Meat-free Monday: Sesame pastry cases with onion and pumpkin

This recipe is from nutritionist Janella Purcell, when she was on the LifestyleFood show, Good Chef, Bad Chef, with (MasterChef Australia's) Gary Mehigan in 2009. Monsieur D made them and they became a favourite – they could be an appetiser, entrée or main if served with a salad.

Sesame pastry cases with onion and pumpkin (pictured borrowed from muppyat.blogspot.com)

Ingredients


2 1/2 cups spelt flour
 (wholemeal will do)



1 cup toasted sesame seeds


1 cup sesame oil
 (we used only half a cup because it made the pastry less oily)



1 1/2 cups boiling water




2 tbls tamari
 (for pastry cases)

1 onion, finley sliced




500ml vegetable stock


1 tbls ginger juice


1 tsp tamari
 (for onions)



1 cup japanese (nap) pumpkin, cubed and steamed
 (any pumpkin will do)

1 packet of silken tofu




2 tbls shiro miso paste
 (optional)

1 tsp umeboshi or white wine vinegar

Method

For the cases, combine the dry ingredients and blend the wet ingredients separately. Mix together slowly then knead for a couple of minutes. It should be quite oily and elastic. Let pastry sit for 30 minutes under a dry cloth. Roll out pastry to 1cm thick, (you may need a little flour on the bench) then using a biscuit cutter fit into individual non stick muffin cases. Our recipe says to take at 180C for 10 minutes, our oven is fan-forced (I noticed she also suggests 200C for 15 minutes). The cases will harden once they cool.

Meanwhile, prepare your filling – put the onions in a pot with the stock, ginger juice and tamari. Bring to the boil then drop to a simmer until the liquid is evaporated. Meanwhile, blend your pumpkin together with the tofu and vinegar.

To assemble, put a little miso paste on the bottom of each case *** this is optional, I suggest trying out the miso, we left it out after the first time these were made because it was just too salty for our tastes. Fill the cases half way up with the onion mixture. Finally dollop each case with some of the pumpkin puree.

For presentation, you could sprinkle a few toasted sesame seeds on the top, or a few chopped herbs, such as coriander for colour.

Voila. Enjoy.

Artful courage of SALA artists

Putting yourself out there in public, exposing your previously private hobby, passion or activity to scrutiny can be intimidating.

It takes guts. Requires support. Not to mention a dose of talent.

It also takes an investment of time.

It’s SALA Festival month, and all over Adelaide there are people who are risking their reputation, prepared to give it a go by hanging their artwork up in all sorts of spaces to be judged by the rest of us.

Suzi Ting at her exhibition opening

Talking Adelaide is full of admiration.

One such person is Suzi Ting, a trained artist (Adelaide Central School of Art) and former high school visual arts teacher who now works as a stylist and producer alongside her husband, photographer Randy Larcombe.

Suzi’s been aspiring to hold a SALA exhibition for some time and this year waited until the last day to shut her eyes, hit “send” and lodge her online entry.

With Randy’s support, she got seven pictures finished and called them Collected.

They’re gorgeous, pastel-coloured, layered drawings, charcoal is the main media.

“In between, I use layers of acryclic both thick and thin, like water colour, sometimes shellac or collaged found papers or printed papers, “ Suzi explains.

The subjects are seemingly inspired by Suzi’s domestic life. “I am a bit of a collector; of recipes, crockery, kitchen objects, and interesting ingredients, also natural objects like seedpods, shark eggs and nests," she says.

“Food memories often appear in my work for example the crockery I inherited from both grandmothers speak also of the moments we were brought together over shared meals. My father is Malaysian Chinese and I've always been interested in the difference in the approach to food between my Chinese side of the family and the anglo side. 

“I also work as a prop stylist which means I can now justify, indulge my collecting more legitimately and these collected objects often turn up in my work.”

The titles of the drawings include: memories of laksa; a bowl of comfort; the art of tea; feeling wonton; nanna’s cup, grandma’s bowl; rock, scissors paper; and spilling beans.

“My creative background has been as a secondary art teacher and now photographic producer and stylist. I've always loved making things or helping others tap into their creative side,” Suzi says.

“Juggling this with a young family has led to me getting back to basics with drawing, though I have worked with printmaking, ceramics and painting in the past.

