An open letter to Darren Hayes (yes, the one from Savage Garden) OR My Return to Sausalito

Dear Mr. Hayes,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex and I'm also from Australia. I have visited Sausalito twice now and I'm truly madly deeply in love with it. I want to live on a houseboat and bake bread to sell in my Sausalito bakery.

So, what does this have to do with you? Well, according to the Sausalito wikipedia page (and we all know, wikipedia never lies) you are a resident of this magical place. The place:

~ with the beautiful sky

~ where Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' was recorded

~ at the end of a beautiful ferry ride

~ with awesome fish and chips and view to match

~ where people say 'hello' to one another walking down the street.

Anyway, I really need not convince you. I'm sure you moved there for these exact same reasons.

I know it is a lot to ask since you barely know me, but I was hoping you might consider buying me a houseboat and a bakery and having a chat with immigration about getting me in on a more permanent basis (I'm sure they'd listen to you). In exchange I will always give you free bread, you can crash on the houseboat any time you like and I wouldn't be opposed to doing some light housework at your place (which I'm sure is lovely). Oh, and I'll totally buy all the albums you put out in the future (gotta keep those royalties coming in).

Anyhoo, let me know what you think or if there are any points you'd like to discuss.

Thanks Dazza.

Big hugs,

Alex

The Mission is sweeeeeeeeeet

Last week I went in search of a place I'd read about online called 'Mission Pie'.

These guys are seriously cool. They have an seasonal menu, baking their sweet and savory goodies using organic produce from nearby farms. Their kitchen is energy-efficient, their tea and coffee is fair trade and the cafe is decked out using reclaimed and recycled materials. I think the coolest thing of all is that they work with the local youth organisations to provide work experience and job training to at-risk San Francisco youth.

You are hit by the smell of buttery baked pastry the minute you walk through the door. Behind the counter there is a lot going on. To the right there is a huge deck oven, with a 6ft trolley stacked with racks of cooling pies in front of it. To the left there is a huge window that allows you to see all the action going on in the kitchen. The huge display case houses a selection of the days pies and pastries.

They all look so good, but I must pick only one. I settle on the pear and cranberry pie with a crumble topping (I would marry the person that invented crumble in a heartbeat). Would I like a scoop of ice-cream with my pie? Why, yes... That would be delightful.

I sit at one of the communal tables facing the street. Forgetting my pie for a second, I notice how great this place is for people watching. It's on the corner of a bustling intersection and the whole front of the cafe is floor to ceiling windows. You could sit for hours just watching the world go right on by.

The smell of what is in front of me brings me back.

My first bite confirms that these people really know what they are doing when it comes to pie. The pears are soft but not at all mushy. They really taste like pears, which is not necessarily a given with fruit these days. I don't think I've ever had a cranberry in a pie before, so I can't really say either way what they do for the pie. The crumble topping with oats, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon is crunchy, sweet and so delicious. The pastry is flaky with a toasty flavour. All topped off with vanilla bean ice-cream and I have died and gone to pie heaven. It's a happy place.

On a 'Mission'

So the Mission reminds me quite a bit of my favourite Sydney suburb, Marrickville. During the 1940-1960's big numbers of Mexican immigrants moved to the area, bringing with them their culture and food. You can walk whole blocks around the Mission and only hear Spanish spoken by those around you. Then, in the 1990's the hipsters moved in and now the area is a mixture of the old and the new.

The food here is awesome. I think, like me, most Australians encounters with Mexican food growing up were Old El Paso tacos and corn chips and salsa. In the last few years more Mexican has been popping up around Sydney and I've tried a few, but haven't been overly impressed.

My last trip to San Francisco I ate at Mijita in the Ferry Building. Mijita is a little more fancy than your average Mexican restaurant that you would find in the Mission. The chef, Traci Des Jardins, is a James Beard Award-Winner. Here, I was introduced to the concept that tacos was a soft corn tortilla with filling, not a giant 'U' shaped corn chip. The meat came from a larger cut that had been seasoned and slow cooked and was so tender it just fell apart. On my 'Taco de Carnitas' toppings were a simple (fresh) salsa, coriander and onions. No ground meat, sour cream or grated cheese. Totally delicious.

