Yet another round of restaurant awards

With the year barely a few days old the Australian Good Food & Travel Guide has jumped in with their 2012 restaurant awards. Their chef hat awards were handed out to 517 restaurants around Australia. Queensland is generally also well represented with 104 restaurants compared to Victoria (117) and NSW (133). 

The Far North has 13 restaurants awarded, with ix of those in Port Douglas, which is quite a strong showing when compared with  the Gold Coast (18) and Sunshine Coast (16). That places us among the leaders in regional dining with most restaurants awarded concentrated in the Capitals.

The list of Far North winners includes: NuNu, M Yogo, Salsa, Tamarind, Sassi's Cantina, Bistro 3, Bucci, Harrisons, Zinc. Which, if you can count only adds up to 9? Strangely the list on the agfg website seems to have now changed and some that were on the list are no longer there: Cest Bon, Reef House, Bale, and Cafe China.


Kitchenslut has sent a query to agfg and will await a response?

Update: Response from AGFG: 

Thank you for your enquiry regarding our 2012 awards.

We noticed that there was a glitch in our system regarding some of the award winner and we have rectified the situation as of yesterday.

What you will see currently on our website are the accurate and correct awards.

The current display is the 9 listed above. Well at least that is still ahead of Townsville with only three!

Rainforest Bounty

The Rainforest Bounty cooking school program for 2012 kicks off this weekend with a middle eastern theme.

The day begins with a delicious home baked morning tea accompanied by locally produced tea, coffee and juices. We then don gumboots and commence foraging in the orchards and garden for seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. Other ingredients are sourced from local organic farmers and markets. Once harvesting is complete, we commence cooking in the modern kitchen to prepare a seasonal feast. 5-6 dishes are usually prepared and the day will culminate with lunch including premium wines and ales.

Funghi, and particularly straw mushrooms, are best to be avoided while foraging following the recent poisoning incident in Canberra. The Rainforest Bounty people however are experts at their rainforest foraging so your survival can be assured.

Le Crouton Boulangerie

Le Crouton boulangerie has been a hit with locals out at Freshwater who no longer have to travel all the way to Stratford for a quality cafe experience. Le Crouton attracted the attention of Kitchenslut earlier in the year when they had a Rusty's stall for a few weeks before moving in to permanent residence out at Freshwater.

The most likely cause of disappointment on subsequent visits has been if they have sold out of some products. However, after an early visit Kitchensluts official carbohydrate taster gave the brioche a thumbs up. A visit this Saturday morning for a garlic bread baguette saw all tables occupied and a queue inside for the bakery ..... oops ..... boulangerie.

The Freshwater Village shops have been refreshed and lifted by Le Crouton and a thriving business is good to see.

Prawn head guide

Christmas and seafood have grown closer over the years and the festive season is now as likely to be associated with prawns as turkey. Prawns are also really not that expensive compared with other seafood.

Kitchenslut once had a debate with a lady who claimed prawns were too expensive because of the waste, which is only true if you see your prawn heads as waste. Prawn heads make excellent material for stocks which can be used for such as rissotto or pasta sauces.

Prawn heads are good for you. Yes, prawn heads are an anti-oxidant super food! This makes prawn heads a perfect way to counter the damage from seasonal excess, so dont throw those prawn heads out!  The wastage of prawn heads must be enormous so Kitchenslut is on a mission to stop this waste!

Kitchenslut's prawn fisherman uncle was partial to sucking on his prawn head although this may not be considered appropriate ettiquette in some circles. However a quick guide to some ideas and recipes for prawn heads.

Prawn head powder is easy and should even be appropriate for the more squeamish gastronome. Just stick your heads in the oven to dy them out and then grind into a powder: "It really tastes like the dry powder version of sucking the juices out of a freshly cooked (prawn) head.". If you use your coffee grinder for the powder this may also add an interesting texture to subsequent coffee.

The Japanese could always be expected to do something spectacular with a prawn head including this sushi sweet prawn nigiri. The Koreans are also aware of their prawn heads. However, when it comes to Asia I think the Thais have it. Prawn heads are an essential ingredient for Tom Yum Goong soup.


