What to do with a Thing of Beauty

As he handed it to me, he said with a twinkle in his eye, "last one - let me know what you do with it."

"No pressure," I joked. In my hands it felt so much more substantive than what its packaging indicated. Another quick look just to believe that I had actually bought it before I stored it away in the protective bag for safekeeping.

Two days later, I took it out of its cold storage space. Ah, consistent crawling white marbling across crimson red. You could feel the care that had gone into it, recall the story behind it. How the man with the twinkling eyes had fought the fires of Black Saturday and almost lost everything in the process. How the couple had to start literally all over again to build their future in the countryside.

Sorry vegetarians, a girl must have her dose of protein and iron to keep going but at least I am supporting local industry.

All right, good to go at room temperature. Rosemary? Thyme? Moroccan style? Honey and soy? Hmm, only the simplest seasonings with care during cooking need be done for this.

Sea salt, freshly ground Sarawakian black pepper, organic Spanish extra virgin olive oil. Massage into this hunk of a porterhouse. Heat up the pan, watch the time, place carefully into pan. Too big for me but then hey this thing of beauty should not be cut up and risk getting ruined.

As the meat sizzled on the gas, I checked for vegetables. No garlic?! No potatoes?! This would have gone so well with garlic mash or roast sweet potatoes tossed with whole garlic cloves, rosemary and coarse sea salt.

Alternatives, alternatives. Baby zucchini, round zucchini, slightly over-ripe tomatoes, snow peas. No time for broadbeans. Forget the cauliflower.

Checked that meat, make sure it was seared rare or medium rare. No way should this be even attempted as medium. Sauce, sauce, sauce...what to do sauce-wise?

Time to get that meat off the pan, leave it to rest in a warm place. Wished I had time to do the restaurant thing and have the meat roasting to melting tenderness after browning. Deglazed pan with water (or red wine; I wished I had thought of opening a bottle of good cabernet sauvignon or cabernet merlot especially since I had a dozen bottles lying around the house). Added the chopped up tomatoes and sliced whole porcini mushrooms (only the best for this steak). Seasoned them with salt and a fruity balsamic vinegar, and cooked until soft. Oh yum.

Ten minutes later, I sat down to: a rare-going-to-medium-rare six-week aged Belted Galloway porterhouse topped with a reduced tomato-and-porcini balsamic sauce, matched with cut up zucchinis and snowpeas that had been cooked with onions & dried thyme and topped with toasted sesame seeds. Oh, and warmed Sicilian marinated artichokes from Rita at the markets. I silently thanked D.O.C for waking me up to the wonders of marinated artichokes.

Ah, what a thing of beauty. You cannot never over-rate home cooked food, especially when you have fresh ingredients and you are willing to put the dish together. Even if the matching is a bit unconventional.

Now for those Sunny Ridge strawberries and Mornington Peninsula chocolates...

Finally It Opened

"I take it you are into coffee?"

I looked up from smelling the buckets of beans with a grin. "How long have you been open?"

"Two days. Try this while you work out what you want?"

Mmm, chocolatey with a slight caramel scent and texture to match. Definitely finishing this cup. This Monday has hardly been a great one, and I probably need all the good coffee I can get.

"Cold drip Costa Rican. I think this is the best bean on the cold drip we have had so far. Why don't you fill out this form so we can help work out which bean we have today that you will really like?"

OK, sure, why not? Yes I prefer berries to mango or grapefruit. I take my coffee black or milk with no sugar. I prefer the smell of freshly baked cookies to roast nuts.

"All right. Uh, this black or milk with no sugar..."

"Sorry, it depends on whether it is a blend or a single origin as well as time of the day."

"No worries. Based on this profile I would suggest a Costa Rican La Luerva (editorial: this is where my spelling goes all fuzzy) either in siphon or pour over filter. If you want something on the espresso machine I would recommend our S3, a blend of Guatemalan and Costa Rican."

"Pour over please. Now can you tell me why the Kenyan keeps ending up on the siphon?"

"Now you put 15g of the fresh grind into the filter, pour over 150g of water. Let it drip for 30 seconds or so. Simple but incredibly effective method of coffee extraction, designed by Monmouth in London. This year we have had a great harvest of Kenyan beans so that is why we keep using it. We will change the coffee menu based on green beans that come in though. This should be at the right temperature for drinking now."

