Australian Gourmet Traveller Sept 2007
A very green issue, which I guess is appropriate as the southern hemisphere’s winter gives way to spring. But even if beans aren’t quite your thing, this month’s issue yet again offers an extensive run of things gastronomic.
I had intended to cook something from the Gourmet Fast section: ‘luxe meals in under 30 minutes.’ I was tempted by the chickpea and sweet potato cakes and the fish with lemon and fennel pilaf, but when there are so many other far more interesting dishes in the magazine … why would you bother?
To start with, there’s a stunning looking Japanese style spare-ribs dish, from Sydney restaurant Toko. And the Perfect Match this month is the cover model: asparagus and broad beans with sauvignon blanc. I don’t even particularly like broad beans, but this is such a pretty salad and you just know that the match with the sav blanc would be perfect.
There is a large emphasis on beans: the salt cod and bean fritters look like perfect finger food and the bean and fennel soup with ricotta toast would even work for those of us embracing winter. The beans are followed by an extensive collection of Chinese salads that move away from the heavily sauced takeaway meals by which so many of us end up judging Chinese cuisine.
More hearty fare comes from Phillip Searle: lasagne of spinach, polenta and goat’s curd or brown mustard seed ocean trout with basil butter, perhaps followed by his upside down pear cake.
I ended up sampling one of the brunch recipes: baked eggs with Gruyère toasts. It wasn’t an unmitigated success, but quite a few of the dishes could easily be co-opted for lunch or even supper: the braised bacon with zucchini fritters is a good example.
Easily my favourite part of the magazine is the selection of pudding recipes from Fergus Henderson: treacle tart, seed cake, gingerbread pudding and apple and calvados trifle.
This month, AGT also covers their restaurant awards (the restaurant of the year is Pier in Sydney) and the travel section features a spas and resorts special, taking in spas across the globe.