Simon Leong demonstrates crispy prawn heads with salt, pepper and paprika. An excellent late night snack! The BBC is an interesting recipe for prawn head soup with oranges coriander and sesame.

Just this week Kitchenslut was enjoying the whitebait at Tha Fish while contemplating why there were no prawn heads on the menu. The answer is probably our cynical bogan culture amply demonstrated by 'oldboot' at the Ausfish website with a recipe for left over prawn head and stale garlic bread patte:

Take a quantity of cooked whole prawns of your preference, shell and eat the prawns saving the shell parts and the heads. set aside in the fridge.
On a different night order pizza in a deal with a garlic bread and drink of choice.
eat the pizza and drink the soft drink, save the garlic bread and the pizza crusts.
In a blender of food processor, blend up the prawn heads and shells until a thin paste with a little water...... add the garlic bread and piza crusts and continue blending till a smooth paste.
Turn out into a plastic food conatiner.........At this time the "mixture" should look and smell like some sort of party dip or patte....... I would not recomend eating it.
It is best if the plastic food container is nearly full to the top, put the lid on and freeze.
I have found this works as an excelent burley for bait fish, bream and so forth.
to use it turn the still frozen block out into a suitable burly container and chuck it over the side..........the burley container will need to be weighted as the block on its own will float........should last 30 to 40 minutes ( depending on size).
any old bread crusts cand be used, extra garlic can be added.
stay tuned for my "pilchard and left over rice surprise"

Oh dear! However for those who retain an aversion to prawn heads the website of Endeavour Prawns promotes their use as chook food. Heston Blumenthal recently experimented with feeding a goose to make it taste the way he wanted. Hmmm, I wonder what chicken fed exclusively on prawn heads would taste like?



 

Fish Market

A seafood outlet in the CBD is welcome with the opening of a Fish Market at Rusty's, at the previous location of Brumby's bread. Hopefully it will provide more interesting diversity and range beyond the fruit & veg.

Kitchenslut will be keen to monitor prices between outlets as gennerally the seafood places on Sheridan St are a few dollars a kg above those on the other side of town in Portsmith for most product. This new store is operated by Cairns Ocean Products.

I thought the range and display of the new Fish Market could have been more exciting being mostly predominated by prawns and standard offerings, although there was some sun-dried mullet roe. I guess that goes with the culture and the season.

Admittedly our steamy climate makes display of seafood, meat and chicken products more difficult for European market style presentation but the display below from London's Borough market is more in the Kitchenslut style of market theatre.

Kitchenslut recently posted on the exceptional carrot display at Port Douglas market. 

Epicuriously resolving the potato glut dilemma

The past week has seen reports of a potato glut with catastrophic economic consequences for tableland potato growers contemplating whether to bother harvesting or plough the crop back in. Kitchenslut's first reaction was that this was, in a sense, equally unfortunate for the consumer.

I mean, if we are going to have a glut of something, why potatoes? If there is to be a glut why can't it be of something more interesting, such as fennel. Kitchenslut is partial to a fennel bulb and at $2.50 each, a glut of fennel bulbs would be far more appreciated.

But the potato? It's not like they are expensive anyway so increasing consumption of potatoes is unlikely to create huge savings in the family budget! The ubiquitous chip has become a blight on culinary progress!

In an endeavour to resolve this dilemma Kitchenslut decided to google up a few more interesting spud recipes from our celebrity chefs. Kitchenslut's personal speciality is duck fat kipfler potatoes, however there didn't seem to be a glut of kipflers down at Rusty's?

Matt Moran: Potato gnocchi with clams and chives 

Ah yes, gnocchi would seem to me to be possibly the best epicurean response to a potato glut of commodity standard spuds! And it can be frozen! As recently posted the NZ clams are now becoming available although perhaps Queensland scallops could be substituted.

