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Tags: campos, flour and stone, friends, newtown, picnic
The end of last week marked the last day of my 3-month internship as a café/food photographer for Time Out Sydney. Wait, what internship?! I was keeping this a little quiet as even I found it rather overwhelming (in the best possible way) because really, what’s more confronting than being presented an opportunity to do something you love? (SELF-DEPRECIATORS UNITE). Paralleling the near completion of my degree the harsh realities of life have begun to set in and sadly I decided to turn down Time Out’s offer to continue interning to persue, well, a real job. SIGH, the food photography dream is over (for now).
In lieu of the current absence of any sort of vague employment that burns like a dark and horrible void in my life (lol jks I’m fine guys) I now have a lovely collection of photos I’d love to share with you. SO! If you’re from SYDNEY and you like FOOD and PHOTOS this post is especially for you; hold onto your TASTEBUDS, bust out your wide-angled LENSES and set up your TRIPODS in the middle of a BUSY SPACE and feel totally AWKWARD with me as I present you with a few of my favourite spots I was asked to shoot.
Black by Ezard at The Star, Pyrmont
Another fine dining contender to the seemingly-empty-but-ever-improving Pyrmont area. A torturous shoot as I was pining over everything, especially that honeycomb dessert. A lady yelled at me because she thought I was taking her photo (I wasn’t).
Porch and Parlour, Bondi
A sweet abode with honest food populated by friendly locals and total Bondi bros alike. I’d be happy to call this my local should I one day live in the area (though not likely thanks to my fear of sand). Dish pictured below is smoked salmon and avocado on quinoa bread, a gluten free oasis on a plate.
La Croix, Potts Point
Part coffee corridor, part café, part designer showroom. Beautiful wares in a gorgeous space specialising in tartines and tarte tatin (I had to double-check the spelling of each, that sentence is a minefield). I visited a few weeks later with friends and both were excellent; sitting amongst the immaculately staged glassware and roses had me feeling like a million bucks (however strangely oscillating between both casual and fine dining). Would be interested to hear what others think of this café.
The Grounds of Alexandria, Alexandria
And of course no Sydney food blog would be complete with some snaps from the Grounds! Haha! I’m a walking cliché. These were taken on my first day watching and learning so here are some quick sneakies; it also illustrates my former self hinged on taking closeups, closeups and more closeups (I very quickly learnt to stop that immediately).
Big, big thanks to the team at Time Out for the opportunity! It was such a great experience, learning heaps (a royal buttload, in fact), conquering my holding-a-camera-in-public phobia (is this a thing? It should be a thing), seeing my photos in print and meeting some really sweet café and restaurant owners. I think they’re hiring another intern so if you’re a potential camera wielder do apply, you’ll be a better person for it.
Tags: black by ezard, cafe, la croix, photo shoot, porch and parlour, restaurant, sydney, the grounds of alexandria, time out
So I’ve been massively ill since Tuesday. Everything was prepped and organised for a little shoot that day however, and most unfortunately, I only managed a few minutes of snapping before collapsing in bed. I’ve been drowning in blankets since and last night was the first time I was able to leave the house without crying like a total manbaby. The number of cool and important thing I’ve had to cancel this this week is super disappointing and even as I type this I should actually be attending a friend’s BBQ (pray for Mojo).
Upon reviewing my very few recipe photos from Tuesday I began thinking… my intention of starting this blog 11 months was not just to publish original recipes but also to celebrate the occasionan of food, since it’s such an huge element that brings us all together. The last (and might I add FIRST) time I posted about such an occasion was Julie’s baby shower in July of last year. So, Until my body drags itself out of its present, feverish daze I thought I’d share some photos from a few weeks ago, a little picnic at Sydney’s Hyde Park with the greatest of friends… and some new ones too. Amazing eats should go without saying because these guys are the greatest in the kitchen. Oh and see if you can spot my Jasmine + Pandan Macarons!
Tags: picnic
I’m terrible with anecdotes so to spare everyone a long-winded and poorly written story here’s a super condensed version; I was hanging with my friend Mel last week at one of our favourite establishments when I received a text message from home explaining a bag of fresh papaya was just delivered. I’m one of those annoying people who read text messages aloud and Mel must’ve seen the question marks pouring out of my ears so she began to explain all the wonderful benefits of papaya, saying she’d read somewhere its seeds are apparently peppery and delicious. Cool, right?
Thanks to my clever friend and a little dehydration action I’ve come up with this Papaya Pepper Sorbet. It’s times like these I wished I owned a little café or restaurant (my ~FOOD DREAM~) because this is one killer palette cleanser. And shout outs to my vegan pals ‘cos this is one for you! So long as you have some waiting time on your hands this is one of the easiest desserts to create; all you need is some papaya purée, coconut milk, sugar syrup and a spritz of lime. Throw in some ground papaya pepper too for a little something-something, too. It’s pretty great. And can also be made with pawpaw, or a mix of both fruits!
