Juicy beef burger (meat is a special blend by Le Parisian butcher, Yves-Marie le Bourdonnec) in a super soft brioche-esque bun served with home fries and a bottle of Pimento.

Blend 44 rue d’argout 75002 Paris

P.S. Get there early. It’s tiny.

For the full post, click here.

Photo: Caitlin M. Kelly

I had to come up with a little more then Lucky strike cigarettes and alcohol for a Madmen dinner I had been asked  to organise for the girls of mylittleparis. I had done a similar style event last year at the Cha cha but this one was a lot more fun as it was a more intimate event which meant I had time to add my own little signature touches.

The event took place in a stunning Parisian apartment which had some great views of the Eiffel tower and the rest of Paris. I rocked up laden like the donkeys I saw in Marrakech and started working my magic in the kitchen and the rest of the apartment.

Doing these kind of events you always have the problem of not having access to a prop department like on a film set, so the ambiance has to be set up with easy to make/find objects. I’ld found a whole bunch of old 1960s American ads which I had collaged together to create the placemats. Serviettes were ironed into suit shapes (thanks to my lovely assistant, Thomasine).

I’ld been hassling all my friends who smoke Lucky strikes for the empty boxes but with no luck. Plus now a days all cigarette boxes come with the ugly big warning ‘Smoking kills’ which wouldn’t look so good as props (stylists don’t care about the health hazards as long as it looks great So using my Arts background I designed myself my own lucky strike packaging which I printed out on my home printer and then made into little cigarette boxes. Mini grissini sticks were used as edible cigarettes and served with dips in ashtrays (obviously washed!).

Of course Madmen wouldn’t be Madmen without the cocktails! If you like most people don’t have a cocktail bar then all you need is an ironing board plus a white tablecloth. You might want to be a little bit careful with putting stuff on there though.

Being fairly new to the whole mixing culture I hired an authentic mixologist straight off the boat from Manhattan (well off a plane) who showed me a trick or two about making cocktails. For instance to make your lemon twists for your cocktails simply scrape out all the insides from lemon (see pic) and cut into rings.

I’ld been having a fairly sleepless week with the amount of work I had on (5am starts and midnight finishes) which resulted into me breaking 5 plates (and then breaking another in the shop when I went to buy the replacements) and slicing half my finger off while using the mandoline. The picture above is me before the accident. Note to myself: do not be distracted under any circumstances while using a mandoline. It’s lethal!

The injury was well worth it though. Look at the beautifully sliced vegetables for the main course. Dinner kicked off after the canapés and martinis with a Lucky strike baked fig with mozarella and roquette. The Lucky strike element came in the form of a sugar syrup which had been infused with Lucky strike tabacco. Normally you would infuse the syrup with an expensive cigar but I felt this was more in keeping with the ‘Madmen’ spirit.

Main course was a hommage to season 1 episode 6 where Roger Sterling and Joanne aka Red are in a hotel where he has ordered Rockefeller oysters and Beef Wellington: Roger Sterling’s Beef Wellington and Red’s roasted mash and vegetables. To finish, a New York New York cheesecake served on little New York skyline plates I had made. The soirée was rounded off with the perfect Madmen mix of music.

The menu kicked off with a Tom Cruise inspired shaken cocktails (red berries, limonchello and gin) which fit perfectly with the summer evening and was accompanied by some 80s coloured savoury macaron (cream cheese & wasabi and green olive tapenade – Pierre Hermé started his macaron experimenting in the 80s).
First course was edible pacman with pâté powerballs and confit cherries. I had wasted considerable amount of time playing pacman in the name of research. Second course was twisted bacon and a two toned tartiflette, a kind of deconstructed version with the use of sweet potatoes and some peppery roquette to balance the Reblochon. Tartiflette was created in the 80s by the Reblochon producers to promote their cheese.