Rats, my tastebuds have gone to sleep now. But I know I am enjoying this white cup of pour over filter coffee immensely. Good old Monmouth, I certainly never regretted only having their coffee when I was in London.

"Take it you will be back?"

Furious nodding from me. Welcome, Sensory Lab, to the scene. You may be Toshi's baby and St Ali's sibling, but if what we have heard about this place potential-wise and what you have offered is anything to go by, then I am coming back for certain.

Sensory Lab, enter via David Jones Little Collins Street entrance.
Opening hours: same as David Jones Bourke Street.
Stars: (at this point) 4.5 out of 5 stars. Helps when the coffees were served with a smile and as a cheery note during my suffering the Monday blues.

The Single Origin Weekend

During my university days, a mini food hub appeared in Adelaide Arcade. An authentic Taiwanese vegetarian food store with various teas, a Japanese cafe with cheap and decent mains, an Italian restaurant that served limited but good homemade pasta, and a Scottish-managed cafe that served the best white chocolate mocha in town (with the odd day where the staff had to wear kilts and long white stockings). Then there was a chocolate shop that sold only imported chocolates, organic cocoas and coffee beans.

It was at this shop, where you were not allowed to say the C word (as in Cadbury) and could only whisper "Haigh's", that I learnt about single origin chocolates. I was already relatively familiar with single origin coffees, thanks to all the exposure at Adelaide Central Market and Kappy's (I do miss sitting amongst the sacks of coffee and tall glass vats of tea leaves, and I remember my sister talking about the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee roasting session she attended there), though back then I was still confined to sipping the odd Kenya Peaberry mocha and wondering about hazelnut infused ground coffee. My single origin world just ever so expanded when my tongue tingled as it first tasted the difference between Venezuelan chocolate and that from the Dominican Republic, and realised what 65% versus 68% cocoa content meant.

The Taiwanese place has moved to larger premises elsewhere, the Italian restaurant gone and the Scottish-managed cafe changed management, but Chocolate World is still there. In the meantime, I have moved on to trialling home blends with my little Bodum grinder and three-cup plunger. As with my sister, I have also moved to looking more closely at the differences in dark chocolates based on source of origin.

These memories were triggered the weekend I entered Proud Mary with SL, RM and JJ. Four blends, five single origins for espresso and ten single origins for siphon & clover. RM, curious about single origin coffees, happily had the time of his life trying out an Ethiopian espresso followed by a Rwandan siphon coffee - siphon coffee making is always a good show to kickstart interest in single origin coffees. SL thought her Tanzanian siphon was too much like (apricot) fruit juice, while I thought the house blend latte was not a bad cup. I became more distracted by my lunch cum dessert, a hot semolina custard pudding with grilled peaches, roasted hazelnuts, rose-infused mascarpone and honey.
Only one thing to improve on this: I wonder whether pecans or macademias would taste better than hazelnuts on this? Yes I do realise what Proud Mary is famous for, thanks to Melbourne Coffee Review, but I say one definitely needs to give the food a good go. I certainly was more entranced by the food menu than by the coffee menu, though of course I do have this thing about not having too much siphon or clover coffee.

On Sunday, torrential rain led to extremely muddy shoes at Sunny Ridge Strawberries and devouring of fantastic pizza & lasagna (what a sugo) amongst giant artichoke plants at T'Gallant Winery's La Baracca Trattoria. Happily we made our way down the windy road of sea views and grazing cattle to Mornington Peninsula Chocolates. A little shop dedicated to chocolates in entirety. Cocoas, Michel Cruz bars, chocolate lollipops, delicately tempered rounds of sheer delight in passionfruit earl grey tea and coffee ganaches. Ah, what wonderful colour and subtle scents in the shining brightness from the shop's white interior.

But my heart was always with the little boxes and long glass bottles, almost hidden at the side of the shop. The corner for the true chocolate lover. Bolivia 68%, Guanaja 70%, Cuba 70%, Organic Alvesia 74%, and what is this intriguing 80%...here we have smooth velvet, there we have earthy tobacco, but what about this tropical fruit intensity compared to that peach and mango subtlety...

By the time we walked out of the shop with our little bags of goodies, all SL could say was, "And to think I thought this was going to be a chocolate factory tour experience...who needs tours when you have THAT?!"

