taste of puglia: il secondo

I've always thought there's something quite magical (and seriously scary) about making pasta. So when Caroline from William Angliss Institute sent me an email offering me an opportunity to participate in one of their short cooking courses (A taste of Puglia: il Secondo) I simply couldn’t resist.

I want to preface this post by saying whilst I enjoyed this course with compliments of the Institute, I wouldn't be sharing my thoughts with you if I didn’t truly believe you would have exactly the same experience if you took a class too. The group in our class was a mixture of bloggers/writers and hobbyists who were all there just for fun, and everyone mingled without distinction. Importantly also, the Institute hasn't asked me to write anything in exchange for attending the class, I just wanted to share this enriching food experience with you, dear reader!

The class is hosted by Sabino Materia who came to Australia from the Puglia region of Italy less than a decade ago. Whilst he imports wine as a day job, and provides to some lovely Sydney wine bars including 121BC, his real passion is the preservation of Puglian food culture. The recipes he shares with us today aren't 'cheffy', just a few of his family favourites.

La Tiella Barese

Rich layers of potato, mussels and creamy rice, with bursting cherry tomatoes and fresh parsley. A great lunchtime dish to be enjoyed by the seaside!

About to go into the oven...

1 hour later...

rabbit hole bar & dining

It's the newest and cutest small bar in town, the Rabbit Hole Bar& Dining. FIB was invited by genuinely lovely Georgie to check it out last night at their official launch party.

You'll find it on Elizabeth Street just next to the old law school building. Down the spiral staircase you'll swirl into the rabbit's den. It's a relaxed space themed with neutral greens and browns. There is no mistaking you're in a rabbit themed bar, rabbit and carrot motifs in sneaky spots everywhere, plus the quirky rabbit-playing-jazz musician mural on the wall of the front bar. 

uncle ming's

There is so much diversity in Sydney small bars these days, and it makes me very happy indeed! I wanted to share with you one of my favourites right now, Uncle Ming's. It's tucked away under a men's shirt shop on York Street and even by my standards it's hard to find. Keep an eye out for the chalk stencil on the footpath saying "Uncle Ming's" and you'll be standing right next to the staircase.

Stepping into Uncle Ming's old world den, your senses are enlivened with the smell of incense and the wafting steam coming from the keyhole dumpling kitchen. Once your eyes have adjusted to the crimson darkness you'll find a number of nooks where you can perch on timber stools or lounge chairs. Once belonging to a printing press, these basement walls are now covered in traditional Chinese art, large timber doors with wrought iron detailing, and filled with bird cage light fittings, elaborate lamp shades and detailed lush upholstery.

winter muesli

Sometimes and more often than not late at night (and generally after uni lectures when I'm so excited to have my freedom again) I go a bit experi mental in the kitchen, apparently late at nights are the perfect time to bake cookies, muffins, pancakes, toffee, praline or muesli.

Hmm is there a theme here? Am I the only one that has this strange late night behaviour?

Psychoanalysis aside, last night I got home and surprise surprise had a serious craving for toasted muesli….proceeded to extract from the pantry every potential muesli-related ingredient …nuts, oats, sugar, syrup, seeds, fruit, coconut, spices and began to throw them into a bowl.

Side note: if you keep already toasted nuts in your pantry for a long time they go bitter, who wudda thought…gross… *pick macadamia nuts out of mixture*

My wintery muesli mix consisted of: oats, shredded coconut, chopped dates, dried pear, macadamia nuts, pistachio nuts, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and a touch of golden syrup…toasted in a low-moderate oven until golden brown.

 

This is not the type of muesli you eat on its own (unless you've got a very sweet tooth and a dollop of double cream in the background...).

It's more of a breakfast parfait muesli which you could layer with Greek yoghurt and some stewed rhubarb, that would be gooood.

My other thought - imagine this as an apple crumble topping? Omg that would be insanely good.

Tell me dear reader, do you go bonkers for a late night bake sesh?

THANK YOU LOVERS

Thank you to my wonderful Facebook followers for this exciting milestone!

If we didnt love food together this wouldnt be possible, much love.

what are you waiting for? all the cool kids are doing it 

[Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake Image: Sweetapolita]