New Zealand and Australia confidently sent forth wines a decade ago and duly conquered the Old World: we can expect the fusion cooking of the Antipodes to do much the same in coming years.
In the same way their winemaking respected tradition but sought a new way to express the qualities of their country, so the smart, fusion cooking of Australia is taking what is at hand and re-interpreting how it should be used.
The reign of Fosters lager and "Pie an" (pie and tomato sauce, once believed to be the only thing the Aussies could offer) is over and Sydney and Melbourne are now two of the hottest cities, culinarily-speaking, on the planet. e is coming true. Sydney is one of the three most exciting cities in the Western world (London, New York) in which to eat." Phew!
Well, for those who can't make it to Sydney for Christmas, we can bring the taste of the Antipodes here via the most acclaimed cooks and writers of Australia.
We have concentrated, with these recipes, on dishes which are suitable for those not having the big bash of a family Christmas; choosing food that will suit couples and others who don't want the palaver of the big bird, but who nevertheless want the scents and seductions of the season.
Jill Duplex is for many the best-known writer on modern Australian cooking. Here is a killer cocktail and some really clever eats, from the book, New food.
Caipirissima with Chorizo Puffs
For the Caipirissima
1 cup boiling water 1 cup sugar 10 limes, quartered 1 litre (1 quart) white rum Lots of crushed ice
Pour water over sugar, stir until dissolved and cool. Squeeze limes into jug, then add squeezed lime quarters to jug. Add sugar syrup to the rum and ice, and stir well. Pour into individual glasses, making sure everyone gets both lime quarters and ice.
For the Chorizo Puffs
2 chorizo or spicy pork sausages Olive oil 1 cup water 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain flour
2 free range eggs
Skin sausages and crumble meat into a small frying-pan. Fry until meat is browned. Drain off all oil, and drain meat.
Heat water, butter and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add flour all at once, as soon as water boils and butter melts.
Lower the heat, and stir strongly with a wooden spoon until dough leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball.
Keep cooking and stirring for a couple of minutes. Transfer dough to food processor and process for 15 seconds. Add eggs and process for 45 seconds. Stir sausage meat into mixture, and drop teaspoonfuls onto greased or non-stick tray.
Bake at 200C/400F/Gas mark ??? for 10 to 15 minutes until golden, and serve warm. (Makes 20).
Shopping Tip: A good spicy sausage is essential to give the puffs flavour.
Trauma Tip: The sausage mixture can be made up a few hours beforehand. Place the baking tray in the fridge and bake an hour before serving.
THE bestknown face of modern Antipodean fusion cooking in these islands is not an Aussie, but a Kiwi: Peter Gordon, of London's Sugar Club. Just look at what Gordon does here, with what is basically a parsnip soup. You might like to puree some of the parsnip soup, to get a fuller texture, before adding the olives and feta.
Parsnip, Rosemary and Olive Soup with Feta
80 ml (3 fl oz) olive oil 1 leek, finely sliced and washed well 400 g (14 oz) parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 cm (one third inch) dice 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped 800 ml (28 fl oz) vegetable stock 1/2 cup pitted olives, chopped
125 g (41/2 oz) feta cheese
Salt
Heat the olive oil in a deep pot and saute the leek for five minutes. Add the parsnips and turn the heat up a fraction, saute until they begin to soften, then add the garlic and rosemary. Turn the heat to full and fry for one minute, stirring continuously. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, put the lid on and cook until the parsnips are done.
Add the olives (use the best: cheap olives can be nasty) and cook for another minute. Serve in bowls and crumble the feta.
Salt may not be needed if the olives and feta came in strong brine.
Shopping Tip: Don't buy big parsnips, as their centre will be woody. Small ones are more work, but produce a better result. As they are finishing-notes, spend money on good olives and good feta, which should not be too salty.
Trauma Tip: The soup can be made in advance, but don't add the olives and feta until just before serving.
