Tête en bas

The cooker has been watching me for to long. It was time for me to finally try it. Megan just came back this afternoon with some fresh vegetables. That was exactly what I needed.

Galettes are really easy to make, with only quinoa, onions, yogurt and eggs. Just added some spice to that, hided some fresh biologic vegetables under. Really interesting result!

I’ll be away for a couple of day. In Australia, eastern is the occasion to go to Confest. An alternative festival, that some would compare to a Rainbow Gathering, other to Burning Man (on a very smaller scale). Will be able to told you more about that on my way back, next monday.

Wish lots of chocolate to all of you!

The very first time I heard Yann Tiersen, it was when I was staying with friends, in Paris. I was discovering the city as a tourist for the first time. A few years later, Amelie Poulin was in every theater, and everybody was in love with its music by Yann Tiersen. A few years later, again, I was listening, fascinated and touched, my friend Danielle playing “Comptine d’un autre été” on her piano, in her Portland’ shed. And finally, I was lucky enough to see him live, at “Festival de l’îlophone on Ouessant Island” last automn. His style has changed, evolved a lot, becoming more and more electronic. I loved it. So two days ago, while I was visiting Drew and Tammy, when I heard that Drew was not able anymore to go to the show Yann Tiersen was giving tonight in Melbourne Recital Center, I was more than happy to take its ticket. That’s one of the reason I love traveling. Because souvenirs mix with other souvenirs, bringing me from one place to another around the world. Remembering and living again… While Yann Tiersen was playing, I was at the same time in a music temple and in an old village hall, on a lost island, somewhere in Brittany.

Music temple? Really?

Not only the place just look gorgeous, with this very neat wood finish, but the sound quality is just awesome. A few time, I was just totally and completely immersed into the music. Surprising myself once, trying to “see” the sound around me.

Yann Tiersen’s music has evolved, with more synthetic sounds than before. But I have to confess that I like it even more!

And I even decide to be a real fan!

I’m definitely in love with eucalyptus wood. The vein is just amazing, with this dark elegant feeling. As eucalyptus is quite common in Australia, so is its use. The first thing I saw when I first arrived in Megan and Tao’s house was this beautiful eucalyptus floor, covering half of the house, including the kitchen. So warm and so elegant at the same time!

The other floors are made in plain concrete, only oiled. A dark grey, used also for the kitchen counter, that fits perfectly with the wood. Raw solid and cold concrete contrasting with the warm softness of wood. Even if most of the materials used are quite dark, the white shiny walls give lots of light to the place. I haven’t tried the oven yet, but I won’t be able to wait much longer!

In Montreal, when you have friends who help you when you’re moving, you usually thank them by offering pizza and beer… A few days ago, I offered my help to Jesse and Riz, when I learnt that they were moving. I like helping people moving; don’t really know why. But even if I hadn’t liked it, I would have helped them any way. After all, Jesse hosted us for 5 days in december, kept some of our bags for one month and a half, and invited us to his wedding. So giving him a few hours of my time was the least I could do. It was really nice to see them again, after the wedding. And it was even nicer when Riz told me that she had cooked a fish curry, and that I was definitely more than welcome to have some. I mean. I like beer and pizza. But… how to say that… when you have a friend from Bengladesh, who is definitely a good cook, you definitely forget about the pizza !

As the fish was really bony, I decided to follow them in the bengladeshi tradition of eating with your hand (only the right one; Bengladesh is a muslim country). And it definitely makes sense. It is more easier to remove the bone from the fish with fingers that with a fork and a spoon. Or a knife. Seems that fish curry is a very traditional meal from Bengladesh. It was definitely a really good one, with this perfect balance of ingredients and tastes that is so common in indian food, upgraded by a slight spicing. Just something that I forgot: usually, you don’t have french beans in this kind of food. I realized a little bit too late that the long green vegetable was not bean, but green chili.

I would have been really happy with only one amazing curry… but Iris was in Melbourne for the week-end, and staying with Ned and Rosie. And planning to cook diner for them. I was, of course, invited. Iris loves indian food. She’s been experimenting with curry for a little while now, and her prawn curry was really good to.