Since this trip to San Francisco I was going to be living in the Mission, armed with my Zagat guide, google and new friends willing to share their experiences, I was going to find the best the Mission had to offer.

My first stop on what I have labelled the 'Taco Tour' is La Taqueria. This joint gets the highest Zagat rating with "killer burritos" and "extraordinary" tacos.

I ordered the taco carnitas (pork), chips with salsa and strawberry fresca.

The taco comes is pork, beans and salsa wrapped in 2 soft tortillas.

The chips and salsa are thick corn chips (the corn chips over here are about double the thickness of the ones we get from a bag back home) covered in a fresh salsa of tomato, onion, coriander and a bit of lime juice. I didn't even eat get through half of this since the taco was a pretty good size (apparently most people eat a few of these, I'm not quite sure how they do it).

Now, I'm not one to get super excited about drinks (especially non-alcoholic ones), but the strawberry fresca was awesome. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I think it must be a basic sugar syrup with strawberries blended into it, but left quite chunky.

I enjoyed it so much I marched myself to Borders the very next day and sat in front of the Mexican cookbook section for some time looking through them all. I left with a book that I hope will help my do something similar back home.

I really, really heart San Francisco

So, today was a wonderful day.

1. I got to talk to someone for longer than the 30 second - 2 minute transaction you have with someone in a store when making a purchase.

This morning I met my friend and fellow Aussie residing (I've decided if it is longer than a month, you are a resident) in San Francisco, Ben. We met at a cute little place in the Castro called Jumpin' Java which has done some awesome stuff with their ample footpath space and some planters, making it a little outdoor green room sort of thing. Anyway, it was great to see Ben again after so long. We both have a serious enthusiasm for San Francisco. Fingers crossed that we both get plucked out of the Diversity Lottery Barrel this year.

Ben lives in an apartment that:

a) you have to walk up the 3rd steepest hill in San Francisco to get to (well, from the angle we were coming from) and as a result,

b) has the most awesome view from his balcony

2. Someone mistook me for a San Franciscan and asked me directions... And, I was able to answer them!

I was hanging out on the corner 18th & Guerrero (it is probably the only part of the city I know like the back of my hand so far, Tartine and Bi-Rite are there, they feed me, so we're familiar) and a lady with a dog said to me "Is there a grocery store around here, one that has really nice stuff?". I was so happy I didn't have play the dumb tourist and pointed her in the right direction (or should I say Bi-rite direction).

3. TARTINE BREAD

OK, so I think that most of you that will read this have heard me crap on about Tartine. Tartine is a bakery that I conveniently live around the corner from. It's owned by husband and wife team, Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt. He's a baker, she a pastry chef. They met at the Culinary Institute of America and have since travelled far and wide in order to learn everything they possible can about their craft. If you want to learn more about them, go here:

http://www.tartinebakery.com/about_the_chef.html

I tried to get a loaf of the famous bread (of which they turn out only 175 loaves per day) on my first evening here, but I missed out. The bread starts coming out of the oven at 5pm each and every day, and if you aren't there then, you're probably going to walk away disappointed.

Today, I was prepared. I was not leaving without a loaf. I started hovering around the front of the store at around 4:55pm. Luckily, there were only about 10 people ahead of me, so unless one of them intended to buy 170 loaves, I was golden.

Today there were offering a plain or a walnut sourdough loaf. I thought it best to go with the basic for my first turn, so I got the plain. At about 5:05pm, in exchange for $7.00, the loaf was handed over to me in a brown paper bag and it was still so hot that I couldn't actually hold it. I was excited. I walked home as quickly as I could so I could have my first taste.

I didn't think this bread could possibly live up to my expectations, but it has. It is so freakin' good. The crust of the bread is really crispy, but not too hard. Some breads I've had back home taste great, but they have such a hard crust that I wince with every bite as I'm doing some serious damage to my gums. None of that here. The 'crumb' (I feel like a wanker using that word, but it is technically what the middle bit of the bread is called) is soft and a little chewy and the flavour doesn't hit you at first, but when it does it is just a little sour.

Oh happy day.

I heart San Francisco

So, the flight was not fun. It was only 13 hours, but the lady next to me made sure she did everything in her power to make it feel like a lifetime. What is it with me managing to always sit next to the person who wants to make the very most out of the cabin service and make sure they get their money's worth by trying to drink the plane out of booze? Then the dude next to her downed several wines and then several spirits and at last glance, I believe he'd moved on to Bailey's. Now, don't get me wrong - I like a drink, but I really don't believe anyone's experience in extremely cramped plane quarters is heightened by getting shitfaced.

