Benjamin Christie Australian Celebrity Chef
Australian Celebrity Chef from Dining Downunder Cooking Show Blog
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- Cooking Shows on Joost TV
Recently, Vic Cherikoff and I signed a deal with Joost to establish a cooking show channel called Australian Food TV on the Joost network. Last week it finally went live.
For those that don’t know, Joost is a brand new internet television service which uses peer to peer technology by the founders of Skype – Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis
Unlike user generated online video websites such as youtube, Joost is comprised only of professional content only and has recently signed a number of high profile US cable networks such as CNN, MTV, National Geographic as well as a number of music channels such as Warner Bros Music and Ministry of Sound.
The quality of the video on Joost is simply amazing for being broadcast over the internet. On a wired broadband connection the video is seamless, but over my WIFI connection there were a few jitters, but absolutely watchable. Video on Joost is like you’re watching a DVD on your computer. It isn’t HDTV, but it is close. There is a combination of videos encoded at 4:3 as well some encoded at 16:9 format.
Our Australian Food TV Channel will put the spotlight on Australia and help to further build the profile of Australian foods and Australian cuisine overseas. There are predictions Joost will conservatively attract 25 million viewers by the end of 2007 and rise to over 100 million in short order, making the audience bigger than the Food Network in the USA.
In the coming months we’ll be creating new video content of recipes, interviews with well known Australian chefs, information on foods from the Aboriginal people and cooking up some dishes. Initially we’ll be broadcasting episodes of our cooking show, Dining Downunder.
It’s interesting how things happen and us developing the channel on Joost stems from an article I first wrote about my thoughts about Joost when it was called the Venice Project. 42 minutes after I published that article on my website, I had an email from Joost asking about what content I could provide. The power of the internet! 5 days late I met with the Joost team in New York and we did a deal.
The Australian Food TV channel will be supported by our online store, so for those that want to purchase ingredients such as lemon myrtle, wattleseed, alpine pepper as well as our cookbook, then these are available for immediate shipping to anywhere in the world.
At present, Joost is in beta mode and is by invitation only. If you register for my email newsletter, I‘ll be sure to email you an invite as soon I can.
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Last month in whilst in Los Angeles, Vic Cherikoff and I promoted the arrival of Australian Made® foods on the shelves of Gelsons Market.
The launch event was held at LA Foodworks in West Hollywood and we showcased food products from Brookfarm Macadamia, Beechworth Honey, G’day Gourmet Tuna and Valley Produce Company will feature alongside 100% All Natural Organic Beef and Country Fresh Australian lamb, flavoured with Vic Cherikoff’s range of native Australian spices.
Throughout the event, Australian photographer, Martina Gemmola took a great deal of photos capturing the moment. Here are just a few of them.
Demonstrating Angel Hair Paperbark Smoke Pasta Nest Topped with G’day Gourmet Chili Tuna with Lemon Myrtle.
Cooking Australian lamb cutlets on the BBQ.
Broadleaf Country Fresh Australian Lamb Cutlets Crusted in Wildfire Spice and Kashmiri Chili Spiced Macadamia Nuts with Warm Illawarra Plum Sauce
Slow roasted, boneless beef ribs with Mountain Pepper Sauce.
Wattleseed Pavlova with Beechworth Honey & Brookfarm Toasted Muesli
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australian made, benjamin christie, chef, hollywood, australian food, vic cherikoff, food, australia, wattleseed, lamb, bbq, Gelsons Market, los angeles, la foodworks - Endeavor Talent Agency
Together with Vic Cherikoff, I am now exclusively being represented in the USA by Endeavor Talent Agency.
Endeavor Talent Agency, with offices in Beverly Hills and New York is a talent and literary agency, representing actors, writers and directors for film, television and video games. Endeavor is considered one of Hollywood’s largest and most innovative talent agencies and represents a number of high profile actors as well as other celebrity chefs.
We’ll both be working closely with Endeavor to develop and expand our USA profiles including TV projects, product licensing development, product endorsement opportunities, appearances and other business development. Endeavor will also support us in marketing and branding strategy.
To discuss opportunities contact either;
Jessica Thomas or Will Ward
+1 310 248 2000Endeavor Talent Agency
9601 Wilshire Blvd. 3rd Floor
Beverly Hills, California 90210
USA
- Kitchen Studio at Switch Studios
This week while in Hollywood, I was recommended to check out Switch Studios as a possible future filming location for our upcoming TV cooking show. Switch Studios is nestled in a neighbourhood nearby the Venice Canals and isn’t your regular kitchen studio.