Jamie Olver: The perfect potato gratin

The curiosity of this recipe is that it requires a combination of semi-skimmed milk and double cream which seems somewhat contrary? Disregarding that it does provide an opportunity for combine the potatoes with local dairy produce! Question? My preference is Misty Mountains but why do they market their cream only in a 2 litre bottle? Is that because there is a glut of 2 litre bottles? 

Neil Perry: Warm potato salad

This recipe requires a mixture of Bison, King Edward and Nicolas potatoes. Which may be a problem as the local potatoes at Rusty's are sort of just generically local of no specific variety? 

Rick Stein: Fennel sausages braised with lemony potatoes and bay leaves

I had to include this because of the fennel.

However, as always the place to go when searching for innovative ideas to make something ordinary into something beyond the ordinary .......

Iron Chef: New potato battle.

Season 1 Episode 14

Challenger -- (6):
Sauteed Potatoes with Sea Urchin Sauce
Potato Balls Consomme Soup
Potato Salad
Creamy Merry Curry
Stewed Beef & Potatoes
Vanilla Ice Cream with Potato Skin, Maple Syrup and Cinnamon

Iron Chef -- (5)
Hot & Spicy Beef and Potatoes
Potato & Chicken Stew
Sauteed Potatos French-style Lobster Sauce
Fried Whole Potatoes
Potato Dessert

Winner: Iron Chef Chen


Warning: Excessive carbohydrate consumption can be a health hazard and Kitchenslut accepts no responsibility for such consumption.

The world's most eggspensive dessert

"The haute cuisine chocolate pudding is shaped like a Faberge Easter egg — but made with a whole host of luxurious ingredients, including gold and champagne caviar"

Meanwhile, Kitchenslut is exploring affinity with the 99% by occupying his kitchen with offal.

World's Best Food Cities

The always excellent backpacker blog at the Sydney Morning Herald has potsed a list of the top 10 food cities. In backpacker blog style this doesn't mean fine dining but with a focus on the casual and street food that contribute to a cultural experience.

As always the comments at backpacker blog are equally entertaining with more than 300 on this so far! Kitchenslut was quite taken by this comment giving McDonalds a wrap ..... so to speak:

Hey, I love visiting McDonald's when I travel! Partly I think because it's so standardised (within any one country) that the differences between nations really stick out. I was particularly taken with McDonald's in Thailand, Ronald McDonald doing the wai, McPorkburger happy meals, unidentifiable dessert pies... and why are we as Aussies the only peoples on earth that aren't trusted with large pump packs of ketchup next to the serviettes rather than those minging little sachets you have to ask for at the counter?

Hmmmm, a McPorkburger? With link included to a display of some more exotic Maccas varietals! Anyway the backpacker top 10 is ....... 

