Category: Food

Strawberry Jam

With plenty of good, flavoursome strawberries available at this time of year, whipping up a batch of strawberry jam is fun thing to do. Not only for personal consumption (ahem) but a jar of hand-made jam is a lovely present in the festive season. I make a number of...

Prix Fixe and Its Narnia Themed Menu

Last Friday night, after the headiness of five Melbourne Writers’ Festival engagements in four days – plus two celebratory occasions – my wife and I went out to Melbourne restaurant Prix Fixe. Now, Prix Fixe is a fine dining establishment at any time, but when we saw its August...

Sour Ears

All right, creative people the world over – it’s time to give up. We, as a species, have reached the pinnacle of inventiveness, the utmost reaches of imagination, the zenith of ingenuity. We can go no further. Writers, artists, musicians, everyone may as well down tools; our work here...

Quinces

How I love quinces. Take this hard and unappetising cousin of the apple and cook slowly to see some magic. Gradually, they turn pink, then red, then deep burgundy – and the aroma becomes a fragrant, perfumed delight. These were simmered slowly for five hours and I think I...