Italian

Caffe Sicilia’s Heinz Beck ‘Legacy Degustation’: Michelin starred dining in Sydney

January 12, 2013

Sometimes sifting through the motony of emails, wading through the newsletters, spam and group deals, will yield rewarding little nuggets of pure gold – a golden ticket as it were. Was I interested in a masterclass with 3 Michelin starred chef, Heinz Beck? I replied with lightning speed to the invitation – you betcha I’m [...]

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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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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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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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My top 10 memorable food holidays

December 25, 2010

What a whirlwind year! 2010 has zipped past me like the Stig in a speeding Koenigsegg, with only the whispering ghosts of his lingering cologne as a souvenir to remind you that anything ever happened. Whilst we still have days to go till we launch into 2011, it’s not premature of me to call it [...]

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So hungry I could eat horse meat

October 19, 2010

The location was a closely guarded secret, the small guest list carefully canvassed and the topic discussed in hushed tones whilst surreptitiously checking for eavesdroppers. All the secrecy is for good reason as I was invited to a private 4 course dinner and the star ingredient is a topical and controversial one. On the menu [...]

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The tastiest lasagne recipe ever

August 4, 2010

Sometimes, on long drives, we play games to amuse ourselves and keep the driver alert. One game we played on a long drive with friends DanW and Katie, was “identify five foods you’d take to a deserted island“. My intention was to simply identify the 5 foods you couldn’t ever live without. The brief sounds [...]

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Nonno’s gnocchi with pork and veal sugo

August 2, 2009

About a month ago, the Co-pilot and I engaged in an extensive gnocchi making session under the guidance of our Nonno. This resulted in a gnocchi dish with sauteed prawns and sage burnt butter – a recreation of Alex Herbert’s recipe shown on Masterchef. Delicious and satisfying though it was, it wasn’t quite what Nonno [...]

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Something different: homemade gnocchi

June 15, 2009

A few weeks ago we saw Chef Alex Herbert of Bird Cow Fish make her famous potato gnocchi with sauteed prawns in a burnt butter sauce on the Masterchef celebrity challenge against Masterchef contestant Chris. It looked delicious and we were reminded that it had been too long since the co-pilot and I had made [...]

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Hearty fare at North Bondi Italian

March 21, 2009

We’ve been meaning to try North Bondi Italian for a while now, but for one reason or another haven’t found the time to make it there. A few weeks ago the perfect opportunity presented itself when the co-pilot had to choose a venue to celebrate his mum’s birthday. We went for a lovely late afternoon [...]