Eat. Drink. Blog 2011 – Part 1, the Conference

Some time earlier this year, I stumbled across a Google group for Australian Foodbloggers.  I can’t remember exactly why I was looking for them, but imagine my surprise when I found out they were actually holding a real, live, face-to-face conference in Australia.  Not over Skype, not just on a message board or blogroll, but actually meeting people for realsies!

So I subscribed to the blog, and September eventually rolled around, and they started calling for conference attendees.  Amazingly, I actually met all the conditions for registering (how did I ever get the energy to post 15 entries in only one month), so I threw my hat in.

It’s funny how so many life-changing journeys start by chance…

Since the conference was by invite-only (and the Doctor probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much), I flew up to Sydney by myself.  Arriving about 20 minutes before the conference officially started, I was immediately welcomed at the door by Jen.  We only had a minor scuffle since I couldn’t remember if I’d registered with my actual real name or with my blog name, but I wasn’t thrown out and told to go back home.

There were about 87 attendees, a jam-packed schedule, fantastic speakers and tons and tons of food.

We were hosted at the Electrolux Demonstration Showroom in Mascot, a mere 5 minutes from the airport.  It was not a huge venue, but considering the size of the event, it was just about right.  Just about every bench or table had an induction cooktop, and maybe I was still a bit blurry from the early flight, but there didn’t seem to be very much actual demonstration stuff from them around.

Throughout the day, we had sweet treats from Lindt, mineral waters from Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, and more importantly, wonderful on-demand coffees from Toby’s Estate.  I was way too shy to ask for anything except lattes, but not shy enough to have at least three!  One of the baristas looked like a young Napoleon Perdis, and I have to get the Doctor to try out a new coffee order of a double-ristretto.

Breville also provided a juice bar, but the sheer healthiness of their spinach and vegie juice must have made me forget to take a photo of their table.

Breakfast, morning tea and afternoon tea were provided by Brasserie Bread.  The coconut and blueberry cupcake (dark pink icing, top picture) was incredibly sweet, but the apricot-frangipane tart (middle tray, bottom picture) was perfect. Buttery, firm base with soft fruit that wasn’t too sticky.  I even snuck away a couple of leftover pain au chocolat to enjoy with the Doctor when I got home.

Lunch was slow-cooked lamb shoulder, with a (minted?) pea and broad bean salad, edible flowers, heirloom tomato salad, tzatziki and wholemeal (?) flatbread.  Perhaps the worst criticism I have for the day was the lack of tables or surfaces to eat on – it took us a surprisingly long time to take over the “demonstration” dining table!

Since a lot of people asked, nasturtiums taste kind of peppery (like rocket, but stronger).  Rose petals still taste like rose, but not unpleasantly so.  And yes, I did pick my plate based on how pretty the flowers were!

The conference dinner was held at Kingsleys Steak and Crabhouse in Wollomooloo.  Alas, no crab appeared on the menu, but who’s complaining when you’re being treated to a three course dinner with matched wines?

Apparently I missed the amuse-bouche, but the entree was a smoked yellow fin tuna carpaccio with parmesan chips, pickled whole tiny chillies (did anyone grab the name?), microherbs and pistachios.  The sauce on the bottom tasted like a tangy mustard-mayonnaise mix.  This was kind of an odd dish, on my first bite it just tasted like excellent sashimi.  As I went on, adding more elements and tasting them on their own, it started tasting more Mediterranean in style.

This was matched with a St Hallet 2010 Riesling from the Barossa Valley, quite tangy and fresh, and just lovely for the hot night on the harbour.  Thank goodness I didn’t read the wine list before starting to drink it, I’m still quite traumatised by sweet rieslings.  This tasted more like a sauvignon blanc than I would expect from a riesling.

The mains were served “family-style”, which made complete sense considering how many people there were.  We had a slow-roasted beef tenderloin (on the left, platter in the back) and wagyu flat-iron steak (on the right).  The name derives from the shape of the cut, not that it was cooked via GHD.  Sides were kipler potatoes with chorizo and spinach, heirloom tomato salad with roast olives and aged balsamic, chimichurri sauce (green sauce, small bowl on the left – tasted like pesto if you ask me) and a habanero mustard (on the right).  Not pictured was the giant grilled asparagus with buffalo parmesan – pity, it was fabulous!

This was served with the St Hallett 2009 Faith Shiraz.  I was practically grabbing for the glass as soon as it was poured, it smelt like sweet fruits tempered with blackberry and a wee bit of pepper.  It didn’t feel quite so “big” in the mouth as shiraz tends to be, which enhanced the lusciousness of the meat.  One of the best food and wine pairings I have ever experienced.

Dessert was, surprisingly, a cheese course.  A gorgonzola dolce, with muscatel biscotti, apple and celery (?) leaf, iron bark honey and roasted hazelnuts.  This was a very muted blue cheese, though I’ve never had the dolce (sweet) version before.  I’m usually down with the funk, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Not so pleasant was the St Hallett 2010 rose, I’m sad to say.  Maybe I’m biased (or maybe I was quite tipsy), but I thought this was too acidic a match.  It jolted my tastebuds, and not in a nice way.  Luckily, I still had some shiraz left over from the main, so I finished that off with the cheese.  So all’s well that ends well.

And because I know there are some bloggers out there who are all about the freebies, check out the showbags we got from Toby’s Estate and Meat and Livestock Australia.  The Doctor’s already dibbed the chocolate-covered coffee beans, and I’ve promised to only watch the butchery DVD when he’s not in the house.

So, since the sun’s starting to go down and I still have to get tonight’s dinner ready, I’m putting the keyboard away for now.  I still have 8 pages of handwritten notes to go through, about 200 more photos to process, and a zillion and one people to shout out to.  For now, posts are being aggregated on Eat Drink Blog’s own blog, so go check them out too!

Disclaimer: Sefie attended as a guest of Eat. Drink. Blog 2011.  Entry to the conference, meals and drinks on the day were provided, as well as dinner and drinks from Kingsleys Steak and Crabhouse, Wolloomooloo.  Travel, accommodation and meals outside of the conference were paid for by Sefie.