Ottolonghi Test Kitchen – Shelf Love

Penguin Books

Yotam Ottolenghi and his crew that form the collective known as Ottolenghi Test Kitchen is not merely a household name when it comes to chefs infiltrating family homes with their cookbooks and has a faithful cultlike following, but each constituent of the team contributes an idiosyncratic facet resulting in the whole being bigger than the sum of the individual contributions might suggest.

The opulently illustrated flexibound book aims at capturing the DNA of Ottolenghi, i.e. the elevation of homecooking with their inventive, delectable recipes, the collection of which serve as a reference point to a vegetable driven, zingy cuisine that is largely informed by Middle Eastern traditions.

Indexed in a way that allows quick access to a range of themed sections, the book does not exclusively cater to vegetarians, but also sheds light on meat-based dishes, with chapters ranging from intricate compositions that can be combined to create veritable feasts as well as ones that can be whipped up with staples in less than an hour.

As the name suggests, the focus of the recipes is set on ingredients that can commonly be found on the back of pantry shelves and on using them intuitively while bending rules and adding your own touches, which I find immensely helpful especially in situations when one has to retreat to whatever is left in the freezer along with odds and ends in the vegetable section of your fridge.

Being not exactly the most accomplished and patient chef myself when hunger strikes, I recommend to peruse the wide array of recipes ahead of time to identify preferred and highlight the more practicable options, as it can be quite difficult to choose where to start from. This is where the space to jot down your own notes comes in handy.

Unlike previous Ottolenghi cookbooks, Shelf Love is not intended to merely end up as a colourful display on the coffee table but to be used on a regular basis in the kitchen to add flavour and inspiration to loosen up the ordeal that the daily preparation of meals sometimes can be.

An ideal entry point for hobby cooks looking for ways to cut waste as well as Ottolenghi aficionados that are interested in what forms the foundation of the  much fabled about Test Kitchen’s more intricate creations.

Sticky Fingers

Enmore Theatre

Sydney, Australia

February 5, 2022

It has been five decades since Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers was incepted and as far as their discography is concerned, I deem it to be one of their four masterpieces that really mattered. 

If the designation that was attributed to the Stones regarding being one of the greatest rock’n roll bands ever held in any water, it is epitomized with their records that were released in this era as they not only sonically document the zeitgeist and transition from a relative innocent band of the 1960as to the valley of hedonism only to be spat out in in the mid-1970s to lick their wounds. 

Essentially, Sticky Fingers is one of the Stones’ most consistent and densest albums as far as the hits-to-duds ratio is concerned and the peak of the Richards-Jagger songwriting partnership upping the ante by celebrating their hard-hitting appreciation for blues, R&B and even country with an unprecedented lyrical filthiness, aesthetically all nicely wrapped up in packaging conceptualized by Andy Warhol.

Given the aforementioned, it is needless to say when I learned about some of Australia’s most iconic trailblazers in the realm of rock, i.e. Text Perkins, Tim Rogers, Adalita and Phil Jamieson backed by a band the individual constituents of which read like the who-is-who of virtuosi, announcing that they would team up to interpret and pay homage to the Stones by getting their fingers sticky to perform the album in its entirety in all its beauty and darkness, framed by some of the Stones’ classics.

The two-chaptered live incarnation of what already sounded fantastic on paper did not disappoint: 

Without merely covering, imitating or replicating the respective tracks, each of the protagonists added their own idiosyncratic flair and swagger to the wasted and weary beauty of the original album, thereby creating an immensely enjoyable evening for all parties involved, most prominently an audience that revelled in the contemporary translation of a fifty year old landmark in good music and accomplished ode to raw and sleazy rock’n roll.

I can only hope that it will be considered by all protagonists involved to convene to celebrate other classic albums that inspired them to channel their alchemy in the realm of rock’n roll with similar fervour.

The Formative Years – Karl-Heinz Stille

As a prepubescent on my quest for interesting new underground music, I was lucky enough to find someone who had been there from the very start, done that and was open enough to graciously let me pick his brain to push me in the right direction by not only gaining me access to the finer things of punk rock but contextualising my explorations with his benign guidance.

I vividly remember roughing up my voice by intently smoking the Thin White Duke’s favourites, i.e. Gitanes cigarettes, before our phone conversations to irritate my vocal chords in a feeble attempt to sound older and more seasoned than I was. 

Karl-Heinz Stille was patient enough to answer my cold call and share knowledge in an open and honest fashion, without there ever being a concrete incentive for him.

The fact that he had a keen sense of humour, shared a Yellow Pages sized print out of his collection and suffered my requests to invest countless hours into curating and compiling mixtapes for me did not hurt either as it provided me with insights I would otherwise not have had access to.

