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Keeping your knives sharp

One of my greatest fears when someone asks me to cook with them is the prospect of blunt knives in their kitchen. I hate being asked to finely slice an onion or trim a piece of meat with a large dull-edged kitchen knife. Ugh. I believe I've once successfully nagged a friend into getting some decently sharp knives.

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OMG I can still make macarons!

Ten months after I last donned my patissier gear and squeezed out a few hundred macarons, I returned to the piping bags for a brief baking blitz. My back hurt for two weeks. So then I made a cake instead.

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Pierre Hermé's book on macarons is now in English

The most impressive book on macarons is now in English! Pierre Hermé's 2008 French book "Macaron" is out this month in English.

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Vanilla slices – glorious, perhaps mundane, quite mysterious

The vanilla slice is one of those standard, humble Australian bakery items that qualifies as "good old" for its longevity and as "humble" because of its modest level of finesse. But there are mysteries in all this (and questions for readers at the end)… What was your childhood vanilla slice like? Did it have a different name? And how long has it been around?

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Eating your politics (or prejudices)

I'm curious about how political/social beliefs or traditions shape where people will shop or dine. A timely example is that of Max Brenner, the Israeli chocolate company, which is broadly popular in Australia, but an unacceptable place to visit for some consumers. I wonder what other examples exist here or elsewhere?

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TASTY PRESERVES

  • Soulless food: My Kitchen Rules
  • Review: Lunch at The Fat Duck, Bray (UK)
  • Father's Day: tarte tatin and éclairs redux
  • Review: Interlude Restaurant, Melbourne
  • Announcing The Gastronomer's Bookshelf — collaborative book review site