Holmesglen and William Angliss TAFE

This September, Adam D'Sylva had the chance to grace his presence at Holmesglen Tafe and William Angliss. He has done many other demos and constructed lunch/dinner menus at other Tafes around Victoria, but I'm only going to mention these 2 TAFEs because I was there to create my dessert and document the experience.

HOLMESGLEN TAFE

I have failed to produce many photos, but managed 3...hahaha I did try harder the next times at William Angliss though.

Menu:

Freshly shucked oysters with pomelo and soy mirin dressing

Soft prawn and pork rice paper roll

Crispy prawn betel leaf with soy vinegar

That's Amore buffalo mozzarella, zucchini, pea salad with goats cheese fritters

Yellow duck curry with rice and palm heart salad

CODA orange brandy snap with white chocolate mousse, blood orange sorbet and sugared almonds

Adam delegating the plate up of the mozzarella dish

Piping the white chocolate mousse into the baskets

CODA team: Adam D'Sylva, me and Dominic Kim

Class #2 group photo

Holmesglen had their CHEFS INDUSTRY ICON DINNER where celebrity chefs like Adam come to show their dishes from their restaurants and the students cook the menu. The dinners are a great way to meet the chefs and have a cheaper meal than what would usually be paid at their restaurants. It is a set menu and these programs allows students (apprentices and non apprentices) to learm new things from different chefs. At Holmesglen, we had 2 classes. The first were first year apprentices who prepped the dinner, and the second were year 12 VET students who plated up during service. Devastated I wasnt able to take many photos, but was determine to remember the next one.

WILLIAM ANGLISS TAFE

DEMO:

Thursday Class

That's Amore buffalo mozzarella, zucchini, pea salad with goats cheese fritters 

Crispy skin ocean trout with green mango salad and black pepper sauce

CODA orange brandy snap with white chocolate mousse, blood orange sorbet and sugared almonds

While Adam was showing a demonstration, I took the photos of him demonstrating to the class.

DAY 1: In the kitchen with a 3rd year apprentice class

Braeden Cleaves (an ex CODA apprentice working at Spice temple) and I

Chef/ teacher David Whitfield delegating the waiters to take the food

Students posing with Adam

Poor guy, the only casualty that happened that day with the oil sputtering from frying the fish

Adam demostrating the black pepper sauce for the trout

The plate up line

The main dish

Pictured left: Alan Timu (CODA apprentice chef who also goes to William Angliss)

The plate up of dessert

DAY 2: In the kitchen with Non apprentice class

Libby (Belgium Beer Garden) making the flourless orange cake in the only massive bowl we could find. hahahaha

The plating of the Mozzarella dish

Adam engaging the whole class in making the black pepper sauce

Class photo with Chef/teacher Freddy BossHart

The experience with the students were so much fun!!! Being an ex William Angliss student myself, it was fun going back and seeing the teachers and feel that things have not really changed for the last 5 years.

Xx

Back to work!!

Hello everyone!! Boy do I have heaps to tell you this week. I have been so busy and have been dying to blog about my first 2 weeks back at work. With the foot still heeling and learning to walk properly again, I gotta say time has flown by so fast..I need to catch up on sleep. So, to begin the goss...I'm going to show you my new specials on offer at CODA!

Pear souffle with macadamia ice cream and ginger bread crumbs

replaced by...

Banana souffle with chocolate hazelnut ice cream and muscovado tuille

If you love ferrero rocher, this ice cream is to die for!!!! CODA's sexy chocolate ice cream is teamed up with Gianduja (hazelnut paste) and crushed hazelnut brittle = OMG.."better than SEX" hahaha and you can't go wrong teaming that up with banana souffle.

 Chocolate blood orange tart with blood orange and coconut sorbet

This dish was very tasty with the jaffa, coconut flavour runing through it. However, it is not as popular as the...

Chocolate tart with salted caramel, sweet corn ice cream and caramel popcorn

You can't go wrong with salted caramel!!! I am in LOVEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I know, I know..sweet corn ice cream..its weird right? WRONG!!! So popular in ASIA, I married the corn with the caramel to compliment the chocolate tart.. So...try it before you say...REALLY?

Caramel popcorn

I popped popcorn for the first time in a pot on the stove. It was a very fun experience. I just love the popping sounds and the vibration of the lid everytime it 'POPS'. So much fun!! I was tempted to eat it all instead of serving it.

There isn't a picture, however, ice cream sandwich flavours are kaffir lime ice cream and coconut sorbet. One word x 3...YUM YUM YUM!!!!!

Special taste plate for the lovely friend who visited from SYDNEY!!

He wished not to be named, so...you know who you are and thank you for the surprise visit!!! You've made my week!! I feel very special!! I hope you enjoyed the tasting as much as I had the pleasure plating it up!

I don't think I'm sampling anymore...but I might call it.. ''Quality control". HAHAHA...not.

Have a great night!!

Xx

Mamasita

Hi all! The last time I visited Mamasita in June, I ate very little as it being the first restaurant of the progressive dinner that night. But I remembered to come back to sample the menu whole heartedly to see what the waiting in line was all about. I was not dissapointed.

