South Indian-style lime pickle

a few limes, cut into pieces
a hefty splash sesame oil
mustard seeds
curry leaves
ground chilli
chilli flakes (or whole chillies)

Fry oil with spices and pour over chopped limes. Combine well and leave, covered, in a bowl for a week, mixing up every day.

Pack into sterilised jars, packing down well to extract juices to cover. Leave in jars in the sun for a few months before eating. I can't leave it for long before I start picking at it but the idea is to leave it long enough for the skins to go soft.

St Kilda: The Prince of Egypt

In town for the Melbourne Masterclass recently with the other intrepid foodies amusedbouche.blogspot.com we stumbled across new restaurant The Prince of Egypt over the road from our hotel. Having eaten around Cairo quite a bit I like to consider myself fairly au fait with Egyptian food. In fact, one of my favourite restaurants in the world is in Cairo (Abu el-Sid, Zamalek). I was keen to introduce les pals to moulakhia, Egypt's national dish. You can buy dried and frozen moulakhia in many Middle Eastern shops, and the odd Middle Eastern grocer will get you some from his mother-in-law's garden if you ask nicely. The Prince's version was made with frozen moulakhia. So what is it? It's soup the texture of snot, to put it impolitely. Similar to okra, moulakhia slightly thickens and makes viscous, liquid. Egyptians make a chicken stock, add garlic and moulakhia and often lemon juice. The Prince's version is not as tangy as I like it, but a good version nonetheless, even if it's not quite everyone's cup of tea.

The kindly folk at The Prince of Egypt arranged to feed us a range of dishes for price per head: just the way we like to eat. I don't really rate the eggplant and hommus that much (best hommus ever I award to Al-Dhiaffah Al-Iraqi http://www.yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/?action=venue&venue_url=aldhiaffah_aliraqi), I found them too strong in jarred garlic and not tangy enough, respectively. The highlight of the meal was a slow-cooked lamb and okra dish - unctuous and intensely savoury. One of our party had chosen Blue Nun for us to drink. At least we can say we've tried it now.

Go for the moulakhia (if only to experience it once in your life), the grilled meats, and slow-cooked dishes. Great value.

L'Abbat - an ode to offal

For some, nothing was more pleasing than the thought of a meal celebrating the forgotten bits. For others, they worried they'd bitten off more than they could get down. From a menu of stretched chicken skin, 'cured' patiently with a hair dryer, to a fridge of unctuous left-overs this dinner was satisfying in more ways than one, but particularly for those that worried their food fears would be overwhelming: because they were most pleasantly surprised...

Murder in Sicily
Fresh tomato juice with lime, fresh bay leaves, Campari and vodka, finished with spiced dried blood and Tabasco Chipotle

Devilled Kidney à la Amber
Diced lamb’s kidney fried in seasoned butter and a splash of Worcestershire sauce, served on white egg
Terredora Coda de Volpi IGT 2007

A Bone to Pick
Roasted veal bones with a veal jus and Bombardier English stout reduction.
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Pinot Noir Rosé 2008

Cop an Earful
French-style crispy pig’s ear salad
Tyrell’s Lost Block Semillon 2007

Callos a la Madrilena
Slow-cooked tripe with chorizo and black pudding, finished over brazier
Huntington Estate Mudgee 'Home Bottling' Shiraz 2001 - From Magnum

The Suet Canal
Sussex Pond Pud of fresh beef suet and whole lemons and lime with fresh muscatels
Baileys of Glenrowan Founders Muscat
Sanchez Romate Pedro Ximénez ‘Cardenal Cisneros’ Sherry

Dem Bones
Pear marshmallows
Espresso

Eating Auckland: Another few days

Back in Auckland with the proviso to be more cautious with the budget I sought out another couple of restaurants to tick off. I'd previously avoided visiting Soul Bar as 1. the name sounded naff and 2. the location on the viaduct reminded me way too much of Darling Harbour. Happily the restaurant was a pleasant surprise and the harbourside location breezy and full of life. An entree of buffalo mozzarella, various tomatoes and basil was summery, pretty and full of flavour - even if the giant croutons had to be violently crushed up to be comfortable chewable.

The recently rennovated and reopened, much beloved to Auckland restaurant Meredith's proved to include soils and the like, however in a fairly unpretentious manner. Unfortunately I was comatose on a handful of cold and flu tablets and had the impression of coasting through the dinner. Thank goodness for camera phones because I can safely then recommend the Rimu Grove Pinot Noir - don't ask the year because the quality of the photo is not that good... suffice to say it was a bit of a wild pinot with a little brett and a lotta character. What with the bottle of pinot and the handful of pills little else is particularly clear, except that I would not like to dine in Meredith's the middle of winter (as you need to dash outside to go to the loo) but other than that it's a restaurant I'd go back to. We also had the interesting experience of sitting next to a plastered couple who broke up and made up in the space of the evening - though according to staff they do that every weekend there.