CEO and Founder Matt Danciger, showed me around the kitchen studio facility which is regularly used for TV commercials as well as QVC and Home Shopping segments. The kitchen studio was designed with celebrity chefs in mind and is fitted out with the latest in Cuisinart equipment, Wolf Gas Ranges, commercial refrigeration units as well as commercial quality utensils.
In terms of lighting, kitchen studio has a great deal of natural light through the two large windows, however Matt pointed out that most production companies backlight the windows or use their own backdrop to create the atmosphere required for the shoot. One of the real advantages of using the kitchen studio at Switch Studios is the ability to use boom cameras as well as overhead cameras on the cat walk directly about the bench for those required in pan shots.
Apart from the professional kitchen studio layout, Switch Studios can be used for all post production with video editing suites as well as a 30-seat THX certified digital screening room. They offer services such as non-linear online and offline video editorial of HD and standard definition (601) video.
If you’re looking for a location for your next kitchen shoot definitely add Switch Studios to your list of possible filming locations.Switch Studios
316 South Venice Boulevard
Venice, California
www.switch-studios.com
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switch studios, studio, kitchen, venice, hollywood, los angeles, cooking show, celebrity chef, benjamin christie, food, cooking, food and wine, venice beach, venice blvd, QVC, home shopping - Gelsons Market Los Angeles embraces Australian Made Foods
On the 8th May in Los Angeles, I’ll be joined by celebrity chef, Vic Cherikoff and award-winning cookbook author Sally James to celebrate the arrival of Australian Made® foods on Gelsons Market shelves.
We’ll be hosting an exclusive media event in West Hollywood where we will showcase some of the most unique gourmet foods ever to leave Australian soil including products from Brookfarm Macadamia, Beechworth Honey, G’day Gourmet Tuna and Valley Produce Company will feature alongside 100% All Natural Organic Beef and Country Fresh Australian lamb, flavoured with Vic Cherikoff’s range of native Australian spices.
Using many of the products being showcased we have created a uniquely Australian menu accompanied by Wolf Blass premium wines for media to sample, including:
Macadamia, Ginger & Truffle Oil Spread with Wildfire Dukkah
Angel Hair Paperbark Smoke Pasta Nest Topped with G’day Gourmet Chili Tuna with Lemon Myrtle
Broadleaf Country Fresh Australian Lamb Cutlets Crusted in Wildfire Spice and Kashmiri Chili Spiced Macadamia Nuts with Warm Illawarra Plum Sauce
Wattleseed Pavlova with Beechworth Honey & Brookfarm Toasted Muesli
Apart from the media launch, Australian Made Food tastings will run in Gelsons Markets in Hollywood, West Hollywood, Pacific Palisades, Newport Beach, Century City, Encino, Marina Del Ray and Valley Village NoHo for the month of May. Gelson’s markets across Los Angeles will now be stocking Brookfarm Toasted Macadamia Muesli, G’Day Gourmet’s™ range of flavoured tuna, Beechworth Pure Australian Honey and Valley Produce Company’s™ award-winning Fruit Pyramids and Crackerthins.
For those that don’t know, Australian Made is a not-for-profit organization helping consumers exercise their preference for buying Australian by clearly identifying products with the
green triangle and gold kangaroo.
The logo signifies the item is unequivocally “Australian made”, of an exceptionally high quality and adheres to strict environmental and ethical standards. Australian Made’s™ Ian Harrison said it was important Los Angeles consumers look out for the kangaroo logo to ensure it was genuinely Australian. “The iconic gold kangaroo in a green triangle is proof and will ensure shoppers are buying and enjoying the real deal,” Harrison said.
The Australian Made & Gelsons Market promotion is being organised by Brook George from Crocmedia www.crocmedia.com.
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- Menu Planning
Menu Planning is an important task every chef has to undertake. So to help chefs when menu planning for Australian events and Australian banquets, both Vic Cherikoff and I first published the Australian Menu Package ebook back in April 2006. Since then we have sold a few hundred copies and received some really great feedback from chefs and caterers right around the globe (even cruise ships!) who purchased a copy.
Some of the feedback we received was to provide more information more relevant to Executive Chefs and Chef de Cuisine when planning a la carte menus or set menus opposed to the vast amount of information we provided for banquet chefs. With this in mind we’ve decided to rename it to the Australian Menu Planning Guide. We also found that a great deal of chefs didn’t really understand the term ebook, so we have dropped it, as the title suggests.
