Melbourne reporter Alistair Smith believes everyone should go behind bars on their travels – not the ones that serve alcohol – bars that lock you up. Alistair recently visited Old Melbourne Gaol – most famous as the place where Australia’s best known bushranger, Ned Kelly, was hanged. It reminded him about all the jails he has been to and all the tales he was told. He speaks to Graeme Kemlo
Photo: Alistair Smith “booked into Old Melbourne Gaol”.Read More 

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Travel Writers Radio was invited to speak with the CEO of Accor Pacific, Sarah Derry about the latest information on the recovery of the hospitality sector and new developments at Accor. The French-owned group is Australia’s largest hotel operator, with 73 hotels and 11,800 rooms in Victoria alone. It is also well represented across the country with brand names including Novotel, Ibis, Pullman, Movenpick and its leading five-star, Sofitel, Graeme Kemlo speaks to Sarah in a special interview.

Flying to Europe is quite a journey; so the decision on the airline as well as the day that you choose to fly is important.

I live in Melbourne and I prefer to fly with one of the three Middle Eastern airlines operating out of Melbourne Airport.  Their flight times and routings suit my personal travel patterns. They all depart late, somewhere between 7.30pm and 3.00am and the longest leg (almost 14 hours) is the first one.  I get on board after a full day; then enjoy a late dinner, a drink, a movie and with luck I then sleep for up to eight hours.  I arrive in the Middle East in time for breakfast, after which it’s only a short eight hour daylight flight to my destination.  As I arrive in the middle of the day, I find the transition to local time is easier because of the shorter time span before I revert to a “normal” sleep pattern.

Friday is my favourite day for business travel, as I end one working week at home and start another overseas, and that works best for me.  On holiday it is less important but I prefer flying midweek (Tuesday – Thursday) as it often less crowded on board and because I arrive in the middle of a working day, which can mean less crowds and traffic on arrival.

Whoever you choose to fly with make sure that you pick the airline and the departure day that works best for you.

A little slice of Venice came to Melbourne last week, bringing with it the riservato (secret) to perfect risotto al dente.

Renowned as the risotto king at home, Renato Piccolotto, executive chef at the legendary Orient-Express Hotel Cirpriani, cooked for us at the Victoria Market cooking school.

With the hotel closed for its annual winter refurbishment, General Manager, Giampaolo Ottazzi brought Renato and staff from -15˚ in Europe to a 35˚day in Melbourne.

Asking assembled food writers what rice to use for risotto, he quickly dispells the myth that arborio is best, “we used to use Arborio, then Roma…no more; the secret is Carnaroli from northern Italy,” he said.  Renato is regularly flown to Hollywood by Hotel Cipriani neighbour, Sir Elton John, to cook his famous risotto al dente for 700 of the singer’s closest friends at his annual Oscar’s party.

His secret ingredient is the carnaroli itself, a plump high starch rice which retains shape and bite (al dente) during the cooking process, its amylose ensuring creaminess.  Chef shares the recipe he serves to us – Risotto Primavera con verdure dell’Estuario (Risotto with locally grown spring vegetables).

200 g      carnaroli rice
2 lt          beef & chicken broth
100 g      asparagus (green & white)
1              artichoke
50 g        fresh peas
30 g        peeled tomatoes
5 g          bell pepper
50 g        grated parmesan
1/2         young onion
150 g      zucchini
1 stalk   white celery
2              zucchini blossom
100 g      French beans
100 g      butter

Renato carefully selected all his fresh ingredients from Queen Victoria Market – at home these would come straight from his extensive chef’s garden behind the hotel.  Finely diced vegetables are added to a pan where he has heated butter with half an onion; this is to bring out the vegetables’ colour.

In another pan he browns the remaining finely chopped onion in the butter until tender, stirs in the rice (tip: he did not rinse the rice), which he cooks until translucent.  Chef remains vigilant by the pan, stirring, folding, stirring (obviously another secret).  Then adding a ladle of the mixed stock (“it must be boiling”), he cooks rapidly until the rice gets hot and the stock is absorbed. Adding a little more stock, he repeats the process – more gentle stirring.  After 10 minutes in goes the sauteed vegetables, another 10 minutes of heat sees the rice cooked and the stock absorbed.

Renato pauses to show us that the mixture is not dry, but creamy. Tearing the zucchini flowers by hand he drops them into the mix, allowing it to cool before stirring in parmesan and seasoning to taste. Beside him a large bowl of butter cubes brings a groan from one writer, aghast at the amount of butter we’ll soon be eating….Renato’s eyes flash and in a defiant retort another few cubes fly into the Risotto in a gesture reminiscent of a gauntlet being flung…Chef has spoken loudly without uttering a word. His risotto definitely had the last word: magnifico!

– Graeme Kemlo

It was hard to miss at the media luncheon hosted by Swissôtel last week in Melbourne – the traditional condiments had been usurped, replaced by a triple play of seasonings in dark green, pale pink and let’s call it, taupe.

We were at ezard restaurant, with its “Australian freestyle” culinary bent, so perhaps it should have come as no surprise.  Here Teage Ezard, melds Asian influences into his fare, especially Thai and Chinese.

So when the waiter brought a crusty loaf and olive oil that he declared was a product of the ezard kitchen – parmesan, garlic and rosemary infused, which they sell at $30 a bottle  – a quick dip into the colourful condiments was required.

I asked for the ingredients (not the recipe unfortunately) and L-R they were:

• roasted wakame seaweed (50%), nori, bonito, sesame seed, dried dashi and sea salt
• dried chilli and yellow rock sugar
• Szechuan pepper, wok-roasted sea salt

More than meeting expectations as flavour enhancers, they were in turn:

• a complex mouthful of marine life with mineral texture for the tongue
• slightly sweet with the inevitable sting in the tail
• self-confessed pepper fanboy loves this powdered heat with none of the usual grinder debris

Posing a supplementary question, as we scribes are prone to do, regarding the birthplace of the wok-roasted sea salt, it was “the Murray River”.

– Graeme Kemlo