SBS - The 2012 Foodies” Guide to Brisbane
SPLENDID BLENDS (p. 117)
Expert food sourcer and blender Gaynor Long house -roasts and blends heady offerings influenced by far away lands. This is no slap dash affair. Long researches spice history and culture and her blends benefit from this deep understanding. Spice blending is an art: it is the ability to blend tastes, textures and colours so that they are perfectly balanced. With Long you are in safe hands as she uses only A- grade quality spices. Why not dabble in Ras El Hanout packaged with her home grown, organic rose petals and a sprig of lavender; moist sumac with fiery plum tones; or New Guinea plantifolia vanilla beans, so moist and supply they can be tied in knots. Order online or see Gaynor at Jan Power’s Farmers Markets.
Splendid Blends - Feature Article (p.100)
Spotlight on spice with Gaynor Long
Gaynor Long has been besotted with spice and spice blending for well over 20 years. Her fascination with ingredients and cooking began as a child when she would cut out Women’s Weekly recipes and stick them into her bulging scrapbook. In 1985 Gaynor spent 8 months in an ashram in India where her obsession with spice began. Today she is spice lover and blender at Splendid Blends.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING SPICES.
When buying spices look for colour, aroma and flavour; the colour should be vibrant, the aroma should make you feel like your feet are floating off the floor, and the flavour should be well balanced like an orchestra. Be wary of additives as quality spices don’t need them.
THREE OF MY FAVOURITE BLENDS
Ras El Hanout
My signature blend would have to be Ras El Hanout, literally “top of the shop”. This classic Moroccan blend gives a spice blender free rein to showcase their spice blending skills, which for me is an art form. In my Ras El Hanout the sweet spices dance with the heat of chilli visually enhanced with pink hued rose petals from my garden.
Dukkah
I spend hours by my wok, dry roasting this blend by hand every week. Dukkah is a simple and unassuming blend and the secret of its success lies in its freshness. I’m a purest when it comes to regional spice blends: I believe in using ingredients only from the regions where my blends originate, so in the case of my dukkah, I refrain from using ingredients like macadamias or chilli.
Kashmiri Korma
This blend is a favourite with my customers. It’s delightfully aromatic and has the smoothness of almond meal and a touch of chilli. Selecting very fresh spices and grinding them seconds before they are added to the blend makes all the difference. For instance , I don’t use pre-ground cardamom powder as it contains husk diluting the flavour. Instead I freshly grind cardamom seeds which give this blend an exquisite aroma.
HOW TO STORE SPICES
Spices are one of life’s pleasures and deserve looking after. Exclude as much air as possible from around your spices. Wrap the packet in foil or store in a snug fitting screw-top glass jar and store in a cool, dark place. The fridge is good. Provided spices are fresh, whole spices will hold their flavour for about 2 years and ground spices for about 10 months if stored correctly.
"Three of the Best Places to Buy Spices in Brisbane" - www.couriermail.com.au
SPLENDID BLENDS - The chef's spice supplier, Gaynor Long also supplies to home cooks at Jan Power's Farmer's markets including the CBD on Wednesdays. All her spices are hand-blended, so the hard work has been taken out for you. A huge range includes spice mixes for Middle Eastern, Indian and Asian cooking. Buy via her website in perfect 45g packs or from Taste for the Love of Cooking in Fortitude Valley.
www.couriermail.com.au
Gaynor Long's curries
THERE'S no need to buy curry pastes or powder - making your own is not difficult. Gaynor Long from Splendid Blends offers two variations on spice mixes you can use to make curry at home.When dry roasting, Long says always start with the whole spices first. Ground spices can be stored in an airtight container in the dark for up to 10 months, or whole spices for even longer.
When cooking a curry with the prepared spice powder, start by frying onion, garlic and ginger first in ghee or an organic stoneground peanut oil, then add the spice powder and simmer with the meat or vegetables.
Southern Indian Curry Mix
"This is great to use in a prawn or seafood curry. Add 1/2 kilo of green prawns and 50ml coconut cream and 150ml water."
