Monday 7 December 2009

Sushi, French toast and a Capuccino Martini

Australia is a funny place, and Adelaide funniest of all. After spending close to 6 months living in south west France, where everything is so French, it is refreshing to be back in Adelaide, where anything goes... food wise, at least. Don't get me wrong, I love  France and I love it being so French but coming from a country like Australia, whose white inhabitants have no particular culture, to me French food lacks spontaneity. I am used to growing whatever will grow in the climate and turning it into whatever meal I feel like, without regard to any preconceived ideas on its preparation.

image The pantry of a keen Adelaide chef like Hugh is filled with spices from every culture in the world including native Australian ones,  Indian and Thai curry ingredients, Japanese seaweeds and condiments, and the freezer is packed with his home made chicken, beef and fish stocks often to be made into exquisite French sauces or hearty soups.

 

image

 

And so it is that the food coming out of son Hugh's creative kitchen and garden can be anything from sushi with a green salad, roast chicken with Asian vegetables, French toast with berries and yoghurt or a club sandwich with a mango lassi.

Who needs traditions when you can have them all?

 

Today gardening was at Kathy's. In particular Kathy has a beautiful herb garden and a wonderful flair for making people feel welcome. Kathy also makes some of the best cakes in the entire world, and usually serves them with berries, either from her garden or picked from nearby, fresh or just cooked until the juices run. Today was no exception but the true highlight was the capuccino martinis she made for us...iced coffee with class!

image image
Espresso iced coffee frothed in the blender... dusted with cocoa and a few coffee beans
image image image
Add straws and voila! Cheesecake, raspberries and capuccino martinis.... what more could a gardener want?

No comments: