You just know when you've stumbled upon something good. Early last Sunday morning, rain falling, I was moseying about the market when across the way from the muddy potatoes and tangled roots of horseradish I spied Jamface out of the corner of my eye. Here at the Adelaide Showground Farmers' Market, among the lemon bergamot pears and earthy winter vegetables, this bespoke stall is so gorgeously presented that a magazine stylist may well have waved a wand over it. Artfully arranged with a hefty dose of panache and a cheeky, fun logo, I should have known that Poh had something to do with it! Newcomer Jamface ...
Pot Ready Mussels, alive, a-live-O
One of my fondest memories of mussels is a lunch of moules frites in a cosy restaurant on the Grand Place in Brussels, snug at a window table, snow falling softly outside. I have dug into my fair share in France too, when come September, cafés and brasseries are busy cooking up moules frites and serving fragrant bowls of mussels in a myriad of ways. Add some crusty baguette and a carafe of wine, and it's an inexpensive and delicious way to spend an evening. In season, the produce markets in Paris are also laden with mussels, noisily scooped into buckets like seashells, ...
On the Adelaide Fringe Parade
What a month it has been in Adelaide with record heatwaves followed by floods! Rain was still falling steadily on Friday afternoon just hours before the Fringe Parade was scheduled to start, the air heavy with uncertainty. An event that takes months to organise and attracts up to 40,000 people, we all had our fingers crossed that the parade would go ahead. I was especially anxious as my daughter Georgi was Production Coordinator for the event!The vibrant Fringe Parade kicks off the Adelaide Fringe, an annual, open-access arts festival that runs over four weeks during February and March and ushers ...
Breakfast in Adelaide: Three Favourites
Hot Chocolate at The House of DonkeyWith busy lives, my girls and I find that breakfast or brunch is a great way for us to catch up with minimal planning and fuss, and a renaissance in the Adelaide breakfast scene makes our outings all the more enjoyable. Cool and quirky cafés are peppering the suburbs and seasoning the city as diners snap-shut tired menus in large generic cafés and turn to smaller spots with personality.At many of these vibrant addresses you will still find a classic 'big breakfast' of bacon and eggs made from quality South Australian produce but there is also ...
Congratulations Adelaide!
Have you heard the wonderful news?!Adelaide has just been named one of the Top Ten Cities in the world 2014 by global travel authority, Lonely Planet. Coming in at number nine, Adelaide is the only Australian city to win a spot, and with Paris ranked number one I am thrilled that my two favourite cities (and the places I most write about) are now on the list!Read more about the Top Ten Cities here.A decade ago, after returning from Paris to a rather buttoned-up Adelaide, my youngest daughter Annabelle remarked as we drove through the city streets one evening, 'Where are ...
Adelaide’s Linear Park
When the words on my computer screen start to play up and I need a break from writing, I often head down to the River Torrens and walk along Linear Park. Just a boomerang throw from the Adelaide CBD, I am suddenly in the bush, bounded by towering gums and golden wattles. Birdsong fills the air and frogs croak in the reeds and rushes, the mesmerising sounds echoing along the banks. Sometimes I hear a kookaburra laugh or see a cheery flock of rainbow lorikeets; there are ibises, pelicans, wood ducks and all kinds of native waterbirds. Occasionally on my travels I spy a ...
On the Moon Lantern Festival
Tonight, I was going to write about OzAsia's Moon Lantern Festival 2013. Under the light of a full moon, it promised to be a very special event at Elder Park on the River Torrens with food stalls, performances, fireworks and a parade of astonishingly beautiful glowing lanterns. Unfortunately, due to rain and 70 km/hr gusts of wind, the event (which stems from Asian mid-Autumn harvest festivities) was cancelled in the 11th hour; an incredibly disappointing outcome for the community groups and schools who put so much hard work and effort into the lead up. With marquees nearly taking off across the park and ...
On Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden
I fly through the gate of Kilkenny Primary School just as the siren blows, sending children scurrying across the grounds to their classrooms. This morning I am on my way to observe a cooking class in the school's kitchen, but pause for a moment to marvel at the vegetable garden. At this time of the year it's brimming with fat cabbages, silver beet, shiny eggplants and broad beans.In Adelaide's western suburbs, Kilkenny Primary was one of the first South Australian schools to roll out The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. A highly regarded Australian cook, restaurateur and food writer, Stephanie launched the program in ...
On The Loose Caboose
This week, quite by chance, I am continuing the theme of trains and trams. A couple of days ago I met my friend Susie for brunch at a quirky cafe right on the train line in the up-and-coming inner west. For visitors to Adelaide and those sans transport it takes a mere 5 minutes to ride the Grange or Outer Harbor line from the city just one stop to Bowden. The platform itself is a little grungy but it soon fades in your mind when you enter into the restored, heritage-listed railway station, now the light and airy Loose Caboose.Alternatively, and perhaps an easier option, is to hop on the free city tram that glides ...
On Cultured Blue Vein Butter
When my friend Gilly, Food Manager at the Sticky Rice Cooking School, told me she was asked to source some Blue Butter from Woodside Cheese Wrights for a chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine, and that the requesting chef was raving about this new product, I was intrigued.The award-winning Cheesery based in the Adelaide Hills is well known for its delectable range of artisan cheese made from milk sourced from small, local dairies, but their foray into butter is relatively new. Determined to get my hands on a pat, I arrived early at the Showground Farmers' Market on Sunday morning to snaffle a block to take home and slather on a fresh loaf of ...