Market Gardens, Kyeemagh

A stone's throw from Sydney Airport, which you can see in the background, these market gardens at Kyeemagh survive, despite land pressures this close to the city.

Plum pudding - what, no plums? - the answer is here!

My concession to "traditional" (ie British) Christmas is plum pudding. Love it. 

Why "plum pudding" if there are no plums? Because pre-Victorians called raisins plums. 

A couple of years ago I came by a simply great, never-fail recipe, and so the ritual has begun. No need to hang for months in muslin (til it gets mouldy in Sydney humidity!) Traditionally suet (raw beef or mutton fat)  was used - I prefer butter!

I am led to believe this is the same recipe the royal family dine on.

First, fruit: dates, sultanas, currants, raisins soaked in sherry or rum. I chose sherry this year. 

Sift flour, nutmeg, mixed spice three times

Cream butter and brown sugar

Add one egg at a time and mix well after each addition

At this time a finger-dip 'n' lick is mandatory!

Add Parisian essence for a great rich dark brown colour, lemon essence and vanilla extract

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Add breadcrumbs

Fold in flour mixture

Add walnuts and fruit mixture

Place in pudding steamer

Steam in large pot for 4 hours.
On the day, infuse with more alcohol, steam for another hour and serve with custard.

Seasonal bounty at The Boathouse

Last time I was at The Boathouse at Palm Beach it was autumn (1 May 2010). This time it was spring - 29 October 2012.

SDP on tour....when in Rome

....or Paris, make like the locals. Hardly anyone ever eats in the streets in France....it is so rare that I notice it, coming from a culture where people often walk along snacking, usually on junk food. Eating is done in cafes, bistrots, brasseries, restaurants, even in parks and gardens where a pique-nique is involved. 

The exception is it is entirely permissanle to bite the end off your baguette or ficelle between boulangerie and home....

On the sidelines.....

Sometimes, when it's cold, and windy, and you're sitting on the sidelines, the humble sausage roll is called for. What it lacks in nutritional goodness, it makes up for in - comfort?  That's my boy, Number 2, by the way.

These are amongst the first batch of pics taken with my brand new Canon G12 camera.

Clover Cafe, Annandale

I recently ate at this cafe in Annandale with a couple of really good friends, including Colette from the UK.

I had the fabulous fruit platter. I have never had such a wonderful array of fresh fruit at a cafe!

Watermelon, blueberries, apple, passionfruit, mango, grapes, kiwifruit, strawberry, nashi pear, orange.

Chef's table

Recently I went to a "chef's table" food tasting. Here's the wine selection to accompany the food, and a plate of truffles, jellies and fudge to accompany coffee.

Seasonal bounty

Autumnal bounty displayed outside the Boat Shed Cafe at Palm Beach.

The Happy Chef

Yesterday I showed you a closeup of a partitioned box full of wooden clothes pegs, with numbers and colour coding on them.

This is the system used by the Happy Chef food outlet at the Sussex Centre food court in Chinatown. Nothing is written down, and there is never a mistake made.

Customers chose from the illuminated, numbered dishes in the pictures. Then you also choose which of four kinds of noodles you want - egg or rice, thick or thin.

The appropriate peg is placed inside the servery hatch for the cooks to read - it indicates which number dish and which kind of noodles. On occasions I have ordered a variation on the preset numbers, and that has been coped with admirably by use of a combination of pegs!

I'm not exactly sure how it works, and I did try to find out more, but communication lapsed over some of the more technical details! I did find out it had been invented by someone to do with the outlet, and it's inisputably ingenious!




That's my soup - wonton noodle soup with scallops and king prawns being placed on the tray, and so it's time to go and find a table....

Gözleme at The Rocks markets

Gözleme, a traditional Turkish flat, hand rolled pastry, filled with various fillings, is a perfect market snack food. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle.

These women were making them at a stall at Sunday's markets in The Rocks.

I couldn't choose one favourite photo, so a collage it was. However, my two favourites are the centre ones: the older woman casting a weather eye over the younger, and the younger women twisting the dough in the air. I have uploaded them all full size at Sydney Daily Photo Extra.

I had a spinach and fetta cheese one, and forgot to take a photo of the finished product, so eager was I to eat it!!

You can see someone else's photo by clicking here! And below is an out of focus crop:

Outdoor eating and Central Local Court

Outdoor eating across the road from the Central Sydney Local Court in Liverpool Street.

Last chance shopping

Fish and seafood (especially prawns) are popular Christmas fare in Australia. Last night we went to the Sydney Fish Market to buy a salmon to poach, and came across this monster Moon Fish. Not too sure it will end up on anyone's Christmas table though. Reports are things have been busy at the fish market; it was pretty easy when we were there at 8pm last night. The market remains open from 5am 23 December to 5pm 24 Dec - 36 hours of continuous trading, and busy most tof that time.

Best thing to do is take your own esky or cool bag to bring the seafood home in. I'm pretty sure these book shop present wrappers wouldn't be quite the right thing at the fish markets. I guess they will be moving on to other things from end of business today.

Bread rolls

Each morning, before opening, a bag of rolls hangs outside the kiosk at Tamarama Beach. Any suggestions why?

Ice creams in winter

It's slow trade right now, cos it's pretty cold. Still, sometimes, perversely, I quite like a cold drink or ice cream on a cold day. Do you?

Harry's Cafe de Wheels, Haymarket

Not the original at Woolloomooloo, and not on wheels any more, but a Sydney institution nevertheless.
Harry's started as a late night pie cart in 1938, a traditional stop for late night revellers finding their way home, taxi drivers and the like.
By the way, for North American readers, in Australia, "pie" is not synonymous with "sweet". They are most usually savoury, traditionally meat based, though being tri-lingual (we speak and understand Australian, English and American) there is some cross-over these days. My favourite are steak and kidney.

Mmmmm, Jaffas!

One of my favourites .... chocolate centres and a hard orange coloured and flavoured shell.

The name comes from from the colour of oranges from Jaffa in Israel. Jaffas are part of Australian and New Zealand cultural folklore. Jaffas have often been sold in movie theatres and have gained iconic status because of the noise made when they are dropped (accidentally or deliberately) and rolled down sloping wooden floors. They came of age at the same time as the movies, being launched in the Australian market in 1931.
http://www.shopnewzealand.co.nz/en/cp861/Cadbury_Jaffas_140g

Wednesday Lunch

Green grocery, Kogarah

We really are spoiled with fresh fruit and vegies in this country. This is a typical suburban fruit and veg shop. And it's apricot, plum and cherry season - my favourites!

Tasmania - seafood and wine

Dinner at Coles Bay, featuring seafood pasta and a delightful pinot noir, as well as a rain-washed view.

Et In Arcadia Ego*

An area of Greater Sydney, called Arcadia, with market gardens, orchards, parks and nurseries. Aptly named.
* apologies to Nicolas Poussin!