This makes around 8 palette-cleansing serves of papaya sorbet. If you’d prefer to serve this as a full blown dessert dish then I humbly suggest you double the recipe.
Papaya Pepper Sorbet
(an original recipe)
500g papaya, including seeds
65g (1/3 cup) sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) water
60ml (1/4 cup) coconut milk
30ml (1 shot) Malibu, or coconut rum
1 lime
For the papaya pepper
1. Preheat oven to 80°C. Halve the papaya and scoop out seeds. Spread evenly on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and dehydrate for an hour, or until the seeds are dried. Once cooled blitz them in a spice grinder.
For the papaya pepper sorbet
1. Purée papaya flesh in a food processor. Remove and place into a bowl and combine with coconut milk and coconut rum.
2. Prepare sugar syrup by combining sugar, water and juice of half a lime over medium heat until dissolved. Simmer for a few minutes until thickened slightly. Add to papaya mixture along with a squeeze of the remaining lime half. Place in the fridge for a few hours to cool completely, but ideally leave overnight.
3. Add 2 heaped teaspoons of ground papaya pepper into the sorbet mixture and prepare in ice cream maker, as per instructions. Serve immediately, garnishing with a few whole peppercorns.
Thanks to Impact Communications and Australian Papaya for the papaya and pawpaw! You guys are rad!
PS. I’ve been typing this up over the last few incredibly rainy days; the sun has finally decided to show itself today which makes me feel a little less weird about posting a sorbet. AND SPEAKING OF RAIN (clever segue), has anybody managed to get along to Vivid Sydney? Every single evening I’ve been free it has absolutely poured, last night included, but since yesterday was the finale of the festival I threw on many, many layers and braved the cold to enjoy the lights. Lovely stuff (and I’ll take any excuse to throw up a gif).
Hi Alan, we are delighted to confirm you will be part of the MasterChef Live Masterclass this Thursday. The reason for this masterclass is to showcase to the media a snap shot of what you can do at the MasterChef Live event coming up in a few weeks time.
Receiving this email on Tuesday had me so elated I was willing to forgive the blatant typo of my name. And also the section that read “Arrival time: 7:15 am for registration”? Yeah, I was blinded by my excitement on that one as well. Morning struggles aside however, I arrived fresh (I’m lying) with digital media comrade and fellow food blogger Dorothy of Zumboriffic fame.
Being welcomed by the glorious, infamous Masterchef clock was enough to shake the decaffeinated mess out of me.
We weren’t entirely sure what to expect besides the chorizo, flames and “white shirt, dark pants” dress code mentioned in the email but we were very kindly explained this would be a brief masterclass covering some kitchen basics and the majestic art of the flambé. Oooooooh.
First lesson: knife skills. Because I understand a photo of chopped herbs makes for riveting blogging here you go, my shallots finely chopped to perfection (cough).
Some familiar faces dropped by to assist. Here’s Adriano Zumbo sans dessert in hand.
Miguel Maestre seemed comfortable wooing the ladies whilst educating the audience of the correct pronounciation of chorizo (“CHORIIITHHHOOOOOOO”).
Second lesson: mis en place. A truly commendable effort, our group’s sliced chorizo.
Amongst the commotion Dorothy and I were able to fangirl our way into a couple of photos. You know that vaguely awkward moment when someone offers to take your photo and they don’t particularly turn out how you would like? So I ask you, what’s better; a blurry photo or a photo where you’re either blinking or about to start speaking with squishy face? You decide.
BOOM BOOM SHAKE THE ROOM.
More slicing and dicing ensued amongst the chaos of the celebrity chef’s presence. And girls swooning over Hayden.
“Hey, this bread looks pretty good. Where did it come from? Oh… duh. Hahahaha.”
Everyone crowds around the gas burners for the first flambé of the morning. Say hello to Allesandro Pavoni and Shaun Presland (and get a load of the BFFs on the left).
Lessons learnt? A little fire brings so much joy to even the most experienced of chefs. Perhaps anyone who enjoys cooking is just a pyro with a cause.
… and eating garlicy chorizo for breakfast, as delicious as it may be, leaves you feeling a little on the “seasoned” side for the rest of the day. Thanks again to MasterChef Live and Cheeky for such a fun filled morning!
Tags: celebrity chefs, chorizo, flambé, masterchef
Let me introduce you to two of my friends. Firstly, there’s Julie; she’s expecting her first little one within the next few weeks! Secondly, there’s Felicia; current employee of the Rockpool Group and pastry chef extraordinaire. Why is this relevant? Because, in celebration of this wonderful occasion we partied hard. We partied hard with baked treats made entirely by Felicia. Baby cupcakes, chocolate truffles, cookie pops and baby pink lamingtons; this girl is amazing.
The evening was concluded with a tour of the nursery and a slice of gorgeous cake by Celebration Cakes.
Waking up the following morning with a (carb) hangover has never has never felt so worthwhile.