The line for lunch was shorter than the long line people endure for dinner. YAY!! So, I made my way to a seat at the bench near the window. A menu was presented and away I ordered...

First up,

A refreshing mocktail juice

Tostaditas de Cangrejo

Tostaditas are 2.5 inch fried tortillas with toppings. I chose the crab one which was accompanied by avocado, cucumber, tamarind mayonnaise and red chilli. OMG explosion of flavour in the mouth alert!!

Elotes Callejeros

I couldn't resist the temptation of ordering the corn coated in shaved cheese, chilli and lime. YUM YUM YUM!!!

Ceviche de Atun

These come in 2 sizes, and this is the smaller one. Packed full of flavour in a glass, it is a mixture of yellowfin tuna, blood orange, avocado, pickled jalapenos, lime, coriander and toasted sesame seeds.

Tacos de Lengua y Mejilla

These 6 inch soft tacos are filled with braised veal tongue and ox cheek, pickled vegetables and ghost chilli mayonnaise. On the side was some green salsa to add more flavour to the dish. It was delicious..the ghost chilli doesn't hit me until the second half of the taco. So ENJOYABLE!!!

While taking a break from my lunch, I checked out the surroundings and check that out!! A pot plant in a clear bowl..funky lighting!!

So, how can I not order desserts??

Fritturas de manzana

These are apple fritters with vanilla pear sorbet. The batter is thick and crispy and I think there are grains of polenta or something..it's interesting. The sorbet is tangy and white and smooth. It is a lot..I couldn't finish it. It's a very filling dish, but to me it needs more flavour..like a spiced sugar or something. But nonetheless, I was a very full woman after my meal there!

I love all the savoury food at mamasita!!! For more info go to their website at www.mamasita.com.au

Xx

Sydney: Claude's!!

My 48 hours in Sydney started at this restaurant, Claude's. Stylish, unique, modern and special. It has a very subtle door. You have to ring the door bell, and a waiter will come out expecting you. It's great! I felt right at home! I'm not a writer, so I'm not going to weave a sexy story in your head and try to describe the room and atmosphere. hehe... but I would like to say that the walls were beige when I was there, but have now been informed they have repainted the room to a dark colour. Check it out on their website. They have an upstairs area which are full of antique awesome crockery, plus they have a pastry kitchen in which I would love to work in that space!! It looks like heaven to me hahha.

Claude's offers an A la carte menu and also a tasting menu. On this night, my friend and I had the 8 course degustation on offer..here is what we ate!

Choux pastry filled salmon mousse, potato crisps

These were our canapes to whet our appetites..yum..

Chicken liver parfait, taro cracker, archar pickle

Bare with me, my memory has left, but I remembered this dish to be creamy from the liver parfait marrying well with the rest of the components on the dish. 

Sydney Rock oysters, pickled rose, raw button mushroom, oyster cream, pig ear chips

I remembered this to be my favourite. One, because I love oysters and I especially love the crispy texture of the pig's ears and the oyster cream. YUM YUM YUM!!!!

Fennel pollen with hot & fragrant broth

This dish was quite tasty, like the rest of the dishes on the menu. My friend Hien loved it!..I think it was his favourite. The broth was just so flavoursome!

Albacore tuna, bay of fires clams, snake beans

The tuna was delicious!! There was also thinly sliced courgette (Zucchini) and the sauce was AMAZING!!! It was a spiced chicken base stock like the soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup).

Root vegetable, Cubeb pepper and vanilla

There was carrot, beetroot, Jerusalem artichoke puree, pickled purple potato, seasoned with cubeb pepper, vanilla, nori and Southern Highlands truffle. It was good a good dish to separate the fish course and the meat course. The vegetables were very tasty!!

Aylesbury Duck and Abalone in a herbal concoction

This dish consisted the following contents: Duck breast, braised thigh, abalone, eggplant custard, Thai long green eggplant, grilled scallions, oyster mushroom, sweet leaf. The sauce is a herbal concoction inspired by the malaysian ''bar kar tay''.

Caramel parfait, young coconut & ashen puffed rice

In addition to the description, there is also yoghurt jelly, coconut water & ginger granita, and young coconut ash on the plate. It was lovely!! Ben the sous chef is my muse and inspired me to use the Ashen puff rice on my menu too. It tastes GREAT!!!

Bitter orange souffle, chocolate and cointreau cream

I usually don't order souffles, but will eat it if it's part of the package. In my mind it's like just egg white and fruit puree. But, this one was light and fluffy! Well balanced in flavour and it was perfect looking!!! The waiter will ask to make a hole in the center of the souffle and he/she will then pour the chocolate cointreau cream into  it. A good way to end the meal.

Thank you to Chef Chui Lee Luk for the great food and creations! Special thanks to Sous chef Ben Sears who looked after Hien and I at Claude's. You are definitely my muse and I will see you in Sydney again before I write my Summer menu. 

www.claudes.com.au 

Xx