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The "Chinese" food in Australia can be quite nice, but it is actually nothing like the real thing. I asked the waiter at Flower Drum why they make Peking Duck the way they do (absolutely nothing like the proper stuff) and he just said it was the way Westerners like it!!Ian S wrote:You probably get a more wide-ranging set of styles than us - outside of a small number of specialist restaurants, most will be an anglicised version brought from Hong Kong.
We did have a wonderful one for a while here, the stuff from the standard menu was stunning and unlike the typical bland 'chinese' food that has taken root here over recent decades. There was also a chinese language menu, which also had all the stuff we'd be too squeamish to eat, but loved by the chinese folk that were eating there. As good as it gets over here IME. It then shut.
A few months later it re-opened, but when our friends went to eat there, the staff were oddly reluctant to serve food, saying they were fully booked when it was almost empty and they wouldn't even do a take-away. Roll on a couple of months and it's been closed down again, but this time by the police as they'd been using the 'restaurant' as a front for a brothel!
So I checked and the book has an extensive analysis on Northern, Northeastern and Northwestern cuisine including the areas you mentioned and a dozen more. So now that the book identifies the region the various dishes come from, I will have a crack at the northern region dishes to see the differences. Bring on Shannxi and Ningxia cuisine.felixp21 wrote:haha, yea, a lot of chefs, and books, usually Westernised Chinese expats, classify the best "eight" cuisines. These are considered the "best" by these people, although China has scores more cuisine than that.
However, that classification basically ignores all of the NE China. The "eight" cuisines only go as far North as Shandong, so basically everything North of there has been ignored (which is ridiculous, as the ignored area includes Jin Cuisine, Beijing, the home of China's most famous dish!!!!)
It also basically ignores Yunnan, which many people think produces China's finest cuisine (best noodles in the World, IMO)
Mainlanders talk about the seven great regions/cuisine, and, for example, the cuisines of Anhui and Fujian in your classification are seen as the same.
A lot of Northerners are quite pissed off with that strange "eight cuisine" notion, but many Southerners think it's the go lol.
'
On the basis you are even half way serious (given I don't believe any sane person should eat tripe), there is a Tripe and Ginkgo soup recipe from Chaozhou and a tripe and sweet picked mustard greens from Guangdong neither of which I will ever cook. That is one certainty on life.Bobthebuilder wrote:
Does it have a chilli tripe from the Hunan province recipe?
If so I look forward to your invitation to sample once you have perfected this superb dish
It will go beautifully will a nice Riesling which I know you don’t mind occasionally
REDRUM wrote:I was at the Marius picking yesterday too! Had to leave at midday to get back to Adelaide to teach a class at 2, so I missed out on all the fun stuff
I'll be back there on Saturday though so say g'day and I can put a name to a face.
Apparently Scotty Vino was there as well. Maybe we hide behind our online idendities too much. I won't be there on Saturday but Scotty may be.
Chuck, RedRum and Scotty V, I am venturing up on Saturday to give Roger a hand...been 30 years since I picked grapes, (don't tell him that) but bit like riding a bike...I am very much looking forward to end of day proceedings. Having procured the last two vintages in a mixed 6 from our Host here, I have never had the pleasure of tasting any of Roger's wines...yetChuck wrote:REDRUM wrote:I was at the Marius picking yesterday too! Had to leave at midday to get back to Adelaide to teach a class at 2, so I missed out on all the fun stuff
I'll be back there on Saturday though so say g'day and I can put a name to a face.
Apparently Scotty Vino was there as well. Maybe we hide behind our online idendities too much. I won't be there on Saturday but Scotty may be.
I am deadly seriousrooman wrote:On the basis you are even half way serious (given I don't believe any sane person should eat tripe), there is a Tripe and Ginkgo soup recipe from Chaozhou and a tripe and sweet picked mustard greens from Guangdong neither of which I will ever cook. That is one certainty on life.Bobthebuilder wrote:
Does it have a chilli tripe from the Hunan province recipe?
If so I look forward to your invitation to sample once you have perfected this superb dish
It will go beautifully will a nice Riesling which I know you don’t mind occasionally
Yeah I know...perhaps I'll be on billy tea duties or washing up...think I'll be OK, did 3 vintages so might be able to work out what to select and where to cutswirler wrote:"been 30 years since I picked grapes, (don't tell him that)"
Lol. He reads this.
that is true, plenty around Beida, Wuhan University and SHZ Uni tht I know of.swirler wrote:Plenty of authentic Chinese restaurants near many big university campuses.
Actually the ones in the campus are even better. I used to love Beijing Second Foreign Language Institutes canteens... I remember the days when they served ducks head and students would run to avoid missing out!felixp21 wrote:that is true, plenty around Beida, Wuhan University and SHZ Uni tht I know of.swirler wrote:Plenty of authentic Chinese restaurants near many big university campuses.
none in Australia.
Picking grapes is similar to picking olives. Very simple and not physically taxing. Just a lot of standing up. Dead easy. You talk to people on the other side of the vines but rarely see their faces until the breaks. We solved a lot of the world's problems on Wednesday. The specialty meat pies for morning tea were worth it alone. Roger certainly appreciates the help and is a great host. In a couple of years I can drink a wine I helped make in a small way. Not many of us can say that. That means a lot to me.phillisc wrote:Chuck, RedRum and Scotty V, I am venturing up on Saturday to give Roger a hand...been 30 years since I picked grapes, (don't tell him that) but bit like riding a bike...I am very much looking forward to end of day proceedings. Having procured the last two vintages in a mixed 6 from our Host here, I have never had the pleasure of tasting any of Roger's wines...yetChuck wrote:REDRUM wrote:I was at the Marius picking yesterday too! Had to leave at midday to get back to Adelaide to teach a class at 2, so I missed out on all the fun stuff
I'll be back there on Saturday though so say g'day and I can put a name to a face.