Homage to 80s power dressing and those big shoulder pads: main course of Power puff pastry shoulder pad with a boeuf printanier (slow cooked spring beef stew).
A cold war soup: communism watermelon gazpacho and cucumber capitalism sorbet was served as a palate cleanser. And to finish off a 80s Paris Brest (the 8 was filled with a praline pastry cream and the 0 with a salted butter caramel cream).
The first 4 dishes were accompanied by red wines recommended by my great local caviste who matches all my wines for me as I’m hopeless. He also recommended a lovely caramel/light Irish whisky to go with the dessert.

Special thanks to myprivatedinner for providing the apartment, Jay-P for an awesome 80s music mix, my lovely culinary assistant Bernadette, Sten Pittet for taking some pictures for me and my lovely guests for coming!

Ask first © 2010 R Khooks, Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved.

Last week I started to dabble in with sourdough. I got a crash course in sourdough bread baking but was still a little dubious as my track record with looking after living things isn’t that great.  Maintaining a starter felt all too much like having to take care of a plant or a beer smelling tamagotchi. My last attempt of growing rosemary and thyme ended up in the bin. Luckily Clotilde from Chocolat & Zucchini has been doing a great job writing about sourdough with plenty of recipes.

Ask first © 2010 R Khooks, Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved.

Sourdough or a natural starter is a combination of fermented flour, water, wild yeasts and friendly bacteria which is used to leaven bread. It’s a tradition to name your starter, so I decided to baptise mine “Lucca” as I’m testing and researching sourdough bread recipes for some culinary workshops I’ll be doing in Tuscany near the town of Lucca.

I went about feeding my starter every day (organic white flour and filtered water). I accidently put it in the fridge and it froze but I managed to bring it back to life. It’s quite warm in Paris (Spring has finally kicked off) which is just the kind of temperature Lucca likes. A week of feeding and I thought it was about time to put Lucca to a test. I used the 1 2 3 sourdough recipe which is pretty fool proof. I went for a mix of wholewheat and white flour with a sprinkling of seeds. I made my sponge early in the morning, gave it 6 hours and then made the dough in the afternoon and left it to rise for a further 6 hours and by 10pm I had a fresh loaf. I must say I’m very impressed with the crust which is made by putting the dough in a oven proof dish with a lid to bake. The water evaporating from the bread creates steam and makes a very crunchy crust. Another plus with sourdough is the bread keeps really well. Even a week later toasted it still tastes great. More beer smelling tamagotchi tales to follow…

Ask first © 2010 R Khooks, Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved.

Check out Clotilde’s well documented basic sourdough recipe for further information.

Homemade special brew - Ask first © 2010 R Khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved.

Once upon a time there were two Brit girls who met in Paris over muffin making at an adorable cookbook store. They soon found out that they had many things in common: a pâtisserie diplome from Le Cordon Bleu, the love for food and lots of fun.

They had many adventures in Paris and beyond. But the day came when Frankie departed to a far away land called Australia. Rachel was very sad that her fun loving foodie partner in crime was leaving but was determined that no matter how many thousands of miles away Frankie was, she would make sure they would continue to have more edible adventures.

So Frankie left for the land of Oz in September. On a cold wet Autumn night in Paris Rachel discovered her golden ticket (in form of a special Malaysian Airline deal) away from the greyness of Paris. Very excited about going to the land of kangaroos and barbecues she sent Frankie an electronic mail and that’s how they both decided to tell an edible  immigration tale in Sydney.

Many Australian history and culinary books, skype calls, emails and photos later Rachel arrived in Sydney. And this is the tale they told:

Edible immigration menu

1. Shaken and shipped to shore
Hibiscus and ginger Bundaberg rum cocktail.

2. First encounter with native grub
Goat’s curd and macadamia nut grubs on dehydrated date leaves.

3. A fling with fish before flame
Kingfish tartare served with finger limes.

4. Desperately seeking sea cucumber, serving sotong satay instead
Coconut and lemongrass rice and spicy Asian peanut caramel cake with baby octopus satay and cucumber.

