. Or you [...]

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Securing a booking at 3 Michelin-starred Per Se, New York

April 11, 2012

There are still plenty of unwritten posts from my trip to New York mid last year that despite good intentions, were eventually unceremoniously shoved into a dark corner and told to shut up whilst other areas of my life trounced onto centre stage. With the wedding over now, I’ve allowed my self to reminisce on [...]