Lunch at Noma Kaaren Palmer a must for anybody interested in food. Strandgade 93, Copenhagen, Denmark www.noma.dk cost — 7 course set menu DKK 995 (AUD $270); matching wine DKK 895 (AUD $195); matching juice fresh daily from herbs and vegetables, all organic and bio–dynamic DKK 395 (AUD $86) Short lunch set menu 4 courses DKK 595 (AUD $1); 3 courses DKK 395 (AUD $86) A la carte 3 selections DKK 950 (AUD $207) Noma Masaaq: 12 courses DKK 1295 (AUD $283) Being greeted at the door, then by name at the front desk, are the signs of a serious restaurant where you will be utterly seduced by the production. We feel totally at home in the converted warehouse, where canal views vie with those old Christiania, cosy after the wind outside. It’s a deceptively fine day with an ear piercing arctic chill in the air, pale blue skies, and interesting clouds forms scurrying over the face of the sun. Huge exposed beams and broad smooth floor timbers lend warmth. Coats removed, the performance begins generously with champagne, a Jacques Lassaigne blanc de blanc from Montgueux. Meanwhile we study the menu and listen to suggestions. 7 courses plus a cheese, we think. read on

René Redzepi, chef at noma photographer Anders Birch, image courtesy noma

november tastings and events

apothecary 1918 thursday november 19 Single Malt Whisky Dinner

Graham Wright from The Odd Whisky Coy will guide you through a selection of Scotch whiskies from The Famous Grouse, Highland Park, Ardmore & The Macallan 7 for 7.30pm $110 per person food and beverage Apothecary 1878 Wine Bar Restaurant 118 Hindley Street, Adelaide SA 5000 t +61 8 8212 9099 — e paola@theapothecary1878.com.au www.theapothecary1878.com.au

Saturday 28 November
1.30pm to 17.00pm
A picnic at Marble Hill in the Adelaide Hills and an opportunity to meet Adelaide Hills producers and legendary winemakers as well as many up–and–coming young winemakers. more information www.cherryblossomfestival.com.au

wine editors Our wine editors Dr Alexandra Burridge and Duane Coates come with impeccable credentials and contribute their time and advice for the love and passion for their craft. Duane is fully absorbed with his own company and the many other companies he consults to. Duane’s wines have consistently won first–rate accolades and have never rated below 90 points and we can add to that he is very close to gaining his masters of wine and entering the super elite of the wine knowledge world! www.coates-wines.com Galaxy Guides Policy We support our suppliers for their integrity. We need them to care as much as we do, it makes the food we cook better. buy local left senior wine editor Dr Alexandra Burridge

