Reading a great book

Chef, Dan Barber wrote "The Third Plate"
It is a long discussion of the pursuit of flavor in the food.  It looks firstly, at eating local.  He discusses the culture of the place.  
He looks at heirloom varieties  of plants like rice and corn,  he looks at sustainable fishing, and at the relationship between Spanish oak tree acorns the geese, the pigs etc. 

The third plate, however, goes further , looking at the whole ecosystem and it signifies caring for the soil in the production of food.  For example,  finding delicious ways of serving the grains the we grow in crop rotation, grains like triticale. 
The Japanese undertake this when they make soba noodles from the buckwheat that they grow after the rice crop.  Perfectly harmonious.
Our land is so marginal here, we should take better care.  

Bush Turkey Blues

The guy with the tractor came and we had him shift a big mound of compost around the back to spread around the veggie gardens.  However the bush turkey got to it first.  He has raked up every piece of straw, mulch, bark, lucerne.  His mound is now the size of a small car and is still going.  Grrrrrr

Miner's leaf - what a great winter green

We took a chance and bought some of these strange little  seedlings at the local market.  They had tiny leaves as small as moss. They grew profusely during our winter.  The leaves grew bigger and the plant grew bigger The leaves are very tender and delicious .  We snipped off huge handfuls every day.  It's really easy to grow, one clump would feed a family.  It started with a small cluster the size of a soup spoon. ....bad news....the market guy says that they are winter only.
I'll be very happy to put them in again next year. Great value.

First Lettuce Eaten - not grown on Earth

Just heard the great news.  NASA announced that the astronauts have eaten a lettuce which was entirely grown on the space station.  James on Rn breakfast radio just said
"That's one small bite for a man, one giant leaf for mankind"

I love it.

The "Vero" Villanova

I submitted this small item at the occasion of our friend,Ted, attending his school reunion - Villanova College.

Our son, Chris, is a Villanova old boy.  At our first interview we attended with a view to Chris attending the school, he was asked about five questions regarding his interest in playing Rugby,  Ah those cherished  Augustinian values....

​However, the true Villanova{n} is my dad, Alf Villanova.  He was born Orfeo Giobattista Villanova in Due Ville in the Veneto region. Dad came to Australia when he was two years old and was famously bitten by a tiger snake, and lived... He grew up in Ayr.

​When I was growing up, there were only three Villanova's in the phone book-:

​

​     Villanova Players

     Villanova College

     Villanova, A. J.

I would always have to spell my surname until someone would interrupt and say Ah Villanova, like the college.  ........So I could ALMOST say "Iona College"... 

Of course,  you already know, being well-educated, that the name Villanova  is for St Thomas of Villanova. and that there is even a Villanova University in  the U.S.A.

But did you know there were ancient Villanovans, who were early iron age people, centred in north eastern and central Italy.  They introduced iron foundry to the peninsula.  

Alf Villanova, 88, sends his congratulations upon the occasion of your reunion and wants you to know that the view from "over the hill" is pretty good.  The proud name of Villanova goes back a long, long way.

And we Villanova' s all agree "V" for Villanova  "V" for victory

Cheese Party - IL Secondo Piatto

Now the big cheeses.

First aroma out of the oven is the crushed Sicilian olives in olive oil - Heated at 45 degrees.  A range of stronger cheese came out on their new wooden board.  On the boards were Sicilian olives and they were to accompany the provolone piqante.

Provolone Piquante, the strongest of the soft cheeses but the most delicate of the strong cheese.

Ann's Special Blue cheese is is next, a ripe Roquefort mould on a paler cheddar like cheese. Very strong Roquefort flavour and more pleasing and delicate than the traditional blue. (I think)

A triple decker from Southcape.  This one has three stripes top stripe filled with Sundried tomatoes, the second stripe, a vintage cheddar and the third, summer herbs.

Vintage Cheddar - A mainland extra aged cheddar, accompanied by spiced pears.  That is a match made in heaven

Blue Cheese - Traditional. Very robust  may also be accompanied by the spiced/pickled pears. Not for the fainthearted.