Ah yes, single origin. Purity in food origin is so under-rated, what a pity, because it can be so marvellous. *Sigh*

Proud Mary: Coffees - 4 stars, including .5 for diversity in choice of single origin coffees;
Food - 4 stars;
Service and atmosphere - 4 stars but peak hour is crowding...

La Baracca Trattoria: Food - 4.5 stars;
Service and atmosphere - 3 stars; we HATE having to queue for 20 minutes and then waiting for just over 1/2 hour for our food...thank gosh for the vegetable garden.

Mornington Peninsula Chocolates: 5 stars. No question about it. If you are a chocolate lover and you miss this place for your ganache fine chocolates & single origin fix, then shame...

Other places to check out while around the Red Hill area:

Montalto Vineyard - famous restaurant, ok wines, definitely best brownies on that side of Victoria...
Red Hill Brewery - be sure to do the beer tasting especially the seasonal brew, and if you turn up during lunchtime you get some pretty decent pub grub like a traditional Welsh Rarebit too.
Red Hill Cheese - enjoying a platter of cheeses on the deck surrounded by bushland on a warm sunny afternoon is always lovely. Just watch out when reversing your car to leave as there is not much space for a proper reversal.

What tastebud renewal does

On one of the hottest Melbourne days in November, I found myself getting ready for a meeting on Spring Street. I was keen to re-acquaint myself with Postal Hall, but the heat was almost oppressive. Then I spotted a tiny almost-hole-in-wall cafe very close by, and thought, "hey why not? A La Marcozza, sustainable coffee, should be all right..."

Poor guys never knew what hit them when they, out of the kind of courtesy that only people in hospitality risk, asked me how I had enjoyed my iced coffee ten minutes later.

"Ditch that pre-made pitcher of coffee, your coffee tastes sour and bitter from being left to sit like that, such a waste of a decent coffee. Just whack two shots of espresso on top of the ice cream when someone asks for an iced coffee."

"What about the temperature?"

"Just add milk."

Almost in awe (and mild fear in case I was a caffeine psycho and decided to hold their coffee machine hostage), they asked "Are you in hospitality?"

"No, just a blogger."

Out of the kindness of my heart (and feeling like I should make up for being so cruel that early in the morning), I ordered a latte to go for the meeting. Light, milky, so bland. Hmm.

Four hours later, I passed by the very well hidden Eclipse, and thought, "well, I have not had a decent shot of coffee yet today, let's try this place. SL did say the house blend was pretty decent, though I'll be darned if I order another El Salvador in Victoria..."

Light, milky, bland. What on earth...wait, we read over the weekend that our tastebuds are "reborn" every ten days. Could it be...oh dear, that means I could have been unfair to that cafe in the morning then. Oh dear. Too late, I can never show my face there ever again.

I did not dare touch coffee again until three days later; thank gosh my tastebuds were revived by the time I was on my regular jaunt to Toby's Estate. In the meantime, SL was enjoying Panamas around the place (why have I not seen any around yet?!) and letting me know at work how tasty they were, not to mention the Indian at Jasper's.

Then, the day after I had sneaked in a delectable Cuban "short" macchiato at Espressino (it looked more like a long mac and it was a tad too hot for my liking but what a bean!), I got an text from SL:

"Why are coffees all tasting bland to me today?"

Me being me, still grumbling over how Panama has eluded me, could only text back:

"Your tastebuds are renewing..."

Eclipse

LS always says 'eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and you still can loose weight as long as you excercise', which I prove it true. So, I started the day by having cupcakes at The Cupcake Family in QV before heading to other side of CBD for coffee, ofcourse :D


Mini cupcakes in a pic above 're green tea cake and blueberry cheesecake. In a picture below 're Strawberry-chocolate cake and orange-almond cake. I think it 's a good deal 4 mini cupcakes for $7 and it's a pleasant place to catch up with friends.

After finishing cupcakes, we walked to Eclipse which located half town away from QV. We couldn't find it eventhough I knew that the entrance 's on Flinder lane. My friend and I then went through Intercontinental Hotel from Collins Street side. When we there, we still not sure we came to the right place but I was drawn by the name of coffee bean on the single origin board: 'Panama Geisha'. So, we walked through the door.


Yes, we came to the right place, Eclipse. I started with House blends latte, which 's smooth and strong coffee. I later found out that the house blend called 'coffee junkie', lol. After satisfied with my latte, I decided to try Panama espresso. It 's woody, earthy, chocolatie, a hint of sweetness, and mild punchiness.

