Last night I attended a fantastic class at Tony Tan's Unlimited Cuisine in Toorak with Nic Poelaert from Embrasse (not pronounced Embrace - but like this ) in Carlton.
I will fill in more details later, but just needed to post the photos before I lose them
It was wonderful to hear Nic's philosophy and to see him working calmly in the kitchen.
The need for fresh seasonal produce and the philosophy of foraging like Ben Shewry, Dan Hunter, George Biron, Alla Wolf-Tasker and Matt Wilkinson is appealing and heartening.
The other aspect of his cooking that really appeals is his use of the Thermomix. Each of the three dishes demonstrated had components that were produced in the Thermomix.
The dishes that Nic & Vanessa Mateus prepared were:
John Dory semi-fried/semi-steamed in squid ink on burnt carrot puree (done in the TMX), with baby beetroots and grapefruit.
Beef cheek on onion tart with black garlic emulsion, green lentil & spinach puree (in the TMX) and charcoal
Chocolate mushrooms on a forest floor with tuile twigs & leaves and sorrel & mint granita moss (done in the TMX)
Thanks to Nic, Vanessa, ........ (oops, sorry forgotten her name already) and Tony Tan for a memorable night.