1/2 tsp tumeric
5cm cinnamon quill, broken up
4 cloves
7 green cardamom pods
A handful of curry leaves
1 tsp chilli powder
To use in a curry, fry onion, garlic and ginger until golden and softened, then add all spices, and fry for a minute. Add coconut milk and slowly heat. When almost at a boil, reduce heat and simmer for a couple of minutes, add prawns and simmer for 5 minutes.
Garam masala
"This is used in all Indian cooking and goes best in lamb, chicken or vegetarian dishes."
8 green cardamom seeds
2 bay leaves
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp broken cinnamon quill
Dry roast for a minute or two and grind in a coffee or spice grinder. To use in a curry, add 1 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of cumin and 1/4 tsp of tumeric and 2 fresh or dried chillies finely chopped.
www.suzannequinterfinefoods.com
Suzanne Quintner Cooking Classes
Suzanne Quintner is a former teacher whose cooking classes have attracted a loyal following for the past 16 years.The flavours and aromas of North Africa are foremost in the range of dishes featured in Suzanne’s cooking classes. Recipes for meze, through to main courses containing meat, poultry, fish and vegetables, couscous as well as desserts and sweets are featured. Mint tea accompanies the food. Participants can easily replicate all recipes at home. Additional recipes will also be provided.
Where possible, Suzanne invites Gaynor, from Splendid Blends to share the class. Gaynor is Queensland’s best spice blender, in Suzanne’s opinion. The specific spice blends and condiments are explained and available for purchase at a special price.
"Modern European Fare with a South African Twist"
by Cheryl Goodenough
Bringing an occasional South African flavour to the Brisbane restaurant scene are Paul and Kim Newsham, owners of Olivetto's Restaurant in Red Hill, Brisbane.
Chef Paul, who was born in Lancashire, met South African-born Kim in London and then spent several years working in Durban before immigrating to Australia in August 2002.
Olivetto's serves modern European fare, but one of Paul's signature dishes is Bo-Kaap, a South African Cape Malay prawn and chicken curry, which is served with griddled banana, fragrant rice and a tomato and chilli sambal.
The dish is inspired by Cape Town's luxury Mount Nelson Hotel. Shortly before leaving South Africa, Paul obtained a sachet of the masala blend used in the hotel's prawn and chicken curry. After getting the sachet into Australia, he took it to Gaynor Long, an Australian master spice blender, who sells spices at the Jan Power Farmers Markets in Brisbane. Gaynor replicated the blend and supplies the replica only to Olivetto's.
“It's become an iconic dish,” says Paul, adding that Gaynor insists that she will never give Paul the recipe. “She says the only way we would get it is if she died, in which case it would be given to me, or if I died, in which case it would be given to Kim!”
Paul grew up around his grandmother, who was a baker, and started his apprenticeship at the age of 14. Two years later he left for London initially knocking on restaurant doors asking for work. His persistence paid off and during his subsequent years in London he worked under renowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Albert Roux and Marco Pierre. He also notched third position in the United Kingdom's National Young Chef of the Year.
Kim also grew up in a restaurant environment – her dad owned The Langoustine restaurant that was situated in Pinetown, Durban for 20 years. The couple met when Kim was on a working holiday and serving scones and tea at the Hampshire Hotel in Leicester Square.
“I dragged him to South Africa,” she says. Paul subsequently worked as a head chef at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club and had a stint as head chef at the five star Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga.
Within two weeks of immigrating to Australia, Paul was employed as the head chef at Olivetto's Restaurant. “They wanted an Australian chef,” says Kim, “but he badgered them. He had worked with renowned people though and had the credentials. He had also been buying Australian magazines and had started to get a feel for local produce and Australian fare.”
In 2005 the owners of Olivetto's offered to sell the restaurant to Paul and Kim. “It was probably the worst timing,” says Kim. “I was seven months pregnant and we had bought a house a few months before. But we were offered the restaurant at a good price and we did it!”
It is now six years later – they celebrated the 6th anniversary of owning the restaurant on April 1 this year. Kim now does the accounting side of the business, and tries to spend at least one night a week in the restaurant.
