The most delicious things you have to taste in 2016
FROM Philly cheesesteak fries to watermelon cocktails, here’s our list of the most delicious things you have to try in Victoria in 2016.
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FROM Philly cheesesteak fries to watermelon cocktails, here’s our list of the most delicious things you have to try in 2016.
PHILLY CHEESESTEAK FRIES
It’s already God’s gift to cardiologists the world over, but trust Adelaide’s uber-chef, Jock Zonfrillo, to go one further, taking all the good bits of a Philly cheesesteak and slathering them over hot crispy chips. It is, frankly, genius. Zonfrillo is looking after the late-night snacks at Heartbreaker, the CBD dive bar that comes with royal cocktail pedigree (it’s from The Everleigh crew). So when the clock strikes one and much drinking has been done, get a plate of those fries from the Love Street Diner at Heartbreaker and all will be well. DS
*THE HOT 100 THINGS TO EAT, DRINK & DO: IN TOMORROW’S WEEKEND
DIRTY SOUTH AT BIGGIE SMALLS
Joining a slew of chefs turning their high-end smarts to low-rent ideas, Collingwood’s Biggie Smalls is Shane Delia’s modern reimagining of a kebab served up to a soundtrack of namesake old-school hip hop. And those kebabs redefine the genre, with none better than the Dirty South, which smears spiced pumpkin pie hummus over thick pillowy bread toasted warm that’s then filled with pieces of fried chook that’s all golden crunch. Add excellent pickles to cut through, and you have the first kebab that’s wasted on the drunk.
CRACKLE & CO
Move over nuts, there’s a new bar snack in town. Crackle & Co is a pork crackling product from Greenvale Farm, which is behind some of the best pork in the land. Using only Australian ingredients — including the pork — it’s free of MSG and other additives and comes in balsamic, sea salt and chilli flavours. Beer in one hand; crackling in the other. Happy days. DS
CONGEE FOR BREAKFAST
It’s the bowl of breakfast beloved by millions across Southeast Asia, but Melbourne is only just awakening to congee’s charms. A soupy rice porridge that swaps the sweet for savoury, it’s a comforting and, thanks to a liberal sprinkling of chilli, enlivening way to start the day. Variations are endless; fish or chicken or mushroom are popular options, topped with coriander, fried shallots and chilli. Tuck into a bowl at the fun and funky Magic Mountain Saloon (62 Lt Collins St), Seddon’s Luxsmith (5 Gamon St) or at the just-opened Lawyers Guns and Money from the Lee Ho Fook team (505 Lt Collins St).
A BOILED EGG AT CULT OF THE VINE
It’s the bar snack that puts peanuts to shame. Just one buck will get you a hard-boiled egg to crack on the edge of the table, peel, and salt to taste.
Brad Lucas, owner of this quirky natural wine-focused bottle shop in Brunswick where you can try before you buy a glass to go with your goog, says there’s no wine that an egg doesn’t match. And you know what? He just might be right.
