In which the bright kitchen goes a-wandering. With food.
I mentioned that I had some stories from recent travels for you. Well, here they are.
I still don’t know how to tell people about my trip to Australia. My husband gets an amused look on his face when he hears me trying, because I resort quickly to hyperbole and spluttering, and I can’t get my words (let alone my head) around it. All I know is I can’t wait to go back. What a wonderful, terrifying, beautiful, heartbreaking, recklessly extravagant country. (See. Told you. I do realize that I end up saying nothing if I use All The Words, but honestly, I can’t help myself.) Suffice it to say, I had a wonderful time. I traveled with my mother, and we both agree that this kind of mother-daughter time needs to happen more often (thought that may be setting the bar a bit high).
We spent a bit of time in Sydney, which is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city. However, most of our time was spent in the less accessible regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. I did not spend a lot of time on food photography, since (a) I wore myself out with adventuring and was too hungry to think about the pretty, (b) I had to watch for sharks and crocodiles (Only kind of joking. They are fearsome beasts.), and (c) my DSLR broke right before I left. I’m not that conversant with my iPhone camera (heck, I’m still a total beginner with photography in general), so I didn’t expect to take many blog-worthy pics. What follows are my best attempts to capture a few parts of the trip.
First, I have to mention the best meal we had. It was a complete accident. I arrived in Sydney in the morning, and we had one day to explore before heading to Western Australia the next morning. I was exhausted after my 15 hour flight, but I really wanted to see the famous Opera House and Sydney harbor. As we wandered around, we poked our head in the doors of the new restaurant inside. Bennelong is a pretty extraordinary place, and not just because of its superb location. (Table with a view, anyone?) We loved the a la carte menu, which features lots of contemporary, Australia-inspired dishes. It was amazing, and I still regret not getting dessert. (Arg. The Lamingtons!) We shared a platter of local shrimp called yabbies, split and served on assemble-your-own buckwheat blinis with lemon marmalade and creme fraiche. There was also an eggplant salad with tiny emerald falafel, and a couple of oysters that I inhaled too quickly to capture.
I was also impressed with Australian coffee culture – the famous flat white definitely made an impression. I did not have time to seek out the best of the best of the coffee houses (another reason to come back ASAP) – but even airport fare was incredibly good. And this is coming from a girl who is not much of a coffee drinker. I would choose these flat whites over my black tea in a heartbeat. Also: so helpful with early morning starts and jet-lag.
Once we arrived in Yalara, at the Uluru resort, I began to hear lots of interesting things about bush tucker, or native foods foraged and rustled up in the outback. Apparently there is a growing movement in Australia based around bush tucker, and I ate lots of interesting contemporary dishes using seeds and plants (and some animals) that I had never heard of or thought of as food. (Yes, I ate kangaroo. And crocodile.) One of my favorites was this salad with grilled halloumi and a bush tucker-inspired dressing. Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the ingredients anymore. Guess I’ll have to go back!
I am truly grateful to Australia and all of its people, including the many Aboriginal tribes who allowed my mom and I to explore their lands, for such a wonderful visit. I heart Australia. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Anne Mullany
June 3, 2017 at 8:04 amHi Laura , so very glad that you had such a great time ! Thanks for
this report of some of your trip . Diana told me that it was AMAZING !!
Would love to do something like that myself . Lots of love , Anne .
Laura
June 28, 2017 at 12:19 pmHi Anne! It was an awesome trip. Thanks for stopping by!!