Sweet Cuisine

Garden two weeks in

The garden is progressing quite well and definatly seen some growth, so we are quite confident of it providing for us over the coming months as well as giving me some awesome herbs, flowers and berries for work through summer. We are growing on a land beside our place so hope the owners dont mind.

 

The Spring menu has made it on at the Wakatipu Grill with good comments, photos to come and the products for the deli are making a shift to the berries and fruits that come along with more sunshine and warmth, Macarons keep on selling like crazy( we started with 6 flavours, now at 20) and we are expanding the cake range with some great additions coming on.

Spring Menu at the Grill

Nayarit Chocolate Cream with Raspberry, Beetroot, Eucalyptus and 100% Chocolate Caramel

Strawberries  Fresh, Frozen, Chewy, Crispy and Frozen, with Elderflower

Cinnamon and Granny smith Brulee, Candied Celery root,  Olive Oil And Thyme

Heilala Vanilla Cheesecake, Mandarin, Yoghurt, Orange and Coriander

Rhubarb and Custard Capsule, Honeycomb, Sour Cherry, Almond, Burnt Butter and  Lemon Verbena

Macarons in four flavors of the week

 

And then the Spring arrives

Here in Queenstown, NZ there is a hint of spring in the air, the mountains snow is melting away gradually, rivers are running a little faster, blossoms are coming through on the trees in town and the sun is coming out and warming the place up after the chilly winter of the last few months. Ive managed to get up the mountain a few times, sometimes in blizzard conditions but now with the sun shining its time to think about our garden again.

Since leaving Auckland and our roof top garden behind we havent had a chance to get things growing, one due to work and secondly due to weather, since the sun has come out we spent the last few days knocking up a small planter to get things started, and get some things growing.  We will be growing the things I cant get from my suppliers such as Anise Hyssop, Lemon balm, many basils, mints, and hopefully if I can find some plants we shall have a patch of Alpine strawberries.

After eating in Curtis Duffy's 2 Michelin star restaurant in Avenues last year I was inspired by his use of herbs right through his menu from the first course to the last, all amazing matches, this has pushed me in this direction and now things are up and running at the Wakatipu Grill we can march on and implement some great new dishes.

I will also be looking to push through a new herb range of Macaron in the Lake Counter and Deli for Roselle, so there are a few thing to look forward to over the coming weeks on top of the Rugby World Cup which is sure to bring many people to the country over September and October.

With views in the area such as these it doesnt take much to become inspired by nature and get things growing. 

Macaron production starts

Flavours:
Green tea,
Vanilla
Chocolate
Rosewater and chocolate
Saffron
Plum
Lemon
And liquorice

I can smell the snow in the Air!!

Ive learnt through my travels that amazing journeys always come to an end, but they often are followed by something else to look forward too. And with that my time at Kermadec is coming  into its last few weeks. Ive had an amazing time here from the first day with Ben Bayly (now at the Grove) when we sat looking at a building site which would house our million dollar kitchen discussing what we were going to do with menus, training and how excited we were to be a part of it all. 

Giving up a pastry kitchen which in my opinion is the best set up in New Zealand is always a hard choice to make, we had all the 'toys' in which to create desserts that I could have only dreamt of in other kitchens I previously worked in, but at the same time its a pleasure to be handing over my kitchen into the capable hand of my sous chef for the last 2 years Juan Balsani, I have full faith in his ability to continue on and develop his own style which I hope have influenced along the way.

For me its pasture anew, Im off to the South Island to take up the Pastry Chef job at the new Hilton Kawarau Village in Queenstown nestled at the bottom of the Remarkable Mountain Range. Its a new and exciting development in Queenstown which has been a good few years in the building but looks unbelievable when you step through the doors. It will be opening in mid May so we have a lot of work to get through to open up. It will be a great challenge. and hopefully I can squeeze a few days on the mountain to follow my other passion of snowboarding.

Sweet Cuisine as a blog will continue on, it may take a different look, it may not, for me these are a time of change so time will tell. So please be patient if my blog lays quiet for spells. But look forward to posts about the local growers produce and happenings that my new job brings.

Strawberry and Vanilla Custard Capsule with Lemon Verbena liquid centre.

