Thursday, March 31, 2005
Gastronomy lessons in Oz (II)
Today was my first attempt at risotto. I grilled slabs of salmon fillet with a mustard, honey and herb mix for 20 minutes. Then it was 45 minutes or so of stirring in ladleful after ladleful of chicken and herb stock into the arborio rice. Stir and stir while fretting over the danger of burning the rice in the saucepan. As the rice got thicker and creamier, it also got heavier and I was feeling the ache of preparing risotto from scratch as compared to taking a five minute walk down Lygon and popping in one of the restaurants for the real deal.I felt terribly generous with the herb portions and emptied a sizeable amount of fresh dill, chives and parsley into the rice, at the same time feeling really tempted to dash dried basil in. I kept on thinking to myself 'Its not green enough! Not green enough!' Thankfully thought didn't translate into action because the risotto was herby enough.
Salmon was placed on the herb risotto and served with rocket topped with olives and char-grilled mushrooms. I learnt a few things though: arugula tastes awfully bitter if kept for more than a week in the fridge; and I have to find uses for the hideous amounts of herbs (yeah even if they were the cheapest ingredient in the meal) left behind.
Otherwise with no burnt rice and a decent creamy texture, I'll give myself a small pat on my back. +>
lux at 8:40 pm
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Screwloose
My blog's in a lull now - possibly a reflection of my mental state - and a night having to force your body to move to crap music doesn't help at all.The day after becomes a series of attempts: an attempt to get up before the clock strikes twelve noon, the attempt to clean up the system of toxins by downing herbal rosehip tea, the attempt to rationalise my procrastination and inability to turn out a good art history essay on the passion of christ (more pathetic still it's only 400 words), and attempts to fit in a kickboxing lesson, risotto-making session, movie marathon, bedsheet-buying outing and weekend hike at the Grampians into what's left of my ill-planned easter week hols' timetable. And most importantly, deliberate on my regrettable decision to attend Reclaim, bad bad bad music and dancing, even though I knew it was all the to see and be seen hype and nothing esle.
There comes a time when you grow up, realise that time and money can be better spent eslewhere (even if it's 30 bucks for a night of eating cheese on crackers), and when you, unreasonably, think it's foolish how underaged teens can bob merrily (and awkwardly) to crap.
A blog entry later and I'm still not ready for that essay. Shit man.
lux at 12:06 pm
Monday, March 28, 2005
Gastronomy lessons in Oz [I]
Moving to a new land and being in full control of what you eat, of course I'll change what goes inside me. I'm pretty sure if my parents read my blog they'll be more than a little upset, but well it's my tummy afterall. Better to ground some facts before I get to the food - aussies lurve everything 'healthy' which also means anything high in the 'good' and low in the 'bad' (this will become clearer later on); and of course nothing here save authentic Viet/Italian/Greek cuisines and some significant others can rival what I get back in Asia in terms of taste and dosh.- Muesli, low in fat/cholesterol/GI (glycemic index: when it's low it allows for slow release of energy), eaten with 99% fat-free diet yoghurt with the token apricot and peach bits.
- Honey, the best is reputedly Manuka in Oz, and of course bought from the organic section in Vic Mkt, drizzle onto wholemeal toast or muesli to add punch.
- Genmaicha, or green tea with toasted rice, I dunno if it is slightly heaty but we can't go too wrong with tea. Buy it loose and place them in strainer to make drinking a less messy affair.
- Choya, the plum wine/liquer with reputed health benefits.
- 98.5% or 99.9% fat free soy milk with very little calories to boot. Add it to milo, and then a dash of ground cinammon for the added kick.
- Rooibos, with apple, cinammon, vanilla or just plain, as the caffeine-free replacement for tea (oooh simply addicted to this marvelous brew) and coffee and to receive all those antioxidants.
- Almonds, macademias, walnuts and pecans ground and sprinkled generously on cereals, salads and baked fish fillets.
- Smoothies blended from overripe/sour/slightly yucky fruits (like pears, nectarines) with generous dashes of yoghurt/sorbet/soymilk (make sure you lowfat everything).