It might have been the fact that we both shared a common background in terms of having grown up in rural regions where one had to actively look for exciting pastime activities beyond what was offered by the local small-minded club culture, paired with the experience of music becoming the gateway to alternative and intriguing concepts, which spawned a lifelong thirst to find a sonic equivalent to one’s longings.

I remember first picking up the phone because I had lapped up Kalle’s tape compilations, which he had released under the moniker “Vollsuff”, accompanied by his idiosyncratic drawings. 

He also had a split 7” out with his band FOH and had just started to release his fantastic fanzine "Think!?!", a unique endeavour which deliberately broke with all conventions and stereotypes punk rock fanzines were confined by in a bid to challenge the status quo with humour and push the envelope in every direction.

In my youthful mind there was no doubt that this man was a renaissance man and interactions with him proved that I was not wrong. It turned out that he was not merely the epitome of the Do It Yourself credo, but was also smart, open minded and generous to a fault.

Kalle went on to found his own label, i.e. Crime Records, to unearth unreleased treasures, designed a myriad of artworks for records, took photographs and documented each show he went to, released two books and eventually went on to write for literally every slightly relevant punk rock publication in Germany (Plot, ZAP, Ox, etc.) as the unpretentious elder statesman of German punk rock royalty. Via his countless extracurricular activities, he continues to infuse punk rock culture with some of the more interesting unofficial releases, with the common denominator being a level of attention to detail that remains unrivalled.

While our interactions ebbed and flowed over the years, I never ceased to check in on Kalle’s emissions, which was never a not rewarding experience as he always effortlessly proved to be relevant, at times brutally honest, level headed and fuelled by an indelible passion and care for interesting music without being confined to musical styles or resorting to preaching in an elitist manner about his eclectic tastes.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer

Rocky Ridge and La Sirène

With craft beer brewing booming and having become a veritable business model, it is not further wondrous that operations that started out independently eventually had to rely on outside investments to then have their DNA diluted and mainstreamed by the respective shareholders.

Named after the natural outcrop of ironstone that pervades their estate, Rocky Ridge Brewery is an example par excellence for the opposite, i.e. an independent, family-owned business that has organically grown from humble beginnings within the confines of a farmhouse to the thriving business that keeps pumping out innovative and envelope-pushing creations based on their credo that everything “they brew, they grow”, yet enhanced by cutting edge brewing technology and the brewery’s focus firmly set on sustainable and local practices.

While there are quite a few Australian craft beer breweries that manage to incorporate some of the aforementioned aspects into their operations, the way that Rock Ridge channels its alchemy by accomplishing to incorporate all of them is unrivalled. This might be one of the reasons why there is no shortage of willing collaborators, the joint ventures with which keep things interesting as it allows for Rocky Ridge to experiment with ingredients that they do not grow themselves.

The fact that Rocky Ridge has consistently pumped out quality brews since its inceptions four years ago, many of which sell out within days and are seldomly even making it to the shelves on the East coast of Australia only add to the appeal.

If I had to pinpoint a signature Rocky Ridge release, it would be the Ace IPA as it proudly features the uniquely florally complex citrus, grapefruit and citrus flavour profile of the Flinders hop variety from Western Australia’s South Western region.

Harbouring more than a mere weak spot for IPAs, sampling Rocky Ridge’s line-up of hopped out varieties proves to be sheer delight, take for example El Diablo which based on a melange of Mosaic, El Dorado and Citra hops is an example par excellence for a well-calibrated East Coast IPA flavour profile centred around ripe fruit notes.

The West Coast equivalent would be Magic Man, which I fancy quite a bit due to its pronounced Nelson Sauvin, Rakau and Strata bitter- and maltiness, which is juxtaposed by facets of fruity flavours and a bold, reverberating finish, making it an ideal companion for a boilermaker with a heavily peated Islay whisky.

An interesting Pilsner variant I have so far not had, is Rocky Ridge’s experiment with maturing their Pilsner in an ex-Cognac foeder vessel for two months. The result is even more nuanced than the sum of the individual ingredients would have you think, culminating in delicate vanilla and oaky highlights, which shine against a backdrop of the yeasty Pilsner characteristics.

However, my favourite Rocky Ridge so far must be Danny’s Home: With 12% ABV a veritable heavyweight in the realm of IIPAs that proves to be dangerously moreish with its idiosyncratic mix of stone fruity and refreshingly tarty nuances that dance on a stage of delightfully resinous hops, only to be rounded out by a lingering bitterness which culminates in a citrus and mango heavy counterpoint. 

Lip-smackingly delicious in nature, what I have tasted form Rocky Ridge has assured that I won’t be able to make it past any of their future IPAs, especially when they enter IIPA territory.