Now I wont claim any originality for this dish, I actually ate something very similar with regards to technique and look when I had one of the most inspiring meals of my life at the Two michelin star Avenues by Curtis Duffy in the Penninsula Hotel in Chicago. There I had a Frozen Red and Golden Capsule with Chambord Cream.  And of Course the Technique I believe comes from Alex Stupak.

I recreated it with my one being Frozen Strawberry and Vanilla Custard Capsule filled with a Lemon Verbena Cream, a traditional Scottish Shortbread biscuit, Anise Hyssop and fresh strawberries , strawberry meringue.

I store the tubes without the filling, one comes on order and I fill it with the Lemon Verbena Cream, top the tube with some strawberry Gel and place it in the blast freezer at -25c for 10 minutes, The top freezes leaving my centre liquid which means i don't need to have the liquid centre too sweet or with added alcohol.

Reworked Raspberry Balloon

This is reworked and refined from a dish I did two years ago, 

Raspberry Balloon Dusted with freeze dried yogurt with 

Pistachio Espuma

Whole Orange Cake

Raspberry Fluid gel

Raspberries, 

Lemon Curd

 

Heilala Vanilla creme Brulee

 

Here is my take on Brulee, I dont like to play to much with the flavor of them believing that Vanilla is such a good clean flavour, the traditionalist in me coming out there, I bake it in the lid that fits the plate and at the moment it comes along with Blackcurrant sorbet, almond and rhubarb consomme.

I also make a blackcurrant gel that goes in the lid before pouring the brulee mix on. 

Vanilla Brulee, 

Poached Rhubarb

Rhubarb Consomme

Honey wafer

Marzipane 

Blackcurrant Sorbet

late summer berries

Strawberry and Heilala Vanilla Cheesecake, Violet and Anise Hysopp

Here is the next dish I have been working on for a tasting menu of desserts over summer

Strawberry Jelly Veil,

Heilala Vanilla Cheesecake mousse,

Violet meringues

Anise Hysopp

Yoghurt Gelato

Alpine Strawberries

 

Manuka Honey Liqour

This is a dish I have been playing about with, Its a Capsule (ala Stupak) made out of Manuka wood and honey infused milk, filled with a manuka honey liqour liquid centre, and comes with a hazelnut custard(out of sight) Chocolate and berry Crumbs, Berries, Oxalis and hazelnuts. and Ive given the Capsule a wood grain effect.

 

Current Nitro Balloon.

Still struggling to take it off the menu, so here is the latest Balloon,

Blueberry Balloon with

Olive Oil Cake,

Blueberry Jelly,

Sudachi Curd

Anglaise,

Cheesecake Espume(inside balloon),

Blueberry Tuile 

Small Sorrel Leaves

Vanilla Ice Cream.

Wild Strawberry Sorbet with Balsamic and Apple Jelly and Chervil.

Here is the most recent pre dessert we have been offering at the restaurant . The Wild strawberry sorbet came from the berries I grew on my deck as well as the ones for garnish and also the Chervil, sadly winter will be coming along soon my deck is going to start looking a little sad soon.

The Balsamic and Apple jelly I have formed into Spaghetti, and served with a financiar sponge, Violets, and Chervil which all help enhance the floral nature of the Wild Strawberry sorbet.

 

Raspberry and pistachio

 

 

  

This it the dish celebrating raspberries this season, Its a refreshing plate with Caramelised white choc Spaghetti, fresh and freeze dried raspberries, buttermilk sorbet, Pistachio Mousse and Basil.

Ive been looking for easy ways to caramelise the white chocolate for a while after beginning cooking it in a pan and the oven so I have been vacuum packing it and cooking it sous vide for 36-40 hours at 70c which seems to do the job nicely, keeps the chocolate nice and creamy, and prevents it from going grainy.

 

The buttermilk sorbet cuts the sweetness of the chocolate and the raspberries adding they're lovely tang. and the basil adding its beautiful perfume to the dish.

Im on the search for golden and white raspberries in Auckland, if you know off or have some please come and see me. 

Heilala Vanilla

This may look like an advert for Heilala but I can assure you its not, I am going to run a series of blogs on my suppliers and growers in New Zealand who go out of they're way to produce fine ingredients for us to use and celebrate what they have put so much love and care into. Without people such as these guys we are nothing. Chefs must realise to get the stuff we want we must encourage people to help us. I hope to promote the local growers and suppliers so maybe we can encourage more people to help us chefs out. 

