Food: March

The highlight of March was the camping trip and those oh-not-poisonous mushrooms we picked in Oberon, which I later saw advertised as exotic saffron milkcaps (does sound damn exotic) at a market for $20/kg! I've been getting back into making dal again and eating simple meals like dal, brown rice and curd (and lime pickle).

I have written about the vegetarian bento at Nazimi before, it is truly awesome. Here's a better photo of my bento - who thought of wrapping a nigiri in cucumber and topping with edamame, so cute! the fried potato sushi was surprisingly good too, as were the croquettes which had the right crunchy exterior with dreamy smooth inside. Definitely a winner even though dessert's now not included..

 Breakfast at Brewtown. The Berkelouw was such an institution in Newtown, I'm sure lots of locals were sad when it closed down. In its space is this hippy new cafe, sporting a faux-industrial feel with dim lighting and exposed bricks. A coffee bar runs along the length of the room, and a row of filters look like chemistry class! I had the most delicious breakfast of crispy polenta, two perfectly poached eggs with a gooey centre, herby field mushroom, asparagus and parmesan. It was like a dance on the tongue, the flavours bold yet so complementary. I would happily eat this every weekend.

Another breakfast at Brickfields. This is a middle-of-nowhere cafe in Chippendale, a little removed from all the hustle & bustle of Surry Hills. I was starving so started on coffee and this polenta, lemon and black sesame loaf. I ordered it because the lady in front of me ordered it, and I was too tired to think after nights, and it looked yummy. And it was just the perfect thing to go with coffee, all dense and crumbly with a good zing and little sesame explosions.

Then I had a salad of roasted organic tomatoes, snake bean and lentil salad. I was sceptical about this at first, since it seemed like the dish had too many influences to "work". Tomato - Western, snake bean - Asian, lentil - Indian, parsley - Mediterranean.. but it worked wonderfully well. The amazing crusty white sourdough was the perfect partner to this salad. I was surprised by how delicious it was! Definitely want to return to try other things at this little bakery.

 

Another breakfast at Foodies deli in Sandringham. This place was abuzz with families and dogs - a nice neighbourhood feel. The vegetarian big pan had a bit of everything - Brasserie sourdough, fried eggs, tomatoes, mushies, spinach, spuds and the star, haloumi.

Finally, I love Dough bakery in Town Hall - everything there is delicious, and I love wandering around having little samples of everything. The worst part is trying to decide what to get. This little bread lobster was so adorable!

Camping (2): looking for mushrooms in Oberon

 Leaving Kanangra, we headed to Oberon for some mushroom picking. The nearby Vulcan state forest has several roads leading into the forest, where one can forage for mushrooms. We were so sad to see that blackberries were being sprayed in the area - they looked so plump and delicious!

 

Heading into the forest was like being in Hansel and Gretel. There was something magical about the slightly damp smell of the pine trees, the undergrowth crunching crisply, and the sunlight streaming through the trees. All the trees looked the same, and if not for the view of the road it could have been very disorienting. For the first few minutes, we saw no mushrooms at all. I started wondering if mushroom picking wasn't what I envisaged it to be.. like it was more like mushroom hunting.

Then we saw a saffron milkcap, surrounded by more.. and then in whichever direction we looked, we saw them everywhere! Many were hidden by the undergrowth, but the telltale bumps in the ground became more obvious to us as we picked more. Saffron milkcaps are easily identifiable by their distinct saffron colour, large round cap with an indentation on top, and clearly ridged gills on the underside.

At first we picked whatever we saw, but soon we realised there must have been thousands of mushrooms in the forest! We started picking only the "beautiful" ones, whatever that may be. We contemplated whether larger ones or smaller ones would be more tasty (well... we never found out), so took a selection of sizes.

We found only saffron milkcaps in the first part of the forest we went to, so we drove to a different part to see what we would find. What an interesting experience that was! As we wandered into the forest, I said wouldn't it be nice to see some poisonous mushrooms too?