“Drawing is very immediate and suits my busy juggle of kids and work. Drawing for me is about simple mark making and fulfills the most elemental need to document my world in my own way.”

If you want to see Suzi at work and talking first hand about the process and her motivation - watch this great video below by Randy (click on the caption).

Suzi Ting - making her mark.

Suzi’s work is hanging in the popular café The Stranded Store, on The Strand, in Colonel Light Gardens, until the end of August.

And there’s already a few red dots alongside them.

Get out there and look at some SALA work this month – and admire not just the skill on show but the courage too.

SALA Festival

The Stranded Store

A bowl of comfort

Memories of laksa

Feeling wonton

Spilling the beans

Rock, scissors, paper

Nanna's cup, grandma's bowl

Going PUBLIC

It’s not really the done thing to write about Restaurant B when you’re supposed to be spruiking Restaurant A but hey, it’s my blog and I’ll wine if I want to. 

PUBLIC café/bar/restaurant opened in Waymouth St, Adelaide, in November 2012. I first ate at Public in July 2011. How is that so, you wonder? 

Public happens to be one of New York City’s best restaurants, awarded a Michelin Star last year. It was a memorable first of five nights of dining in New York on that trip and chosen by my sister Christine, who was living in Toronto at the time.

Memorable, not just for my first New York martini and the brilliant food of chef Brad Farmerie, but because after 28 hours of flying all the way from Adelaide, I opened the drink list to find they had Coopers Pale Ale and about four wines from South Australia, whites and reds, being poured. Even more were available by the bottle including Penfold's Grange. A recent check of the list online showed the SA presence hasn’t changed; you’ll find Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2008; Turkey Flat Grenache Shiraz, Barossa 2012; Tir Na N’Og, Grenache, 2008 McLaren Vale. If you want to check the other local wines on the list view it here.

So I recently returned to Public, this time Adelaide’s PUBLIC (their capitals not mine). A daytime café and a restaurant in Franklin St, it’s opened for dinner on Friday’s only.

The talented and now award-winning PUBLIC head chef Stewart Wesson. All photos: Russell Millard

A group of PUBLIC’s friends and media were invited along to taste some of the dishes that head chef Stewart Wesson has devised for the restaurant and bar’s new “Freestyle Friday”.

It's worth noting at this point that a few nights later Wesson was named Restaurant Chef of the Year at the SA Restaurant & Catering Awards. Congratulations. 

House Cured Salmon on tapioca crackers

Coffin Bay Oysters

Nobody could get enough on this night of his Potato Langos – fingers of Hungarian fried potato bread used to scoop up a refreshing dill and cheese dip. The House Cured Salmon, served with cubed cucumber and avocado on puffed tapioca crackers was a dainty mixture of soft and crunchy; the lemony dressed Coffin Bay oysters were so fresh and good that my companion Roxy dropped her default reaction to decline oysters and declared the one she had delicious. The fourth taster was rectangles of thin wagyu beef wrapped in pickled daikon. A new match for me and a great combination.

Wesson told us the “food blew me away” on his recent trip to Europe, to compete in the San Pellegrino Cooking Cup.“It’s all about sharing (over there) and that’s what I wanted to bring to (PUBLIC’S) Friday night food”. One meal in Copenhagen lasted six hours.

He said the overseas experience had taught him South Australians have access to amazing produce and that diners appreciated the interaction with the kitchen staff in establishments with open cooking areas.

PUBLIC owner Danielle Elia said Wesson had returned “bursting with ideas” for Friday nights and the philosophy that “good food deserves to be shared” which had set the tone for the new menu which consists of tasting plates, small and large.

Wesson has been joined in the kitchen by Melody Herbert, who recently worked alongside Peter Gilmore at Quay, in Sydney. Expect to see some decadent desserts at PUBLIC in future.

To find out more about PUBLIC, Freestyle Fridays and its menu, visit here.

 ***All the wonderful photographs accompanying this post are by the talented Russell Millard, a friend and former colleague. You can reach Rusty at his website here.

Stewart Wesson preparing his tasting plates in the open kitchen with Danielle Elia

PUBLIC's James and Danielle Elia

The interior of PUBLIC

Meet the Paso Wine Man

Apparently the McLaren Vale region was just a little bit snitty about all publicity the Barossa has recently received since the launch of the recent moody TV ad "Be Consumed" with the Nick Cave soundtrack.