The couple continued a tradition started before they owned Olivetto's of holding South African Degustation Dinners. Initially intended primarily as a wine promotion, the three night celebrations are now more about the food. Items on the most recent degustation menu included housemade mielie bread with smoked snoek pate; boerewors frikkadel salad with caramelized apple, parsnip and walnuts and Cape Malay style reef snapper and prawn tails with fresh coriander and traditional sambals and chutneys.
Paul is known as a dessert guru and his sweet creations on that occasion were Malva pudding soufflé with Amarula ice cream and traditional melk tert with a summer red berry parfait. These dinners are held annually in September.
Kim says that it's not only South Africans longing for traditional food who attend the dinners. “One year about 75% of the guests were Australian! We also find many Australians trying the South African wine and beer that we serve in the restaurant. People are very interested in the South African wine because they are unlikely to find such wine without visiting South Africa. And when we have Windhoek, Castles and other South African beer we occasionally have Australians trying one of each – they love the opportunity to experience something from a different country.”
Chef Paul, who was born in Lancashire, met South African-born Kim in London and then spent several years working in Durban before immigrating to Australia in August 2002.
Olivetto's serves modern European fare, but one of Paul's signature dishes is Bo-Kaap, a South African Cape Malay prawn and chicken curry, which is served with griddled banana, fragrant rice and a tomato and chilli sambal.
The dish is inspired by Cape Town's luxury Mount Nelson Hotel. Shortly before leaving South Africa, Paul obtained a sachet of the masala blend used in the hotel's prawn and chicken curry. After getting the sachet into Australia, he took it to Gaynor Long, an Australian master spice blender, who sells spices at the Jan Power Farmers Markets in Brisbane. Gaynor replicated the blend and supplies the replica only to Olivetto's.
“It's become an iconic dish,” says Paul, adding that Gaynor insists that she will never give Paul the recipe. “She says the only way we would get it is if she died, in which case it would be given to me, or if I died, in which case it would be given to Kim!”
Paul grew up around his grandmother, who was a baker, and started his apprenticeship at the age of 14. Two years later he left for London initially knocking on restaurant doors asking for work. His persistence paid off and during his subsequent years in London he worked under renowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Albert Roux and Marco Pierre. He also notched third position in the United Kingdom's National Young Chef of the Year.
Kim also grew up in a restaurant environment – her dad owned The Langoustine restaurant that was situated in Pinetown, Durban for 20 years. The couple met when Kim was on a working holiday and serving scones and tea at the Hampshire Hotel in Leicester Square.
“I dragged him to South Africa,” she says. Paul subsequently worked as a head chef at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club and had a stint as head chef at the five star Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga.
Within two weeks of immigrating to Australia, Paul was employed as the head chef at Olivetto's Restaurant. “They wanted an Australian chef,” says Kim, “but he badgered them. He had worked with renowned people though and had the credentials. He had also been buying Australian magazines and had started to get a feel for local produce and Australian fare.”
In 2005 the owners of Olivetto's offered to sell the restaurant to Paul and Kim. “It was probably the worst timing,” says Kim. “I was seven months pregnant and we had bought a house a few months before. But we were offered the restaurant at a good price and we did it!”
It is now six years later – they celebrated the 6th anniversary of owning the restaurant on April 1 this year. Kim now does the accounting side of the business, and tries to spend at least one night a week in the restaurant.
The couple continued a tradition started before they owned Olivetto's of holding South African Degustation Dinners. Initially intended primarily as a wine promotion, the three night celebrations are now more about the food. Items on the most recent degustation menu included housemade mielie bread with smoked snoek pate; boerewors frikkadel salad with caramelized apple, parsnip and walnuts and Cape Malay style reef snapper and prawn tails with fresh coriander and traditional sambals and chutneys.
Paul is known as a dessert guru and his sweet creations on that occasion were Malva pudding soufflé with Amarula ice cream and traditional melk tert with a summer red berry parfait. These dinners are held annually in September.
Kim says that it's not only South Africans longing for traditional food who attend the dinners. “One year about 75% of the guests were Australian! We also find many Australians trying the South African wine and beer that we serve in the restaurant. People are very interested in the South African wine because they are unlikely to find such wine without visiting South Africa. And when we have Windhoek, Castles and other South African beer we occasionally have Australians trying one of each – they love the opportunity to experience something from a different country.”
www.couriermail.com.au