In the middle of the cheeseboard were matchsticks of pecorino.  A sheep's milk cheese, like a Parmesan, parmeggiano- reggiano, but milder and more pleasant eating, I think.  A provocative accompaniment  was a large deep purple shiso or perilla leaf. - just to scratch and sniff.  I was curious as to whether people could pick up the "umami" flavour in both the leaf and the pecorino.

The last big aroma from the oven.  at the very end of all the cheeses  was a warmed piece of dark chocolate. 70% proof. Just to smell, not to eat....
The bread  In keeping with the tenet of the day - mostly local and not too much processed junk. The bread was a beautiful sourdough, wholemeal baguette from the local baker.

Outside for a silly game.  We trooped outside and Don organized a game of Finska.  It is a kind of skittles with numbers.  Everyone stayed in their teams and there were lots of laughs.

The Elizabethan dessert was a kind of strawberry shortcake, but the pastry was Maggie Bier's sour cream pastry.  A very delicate flaky pastry topped with a baked ricotta and glazed strawberries which are at the peak of perfection right now.  Thanks, Elizabeth.
.
Thanks for coming, everyone. Thanks for making the journey up the range and making your own cuppa'.  We had a ball putting this together and enjoyed your company.  So grateful for the good weather.  Today, it is raining and cold.

Cheese and Aromas - The cheese party

A beautiful clear day.  Hooray after the week of very bad weather.
The guests were happy to be here and had a reasonable drive up the range. We ushered them into the lounge where the fire was softly burning.  We started off with a sherry, remember sherry,  it has been a while.  We had small blue vein cheese biscuits with a toasted walnut on top.  Jill E. said she hadn't had sherry for 30 years.

Then the french onion soup which had been slowly cooked on the fireplace stove over many days, was served in the lounge.  We put a slice of  toasted baguette topped with runny emmental cheese. Onion soup is always surprisingly sweet.  One of the guests picked the star anise.  Well spotted, Liz. Then we stepped outside into the warm sunshine.

The First Cheese course -  Guests were arranged in teams of four.  Each team had their own cheeseboard and accompaniments pots honey, tamarillo chutney, bread and crackers

The perfume of spearmint is almost exactly like the taste of the childhood spearmint lolly - a most pleasant sweet minty-ness.  To kickoff the cheese guests were invited to smell the spearmint leaf and then to taste the super tangy yoghurt cheese.

Have you ever smelled clover flowers?  They are in  bloom right now.  It is the most beautifully- perfumed flower.  It has a super floral scent.
The fromage blanc has a little more sharpness than ricotta, and a finer texture.  It is made with rennet, buttermilk, and creme fraiche.  Sounds great, but it is very mild.  Guests were invited to mix some finely minced preserved lemon and or some crystallised sambal.  The accompanying aroma was the clover flowers with a spoon of local honey. This was warmed to only 45 degrees in the oven in a small porcelain pot. The warming of the pot really boosts the aroma. The honey from basil flowers. Beautiful honey.  Some people wanted to buy honey.

The next aroma out of the oven was lemon - lemongrass, lemon peel and lemon juice.  This accompanied the Jindi camembert and provolone piquante.
The provolone is a complex cheese, it has many flavours for such a pale form. It finishes with a kick.

Cheese Party Menu - Home, Home on the Range

Starter: 

Gorgonzola Wafers and sherry

Soup:  

French onion soup with Emmenthele 

Cheese platter with accompaniments and aroma aids

Vintage cheddar or blue vein with poached ginger pear – your choice

Salads and Palate cleansers

1. ·   Tomato Panzanelle salad
2. ·      Watermelon and Feta Salad
3. ·      Green salad, microgreens from the orto                                                                                      that’s Italian for backyard

Three home-made cheeses

1. ·      Fromage Blanc,
2. ·      special blue
3. ·      Labna – yoghurt cheese

Elizabethan Dessert

An interesting Book - "Cowgirl Creamery Cooks"

We are hosting a cheese tasting party.  For stimulation and motivation I am reading the "Cowgirl Creamery Cooks", a book from California about these two artisan cheesemakers.