5. Cuppa tea with dundee
Homemade special brew served with marinated crocodile sticks.

6. Bushbride’s ration pudding with Granny Smith’s pickle
Duck pudding with granny smith puree and pickles accompanied with damper bread.

7. Easy as peasy pie
Downunder puff pastry base with slow cooked vegemite lamb, pea purée, mushroom caramel and warrigal greens.

8. Fosters-free lager and lemon sorbet

9. The great dessert debate
Pavlova with fresh cream, strawberry jelly , lemon curd and passionfruit.

10. Freshly spun edible wool
Coffee candy floss.

Each of the dishes were based on facts that they had discovered while doing research. Here are some:

1. Rum was the number one drink with the 1st settlers and convicts.  It was even used as a currency.
2. Similar in taste to almonds, the witchetty grub was originally eaten either raw or cooked in hot ashes by aboriginies.
3. Despite being one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, meat was still favoured by the first European settlers due to it’s association with the high life back home.
4. As early as the 16th century indigenous North Western Australians traded sea cucumber with Chinese traders making it Australia’s first export item.
5. The first settlers clung to their British roots becoming the world’s heaviest tea drinkers.
6.1. One of the world’s most successful apple varieties was thanks to Granny Smith who arrived in New South Wales in 1838. She tipped some rotten crab apples into her orchard and from there the variety we know today blossomed.
6.2. Not until the Second World War or perhaps a little earlier was the pie mentioned as a national dish. Vegemite, another national favourite, was first advertised as nourishing for the whole family. Except for one irony, the spread that epitomised `family goodness`was made from brewery waste.
7. In 1864 the cookery book “Australian Aristologist” quotes a medical opinion on the “Danger of the meat pie”. Not leaving a hole in the crust traps the poisonous gases.
8. It was Baron Liebig in 1842 who discovered that Bavarian brewed beers did not turn sour on contact with air like other Australian beers. The German name was “Lager -bier” (the German word lager means to store) hence the name of Australia’s most popular alcoholic drink.
9. The pavlova is said to have been invented in Perth’s Esplanade Hotel in 1935 after the famous Russian ballet dancer. However the New Zealanders claim that a chef in a hotel in Wellington, created the dish when Pavlova visited there in 1926 on her world tour
10. With 1 million sheep recorded in 1830 (jumped from 100,000 in 1820) the wool industry was Australia’s biggest export, worth roughly 2 million dollars.

Special thank you to Howard Trang from eatshowandtell for the photos.

Check out a great write up on SBS.com and  here.

Breakfast at K.L. airport: Soft boiled eggs, Kaya toast and Tee tarik

Sky chefs loading food onto Malaysian airlines plane

The journey began with a Eurostar train from Paris to London followed by a 12 hour flight from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur where I had to strip off all my winter layers (tights, jumpers, jacket, scarf, gloves, woolly socks…) as Malaysian heat is like being in an enormous Sauna. Enough time in Kuala Lumpur to enjoy some Won Ton Mee, one of my favourite dishes. Quick breakfast of soft boiled eggs, Kaya (coconut jam) toast and teh tarik before boarding another 8 hour flight to Sydney. Food on the flights consisted of a curry option for dinner, lunch and breakfast. That’s Malaysian airlines for you.

8 hours later touchdown in Sydney where it was pleasantly hot but thankfully without the stickiness. It was straight in a cab to Edible Immigration Tales Headquarters. No time for jetlag as there was plenty to discuss, prepare and organise. My fellow foodie partner in crime, Frankie and I had been working on this project since November when I had booked my flight. Menu ideas, press and marketing campaign, bookings and other bits ‘n bops had been  done via emails, skype calls, photos and waving things at our tiny web cams. So it was good to be able to sit down and discuss things face to face

The following 5 days were a mad rush of running around, cooking, shopping, organising, sticking…. basically turning an apartment into a restaurant. I got stuck into writing all the menus, tea labels and edible immigration facts by hand with a pot of ink and quill which took me a good half a day to do. Needless to say by the end of it I had hand cramps and my fingers were stained black from the ink.  I did manage to get out and visit Sam the butcher, the local organic shop and the supermarket.

