One of the most popular addresses at the Adelaide Central Market is Angelakis Bros seafood. Whatever the time of day, you are likely to find a sea of customers peering into the long glass counter mulling over what to cook for dinner. There is an astounding variety of both wild-caught and aqua cultured seafood and among the sparkling fish and succulent shellfish are barramundi, King George whiting, pipis from Goolwa, yabbies, bugs and our renowned Coffin Bay oysters. In fact, for the visitor to South Australia, a cruise down the counter is a great introduction to the creatures found in our local ...
On St Peters Bakehouse & the Aussie Meat Pie
With just a few frenzied days until settlement date and the countdown on, I am beginning to realise how spoiled we have been all these years to have the St Peters Bakehouse & Coffee Shop just a dash across the dog park. This week, with boxes strewn across the house and the kitchen half-packed, the bakery is, in fact, dangerously convenient.Damian Obst took over the corner store 15 years ago and I have watched the bakehouse grow...and grow. Nowadays at midday, the queue stretches out the door and it can be difficult to find a park on Seventh Avenue. Even ...
The Bread Run
Flashback to 1969The yellow school bus pulls off the main road and lunges to a halt. My brothers and I cross the road gingerly, three small figures in the soft afternoon sun. There’s the drone of a tractor in a far-off paddock, the occasional screech of a galah in the tall gums above. I head straight for the four-gallon drum perched sideways atop a wooden post at the start of the gravel track that winds up the hill to the house. It is hot to the touch.I lift the little flap door that’s designed to keep out the birds and ...
On Dreaming of a pied-à-terre in Paris
June is going to be a very busy month for me. The deadline for a major edit on my upcoming Paris book is just a couple of weeks away (no, I can't tell you any more just yet), I have just started a new job and sold my rambling stone villa, and I really must get packing! Finding somewhere to live is also on the 'to do' list and I have recently spent hours scrolling through the real estate pages on the internet and going to open inspections in search of a smaller place. I have clicked on contemporary apartments ...
On Bach & Bolognese
On the weekend I went to a wonderful recital by Konstantin Shamray at Elder Hall. The young Russian pianist began his studies at the Kemerovo Music School at the age of six, and and is currently studying at the Musikhochshule Frieburg in Germany. Konstantin made a splash on the international scene when he won the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2008, becoming the first in the history of the Competition to win both first place and the Peoples Choice Prize. Since then he has performed in concert halls around the world and appeared as a soloist with many international orchestras, ...
On Landscape and Latte Art
There's only a few days left to dash into the Art Gallery of South Australia to see Turner from the Tate: The Making of a Master. A key figure of the Romantic period, J.M.W. Turner stunned the world with his evocative and experimental use of light and colour and went on to become one of Britain's greatest artists. The 100 or so works are drawn from the Turner Bequest, held at the Tate Gallery in London, and consist of oil paintings and works on paper. It's the first major exhibition of Turner's work in Australia for almost two decades and ...
On Luxury Villas & Asian Spice
Set on the fringe of the pretty Adelaide Hills town of Stirling, the Sticky Rice Cooking School instantly tosses you into an exotic world of aromatic spices, hot woks and scented candles. The popular school, just 20 minutes from the centre of the city, was founded by passionate foodie Claire Fuller in 2008 and offers hands-on teaching in a variety of spicy cuisines from Thai and Indian to Vietnamese. Classes are taught by local chefs and masters of Asian cuisine (think David Thompson and Ty Bellingham) and conclude with a sumptuous banquet-style feast, accompanied by local wines.Those who love culinary ...
On Christmas Ham & Saucisson Sec
Anita at the Barossa Fine Foods stall in the marketThe sprawling Adelaide Central Market is a food Mecca for multicultural cuisine and fresh produce, and a much loved South Australian icon. On Friday evenings it's a wonderful, lively place to be. Families and friends fill their baskets for the weekend and meet up to slurp bowls of spicy laksa, but last Friday night my friend Anita and I had a different agenda.Away from the buzz, we climb the stairs to the Central Market Kitchen in eager anticipation of our Smallgoods Appreciation Class with Barossa Fine Foods. The family-owned company, ...
On Food Trucks & Fork on the Road
Food trucks are becoming enormously popular in Adelaide. Parked in temporary locations all over the city, the colourful, quirky fleet provides locals and visitors with an interesting array of high quality food and drink, and adds vibrancy to our streets. These mobile food vendors are part of Splash Adelaide, an initiative of the Adelaide City Council that 'aims to bring our laneways, unused spaces and city streets to life'. The campaign, currently in its second season, is experimenting with a number of exciting urban projects from night markets to pop-up entertainment and performances in public places.Every month, a collection of ...
On the Four-Bite Rule
It’s 7 a.m. on a fresh Friday morning and Georgi and I are standing in front of the pop-up pâtisserie in Leigh Street, ogling the pastries. In a previous post on The Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers' Market, I promised to come and take a shot of the delicious French and Italian inspired creations made by Jonny Pisanelli and his partner Edwina Peoples, who run From Scratch.Before long, a line of locals has converged on this central city location to snatch a croissant, a Cherry Poppins or a Sugar Daddy to take away. Those who would rather sit and enjoy their pastry ...