For to long people have been saying its too hard to grow this or that, but that must stop and we must try and do something a little different and maybe look into history to see what we can pick out, I have been growing most of the herbs, fraise de bois and other bits and pieces for our restaurant simply because our purveyors wont supply it. We are all to used to a perfect round tomato, mint, basil, parsley , what we would call the regular herbs, our palates are losing out as we dont get to try hyssop or pineapple sage flowers or lovage or anything just slightly out of the ordinary here in NZ. I will save the rest of the rant for another post, this one is to celebrate the guys that do something different , Thank you.

This is the first of those on my favourite Vanilla company. Heilala

 

Ive been fortunate enough this year to start using Vanilla beans and paste from Heilala. Heilala is a kiwi company which are growing Vanilla in Vava'u Islands in Tonga, they have also just started grow for the first time I believe Vanilla in New Zealand which they were generous enough to send me a small sample of the Extract from the first harvest from here, the taste and smell is so sweet, aptly named Volcanic Vanilla due to the obvious volcanic nature of New Zealand. I hope to get the pods from here at some point in the future. Heilala established an R&D operation in Tauranga, the greenhouse which is home to the Vanilla Orchirds is heated using geo-thermal water making use of renewable energy sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see more about this company on the web site. www.heilalavanilla.co.nz

 

 

Here is the Vanilla essence from the New Zealand harvest. Although I dont use essence in the restaurant I must say this was so good. and made the most awesome Vanilla scottish shortbread.

 

 

I created a small dish to highlight the flavours of the Vanilla that the grow in Vava'u. The beans are nice and plump and produce a beautiful Vanilla flavour and smell. its always a pleasure opening a new pack of there Vanilla. The Dish I made was very simple,

 

:- Vanilla bean Ice Cream

:-Lemon Curd

:- Fresh Raspberries

:- Freeze Dried Rasperries

:- Rhubarb Puree

:- Rhubarb and Vanilla Foam

 

Little and Large.

 

As we run two different restaurants pastry menus from the same kitchen I try and cross over some little bits of prep , but using the items in different ways, one to cut down on food cost( less ingredients in the kitchen) and also to ease up on prep. Serving 200 in the brasserie and 80 in the restaurant can put a strain on the small team we have , especially being short staffed half the time due to the lack of people wanting to pursue a serious career in pastry where we are based. 

 

One of the items is Macarons, I love them, most pastry chefs do, and for sure we all try and hunt out our favorites, Tried them in france, Spain, london and many more places. My favourite is still Tetsuya Namekawa's macarons ( a close friend of mine in New Zealand), his Lemon macs ones rock.

I make mine with an Italiene Meringue, just due to personal preference. Some times flavouring the batter with freeze dried fruits, and trying not to color them too much. I like the pastel look rather than the glow in the dark if you know what I mean. 

In Our Brasserie the  Chocolate Macaron comes with Orange blossom Ice Cream, fresh Raspberries, and a Nayarit Milk Chocolate Cream, with freeze dried mandarins mixed through it. We sell so many of these, and then to cross over the mise en to the restaurant we make small ones for petit fours and serve them with a lemon curd and raspberry jam centre using up the raspberries that soften up a little to much.

 

 

Curtis Duffy @ Avenues

On recent trip to Chicago I had the pleasure of eating out in Alinea and L20 both of which were amazing meals, Michelin seeing the rise of amazing restaurants in Chicago today released the guide for the city awarding both these restaurants with 3 stars. For me the meal I had at Avenues with  Curtis Duffy at the Helm was the standout, and for me worth a detour, even from New Zealand. Michelin say 2 which is awesome , I think 3 is more deserving. 

 
 

Walking into the Penninsula hotel  in itself a special place, you cant help but soak in the luxury, making your way to the Restaurant and into such beautiful dining room which just oozes luxury is a treat. The Dining room may be a little old school, in a spectacular way, but the food is out of this world. I was sat at the Bar by the kitchen watching service as it unfolded, the Chefs never missed a beat.

 

The meal started with some great one bites amuses, then progressed through an extended menu with highlights such as Duffys Alaskan King Crab with Kalamansi, Trout roe and Lemon mint, the best dish I had in Chicago, to stunning Tom Kha Gai soup with finger limes, Lemongrass and coriander blooms.