Perhaps McV could adopt the philosophy "talent is borrowed, genius is stolen" (see here) and follow in the footsteps of the Paso Robles wine region in California and create the Vale Male.  

This is the Paso Wine Man, actor and local resident Casey Riggs, who features in a series of clever (and informative) videos about the Paso region and its wine varieties.  Remember the award-wining Old Spice ad? It's got that kind of flavour. Click on Casey's picture to view one of the videos:

Paso Wine Man

I thank my uncle David Lloyd, owner and wine-maker of Eldridge Estate of Red Hill (Mornington Peninsula) for introducing me to the Paso Wine Man. As a Pinot Noir obssessive, David, I suspect, found the Paso Wine Man because of this Pinot vid. He agrees Paso Man rocks and admires the region's marketing too. I like the catch line "grow wild".

Never heard of the Paso wine region? Sandwiched between the desert and the Pacific coast, it's located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It has 26,000 acres of vines and produces 40 different wine varieties. 

You can read more about Paso here and see all the videos here

 (Okay - here's a bit of synchronicity, while I'm writing this the Barossa ad actually just came on during SkyNews this morning! That is just too weird). Watch it here.

Online shopping temptations at Nordstrom's

Talking Adelaide has shopped quite a bit locally in the past week - at Denim Iniquity, Country Road (Rundle Mall) DJs and Sunglass Hut - so, with that in mind, this is a guilt-free online shopping recommendation.

There's two (depending on your time zone) days to go in US department store Nordstrom's amazing online anniversary sale.  What better way to spend a dreary weekend than couch shopping in front of the footy?

There are considerable reductions on items to be had - especially in the designer section here but you don't have to spend anywhere near these prices to still get a great bargain on classic not just fashion pieces.

This is a decent sale too - where current items are marked down, not just the stuff Nordstrom's can't sell or shift. 

Talking Adelaide has succumbed to a pair of black, suede booties (pictured below) that were 25 per cent off the usual price but could easily do damage in the handbag section. You could pick up some early buys for spring/summer or extend you winter wardrobe. Of course the sale is for guys and kids too. Even homewares.

And the shipping charges are virtually nothing. 

As Talking Adelaide likes to say, "you have to spend money to save money". Just click on the sale image above to go to the sale site.

If you have a particular designer or brand you like, search via the brand link on the homepage; the sale items are generally listed first, and there seems to be something from every brand on sale. 

Love to know if you pick up a bargain.

Back-street newbie: Five Little Figs

Between Gepps Cross and Darlington, it can still take only 20 minutes to get most places (outside of peak hours) but many of us Adelaideans still tend to hover locally.

It’s rare, say, to drive across town for a just a coffee and the ever-present friand. Even if it’s really good.

Nevertheless, I found myself in the far east recently, in Payneham South, and a delightful back-street café/shop, Five Little Figs.

Five Little Figs, Payneham South

My friend Alison works at Magill and Five Little Figs was chosen because it was accessible in her lunch break and away from busy Norwood. Her son Ned goes to nearby Trinity Gardens Primary and she was keen to try something recently opened in the neighbourhood.

Five Little Figs is owned by longtime Adelaide chef Michelle Campbell.

Her most recent past has been as co-owner of the award-winning Kinderchef, running cooking courses for children started well-before Junior Masterchef. She may have catered an event you attended or you may know one of her previous restaurants, The Table, in Stirling, and originally Brown Dog Café, Goodwood. She also has been guest chef for many SA food producing companies such as Menz (Fruchocs) and Beerenberg.

To describe the food at Five Little Figs as simple, seasonal and hearty is underplaying Campbell’s skill: it’s also clever, thoughtful and bursting with flavours.

Broccoli and zucchini soup.

Carrot and lentil soup. 

There are generous bowls of soup with crusty bread, creative salads, gourmet baguettes, pot pies – daily specials are marked on a blackboard.

The eye candy is the sweeties in the lovely curved glass display cabinet.

If you still have room, a daily selection of sweeties at Five Little Figs. 

Save room for a big slice of a cake, flan or pie, a prettily decorated cake.

Vegans, vegetarians and coeliacs are all catered for.

Alison remarked that Five Little Figs reminded her of the café/shop E for Ethel, in Melbourne St. Don’t know it – out of my patch too.