Coffee Wrap Up - For Now

The Melbourne Coffee Review 2010 Guide is out in good bookshops and newsagencies now, and naturally the first inclination for all coffee geeks (and wannabes) is to find out whether their favourite haunts have obtained or retained their three-bean score. After all, coffee is as subjective as wine; some like their coffees light and fruity (hello P, how are you?), some like their coffees Italian-style (hey JG), others like their coffees nutty and intense (hey that’s me!) or strong and chocolatey (the rest of the Foodie Team). A favourite is affected as much by the season and origin of the coffee bean as it is by the roaster and barista.

In the case of the Foodie Team, the focus this year has not just been about finding our favourite baristas (e.g. the redhead mo-bro at Handsome Steve’s, Chris in the Brunswick branch of Toby’s Estate, Jesse at Dancing Goat) but also our favourite beans and blends for use on percolator and stovetop. On the point of coffee trends, Toshi from the St Ali family has certainly made his mark as one of the top siphon-coffee brewers in the country, even becoming the Australian spokesperson for the siphon-equipment manufacturer Hario. Those who enjoy their Kenyan beans will do well to watch out for the smooth and clean flavours the siphon exposes in a well-roasted Kenyan.

We have also been fascinated by:

- the financial success of the cup that looks like a disposable coffee cup – what happened to the normal mug and lid?

- the oddity of the cold drip at Outpost – “it takes five hours to set up?!”

- the user-friendly coffee filter for a cup – golden mesh or ceramic makes more sense than paper, of course, and

- the Vacuum Press.

How the baristas in town view and encourage or discourage the use of these coffee making equipment in 2010 will be something to watch out for. The Foodie Team, drooling over the latest release of coffee machines and pondering over the Vacuum Press, will not be moving away from the percolator and stovetop just yet. There is always that thing known as "tight on budget".

This year also saw the scale-back of coffee franchises as the independent cafes re-took the suburbs and street corners with their brunch-pumping kitchens, homemade muffin displays, home blends and single origin offerings. The caffe latte continued its reign as Australia’s favourite way of enjoying coffee, while the increase in coffee sales signs using “fair trade” and “organic” continued.

The Nicaraguan bean has certainly conquered mocha taste buds this year whether roasted by Padre, Jasper or Toby’s Estate, but Toby’s organic Mexican has had the most successful fan accumulation rate from what we can gather (or rather, from whom we have gathered). A Guatemalan is tastier cold than hot (try as a double shot over two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream), but the Brunswick East Project boys know their Padre blend kicks butt whether in a silky latte or an iced coffee served in a bowl. While the idea of drinking a Veneziano or Vittoria Gold blend at home has yet to cross our minds, Jasper’s has enjoyed a nice steady income from its blends courtesy of SL’s filling orders from overseas.

While FH enjoyed an El Salvador short macchiato at Yahava Swan Valley (WA), I struggled to ever go beyond the “sour” verdict for the same bean in Victoria. We have had no luck with Zimbabwe, and the Indonesian beans have also failed to impress this year. Brazil’s fame was only justified via a Cup of Excellence bean found ever so briefly at Seven Seeds, and we mourned over the fact that Seven Seeds only offered its Neopolitan blend for one day after the Victorian State Barista Championships. Coffee that tastes like Neopolitan ice cream is just bamboozling and marvellous at the same time. The light pleasing tones from Rwanda and East Timor continued to rule the aisles though much avoided by the Foodie Team (they do get ever so boring unless served in Clover style) and India’s offerings divided baristas and coffee geeks. Intense, nutty and earthy at the best of time, beans of Indian origin have been described as “powerful”, “metallic”, “bitter bitter bitter” and “bloody” as well.

