What I Ate, What I Cooked, What I Bought
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 28, 2009
Benjamin Cooper executive chef, St. Ali, South MelbourneMIDDLE EASTERN BANQUETMy wife Fionaand I had dinner at Cumulus Inc. We had a table of eight with our son Kanaida, 6, daughter Daisy, 5, and some close friends, so we ordered the banquet menu for the table. The kids loved the crisp-fried schoolprawns and the slow-roasted lamb shoulder. The menu had a definite Middle Eastern slant and went well with the red wine and beer that accompanied it. We were impressed with the wait staff, who had a great understanding of the food.SLOW-COOKED LAMB I prepared a slow-braised lamb shank with soy, yellow rock sugar and king brown mushrooms. The dishwas a hit with my guests and, as is the custom with my home cooking, there was enough left over for dinner for the next two days. We drank a light pinot with the meal, as well as platinum blonde beer.VEAL SWEETBREADS For an Asian take on vitello tonnato, I bought veal sweetbreads from Largos Butchers and some tuna belly. The belly confit was done with kombu [Japanese seaweed], bonito [a fish similar to tuna] and thyme, and the sweetbreads were pan-seared. It's a degustation dish for a friend's birthday. -- Nina KarnikowskiCumulus Inc 45 Flinders Ln, city, (03) 9650 1445Astee Asian Grocer & Butcher 35-37 Railway Pd, Glen Waverley, (03) 9887 7103 Largos Butchers 411 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, (03) 9417 2689
© 2009 The Sunday Age
