Desert Island Ingredients...

Following on from my last post about some of my favourite cookbooks....and I realised that I left out one that I use just about every day:

this is an absolute bible for bakers who need lots of frequent inspiration...I can't recommend it highly enough really!

Anyway, now that I've rectified that omission, I thought I'd start a new debate: what are the ingredients you'd take of you were stranded on a desert island? Of course, we'd have to assume that there were decent cooking facilities there and that the island was well-stocked with meat, fruit, vegetables & fish...! I really mean those 'storecupboard' items that tend to be used most often in your kitchen!

I'll start:

Lemons - totally indispensable as far as I'm concerned! I use them such a lot...sweet, savoury, to season & sharpen up dishes galore.

Chilis - I'm fairly addicted to their heat & add them to lots of dishes that don't list them as an ingredient...like tomatoes on toast, sauteed broccolli, minestrone soup. I don't think I could live without them.

Similarly, black peppercorns - Paul & I are renowned for reaching for the pepper grinder immediately. I just love it's flavour & gentle heat.

Coffee. Just one cup. Black. Every morning. But it has to be real...

Rice - every type, every colour. I could eat it at every meal - if I wasn't eating....

Pasta! Spaghetti, preferably. i don't know why but I'm not really a 'shapes' person. Bizarre!

Tomatoes - so versatile, so delicious. I could sun dry them, eat them raw...

And I'd have to have a pulse of some kind.But I really can't choose between chickpeas and black-eyed beans. So I'd have both!

Of course, normally I'd be adding Maldon salt to my list. But I'm assuming that I'd be able to make my own by using the seawater that laps the shores of my incredible restaurant-kitchen-type island!

So let me know your thoughts...I know that I'll think of a few more necessities as soon as I publish this post, but I think I've included the ones that are most important to me!

It's so cold here right now, although we seem to have been bypassed by all but a smattering of snow so far. I'm eating far too much. Every cup of warming tea has to be accompanied by a slice of madeira cake, every glass of wine by a handful of smoked almonds. But I'm telling myself that I need the extra calories to keep warm!

If it's cold where you are, wrap up well and eat plenty! xo

mmmmm Melbourne

I arrived home from Australia yesterday with plenty to think about and lots of new inspiration & enthusiasm for baking. My suitcase was so crammed with jars of spices, muffin papers, tubs of lemon myrtle leaves, friand cups and mini loaf tins that I actually had to leave some clothes behind at my sister's house!

I was stopped by the x-ray machine operator at Sydney Airport on Wednesday afternoon. They were concerned by the jars of 'unidentified powder' in my hand luggage...so I removed the offending Jordanian Za'atar and once they'd checked the contents we had a discussion about it and I ended up giving them a recipe for a chicken & preserved lemon dish....we parted friends!

Last weekend, Esther and I flew down to Melbourne for a long weekend. Neither of us had been there before and it was as wonderful as we'd hoped. I didn't really get to experience any restaurants (I'll save that for my next trip with Paul) but Saturday morning was spent at the awesome Prahran Market a short walk from our hotel...

a huge hangar-like building housing the most amazing variety of food stalls...every cuisine under the sun seemed to be represented...plus cheese, fresh pastas, fruits & vegetables, nuts, spices, sweets, chocolates, pastries....a chinese stall captured our attention for a good half hour, the myriad unfamiliar ingredients were mesmerising....I was only sorry that I couldn't buy any of the superb produce as it was so tempting to imagine inventing & cooking all sorts of new dishes. I'll post more about Prahran soon when I've trawled properly through my copious photographs.
Within the market area, there were also world-class coffee shops such as Market Lane

with it's menu of world coffees to choose from, all freshly roasted, ground to order and smelling so gorgeous...it was almost impossible to choose. But my old favourite, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe won - introduced to me years ago by that master Coffee Man, Charlie Massey at Hill & Valley Coffee.

It was smooth, deep and superb with a fat, crusty almond croissant as we rested our weary feet....bliss!

Also within the market complex was Essential Ingredient. I just love food stores like this - similar to New York's Dean & Deluca....

Essential carries a huge and beautifully presented range of everything foodie...from french copper pans of every size to miniature pastry brushes (yes, I bought 5...) and from imported silver dragees to preserved hibiscus flowers, this store was like a temple to cookery. Often vastly overpriced too...but I forgave it because of it's sheer beauty & size. There is also a cookery school on the first floor, offering myriad courses and special days dedicated to specific techniques and ingredients. Our very own

Yotam Ottolenghi featured there earlier this year, and the very best Australian & world chefs regularly make appearances. Definitely somewhere to visit if you're ever in Melbourne.

We only really scratched the surface of this diverse, vibrant city last week. There's so very much more to see and I know that I'll be back. I miss it already.....have a great weekend!