Macarons of Melbourne

Sorry I've been away for so long fellow readers... I have disappeared for good reason though. I've been eating my way through Melbourne! There were two places in particular that I knew I just HAD to visit. They contain one of my favourite things in the world. Macarons!! Yes, I know they are an expensive habit in terms of eating. Yes, I know there is sooo much sugar in them. Yes, I know they are only a sometimes food. But give a girl a break alright? I was on a mini-holiday!

Our first macaron visit was to La Belle Miette, hidden in a cute unassuming store nestled within Hardware Lane. Isn't it just darling?

There was a huge variety to choose from. I was on a mission here to gather 21 macarons for my friend's 21st so we managed to snag at least one of each flavour for her. But of course, I couldn't let the opportunity of trying some macarons in Melbourne pass me by either so my friend and I decided to share a box. The store ladies were absolutely lovely and ever so patient!

The packaging is also very pretty in shades of pastel.

Left to right: violet & blueberry, salted caramel, mango & coconut, strawberries & cream, rose, cherry blossom & sake, $2.50-$2.75 each (I think?)

I was surprised by the blueberry and violet because I was a bit wary of how strong the floral scent of the violet was. But it was actually very subtle and enhanced the flavour of the blueberry. Very lovely! I was expecting more flavour from the mango and coconut though. It was hard to pick out either one of those BUT there was a tiny dollop of mango puree in the middle! The cherry blossom and sake definitely amazed me. Loved it!

Left to right: pistachio, vanilla, strawberries & cream, mango & coconut, salted caramel, hazelnut

My beautiful friend who studies over at Monash University also bought me a box to try! How sweet of her - I am blessed to have such good friends :) The salted caramel is a flavour that never fails me time and time again! I also particularly enjoyed the creaminess of the strawberries and cream macaron. The texture of the shells were also soft just the way I like it. Though I also love the chewier textured macarons too!

La Belle Miette
30 Hardware Ln
Melbourne, VIC, 3000
www.labellemiette.com.au

Opening Hours
Monday - Thursday: 10:00am - 6:00pm
Friday: 10:00am - 9:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am - 4:00pm

Store number two is further away in South Yarra! But it is also known for their macarons so it was a trip I had to make!

Box of 8 macarons, $22.00

Left to right: carmelised white chocolate, heilala vanilla creme brulee, sour strawberry, passionfruit & kaffir lime, ribena lemonade, pandan, coffee candy (kopiko), bamboo oolong tea

Can I just say oh my god about the flavours? They were all so good! And the best thing was, they managed to stay alive through the flight back to Sydney! I had packed the box with tissues around it due to my paranoia that the delicate macarons would get destroyed during transportation and I was surprised that they did indeed survive the long flight. I was scared air pressure would ruin them but they were as good as new when I opened the box (to my relief). I definitely have favourites - hello creme brulee and pandan!

We also managed to talk to the head pastry chef, Bernard Chu, who was ever so nice as to recommend the best restaurants of Melbourne! It was our last evening there before we had to fly back to Sydney and he encouraged us to make our way to Cumulus Inc (more to come later!) because my friends and I were going to make our way to Chin Chin again. Apparently Sydney's Ms G's run by Dan Hong is better ;) He also mentioned that he was just in Sydney the other week at the Shangri La hotel. Pity the Sydney weather echoed that of Melbourne when he was here - rainy and cold! Fingers crossed he'll get nicer weather when he's next in Sydney :P

Oh macarons of Melbourne, please come to Sydney.

LuxBite
38 Toorak Road
South Yarra, VIC, 3141
www.luxbite.com.au

Opening Hours
Open 7 days 10:30am - 7:00pm

Le Pub, Wynyard

Despite all the restaurants that I've been to on my adventures in finding delicious food, a cuisine that I hadn't tried yet was French. Ooh la la! Definitely excited to eat some snails. My friends and I were meeting for dinner to say goodbye to Ms Dentist-In-Training for 6 months as she flies back to Queensland for her teeth studies. I had just come back to Sydney from a road trip on the Central Coast, so it was a big blurring rush of dumping my luggage, showering, and running out of the house! Somehow, I still managed to get there first :P