Back to the 2010 guide. The guide, which scores independently from the blog of the same name, is unsurprising in its conclusion though coffee geeks may struggle to work out what happened to the three-bean members of previous years such as Mart 130 and Dancing Goat. Melbourne’s love affair with the St Ali family continues, with all three key members (St Ali, Brother Baba Budan and Seven Seeds) being the only cafes to get three beans this year. Luckily, to ensure that the Foodie Team is not dismissed as a bunch of idiots for having “issues” with the St Ali family this year (I knew I was in trouble when Chris at Toby’s Estate exclaimed “Shame on you!” after I confessed I was not a fan of Seven Seeds), the guide also awarded 2.5 beans to the following cafes:

- Atomica Caffe, 268 Brunswick St Fitzroy

- Auction Rooms, 103-107 Errol Street North Melbourne

- Brunswick East Project

- Maling Room, 206 Canterbury Road, Canterbury

- Social Roasting Company, http://www.socialroasting.com.au/

- The First Pour

- Toby’s Estate

I think I will save my money and keep reading the blog.

Choosing

Today I did something unthinkable – I told a vegetarian she should seriously rethink her diet and shopping habits if she really wanted to save the world.

Normally I do not criticise food and drink choices. After all, Catholics have Fishy Fridays and the Lent season for fasting, Muslims have Ramadan for fasting and abstention from pork or alcohol, the Jewish stay away from pork and shellfish, the Buddhists and Hindus try to be as vegetarian as they can be, and there are plenty of people restricted by allergies & super-taste buds for particular flavours. We are all affected by our upbringing, and so can be adverse towards some things which are part of others’ normal meals.

However, I am concerned when people look unhappy or confused with the food they eat. Eating gluten as a meat replacement product is bizarre when mushrooms and lentils offer protein replacement in a more natural and healthy manner. Rejecting eggs and bananas because “they are bad for me” is an ignorant denial of the nutritious value and happiness points offered by these foods. Saying that “coffee makes me fat” is an insult to decent baristas around the world, most of whom are fit and thin. It’s the way you consume it, people.

Eating based on ethics is also always fraught with risk as the sustainability debate rages. Cattle reared for meat and milk cause a lot of methane but not eating heritage animals mean they become endangered from a lack of incentive to breed them. Eating organic vegetables is pointless for sustainability if they are shipped in from another country. Salmon and tuna are the best kinds of fish to eat for health but are terrible to eat for the environment.

You end up having to take a strong personal stance for the way you eat. The misconception around vegetables i.e. that “they are yucky and not very nice” is fading but not enough to convince people, short of a famous heart attack or three, that meat is not meant to be eaten alone by the kilogram on a weekly basis. On the other hand, the idea that fruits or vegetables alone can deliver all the required daily nutrients is misleading and a source of many pale faces around the place.

To that extent, I provided the vegetarian with a link to the Melbourne Farmers’ Markets, where she can ask the farmers about the way they grow their produce and support local industry instead of buying her produce shipped in from gosh-knows-where in Safeway. I encouraged her to think about incorporating sustainably-caught fish into her diet if she enjoyed her brief fishy encounter(s). Whether she will seriously consider my words is another matter altogether but at least I have done my part in information sharing.

In the mean time, SL has had to convince her mates that she has not lost weight from any special diet. The weight loss is a result of cooking her own meals instead of takeaways, a reduction in junk food intake, a decent amount of sleep and a lot more walking between meals. Again, the idea that losing weight means “diet” is incredible. Staying healthy does not mean starvation or deprivation, it means balance. It is not about reduction in enjoyment nor obsessive food label reading. It is about consumption in moderation, exercise in moderation, knowing your nutrition requirements and what you need to meet those requirements within the religious, taste, sense of adventure, ethical & medical parameters you operate in.

Overdue on South Yarra

For all to know - you can do a Coffee Crawl in South Yarra now :)

Start from Outpost, the St Ali family's newest member which has received so many accolades from coffee geeks it is mildly hysterical.

Down a relatively obscure alleyway next to the railway tracks, the place is actually tiny. While the barista in charge can come off as cocky, the chef is an absolute gem. They will not mind you getting what I think is the best seat in the place - near the siphon machine, cold drip filter and wee kitchen which serves a tasty dish of the day.
Next, try out Crue, a brother of Sweet Agora which has taken a small spot on Toorak Road near the South Yarra train station and on the same side as Ganache Chocolates. While I must admit that the barista had no luck with me the day I went as I am no fan of beans from Zimbabwe or El Salvador in a single origin form, I think this place still has decent potential.

Grab a couple of chocolates (and homemade ice cream) at Ganache. Then, for an old favourite, Pound is down an alleyway near Bloom Cosmetics off Chapel Street, and still serves a decent caffe latte & lemon tart.

Want more? That is the next round of coffees for us :)