SIFF Week #1

The first week of the Sydney International Food Festival (or Crave, or whatever they're calling it this year) is over and SO MUCH eating has already occurred!

In lieu of any recipes (as if I've had time much less appetite to bake) here's a brief photographic overview:


Cocktails at Monkey Magic, Surry Hills, for Cocktail of the Month. The drink in the photo is actually a Deus Ex Nectar - orange blossom belvedere and Pedro Ximenez sherry - so, not actually the cocktail of the month. I give my promise as an eyewitness that the SIFF deal was excellent value, for whatever that's worth!



Lemon meringue tart at Becasse, to go with the Let's Do Lunch deal of risotto of South Australian prawns and proscuitto, served with Brown Brothers wine. The risotto was very nice, as were the amuse bouche of black olive biscotti and the restaurant's signature fresh bread. The best part of the meal, perhaps, were the envious glances cast towards our table when we received our beautiful little pre-desserts: kiwi fruit granita with tiny meringues, orange jelly and champagne mousse. I drink your envious glances! I drink them all up! :9



Azuma Kushiyaki's double bento box of desserty Sugar Hit goodness. This included a chocolate mousse with berries, pannacotta, matcha green tea tart, wasabi ganache tart, madeleine, orange macaron (with smiley face) and a glass of Brown Brothers' dessert wine - all for $20! There were certain elements that didn't quite work (the berries on the mousse, the pastry on the tarts) and opinions amongst our group were quite divided over the matcha and wasabi tarts but for the most part this is by far the best value and cutest Sugar Hit I've ever seen.


Finally, I got up at an INSANE (for me) hour to make our 7.30 am booking at Single Origin's Origin Breakfast of coffee, served 3 ways, and Yemen-themed food.


First up was siphon coffee. The barista made the coffee for us right at the table - not without some difficulty, as the morning breeze played havoc with the open gas flame - which I thought was extremely impressive! (Though, when I have tried to describe it to other people since then, they don't seem particularly impressed. "So, it was basically like that stovetop camping coffee, but in a fancy glass flask?" "... well. Basically.")



The savoury course consisted of saltah (a spiced egg and rice dish) and flatbread. Very tasty.



Cold-drip coffee, which we were told took all night to prepare with 'one drip every other second'. No heat is applied to the beans at all. The barista compared the end result to cognac!



The third and final coffee was the classic espresso - YUM. Mine was a skim flat white.



And last of all a dessert we were told had been prepared by the chef and his girlfriend - adorable! We weren't actually told what it was, so all I can tell you is that a) the cake was caramelly and layered, and b) those are preserved prunes on the side, and c) it was SO GOOOOD.


So there's week one. Now I need a salad.