Author Archives: sheg4184

Seducing the Soup

Posted on 20 April 2015 by sheg4184

Turkey, like the Philippines, is located at a geographical and cultural crossroads between east and west, right on the cusp of Europe and Asia. Turkish cuisine is a synthesis of centuries of cultural and culinary fusion: a patchwork of Mediterranean … Continue reading →

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“There is Hell Waiting Here”*

Posted on 13 April 2015 by sheg4184

The sandstone Sphynx bares its chest like a beacon above Anzac Cove. Bleak, grey, weeping seas, diluted with the blood of thousands, Johnnies and Mehmets both. No beaches worth their salt, nowhere to land, the King’s young allies culled by … Continue reading →

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The Whirling Dervishes

Posted on 7 April 2015 by sheg4184

A different city. A different dance. Not London but Istanbul. Not Sadler’s Wells but the Galata Mevlevihanesi. Not a ballet, but a timeless, hypnotic ritual dance created by Persian poet, prophet, philosopher and mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi. The Mevlevi … Continue reading →

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Recapturing the Ballet

Posted on 30 March 2015 by sheg4184

Ballet classes began when I was seven years old. I loved them.  The teacher placed me in the back row where my lack of co-ordination and heaviness of foot wouldn’t distract the star pupils at the front. I was completely … Continue reading →

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An Aubergine Anniversary

Posted on 23 March 2015 by sheg4184

Aubergine is French for eggplant. The word aubergine comes from the Catalan albergínia, and the Arabic al-bādhinjān. An aubergine is a vegetable, that firm, smooth, shiny, pendular vegetable that soaks up olive oil like a sponge or grills into a … Continue reading →

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“Such stuff as dreams are made on…”

Posted on 14 March 2015 by sheg4184

Twenty five feet from the sea squats a small, thatched hut with a veranda from which we step straight onto the sand. A traveller’s dream destination, fittingly labelled ‘Play House,’ we happily make a temporary home in this cosy little … Continue reading →

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Exploring Corregidor

Posted on 7 March 2015 by sheg4184

Corregidor Island is one of those Must-Do trips on the tourist trail around Manila. But it requires a ridiculously early start, at which I have baulked for years. Recently, however, I jumped at the opportunity to join a small group … Continue reading →

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The Flying Fish Café

Posted on 28 February 2015 by sheg4184

The Flying Fish Café at Port Elliot on the south eastern lip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. A 42 degree day in February. A jetty. Scalding sand. Basking children. A lapis lazuli sky reflected in a glittering sea. Norfolk pines march … Continue reading →

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Undercooked

Posted on 23 February 2015 by sheg4184

In the course of a once-in-a-lifetime family reunion for our parents Golden Wedding Anniversary, many well-known and oft-repeated tales,  some gospel, many apocryphal, came out of the closet for yet another airing. In light of the fact that many of those present … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Cooking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

“The Air is Full of Spices”

Posted on 13 February 2015 by sheg4184

Where would the world be without spice? That pinch of fairy dust that transforms the simplest dish into something other, heightening our senses with their exotic aromas, and adding a glorious depth of colour and flavour to our cooking. From … Continue reading →

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