Tokyo, Japan
This isn't number one by random chance, it's number one. Head and shoulders. The Japanese capital now has more three-Michelin-starred restaurants than any city in the world, but it's the amazing casual dining that should have you salivating. From ramen noodles to tempura to soba to sushi to the small plates of awesomeness dished out by any dodgy neighbourhood izakaya every day of the week, Tokyo rules.
Beijing, China
You can wow your friends by eating sheep testicles on a stick at Wangfujing Snack Street if you want, but the truly great Chinese dining is elsewhere. Peking duck is a favourite, obviously, but if you're all about the dumpling then you won't be disappointed. Even shopping mall food courts turn out great fare.
New York, USA
New York food is good – Gray's Papaya hotdogs, L&B pizzas, any bagel – but it's the variety of world cuisines that puts the city onto any foodie list. You can have a Mexican-style breakfast, a Korean lunch and a French dinner and it will have been three of the best meals of your life. And you haven't even scratched the surface.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Angels chorus when you touch down in BA; foodie gods beam their lights upon you. Or something like that. Anyway, the pastries are awesome. Alfajores (a sort of caramel sandwich) should be illegal, they're that sugary and good. Streetside choripan rocks my world, while the pizzas and pastas show a handy legacy of Italian immigration. And apparently Portenos do a reasonable steak.
Singapore
This is one of the cities like New York that does have its own cuisine, but it's the imported stuff that you really come for. Hawker food in Singapore spanks the pants off any restaurant in most Western countries, as vendors lovingly pump out the one dish they've become famous for over decades. Chinese, Indian, Malay, Indonesian... It's all here, and it's all good.
Hanoi, Vietnam
By now, you know Vietnamese food. You've slurped pho, you've fumbled about with rice-paper rolls, you might have even tried banh mi, the Vietnamese baguettes. But it's not until you've done it sitting on a tiny plastic seat on a Hanoi pavement, surrounded by scooters and bustling foot traffic, washing it down with a local bia hoi, that Vietnamese food really makes sense.
Mexico City, Mexico
Mexican food gets a bad rap, but I assume that's from people who haven't been there. Try tacos al pastor – shredded pork with chunks of pineapple and other goodness wrapped in a fresh tortilla – from any old street vendor and tell me this isn't a great place to eat. And make sure you try chilaquiles: shredded chicken with tortillas, queso fresco and a spicy salsa. Breakfast of champions.
Mysore, India
Mysore's already famous, but that's because of the whopping great palace in the middle of it, not for what's on the plate. But it should be the food that people rave about. Mysore is home to the best of South Indian cuisine, and that's saying something. I had the sort of thali there that can change your life, followed up with a great coffee and an artery-clogging galub jamun. Take me back there, now.
Bologna, Italy
The city is nicknamed "La Grassa", meaning "The Fat One", which is exactly what you'll be after a few days in Bologna. It's the home of tagliatelle Bolognese, sure, but there's so much more going for it. Just have aperitivo, the free snacks most bars serve with happy-hour drinks – it always changes, but my last one had hunks of fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano, lumps of mortadella, slices of bruschetta, marinated olives and a pizza. And that's before dinner.
San Sebastian, Spain
I've written about San Seb before, and there's little more to say. A night of bar-hopping in the Old Town, feasting on pintxos – the Basque-style tapas – and drinking local wine is just about the best experience you can have. Anywhere.

Bearded Clams

When you have a blog by the name of Kitchenslut you become aware of how much stray traffic may be generated by a post on bearded clams. Albeit, the bearded clam is now an endangered species.

This was evident when Kitchenslut wandered into ISP seafood down in Portsmith and discovered a satchet of clams similar to the way mussels are now sold. This is a product from Cloudy Bay clams of NZ. It was $18.90 for the kilo satchet so a few dollars above the mussels.

The technology for packaging and sale of mussels has been a revolution for that product. Gone are the days when it was a dodgy process of tedious debearding and discarding unopened specimens. My own background here long ago was with local black mussels from the south coast of NSW. Then came the profligate NZ greenlip mussel which is pretty much chook food really as a quality comparison!

However, I took the chance and was rather impressed with this product. Beardless and free of sand I chose a pasta recipe from US celebrity chef Mario Bartoli, the USA being the centre of claminess, with some local adjustments including chilli and lemongrass. Fettucine from Il Convivo provided local content. I must say I was impressed with the outcome. The clams are meaty and really flavoursome and with thenthick shells need longer cooking than a mussel.

This is a good product and I hope to be able to try some more. Perhaps a New England style clam chowder with the excellent local Misty Mountains milk and cream?

P.S. The clams are apparently blanched which I think is a similar process for a molusc as a brazillian for a human?

What food is most stolen?

 Will Type For Food says that it is cheese!?

Who filched the fetta
Creamed the cream cheese from the shelf,
Who's on the lam with Edam,
Added parma to their pelf?

Who wangled all the Singles,
Put their finger in the Swiss,
Took a motza Mozzarella
Ere we knew what was amiss?

Who touched the Dutch,
Took the camemberts and bries,
Lock, stock and bocconcini
Without so much as please?

There's a lack amongst the lactose
Now the Gorgonzola's gone,
Some rotter took Ricotta
And the Philly's all forlorn -

Who took the cheese?
What could have caused this crime?
Can we put it down to culture,
Or was it just - enzyme?