Given Michelle’s recent background, Five Little Figs is very kid friendly. There's also a small retail space with children's clothing and boutique-y gardening items.

Oh, and they do breakfast 8.30am-11.30am, lunch 12-2.30pm, coffee and cake all day to 4pm.

I’ve visited twice now and left both times having enjoyed my back-street sojourn.

Have you made a back-street suburban discovery? Share it with Talking Adelaide.

Five Little Figs, corner Ashbrook Ave and Devitt Ave, Payneham South.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Tasty city bike art

If you're a regular Central Market shopper using the Grote St entrance, you may have noticed this spectacular addition to the streetscape.

Titled Onion Rings, for obvious reasons, the food-inspired bike rack is by the creative art duo Greg Healey and Gregg Mitchell, of Groundplay.

They're responsible for the vibrant yellow oozing down the side of the Lion Arts Centre, West End, which they say "pays homage to the original tenants, D&J Fowler, whose Lion brand custard powder was a staple in many Australian kitchen cupboards".

Onion Rings is listed as No.1 on a new map - the Adelaide City Bike Art Trail. Check out its cute design here.

Adelaide City Council and Arts SA have commissioned South Australian artists to create large, sculptural pieces for 11 inner-city and North Adelaide locations, that either act as new bike racks or sit alongside existing ones (At the time of writing, no.s 6-9 are apparently yet to be installed ).

I hope that plaques acknowledging the artists, the work's titles and dates of installation will eventually appear near each piece.

Have you seen any of the others? Do you have a favourite?

Meat-Free Monday: Spinach and artichoke pie

This recipe at Chez Wayville dates from 2009 - a year of (eating like a) vegan. 

It is simply delicious. It was another one of Monsieur D's specialities. It's extremely healthy and low fat and the phyllo pastry is a reward for being good. 

I have copied the recipe below and coverted it to metric but here is the link to the original. We also leave the "nutritional yeast" out. Enjoy. 

Spinach and Artichoke Pie

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 350-450g baby spinach (I used the pre-washed, bagged kind)
• 450g extra-firm tofu
• 1 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. minced Kalamata olives
• pinch cayenne
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 can quartered artichokes, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup of toasted pinenuts or slightly crushed slivered almonds
• 12 sheets phyllo pastry, thawed
• olive oil in spray bottle

Instructions

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in a large, deep non-stick pan for 3 minutes. Add the spinach and 2 tablespoons water, stir, and cover the pan. (If you couldn’t fit all of the spinach in, wait a minute for the spinach to shrink and add more.) Cook until the spinach is completely wilted and shrunken. Set aside.
2. While the spinach is cooking, mash the tofu and stir in the nutritional yeast and all the seasonings, including the olives. Add the artichokes, almonds, and the spinach mixture, and mix well.
3. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and lightly spray a 20-30cm baking dish with olive oil. Unwrap the phyllo dough and arrange it beside the baking dish as described above. Lay a sheet of phyllo over the bottom of the pan, spray it lightly with olive oil, and repeat the process until you have 6 sheets in the bottom of the pan. Make sure the remaining phyllo is covered with a damp cloth, and pour the spinach-tofu filling into the pan, spreading it to completely cover the phyllo. Repeat the phyllo process, covering the filling with six more sheets, spraying each one lightly. Make sure to spray the top sheet thoroughly, so that there are no un-oiled spots.
4. With a sharp knife, cut through the top layer of phyllo to form 9-12 equal pieces. (This helps to keep the phyllo from breaking when you cut it after baking).
5. Put it in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Enjoy!

Preparation time: 20 minute(s) | Cooking time: 35 minute(s

Friday Bubbles #1 & Beirut Champagne Club

Welcome to Talking Adelaide's first Friday Bubbles post – the plan is to share regular beverage suggestions (especially Champagne) for the weekend.

The fabulous five - details below

In the wake of this year’s Bastille Day, six of us gathered on a wintry night in a little dining room, in the smallest house in the city to taste French Champagne.

Taste, not just drink.

And thus the Beirut Champagne Club was born. The name is a nod to our first meeting place. It’s a nickname the locals gave the south-west corner of the city a while ago.

