Has it really been almost a month since Christmas? Time seems to have flown by. But I feel 2008 is going to be a good year. Already I’ve been to see Sufjan Stevens at the State Theatre, watched a couple of great movies (Persepolis and Juno), seen some trailers for potentially hilarious ones (Kung Fu Panda), had a few notable meals out (Aria, Longrain) and cooked some food I’ve been particularly happy with, at home (chocolate cake with spiced rum, sambal goreng tempe, chicken and porcini pie, gado gado salad, beef rendang) and at work.

I’ve killed my feet in one of my favourite pairs of Marc Jacobs, lusted after Keira Knightley’s green dress in Atonement, discovered Souad Massi thanks to J, become addicted to Robot Chicken thanks to B, taken up running, and yes, I’m still struggling with Don DeLillo’s Underworld. I think Underworld is another Ulysses for me : it’s meant to be really good; I really want to read it; I just can’t seem to muster any enthusiasm and love for it.

So I actually have a backlog of photos, food and restaurants I want to talk about. But first, some indulgent pictures of my wonderful nieces who visited from NZ over the Christmas period. They surprised me by being currently aged 7 and 4 but are so cute that you’d forgive them for growing up so quickly. As goodbye presents before they left for home again, they drew some pictures for us. The portrait of “Uncle B” is proudly stuck to our fridge door and it still makes me laugh every time I see it.

Eve from The Garden of Eating has decided to hold a Comfort Food Cook-off, to mark the rapidly cooling weather. While everyone in the northern hemisphere is probably waxing lyrical about perfect roast chickens and plump sausages perched on couches of mashed potato, I pause for a moment to quietly recall how much I love such dishes, before realising with a glance out the window that the pastel blue skies and gentle breezes of summer in Sydney evoke a completely different type of comfort food altogether : one which is equally comforting despite (or because of) the weather. …

….Since writing the above paragraph, it has been raining for days, and I’m actually beginning to fantasize about sausages and mash. Luckily, we still have a couple more months of Summer left, so there’s still time to indulge in the comfort food of hot weather, which is a combination of crisp, brightly coloured salads, juicy chilled slices of watermelon, fresh fruit ice creams and a tall glass of something icy with perhaps a generous splash of Prosecco, Campari or Pimm’s. Anything that makes you go Ahhhh! as you slump into a deckchair. Or failing that, as you collapse onto the living room floor, limbs akimbo, having reasoned that hot air rises and cold air sinks, so being closer to the ground should theoretically feel cooler to your sun soaked body. I remember doing this as a kid, growing up in the heat and humidity of Malaysia. On particularly hot afternoons, I would be sprawled on the floor, strategically positioned under the whirr of the ceiling fan, reading a selection of Lat, Asterix and Tintin comics.

Having had two childhoods; first in Malaysia, and then in Sydney, Australia, my personal version of comfort food skips between the two cultures on a daily basis. It has developed from things I used to love and still feel nostalgic about, such as :

– steamed lotus seed paste buns
– a big slice of blackforest cake
– banana fritters
– fried hokkien noodles with soy sauce
– anything chocolate

.. to things I find very soothing these days after a particularly long day at work :

– still anything chocolate
– a bowl of blueberries
– whole fish steamed with ginger and shallots
– pickles and rice

The last on the list is probably my ultimate comfort food. The type of pickles can be anything from fiery kim chi, to Indonesian achar. Given the recipe and a specific set of ingredients, the end result can be physically replicated, but to completely understand why it’s so comforting, you’d also need to come over to my house, sit on my favourite bit of the couch, tuck your feet under my favourite blanket (weather permitting), and be eating it with my favourite person, while watching Robot Chicken.

However, the recipe below is a good place as any to start. It comes from one of Kylie Kwong’s earlier cookbooks, and is great served as a side dish or an appetiser accompanying a Chinese feast. You can also thinly slice the finished pickles and toss them through a chilled noodle salad (there’s a very good recipe for this in the same book) or through a green salad (utilising the pickling liquid in the dressing). It’s a great, easy recipe that yields a decent sized batch of crisp pickles that will last in your fridge for a long time (depending on how much comfort food you find yourself needing!).

