Taste of Sydney media launch

The Taste of Sydney is finally here! After all the successful Taste Festivals in London, Dublin, Dubai, Cape Town and Melbourne, Sydneysiders finally get to have their first “Taste” in March, 2009. Over four days, Centennial Park will turn into a giant buffet table, where a number of Sydney’s finest restaurants will offer their signature dishes for you to sample and enjoy.

I was invited to the Taste of Sydney media launch at Centennial Parklands Dining, all thanks to Prue from Mint Partners for organising a whole bus load of foodbloggers to the event, pre-arranged by Christie from Fig&Cherry. (Thanks Prue and Christie!) We got the chance to have our first Taste of what is on offer at the festival and can’t wait to see what the chefs have up their sleeve.

Clockwise L to R: lineup of best chefs Sydney has to offer; foodie sampling the exquisite food at the launch; Alan Saunders, food critic from TV show Chopping Block has his first hand review of the food

This year, a selection of the best restaurants taking part in this festival as below:

Becasse & Etch • Longrain Restaurant & Bar • Pilu at Freshwater • Berowra Waters Inn • Jonah’s at Whale Beach • Restaurant Assiette • Restaurant Balzac • Bird Cow Fish • Sailors Thai • Danks Street Depot • Civic Dining • Ottoman Cuisine • Flying Fish • Centennial Parklands Dining • Buon Ricordo

Even though I am the new kid in the foodblogging circle, I am very proud to be part of the community and to see foodbloggers being invited to the media launch, the opportunity to mingle and socialise with the critics, journalists and chefs is quite an achievement.

I am not very good with faces, especially the chefs who always hide in the kitchen. Eventually me and Augustus Gloop started playing game, guessing who is who. So I’ve decided to do a bit of research and put the faces on each dish that I’ve sampled at the media launch.

So let me tantalise your tastebud with what the best chefs in Sydney have to offer.

Longrain - Spicy pork sausage betel leaves & pickled ginger; Chef: Martin Boetz; portrait taken by - Jeremy Simons

Spicy pork sausage betel leaves & pickled ginger, a great flavour of modern Thai cooking by Longrain. A great combination of flavour and texture, the fiery kick from the spicy pork sausage, the sour pickled ginger and a little bittersweet from the betel leaf.

Berowra Waters - A Soignee Truffle Risotto with Mozzarella and a Spinach/ Fennel Rockerfella Sauce; Chef: Dietmar Sawyere; portrait taken by - unknown

This is one of my favourites – The Berowra Waters‘ golf ball size truffle risotto is pan-fried till crisp while the rice inside is cooked to perfection, clinging to the gooey stretch of mozzarella. The spinach and fennel rockerfella sauce is mild with a hint of aniseed taste, works surprisingly well with the mozzarella.

Danks Street Depot - Pastrami of kingfish with smoked oysters and a cucumber and apple salad; Chef: Jarred Ingersoll

Danks Street Depot offers kingfish pastrami with smoked oysters and a cucumber & apple salad. The tender plump smoked oysters and the salty kingfish pastrami in contrast with the clean crisp apple and cucumber salad will definitely send your senses to the Mediterranean.

Ottoman Cuisine - Etli Borek - crisp home made filo rolls filled with braised veal shank, currants & pine-nuts, served with pomegranate and yoghurt sauce; Chef: Serif Kaya

Ottoman Cuisine gives the traditional Turkish Etli Börek a modern twist. It makes sense to convert it into a springroll rather than a triangle parcel for the outdoor festival. The braised veal shank is flakey with mild sweetness of the currants and crunchy pine nuts for texture. Can easily see myself grab a handful.

Centennial Parklands Dining - Beetroot Macaroon with foie gras; Chef: Mark Best; portrait taken by - unknown

Looks like Chef Mark Best from Marque is helping the Centennial Parklands Dining out by coming up with The beetroot macaroon with foie gras, probably the hardest dish to track down among the crowd. Apart from diamond, macaroon comes close to be girl’s best friend. The spongy beetroot macaron with full flavour of foie gras lingers in the mouth, wash down quite nicely with the sparkly.

Sailor's Thai - Prawn Miang served with peanuts and lime on betel leaf; Chef: Ty Bellingham

Sailor’s Thai offers another dish using betel leaf. Prawn Miang is a crowd pleaser with fresh prawns mixed with crunchy peanuts with a drizzle of lime wrapped in betel leaf. A simple traditional Thai flavour.