noma continued The playful tastes — essence of homeliness appears in the shape of a battered old biscuit tin, and under the lid two perfect discs of lardy short biscuit, smoked salmon and a pepper of dried and pulverised blackcurrant. Following is a perfect rectangle of delectably crisp chicken skin, topped with a contrasting green slightly textured puree of fava bean, topped with an impossibly ethereal rye bread. Rich, yet balanced — fat and carbs to die for. Time to pay homage to the garden where all this stuff comes from, be it fowl or fava. So we’re given a small terracotta pot which holds yoghurt greened with small herbs, and a soil of roasted hazelnuts and malt. Planted in this fertile soil are perfect small raw turnips and radishes, specially grown for the restaurant. The leaves are tender and sweet with herbaceous overtones. Is it well washed? Just allow a finger to explore the remains after the vegetables are plucked so that you can truly contrast the grainy soil with the herby yoghurt. Mmmmm! Next arrives an artistic crisp wavelet which holds pretty herbs dusted with a vinegar powder. A large speckled egg comes next. Amazing theatre again! Inside, on a bed of warm straw, sit two, very fresh, peeled, softly cooked quails’ eggs with a sprinkle of salt. It slides down the red lane with unctuous delight and murmurs of satisfaction, a totally natural flavour and sensation in contrast to the earlier more creatively demanding delights. lounge at noma photographer Mads Damgaard, courtesy noma table settings at noma photographer Mads Damgaard, courtesy noma Bow down and adore at the temple of gastronomy, I think, and this is only the beginning of the service. Each item is presented without fuss, and with a straightforward description. And the champagne is a long and respectful glass. It’s time now to inspect the formidable wine list, which leans, as does the food, to the organic and bio–dynamic. Not to be deterred or waylaid by tasting matches, Kevin orders a 2005 Cornas from August Clape (DKK 1650 [AUD $360]). I have fallen in love with and noted the items on an extensive Champagne list, and will enjoy the suggestions. There’s a Rose des Riceys which I have never had! Have you seen your bread arrive in its little pilgrim’s cap lined with linen, and warm from the oven? How about with butter made from the cream from sheep’s milk? It’s somehow light and tasty, whether you eat it on the bread or from your knife (hope Mum’s not looking...). Plus a Danish specialty of crunchy porky bits in a potato, acquavit and pork fat puree. It’s better than Vegemite, as tasty as the best dripping with the crunchy pieces. The bread is crunchy of crust with a moist, soft, large pored yeast driven sour dough character. The flour is derived from an old wheat strain held in a bio–lab, perhaps older than spelt, but in any case from Scandinavian stock as opposed to that of the Fertile Crescent’s spelt wheat. Kevin eats almost the full round of it, and I fervently wish I could make it at home. And now the seven courses, when some chefs’ endeavours tire. Not so here. Apple with fresh walnut and hazelnut milk Apple means crisp little discs erect around their jelly, strewn with freshly peeled walnuts, and a hazelnut milk sea surrounding the constructed island. Sprinkled with a hazelnut powder. Contrasting textures of crisp, al dente, acidic and emollient — the soothing milk, the fresh apple jelly, tart and sweet. Brown crab and beach mustard, clams and portulak A ball of slivered Norwegian sweet fleshed female crab, a clear tasty mussel juice gelee, and an opaque wild herby beach mustard gelee. They pick the beach mustard herb themselves, and in fact have expeditions to the sparklingly clean coastal areas to gather interesting herbs for the restaurant. And gorge themselves on fresh oysters and mussels. The intention of the dish is to remind us of the sea. It does so with flavour and taste and aroma, but the saltiness is in excellent balance. A Gift from the Kitchen On a hot shore rock we have a delectable tail of langoustine, which we are to drag through an emulsion of oysters and parsley. Dusted with dehydrated seaweed, a most superior salt. Once again, the fingers are useful digits, eminently suck-able, and hot towels are provided post orgy. Steamed spinach and tea; cooked onions and celery Wild organic spinach is poached in an infusion of herbs and vegetables. Presented in a tidy and uniform disc, its silkiness contrasts with crunchiest fresh celery, crisp fried bread just made, and rich and juicy little elderberries. Almost makes me want to eat only veg forever. Onions from Laeso, chickweed and onion bouillon Take some warm caramelised onions, cover them with a thin sliver of cheese, add pearl onion segments cooked in beer and honey, and a decoration of purply long shallots or are they young red onions, artistically place some outer layers of larger white onions which will act partially as receptacles for the tapioca rich onion broth which is poured over the entire assembled onion, decorate with purple ransom flowers and chickweed. No complaints about a lack of vegetal vitamin, here is a dish presented with love and intelligence, where texture is a superlative feature — from liquid to crisp, from tiny to large, and all sizes and textures in between. Pickled vegetables and bone marrow; herbs and bouillon All the vegetables are pickled overnight in different vinegars, and presented as fresh as a garden the next day for lunch or dinner. We have kohl rabi, beetroot, carrot, swede, ll paper thin plus tiny roasted tomatoes. With thin well structured slices of poached bone marrow. Poured over the garden is an aromatic bouillon concocted from roasted pork ribs, herbs and butter. The bouillon acts as the oil in a salad dressing. After the salad is consumed, the resulting emulsion is a herby emollient which gives a soft closure to the acid of the vinegars. The Rose de Riceys is a great wine selection to match the dish because it enhances the freshness of the vegetables, at the same time allowing a balance of acidity. My partner Kevin was fearing the onslaught of a large amount of indigestible protein, especially as he hopes he has stopped growing. For an Australian, or New Zealander to say that the tastiest lamb could in fact be Danish, we just have to say that we ate the quintessentially lambiest lamb with the perfect balance of flesh and fat. And, to be healthy, we ate an accompaniment of greens of many and varied textures from leafy through to tender stalk. Presented in two little rectangles of saddle, on a long smudge of herb puree, with Romaine, mustard cress, cauliflower stem, tiny rocket ferns, and the requisite hot bouillon pouring. Many times were little pieces of the bread called for. Cheeses All cows’ milk. No. 1 a mild, cheddary, salt deposited, holey one. No. 2 a washed rind barnyard delight — pungent, earthy, creamily dissolving in the mouth. No. 3 Sonder Jysk Bla with little circles over the vowel a, and the o sliced through the middle horizontally. A delicious soft blue. All with thin sliced rye bread, grainy with seeds, fried in butter, but without a touch of oiliness on the fingers. Carrots, buttermilk and anis Quite a heavy carrot sorbet is topped with a buttermilk foam, encircled by outgoing ramparts of fresh slivered carrot, dehydrated carrot, carrot confit, and a pretty herbarium of the most delicate and feathery parts of carrot tops. Crunchy licorice/ anis sweet agglomerates, too. Even as a carrot cake eater, Kevin does not rate this dish, but I think it’s great fun. Not too sweet. The accompanying wine is a lolly water 8%–er from Austria. Walnut powder and ice cream; dried cream and dried berries It’s a milk ice surrounding a delicious walnut ice cream with a powder of dried summer berries. Yummy, with a light nutty wine match from the Loire, the 2007 Montlouis Moelleux Les Rocher des Violettes. Very successful match, delicious dessert, together a trophy winner. With coffee comes a raspberry vinegar and egg white mousse encased in a light chocolate. The accompanying wines — perhaps concentrate too much on the principles which drive the menu. The wines are almost too honest, too unfiltered, too cloudy and too lacking in the subtleties to which we’re accustomed. In conclusion, the Noma menu is sensational in the best sense, being of the senses. Healthy, with great — and tantalising – respect to the vitamins we need. Noma is a dietician foodie’s paradise. Texturally, too, this is masterful food, with exquisite and true flavours showing through dish after dish. Kaaren Palmer — images courtesy noma author’s note — we were delighted, but not surprised to be greeted by name, but astonished that it was South Australian James Spreadbury, former restaurant manager of The Kitchen Door at Mclaren Vale. A fabulous working one’s way up the ladder, we thought! for black sheep t–shirts letters Hi Ann, Lovely piece on using the lobster. Thought I would tell you of a little restaurant story from July this year. I was lucky enough to be in Paris and heard through the web that the boys from the tiny Spring in the 9th had to re–open as their new lavish site was unfinished. To make life easy they were doing Lobster sandwiches – fresh lobster on fresh baguettes with hand made mayo. Served with thin chips cooked in goose fat. Price depended on the weight of the meat, but about 15 Euro. Champ, beer and wine all by the glass, and no choice on the food (OK, you could say no to the frites). 16 seats only, open only on Saturday from 12 until 8PM and no bookings. The day I was there they went through 60 lobster and were forced to close at 5 when the food ran out. Cooked from live, the boys didn’t waste a thing with every scrape of meat excavated - as they needed to at this price. The next door baker was pretty happy too with the bread sales! I sat there at the communal table watching as a stream of locals embraced the concept. Every few minutes a new lobster was prepared, every half hour the whisking of a new bowl of mayo, the baker running in, the one waiter poring wine, making coffees, cleaning tables for the next customer. They have moved on to their new digs and this innovative use of a tiny space and a great product is unlikely to repeated, but your story bought the memory back and reminded me of how important it is to be in the right place at the right time. Cheers. Martin Verryt 30 October, 2009 heading for Paris spring comes highly recommended visit their site click here send us your lobster sandwich story email ann