Served with an interesting New Zealander white wine, we discovered in january. I haven’t find any really interesting australian wine yet. They are a little bit to strong. Not that they are bad. Just they are missing something, trying to impose themself, instead of waiting for you to discover all the subtlety of their aroma. The “counting sheep”, from  Hawkes Bay area in New Zealand, is a soft white wine with a light sweet taste that just fits perfectly with the prawns.

Sydney little hidden treasure is its botanical garden. In Melbourne, the not hidden treasure is definitely the Victoria’s Market. Of course, the botanical garden here is amazing to. And we can’t really compare a market and a botanical garden (even if there is a few links between both, that’s true). But having a market like that, not to far, is always a real pleasure.

Why? Imagine Jean Talon’s market, in Montreal. With more people, more choice, but same low price. Add to it an inside market, like Atwater, with lots of meat, fish, cheese… add some french market feeling, a somewhat from Chinatown, and lots of touristic stuff. The result is just perfect. One of those places where you want to go just for the pleasure of walking, looking, smelling, touching, checking… discovering fruits you didn’t even know they could exist. And just because of those fruits, you think that it could be a good reason to stay in Melbourne for a while…

When you’re discovering a new place, you grab information slowly. Picking up a word somewhere, a name somewhere else. They all stay quietly hidden in your brain, until something happen. It might be an other word, it might be something you see, or something you read… and then, you hear this little “click” that means that everything has finally find its place.

The very first building I spot in Melbourne was the Eureka tower. By far the highest building in the Skyline, but also -according to me- the most interesting… and the most beautiful of all them. I’ve pictured it from every angle, just to enjoy the way it interacts with other building, continuously changing its appearance.

Then, you have Southern Cross Station. An other interesting building, specially for the shape of its undulating roof. At the end of the train lines from Adelaide and Sydney, it’s one of the major station in Melbourne transport network.

You can complete all that with Ballarat, the 3rd inner city by size in Australia (after Canberra and Toowoomba).

I got the missing link when Ned ask me if I’ve ever heard about “James Scobie”. The answer was, obviously, “no”.

The Eureka Stockade, or Eureka Rebellion, was organized in 1854, by gold miners in Eureka Lead, a suburb of Ballarat. The first sparkle was the murder of James Scobie… The Rebellion grew quickly as miners get organized. It ended in a fight with the victoria’s army and police on the 3rd of december, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 peoples (which, by the way, is the most significant conflict in Victoria’s history; Australian colonization was really quiet… as long as you were not aboriginal). Miner were protesting against the expense of the Miner’s Licence and government taxation. Public offered mass support to the “rebels” who were captured and placed on trial in Melbourne, resulting in the very first while mall suffrage for elections for the lower house in the Victorian parliament. Some says that the Eureka Rebellion is the birth of democracy in Australia, while other says it was just a political revolt.

While resentment was rising amongst the miner, they elected a leader, burned there miner’s Licence, and adopt a new flag. The Eureka flag; A blue flag, bearing the Southern Cross. Very similar to the Australian one, but protestor removed the british union jack. In 1893, Banjo Paterson (an australian poet) wrote:

“The English flag may flutter and wave,
where the world wide oceans toss,
but the flag the Australian dies to save,
is the flag of the Southern Cross.”

Banjo Paterson also wrote “Waltzing Matilda”, a widely known bush ballad, often referred as “the unofficial national anthem of Australia”.

A few days ago, I red about this poem, and learnt that “Matilda” was the name of the blanket used by swagman (australian hobo). And that was the reason I decided to taste the Alpha Ale, from the Matilda Brewery, at the Lui Bar, on the 55th floor. Facing… the Eureka tower!

A few days ago, again, I was looking at the clouds reflexion, in a tower. Its name? The Souther Cross tower, of course.

I’ve always said that making mistakes results, most of the time, with interesting consequences. It’s true in most part of your life, but that’s specially true in a kitchen. So much recipe came from mistake… I always end up talking about food with the people who host me. I don’t remember why we were talking about “crème brûlée” with Rosie, but I said that I would be really happy to cook some for all the housemates. I hadn’t make “crème brûlée” for a while. I was feeling that there was quite a lot of sugar… but still, I cooked them… to realize, later, that I put 4 times much more sugar. Hum… It was good, but definitely to sweat to be eaten like that.

