WINTER DINNER 29 June 2014
Our dining concept is based on the idea of celebrating seasonal changes. Each quarter we will shape the menu and dining experience to showcase the memories, stories and feelings of each season. More than just seasonal food, we want to start fun conversations about what makes Brisbane unique thoughout a year. It could be the Ekka in winter, purple Jacarandas in spring or the scorching sands in summer. We hope to enhance the characteristics of all ingredients and to tell you a story about our shared habitat each season.
WINTER DINNER 29 June 2014 Warm apple juice + Snacks Preserved quail eggs Cauliflower with cheese and scallop roe Steamed Murray cod buns Sprouted wheat and honey sourdough with cultured butter Grilled oyster with greens and chilli Preserved vegetables, pork and egg Salt baked quail with quail feed Roast leg of mutton with onion kraut, turnip and seeds Local honey and milk served in bees wax Applewood charcoal with smoked macadamia + Sweets Spiced hot chocolate marshmallows Mandarin mochi Dried apple and herb infusion tea
In an age of global placelessness, our cultural notions of winter sometimes feel much more like that of the northern hemisphere. We’ve become nostalgic of times when we have lived overseas and winters felt like a real adventure and snow was a crazy novelty. Even the annual fake ice rink in King George Square or short escapes to the Granite Belt might be telling us something of our desires to be somewhere else colder. While Brisbane’s seasons can feel less dramatic, there is a uniqueness and many quiet joys to celebrate this season. Welcome to WINTER.
WARMING DRINKS On cold days, herbal teas, hot chocolates or mulled wines are like hello hugs for hands.
WARM APPLE JUICE On arrival, warm apple juice served as a cocktail
WINTER BEACH BBQ We are lucky enough to still be able to go to the beach in winter. Childhood memories are filled with oysters straight on the grill and winter surfing.
GRILLED OYSTER WITH GREENS AND CHILLI Charcoal grilled oysters from Nambucca, grilled beach greens, warringal green vinaigrette with smoked chilli sauce
WINTER FRUIT & VEG
JUNE- AUGUST Avocado Beetroot Broad Beans Blueberries Brussel Sprouts Custard Apple Cauliflower Citrus fruit Pawpaw Leek Spinach Strawberries AUGUST Carrot Squash Pumpkin Basil Zucchini Eggplant Taro
*List from South East Queensland Local Food Wheel (2011) www.ecofriendlyfood.org.au
WINTER PRESERVING To preserve full flavours and keep produce during winter, techniques like pickling, drying, salting, spicing and curing were all created to carry full flavours
PRESERVED VEGETABLES, PORK AND EGG Roasted and pickled onions and garlic with winter green soup, cured pork jowl and salted egg yolk
+ Snacks CAULIFLOWER Poached cauliflower, smoked cheese curd and scallop bottorga
+ Snacks STEAMED COD BUNS Steamed Murray cod fat bread, cod head brandade, cod cream and roe
GAME BIRDS Migratory birds often appear in winter feasts because in the wild when they “flew south for the winter”, it made them easy and tasty targets.
SALT BAKED QUAIL WITH QUAIL FEED Salt dough roasted quail from Toowoomba with a quail parfait, roast bone sauce and shoots and seeds that it may have eaten + Snack PRESERVED QUAIL EGGS Warm pickled quail egg with a spice coating
MEATY ROASTS Winters are filled with slow cooking, hearty meats and big roasts with family.
ROAST LEG OF MUTTON WITH ONION KRAUT, TURNIP AND SEEDS Buttermilk marinated, slow roasted leg mutton from New England area, with fermented onion, roast turnip and gravy
LOCAL HONEY AND MILK SERVED IN BEES WAX Honey collected in South Brisbane served with toasted pudding, mead and local milk
SEASONAL HONEY Local honey is a great marker of seasons. It changes flavour and colour through the year and will always naturally reflect what plants are growing and flowering at the time.
APPLES Apples are at their best in winter. They are often grafted plants therefore the seed and fruit varieties don’t often match...which is kinda weird and cool.
APPLE WOOD CHARCOAL WITH SMOKED MACADAMIA Apple wood parfait coated in apple ash with grilled apple juice and smoked macadamia milk
TOASTY FIRES Fireplaces are certainly not a Brisbane architectural necessity, but any excuse for sitting around a fire is still always toasty fun.
+ Sweets SPICED HOT CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS Marshmallows you toast with a chocolate core +Sweets MANDARIN MOCHI Japanese sticky rice with mandarin jam
DRIED APPLE AND HERB INFUSION TEA Dried apple and herbs picked from Southbank Parklands as a tea with local honey
MANDARINS Every winter, mandarins fill school lunch boxes. In the playground you will find there’s only two people in life - seed swallowers or seed spitters.
Like all seasons, winter helps us mark our time and place. We might not have the fashionable coats of London and Melbourne, or the snowdays of Toronto or Tokyo... but it’s safe to say Brisbane is a unique and special place to be. Enjoy the rest of your winter season. May you indulge in warm hoodies and cozy flannel PJs while you can.
HIGH FIVES & THANKS Thanks to the awesome team Alex Beasley Amrit Pandey Blair Coleman Chris Bentley Chris Johnston Cameron Praeger David DoRozario Johnny Walker Joanne Winecka Murray Coulter Sarah Thompson Shunsuke Nakamura Tom Newman Thanks to Marc Sheldon (Flugente) and Angela Hirst (Wandering Cooks). Special thanks to friends, family and colleagues who continue to support us.
The next season is
SPRING Please send us your favourite seasonal memories to help shape the next edition.
CONTACT Ben Devlin & Yen Trinh boyandbird@gmail.com boyandbird.wordpress.com