 

You can see that nature and seasonality take a firm footing in the chefs food philosophy and is something that I have taken away with me as a true inspiration. the use of fantastic herbs throughout the menu, with a fine balance of technique and flavour.

 

Desserts also stood out, very fresh, a seemingly limited use of sugar let the flavours  shine, bridging the gap of savoury and sweet was Curtis Duffy's Sudachi Bite. with Togarashi and horehound mint cleansing the palate straight away, then moving on to  delicate Crab apple dessert with peer Jacques, croissant and sage. 

 

If I had spare time I would have been back here the following day for a meal, the only other restaurant I have done that is at Quique DaCosta in Denia, Spain, for me these two restaurants are on par my favourites.

 

Been a Long time

Its been a long time since my last post, so since then just a few bits and pieces happening, winter is creeping into Auckland with temperatures dropping the season has definately changed, at work we are planning a dinner on game which leaves me to come up with a suitable dessert that matches the theme, without going as far as putting partridge sorbet on the menu I'm looking at making a dessert along the lines of what game eats, so Corn, barley etc should be showing up on there but like I said , still early days for that one. Aucklands Viaduct has definately quietened down as it does every winter with the tourists choosing warmer climates( Scotland???? probably not).

On the Personal front been busy with a couple of demos, hoping for a few consultancy jobs to come of and lots more menu development while we are a little more quiet, also with winter comes snow, so hopefully I will be getting to the mountain a little more this year to go snowboarding. Time will tell, its been tooooooo long, itching for some snow!!!! 

Also awesome news for me, I will be getting up to Alinea this October for a week Stage and hopefully I can grab a dinner reservation, as well as Alinea I want to get to Avenues, Schwa and if you have any Ideas of any other awesome places I would love to hear, Thats about it. New post coming at the end of the week with a revision of my current menu.

cheers and thanks for you patience. 

Iced Feijoa with Granny smith, rum soaked raisin, Salted Caramel Espuma

 
 In Kermadec Brasserie I have the Creme Brulee which is firmly rooted on the menu, I cant touch it, it wont come of the menu as it is by far way to popular, maybe tweak the Garnish here and there but essentially it has to be on there to keep the customers happy. 

Moving to the restaurant The Sorbet Balloon is much the same, the first I heard of this technique was from Ben Roche on one of Moto Restaurant many youtube videos, after much practice trying to perfect the balloons i figure out a cost effective, consistant way to make them. and then bought the injection kit for the siphon which meant I could fill the Balloon with an Espuma. This is now the dish I cant really take off menu now. As with the Brulee the flavours change with the seasons.

 
 

We are entering Winter here in New Zealand and with that feijoas are in full flow, part of the Guava family they grow in many New Zealanders back gardens and seems they are as much a part of the kiwi lifestyle as the Kiwifruit. The Balloon on the new winter menu is Feijioa, filled with a Salted Caramel Espuma, comes with Dulce de Leche in dedication of my Argentinian sous Pastry Chef Juan, Poached Granny smith Apple, Apple tuile that i have shaped into an apple leaf using a leaf press, Ginger Ice Cream and Feijoa Microwave cake. I think it is one of the most modern interpretations  of the fruit much loved by the kiwis.

The Feijoa microwave cake is made using Freeze dried Feijoa from Tommy at  Fresh as, get some, it is so good, I powder it, blend egg whites, almond powder , fructose, Freeze dried feijoa, and a little flour and charge it in a siphon letting it rest for 1 day then releasing some into a plastic cup , microwave for thirty seconds and you get the mi cake, Adrias technique my interpretation. 

Chocolate Orange 'Coulant' with Clay, Jack Daniels Barrel Ice Cream, Espresso Jelly, Mandarin

This is the new chocolate dessert in the Restaurant, Chocolate mousse, with a praline base sprayed with chocolate, containing a liquid orange centre, served with Chocolate Clay, Espresso jelly,  Ice Cream flavoured with the barrel of Jack Daniels, Freeze dried mandarin and a praline and chocolate paste.