- Herbs by the kilos, be they oregano flatleaf parsley basil mint marjoram, for baking grilling soups carbs.
lux at 6:50 pm
Antipodes
Antipodes Festival 2005 - Melbourne's annual Greek community's get-together/attempt at displaying Australia's multiculturalism/date on the tourist calender. It was in all a very interesting weekend down Lonsdale Street, widely known as the little Greek enclave. Actually it isn't that little considering how the Melburnian Greek community is the largest outside Greece itself (this statement being a truism). There were all the patriotic displays of Greek culture: soulvaki, lamb kebabs, honey doughnuts, more honey-soaked desserts (of which baklava is a personal fave); a spontaneous performance of a Zorba dance by a half-blind man to rousing music; Cyprus flags; Greek banks giving out goodie bags and a baklava-eating competition (this is indication of how obsessed I am over the delicacy).I heard when Greeks immigrated to Oz decades ago there were fervent efforts made to preserve their cultural roots by holding festivals and embracing cultural icons. Things have changed slightly since then, with the third generation redefining what it means to be Greek/Italian/Vietnamese etc. I wonder if they see themselves as being more Aussie than their respective ethnicity. The fests have inevitably wound down in terms of significance and scope and in come a new brigade of cultural icons - the blue and white Greek soccer jersey which catapulted into fame after Greece's UEFA cup victory last year; and the Ferrari logo for the Italians which I reckon is so potent a visual symbol, even if the team's fronted by a German, because the team consistently does well in Melbourne's F1.
By the way, what does Antipodes mean anyway?
lux at 12:49 am
Honey - nature's remedy for life's bitter moments
Sheesh that title sounds so cliched I dislike it. But my titles are always measurably random anyway, whatever pops into my mind materialises into some odd phrase before the entry starts. I dont know if the title determines what I write about or if it happens the other round because occasionally the title has no relation to the content.Oh well for all the aimless digressions above I'm going to talk about honey. I lurve honey. It is that thick, viscuous, sensuous liquid fit for the gods, or so they say. It is a blessing that lesser beings like us can savour it too. So the Greeks crush nuts and spices, have them generously drink in copious amounts of honey, slather the mixture onto sheets of pastry and have the delicacy soak in a bath of more honey.
They call it baklava.
They must have courtyards upon courtyards of bees busy at the flowers for there was so much honey in my pastry that its cloying sweetness stung the sides of my tongue.
lux at 12:27 am
Thursday, March 24, 2005
The handywoman cares.
i did some serious shopping
A picture of my very humble abode. See that shelf over there on the right? It was assembled, in under an hour, with a butter knife for screwdriver and a glass cup for hammer by me. Yes, IKEA furniture are practically idiot-proof (a caveat though: their artistically-challenged designers draw incorrect pictures in the instruction booklets which may lead to confusion and rising frustration over their idiocy). But it really is value for money. See how humble my room looks.
much to thank ikea for
and a pretty garden view from my balcony to boot
lux at 10:55 am
living life outta some bags (not even a suitcase)
after the tidal wave
lux at 10:52 am
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Body to body
The weather was good at nearly 30 degree celsius. There was a housewarming party. It had asian food, which is undeniably the best stuff under the sun. There was bak kut teh, made from scratch, chinese herbs and generous chunks of pork, genuine solid good stuff. It came in a huge pot - just like everything esle in Oz `big and please know-no-limits`. There were five girls who, arguably, found it disagreeable gobbling up hunks of meat and were concerned their ill effect on their tummies. Didn't mummy and daddy tell you it is bad to waste good food?They played rounds of tai ti with a deck of poker cards. They had the loser of each round down a piece of pork. The girls witnessed six slabs of meat polish off hunks of pork. They thought the guys probably did at least ten rounds.
The guys soon started feeling feverish. It must have been the heaty effect of the herbs. Oh well. There is always a moral to every story told.
lux at 11:33 pm
The Dauntings
Oh damn after nearly a month down under I'm finally connected to the world wide web. This means, prior to this, I was a spectre of the virtual world.So I'm not ignoring you. Thinking about it more positively, a little space did us good. Afterall my shadow deserves some freedom sometime doesn't it?
lux at 12:21 am