Since I love a MEME (but enough about you, let's talk about ME!) I'm taking up Kath's Food Fetish meme challange.

1) What's your #1 comfort food?

HOT CHIPS. Without a doubt. There's nothing I crave more when I'm tired and/or stressed than a mountain of hot chips, preferrably the chunky crunchy ones with extra chicken salt (how do they make salt out of chicken?).

2) If you were stranded on a desert island what 5 foods would you want to have with you to survive on?

A never ending supply of above mentioned hot chips, prawns, oysters (natural only), avocado and watermelon.

3) What are your signature dishes (what dishes are you known for making)?

1) Pavlova Roll (most people who come to our place for summer bbqs are subjected to some version of my pav roll - strawberries inside, chocolate shavings on top or mango inside, strawberries on top or peaches inside, toasted almonds on top, the possibilities are endless).

2) Chocolate Buttermilk Cake (not sure if I'm "known for it" but it something I make regularly and it's yummy).

3) Banana Muffins (I am constantly using up old bananas by making muffins, usually they include some frozen raspberries and pecans and are made with yoghurt or buttermilk, so they are reasonably healthy. I tend to take a batch to the office most weeks.)

4) Everything in the fridge winter soup (I have been working on an always changing meat and veg winter soup which Big Jay loves. It involves throwing in whatever cooked meat is floating about - e.g. leftover roast beef or lamb - with a huge amount of vegies, a tin of tomatoes, stock and a handful of barley or small pasta, some herbs, chili and whatever else looks appealing at the time.)

5) Asian-style Wombok Salad (a gorgeous Asian coleslaw type salad made with thinly sliced Wombok, lots of other salad veg, toasted cashews, sometimes those crunchy noodle things and a dressing made with soy sauce, sesame oil, lemon or lime juice, a little olive or macadamia nut oil. This even works as a main meal with the addition of some marinated, cooked, sliced chicken thigh fillets.)

4) It's Friday night you don't know what to cook, you opt for?

If I don't want to cook on a Friday night it's generally take away - Thai or (the newly discovered) Crust Pizza, occasionally a bbq chook and chips. Otherwise, bacon and eggs - you can't beat this breakfast classic for a quick and yummy dinner.

5) What's your ultimate food weakness?

The previously mentioned hot chips. I love fried chicken too (why are the good things always the bad things?) and have been known to be partial to KFC's Hot & Spicy (love/hate relationship really).

6) What food can you soooo not eat?

Generally I would eat, or try, pretty much anything. I used to hate celery but now will eat it (cooked) happily. I'm not a fan of peas, but will eat them if they are put in front of me. Tend to stay away from the usual suspects like tripe and haven't tried the chicken's feet at yum cha yet (but would do so if someone else was game). Hate, hate, hate the buckwheat my mum would semi-regularly present as a sidedish when I was growing up; just the thought of it makes me feel ill.

7) You need a drink, you grab a ...

Love a Caffeine Free Diet Coke with ice and slice of lemon (or normal Diet Coke if it's around lunch time, otherwise I won't sleep that night). Love an icy cold glass of water. Love a really good chocolate milkshake or banana smoothie (like Big Jay ordered at Cucina Viscontini, our local Italian deli/cafe, last Sunday).

8) What's the most decadent dish you've ever had?

The most decadent meal I've ever had was an anniversary dinner with Big Jay at Quay restaurant a couple of years ago. They do a degustation set menu and every dish was amazing, both visually and taste-fully (??). It was a super expensive meal but worth every cent. We had a table overlooking the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay (my favourite view in the world). I'll never forget that night or that meal.

9) What's your favourite type of food?

Not exactly sure how to answer that. Seafood, as a "type" of food would be my overall favourite. However, I would choose yum cha is my favourite "style" of food. Since most yum cha dishes contain seafood the two things do overlap, I guess.

10) Favourite dish?

Mud crab, stir fried with ginger and shallots, or maybe a good, not too spicy Singapore stir fried crab. I love crab. It's something I so rarely eat but I really love it, especially when it's fresh and beautifully cooked (i.e. not overcooked). Very fond memories of trying different varieties of crab at Joe's Crab Shack in LA, both times we visited in 2000 and 2005.


Got to run now, Part 2 coming up later on today.