URBAN DAIRY CHEESE
Exclusively made by award-winning cheesemaker Jack Holman for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s Urban Dairy hub, the strawberry gum tomme is a mature cow’s milk cheese using local native herbs and spices such as strawberry gum, mountain pepper, lemon myrtle and paperbark. The head cheesemaker at Yarra Valley Dairy, Holman foraged for most of the ingredients for the cheese. “Each cheese you make needs to be understood in its own unique environment,” Holman says. “A cheese made in the south of France may take on an entirely new character when made here in the Yarra Valley.” Try it during the festival (March 4-13) at the Urban Dairy on Queensbridge Square. DS
DIEMEN’S HOT SAUCE
It’s Australia’s only native hot sauce that’s even got US barbecue aficionados talking. Made in the Dandenong Ranges using Tasmania’s native mountain pepper — five times hotter than regular black pepper — Diemen’s has a unique Australian bush taste thanks to Queensland-grown habanero chillis and other local ingredients (it’s a secret recipe, so they’re pretty tight-lipped on what goes in). But with its bang-on packaging that’s as hot as the sauce inside, Diemen’s fires up the barbie — and culinary imagination — in the best way. DS
FIRST PRESS OLIVE OIL
As the saying once went: oils ain’t oils, and when it comes to olive oil that’s never been truer. Australia produces some of the world’s best olive oil and Cobram Estate in Mildura produces some of the finest — as its trophy cabinet of gold medals attests. With oil, fresh is always best and there is none fresher than the first harvest extra virgin oil that is released each year. The first fruit of the season is picked and cold pressed within hours to create a signature Australian flavour. It’s pure, crisp and filled with vibrant complexity, perfect to drizzle over salads, finish meat and seafood dishes or simply enjoy with bread. Available from the end of April. DS
MARION’S ROAST CHICKEN
Yes, the grilled calamari is great. So is the smoked duck and pasta fricelli. But few people leave Marion — Andrew McConnell’s convivial new Fitzroy wine bar — without trying the amazing roast chicken. So fleshy, so succulent and accompanied by different sides depending on the season. Right now, it’s freekeh and mustard leaves. To drink? A Geelong pinot comes highly recommended. SP
GREAT OCEAN DUCKS
When you have such acclaimed chefs as Ian Curley (The European, Kirks, French Saloon) singing your praises you must be doing something right — and so it is with Great Ocean Ducks. “It’s is a really great product,” Curley says, and Andrew McConnell agrees, selling them at his new butcher shop, Meatsmith in Collingwood (as does The Chicken Pantry at the Queen Vic Market under the 12 Apostle Duck label). The Aylesbury and Pekin ducks at Greg and Jodi Clarke’s farm are paddock-reared, free-range and fed a diet of strawberries throughout summer and apples and pears at other times. The duo has just released a cookbook filled with recipes from the chefs they sell their ducks to, including Brae’s Dan Hunter. DS
LOCAL TRUFFLES
They are elusive and exotic, shrouded in mystique and lore. But while truffles have an air of European exclusivity, Australia is actually the world’s fourth-largest producer of perigord black truffles and you’ll find some of the best being grown in the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula. The Melbourne Truffle Festival, now in its third year, celebrates this capricious fungus during its brief season that begins in June. There will be affordable truffle tastes at the Prahran Market (June 17-19). Or go on a truffle hunt, taste extraordinary olfactory treats including truffle beer and vodka or simply be seduced by this exquisite mysterious fungus during the regional festival weekend at Max’s Red Hill (July 15-17). DS
DRINKS
WATERMELON COCKTAIL AT TETSUJIN
Come for the sushi train, stay for the cocktails at this sexy new Japanese restaurant concept on the Emporium’s fourth floor. Served in half a watermelon, this fruit fun pack blends fresh watermelon juice with soju liquor and bobbing watermelon balls. MM
REMEDY KOMBUCHA
It was once was the preserve of ageing hippies and new-age healers, but thanks to the new-found love of all things fermented, kombucha is gaining widespread popularity. The most delicious introduction to this live-culture tea-based drink is through the Remedy range. Founded by Sarah and Emmet Condon and coming out of Mordialloc, the all-organic, lightly sparking drink comes in flavours including ginger lemon, crisp apple, hibiscus kiss or, for purists, the original, which is sweet and sour in equal measures. Its slogan is “love ya guts”, and we love it back. DS
FLAMIN’ GINGER BEER
Based in South Melbourne, Capi has been making a splash with its Australian waters in restaurants and homes for the past few years, but the new range of mixers is shaking things up. There’s a dry tonic and a bitter blood orange, but it’s the flamin’ ginger beer that’s really hot stuff. Developed with The Beaufort’s Dave Kerr, it’s a seriously spicy ginger beer — with double the ginger, chilli and capsicum, it’s got the heat and spice that will give your next Moscow Mule a proper kick. DS