Our hostess Anne-Marie did us proud. Not only selecting 5 different and palate challenging bottles but serving a 4 course French-inspired dinner including her own Gougeres (recipe below). Gougeres are a cheese-flavoured puff that go so well with Champagne.

The five Champagnes we tasted where all accessible and pretty much entry level wines.

There was only one Grand Marque – the Laurent Perrier NV, which we started with, chosen deliberately by Anne-Marie to awaken the mouth and set a benchmark for comparisons.

My personal favourites were No.s 3 & 5.

What amazed some of us was how much the Champagnes changed, as they grew warmer in the glass or bottle. Some more than others.

We compared (to say judge would imply too much knowledge) each Champagne on colour (out of 3), nose (out of 7) and palette (out of 10).

This is what we drank, some of our thoughts and my votes in parentheses:

1. Laurent Perrier Brut LP NV $69.99 @Champagne Gallery.

A typical tasting French Champagne that grew duller or flatter but also sweeter as it grew warmer. Suit newcomers to real Champagne drinking (2/5/6).

2. Le Mesnil 2004 Blanc De Blancs $79.99 @ Edinburgh Cellars.

This is a grower’s wine that had a slight sourness to the back palate that became more interesting the longer it was in the glass. From the same village as Krug Le Mesnil. (2.5/6/7).

3. Chartogne-Taillet 2004 Brut $85 @ Champagne Gallery.

The 60 per cent Pinot Noir meant it tasted yeastier, it smelled like bread dough, also had a taste of wood. More golden in colour. Expect to taste pears, hazelnuts, almonds and spices. This wine finishes on the tongue really well. (2.5/7/8).

4. Christophe LeFevre Cuvee Prestige $58.99 @ Champagne Gallery.

A toasty, biscuit wine and a bit drier – 80 per cent of this wine comes from “outstanding” (according to Champagne Gallery) 2008 vintage, the rest from 2007. This is an organic wine grower. (3/6/7).

5. Canard-Duchene Cuvee Leonie $68 @ Edinburgh Cellars.

A blend of 50 per cent Pinot Noir, 25 per cent Pinot Meunier and 25 per cent Chardonnay; a great colour and opens up as it warms in the glass. It’s described as an aperitif and excellent accompaniment to food – it also worked well with cheese and our dessert of quince tart. (2.5/7/8)

Anne-Marie's quince tart

Champagne Gallery

Edinburgh Cellars

Gougere Puffs

This recipe requires a Thermomix or similar. This is a link to a Dan Lepard recipe that doesn’t.

Makes 18 – total time including baking 45 minutes

Ingredients

Handful fresh chives (or herbs of choice)

80g strong hard cheese cubed (Romano, Pecorino or Parmesan are ideal)

250g water

Pinch each salt and chilli powder

110g butter

180g plain flour

3 eggs

Method.

Pre-heat oven to 220ºC. Line 2 baking trays with paper and set aside.

Place chives or herbs and cubed cheese into Thermomix (TM) bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.

Place water, salt, chilli powder and butter into TM bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 100ºC on speed 4.

Add flour and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4, or until you see the pastry coming away from the sides of the bowl. Cool for about 10 minutes.

Add eggs to the mixture by dropping one egg at a time through hole in lid as you mix for 30-40 seconds on speed 5.

Add herb and cheese mixture to TM bowl and mix in for 5 seconds on speed 5 after the last egg, reserving a little of the cheese to garnish the tops of the profiteroles.

Proceed to pipe or spoon as for normal profiteroles, top each puff with a little of the cheese and bake for 10 minutes in pre-heated oven. Reduce heat to 180ºC and continue baking for a further 20 minutes until tops are golden.

Source: recipecommunity.com.au

Author: Thermomix in Australia

Tour 75 years of the city in one afternoon

Cover art of Lance Campbell and Mick Bradley's book chronicling the changing streetscapes of Adelaide.

Anyone who knows Talking Adelaide knows TA has a passion for the Art Deco period.

This has manifested itself over the years in purchases and gifts of furniture, homewares (lamps, bookcase, drinks trolley), glassware, assorted Bakelite bits and pieces, even Chez Wayville was built in the period.

So it is with much pleasure to promote an event organized by the Art Deco & Modernism Society of SA this Sunday afternoon (July 28) at La Boheme, in Grote St.

The society is publicising City Streets – the wonderful book by writer Lance Campbell and photographer Mick Bradley that celebrates the streetscape of our town in words and pictures by the authors themselves.

