My first food blog. Variety is the spice of life.

When I first came to Brisbane, I thought I was coming to tropical heaven where I could buy tropical
fruits and vegetables everywhere, and at a cheaper price than Melbourne.  Reality hit when I realised that the supermarkets stock the same boring range as they do everywhere, and that everything exotic is very expensive.  Plus, because there is a smaller Asian population here, and less markets too, the only way to get bargains and variety seems to be if  I discover a farm garden stall, nick fruit over the fence, or discover a foreign food store.

Then, the other day, I got a shock when the local supermarket stocked a fruit I don't remember trying before - Achacha - at a reasonable price.

 

 I bought some to try out, and discovered they are delicious.  Sort of sweet and sour at the same time, and reminiscent of guava.  You have to split the orange skin to get at the white flesh on the inside (which coats one or two seeds).

 And the good thing is that you can mince up the skins in the mixer, add it to water, and refrigerate for the day. Then, you sieve the pulp away and the resulting liquid, when mixed with some honey, is really refreshing and delicious.  A great discovery!

A new Asian supermarket has opened in the local shopping centre and I was ecstatic when I discovered they were stocking green bananas.  Now, the odd thing is that I loathe yellow bananas.  They make me feel sick when I force myself to try them, which is a pity because they are a very handy fruit, which are good for you.  But I adore green bananas and green plantains, because they don't taste like the yellow ones, and don't have the same texture.  Instead they sort of taste like a cross between potatoes and nuts.  I fry them as chips or boil them with plenty of salt. Mum used to make a porridge from them.  If I get some more,  I might try that too, as well as any other green banana recipes I can find.

 

 

Feeling doleful one day, I went down to Fortitude Valley  to have my favourite comfort food in Brisbane: Vietnamese rare beef pho

  

 and three colour drink at PhoB, which is run by a Chinese lady, from what I can gather, but still tastes good. And, fairly healthy!

While I was there, I visited the supermarket in the Chinatown Mall to stock up on goodies.  They had some dragon fruit for sale, so I bought a few.  They didn't taste as good as the ones in Vietnam.  Two were a bit tasteless if refreshing, but I did get one with a sweeter taste.  Sliced, they make a  lovely breakfast fruit for the weekend breakfast, especially when accompanied, as ours were, with a stronger tasting fruit like the Achacha.  I also got some of my favourite snack - cans of  mixed congee.  For those of you not in the know,  it is a sort of soup cum porridge, sweetened, and full of grains, beans and lotus nuts.  Try it!  Everything except the sweetening component is good for you.

 

As well as shopping for food, I have had the good fortune to eat out a bit over the past few weeks.  My favourite restaurants and cafes over the past few weeks are:

New Farm Deli:  a nice delicatessen for Italian style food, and you have the bonus of great meals.  My favourite so far?  The octopus salad.

Bar Alto, in the Powerhouse, New Farm: had a such a delicious lunch there that I have been nagging to go there for dinner one night.

But, the best dining out experience was a meal at our Romanian friends' home.  We watched videos of their 2012 trip around Romania which looks like an amazingly beautiful and varied country. The first course was a dish of pigs ears, pigs trotter and pork, cooked for 4 hours, flavoured with lots of garlic and carrots and chilled in its own aspic.  Very tasty.

 

 It was accompanied by eggs in a creamy sauce,

fresh bread and a dip made of Pollak roe .

Then, we had a mixed grill:  kangaroo, sausages, lamb, beef, all flavoured with a spicy Romanian seasoning, with a lovely salad.  Plus, this yummy dish of potatoes and mushrooms.

And dessert was to die for!  An incredible confection made with a cake that is custardy on top, caramalised apples stuffed with walnut in the centre.   All this topped with cream spinkled with chocolate:

So good!

And I have been cooking a lot too.  Here are some of the meals we have had at home:

Cold Lamb salad:

 

 

 Rice noodles, vegetables and chicken.

 

Mum's Jamaican chicken, rice and peas and salad.

Asian style beef mince with water chestnuts

And, Nigella Lawson inspired hot smoked salmon  with gluten free spaghetti.  (Bear in mind that I taste as I cook, so measurements are approximate.  I cooked this for three of us and served it with a green salad):

Ingredients:
 200 g hot smoked salmon
1/2 drained capers
5 diced spring onions
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons marsala
1 handful chopped dill
1 cup toasted pine nuts
olive oil
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method:
While cooking the fish mixture, cook spaghetti in salted, boiling water until al dente.  When draining the spaghetti, retain 1 cup of the cooking water.
Quickly warm spring onions in hot oil,  then pour on marsala and heat until  reduced a bit.  Now, add flaked salmon, capers and pepper and heat through.  Next, stir in half of the dill and the pine nuts. Add the salted water to taste. Heat through.  Now add to drained spaghetti and coat it thoroughly.  Serve , garnished with the remaining dill.