Flying Fish - Yellow fin tuna with ruby grapefruit and sweet pork crackling; Chef: Peter Kuruvita

This is another favourite of mine, yellow fin tuna with ruby grapefruit and sweet pork crackling by Flying Fish. The lightly seared yellow fin tuna is warm and firm, with a soury tartness from the ruby grapefruit, accompanied with the crunchy crackling.

Restaurant Assiette - Sydney Rock Oyster with Vietnamese dressing, crispy shallots and baby coriander; Chef: Warren Turnbull

The Sydney Rock Oysters were fresh and plump, bathed in Vietnamese dressing to give it a sweet and soury flavour, garnished with crispy fried shallots and baby coriander. Brough to you by Restaurant Assiette.

Restaurant Balzac - Wagyu Beef ' Bourguignonne' with Truffled Cauliflower and Onion Rings; Chef: Matthew Kemp

Less is more, simplicity at its best. The Wagyu Beef ‘ Bourguignonne’ by Restaurant Balzac is my favourite dish among them all. The tender, flakey wagyu beef rolled up into a tiny crisp finger is amazingly addictive. I can see myself sitting in front of TV, chain smoking these wagyu beef cigars.

Becasse & Etch - Mini organic grass fed wagyu burger; Chef: Justin North

The mini organic wagyu burgers by Becasse is rather below my expectations. The idea of beef pattie has rather taken all the characteristic of a nice piece of wagyu away. It is juicy and moist nevertheless, in a cute little crusty sesame bun.

Bird Cow Fish - Celeriac and smoked trout remoulade with ocean trout roe; Chef: Alex Herbert

Bird Cow Fish presents you a spoonful of celeriac and smoked trout remoulade, topped with ocean trout roe. I find the tartness of the celeriac a little overpowering, with only a little hint or none of the smoked trout flavour.

Jonah's at Whale Beach - Mini vanilla panna cotta with pomegranate molasses and lavender honey; Chef: George Francisco

The most controversial and memorable dish of the evening has to be the extremely wobbly vanilla pannacotta with pomegranate molasses and lavender honey by Jonah’s at Whale Beach. Everyone is giggling like a schoolgirl having such great time holding the plate in one hand, jiggling the pannacotta with such glee, while the boys joke about the jiggly pannacotta reminiscent of the female’s torso. The pannacotta is light and fluffy, velvety smooth texture with such great vanilla flavour.

Civic Dining - Double chocolate hazelnut baklava; Chef: Peter Conistis

The media launch finally comes to an end and we finished off with Double chocolate hazelnut baklava by Civic Dining. The baklava is heavily compacted with chocolate and hazelnut, it is rich and heavily coated with sweet sugary syrup

The Taste of Sydney will be held 12-15 March 2009 at the Brazilian Fields, Centennial Park.

Entry ticket costs $25 and can be purchased through tastefestivals.com.au & Ticketek. ($30 on the door)

You can sample the best food and drink at the festival by purchasing Crown tokens. 1 Crown = $1. Crowns may also be used to purchase food and drink from the exhibiting producers at the event. Sample size signatures dishes will be priced at 8, 10, or 12 Crowns each.

The Emirates Lounge – VIP Ticket is selling fast! The VIP package costs $100 (includes $30 worth of Crowns, VIP entry to the event & access to the VIP Emirates Lounge with complimentary drinks and refreshments at The Emirates Lounge bar with live music, a great atmosphere to mingle with the foodies and rub shoulders with the award-winning chefs)

There are also 80 food and drink producers in the Producers Markets, Taste Wine Experience, James Squire Beer Masterclass, learn gourmet tips in the Australian Gourmet Traveller Taste Kitchen, or meet one of Australia’s most renowned chefs at the Chef’s Table.

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Taste of Sydney
12 - 15 March 2009
Centennial Park - Brazilian Fields

Opening times:
Thursday 12th March – 5pm-9pm
Friday 13th March – 11:30am-3:30pm & 5pm-9pm
Saturday 14th March – 11:30am-3:30pm & 5pm-9pm
Sunday 15th March – 12pm-5pm

W: www.tasteofsydney.com.au

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