Eat Drink Blog 2012 Conference -- Day 1 (in pictures)

The beautiful-ness, stunning-ness, pretty-ness and awesome-ness of South Australia... 

Just got back from the Eat Drink Blog 2012 Conference a few days ago and it was AWESOME!!! I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had from beginning till end. The food we ate showcased the best of what South Australia has to offer (from market vendors, to local bakeries, family businesses, regional restaurants and also hotel dining). And trust me, there was a LOT of good food involved... Not to mention the wine *hic*

Besides that, I learned SO much about many subjects related to Food Blogging (which I'll share in Part 2 of my EDB post) and also made so many new friends in the Food Blogging community. Hollaaaa to all you amazing peeps that I got a chance to hang out with over the weekend! You guys are way too fun for my own good ;p On top of that, the hospitality that each of us received from everyone at South Australia was nothing short of fantastic, seriously... Thank you

While talking to many of the delegates at the conference, we all thought that this conference was honestly very, very well organised. BIG thank you to the co-chairs: Christina, Amanda and their team of volunteers: Celeste, Erin, Alex, Kirsty and Natasha. Am sure it wasn't easy but we hope you know how much we appreciate everything you've done for us and the conference. You guys are the real stars! 

Of course, we must not forget to thank all the amazing people who sponsored the event. For a full list of the sponsors, click: here

Alrightey, here's a snapshot of all the fun from Day 1 of the conference... I didn't get to capture everything in as much as detail as I'd liked, but was just way too busy eating and talking... Whoops... Anyhoo, enjoy! =)

Day started with a tour of the Adelaide Central Market. Great to hear from some really passionate vendors at the market and sample some of their products.

I was telling people that I liked how most of them described their produce like they were talking about their own baby (lol)... You could tell how much they love what they do

DEELICIOUS homemade pasta sauce with polenta from Lucia's

Love that they have a mushroom shop in the market! Why don't we have something like that in Victoria Market? =O

Owner also let us try these black garlics! Very interesting... Sweet and chewy, tasted more like candy actually...

After that, some of us went on a trip to Barossa Valley and first thing we saw was this man and his pug. Not everyone dresses like that in Barossa, though I wish they did...

First stop was at Bibu Barossa, where we got to try so a nice variety of amazing cured meats by Barossa Fine Foods, which I LOVED. Favourite was definitely the tiny, round ones which they call "King Louis the XIV". Everything else on the plate tasted delightful too

And I think it was Mary who had her own special plate, that's different from everyone else's =D

We also had a sampled 12 different wines from Soul Growers and Diggers Bluff. Really amazing stuff!

Round 1...

Round 2, 3 and 4... 

I could drink glass after glass of that Grenache by Soul Growers, but I shan't... Divine! Isn't that right, Amanda?

 

Next, it was off to Hentley Farm for more food and wine.

Btw, how gorgeous was the weather in Adelaide? Right, right....?

That Chef Lachlan Colwill is a real legend. 

He served some really unforgettable food that day (including these mushroom floss things) and I really, really hope I get to come back to Hentley Farm and dine a full degustation at the restaurant one day... 

Was really quite blown away by the food he prepared and it was great hearing from him what he enjoys to cook/eat and his methods/inspirations behind his dishes...

Before we knew it, it was time to have the highly anticipated dinner at the Hilton Adelaide... 

Someone posted a sneak peek of this spit-roasted lamb on Twitter and you could imagine how excited people got on the bus on our way back haha

Also, shoutout to Ashley for being the most elegant hand model ever (lol)! Look at the way she held the glass. Classy, no...?

Pre-dinner entrees of lamb sliders (from the spit) with brioche buns... 

Foahhh... Want x 1000, please

For dinner, the Head Chef Dennis Leslie decided to go put together a scrumptious South American feast, which I LOVED. Food was SO amazing!! Especially the chicken, lamb and beef ribs. 

Huge fan of the grilled corn and Cuban ricetoo. Unfortunately, I was too damn busy eating and enjoying my meal to take photos of all of that... Bah!!

This "family style" of eating is definitely a good way to go. Very homey, passing big platters of food around the table.

Perfect weather to enjoy a rooftop dinner too...

Speech by SA's Minister of Tourism, Gail Gago...

The delicious grilled corn! 

Chef Dennis also graciously shared his recipe for these Grilled Corn with Roasted Garlic Aioli and Parmesan: here

The Chilli Con Carne... Only other food that I took a picture of that night (tskkk, Winston)... Flavours packed a punch and was really spicy too, which was great. Went so well with the Cuban Rice

Finally, do check out this really amazing video of the conference that Simon so selflessly put together

Again, Day 1 of the conference was seriously way too fun. The food was great, and so were the people. Also, SA was seriously the perfect place to host the conference. Do stay tuned for Day 2, which I'll be blogging about in a bit... Cheers!