Loose Change

Kitchenslut is for various reasons being socially quiet at the moment. You are welcome to visit me at Loose Change, from my reclusive desk overlooking the Esplanade,  for divergent economic opinions currently unpopular with the masses!

A weekend at Bernies?

Following our contested commentary on Havana Music Cafe another small venue has opened with a music theme. Bernie's Jazz Piano Cafe is on Abbott St next to the Jelly Babies, where once was the Lemonade Tree.

This hasn't been a succesful site recently despite in a sense being an intimate venue not far from the Esplanade cattle yard. The previous incarnation as Andre's didn't last long but they did do a makeover in a red colour theme which remains ..... so Bernies haven't had to splash too much on renovations.

Kitchenslut wandered past last night while staggering home but didn't linger to check it further. There is a piano in the street window and they did have a few patrons, having only opened last weekend. They don't have any footpath tables as in the past at this venue, and a suggestion would be that maybe they could consider something outside to attract attention?

The menu seems mainly focused on smaller tapas style to suit the venue. A small selection of mains seemed almost superfluous and quite boring. Time will tell ..........

Note: due to ongoing technical difficulties have been unable to upload photo  :-/ 

What sex is your vegetable?

Kitchenslut was enjoying a pleasant morning in his sunfilled garden browsing through the Sunday Mail magazine and paused at the weeks contribution from celebrity chef Matt Moran. This weeks topic was fennel, which is also Kitchenslut's fave vegetable!

However, in our increasingly diverse food world an additional element was added, in that Kitchenslut now needs to consider the sex of his fennel?

"the rounder fatter bulbs are male, whereas the flatter, thinner bulbs are female"

Apparently one should "braise, roast, or grill the male" while:

"females are best used raw, shaved into salads"

Kitchenslut will resist metaphorical comparison of species, and the superiority or otherwise of the raw and shaved female ....... but had not previously been confronted with this in regard to his vegetables! Certainly when it comes to pork, sex is important apparently. Walk into Marsh butchers at Stratford and their prime offering of local Tableland pork is specifically labeled female.

Some research does throw up some links to validate the superior flavour of female pork ...... and who is Kitchenslut to disagree? However, as previously posted, what happens to the boys? I presume they end up in Marsh's excellent chipolata sausages which are destined for a place here on the top ten local products list.

One wonders how long before Woolworths and Coles will label their meat and vegetables by sex?

Kitchenslut's soul mate?

Has Kitchenslut found a soulmate? Culinary flirtations of the food kind can be found at the blog of foodvixen.

*swoon*

Top Ten Local Food Products #1

Polenta has always been a problem for Kitchenslut. Polenta? Well, yes, if you look through food history Polenta is supposedly as prominent in Northern Italy as is pasta in the south? Yet it's so obscure despite some excellent Polenta products now being available in the aisles of the evil empire Woolies and Coles!

So what doe that have to do with local food? Well, Kitchenslut has never been able to make Polenta even remotely appetising unless produced with a full cream milk. Actually, the best Polenta dining experience was at the loathed Villa Romana which was obviously packed with cream.

The Misty Mountains full cream jersey product is PERFECT! Yes, PERFECT. A clearly superior product to the traditional Mungalli, provided your GP can tolerate your cholesterol level. I prefer to use the top of a new creamy bottle in my Polenta.

First of a series ..... how to make the best of the best we have ....... and why it is even  more the very best when combined with the best from elsewhere beyond any traditional constraints?!?

Misty Mountains full cream jersey milk #1 local food product which can even make polenta something unreal ......or at least better than mashed spuds!

Nigella Talks Dirty

Just another bad menu selection?

Kitchenslut returned to Havana Music Cafe in Lake St at the weekend. My previous comment on this was negative while all around on that night seemed enraptured. Sorry, but my initial concern with the food was only confirmed.

It's not that the food is bad but rather just very ordinary and poor value! KS went along with his visiting niece who tends to be adventurous and likes spicey food but as a maturing Gen Y palate perhaps not too hot. The food we were served was just hot but without any real flavour.