Once I was finally off the flight from hell, I jumped into my shuttle eager to get to my new temporary home. Let's just say the driver was a little challenged and I ended up being 1.5 hours late to meet the building manager. Shit. I was stuck out on the sidewalk with no mobile phone and about 20kgs of luggage. The nearest pay phone was out of order (well, I'm sure it would have worked perfectly well had the handset actually been attached to the phone). So, I did the only thing I could do - I stood out the front of the building hoping something would happen. After about 10 minutes, a man came out of the security gate and was looking up and down the street. It was then or never, so I asked him for help. I explained my situation and he said he could help. Another guy came up, turned out it was his friend who had just arrived from New York for the weekend.

Guy One: "Why don't we get off the street. Come inside and I'll try and get a hold of the building managers."

Me: "Um, OK." I'm thinking 'just stay in the lobby'.

Guy One: "So, come up to my place and I'll make a call."

Me: "Yeah, OK." I'm thinking 'what options do I have here? The possibility of having to sleep out on the street, or the possibility that this guy is an axe murderer and his axe collection is up in his apartment'.

So, we all get in the lift and the axe murderer introduces himself to me as Eli and his friend is Jonathan. Neither of these names sound like the names of an axe murderer. Still, after getting out of the lift and walking to Eli's apartment I'm thinking of how this story would play out on the news. We get inside the apartment and I hover close to the door while Eli makes some calls. Finally, he gets hold of someone from the building management and they promise to meet me in the lobby in 15 minutes. Surely Eli can't dismember me in 15 minutes. I start to calm down. I'm offered something to drink and I accept a glass of water and look around the apartment. I start to forget about being chopped up into little pieces and begin to hope that my apartment is as nice as this one. It's got a fantastic view, a well equipped kitchen and it doesn't at all look like it is the meeting place for the San Francisco bed bug union.

15 or so minutes later I'm in the lobby meeting Andrea, the lovely German building manager with one hell of a handshake. We head up to my apartment and I almost do a little dance when I get inside and realise that it is actually nicer than Eli's. After Andrea has shown me all the in's and out's she asks what brings me to San Francisco. I tell her I'm doing an artisan bread course in a couple of weeks and it turns out she's a bit of a foodie too. I mention Tartine and she draws me a map of how to get there and a few other great places nearby.

After Andrea leaves and I've finished doing my little 'this place is awesome' dance, I know that I want to sleep (since it has been about 36 hours since I have done so), but it's 2:00pm and that would be very bad. So, instead I decide to acquaint myself with my new hood. It's an area of San Francisco called 'the Mission'. It's named after Mission San Francisco de Asis, which is San Francisco's oldest building. The area is home to a large Mexican population and you can see this everywhere you turn. Just in my block alone there must be least 4 taqueria's and 3 grocery stores specialising in Latino goods (I walked past one today that was selling cactus leaves).

I end up at a place that Andrea recommended called 'Bi-rite Market'. The place is packed with people and I can see why. You walk in and on the right is the fruit and veggie section (all organic produce), then as you make your way to the back of the store you pass a wall of cheese, wine, dairy (they have their own creamery), fresh fish and meat, pre-packaged meals and heaps more. I've just found my grocery store, I'm elated and I fill up my basket with everything except for bread, since Tartine is just a couple of doors down and I can't wait for my first loaf.

Well, me and everyone else in San Francisco, apparently. By the time I get to Tartine there is a small sign posted at the entrance saying 'Bread is sold out for today'. I head home to eat and sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day. It will be the day I finally get to eat a Tartine morning bun.

Hello Spring + Longrain

Walking to the bus stop one day last week, on my way to work, I made a couple of discoveries.

Number one - Spring is well and truly here.

Number two - one of my neighbours has strawberries growing in their front yard.

They are right against the front fence and appear to be there for the taking. I think I need to befriend this neighbour and find a kick arse strawberry jam recipe. I might drop a note in their letterbox with my number saying if they aren't going to be picking them maybe we could come to an arrangement.

