The Singapore Shiok Truck
Last week you may have spied The Singapore Shiok Truck around town?  Singapore Tourism has brought a glimpse of Singapore’s Hawker markets to Sydney.  The menu has been designed by Audra Morrice (MasterChef finalist), and includes dishes Ketang Laksa $6, Nonya Chicken Curry $6 Sambal Stingray $7 and Popiah $4.

But what is shiok?  Shiok is a Singlish  term used to convey extreme pleasure and happiness.

If you missed out on escaping to Singapore for a few minutes last week, the Singapore Shiok Truck is around until Tuesday next week.

Sunday 10th March:  Overseas Passenger Terminal 12-3pm & Hyde Park (Cnr Elizabeth & Park Sts) 6-9pm.
Monday 11th March:  Bangaroo 12-3pm & Queen’s Square (Hyde Park Barracks) 6-9pm.
Tuesday 12th March:  Victoria Park (car park) 12-3pm & Harmony Park, Surry Hills 6-9pm

The Singapore Shiok Truck is part of Singapore Tourism Board’s ‘Get Lost & Find the Real Singapore’ campaign, which challenges Australian to go beyond the Singapore they know to uncover the true breadth of exciting experiences the city offers.

If you have a chance, be sure to check out The Singapore Shiok Truck for great food at great prices which hopefully will have you  exclaiming ‘SHIOK”!

School of Shiok
I was invited last week to the School of Shiok, a pop-up event in Waterloo, to get my hands dirty and have a go at making some Singaporean cuisine for myself.  Ed Halmagyi ‘Fast Ed’ was given the task of leading those invited through cooking the dishes. Read more →

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There is definitely a solid and thriving underground/guerilla dining scene in Sydney.  The concept has proved so popular that it has gone mainstream.  I give you guerilla dining’s offspring, the pop-up restaurant.  Once announced theses events are almost immediately sold out.

The difference between guerilla dining and a pop up restaurant,  is the former isn’t a off shoot of a normal restaurant, nor does it involve a trained chef.  Generally a underground/guerilla dining experience is a restaurant that is set up for one night, in somebody’s home, vacant warehouse or other non-restaurant site.

How do you find out about these events?  Social media, word of mouth or being on a mailing list.  Generally as soon as a dining event is planned, the coveted spaces are nabbed up pretty quickly.

I attended one such event for a Thanksgiving dinner at Mi Casa Su Casa.  Mi Casa Su Casa, literally means ‘my home is your home’ in Spanish.  This is exactly how our hosts, SarahKate and Andy, make us feel, very relaxed and at home.

I have only ever attended one other Thanksgiving dinner before.  I was 16 years old and cruising the Nile in Egypt.  Having quite a few Americans on board for Thanksgiving, the crew made sure to make a special effort for them.  Needless to say, the food wasn’t typical for a Thanksgiving meal, but was a fun evening nonetheless. Read more →

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I hadn’t heard of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (GFBCS) until it was bought to my attention via a tweet from Julie of Gourmet Getaways.  I must admit, I didn’t immediately jump at getting involved.  Mainly due to the time of the year, right when you are running around like a goose for Christmas.  Curiosity got the better of me, and I signed up.

This was the second year for GFBCS.  A USA based event, which includes a few countries, like Australia.  There is a US$4.00 charge to participate and that money is donated to charity.  The charitable cause is Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.  Money well spent as far as I am concerned.

So how does it work?  You sign up on the GFBCS website.  Once you confirm your participation you are instructed to make a US$4.00 taxable donation (if in the USA) directly to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.  100% of your donation goes to the cause.

Once the deadline for signing up has passed you will receive the names and addresses of three other participants who you will send your cookies too.  It is all hush hush, they have no idea you are their cookie provider, and you have no idea who you will be receiving cookies from. Read more →

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….. but only for one day.  If you work in town, head down to 255 George Street tomorrow (Wednesday 14/11/12), to experience a pop up olive grove.

I attended the launch tonight to get a taste of what Sydneysiders will experience tomorrow.  The NAB/Suncorp forecourt has been transformed, live olive trees, a farm house, communal rustic benches, flamenco dancing, guitar music and even a large Toro bull silhouette.

Did you know that Spain is the biggest producer and exporter of olive oil?  It makes sense when you consider there are around 60 varieties of olives grown in Spain and that olive oil is the heart of Spanish culture.