 

 

S. Pellegrino top 50, Well Done Noma

Just found out the top 10 of the s.pellegrino top 50 restaurant awards, 

 
 

As expected Noma has climbed to the top of the ladder and taken out no 1 spot, almost expected, Noma has become a real destination for chefs and foodies the world over to make this visit to the restaurant in Denmark. Surely 3 stars will be awaiting them in the next guide michelin. And for sure i will be visiting them next year on my next Gastronomic tour in 2011. more to come on that!!

Next up el Bulli dropped down to 2 and fat duck taking out no.3, El Celler Can Roca (4) , Mugaritz(5) and Arzak(9) are also representing from Spain. Great news for Spains leading restaurants. Daniel in NYC takes 8 while alinea pips the by taking out number 7 in a slight rise from last year.

Italy is represented by Osteria Franciscan, by chef Massimo Bottura in Modena at number 6.

Thomas Keller is at no.10 with Per se beating its sister the French Laundry. 

Having eaten in 6 of the top 10 restaurants in the world I can say they are all worthy of being in there, although i would have liked to have seen Quique DaCosta in there maybe, I think soon his restaurant will be knocking on the door of the top 10.

Another interesting thing to look at is that there is no representation from France in the top 10 suggesting that the change we all have been talking about in Gastronomy is very much confirmed, Spain has been pushing and pushing and now they seem to be at the forefront of Gastronomy, and with Nordic cuisine being on the rise who knows what is to come next, I know for sure that i will be restless until i get to eat Rene Redzepi's food next year.

Congratulations must go to Ferran Adria who will be closing the doors of his restaurant as he was awarded Chef of the Decade, a fitting award for a chef who has influenced more in the last decade than any other

working on a couple of new dishes

Here are a few shots, one is the Feijoa Balloon I am working on for a appearance im doing at Food Science week in auckland and the other is the first draft of a new passionfruit , banana, white chocolate and Dandelion and burdock dessert  , bit average on the photos, but you get the Idea 

So its a Feijoa Balloon, with Salted Caramel Espuma, Feijoa mi cake, granny smith apple and vanilla cream with Dulce de leche and rum soaked raisins

this is a white chocolate cream, with passion fruit, banana, and Dandelion and Burdock foam, Been trying to find a pairing with this old english favourite, apricots was my normal choice but the seasons just passed so i have just recieved some amazing passionfruit which are more sweet than sour, the dandelion and burdock works so well with it, The white chocolate cream is encased in a passionfruit jelly using kappas fast setting powers to encase it. The squiggly thing is a passionfruit yogurt set on the antigriddle, just finding more uses to the machine, working on petit fours for it too. it freezes so fast !! its about time i put the machine to more use. Although in summer our kitchen is a little too humid to do temperature sensitive work.

Other things keeping me busy are plans to hold dinners once a month at my apartment for twelve people, twelve courses, 6 wines, and hopefully a guest chef here and there to keep things interesting, we will be looking at menu design in the next few days, it  looks like it will be a 120 dollar membership for the night for food, with drinks on top. Sort of a tester for us to do the things we want that probably cant be done in a 80 or 90 seater restaurant. and hopefully a dynamic little place for people to see learn and  participate if they choose or even just to sit back and enjoy a meal, will keep you posted on that, any enquries though just send me a message if you want to take part or be a guest,

 

Wine Country

Just managed to squeeze out of work for 5 days to have a quick break down in Gisborne and the Hawkes Bay. Nice to get out of the kitchen and see some sunshine for a change. And it was a perfect time to visit the Vineyards down there, did a bit of driving and managed to get out to Craggy Range which has amazing Architecture'd buildings and a great restaurant, a great wine tasting coming away with some nice Noble Reisling and a few others. 

 

Then on to Te Mata Vineyard, again some great wines, I really love this part of the country with all these vineyards around, The wines at Te Mata are wonderful, award winning, got a few to cellar for a few years and put away to mature.

Made a quick stop in Napier which has a great cafe scene, next year will stop for longer for sure.

  
 

Back in Gisborne where we were staying the Vineyard Kew proved to be a great stop, small but super friendly service, and at Milltons Vineyard where you must try there Muscats@Dawn 2009.

 

For me my favourite stop was Bushmere, a great tasting, even provided some small food bites to go with each wine, the Oaked Classic Chardonnay from here is great, and the merlot a great hit with Chocolate. We sat and had a late lunch here among the vines, with a great platter with bread, true value for money, amazing produce, with the late afternoon sun hanging in the air, was the highlight of the holiday. so relaxing.  