Challenge to: LIVE BELOW THE LINE

Hi guys!

How are we all doing? If you follow me on Twitter, you would've heard me say this already, but I've just signed up to Live Below The Line...!!!

For all of you who don't know what it is, it's basically an event organised to raise awareness and funds for people all around the world who are currently living in extreme poverty. That means that there are 1.4 billion people living under the poverty line and have to pay for all their daily expenses (such as food, accommodation, health, transport, education, etc) with only US$1.25 or AU$2.00 per day.

So, the Challenge for participants is to live on $2 a day for food for 5 days, from 7th - 11th of May (i.e. Next Monday to Friday). It doesn't even come close to what they're going through each and every day, but hey, it's a start.

To be honest, I've been contemplating whether or not to participate for more than 3 weeks now, ever since my dear friend Leaf tweeted about the challenge. I can't tell you how conflicted I felt because I really, really wanted to take part! But after much deliberation, I decided that I wasn't going to do it because there's NO WAY I could feed myself for 3 meals a day for under $2, especially cause I eat a lot. But this thought never left my mind.

But just last week, my friend Jade told me that she was taking up the Challenge too and shared that you could get AMAZING deals at Aldi. I immediately went to Aldi that evening straight after class to suss it out for myself. I spent more than 40minutes there just to carefully plan to see if it was possible. And it was, it really, really was! I was so incredibly happy because that trip to Aldi really gave me hope! Thanks, Jade!!!

Anyway, both Leaf and Jade has really inspired me to take up this Challenge to do this for a good cause. Best part about it is that I won't be alone and am doing it with my fellow blogger friend, Bryan aka "Fatboo" (of Let's Get Fat Together), so exciting...! Bryan's created a team, called "Food Lovers Collective" and all of you are more than welcome to join!

So I do hope you will join us on this journey, and support us if you can. I honestly mean it when I say that any amount, big or small, is highly appreciated =).

And to make things more exciting... I will be keeping you guys posted on my progress throughout the challenge on my Facebook Page, so do check that out for photos and updates, it'll be fun!

To send me a donation, you can click on my profile: HERE

And if you're feeling generous, please support my friends Bryan and Jade too, because we're all doing this together! Hope you're all doing well on your end.

Thanks for everything!

Winston =)

Fiesta Malaysia 2012

Hey guys!

Just wanted to let you know about this fantastic event that's happening in Melbourne this weekend. Now to be honest, I didn't think I would actually find myself promoting an upcoming event specifically here on this blog, just cause it didn't seem like it was my thang. HOWEVER, this is actually an initiative that I fully support so I'm making an exception.

One of the reasons why I LOVE Food is how it brings people together from all different backgrounds. For example, seeing caucasians (or any person of different ethnicity) genuinely enjoying Dim Sum (or Yum Cha) at a Chinese restaurant never fails to bring a smile to my face. To me, serving one's food/cuisine to another is already a form of sharing one's culture to that person. Conversely, having that person enjoy the food that's completely foreign to them is already their way of accepting the culture and origins of the food, in one way or another. This exchange really is quite a beautiful, if you think about it. Which is why I'm completely behind the Vision of this event.

Fiesta Malaysia 2012 is a three-day food carnival held at Argyle Square (just beside Lygon Street) and their aim is to promote Malaysia's diverse, multi-racial culture and history here in Melbourne. It's going to be a fun-filled event because it will feature so many items such as stage performances, eating competitions, stand-up comedy, and many more. But the thing I'm MOST looking forward to is tasting all the Penang Hawker food stalls prepared by vendors that have been flown ALL THE WAY from Penang just for this event!! How insane is that?! WEE-HEEE~~~~

On top of that, I have been graciously invited to be part of a panel with some AMAZING Melbourne food bloggers that will be discussing our thoughts/knowledge on different ASEAN cuisines (each represented by a blogger of that heritage). Together with Adrian (of Food Rehab), Bryan (of Let's Get Fat Together), Anh (of A Food Lover' Journey) and Kat (of Spatula, Spoon and Saturday), I really hope that you can join us for this fun, Food conversation that we'll be having! We will be on from 2:00-2:30pm on Sunday =)

Organised by the Malaysian Student's Council of Australia, Victoria (MASCA Victoria) and sponsored by Tourism Malaysia, City of Melbourne and many more, this is one event that I'm really looking forward to this weekend. With an attendance of over 5,000 people a day last year, I'm sure that this year's event will be even bigger and better.

So, if you're not doing anything, I do hope that you'll stop by and say hello! Would love to meet and have a conversation with you guys. Have a good one, everybody! =)


Cheers,
Winston.