La Sirène 

We have covered La Sirène as part of this series before, however, the fact that the Victorian specialists in Farmhouse, Saisons and Wild Ales have not only not slowed down but accelerated their microbiologically brewing alchemy in pumping out a diverse array of exquisite new interpretations of their trademark style, warrants another dedicated instalment.

With the name being an obvious nod to the French speaking part of Southern Belgium and local practices in the realm of creating a distinct style of ales, La Sirène has refined its own unique formula with the common denominator between their creations being that each is immensely recognisable, not unlike regional wine varieties.

La Sirène’s portfolio and one-off limited releases are ever expanding without ever running danger of creating ales that are not merely highly enjoyable but thought-provoking in that one feels inspired by the characteristics imbued by La Sirène’s immediate environment, including but not limited to the barrels used, the strains of air-borne yeasts and bacteria.

Artisanal in every aspect and with sustainability being a priority, La Sirène’s signature move is that all of their hand-bottled ales have been fermented openly, to then age in barrels where not only more fermentation is spurned but where they are aged, before being further refined in Premium French oak barrels sourced from local Victorian wineries. 

The fact that their wild ales are presented in Champagne bottles, which encourages the development of creamy mousse via a refermentation technique reminiscent of the Methode Champenoise, results in what has become yet another trademark of La Sirène, i.e. the creamy mousse that materializes as a crown on their poured emissions.

La Sirène’s attention to detail when it comes to packaging and elegant artwork rounds out the drinking experience of their nectar in the aesthetic department and it should not come as a surprise that not merely beer and ale lovers are falling prey to the alluring call of the siren, but also fine-dining restaurants in a bid to complement their culinary creations.

Recent favourites of La Sirène’s range include Biere de Cerise. An annual release in nature, this beauty is based on the Solera method, i.e. barrels that had the Barrel Aged Cherry Wild Ale doing its magic with whole Guigne D’Annonay and Marasca Cherries cherries are only ever partly emptied to then be topped up with fresh beer and fresh cherries. Fluctuating seasonal Victorian temperatures then help to extract the most out of each cherry.

Merely typing this evokes a Pavlovian response. 

Yum.

Another favourite is  La Sirène’s Chardonnay grape based collaboration with Bannockburn Vineyards in Geelong, i.e. Convergence 2021, which resulted in a wonderful hybrid between the winery’s trademark local microflora and La Sirène’s airborne culture. The result is an example par excellence in merging a wild ale with oaky Chardonnay characteristics.

With a name like Supernaturally things are bound to be interesting: Based on the abundance of fruit resulting from Victoria’s extensive lockdowns, La Sirène joined forces with local growers to handpick peaches and plums for the creation of two unique oak-aged wild ales, which could not be juicier and refreshingly acidic in nature.

Talking of acidity – if that is your jam you cannot go past La Sirène’s Cuvee De Bois: Based on a wild ale, fermented Victorian Chardonnay grapes are added, resulting in a well-calibrated mineral heavy wild ale ode to the beauty that is Chardonnay from the Geelong region.

Unfortunately I missed out with La Sirène’s collaboration with Starward Distillery but hope that they will revisit the project in the future.

Night of the Soul

The Cutaway

Sydney, Australia

January, 21 2022

In terms of venues, it does not come more unique than the approximately 5,200 square metres that are raw beauty known as The Cutaway: Given that the below-ground situated, concrete based space is carved into an artificial hill that serves as a native botanical garden, offers a myriad of possibilities and unrivalled flexibility as an eye-catching backdrop for a range of large-scale events.  The fact that it is located right next to the beautifully restored Barangaroo Reserve, i.e. a stone throw from water does not hurt either in terms of adding to the appeal.

Apart from the visual and aesthetic aspects, which were enhanced by the beauty that is the dusk of an Australian sunset in January, the Sydney Festival incarnation of the Night of the Soul could not have chosen a better a better canvas to unleash their choral bliss on as acoustically, it turns out that The Cutaway is not dissimilar to what an expansive cathedral would be able to provide.

Designed to hit the sweet spot between meditation and being serenaded by the sonic beauty that emanates from Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ Chamber Singers, the evening was designed to take one on a journey, meandering between the yin and yang of emotions with the power of the human voice taking centre stage and ultimately culminating in a gripping medieval Gregorian chant, all the while the audience was invited to get cosy on the yoga mats that have been provided.

Programmed and conducted by Brett Weymark, the evening was curated in a manner so that lighter and darker moments ebbed and flowed in a melange comprised of such classic compositions such as Ola Gjeilo’s Dark Night of the Soul and Luminous Night of the Soul, Eric Whitacre’s crystalline Nox Arumque and Lux Arumque, Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel, with Samuel Barber’s immortal Agnus Dei being the centerpoint.

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image provided by Sydney Festival