preshafruit
We are not in the habit or recommending products that make it into mainstream supermarkets, however this product so revolutionises the fruit juice industry we feel compelled to run it. No pasteurisation required, salmonella and other bacteria killed under pressure, no discolouration, basically distilled flavour and real flavour at that.
Fascinated we rang to get samples and found the taste outstanding and then immediately rang back to ask when will there be lemon and limejuice for the hospitality sector? We all know the labour and money that takes and the waste involved because it oxidises so quickly, almost instantly in the case of limejuice.
These guys are new and rapidly expanding with a new plant but have promised samples of both in the next month.
To help them gauge the hospitality market and also give an indication of size, given that it will most likely have a two week shelf life once opened if properly refrigerated. Yes you won’t be able to leave it sitting on the bench at room temperature (slackers) but my head is teaming with recipe ideas from simple but exquisitely tasty jellies, to a range of sweet cold roll wrappers to go with our raspberry cold roll and the idea of fast and fabulous real margeuritas at a price we can afford hasn’t escaped us either!

The domestic market is already well serviced but will also benefit from the larger size bottles for home use. It’s not cheap but if you’ve ever calculated how much a litre of fresh juice costs (even without labour) you might get a shock. Better yet it is guaranteed 100% Australian fruit and we like that a lot!

visit their web site for full details and local agents and expressions of interest for commercial catering packs that might give them an indication of the market email Steve Quinn their market development manager.

to read the CSIRO press release click here