Escargots de Bourgogne, $15.00

Snails!! I remember when I was younger and we were in China, it was the first time I had ever seen snails eaten as food. I looked at him with wide eyes and shook my head adamantly when my dad asked me whether I wanted to try it. Ten years later, I'd like to think I've matured and am generally open to trying new things. So here's to escargot! It really reminded me of mushrooms in terms of taste actually. The sauce was really good especially when dipped with the crusty bread. Could've gone for a more intense garlic hit, but I really love love love my garlic strong :P

Collet D'Agneau, $26.00

Ms Dentist-In-Training went for the lamb neck with a quinoa and herb crumb, cauliflower puree, shaved cauliflower and pea salad. The lamb was cooked to a perfectly medium rare and everything worked wonderfully together. And despite hating cauliflower, Ms Dentist-In-Training really loved the cauliflower puree to her surprise! Those peas have been freeze-dried I think.

Confit de Canard, $26.00

I couldn't go past the confit duck! I'm a sucker for roasted beetroot and I love carrots so this definitely caught my eye as soon as I saw it on the menu. The duck was incredibly soft from the confit process and fell off the bone with just a soft prod of my fork. Paired with the carrot puree, it gave the game meat that subtle sweetness and I was one happy duck eating this indeed.

Say hello to my friends who happily ate their coq au vin and steaks! Le Pub also gives fancy water with a slice of lemon in it :)

I found the meal to be extremely good value for the quality of food that we received and would happily go back to sample more items from their menu! Very happy first French dining experience :)

Le Pub
Basement, 66 King St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Stair entrances from both King St & York St
www.lepub.com.au

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 10:00am - 12:00am
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00am - 3:00am

Happy birthday daddy!

My father dearest turns 49 today! One year away from being half a century old ;) Despite my plans to serve courses, my dad had a craving for soy braised fish and was adamant on cooking some Chinese vegetable stirfries. He also thought that I should take it slow and not be too ambitious when cooking for a large number of people for the first time. Well, he did have a point there... We had invited my grandparents and uncle over as well because they have been cooking dinner for us very often lately! And it was about time they got to relax. Out of the dishes that I did cook, I'm definitely the proudest of my ratatouille and my spaghetti with a ragout of oriental mushrooms.

I did particular love this Pixar film. What's not to love about an adorable rat who can cook? Though in real life, I don't think any rat could be adorable. Even if it could cook. Ah how cartoons can make even the most ugliest of animals cute in some way. Anyway, I digress.

This dish is actually quite easy to make and the vegetables become so soft from the long braising process in the oven. For a dish so simple, I found it extremely delicious and satisfying. The hardest part was probably the layering but once I got going, I got into the rhythm of things and found myself in a state of nirvana almost ;)

Thomas Keller's original recipe for the movie is more complicated than mine and you can find it here. But I thought I'd go with something more simple before attempting his version. Instead, I adapted a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen.

Ratatouille
an original recipe by Crystal Noir

Ingredients

2 VERY small onions (probably half a normal sized onion), sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup tomato puree (I used a mix of tomato puree and tomato sauce)
1 zucchini
2 roma tomatos
2 baby eggplants
1 yellow bell pepper
Lemon juice
Balsamic vinegar (I used about 2-3 tablespoons)
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius. While oven is heating, pour tomato puree into the bottom of an oval baking dish (or whatever shape you want really) and scatter the minced garlic and sliced onion on top of the sauce. Season sauce generously with salt and pepper.

2. I'd recommend that all us non-Iron chefs use a mandoline slicer for the process of cutting the vegetables to make our lives easier - unless of course you are a ninja slicer and have mad samurai sword skills. Trim off the edges of the vegetables and slice the zucchini and tomatoes on the mandoline to about 2mm in thickness. I found that cutting the bell pepper by hand was easier.
TIP: Slice the eggplants last as they oxidise quickly! Squeeze some lemon juice on them to prevent this from happening.

3. Arrange the sliced vegetables on top of the tomato sauce so that they are overlapping each other and about 1/2 centimetre is exposed, alternating between dark and light colours for the most contrast. For example, zucchini (dark), tomato (light), eggplant (dark), pepper (light). Season generously with salt and pepper, and add a splash of balsamic vinegar. You can also sprinkle over some fresh herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme, etc) if you like.

4. Wrap baking dish in foil and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes - 1 hour. You want the vegetables to retain their shape and not be completely limp but clearly cooked through.

5. Serve with bread, couscous, or anything that takes your fancy really!