The new look Australian Menu Planning Guide provides 50 pages of dishes and concepts for restaurants, hotels, conference, function and venue caterers who are interested in discovering ways to integrate Australian ingredients. The menu planning guide was also to give chefs an idea of what can be done and how far you can push these flavours.
Apart from regular menus, you could develop a series of Australian menus offering including breakfast, morning tea, lunch dinner and cocktail party all with the unique flavours of Australia. Australian ingredients such as Lemon Myrtle, Wattleseed, Alpine Pepper, Yakajirri and Paperbark together with Australian game meats such as kangaroo and emu which have really become popular on menus also.
Additional topics added to the latest version of the Australian Menu Planning Guide are;
Antipasto
Australian Meat Pies
Plank Cooking with Smokeboards™
Paperbark Cooking
Vegetarian Dishes
Ice Creams
Gelato
Chocolate TrufflesWe have greatly expanded the sections on Soups, Canapes, Potato and Vegetable side dishes.
We felt it was also important to add a resources section which provides links to important articles, tools, videos and websites.
Both Vic and I are committed to updating the Australian Menu Planning Guide with the latest ideas and development in Australian native ingredients. As such, you’ll now notice that we have added a version number to the document and a month and year publish date.
When you order the Australian Menu Planning Guide, you’ll receive regular updates and special offers for 12 months. So when we publish a new version, you’ll receive an update within days via email. The Australian Menu Planning Guide comes as a PDF and requires Adobe Acrobat to be installed to be read. This is handy for chefs that travel who don’t want to carry around large and bulky cookbooks.
The new Australian Menu Planning Guide is now available online for just US$15.95
Click here to order a copyThe Australian Menu Planning Guide is included in our Chefs Hamper which is includes a wide range of Australian native ingredients and allows chefs to experiment and plan menus.
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Menus, Menu, Menu Planning, Australian menus, Australian menu, food, Australian food, Australia, chef, chefs, Vic Cherikoff, bush tucker, cherikoff, Benjamin Christie
- Australian Restaurants in America
Whilst in America recently, I though it was interesting to see that a number of Australian Restaurants and Australian Pubs have opened in the past 12 months or so. I’ll be heading back to America this week and thought it would be good to identify what Australian restaurants are already established and a little bit about what they are serving.
Apart from the 800 plus Outback Steakhouse restaurants which claim to be Australian restaurants, there seems to be only a handful of restaurants that actually serve a form of Australian cuisine in the United States of America. Some of the Australian themed restaurants and pubs I found include;
Bondi Road – www.bondiroad.com
Located on the lower east side of New York, Bondi Road is the brain child of owner Heath St. Clair who also owns The Sunburnt Cow restaurant. Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night Bondi Road’s menu features food influenced and flown directly from Australia.
Bondi Road is known for its seafood and they fly in fish twice a week from Australia and New Zealand which is then showcased in the restaurant via a deli-style cabinet. Often available is barramundi, blackfish, sea bass, goldband snapper, grouper, whole baby snapper and Tasmanian salmon all prepared either grilled, beer-battered or breaded.
Apart from the variety of fresh fish, the raw bar features Moreton Bay Bugs, Western Australian lobsters, Barrier Reef Banana Prawns and when available fresh Yabbies and Marron from western Australia.
Bondi Road wouldn’t be an Australian restaurant without a burger of some sort, and they offer their Aussie Burger with the Lot, adding beetroot and grilled pineapple.
Their ever changing wine list features a wide selection of Australian wines as well as colour selection of Australian styled cocktails such as Bondi Breeze, Tamaramma Glamma and Sand in Your Pants to name a few.
Bondi Road
153 Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton Sts.
Lower East Side, Manhattan
New York
+1 212 253 5311
Bondi Bar & Kitchen – www.thebondi.com
Located in the Gas Lamp quarter in downtown San Diego, Bondi Bar & Kitchen is the brainchild of Chief Executive Officer Julian Heppekausen, Chief Concept Officer David Zampatti and Chief Operating Officer Michael Cameron all from Perth, Australia. Only opening in January 2007, Bondi Bar and Kitchen is the first of many Bondi Bar & Kitchen restaurants in California. Their aim was to create a modern, sleek and authentic restaurant serving fresh ingredients flown in daily from Australia as well as the best of Australian wines and beers.
As soon as you walk into Bondi Bar & Kitchen the interior is decorated with imported jarrah hardwood flooring, red iron ore walls and grass tree fonds shipped directly from Australia’s Pilbara desert. Each of the three bars are highlighted by large plasma screens with images from Australia.
