Cross-Cultural Staple

Rice is not the monopoly of the Chinese despite all the racist jokes about "Chinese flied lice". Seems like every culture has some sort of rice dish(es).

G makes a very good risotto. I think possibly one of his best dishes in his repertoire although I think his 4-mushroom risotto is still more superior to his seafood version. This is a seafood risotto with enoki mushrooms. The plump and succulent prawns in addition to the regular marinara mix we get, adds an additional boost to the flavour and texture of this rice dish. And not forgetting to toss in a generous handful of chopped coriander. Priceless.

Opportunities

In preparation for impending (originally involuntary, then somewhat voluntary albeit I would argue it was kinda still involuntary considering the type of offer that was on the table), we trooped down to the Conventions Centre today for the Franchising Expo.

It was interesting to have a look around and made us think what we could do as an alternative to being a salaried employee. We didn't really take to any of the ones that were out there. But I did come to a realisation and that was if I got into the whole franchising game, it wasn't to be an operator of a franchise. Rather it would be a master franchisee role in a region or area where I could put my coaching, mentoring and corporate experience and expertise to good use.

Ceviche

Coincidentally, I just came across a blog about ceviche, which is what I was talking about in my earlier blog entry regarding the lemon and orange juice "cooking" the raw fish. Apparently all you need to do is to submerge the seafood (fish or in the other blog, scallops) in the juice for an hour and to ensure all the seafood is in direct contact with the juice. To make a dressing, juice another 2 limes, add a pinch of sugar, a tablespoonful or 2 of fish sauce (for a Thai kick), some salt, some chopped coriander and a cut chilli. I guess you can also add finely chopped onion and cucumber or even green papaya.

I am definitely going to try this soon.

A Gourmet BBQ

We made the trek out to Summer Hill today. It only took us a mere 15 minutes on the train, which was a surprise to me because I had the destination firmly etched in my mind, located somewhere in the boondocks. We made that little excursion out because Sarah and Greg had invited us to a BBQ today. And I got to explore yet another bit of Sydney and G had a good reason to be forced outside his comfort zone (of actual physical locations).

It turned out to be quite a gourmet BBQ with a variety of sausages, beef steak, prawn skewers and a lovely South American marinated fish dish (I keep forgetting the name, except the lemon and orange juice marinade "cooks" the raw fish and is so delicious) with sides of cole slaw, salad, roasted Roma tomatoes and bread.

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon, with great company (including 2 toddlers and a "big dog" as Leo keeps referring to Lux the Lab) and fabulous food. I contributed the orange cake for dessert, a sweet end note, which went well with Greg's Allpress coffee.

Isn't life all about the 3 Fs - friends, family and food?

A Slither Of Cake

Something perturbs me. In the 3 years that I've been in Sydney, I've heard all my colleagues without fail, from the 21 year old, part-time uni undergrad to the 45 year old corporate veteran, ask for a "slither" of cake. I told the 21 year old at that time that it was a "sliver" of cake and snakes slither. That seemed to be new information to her.

Fast forward 3 years - 2 days ago, the team supervisor also asked for a "slither" of cake as we eyed the generous wedge of creamy Black Forest birthday cake that our neighbours brought over to share.

Now, were several generations of Australian school children taught wrongly by ALL their teachers? Or is this a cultural faux pas? Or do they all have a (selective) lisp?