 

Mugaritz Stagieres appeal, via Docsconz .typepad.com

This is from Docsconz.typepad.com, please help these guys who make up a large part of all gastronomic kitchens in Spain, while you are sat eating an awesome meal these guys are working hard in the kitchens for free . Please read

Early on Monday February 15th, fire severely damaged the kitchens at Mugaritz, the world-famous restaurant in Spain's Basque Country. Luckily, no-one was hurt. For the management and staff of Mugaritz, the destruction of their workplace was a tragedy. But for three other young people, this was also a calamity. Stagières are unpaid apprentices, usually young, without whom no top restaurant can function. Driven by a common passion to learn from the world's best chefs, they travel from all corners of the globe to train at world-class restaurants. When the dust settled on Mugaritz after last Monday's inflagration, Mattias from Sweden, Diego from Guatemala and Greg from the US found themselves without their most valued possessions. Their precious knife sets, not covered by the restaurant's insurance, had been incinerated. Read Greg's storyhere.

Fellow food blogger Aidan Brooks of Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef, his father Mike Green and I are setting up a special transatlantic fund to help them recover from their combined $2,500 losses and re-equip themselves for work. As Aidan says, "This is something I understand well - two and a half years ago I set off for Spain as a novice stagière myself. It's taken me years to put together my knife set, so I know exactly how devastated these lads must feel." Can you please help with a personal pledge? Donations will be so welcome, no matter how large or small. Email me at docsconz[at]gmail.com at  with your pledge and we'll get back to you with details of exactly how you can contribute to the fund. Would food bloggers please copy part or all of this post and publish similar appeals. Together we can make so much difference to a group of people who really deserve our support.

Sad day for Mugartiz

Its another sad day for Spains Restaurants with the new that Mugaritz has had  a Damaging fire in the kitchen. Initial reports blame a short ciricuit in the kitchen in the early hours which caused a  fire which 5 fire engines attended and the near by residents being evacuated from there cottages.  

You can only wish the guys there a speedy return to a new kitchen and wish them good luck with whatever they do. Just 4 months ago I had a memorable meal there with fantastic service in one of the most beautiful places in the world . So sad to hear the news of the fire.

 
 

El Bulli Closing 2012

So Ferran Adria announces at Madrid Fusion that El Bulli will shut its doors for two years from 2012, Its been rumoured around that this will happen and now we know, since Albert Adria left the scene to concentrate on his own work its been suggested el Bulli would be changing.

But this will not be the end I think, Ferran says they will spend two years figuring out what comes next, if there is advancement to th already hyper modern cuisine that they are famous for. But that doesnt mean that I will be nervous when the lottery for the reservations come out, I have emailed for a table and hope to get one, like I have for the last , well ive forgotten how many years.

With this news there will be the usual angels of death reporters whom will tell us molecular Gastronomy is dead, and the fact they still use this term will show the understanding they have of the way that el Bulli has revolutionised cuisine around the world. They will tell us, No more foams, jellies, banish the Liquid Nitro and dry Ice, stop trying to be a scientist in the kitchen. But what they dont realise is that all that el Bulli has done is give us more tools and more options to create with. For me its sad because much of the New Zealand press is like this. If they try something new they will hark back to the food of they're past. If they have something different more often than not they will ask why the chef did not just make something like Lemon Tart for example instead of something a little more worked, dare i say creative.

No one can deny the influence that el Bulli has had, from Chicago to New York to London, through to the top chefs in Spain, right down to restaurants in Australia, all over the world the influence has been wide spread and ensure that el Bulli lives on with us through there willingness to share the info that they have gathered, lets hope it wont be closed to long so I can finally get a seat there.

Blogs

The internet is a wonderful thing, with so many chefs now blogging and sharing ideas, information, recipes and concepts there is so much to learn so here is a list of my favourite blogs to check out.

Burch and Purchese. Couple of English lads cooking up a Pastry storm in OZ

Ryan Zimmer Ryans take on Modern Pastry in Hong Kong

Ideas in Food Been around forever and still leading the way

Michael Laiskonis                       One of his two blogs, truckloads of info for the Pastry Chef

Chadzilla Lots of Info, real chefs blog.