And they were everywhere! I was fascinated by the magnificent poisonous mushrooms, which were the most vivid shades of orange and red. The toadstools looked impossibly like the ones on super mario.

In the second forest we picked lots of slippery jacks, which have a brown satiny cover (peeled before consumption) and a bright yellow smooth underside. Whoever sees these types of mushrooms in supermarkets?

The lady at the information centre told us that of the many varieties of mushrooms in the forest, these are the most easily identifiable non-toxic varieties and hence they are recommended. The field mushrooms which resemble mushrooms in supermarkets (white cap, white stem) can be confused with the toxic varieties, and so the rule is (somewhat surprisingly) don't pick anything that looks like a normal mushroom! Maybe this one was a poisonous slippery-jack lookalike? 

Where's the mushroom?

The roads around Oberon were completely different to the mountain landscape - all pastoral scenes with lush green fields and grazing livestock. It was a beautiful day too.

We had decided to camp in Oberon, but the campground in Black Springs near the mushroom picking forest was basically a park in the middle of town, all windy and exposed. We decided to go to the millionth acre campground near Hampton State Forest, but unfortunately that area has been heavily logged and the campground now sits amidst sad looking tree stumps much like a wasteland. We didn't find either of them palatable so headed back to Perrys Lookdown to camp for our last night.

Alas at dinner time we took out our mushrooms and found that the saffron milkcaps were bruised and looking very sad with a greenish fungal sheen. If we had known we should have taken more care with storing them! We ended up feeding most of the saffron milkcaps to the bush, but the slippery jacks were sturdier.

The next morning we packed up and headed to Anonymous cafe in Blackheath for breakfast. This was a pretty chic cafe that wouldn't look out of place in Surry Hills. Our breakfast burrito was very In-the-Annex-esque, and their date & walnut sodabread was pretty damn tasty.

We went for a walk from Govett's Leap to Evan's lookout. It was a beautifully clear day and the view from Govett's Leap was expansive and just spectacular.

We passed by Bridal Veil falls, and when the sun was just in the right direction, a hint of a rainbow could be seen.

Why walk on the path when you can climb a massive fallen tree?

It was lovely to get out into the wilderness again and enjoy the fresh air before another bout of sitting in a little room reading about medicine...

Panorama from Govett's leap

Camping: from Blackheath to Kanangra walls

Starting any road trip from Sydney involves copious amounts of driving through traffic-laden streets. Fortunately there was a stop for some Indian street food at Chatkazz before we got on the freeway.

A pretty good paper masala dosa with a fiery chilli chutney and smooth coconut chutney. After gobbling down some dahi vada and khaman dhakla, we even had the foresight to pick up a sev puri takeaway to snack on while setting up camp. 

Katoomba was slightly nightmarish - there was a terrible traffic jam on account of a country music festival in town... echo point had been turned into a giant feepaying carpark with loads of tourists and cameras everywhere you looked... the disinterested lady at the visitor centre had not even heard of Kanangra NP which made us want to shake & shout "it's the bloody next national park to the one you work in!!"

Anyway we got out of there and headed to the campsite at Perrys lookdown, a lovely secluded spot at the end of a gravel road 8km out of Blackheath. 

It started to sprinkle as we put up our tents. Then it started to rain and it was pretty cold standing in the rain trying to cook. 

We managed to make a vege stirfry with udon, which J&C ate with steak and I ate with vegetarian sausages. It was wonderful to momentarily have warm food in our tummies.

The next morning, I woke to the sun streaming into my tent.

At Perry's lookdown, the sun was just coming up over the valley, casting golden rays everywhere. A dense fog hung low amongst the trees, several hundred metres below where I stood.

We packed up and headed for Kanangra. Our route took us through Mt Victoria, several small towns and Jenolan caves, where the road goes through one of the large caves. The road wasn't bad, though the steep hairpins around Jenolan and the plentiful potholes on the last bit of the unsealed road made us highly thankful for C's new all-wheel drive.