Later that day I got a copy of the SMH's monthly magazine 'the (Sydney) Magazine'. It is the special food issue and has a great article on the 50 things every Sydney food lover should try. I haven't done nearly enough of them and I need to fix that. I don't think I'll be able to get them all done before I leave (if I want to fit into my seat on the plane or still have enough money to be able to eat over there), but I surely I can check a few off over the upcoming long weekend!

Luckily, I got to check one off before the day was out!

Number 44 on the list - Eggnet with pork, prawn, peanuts, bean sprouts and sweet vinegar from Longrain.

That evening, I went to Longrain with a few girls and a couple of chefs from LCB.

Betel leaf topped with prawn, peanuts, roasted coconut and ginger.

Eggnet with pork, prawn, peanuts, bean sprouts and sweet vinegar (aka #44 on the list).

Stir fried squid and smoked speck with ginger blackbean snow peas and chilli.

Caramelised pork hock with five spice and chilli vinegar.

Being pastry students and chefs, we couldn't not have dessert. We shared the tasting plate (can't remember exactly, but it had a coconut tapioca, a pot of caramel, sticky rice with mango, watermelon sorbet, young coconut jelly and some sort of cake with peanut ice cream).

Everything (except the slightly snooty waitress) was great - as much as I liked #44, I thought the pork hock was the winner.

Ultimo Foodie Finds

So, the other day we had a evacuation drill at work. Conveniently, the assembly point was just around the corner from a new cafe that I'd heard about in Ultimo called 'Le Depot'. They are one of the few spots around Sydney that are selling MakMak macarons, which I've been hearing some good things about.

Fellow foodies Jonathan, Laura and Jo came along to check it out.

We're not the only ones that have heard about the macarons - I was looking forward to the raisin toast flavour, but they'd already sold out.

Since I'd already had a piece of Zucchini Cake with Crunch Lemon Glaze for morning tea, Jonathan and I decided to get 3 flavours between us and have half of each.

We finally decided on salted caramel, lemon and black sesame.

The girls both got something for lunch.

Poached egg and proscuito roll with hollandaise (we all stuck our fingers in the hollandaise - so delicious):

A jazzed up cheese and tomato toastie:

Walking back to the ABC and we found that another little placed had popped up along the way.

We popped in for a look and were rewarded for our curiosity - the lovely guy behind the counter gave us all a small piece of a pear and almond tart to try (good move, we're so going back). They bake their own bread on the premises (I stuck my head in the kitchen to see their set up) and have a nice selection of pastries.

So - what about the macarons. Well, they were so so. They looked perfect and the shells were great, but the fillings let them down. Regardless, I'm still keen to try the raisin toast one.

Do you want to see my croquembouche? More from Intermediate Patisserie

The last few weeks of Intermediate are a bit of a blur. It flew by.

I remember pizza.

I was over the moon with my croquembouche - my lovely classmate Pixie took these photos with her very fancy camera.

Everything you see (even the flowers) was edible. The sad thing about it was that the whole lot went into the bin! Croquembouches don't have a very long shelf life - because of the creme patissiere they need to be kept in the fridge, but that speeds up the melting of the toffee. What does a girl do with a croquembouche at 11:00pm on a Saturday night?

And finally, Intermediate Patisserie assessment day - Gateau Opera.

Mine is the one closest on the left. By the time I took this photo I was so over it! This assessment was nowhere near as fun as the last one. We had a lot more time for the Basic assessment and we were making two things, so it felt like if you didn't do as well as you hoped on one product, you could make up for it on the other. For this one, it was just one 20 x 20cm layered gateau. I was nervous the whole time (especially when it came to piping 'Opera' on top - I had to have a stern word with my shaking hand - it didn't listen!) Also, unlike the Basic assessment all our cakes were taken out of the kitchen and assessed by 3 chefs while we all stood around in the kitchen wondering if we had passed or failed (we all passed).

The last couple of lessons were biscuits, biscotti, macarons, shortcakes and sable breton - forgot to take photos.

We made macarons using the French meringue method and to my surprise they worked (previous tries at home with the French meringue method were a bit fat flop).

I also tried a new method of tempering chocolate - ice bath. Most people stay away from this one because of the potential of ruining the chocolate by splashing water into it, but I took various precautions and my chocolate was just perfect. It's much less mess than tabling and quicker than the vaccination method.