Quique DaCosta  New Blog from one of spains top chefs, google helps translate:)

Canelle et Vanille  Awesome food photography here

Aidan Brooks Young English Chef on the right path in Spain

Madridlab Adam Melonas informative blog on progressive cuisine

Strictly Fine Dining Craig Dryhurst is an American Chef in the UK, sharing his new dishes

Power Of Passion  Just found this one.

There are more blogs in my links but these are some of my favourites, If you know any more feel free to add them on my comments and if you have one that you do yourself add it too,  because as the saying goes Sharing is Caring 

World's first Gastronomic University to Open in San Sabastian

Check this out reported in the Telegraph a couple of days ago. I wish it came 5 years ago, would be interesting to see the course's outlines

Spain to open gastronomic university

The world's first "gastronomic university" is to open in Spain, complete with a research laboratory to explore the mysterious chemistry of taste.

 

By Fiona Govan in Madrid 
Published: 6:40PM GMT 17 Jan 2010

Ferran Adria: Owner of El Bulli restaurant in Spain Photo: GETTY

Student chefs will be encouraged to master the craft of “molecular gastronomy” under the tuition of Spain’s most celebrated restaurateur Ferran Adria, who owns El Bulli, and encouraged to use scientific innovation to design the recipes of the future. Britain’s own Heston Blumenthal, the self-taught chef at the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, has also been tipped for a guest lectureship.

Construction began last month on the Basque Culinary Centre in San Sebastian and it will be ready to accept its first intake of students in September 2011 in a building designed to resemble a pile of stacked plates.

Authorities in Spain’s northern Basque country hope the university will establish the region as the new “mecca of the world haute cuisine”, said Joxe Mari Aizega, the project director.The university will be the first of its kind to offer a four-year undergraduate degree course in culinary arts taught in both English and Spanish and one year masters degrees as well as shorter courses for cooking enthusiasts.

The private university is located in the seaside resort of San Sebastian, which already holds a reputation for some of the best gastronomical expertise in Spain. The town is home to nine restaurants who together boast a total of 16 Michelin stars.

Many of the local chefs have pledged their support to the new university and will participate in the tuition on degree courses.

But it is perhaps the promise of guest lecturers such as the top chef Ferran Adria that will have aspiring chefs applying in droves.

Mr Adria who owns the famed El Bulli restaurant on Spain’s Costa Brava is considered the father of molecular gastronomy and has treated those few diners lucky enough to secure a reservation at one of his tables to such rare delights as Parmesan snow and pine cone mouse.

Despite hostility from Spain’s more traditional chefs and accusations that he is “poisoning” diners with his persistent use of emulsifiers and foams, his restaurant has been voted the best in the world for the fourth consecutive year.

Blumenthal, who famously followed in his footsteps, has won three Michelin stars and is consistently voted the best restaurant in Britain, even kicking El Bulli off the top spot in 2005.

Hailed as a culinary alchemist for his innovative style of cooking, it is Blumenthal who came up with such deliciously whimsical inventions as egg and bacon ice-cream and chocolate wine.

Spain’s minister of Science and Innovation said the time had come for gastronomy to be treated with the same seriousness as other academic subjects and given its own university degree.

”Not only is gastronomy an art, culture and an industry,” said Cristina Garmendia at the ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the new university. “It is also a technology and a science.”

Michelin stars UK

Michelin at last have handed the Uk another 3 star restaurant in the way of Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, and following him Brett Graham at the Ledbury gained his second star which many predicted.

The guide released slightly early this year also awarded new stars to Galvin at Windows in the Hilton on Park Lane, Tamarind(Indian Restaurant), Apsleys in the Lanesborough hotel and Texture in Mayfair. Brett Graham also won a star for his Pub the Harwood Arms in Fulham showing that he is going from strength to strength.

The Capital lost there 2 stars due to change of head chef, and Aubergine, Foliage, Ramsays at Claridges and Richard Corrigan all losing there status as 1 star restaurants also due to changes in the kitchen.

Outside of London 5 restaurants in England gained one star recognition including the Samling in Cumbria. In Wales The Walnut tree, Tyddyn Llan and Ynyshir Hall all gained 1 star, 21212 by Paul Kitchin in Edinburgh , The Peat Inn in Fife  and Kinloch Lodge in Sky all won 1 stars for Scotland.

