Burch & Purchese To Hold Pastry Demo's At Melbourne's Newest Cooking School

Ever wondered how a Pac-O-Jet Works?

What's the secret to a perfect chocolate mousse?

You would like to know what makes a great custard?

Burch & Purchese are holding a series of pastry demonstrations later this year we are pleased to announce. Melbourne's newest and best equipped cooking school 'Class' run by the talented people at Rely Services is open soon, with a fantastic schedule of chefs all on hand to help you improve your cooking. We look forward to seeing some of you and helping your skills develop. Please contact  relyservices.com.au for details of this years schedule & soon as their website is up we will post here

Lemon Meringue Pie Anyone?

After the holiday season has passed you would think we have slowed down a little, well not so. Ian got to work on making these cool lemon meringue pies for a private function earlier this month. Sometimes with all of this modern cuisine, and new techniques, you can forget some of the older dishes that have stood the test of time. The reason people still make and love these creations are for one reason, they are delicious! We were ably assisted by our ever helpful commis Marie who, as you can see, really enjoys her work as well.

Great Night With A Great Chef

Chef Adam Melonas

The famous Octopops

Tuna sashimi

Glad to help

Adam at work

Yoghurt Risotto

Thermo reversible Nutella spheres

Liquid centre chocolate doughnuts

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know of our admiration for chef Adam Melonas. An Australian chef who has worked abroad at some of the finest establishments and, who was until just recently, Paco Roncero's  main creative chef at their lab in Madrid. Adam has been extremely helpful to us in the past and he has a generous spirit and humble approach to his craft. When we heard Adam was back in the country to promote his new venture in New York later this year we offered our services in a special dinner that took place in Sydney last week. Adam politely accepted and we went to work on some of the dishes that Adam has spent years developing. It was a real pleasure to work with Adam and see first hand the famous Octopops, Tuna sashimi and surf 'n' turf. Adam was generous enough to provide insight behind the creations and we have promised to collaborate further in the future. We particularly were impressed with the thermo reversible technique developed by Adam in his liquid chocolate centre doughnuts. You can be sure that we will be exploring this technique further and will post details in due course. If you are not familiar with Adam you should check out further information on him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Melonas. The dinner was a great success and Adam received much deserved praise for his dishes from the likes of chefs Tetsuya Wakuda & Brent Savage who were present. Thanks Adam and good luck with New York.

New Designs In Celebration Cakes

We have some cool new cake designs that we have been working on for 2010, as soon as we can we will let you know the new techniques and flavours we are using. We are really excited to show you some stuff Australia has never seen before. Watch this space!!!  

Burch & Purchese Dishes - 18 Pinenut Cream With Gingerbread, Green Tea & Yuzu

Unusual flavour pairings that combine to create a sensational mouthful. Spiced and dried gingerbread, sharp and tangy yuzu as well as fragrant green tea all marry well with the nutty mousse. Toasted pinenuts, raspberry mayonnaise and chocolate clay garnishes add contrasts in flavour and texture as well as showcasing new techniques in cooking.

How To Get A Reservation At Elbulli

If you want to be one of the lucky few to dine at the world's best restaurant, then you have to give yourself the best chance possible. Every year close to 2 million people request one of the 6000 seats available, amazing odds that can be shortened with a few tips.

First:    

Check the website for the official reservation request time. Elbulli only consider requests that they receive in the specified time. This year it's 1st Jan to middle of Jan, so you need to get in quick!!

Second:

The email address is bulli@elbulli.com and the man in charge is Senor Garcia.

Third:    

Don't be demanding - you are less likely to get a reservation if you specify a particular date, time or anything else. Best to ask for a table at any time and date for 2 persons.

Fourth:  

Keep the email short and be polite.

Fifth:    

Cross your fingers and hope for the best, they will get back to you regardless of the outcome probably by March.

Good luck, it's worth it!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!! FROM IAN & DARREN

Happy New Year to all of our followers and readers, 2009 really was a fantastic and exciting year for us and we hope 2010 will be even better.

Since starting this blog in the middle of last year we have tried to bring you news and images on current food trends, book reviews and the latest news on our business and travels. We have had (to date) over 6500 unique readers and we hope that we have informed and entertained. Highlights last year included, trips to elbulli & El Cellar de Can Roca, working with Ramon Morato, dessert only dinners, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, visits to Singapore & Japan and lots more which can all be found in the labels and archive files of this blog.

Next year we hope to top that impressive list and we will bring you all of the information here for you. Thanks for all of your support in 2009 and we look forward to having you here in 2010. Darren & Ian