Pineapple, Beets & Carambola Salad


This recipe is for people who can't stand the earthy, ferrous and dirt flavour of beets. Surely I am not alone in my hatred of this root vegetable with it's pretty,  jewel-red colour?

I can't tell you how to feel about beets, but if you don't like them, then I can tell you that this salad  makes them  much more palatable. If on the other hand, you  have a love affair with these garnet bulbs,

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DISCLOSURE
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Trinidad Corn Soup




We are in full swing for the annual Carnival celebration which culminates in a two day explosion of colour and music as masqueraders take to the streets in sequins, feathers and glittered splendor.  It is indeed something to be experienced. Even if you can't be here, you can still have a taste of Carnival if you make this soup which is sold by street vendors at most carnival fêtes.








Power to Purslane and a Professor





You know that nasty weed that keeps popping up all over the garden? Well I ate it! Just so you know and in case you find me on the floor foaming at the mouth you'll know what to tell them in the ER.

Let me start at the beginning. I'm not much of a gardener but I do love growing things. A few months ago, I came across some packets of seeds that must have been at least 2 years old. I wasn't at

Post 390, Boston

You'd be surprised how difficult it is to get baked beans for breakfast in Boston. Baked beans are like Massachusetts Republicans. They exist, but they keep a very low profile. So don't be fooled by the brunch menu at Post 390, 406 Stuart Street, Boston, MA, Tel +1 (617) 399-0015. No beans there. But ask your waiter, and tell them how much you were looking forward to sampling their magnificant house-baked beans, and you never know your luck.

post 390 eggs

Haiti-Donor Beware!

It has been difficult to take pictures of or even think about food because of the events in Haiti.

The desperation of a country that on a good day was already very badly off, plays constantly in my head. I feel somewhat guilty to be going about my daily activities, while thousands of people have suffered such terrible loss. I know many of you feel the same way.


The many dead in Haiti

Cuban Roast Beef - Boliche Relleno


Holiday meals in my family are much anticipated occasions to try something new in the kitchen. This year was no exception. My sister decided on this lovely roast which we served with sides of stewed red beans, yuca con mojo,  tostones (twice fried plantains) and of course my orange salad. Delicioso. Unfortunately the roast was all I got a chance to photograph.

Boliche
5-6 lbs beef eye round (

Grigons & Orr, North Melbourne

Well, there's egg and bacon; egg, sausage, and bacon; egg and spam; egg, bacon, and spam; egg, bacon, sausage, and spam; spam, bacon, sausage, and spam; spam, egg, spam, spam, bacon, and spam; spam, sausage, spam, spam, bacon, spam, tomato, and spam; spam, spam, spam, egg, and spam; spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, and spam; or Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a mornay sauce garnished with truffle pate, brandy, and a fried egg on top, and spam - Monty Python breakfast menu

Unfortunately there was only one spam dish on the menu at Grigons & Orr, 445 Queensberry Street (corner of Chetwynd), North Melbourne, Tel +61 3 9663 5192. Because spam was the highlight of the pan fried spiced ham topped with scrambled egg and drizzled with truffle oil. And you know something's wrong when the highlight came straight from a tin.

grigons n orr - spam n eggs

The eggs were your average scrambled eggs. The toast was your average thin-sliced toast. And the truffle oil was so lightly drizzled as to escape detection by my amateur taste buds. This may have been the desired outcome of an ingenious plan to cast spam as the spicy star on a bland stage devoid of distracting flavours. Or it may have been a bad day in the kitchen. It was certainly a bad day for hash browns. Mine was extremely doughy and barely palatable.

Could this really be the same place that Preston, Valent and the copycats had raved about? Was it my fault for ordering spam spam spam and eggs, rather than apple fritters, cous cous porridge, or pancakes with Barbados cream? Maybe so (although others have slammed the pancakes).

It is a quaint little venue. They do sell mixed lollies (whoopee). The coffee is good. And the staff are friendly. But, in my biased opinion, if the eggs aren't up to snuff, who gives a crap about crocheted blankets?

13/20 "spam"

grigons score

Mitte, North Fitzroy

For Melbourne's best poached eggs, go to Mitte, 76 Michael Street, North Fitzroy, Tel +61 3 9077 7379. I'd like to say the world's best poached eggs, but there are two good reasons not to. First, I have not yet tasted every poached egg the world has to offer. And second, I try to avoid saying things that make me sound like a total pillock.



But trust me. These were some seriously good eggs. Nice shape. No puddles of poaching water. Deep, dark golden yolks, oozing to perfection. And a taste so good you'll want to eat these fellas nude. Just shove a bit of pure, unadulterated egg in your gob and enjoy. Or maybe smear it on some Dench toast. But don't dress it up in too many fancy flavours. Try to enjoy the simple pleasure of a fresh, free-range egg.

Which is not to say that Mitte doesn't also give good flavour. Having savoured some naked egg, you can move on to a very tasty chick pea bake, some goat's fetta, a leafy herb salad, half an avocado and a squeeze of lemon. All served up with a couple of slices of very fresh Dench sourdough toast. Ausgezeichnet.

The flavour continues with the Cheap-Eats-Award-Winning potato and chorizo omelette with Collingwood College kitchen garden tomato and fennel chutney, and a tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil salad. Or for those who like to start their day with dessert, the "breakfast crumble" of cinnamon poached pears and apples topped with a crunchy-granola-ish toasted macadamia crust. Personally, a gut full of such sickly goo first thing in the morning would make me want to barf. But each to her own.

Less sickly, but still sweet, are the pikelets, which I can highly recommend with lemon curd, fresh lemon, brown sugar, maple syrup and marscapone. Really, really good. You can also have them with berries, or with the exotic-sounding middle eastern fruit compote (although this has been said to lack a little zing).

I am, quite frankly, amazed this place has not had the gushing, raving praise it deserves (only Cheap Eats has stuck its neck out with a gong). The food is great. The Atomica coffee is excellent. The venue is a cute little white box in a quaint little corner location. The staff are polite. About the only thing wrong with Mitte is that you have to wait a bit. But that's what happens at good places. If you want fast service, go somewhere bad, where there are no other patrons to get in the way.

19/20 "poached egg perfection"

mitte scores 19

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