Both dishes came with a mound of ordinary boiled rice and flat bread, as though more carbohydrate was needed? The actual meal aside this was ..... ummm ..... let's say conservative? My Haitian Fish stew was a brownish flavourless hot concoction of no distinction. OK that was a bit too much hyperbole but it wasn't worth a quality restaurant experience. A far cry from my exceptional Mr Jerk Carribean experience in London a few years back!

Let's face a few facts on Havana Bar. It's a great concept and is doing well it seems. It draws a prominent local crowd of identities who I can only presume are there for the excellent music ambience and not the food, at least in my humble opinion?

Kitchenslut root vegetable award 2011

Sauntering into Port Douglas markets on Sunday Kitchenslut's eye was caught by a flash of colour some distance away. Attracted like a moth to a light KS was mightily impressed to discover the most impressive display of carrots he can recall. Not that there are any other displays of carrots that Kitchenslut can recall given that memorable displays of such vegetables are rare.

The bright orange carrots with verdant green tops were a beacon even on a dull overcast day. Alongside were ravishing red radishes separated from the carrots by a strip of deep purple beetroot combining in an impressively expressive display of colour. They even made our tropical pineapple look so boringly colourless.

Presentation is important in retail and other stallholders should take note! The inaugural winner of the prestigious Kitchenslut Root Vegetable Award 2011.

awards season roundup

It must be the season for those often controversial awards with Gourmet Traveller gongs for 2012 now out. Only nine Queensland establishments made the top 100 with Nu Nu representing the Far North at #73. Perhaps some places in Port Douglas would like to challenge the ranking of NuNu as the leading restaurant in the Far North? The only other Qld restaurants outside Brisbane were at Noosa and Surfers Paradise?

Also, the Restaurant and Catering Awards for the Far North were announced last week. These caused a stir last year when somehow Hayman Island managed to be included in the region. The classifications are also always a bit curious here.

The award to M Yogo in the 'European' category is curious as my impression is that this place has faded from its early reputation. In terms of its Europeanness KS usually refers to M Yogo as the "Iron Chef French"?

It is always pleasing to see Bayleaf Balinese get recognition. KS agrees that Tha Fish is probably the best seafood place in Cairns so it was interesting to see it triumph over the Port Douglas challengers.

Meanwhile the curiosity of these awards down in Townsville was the proliferation of Coffee Club franchises in the cafe and coffee shop sections! Are they serious? If they had a 'European' category perhaps the winner would be Pizza Hut? The Far North can celebrate our clear superiority in the art of life!

taste of palm cove

Kitchenslut has been a critic of this years Cairns Festival lineup and particularly the quite 'skinny' program of food related events. Taste of Palm Cove is pretty much the only food event of any substance and it's outstanding success this year demonstrated there is plenty of interest out there.

Last years Taste was a perfect sunny beach day and while there was a contingent there for the event it was mostly beachgoers who joined the queue outside NuNu for a taste of red curry bbq pork for lunch. This year the sun was out, the wind kept any wildlife away from the beach, a convenient park was not easy to find and the street was busy with queues at street stalls, and restaurants full of people there for the food itself.

Kitchenslut tried the red emperor miang wrapped in betel leaf from Nu Nu to try and get some ideas for his own prolific crop of betel leaf. Still not quite as good as the prawn miang were previously at the lamented *sob*, now departed Lemonade Tree. Clare Richardson refers to betel leaf  as wild pepper leaf in her book, Tropical Cuisine.

After some barramundi & whitebait balls Kitchenslut decided to avoid the queue for the spit roast pork and wandered down to Chill Cafe to fill up on a burger. The feedback from the bbq burger flipper at Chill was very positive and even some surprise at the high turnout. A very positive event and congratulations to the people at Palm Cove.

The same can't be said for that evenings festival parade with the change to a Sunday a flop in the opinion of KS despite the media reports. The crowd appeared to be down from observation and feedback to KS, and an earlier daylight parade has about as much pizazz as a boy scout jamboree.