In 1936, when South Australia was 100 years old, photographer Gustav Hermann Baring took the streets to capture the state and its capital in images. His huge publication, Progressive Adelaide – As it Stands Today “was both a catalogue of commerce and a labour of love”.

Inspired by that book, Campbell and Bradley set out in Baring’s footsteps to capture the city’s progression.

The even this Sunday will include a performance of Memories of Australia, a song in the book that was recently revived at a City Streets presentation in the Barossa.

Starting at 3pm, tickets are just $20, which will go towards the Deco Society’s fighting fund to “help save 20th century Adelaide”.

If you feel like coming along, email alison.oloughlin@gmail.com or phone 0408850234.

Wakefield Press will have books for sale including City Streets, which Campbell describes as “a brass-bottomed, copper-plated, silver-lined, gold-embossed local bestseller of which everyone involved is very proud”.

City Streets

The extraordinary photos of Hugh Hartshorne

An exhibition has opened in Melbourne celebrating the stage and screen career of actor Geoffrey Rush.

Geoffrey Rush as King Berenger in Exit the King, 2009.  Photograph by Hugh Hartshorne.

What’s the Adelaide link?

Many of the photographs appearing in the exhibition were taken by former Adelaide photographer Hugh Hartshorne.

He’s become Rush’s favourite portrait photographer.

I first worked with Hugh back in the 1980s at Messenger Newspapers – I think it was a first job for both of us. At the time, he was already a better photographer than I was a cadet reporter. After time working with the fabulous Milton Wordley, at Southlight Studios, Hugh eventually went out on his own which included moving to New York, where he has been successfully based for about 15 years.

He now co-locates between there and Sydney. 

So if you’re in Melbourne before September 29, be sure to head to the Melbourne Arts Centre, just down St Kilda Rd, and check out The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush.

Hugh Hartshorne Photography

Exhibition details

What were we wearing in the ‘80s?

View fullsize

1980s Cherry Lane advertisement   

View fullsize

Sportsgirl ad from the 1980s

In the early 1980s, my mother had a hot pink, silk, after-five dress from the Australian label Covers.

It was the pink of Marilyn Monroe’s evening dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but it had the sleeve-shape and tight skirt of Krystal Carrington in Dynasty.

It shared equal status with her pale blue Prue Acton maxi from the mid-1970s as my favourites in her wardrobe. She wore the pink Covers dress with multi-coloured carnival glass beads hat shimmered blue, green, purple or pink depending on the light.

I coveted that Covers dress. My sister got to wear once in the late ‘80s. Alas, it never fitted me.

Why am I thinking about ‘80s fashions? The Victoria & Albert Museum, in London, has just opened an exhibition called Club to Catwalk  showcasing London's clubbing and fashion scene in the ‘80s.

A picture gallery from the exhibition by The Guardian got me reminiscing about what I wore here to the likes of Toucan Two and Limbo’s, in the West End, to Leon’s, on the Parade, and Doug Govan’s My Place, in Hyde St, Le Rox, in Light Square and later the Venue, in Hindley St.

Although I lived in London at the end of the ‘80s, and even went to some of the clubs captioned in The Guardian, it’s not the mainsteam ‘80s fashions I mostly remember wearing. It’s styling straight out of the era’s video clips.

When I think of ‘80s fashions, I think of high-waisted Corfu jeans, made right here in Adelaide. And Canterbury rugby tops.

Yes, I had leg warmers but never stirrup pants.

I loved my dusty pink thick cord jodhpurs – Stuart Membery from memory. Or were they Jag? A white lacey shirt worn with a grey-striped taffeta skirt from Cream, on Unley Rd; and shopping across the road at Naffine’s with my mother.

What about the giant Cherry Lane store in Rundle Mall that you had to ride an escalator down to? Most of my work clothes came from there during 1986-88. And the funny-shaped Sportsgirl store at Burnside – was it a hexagon or a pentagon? Oh, and Demasius.

K-K-Katies seemed so much more stylish back then, although it’s the reverse with Witchery. Did you follow the advertising call to action that jingled “this goes with that at Sussan’s”? Now that’s an excuse to watch this blast from the past.

This goes with that....relive the jingle  here

I’d love to hear what were your favourite outfits and labels from the 1980s. Maybe this slideshow below with jog the memory (click to open full gallery with captions).