They suggest aroma aids like from freshly mown spring hay and late harvest gold straw, slate, chocolate for even oyster shells! The idea is you put the aroma aid into a flask add a little water pass the flask around and sniff the aroma.  The fun is in trying to match the aromas to the notes in the cheeses.  I am thinking of playing around with Lemon grass, mint, straw, ginger.

It is the partnering here that matters.  The same for any accompaniment.  It is possible to accent cheese flavours with foods of similar note, or a contrasting flavoured food may accentuate the cheese's own characteristics.

Wish me luck.

The book details are

"Cowgirl Creamery Cooks".  Sue Conley & Peggy Smith.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco. California. 2013.

Climate Modelling Middle earth

Here is the link to the you tube -  part one of climate modelling Middle earth.  Climate Model of Middle earth part one

This is part of the mooc, (short course) I am doing.  How much fun.

Fun at the Cirque

Big day out at the Cirque du Soleil.  So much fun.  So much to see every second - and that is before the show starts.  There are clowns roaming through the crowd before the show, generally creating mayhem.   One of the clowns spoke entirely Italiano.  By the time I realized, he was standing right in front of us.  So, of course, I shouted "buona sera". He shot around. We had a lovely chat.  He wondered where I learnt Italian.  Right here.
Bravo Signora, la Maestra molto severa...Dalla scuola Giossue Carducci.

A short Course "Denial 101 X"

Why do smart people deny climate change?  This question has really bugged me.  So I heard John Cook on the local radio and I have enrolled in my first MOOC - (that is a free uni course on-line).  The course is - Denial 101x. Making Sense of Climate Change Denial. This means the course is concerned with the psychology, history and philosophy of climate change denial.  It discusses the various myths one by one and the techniques adopted by the anti-science brigade, like for instance, "Cherry Picking" evidence.

The course is comprised of a series of youtube videos. The course contributors are famous scientists from all over the world.  The course is very user-friendly and it does not lead to a qualification.  I am up to week three and the  course concludes 16th June.  I think you can still join.  Denial 101x

It is very entertaining, .  I think that it might just make a big difference to the world discussion on climate change..... there are now more than 15000 people enrolled in the course.  Oh and did I mention, it is free.

ps:  My friend, Dorothy, is doing an Economics course from Harvard.

She says she has never studied economics.... ha...

Staggerwocky - Chris

My friend Chris just bought a Stag, and he celebrates a big birthday.  So here is a poem:-

Jabberwocky -  the first Draft, by Lewis Caroll.

STAGGERWOCKY

`Twas brillig, and that slithy John
  Did retire and gimble on the waves:
All mimsy on the borogoves,
 And there John’s boat did stay

"Beware the Staggerwocky, my son!
  The jaws that bite, the clutch that catch!
Beware the Top Gear host, and shun
  The frumious Clarksonsnatch!"

Chris took his new Ipad in hand:

  Long time the manxome stag he sought -

So rested he by his bandersaw

  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

  The Staggerwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through a Melbourne wood,

  And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

  The credit card went snicker-snack!

He BOUGHT the beast, and with his wife

  He came galumphing back.

  

"And, has he slain the Staggerwock?

  ......Och Aye, a brand new toy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

  He chortled in his joy

`Tis brillig, and the Twidle lathes 

  Do gyre and gimble in the shed;

All mimsy is the staggerwock,

  Now home, in Reesville, is its bed.

Expo Milano 2015 Motto Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life

It has arrived.  1st May marked the start of the World Expo in Milan, Italy.  The theme, being Italy is, of course, food. There were protests at the start, unfortunately. However with 140 countries participating and six months to go.  Lots of fun and calories to be had.

Here is a link to the web page.  Milano Expo 2015
It is so exciting
There are Seven sub themes.
There is an app called -  World Recipes. There are very exciting ambassadors.

This is an Italian astronaut; -

Captain Samantha Cristoforetti has announced her commitment as Ambassador for Expo Milano 2015 from the International Space Station.

International Women's Day Debate. Finally Got the video

We finally got the link to our daughter, Amanda's speech in the international Women's Day Great Debate. It took place in the Brisbane Convention Centre to a packed house.


Worth a Look? Best in show I think.  Here's the link:- < I. W D Debate 2015 >