'Having whisky in a glass is like meeting a person you've never met before. You get to know [them], then slowly give it time,' Martine Nouet explains as she pours a little whisky onto her hands, rubs them together and then breathes in the smoky peat scent. Ms Nouet is considered one of the world's five top whisky tasters and has paired whisky and food for grand dinners across Europe, the UK and the USA, as well as judging the annual international Wine and Spirit competition in London. Spend some time in her delightful company and you quickly discover her expertise. A food writer and passionate cook too, she presents a television series called The Whisky Chef and has written food columns extensively for French newspapers. Chef Christophe Gregoire was born and raised in Les Vosges – one of the most pristine rural regions in France. He says Australian truffles have a superb quality and beautiful aroma... largely due to cold winters, frosts and dry soil in growing regions Sighs of relief can be heard in my kitchen as the skip returns to my step and I can now see light at the end of the pneumonia tunnel. I have struggled with illness since April this year and my GP initially advised that the linear mass on my lung causing breathlessness and malaise might possibly be cancer. Thankfully, many weeks of bed rest coupled with test after test, and numerous visits back to the doctor, has confirmed a double whammy of pneumonia, apparently spread by parrots in my region (!). I am told it can take six months or more to recover completely, so it's really a matter of taking things a day at a time, very gently, with plenty of rest in between bursts of activity. Old habits die hard and I am usually travelling at 100 miles an hour, as you'll note from my nickname, Bizzy (busy) Lizzy. But if there's one thing this has taught me, it's NOT to push through when I'm feeling ghastly. I have learned the hard way, and cannot wait to be fully recovered and back to my old self. In the late 1950s my father, the gentleman barber who liked to be known as 'Andre the Great', spent a few hard earned pounds on a very fine full-length leather coat. And with the docket from that investment he managed to win for himself a little Fiat motor car that would herald the beginning of many seaside adventures. Growing up in a migrant family in Australian suburbia in the 1960s had its challenges. We were 'different' you see. For starters, we were relatively poor... my parents had survived the war in Europe and fled Hungary after the Russian uprising in 1956, arriving in Australia with a couple of suitcases and three children. We spoke Hungarian at home and, when speaking in English, my parents had quite marked (but rather delightful) accents. Although a baker made his morning rounds delivering sliced white bread to people's doorsteps, we ate crusty 'Continental' bread which we dipped into a kind of milky Café au lait that mum cooked on the stove every morning. With a fridge and larder full of food, Peter and I decided to skip our usual Saturday morning visit to the Capital Region Farmer's Market, choosing instead to hibernate indoors and create a gourmet brunch from ingredients we had at hand. Over the years my taste buds have come to prefer desserts which are more on the exotic side as opposed to rich, gooey indulgences. Don't get me wrong, I love well made Crème brûlée or Chocolate Pots de Crème, but would sooner indulge in a serving of Shrikhand or Gula melaka. We arrive at the truffière at Willandra Lane, Tarago on a depths of winter weekend morning, yet despite the pea soup outside, the rural views from the dining room window of Anne and Denzil's toasty warm cottage are breathtaking. |
Welcome...Üdvözölöm
Cooking and writing have been a lifelong passion. Join me as I share with you my favourite recipes; postcards and morsels from my travels; conversations with cookery writers and chefs; and news on food, cookbooks and cooking. - Liz Posmyk
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NB: I use Australian standard measuring cups and spoons in my recipes.
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