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

FermentAsian ….. finally finding what all the fuss is about

“Haven’t you been there yet?” seemed the repeated response when ever I mentioned Monsieur D was taking me to FermentAsian, in Tanunda, for my birthday.

It seems we are way down the foodie chain when it comes to dining at this establishment, which has been opened for a couple of years.

Our booking was made three weeks out and closer to the day, I did come across a lot more people who, like us, were yet to go and even others who had never heard of it.

Post-dinner, my suggestion is do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get there for lunch or dinner.

View fullsize

Fresh betel leaves with sticky caramelised pork and incendiary components.

“Divine, sublime, delicious” is my refrain whenever I really, really enjoy something: a bit like Kath & Kim’s “noice, different, unusual” – except I'm not joking.

The DSD came out this night.

I had remembered John Lathlean, in The Australian, had written previously that chef and co-owner Tuoi Do “cooks with the hand of an angel”. That almost reverential tone stuck in my memory; here’s the original review and re-reading it after our visit, it totally sums up our experience.

My reasons for recommending FermentAsian?

This is cooking with harmony. Everything is delicately flavoured and in proportion.

Quality of ingredients.

The crackling on the pork belly. The broth on the warm mushroom salad. 

It’s in the middle of Tanunda.

The service is considered with the right amount of attention.

The smart, modern and comfortable interior.

The menu. The wine list.

It’s probably the best South East Asian food you’ll eat anywhere. Yes, really.

At our lovely young waitress' suggestion, we shared two entrees and two mains but opted for a mushroom salad instead of a side of seasonal vegetables stir-fried.

You can read more about FermentAsian here – and check out the menu and wine list. Click in the arrows below to scroll through photos of what we ate.

Stir fried SA squid with chilli jam and Thai basil

Hanoi spring rolls with salad of fresh herbs and 
classic Vietnamese dipping sauce

Warm mixed mushroom salad with galangal dressing

Barossa Berkshire pork belly with ginger and orange sauce

Lime brûlée

Our choices:

Thit lon cuon la lot
 Fresh betel leaves with sticky caramelised pork and incendiary components (4) $14

Nen Ha Noi 
Hanoi spring rolls with salad of fresh herbs and 
classic Vietnamese dipping sauce (2) $14

Tom sao ot 
Stir fried SA squid with chilli jam and Thai basil $26

Lon voi gung va cam
 Barossa Berkshire pork belly with ginger and orange sauce $26

Goi nam 
Warm mixed mushroom salad with galangal dressing $22

Bru lee chanh 
Lime brûlée $12

Lancome puts on a show with Alber Elbaz

You need to spare 1 minute 35 seconds to watch the cutest animated video to promote a fashion prince helping to sell a mascara.  Oh, la la. Something happy for a dreary winter's day.

French cosmetics company Lancome engaged Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz to pimp up the packaging for its legendary Hypnose mascaras (as well as some other pieces in the range).  

Talking Adelaide has a new object of desire - you can buy it here.  

It's said to be a limited edition range, and you know you're supposed to change over your mascara every four months ..... 

(Thanks to Vicki Archer at French Essence for the tip-off) 

Video: Alber Elbaz puts on a show for Lancôme

Sex and the City Part II

Found this piece by accident today and thought it was a good addition to the earlier post. 

Yes, it's a list and because those who love SATC can never get enough of this kind of reflection. 

Thanks to the UK website My Daily - it's called 11 SATC Carrie Bradshaw Questions You Need Answered. 

A bit of midweek fun. Roll on Friday's lunch with Candace. 

My Daily

Candace Bushnell here, SATC’s 15th anniversary

Carrie Bradshaw (aka Sarah-Jessica Parker) in Season 5 with that haircut. Picture: Into the Gloss

So I ran my finger along the Bs on the second shelf in our study and there it was: my 12-year-old copy of the novel Sex and The City by Candace Bushnell.

It looks like it was only read once. Unlike the box set DVDs that were watched endlessly – although not so much since Monsieur D returned to Adelaide a few years ago and Foxtel put SATC on semi-permanent rotation.

Thanks to the series’ Season 5, I’ve even had my hair cut short twice in the hope of replicating Carrie’s look for her Vogue job. 