The plateau walk takes one across the top of the Kanangra wall, where one can clamber right to the edge of the wall and gaze at the dizzifying drop into the abyss below.

 

The wind was most unusual here. Even one metre from the edge, there would be hardly any wind, but as you approach the edge it became so strong that one would fear falling over the edge. The views over the mountains were expansive, and we could see several mountains in the distance, one of which was amusingly named Mt Colong. 

The landscape changed as we got further along the plateau, and we walked through a heavily burnt area which looked almost alien. At the top of that hill we stopped to have lunch, then headed back. 

Along the walk there was an amazingly large cave, where the Indigenous people of the land had sought shelter over many thousands of years. In the late 19th century, a dance floor was put up in the cave and it served as the centre of socialisation for families in the area. It was mind-boggling considering how remote it is from everything!

It soon started to rain so we headed back to the Boyd campground, where we pitched our tents next to the Boyd river.. rather, the Boyd stream. The sun came out for a bit and we enjoyed a little stroll around the area, easily spotting wallabies foraging for food in the bushes.

This was the grand eucalyptus tree overhanging our campsite. Whilst it was awesome to look at, we did wonder if branches falling off the tree would kill us. It was pretty windy that night, and being inside a tent magnified the sound of the wind. 

 

Another yummy dinner! After dinner we decided to see if we could make a fire, even though it looked dubious as it had just rained a few hours before and everything was soggy. 

We made a pretty good fire given our lack of fire-starting-stuff! It was nice to have some warmth as we cleaned up and got ready for bed.

Mornings in the mountains are cold, and we were glad for the trusty little red stovetop espresso maker C brought. In this picture it looks like it's suspended above nothing. 

 

The next day we headed back to the wall to do the waterfall walk, a short steep walk to the bottom of the gully.

Coming back up the hill, we stopped for a cup of tea at the lookout, which was just spectacular. 

The sun came out and for a moment we were able to bask in the sunshine. 

I had read about Kanangra walls so many years ago while doing a high school geography assignment. After what must be at least 15 years, I finally got to go to this remote spectacular place!

Food: Feb

This year we harvested 12kg of little spotty peaches from the garden. 

Who knew vegetarian "pate" (made from yeast, vegetables and herbs) could be so tasty? I spotted this at Vina in Newtown and had to try. Delicious spread on toast and topped with an egg.

Kakiage udon from Sushi Suma downstairs. Crispy tempura shredded vegetable patty atop a bowl of fat udon noodles in a light broth with a tumble of seaweed.

Cold tofu ramen from Manmaruya. Ramen topped by lots of salad, seaweed, a huge chunk of tofu and a boiled egg. Not enough sauce to the noodles though, which can be a bit tasteless. Must try this again in summer when this sort of light dinner would be perfect.

 

 Home made apple crumble.

Omelette with avocado and chilli jam at home.

Food: Jan, re-beginning of vegetarianism

After being vegetarian for 5 years (2003 - 2008), I reverted to carnivorism for the past 5 years. At the beginning I ate mostly fish and seafood, but meat crept back in insidiously. I was avidly anti-chicken, until I discovered Korean Fried Chicken, which then became one of my favourite foods. Though I remained a vegetarian cook, I would accept whatever was cooked for me and keenly ate meat when out. I particularly loved all types of ramen, dumplings, ribs, and of course, sashimi.

I came out of my second Vipassana course with remarkably the same feelings as the first time. I'd eaten 10 days of simple, tasty vegetarian food - truly free from any pretentiousness, everyday you get pretty much the same - carb, stew, vegetables and salad. It was basic food but nourishing for the body, and over time you realise that your body and mind feel good. And so you leave the centre without any craving for flesh, and it's easy to continue a vegetarian diet.

A few things I ate in January...