Head chef, Chris Behre has created a fresh and vibrant menu inspired by the many cultures that call Australia home. Some of the items on the restaurant menu include Paperbark smoked pork chop with munthari berry & rosemary sauce, Grilled Tasmanian ocean trout fillet with asparagus and & bush tomato sauce, and a Wagyu beef (8 oz), asparagus, roasted red yam, mountain pepper butter to name just a few.
For dessert, there’s a wattleseed pavlova with praline cream, wild lime brulée with candied ginger biscuit as well as a selection of Australian farm house cheeses.
In the Bondi Bar, there is a great selection of Australian pub fare available including; Wagyu beef burger, beef party pies, barramundi goujons with lemon myrtle mayonnaise, calamari with Illawarra plum sauce and Bush dukkah with extra virgin olive oil and grilled ciabatta.
The Bondi Bar has an Australian only wine list featuring wines from the finest vineyards in Australia. Particular focus is on the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale, in South Australia as well as Margaret River, Western Australia. There is also a wide selection of Australian draught beer available on tap including Boag’s Draught, Coopers Sparkling Ale, Gage Roads Pure Malt Lager, Bluetongue Premium Lager, Coopers Pale Ale and Little Creatures Bright Ale. All the Australian beers are imported in eco-friendly kegs.
Bondi Bar & Kitchen
333 Fifth Avenue (between J and K)
San Diego, CA 92101
+1 619 342 0212
Eight Mile Creek – www.eightmilecreek.com
Regarded as the first Australian restaurant in America, Eight Mile Creek is located in the heart of the NoLita district of downtown Manhattan, New York. The name Eight Mile Creek comes from a stream that runs through the owner Will Ford’s Australian hometown.
Eight Mile Creek is split into two styles of dining; Upstairs there’s a New York Times-rated 2 star restaurant which features Modern Australian cooking. On the menu are dishes such as emu carpaccio, kangaroo skewers with mountain-berry ketchup, Crisp-baked barramundi fillet with grilled asparagus, roast tomatoes and sweet basil sauce, grilled kangaroo fillet with roasted rosemary mash, mushroom vinaigrette, rocket to name a few.
Downstairs the atmosphere is much more like an Australian Pub setting with Coopers Ale on tap, fine Australian wines by the glass and cocktails with an with a unique Australian twist. Bistro food is available from downstairs till late and features dishes you’d expect in an Australian pub like meat pies, ‘Coopers Ale’-battered fish & chips, beef burgers, kangaroo skewers and ‘The Creek’ steak sandwich. I wasn’t sure about the Wallaby Wings with blue cheese dressing, considering that wallabies don’t have wings!
In the warmer summer months, Eight Mile Creek boasts an OuT-the-bAcK beer garden where the concept is “You Bring the Meat, We’ll Supply the Barbie” on Sundays. This sounds like something that happens in backyards all over Australia.
I’ll be definitely visiting Eight Mile Creek next time I am in New York.
Eight Mile Creek
240 Mulberry St (Between Prince & Spring St)
New York 10012, NY
+1 212 431 4635
Greg Norman’s Australian Grille – www.shark.com/australiangrille
Greg Norman is regarded as one of Australia’s best sporting icons and has in the past decade expanded from licensed golfing products into Food and Beverages. Apart from Greg Norman Estate wines and Greg Norman Prime Wagyu Beef, his other venture into the Food and Beverage area is Greg Norman’s Australian Grille.
Greg Norman’s Australian Grille in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was opened in 1999 by American celebrity chef, Todd English. The restaurant is located across a saltwater estuary from a Greg Norman-endorsed golf course and is now headed up in the kitchens by award winning chef, Joe Coppolino.
Seating over 160 people, the interior of the Australian Grille comprises of free standing tables and booth seating with waterfront view dining room overlooks kitchen featuring open air wood burning grill and rotisserie. The décor of the restaurant comprises of rich grain leathers and hand crafted woods from Australia. The walls feature Australian motif and Aboriginal artwork as well as the ceiling of the dining room boasts a full length mural in pub of waterfalls reminiscent of the Australian outback.
The menu is rather international, yet offers a great deal of fresh produce from Australia. Obviously Greg Norman Prime Wagyu Beef is heavily featured on the menu with cuts like filet mignon, ribeye steak and New York sirloin as well as prime rib of beef cuts called ‘Shark Cut’ and ‘Queensland Cut’. Apart from meats Australian rock lobster tails are available poached in butter and served in a creamy succotash with corn, roasted onion, sweet peas and smoked bacon served on whipped potatoes.
