Friday 31 December 2010

The year that was 2010

2010 is rapidly drawing to a close and I wanted to put up a short post thanking everybody for reading - and especially those of you that commented! - this year. It's been a big year, and I've still got several places I want to write about gestating in the drafts folder: hopefully I'll manage to write about them in early January. Later in January I'll be visiting New Zealand for the first time (Christchurch and Marlborough, so if you have any food and wine tips for me I'd LOVE to hear them).

A few extra morsels for thought:

Duncan's Christmas macarons

The week before Christmas saw Melbourne's macaron maestro Duncan go berserk with a bumper range of flavours, including the yuletide-inspired duo of cherry and Christmas spice, and some others laced with pop rocks for an (explosive!) taste sensation that reminded me of a Pierre Roelofs dessert I had in August. My favourites from the selection we bought were the cherry, the effervescent passionfruit and the violet & aniseed.

The weekend before Christmas I was up in Sydney for a family celebration and on the Sunday afternoon I introduced family and friends to Porteño, the Argentinian restaurant I raved about a few months ago. I was devastated to hear upon arrival at the restaurant that it was their last ever lunch service (from now on they'll be open only at night, seven days a week), but I'm just glad I got to sit in that sun-drenched atrium one more time!

Food-wise, my expectations for my second visit were SKY HIGH and Porteño DELIVERED IN SPADES. All of our dishes were excellent, but the crowning glory was the crisp brussels sprouts with green lentils and mint, deep fried and served with vincotto and mustard. Gourmet Traveller editor Pat Nourse named the dish one of his top 10 for 2010 and I can see why: they're insanely delicious and unlike any other brussels sprouts I've had before. The recipe can be found here!

Porteno brussels sprouts

And for a bit of end-of-the-year fun, here's a video slideshow of (just about!) all the Melbourne Gastronome-related photos I took in 2010. Regular readers will recognise lots of familiar dishes - and a few familiar faces! The video was made using Pummelvision (thanks to Hannahbabble for the link).


So it's goodbye from me and the ninjabread men for 2010, and I look forward to seeing you all over the intertubes in 2011!

Ninjabread menNinjabread man

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats on another year of blogging - looks like you had a great 2010 and heres hoping 2011 will be even better. Enjoy NZ - it was years since I have been there so all my tips are a bit redundant but I think Grab Your Fork has been fairly recently?

Jo @ Second Helping said...

Thanks for entertaining us all with a great year of blogging - I do love reading your posts. It's a voice I can relate to. Have a wonderful 2011 and enjoy NZ (no suggestions from me unless you venture to Auckland I'm sorry)

Temasek said...

Have a Safe one Claire and see you on the other side of 2010, which is to say 2011!!!

Anonymous said...

the pummelvision video makes me dizzy, lol. happy new year to you!

msihua said...

Gotta love the ninja bread men!!I want some macarons now.. MmMmm... Have an awesome near year and lets sing again!!!

Duncan said...

Hey Claire - First off, Happy New Year. Per your NZ trip - I used to have a restaurant & wine bar just outside of Christchurch in a town called Lyttelton. If you get the chance, take a 20 minute trip to Lyttelton (Banks Peninsula is stunning) on a Saturday when the Farmers Market is running (10AM to 1PM). I helped to start it and has now managed to reach its 5th birthday & going strong. Lyttelton is a great wee town - best of what NZ is about - try the Lyttelton Coffee Co and the Monster Bar if you get the chance. Per ChCh places - gets yourself into the Bohdi Tree - it is Burmese & flavours are fresh as & the folks who run it are great. Also good for food is St. Germain - could of Frenchmen who know what to do with food. Also make a trip to the Canterbury Cheesemonger - Martin & Sarah are superb cheese folks - Martin used to work @ Neal's Yard in London. They just moved their shop to the Art Centre due to earthquake damage. Jonny Schwass of Restuarant Schwass also does a decent cook up & a nice guy. If you are driving to Marlborough maybe make a lunch stop @ Pegasus Bay Winery - chef Oliver Jackson does a smash up job, the setting is phenomenal & the wines aren't bad either. If you want or need any more suggestions or ideas for Chch or Marlborough don't hesitate to ask....

Duncan twitter.com/the_wino

Hannah said...

Have a fabulous time in NZ! I've really enjoyed discovering your blog this year, and can't wait to read more in 2011 :)

Tresna said...

A wonderful year of food adventures Claire! It was so great to see it all summed up in your video - great job! I was trying to count how many times the macarons appeared :)

kathryn said...

Hi Claire

For your trip to Chch definitely follow Duncans advice - they are also all my favourite spots in Chch too. And if you get the chance pop into either the Bicycle Thief or the Twisted Hop - they are both great spot in the city for a drink. And for a sweet indulgence the Cupcake Parlour on salisbury street has the lightest fluffiest cupcakes i have ever tried - and continuing the macaron theme try www.jaimelesmacarons.co.nz (location of their store on the website). Enjoy.

Em said...

Happy New Year! Thanks for another year of brilliant reading. Looking forward to more good eating and reading in 2011!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Happy New Year Claire and it was so nice to have the chance to meet you last year (now doesn't "last year" sound like ages ago!). May 2011 bring lots of great food and fun! :)

Juliet Sulejmani said...

i love your video slideshow of all your photos. such a great idea!

- Juju