And then, I realize it tastes exactly the same that a Sugar Pie feeling. There was the solution to my problem. Cause yes, I was quite ashamed. Crème brûlée is not such a hard recipe… so I just had to put everything back in a bowl, mix it again, and made a shortcrust pastry,

Twenty minutes in the oven…

And that was done !

And yes, according to the other in the house (two australians, one italian, one german and one dutch) it was pretty good.

So… if you want to make a very nice homemade traditional sugar pie, just miss your crème brûlée !

Located 236 meters above sea level, on the 55ht floor of a gorgeous sky scrapper, the Lui Bar offers an awesome view on Port Philip Bay, on the south side of the Yarra River. The Lui Bar is one of those elegant places, where you know that you’ll have a quiet time, enjoying a little chat with some friend, while being amazed by one of Melbourne best view. In this kind of place, absolutely nothing is forgotten to make you feel the luxury of the place. I’ve experienced a couple of those “high in the sky” bars, in Montreal, Quebec or Sydney. This one beats them all, and as soon as you enter the building. A smiling waitress is here to welcome you, and to check with the bar if there is some room. She will then escort you to the elevator. Forget about the usual boring business elevator, with a small mirror and a TV telling you the last economic news. A dark room, with soft neon light, and world music. You climb the 55 floors very quickly, and then just get in the Lui Bar.

Definitely quiet on this sunny wednesday afternoon. The waiter told me that I’ll have the place all for me. I like the idea. Comfy and design couches every where, nice bulb lamps… all with a little “timeless” trendy touch… if you prefer, you can also enjoy your drink on the terrace. For the little story, big bags are now forbidden in the bar, because two parachutists jumped from the bar terrace, two weeks ago. Well, I won’t jump. I definitely prefer to stay and enjoy my beer.

And, of course, this awesome view on the south shore of the Yarra River…

The menu is definitely what you would expect in a place like that. Here, snack means “oyster” or “caviar”. They also have an amazing list of cocktails, all coming with there own little history. But yes, the view, the feeling, the name, all that has a price. So even the beer was quite expensive, specially on a traveler budget. Lets face it: I come here for the view, and for that, it’s definitely worth it. A perfect place for visitors who would like to relax after a long afternoon wandering around Melbourne CBD.

Time for me to finish my “Alpha Pale Ale”, from the Matilda Bay Microbrewery. With a strong hop taste, from the beginning to the end, a beer that lacks a bit of subtlety; would have been nice to have something else than bitterness…

During all those months I’ve been traveling in english-speaking country, I discovered that they are a couple of english word that I’ll never know how to say properly. I remember repeating “post-card” so many time, in so many shop, hoping that someone will finally understand that I’m just looking for a nice picture, that you can write on the back, and send by the post. I’ve always wander why no one seems to understand me on this one.

I had exactly the same problem when trying to say “Ballarat” .Trying tons of different intonations, changing the accentuation, the tone… sometime, people understand. But most of the time, it took me a couple of try…

Ballarat is one of those australian cities, than suddenly rise in the middle of nowhere, because someone find some gold nearby. Apart from that, there’s nothing really inspiring to say about it. Two main streets, a nice railway station, a few restaurant and shop… I though it was all. And the first few preview I had, from the train station to the car rental, and then when driving through were not really inspiring… until we discovered a botanical garden. As I already wrote, botanical garden seems to be a must do in all australian city. So after Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, we decide to add Ballarat to the list.

We start our visit on the shore of Wendouree Lake, under a blue sky, and a sun who was telling us that is summer job was over on this side of earth, and that we was slowly going to warm up the north hemisphere again. To bad for those who expected warm temperature all year long in Melbourne…

Iris loves collecting strange animal, and I think that’s one of the thing she likes the most in Australia. One more time, there was plenty of interesting creatures. Most of them were supposed, I think, to be duck. I might need some confirmation though…

We left the lake just after that, to cross a street, discovering that the official botanical garden was on the other side. This was just a nice little park. The gardens were even nicer, full of colors and beautiful trees. Of course, not as impressive as the other we’ve visited in Australia, but remember that Ballarat is only 85,000 habitants.