 

Tempeh narnie at 3 Williams. This cafe has gone viral on the internet after seemingly every Sydney food blogger started raving about it. I had had my eye on the beef brisket / pulled pork narnies before the course, but this tempeh narnie was wonderful. Lightly fried and maintaining the earthiness of tempeh, it's paired with Asian pickled vegetables, sriracha and lime mayo. The sprigs of coriander provided a perfect freshness. I didn't love the actual narnie that much as I found it too oily, but the contents are sublimely married.

Nazimi is a frequent haunt, but I'd never looked at their vegetarian options. This was a seriously excellent bento, offering a wide variety of nibblies. Agedashi tofu is fried separately to the carnivorous offerings (I know because my friends ordered some which came out looking distinctly different), adorned with spring onions instead of bonito. There are 2 slices of salad sushi roll with pickled daikon, and 3 nigiri (inari, avocado and poached shiitake). The main is grilled eggplant "steak" with a sweet sticky soy sauce, like nasu dengaku but with less miso. Rice, green salad and miso soup aside, there was also a handful of edamame, a potato croquette and a cube of tofu with peanut dressing. There are even two desserts - black sesame flavoured mochi with red beans, and sticky rice cake dipped in honey. This photo does no justice to how beautiful the meal was - a lovely surprise especially since I was mentally prepared to have salad and rice!

Paramount Coffee Project was another place I'd had my eyes on something carnivorous (fried chicken with watermelon.. or crab po boy?) but found a delicious vegetarian alternative. These baked eggs came in a capsicum, tomato and black bean sauce, topped with shavings of manchego. I was surprised by the three little golden footballs (I did think for one second that they were glorious balls of fried cheese) - these were polenta balls which added a nice crunch dimension to the dish.

Images from Dhamma Bhumi

A path at Dhamma Bhumi

The first 5 days, the sky was an impeccable blue with not a trace of cloud. The heat was almost bothersome in the afternoon, though mornings and evenings remained crisp. Sunsets seemed to go on forever - even when returning to our rooms at 9pm, a trace of orange remained on the horizon, almost like the sunsets one sees on an aeroplane.

On the 6th day, clouds started moving in over the Megalong valley and by evening, the sky was filled with volcanic like clouds. At sunset, the sun was partially hidden by the clouds, showing just 3 distinct streaks of light through the grey.

On the 7th day, it began to rain. The whole centre was covered with sheets of mist drifting languidly. The rain was so soft that the droplets felt almost imperceptible. The smell of rain in the bush is pure and unadulterated, as if we were truly living in the wild.

After that, we woke everyday to heavy fog. One could only see as far as the first row of trees at breakfast time, and visibility stretched slowly until one could just make out the edge of the plateau by lunchtime. The valley seemed sleepy with rain then, as if pausing while the bush had a good drink. It continued to rain lightly for the rest of my time there, everything got soggy but it didn't seem to matter.

 

Morning fog across the valley, from outside A block

The walking tracks have been updated since I was last there - the surface stability has improved and there's now a solid little loop around which we walked endlessly during breaks. The main pond has been filled in and turned into a 40,000L capacity rainwater tank which is awesome, since the centre is now mostly self reliant for water and only occasionally goes onto Sydney Water. The side pond under the verandah is now the only pond, but this has been lovingly tended and was full of beautiful water lilies. Who knew that liles go to sleep at night as well, and open up during the day?

The pond.

A lot of work has gone into the landscaping around the centre. While at the centre, gardeners were planting flowers around the female entrance to the main hall and the pagoda. One day we came out of the hall to the sight of dozens of flower pots, which mysteriously got planted bit by bit while we were meditating.

Near the female entrance to the pagoda.

I particularly love these "rock roses" which seem so sturdy and all-weather.

Silence makes one appreciate so many things that one would normally. It makes one realise how much idle chatter there is in life, and how we miss so much because our minds are distracted. The beauty of birds gliding across the sky, of softly falling leaves, of the scent of fresh rain.. it's lovely that I had another opportunity to ponder all this.