Wrapping up the damper bread - Ask first © 2010 R khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved.

Last minute testing/cooking would kick off once Frankie had come back from her day job (still don’t know how she managed to do both). We then roped in the whole family with Frankie’s parents picking up various groceries, chairs and running other errands. Frankie’s sister helping out on the night and Frankie’s boyfriend putting up with having a restaurant in his home three nights running. BIG thank you!

On the day of the first event it was an early start as Frankie and I were pretty excited about checking out the Sydney Morning Herald to see what they had written about us. We were relieved to see that it wasn’t an exposé about the “illegal” underground dining scene

Things started to come together when I saw the table set up. We had collected plenty of jars, tins and bottles for the table setting. Naturally they were all scrubbed meticulously before hand. I nipped to the beach to pick up some sand and shells to make little glass candle lanterns.

Handwritten menu with a list of things to do - Photo: Howard Trang eatshowandtell.com

My attempt of sketching out the dishes - Photo: Howard Trang eatshowandtell.com

A wall with sketches of all dishes/courses, guestlist and rundown for the night were hungup in the kitchen. Followed by more cooking. Cutlery and glasses polished. Nice soap and candles in the bathroom. Quick tidy in the kitchen. Then a last minute shower and some warpaint (make up). A last run through of the menu. The aprons were tied on, candles lit and Australian music mix put on and a BIG deep breath before we opened the door to the first guests…to be continued

Won Ton Mee - Ask first © 2010 R Khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved

I had 24 hours in Kuala Lumpur before flying on to Sydney for the Edible immigration tales (more to come soon). And there was only thing on my mind in terms of eating when my cousins asked me what I fancied for makan (Malay to eat – over there you don’t ask people how they are, you ask have you eaten yet). It had to be some Won Ton Mee (Won ton with noodles). Just looking at the photos makes my mouth water. The first couple of pics are taken with my old school Pentax K-1000 manual camera, excuse the not so great digital pics.

The food isn’t served anywhere fancy. Like most of the best places in Malaysia, good food comes cheap on plastic plates with punters seated on gardenesque plastic furniture. This place only served Won ton mee (dumplings, noodles with barbecue pork, duck, chicken) and why serve anything else when you do it so well?

Pickled sweet & sour spicy chillies - Ask first © 2010 R Khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved

Unlike most of the won ton dumplings I taste in Paris or London the pastry was super fine, similar to the texture of silk. It slid way too easily down your neck. Accompanied by a simple plate of chai siu (barbecue pork) noodles. I don’t know what they put in their sauce but it’s seriously addictive. Top that off with the homemade sweet/sour/spicy pickled chillis it was literally as good as I remembered when I had been there five years ago. I later started to eat the chillis on it’s own. I had to stop myself from just literally eating the whole jar.

Malay buildings - Ask first © 2010 R Khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved

For lunch I managed to squeeze in another favourite Penang Assam laksa. I love anything which uses tamarind. The sour tangyness works in great combination with the spiciness of the dish. The whole dish was quickly slurped and splattered everywhere (eating laksa is a messy business, you know with the noodles and all).

Assam Laksa - Ask first © 2010 R Khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved

Unfortunately I didn’t have time for Roti Canai for breakfast even though I did happen to stumble across a great offer at the airport. A world away from croissants and pain au chocolats.

Roti Canai Breakfast - Ask first © 2010 R Khooks. Rachel Khoo. All rights reserved

To be continued…

There were no sausages on this menu which explored the East/West divide in Germany. Fellow foodie Caroline Hobkinson and I got cooking in her amazing Berlin kitchen. Dishing up two different menus (one East, one West). Each representing their relevant culinary history. Guests on arrival were assigned their sides for the nights. They bartered, they smuggled and some sneekily stole from the opposite side to get a taster of the forbidden food.