Justine Schofield will be cooking up a storm with her specially created recipes featuring Spanish Olive oil.  Free tasty samples of her dishes will be available to those that pop by.  Dishes include rice pudding with poached peaches, charred vegetable salad with grilled prawns and confit of salmon with chorizo crumbs. Read more →

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You may have seen Instagram photos and tweets from me over the last weekend tagged #edb2012.  I tried not to kill your twitter streams with being over enthusiastic, if I did, I really am sorry.  For my followers that aren’t food bloggers, and there are a few of you, Eat Drink Blog 2012 is the annual Australian Food Bloggers Conference.

I was one of the lucky 80 food bloggers that descended on Adelaide like locust ready to devour wonderful produce, drink amazing wines, connect with fellow bloggers, share ideas and learn.

What a full packed weekend!  Discovering some Adelaide eating gems with a few fellow food bloggers.  Exploring Adelaide’s Central Market.  There was a trip to the Barossa.  An incredible delegates dinner at the Adelaide Hilton.  Finished off with a full day of sharing and learning with other like minded people. Read more →

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Happy Halloween everyone!

Whenever Ms.G’s announce that they are putting on a special Saturday lunch, I am probably one of the first to call the Merivale booking centre to make a reservation.  It has become a tradition for Josh and I to have a ‘mummy & me’ date, and enjoy the surprises that Head Chef, Dan Hong, comes up with.

Normally I don’t see the actual menu for these events advertised before the actual day.  This time the menu was posted on the Merivale website.  I had booked at least a month before I saw this.  When I did, I had doubts on if I wanted to actually attend the seven course, $75/head lunch.

I kept thinking to myself, and reassuring Josh, that Dan loves playing on words and what is written isn’t necessarily what we will get.

Oh how I was wrong ………….. Read more →

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I am not a dessert person.  Hand me a glass or red, soft gushing ripe triple brie, mild creamy blue and a sharp cheddar after dinner and you will win me over every time.  Therefore, I admit when I first heard of the Halloween Dessert Degustation taking place at Studio Neon, I wasn’t quick to jump at attending.

Attend I did!  Of course I was going to when the three ‘chefs’ on the evening are friends of mine.  It was much excitement that Josh and I rocked up to Studio Neon to enjoy the spoils of two days hard work by fellow food bloggers, Billy (A Table for Two), Phuoc (Phuoc ‘n Delicious) and Karen (Citrus & Candy). Read more →

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Have you heard about Plates for Mates?  Have you heard of Chef Matt Golinski?

Matt is an Aussie chef that reached celebrity status for his appearances on the television cooking show Ready Steady Cook.  Tragedy struck Matt and his family during the early hours of Boxing Day (26th December) 2011, when their family home was engulfed by fire.

Matt’s wife Rachel and their three daughters Starlia, Willow and Sage’s lives were lost in the fire.  Matt not only suffered the unbearable loss of his family, but also sustained third degree burns to over 40% of his body.

Plates for Mates is a fund raising initiative conceived by some of Australia’s leading chefs; Janelle Bloom, George Calombaris, Manu Feildel, Damian Heads, Alastair McLeod and Gary Mehigan.  A way for them to express their care, concern and support for Matt.

Funds raised from Plates for mates fundraising initiatives go to the Matthew Golinski Recovery Fund Trust and also The McComb Foundation.

Most fundraising events were held between 1st – 30th April 2012, however there are still a few events happening.  One of those events is a cooking class with Zigi Ozeri. Read more →

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I love how powerful social media can be, especially how quickly word can be spread through twitter.  Okay, there can be a downside of this, for example if the word being spread is derogatory or is malicious in some way.  Then there are the positives that are spread like wildfire, and Twitter was my source for the 3 Chefs & A Pig, dinner and tweetup (#swinedining) at Crown Street Assembly.

Within an hour of the event being unofficially announced, I had tweeted my intentions to attend and phoned Crown Street Assembly to book in.

Fast forward a month, Mac, Josh and I are attending this booked out event for 40 people.  A dinner of five porkalicious courses with matching wines for $95/person.

The three chefs involved are Paul Cooper (PC) of Crown Street Assembly, Darren Templeman (DT) of Restaurant Atelier and Phil Whitmarsh (PW) of Lochiel House.  The pig for the evening, well it is a pig, no name shared, probably a good thing for those that don’t like to play the ‘naming my food’ game. Read more →

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