As you can imagine, Greg Norman’s Australian Grille features a selection of Australian wines including, Greg Norman Estate wines, however the majority of the wine list is best described as international.
Inside the restaurant is a retail shop featuring a full line of Greg Norman Collection of clothing and accessories.
Greg Norman’s Australian Grille
4930 Highway 17 S
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
+1 843 361 0000
The Sunburnt Cow – www.thesunburntcow.com
In 2003, Heath St. Clair opened The Sunburnt Cow, which was named in honour of Bessie, his cow that passed during a 1972 heat wave in Alice Springs. Nowadays the Sunburnt Cow is a two room restaurant in the trendy New York area of East Village.
I think Sunburnt Cow gets referred to as a tapas restaurant probably because they serve meals on paper plates, but the restaurant’s signature dish is anything but tapas. It’s a macadamia nut crusted lamb freshly flown in from Australia. Other dishes on the menu include pepperberry rubbed prawn skewers and kangaroo sausages and mash. Lighter bar styled dishes include Aussie burger with the lot (pineapple and beetroot), Coopers batter fish and chips as well a steak sandwich called the Bessie Sandwich ( named after the sunburt cow). Desserts are stereotypical Australian desserts like lamingtons and pavlova (cow patt style).
The Sunburt Cow’s wine list is predominately made up of Australian wines, as well as wide selection of cocktails and beers.
The Sunburnt Cow
137 Ave. C, New York, NY 10009
between 8th and 9th Sts.
+1 212 529 0005I am sure I’ve missed an Australian restaurant in America, so if you have any recommendations please email me.
Lastly, if you are thinking of opening an Australian restaurants or are interested in investing in an Australian Restaurant in America, or would like to hire me as a consultant for a new Australian restaurant project that you’re working, please contact us.
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What does a tip mean? Well, the definition from the Macquarie Dictionary for a tip or gratuity is a small present of money given to someone, as a waiter, porter, etc., for performing a service; a gratuity. (It is widely claimed that the word is an acronym for ‘To Insure Promptness’ and originates from 16th Century English coffee houses but as acronyms were not thought to have been used until the 1920s, this claim is disputed.)
Depending on the location in the world a tip to an employee constitutes a considerable percentage of their wage. In some states of the USA a restaurant employee earns merely 30 per cent of their wage from the employer and essentially requires earning the remainder in tips. In this environment, the consumer is compelled to leave a mandatory tip of around 10-15 per cent, but overall the standard of service is outstanding.
In Australia tipping is often isolated to standalone restaurants and those within hotels. Depending on the level of service offered, receiving a tip should not be expected as it is overseas. The Australian public demands a high level of service but is not prepared to pay for it.
What service requires a tip? It’s basically all about ensuring the guest is looked after and goes away satisfied. Service staff that go the extra mile will always receive greater tips than staff that provide ordinary levels of service. A large proportion of tips left are from overseas visitors and the remainder are from individuals who have received service beyond normal circumstances.
Many restaurants in Australia manage tips by dividing the daily or weekly overall tips among their waiting staff. Although this seems reasonable in principle, should the total be divided by every employee of the restaurant? Besides, it takes a team effort to provide a quality customer experience. This concept seems fairer, as the service staff require kitchen staff to produce the meals and kitchen staff require these dishes to be served.
I recently heard of a well-known Sydney restaurant who devised a tip system that was considered fair to all employees and was incorporated into the restaurant’s workplace agreement. Prior to the system being implemented waiting staff were taking as much as their wage in tips each month. Tips were divided on a weekly basis and five per cent of all tips went back to the management which contributed to guest walkouts and breakage issues. The remainder was split equally with 50 per cent to the service staff and 50 per cent to the kitchen. Each managed their 50 per cent in different methods. A tier system was introduced on the service side of the operation for various reasons. The management considered that well educated waiters contributed greatly to high tips as they were the only contact with guests. Therefore waiters had to study the menu and wine list, then sat a compulsory exam. There were two tiers, the top level demanded waiters to receive a 90 per cent result to obtain an equal share. The lower level was a 60 per cent result in return for 60 per cent of the equal share. This system greatly improved waiter knowledge, whilst improving service standards within the restaurant.
Kitchen tips were equally divided to all chefs and kitchen hands as all staff were full-time. This system gave the kitchen team a reward each month for ensuring the high standards of meals were continued and it particularly assisted chef apprentices, which were on low award wages. The average kitchen member received approximately $100 – 200 a week in tips. It dosent sound much, but to apprentice chef or commis chef the kitchen tips could represent a bonus of about 25% to their weekly wage.
