Category Archives: Australia

Creating a Cuisine from Scratch

Cuisine.  As it is in the Philippines, so it is in Australia: difficult to define. And like the Philippines, it comes in two parts: Before and After Colonization.  In the beginning there was a vast southern continent on which dwelt … Continue reading

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In the Spirit of Christmas

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas wrote ‘it always snowed at Christmas.’ Maybe this was the case in northern Europe, but not in the Antipodes, where the seasons are upside down, and Christmas arrives in the height of summer.  In Australia there … Continue reading

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Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill Restaurant

High in the Adelaide Hills on the edge of Bridgewater is the old Bridgewater flour mill. Built in the 1860s and lovingly converted over a century later into a cellar door and gourmet restaurant among the gum trees, with a … Continue reading

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Secret Balut Business

Balut is a Filipino street food; a hard-boiled duck egg containing an almost fully developed embryo. Back in Australia for the holidays, I was sent on a mission to find balut. Filipino migrants must crave a taste of home from … Continue reading

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Tasting Tinola Soup in South Australia

I have spent the past three years in the Philippines exploring the history and flavours of Filipino cuisine, so I was delighted to discover a Filipino restaurant in my own home town of Adelaide, in South Australia. Map book in … Continue reading

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Heavenly Peace

I first met Kelly in Kuala Lumpur over fifteen years ago. Today, we are a far cry from that modern, bustling Asian city with its Twin Towers, multi-cultural population, concrete overpasses, lush tropical gardens and heavy, humid climate. Kelly and … Continue reading

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Fine Dining at Fino

A long, dark  drive through Friday night traffic on a mid-winter evening found us forty minutes from the Adelaide CBD in the small Fleurieu Peninsula town of Willunga, renowned for its weekend farmer’s market, and home to a diminutive, unassuming, … Continue reading

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Woodside Wine & Food

I have always loved the melodic sound of the Onkaparinga Valley Road and its string of small country towns with their syllabic names: Verdun and Balhannah; Oakbank and Woodside. These pearls shimmer amongst the hills and huge gum trees, especially … Continue reading

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Not-So-Jolly Boathouse

Jolley’s Boathouse has been part of the scenery on the River Torrens in Adelaide since I was a child. I had not been there for years, but thought it would be fun to revisit it with my daughter, for a … Continue reading

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FermentAsian: the latest trend in Tanunda

FermentAsian has rapidly become the hot spot to dine in the Barossa Valley for Modern Southeast Asian Cuisine. Open for lunch from Thursday to Sunday and for dinner, Wednesday to Saturday, this unique dining destination is set back from the … Continue reading

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