Taste of Melbourne 2011

FINALLY. After hearing/reading about the Taste of Melbourne event for so long, this year was finally my turn to go! And if it weren't for the double-pass tickets I won from Penny@Jeroxie, I don't think I would've actually gone. So, thank you!

It was a fun day of seeing interesting stalls, tasting food from Top Restaurants and even attending a free demo! I gave one ticket to a friend, who I know have a high appreciation for food, and went together with my two other amazing friends, who actually scored free tix from the owners of LuxBite -- how cool! Glad to have experienced it with these peeps.

Here goes the recap:

View from inside the Royal Exhibition Building (REB)

Better enjoy this place before they turn it into my Exam Hall in two months time ;p

$30 worth of Crowns for the day

Sher Wagyu meatballs, Sicilian cous cous & salted Ricotta by Mezzo

LOVED the taste of the meatballs! Though to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to tell it was Wagyu. Meatballs are normally heavily seasoned, which might've masked the taste of the Wagyu. Still, good meatballs!

Enjoyed the cous cous a lot. Not too wet and full of flavour

Seared Scallops, green chilli Aioli & Celeriac remoulade by Stokehouse

One of my fav dishes of the day. Scallops were PERFECT. Slightly undercooked without being too rubbery and still juicy, just the way I like it. The crunchy celeriac was a good combination to the dish and gave a nice textural element to the dish. Paired with the aioli -- YUM.

Cheese Platter by That's Amore Cheese

LOVED this! My order of favourite (from most to least): Bocconcini, Ricotta, Smoked Mozzarella and "something else" which I forgot ;p

The bocconcini was really good. Super smooth on outside and chewy on inside with slight salty aftertaste. Ricotta was texturally amazing too, like whipped cream and tasted very plain and natural.

"Toulousse Cassoulet" - Confit duck, Garlic sausage & White beans, oven baked by Libertine

Immediately bought a bowl to try just cause it was named after Toulousse and remembering my sister describe it as her favourite town in France. SO GOOD -- my other favourite dish of the day.

Duck was moist but it was all in the sauce and beans. The sauce was packed with flavour from the duck fats and the beans went beautifully with this dish.

Moscato Sample

LOL. I've never heard of Moscato on tap before!! We were given a glass of Rosé which was delicious. They do this Moscato on tap at a bunch of places now including Little Creatures at Brunswick Street

Popcorn and Cookie flavoured "Mini Melts" Ice Cream by Mini Melts

Frozen ice cream pellets that melts when you put them in your mouth -- interesting!

Nespresso Coffee -- Free Demo

Fun taking a break from all the eating to attend a free demo. Was rather blown away by the quality of the coffee from the Nespresso machines, full body and good flavour. Except that you won't get that thick, creamy milk consistency from your usual cafes but still nice! So coffee was thinner and went down pretty smoothly. Guess that's why I ended up having almost 3 cups lol

Us enjoying ourselves by clicking the fancy buttons and seeing the coffees come out of the machine ;p

KFC -- "St Katherine's fried Lilydale Chicken" with BBQ Sauce by St Katherine's

Didn't realise St Katherine was yet another restaurant by Masterchef Judge, George Calombaris. Chicken wasn't as crispy as I'd hoped but still, I enjoyed it because it had a spicy "kick" from the batter and served with mayo.

I love anything deep-fried and served with mayo/Jap mayo. I could eat grass if it were deep-fried and served to me with mayo.

Slow-cooked suckling lamb, Pearl barley salad & truffled Peccorino by Sarti

Thing about slow-cooked meat is that I can't really enjoy it if it doesn't have enough fats or tendons at all, just like this. Didn't have a distinct lamb flavour and couldn't taste the truffle too. Meh.

Pecan & Caramel Ice Cream Sammies by Pat and Stick's

When was the last time you had ice cream sammies? Hehe. This was a REALLY good flavour combo and can taste the lovely roast from the nuts. My friend, Ming, was right to say that the cookie did taste a bit "doughy" but we still enjoyed it. And everything they made was homemade which was great =)

Us with "Pat and Stick" themselves! Two really funny and amazing people

Overall, the Taste of Melbourne event was a really enjoyable event to attend, especially if you're going with friends and can chip in to taste as many foods as possible. Would I go back again next year? Yes.

Thanks heaps again to Penny@Jeroxie for giving me these tickets. Without whom, I wouldn't have had the chance to spend an amazing afternoon with this lovely bunch of people.

Hope you all had fun reading this post as I did writing it!

Will be leaving for Sydney in 2 days for a 4-Day FOOD TRIP and I am absolutely stoked about it!! Have a good one wherever you are! ;D