Modern cuisine is one of my passions, I wish there were more restaurants in NZ offering it without worrying about the stigma attached to it by people decrying the evils of anything other than what they are comfortable with. Brent Savage runs the kitchen at The Bentley Bar, it’s located in Surry Hills in Sydney [...]

As part of Rick Stein’s Food Odyssey Tour they are calling for an homage to Kiwi food, something that speaks tradition, or rather, something that stands for the identity of New Zealand cuisine. I’ve always liked a good boil-up in spite of always knowing that it wasn’t the perfect meal, and that too many of [...]

I’ve had daikon a few times in the past but in it’s cooked form it has never appealed to me, raw it is great, after playing around with it at home I am still not a huge fan but it was more palatable. I poached it first to soften it a little and get some [...]

Crisp tubes of deep fried pastry full of creamy sweetened ricotta, it’s hard to go past this iconic Sicilian dessert for iconic Italian food. I found a recipe on the internet but unfortunately for most people it was in Italian, I have translated it for everyone to enjoy.

I hate the word Rustic, it conjures up childhood images of ugly farm furniture featuring worn out paint and the design of something that a 5 year old would be capable of, because of this mental imagery I am reluctant to call this dish Rustic but would happily class it as simple home-style Italian, or [...]

Cooked cream doesn’t sound too appealing but it you say it in a foreign more romantic language it’s going to have mouths watering. Panna Cotta can look as elegant as it is simple to make, and you can throw it together well ahead of time with ingredients you probably already have around the house. Past [...]

I love Pizza! It is one of the things that I am usually very pedantic about when eating out, often avoiding eating it unless I know the eatery by experience or reputation. Usually I enjoy a simple clean approach, the Margarita was my usual choice in Italy, sometimes I would embellish a little and add [...]

Another trip to the farmers market means another lunch using great fresh ingredients. The Salmon comes courtesy of The Salmon Man who had a stall there this morning, some baby carrots and fennel, snow pea shoots and a loaf of dark rye bread. Some brief instructions on what I did after the break.

Success! The last time I tried to make some thing with Choux pastry it didn’t go too well. Whether it was not cooking out the Panada or not beating in the eggs enough, I am not sure, but this time around I was a little more determined to make up for my past failure. Recipe [...]

The serving ware is totally optional on this one, but I don’t have four (or any) soufflé moulds, so if it was a matter of necessity rather than trying to be trendy or buck tradition. The flavours for this are now a fairly typical combination with ice creams, cheese cakes and muffins proving it is [...]