For restaurant that may look at implementing such a system as described, this strategy does not directly generate any more extra revenue for the restaurant. However the development of employee awareness and attitude of service will improve, as too will the tips and gratuity. This eventually will have an overall effect on the establishment’s service standards and a flow-on effect to the restaurant’s reputation for service.
As a restaurant employee that receives tips from time to time, be sure to note this as income. Often the Australia Tax Office runs audits on restaurant employees in regards to tips. This could indeed become costly if you are caught.
So next time you receive quality service and food, why not leave a token gesture to say thank you. Better still, why not say the tip has been left for the chef!
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tips, restaurant tips, tipping, kitchen, restaurant, chef, australia, menus, chefs, cooking, benjamin christie - Food Costs and Menu Engineering ebook
I’ve already started writing another ebook which will be a guide to Food Costs and Menu Engineering. The ebook will be aimed at chefs, restaurant owners, restaurant managers and general managers who want to learn how to better manage and control their food costs.
The book will include a number of tips which when implemented will significantly decrease your food costs. I will be looking for food costing case studies, so if you are interested in being interviewed or featured in the book contact me. Also if you have any ideas on food costs that you feel should be included also contact me with your thoughts. As many of the chapters start to take form, I’ll start sharing food costs excerpts of the ebook for all to share and contribute your thoughts.
I’m not sure of the price at present, but it will reflect the number of pages and hours I’ll dedicate to it. I will guarantee that when you purchase a copy, I’ll provide you free updates in the future. I am aiming for a June / July release, but if you’d like me to send you an email when my Food Costs ebook will be available simply fill out this form and I’ll let you know.
In the meantime do check out my latest ebook, Australian Menu Planning Guide.
To receive updates to the Food Costs ebook;
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There are ordinary hotels, then there are hotels like a Peninsula Hotel.
For those that don’t know, Peninsula Hotels are a relatively small group of luxury hotels with properties in both America and Asia that ooze personalized service and are dedicated to providing luxurious comfort for their guests. Their restaurants are among the leading restaurants in their city and are considered “must visit” destinations in their own right. So when I heard the Peninsula Group had published their first cookbook, I had to get my hands on one.
Titled, Naturally Peninsula – Flavours, the cookbook features 76 recipes from The Peninsula’s global team of chefs, with chapters on Appetisers, Soup, Fish, Shellfish, Poultry, Meat, Vegetables & Bean Curd, Rice & Pasta, Desserts and Smoothies.
The book highlights the Peninsula group’s commitment to develop their own cuisine based on the guiding principle that “to live well is to eat well.” which is based on a combination of sourcing fresh quality ingredients together with contemporary cooking techniques. Many of the recipes are prepared naturally, keeping in mind current lifestyle trends towards pristine flavours and natural ingredients. Other recipes are skewed towards healthy, but are grilled, fried and roasted.
As a chef myself, many of the recipes look easy to me, but to non adventurous home cooks some of the recipes might be hard to execute. Some of the recipes that I will be trying include Corn nut crusted short ribs, Lobster Kataifi with Virgin Mojito Shooter as well as Chilled Lemon Myrtle and Mint Soup with Frozen Green Tea Yoghurt.
Apart from the Peninsula chefs themselves, the book was written by well known Singaporean food consultant Violet Oon, who was also responsible for testing all of the recipes from the book.
A photo tells a millions words, especially when reading a recipe and the Naturally Peninsula – Flavours cookbook has a collection of stunning food photographs taken by the award winning Singaporean food photographer, Edmond Ho.
Given that Peninsula Hotels are evenly split between Asia and America, Naturally Peninsula Flavours includes measurements in both imperial and metric, making it easy to use no matter what you’re used to.
Towards the end of the book, a necessary glossary is included to educate readers about unusual ingredients like Ancho Chillies, Chinese Wolfberries and Kohirabi. Each of these ingredients is accompanied by a short description and photo.
One of my only criticisms of Naturally Peninsula – Flavours is that none of the the Peninsula chefs are acknowledged for their recipes, yet they are acknowledged collectively at the end of the book. Although it would age the book ( i.e if the chefs were transferred to other Peninsula Hotels), I would have liked to have know who contributed which recipe.
You can purchase a copy of Naturally Peninsula – Flavours at any Peninsula Hotel or is available here from Amazon.
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