Outside of London losing there stars The Vineyard lost there two stars after John Campbell has moved on and replaced by Daniel Galmiche, All the Bath Priory , Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, Christophe, Seaham Hall and Nathan Outlaw all lost their stars again due to changes in the kitchen or closure.

So all in all great news for Brett Graham and Alain Ducasse.

Bubo, Carles Mampel

While in Barcelona I got to visit the many pastry shops, Oriol Balaguer, Escriba, and one of my favourites was Bubo by Carles Mampel. It took me a while to find after getting lost in the back streets of Barcelona, where once people would not have walked at night, now its an up and coming area much like every other city in europe, the dodgy areas are getting done up and become popular.

Bubo is a beautiful looking pastry shop, again much like an up class jewelery shop, and the staff so friendly and helpful, and I was surprised to find an Irish girl working in there, good to have someone to speak English to as my spanish is a little lacking after Mucho Gusto. 

 I enjoyed the famous Carles Mampel Chocolate Cake that won The best chocolate cake award which I can confirm is bloody good,  here it is with a beautiful shine, super tasty, which I enjoyed with a coffee at one of the few seats they have in the shop 
 

There were many inspiring ideas in the shop from the macaron presentation to the lollipops and cool packaging for everything, This is a must visit if you are in Barcelona, enjoy a coffee in store and chat with the helpful staff who will give you some tastings and look after you so well.
 


   

Mercat de la Boqueria, Barcelona

On my trip to spain I had the pleasure of visiting one of the most famous food markets in the world, The Boqueria, of las Ramblas in Barcelona has such an amazing abundance of quality food from nuts to bread, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, to sweets, spices and fresh juice vendors.

This is just outside the market on the entrance from Las Ramblas early in the morning and the market is getting busy, The vendors have held there stalls for many years, going back generations of families and being passed on when the time comes, and when you look at how beautiful they set out the stalls you can see a clear pride in what they do and the produce that they sell.
 

I loved seeing all the fresh mushrooms and vegetables looking like they just came from the forest or field, the seafood looking lively and such an large choice, 

Here are some razor clams which I haven't seen in many years, since I was living on the Isle of Lewis back home, we used to be able to walk to the beach at low tide and dig for them, the market definately evokes memories that have been locked away. The smells and colours are captivating, everything so vibrant, how I would love to have access to this on a daily basis in Auckland, for sure the standard of food would rise in the cit

 
 Here are some of the pictures I took at the market, My camera skills dont do the colours justice but from the pictures you can see the quality and the freshness in the products, and be warned some of the pictures may be a little x rated for some vegetarians out there, or bunny rabbit lovers, check these out

   

 


    

A New Year

So here we are, a new year and new decade and typically everyone including me starts to think what this year has in store for them, Its amazing how the turn of a date can have such an effect on peoples thinking, one minute we are all celebrating the previous year, then its like we turn a new page and move on to hopefully for all of us a better year than the one previous.

Last year I had some great tims, especially my time spent in Spain at restaurants such as el celler can Roca whom recieved there 3rd star a month after I ate there, Martin Berasategui, ate at Arzak and had a wonderful night being looked after by the generous Elena Arzak, being looked after  by the team of hotel Ferrerro, and the highlight after looking back is my time spent at El Poblet ( now renamed Quique DaCosta Restaurante). This is a must visit for anyone seriously interested in food and gastronomy. Quique DaCosta and chefs are pushing the bounderies and for me he is the most exciting chef in the industry right now, check his new website with updated photos. I hope they are a prelude to a new book. Its truely stunning, he seems to be coming into the spotlight more and more now. check this new video out.

On a personal work level things have settled down nicely in the kitchen, we seem to be working more and more as a team now we have rearranged the pastry kitchen. The product has improved and one year from reopening the monster size  premise of Kermadec I would like to think that all past failings in the restaurant have been put to bed and with the new team, kitchen and hopefully we get a restaurant refurb in winter I am very happy of where I am right now. That is not to say I am content, I dont think I ever will be. Its in my nature to want to push on and learn something that can improve my cuisine. 

This year I want also to get out to other chefs kitchens more and see how other operations work, hopefully get a bit of travel in and see other food cultures. And as for most chefs the ambition of owning your own business gets stronger every year, every day infact its on your mind. 

Here's to a year of progression, success and good times.