You are what you eat

Wednesday 20 October 2010, 10:26 AM
By The Team | Posted in Places

STREAT offers tasty street food from around the world while training young, long term unemployed and homeless people in hospitality-  giving them practical skills that will stay with them for life.

Inspired by similar social enterprise projects in Asia, STREAT brings the theatrical experience of hawker food, the original street food, to downtown Melbourne.

On the day we visited spicy Mexican tacos were on offer. We could choose from tasty free-form chorizo cooked before our eyes or a delicious stew of smoky refried beans. Either option was accompanied by a generous serving in a gluten-free taco, topped with fresh cheese and a tangy green tomato salsa. You can also try their pickled cactus, grown in country Victoria and marinated in bay leaves, garlic and chilli, and made locally in North Melbourne.

As a nice touch, you can also get a loyalty card which means that after nine meals, the tenth is given to a homeless person. STREAT also serves great Fair Trade organic coffee and juices.

Why not make a difference in your lunch hour? You can find the STREAT food cart at Federation Square from Tuesday to Saturday from 11am till 4pm.

Slow Sundays: Bhoj

Thursday 12 August 2010, 12:21 PM
By The Team | Posted in Places

Another cold, wet weekend is about to blow our way, but thanks to Slow Sundays we have the perfect serving suggestion to spice up any wintry Sunday afternoon.

Highly acclaimed Bhoj at Docklands is a step above your average suburban curry house, with its modern and stylish interiors and excellent wine list. Renowned for its authentic Indian cuisine, it has attracted glowing praise from food critics at The Age Good Food Guide and Cheap Eats, enamoured with Bhoj’s mouth-watering interpretations of Indian flavours.

This Sunday, as part of the Slow Sundays dining promotion at Docklands, you can dine on Bhoj’s rich chicken butter cream, spicy beef vindaloo or delectable vegetable korma – for only $15. All dishes are served with rice, a vegetable samosa and a bhaijia (pakora), a deep fried chickpea dumpling .

Complete your meal with a complimentary VB or a glass of the Wild River chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon – all for only $15 per person.  We reckon Jimmy from Masterchef would approve!

Slow Sundays at Docklands,  every Sunday until 29 August, between 2pm and 6pm. Enjoy a small meal and a selected beer or wine for only $15. At participating restaurants. Conditions apply.

La Latteria: Cheese glorious cheese

Wednesday 4 August 2010, 2:47 PM
By The Team | Posted in Places

It’s hard to believe that just the combination of milk, salt and time could create the wonderful, tasty substance we know today as cheese. And it’s even harder to believe that we have our very own cheesemaking operation right here – in downtown Carlton.

Since La Latteria opened it has rapidly attracted a loyal following. Cheese lovers come from far and wide, seeking La Latteria’s award-winning Italian-style, handmade cheeses. Cheeses are made by self-taught cheesemaker, Giorgio Linguanti and former Tutto Bene chef, Kristy Laird.

The pair also makes lovely European-style plain yoghurt and sells heirloom tomatoes, olive oil and bread. Fresh un-homogenised milk is sold in glass bottles that you can reuse when you need a refill.

But cheese is the main event here, made from locally sourced cow’s milk, natural preservatives and animal free rennet. Originally Giorgio was only supplying commercial restaurants such as Ceccinos, Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons, Grossi Florentino and other well known Melbourne Italian restaurants.

However after sampling his cheese, many restaurant customers soon began asking where they could get more of these unique Italian-style cheeses – and La Latteria was born.

At the cheesemaking ‘laboratory’ at the back of the shop, cheese is made everyday using fresh mozzarella curd delivered daily from their Donnybrook factory.

Using traditional hand stretching and artisan techniques, cheesemakers produce a variety of well known Italian-type cheese such as ricotta, bocconcini and buffalo mozzarella, as well as rare cheese varieties from Giorgio’s hometown of Sicily.

Discover Scamorza which is a smoked mozzarella cheese in its classic pear-like shape or the filled provolina with a choice of blue cheese, porcini butter or natural butter at its heart.

La Latteria’s cheeses will give your Italian dishes that extra hit of authenticity or make a simple meal on their own with some good crusty bread and a glass of wine.