Apparently Scotty Vino was there as well. Maybe we hide behind our online idendities too much. I won't be there on Saturday but Scotty may be.
I'll certainly ask any folk if they are on the forum...not shy in coming forward and might have a few post picking beers at the Victory...if I am in any shape to do so.
Cheers
Craig
Fantastic wine!Rossco wrote:2001 Domain A Cabernet Sauvignon
This really is a lesson in cool climate cab sav. So powerful, so restrained and so young. Yes 17 years young yet doesnt look, feel or taste older than 7.
Perfect purple disk, cork gods were kind. Massive oak, but not dominating. Herbs, slight oregano and dried basil. Green capsicum, mint and earth.
Has decades left. Astonishing really. Moar please
Speaking of 1986 Bordeaux, apparently the '86 Rausan-Segla is now a glorius wine. A poster on a another wine forum declared it "on of my greatest ever Bordeaux experiences" and gave it 98/100 points. Also on the same forum, the '86 Sociando-Mallet has received some praise. Like Bobthebuilder, I am also prepared to accept any castaways from these "difficult" vintages.felixp21 wrote:Hahaha, yea, maybe I will finally turn up to an off-line one day, and I'll bring a couple along. Sadly, it's not my unique palate, there are plenty of wine-lovers still complaining about 86.Bobthebuilder wrote:Hi Felix,
It might just be your unique palate. Please pm me and I will give you my address so you can send me one of those 86 ers to sample and I will provide you with an honest opinion on how they are drinking
After seeing your note, I decided to open a 2003 to see how it’s tracking. Earlier bottles were closed even out around 12 years but the 2003 with 15 years in the bottle has now opened up and is a superb drink - an excellent Margaret River cab sav. If you picked up enough, try to let some get out past 15 year’s as they really benefit from the extra age..Rossco wrote:2011 Voyager Estate Cab Sav Merlot
Cant remember the last time I had this, or if I have even had one before, but i was thoroughly impressed.
Very elegant and silky. When I was drinking it, throughout the whole time the word 'understatement'
kept running through my head. Everything was understated. The oak, the fruit the tannins, acid... all really
nice, nothing out of place, nothing overpowering. Slightly out of balance as the finish was a little acidic/harsh, but
time will sort that out im sure.
Decanted for 2 hrs and really only started to open up after the 3rd hour as it was still quite closed.
Violets and purple berries, beautiful herbs, medium body and just a lovely perfume note. I would guess the ratio is much more cab sav... 75%++
as I didn't find much of the Merlot 'middle' palate, but there was something else in there.... cab franc maybe? Would explain the perfume.
Although I don't regret opening it, im kind of sad at the same time..... The was is not ready to drink yet and I would hold off another 5 years
possibly more (Drinking window will be open for MANY years after that). My only bottle and now I have to find more and put down for a long sleep.
I love spicy food - the hotter the better. For my palate, red wine and chilli is a combination that regrettably doesn't work. It just mutes all the complexities the wine may have and it doesn't enhance the food either. I do try the combination from time to time, but I always regret it afterwards.rooman wrote:As for my red drinking friend, she had a unique fetish, she insisted on eating freshly cut up chillies with every glass. When we couldn’t find fresh chillies it was chilli flakes. Claimed it made the wine pop !?! I tried it with one glass but I’m not a convert.
Hi Irvine, Yup my experience too. Married to a Malaysian who cooks very hot food frequently. Riesling is the best bet. Rose can work as well.Ozzie W wrote:I love spicy food - the hotter the better. For my palate, red wine and chilli is a combination that regrettably doesn't work. It just mutes all the complexities the wine may have and it doesn't enhance the food either. I do try the combination from time to time, but I always regret it afterwards.rooman wrote:As for my red drinking friend, she had a unique fetish, she insisted on eating freshly cut up chillies with every glass. When we couldn’t find fresh chillies it was chilli flakes. Claimed it made the wine pop !?! I tried it with one glass but I’m not a convert.
I agree. I did try one but it was as expected, the chilli just overpowered the red. Still worth asking if anyone else likes really spicy food and Cab savs. I would prefer rieslings any day of the week.Ozzie W wrote:I love spicy food - the hotter the better. For my palate, red wine and chilli is a combination that regrettably doesn't work. It just mutes all the complexities the wine may have and it doesn't enhance the food either. I do try the combination from time to time, but I always regret it afterwards.rooman wrote:As for my red drinking friend, she had a unique fetish, she insisted on eating freshly cut up chillies with every glass. When we couldn’t find fresh chillies it was chilli flakes. Claimed it made the wine pop !?! I tried it with one glass but I’m not a convert.
Certainly it would need a red without noticeable tannins, be that at the light or the rich end of the scale. Maybe worth trying one of the softer sparkling shirazes for double the popOzzie W wrote:I love spicy food - the hotter the better. For my palate, red wine and chilli is a combination that regrettably doesn't work. It just mutes all the complexities the wine may have and it doesn't enhance the food either. I do try the combination from time to time, but I always regret it afterwards.rooman wrote:As for my red drinking friend, she had a unique fetish, she insisted on eating freshly cut up chillies with every glass. When we couldn’t find fresh chillies it was chilli flakes. Claimed it made the wine pop !?! I tried it with one glass but I’m not a convert.