It is easy to overlook the fact that the cookery writing found in women's magazines can be excellent, with Marie Claire frequently proving the most successful. (Nigel Slater's first book, and perhaps his best, was a collection of his Marie Claire work). Donna Hay is food editor of Australian Marie Claire, and her book, The New Cook, is clever and very stylish - none more so than this funky roast chicken, perfect for those who don't want the traditional bird for Christmas. This is wonderful, and likely to become a mainstay of your chicken cooking, for the flavours come together perfectly. The spicing, of course, will also suit a turkey to perfection.
Spiced Roast Chicken
1.6 kg (31/4lb) chicken 60 g (2 oz) butter, melted 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons honey 4 cinnamon sticks 4 star anise 4 cardamom pods, bruised 4 cloves garlic, peeled Halve chicken by cutting down backbone and breastbone. Place chicken halves on sheets of baking paper. Combine butter, soy sauce and honey and brush well over chicken. Top chicken with cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom and garlic. Fold paper over chicken and seal. Place chicken in a baking dish and bake in a preheated 200C/400 F/Gas mark ??? oven for 35 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Serves 4.
Shopping Tip: This recipe suits a top class, free-range, large chicken, or a small turkey.
JILL Dupleix's newest book, Favourite Food (Conran Octopus) continues the aphoristic writing-style of her previous work, which you will either love or hate ("As we go forward into the 21st century, so we go backward, to find what is real and true.") What you can't argue with, however, is the food. Here is a very simple sweet-potato dish, cleverly reimagined, and it is a perfect partner for the roast chicken - not too sweet, just right.
Sweet Potato Crumble
3 large sweet potatoes 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup soft, fresh breadcrumbs 1 teaspoon very finely chopped parsley
Peel and roughly chop sweet potatoes. Cook in simmering salted water until tender. Drain and return to the heat for a moment with one tablespoon of butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper, stirring. Blend in food processor or mash until smooth, and spoon into a medium-sized, ovenproof baking dish.
Melt remaining tablespoon of butter in pan, and add the fresh breadcrumbs gradually, stopping when the butter has been fully absorbed. Add parsley, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Top sweet potato with breadcrumbs. Bake at 200C/400F/Gas mark ??? for 20 to 30 minutes until golden. (Serves four as a side dish)
Trauma Tip: The whole dish can be made in advance and reheated in the hot oven as your chicken rests.
Stephanie Alexander is for many people the doyenne of Australian cooks, and her enormous cookery bible, The Cook's Companion, all 800 pages of it, is now available in Ireland, published by Viking. She has cooked in her eponymous Melbourne restaurant for more than 20 years, and her cooking is wise and astute.
If I had to nominate a dessert which might take the place of the traditional Christmas pudding, it would be this sensational dessert. Incredibly easy to make (I used nothing more than a fork), it creates the most wonderful aroma as it bakes. Then, you can eat it simply with a little double cream, creme fraiche, or make the sticky sauce and really push the boat out.
Stephanie's Sticky Toffee Pudding
175 g (6 oz) dates, stoned and chopped 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 300 ml (1/2 pint) boiling water
50 g (2 oz) butter
175 g (6 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
175 g (6 oz) self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla For the sauce:
400 g (14 oz) brown sugar 250 ml (fl oz) thick cream 250g (9 oz) butter 1 vanilla pod, split
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and butter an 18 cm (7-inch) square cake tin. Mix dates and bicarbonate of soda. Pour on the water and leave to stand.
Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Fold flour in gently, then stir in date mixture and vanilla and pour into prepared tin. Bake in centre of oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer.
To make the sauce, bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for five minutes. Remove vanilla pod. Pour a little sauce over warm pudding and return it to oven for two to three minutes so sauce soaks in. Cut pudding into squares and pass extra sauce.
Shopping Tip: As with all Christmas dried fruits, wholefood shops have the best quality, and frequently sell organic dried fruits.
Trauma Tip: The dates give this a very special flavour, but you can also use other dried fruits if you want to make this cake and your store cupboard is bare (dried apricots work well).