The Food Odyssey

I love food. My friend Amy loves food. Which is why it isn’t unusual for me to write about food… again. And certainly, not the last. I was flipping through the Melbourne magazine last night, pondering about my future and how bored I was with what I was doing. And then I remembered my recent trip to New York City. It was a particular beautiful Sunday, we spent the day at flea markets, walking up and down Broadway. We finally ended up back at San’s place in Chinatown. Tucked away round the corner of her street, on Pell Street, was perhaps the best kept eating secret in New York City (or at least in Chinatown). It was a restaurant called Joe Shanghai, apparently serving the best soup dumplings - little doughy beggars’ purses filled with pork or crab meat plus soup (the soup is inside the dumplings).

I remember waiting outside the restaurant that evening, after having put our names down for a table. There was already a queue forming when we arrived, and there were no signs of stopping. When the manager of the restaurant (a small, chinese/American lady) yelled “Table 22!!” the three of us yelled in unison and with gusto “Yes!!!” – the lady looked shocked and retorted “Just checking”. With everyone staring us, we burst out laughing. Ahh… it was such a good day – filled with laughter, new experiences. The weather was balmy and we were hungry for special dumplings we had never tasted.

The thing I realised whilst in Ne w York was that San also loved to eat. I mean, I always knew she loved to eat, but she actually does know the good hiding spots, which, if I didn’t have her there, would not know about. The other thing I realised whilst in New York was that the food I most enjoyed eating and that I remembered most was with the people I was sharing it with - from my youth, coming home from school and eating my mum’s home cooking, anything from fried rice, yee mee (dried egg noodles with egg sauce), to plain old steam eggs with rice. So here is my tribute thus far, to all the food and people that have influenced me to this date.

Firstly, to my sister who is a great cook herself, not just in skills, but also in her attentiveness to detail, her passion and most of all, her enthusiasm. She is my walking food dictionary and I always know she has an answer for me. It is only in recent years I realise that a lot of things she’s told me when I was younger made a lot of sense. Either that or I am extremely slow. Maybe a bit of both :) Also to all the restaurants she & Marky took me to, not afraid that I might have embarrassed them. The Provincial Hotel (in Fitzroy) was the one place I was in awe with for many of my university years. Eating éclairs at Brunetti’s the first time I came to Melbourne in 1996 – it was like cake, only with very little pastry and a lot of cream. YUM!!

The discovery of Jamie Oliver really got the ball rolling for me though. There were several years of Jamie fever around Melbourne, and especially among my friends. My mindset before was that cooking was all about hard work, and Jamie Oliver made it look sexy and very, very easy! Plus the fact that Carrie bought me his cookbook (so that I could cook for her!) for my 21st, I haven’t looked back since.

Which brings me to my next person – Carrie. For helping me discover that potatoes were yummy done in whatever way (steamed, baked, fried) but also made you extremely fat!! Wintermelon soups, red bean soups, Carrie was all for soups. I used to explain to her that nothing compared to my mum’s soup, but it didn’t stop her. She constantly told me it was good for my skin etc. etc. etc. Kim for discovering Yu-U, Honky-tonks and all the laneway holes and for teaching me that eating could be done stylishly. Amanda for all her Boxhill stories, and that amazing fish contraption (a claw-like tripod that removes the fish from the steamer, whole!). That is so cool! Funny the things I remember.

Amy for all the best coffees I’ve ever drunk; in style, in boredom, in contemplation, in periods of stress. The crab bisque at Tiamo 2 (salivating Homer Simpson style), and all her foodie adventures which I read with intense fascination. Which brings me to my beloved – when I met him, he had already eaten and drunk at half the places in Melbourne (present and past) and various other continents. But his continuing search for great food/wine and passionate people hasn’t stopped. It could also be the bottomless pit he has for a stomach, but that’s something different altogether! With him, I really learnt how to relish the beauty of food (and beer, and wine). Perhaps because he has one thing in common with all the people I’ve mentioned so far, he’s got enthusiasm, a lot of it! He will eat anything put in front of him once, before deciding it isn’t his ‘cup of tea’. There is such joy on his face when he eats chicken feet, or foie gras, or curry laksa, or the instant noodle (Maggi mee) I cook for him on our tired nights. Perhaps that is why I veered towards him eventually. It was my stomach leading the way.

So there they are, for the moment. I’m all typed-out, and funnily enough, slightly peckish. I think there is still a slice of swiss roll in the kitchen.