Just be aware that if you have a small kitchen like I do, you find find the assault of simmering vinegar on the nostrils a little confronting. Let me assure you though, that these tangy pickles are totally worth all the eye-watering and nose-hair singeing you might experience!

Goong Goong’s Homemade Pickles :
(recipe from Kylie Kwong’s Recipes and Stories)

650-700g savoy cabbage
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 medium daikon radish, peeled
1 bunch red radishes
1/4 cup sea salt
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1.5 lt white vinegar
1 teaspoon chilli oil
1/4 cup light soy sauce

Slice cabbage in half lengthways, remove core and cut into irregular pieces about 5cm x 2.5cm. Roughly pull pieces apart to separate leaves. Slice cucumber and carrots in half lengthways, then cut into batons about 6cm x 1cm. Slice daikon in half lengthways, and cut into pieces roughly 3cm x 2cm. Cut red radishes in half. Place prepared vegetables in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt, and mix well to combine. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Combine sugar and vinegar in a heavy-based pot and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer, without stirring, until reduced and slightly syrupy – about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Next day, pour the cooled syrup over salted vegetables. Add chilli oil and soy sauce to taste, and mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days to allow the flavours to develop before using. The pickles will keep, refrigerated, for several months.

At least once, on any given weekend, I can be found out on the balcony, tending to our family of herbs. Admittedly, they often look like they are struggling a bit despite my best efforts, yet I persevere. There’s a great satisfaction involved when you are able to step outside, kitchen shears in hand, to give this or that plant a quick haircut, without having to get thee to the shops to buy a whole bunch of something when all you want is a sprig. I remember when we first moved into our apartment and all we had were donated pots of rosemary and cumquat (vale cumquat!). Now we have at least 15 pots and counting, and I’ve learnt that some herbs just don’t grow well under my care. Sweet Basil is one such tricky customer, as is coriander. A good place to start when you’re looking to grow your own family, is flat leaf parsley, which I’ve found is pleasingly difficult to kill. Add some chives and tarragon, and you’ve got a fine collection of fines herbes in the making.

Fines herbes, literally meaning sweet herbs, is a combination of finely chopped fresh herbs, typically featuring pairings such as parsley, chervil, tarragon and chives, or basil, chervil and thyme. They are often added to uncooked dishes such as salads, or to a dish at the end of the cooking time, such as omelettes and soups. They are also an important ingredient in Sauce Gribiche.

Gribiche is a versatile herby sauce of French origin. It traditionally contains chopped boiled egg, cornichons, capers and fines herbes, and is often seen defined as a vinaigrette. However, most of the time when I see it in restaurants, it’s bound like a mayonnaise, somewhat resembling a tartare sauce, which is why I usually associate it with battered fish and chips. The Zuni Cafe version of this sauce is more like the latter. It is quick and easy to prepare (provided emulsification is not something you find daunting) and equally easy to fall in love with. This tastily textured sauce is my contribution to WHB #114. You can use Gribiche slathered over bread in sandwiches, as a condiment to accompany most types of seafood and chicken dishes, or even in potato salad, which Judy Rodgers says turns ordinary potato salad into great potato salad!

4 minute Egg Gribiche :
(from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers)

1 large egg
salt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mild-tasting olive oil
1 tablespoon finely diced shallot (about 1 medium shallot)
1 tablespoon tightly packed chopped fresh herbs (a combination of parsley, chervil, and chives, plus a little tarragon or dill)
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, pressed dry between towels, and slightly chopped
about 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

Place the egg in a small pot of barely simmering water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 4 minutes. Drain and leave to cool in a bowl of ice water.

When the egg is sure to be cool, crack it and scrape into a small bowl. Stir in a pinch or two of salt and the mustard. Mash together, then begin whisking in the oil, a trickle or a few drops at first, then gradually increasing the flow to a thin stream. Stop adding oil when the mayonnaise is satiny and has lots of body, like hot fudge sauce. Stir in the shallots, herbs, and capers. Add vinegar and salt to taste.