So, with that my journey at Le Cordon Bleu has come to an end. I've decided not to go on to Superior Patisserie as the curriculum just isn't going in the direction I want to go. I mean, I could happily stay in that kitchen 3 days a week, every week, for the rest of my life, learning new things everyday and hanging out with my great classmates and our chefs. Instead, in November I'll pack my bags for San Francisco, Toronto, Amsterdam and Paris. 46 sleeps and counting!

Bonjour Balmain!

Lately, it seems that nearly every weekend I find an excuse to go the Essential Ingredient - my bank account has suffered greatly since they moved back over the bridge and onto my turf. And since I'm going to Rozelle, I thought, I may as well continue on to Balmain for some pastry perfection.

A long overdue trip to Adriano Zumbo and Victoire - the perfect way to spend a gorgeous Sydney spring day.

I was prepared for half of Sydney to be doing exactly the same and for the line to be halfway up the street, but I walked straight in and hadn't even finished looking at everything before one of the staff asked if they could help me.

The Zumbo front window is full of Viennoiserie items, quiches, cookies and bread - my kind of window. The shop is long and narrow, with a glass case counter running all the way along that houses 'the collection'. Right up the back of the shop are the macarons and a large number of people wedged into the small space in front of them.

Macaron flavours for the day were mango/tonka bean, strawberry/mint, coffee, chocolate/early grey, rice pudding, salted caramel, passionfruit/yogurt, fennel/pear/pistachio - naturally, I ordered one of each. I also got a 'Quasimodo' (can't remember all the elements exactly but I was sold at pistachio and cherry) and 'Escape from a Colombian Rainforest' (chocolate mousse, dark chocolate fizzy discs, cherry cola jelly).

My next stop is Victoire - it used to be directly opposite Zumbo (and the man himself worked there for a number of years), but it has recently moved up to the Rozelle end of Darling Street - I wonder how much of this had to do with the competition that popped up directly opposite.

I want to buy one of every type of bread in Victoire, but I settle for a small levain and a rustic olive. I've eaten a third of the rustic olive before I even make it back to car. It's delicious with a thin crust and a chewy, moist crumb and just a little salty from the olives.

The demolition of the goodies from Zumbo happens later in the afternoon at my brother and sister-in-laws house.

Anything containing fennel makes me so very happy, so I went for the pear, fennel and pistachio macaron first. The macaron shell is light and crisp on the outside and a little chewy in the inside and the ganache is super smooth. I must admit, I couldn't really taste either pear or pistachio here, only fennel - not a bad thing given my love for it.

Probably the flavour winner for the macarons is the passionfruit/yogurt. It's tangy, fresh and very passionfruity!

The 'Quasimodo' isn't particular pretty, but is very tasty. The top is quite squidgy, almost like rice pudding with a creamy/nutty flavour. Underneath is a layer of cherries and a cakey base.

The 'Escape from a Colombian Rainforest' looks great. It is super smooth and light chocolate mousse, flourless chocolate sponge, cherry coke jelly covered with a red fizzy powder and topped with a silver painted disc of chocolate that looks like the top of a coke can.

And lastly - the aftermath:

Very happy belly.

Intermediate Patisserie... so far

Well, I've only got one week of Intermediate Patisserie left to go. This term has just flown by. At times it has been a little bit scary and it has been a lot of hard work, but most of all it has been fun. Every day there is laughter and fun in our kitchen - it seems like most of our little group feel so lucky to be doing what we are doing. I think me most of all (somedays I still can't believe my luck).

Sacher Torte

Swiss Roll

Feuille d'automne

Gateau Concorde

Tranche aux fruits

Gateau St. Honore

Plated desserts - Panna cotta, mousse

Chocolate Pudding

Crepes Suzette

Savarin

Souffle

Souffle glace

Baklava

Bread - foccacia, bagette, lavosh

Gateau Opera - this is what we make for our practical test

Strudel dough - this was amazing, you don't roll strudel dough, you have to stretch it out until it is paper thin.

Apple Strudel

Chocolate croquembouche

Raspberry mousse cake

As amazing as this has been, I've decided not to go on to Superior. I'm going to miss our great group and the amazing chefs, but I've got something else planned - will share soon.