My copy of the original book carries a cover quote endorsement from Helen Fielding, she of Bridget Jones’ Diary, saying “Intriguing and highly entertaining”.

A kinda limp assessment, don’t you think, given we know what SATC became.

I’ll be taking along my copy this Friday in the hope of having it signed by Candace Bushnell, who is guest speaker at the Adelaide Business Chicks lunch on July 19, at the Convention Centre; the date just happens to be my birthday. Talk about lucking out.

It’s a sort of timely visit by CB; last month (June) was the 15th anniversary since the pilot episode of SATC first aired in the US on the HBO cable network (the book was first published in 1997 and reissued in 2001).

I just happened to be in Bali in June 1998; our hotel had US satellite TV and I saw that pilot and the second episode the following week, while my poor cousin S was becoming acquainted with the porcelain thanks to Bali Belly.

Needless to say I was hooked but had to wait until September 6, 1999, for Channel 9 here to start broadcasting it. No downloading or streaming in back then.

Anyway, if you loved Carrie’s clothes (thanks Patricia Field) in SATC – you’ll love this anniversary slideshow on one of my favourite blogs, Into the Gloss.

The important moments are all covered, the only noticeable missing for me was the slinky pink fluro dress Carrie wore to lunch with Big when he told her he was getting married (Season 2 episode 18: Ex and the City). Shaken, she trips over a chair in her haste to leave the restaurant.

The slideshow includes another favourite; the navy dress she’s wearing while stuck on a day cruise with the loved-up Charlotte and Trey when she runs into the married Big (Season 3, Episode 8: The Big Time). Actually, I think I love her magazine-clutch bag more than the dress (see screen grab shot below).

What’s your favourite? Love to know.

The original 1997 edition cover. 

Imagining Frida Kahlo in Adelaide

Part of a portrait photograph of Friday Khalo by photographer (and lover) Nickolas Muray. Called Frida Khalo on White Bench. 

This is a sort of memo (and appeal) to Nick Mitzevich, director of the Art Gallery of SA.

Word has it the next blockbuster for 2014 at the AGSA is going to be another dead white male, after this year’s (fabulous) Turner exhibition, although probably French.

Now given Talking Adelaide is obsessed with all things French, that wouldn’t be too bad – especially, for example, if it was a visit from the collection of the Musee Matisse, in Nice.

However, TA would like to put forward its own suggestion – a dead (non-white) female instead. One Frida Kahlo.

As much as I enjoyed the Turner, imagine if our Art Gallery could secure an extraordinary exhibition such as this one which opened earlier this year, Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Frida Kahlo’s Wardrobe, at the Museo Frida Kahlo, in Mexico City.

Reading about it is enough to make me want to fly straight to Mex City before November (when the exhibition ends).

For the past decade, the Museo Frida Kahlo has been cataloguing some 300 pieces of clothing, jewellery and accessories plus documents, photographs and artworks all belonging to Frida, that were locked away after her death, in 1954, by her husband and artist Diego Rivera in a bathroom in the Blue House, the famous home they shared in Mexico City. Frida’s legacy wasn’t unlocked until 2002.

I’m linking (below right) to this long but compelling interview with the curator about the background to the exhibition that finally presents Kahlo’s “attire through the lens of disability and female empowerment, as well as her continued influence on fashion. The exhibition focuses on the ways Kahlo used her iconic style, often composed of traditional Tehuana garments, to project her feminist and socialist beliefs while also masking her debilitating injuries.”

Don’t you think this exhibition would push all the buttons: it’s 20th century, modern, has fashion/textile overtones, is about a culture so different from our own, has disability themes (so topical here) female empowerment and given that Mexican food is so popular now, we’d get all those hip and groovy types from Melbourne and Sydney to travel here. People do travel for art – the Turner attracted heaps from Perth apparently.

Oh, and the curator is now based in Singapore – so lots of publicity there, handy marketing link to Singapore Airlines? And also Vogue, as the Mexican  edition had a hand in mounting the exhibit. 

As always, let me know what you think – this is the kind of “blockbuster” I’d love to see here.

(See links at right). 

Frida Kahlo in New York City. Picture by Nickolas Muray 1938

Collectors Weekly: Uncovering clues in Frida Kahlo's private wardrobe

Museo Frida Kahlo

Classic Frida by Nickolas Muray.