LET THERE BE LIGHT.
Thanks 2022, you were grand (when you weren’t being really annoying and cancelling things). And now you’re nearly over.
It’s time to say thank you to the year that was, for the small pleasures it brought. The coffees, the tomatoes, the mangoes. The dining out, the eating in. The wines, the people, the chats, the special moments.
And the snacks! Most recently, the silky-soft cured NZ salmon of Bellarine Smokehouse in Victoria; good job, Sarah and Jason.
Not to mention the particular joy of Christmas in Australia, with prawns everywhere in sight. Like this little prawn roll constructed from a preview of the madly generous Christmas by QT at Home ( an annual offering put together by the chefs of QT Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Auckland).
Or this Christmas platter thrown together at the last minute — because how you plan to get together can never be guaranteed these days, and the real test is not how perfect Plan A will be, but how well you turn Plan B into something fabulous.
And then you end up somewhere you weren’t expecting to be, like Torquay on Victoria’s surf coast, and discover a cute little grocer and deli like Mortadeli, with its Italian- and Maltese-inspired rolls, and Lambrusco (!) and Negroni Sbagliato ON TAP.
And then one of my fave places in Sydney, Baba’s Place in Marrickville, collaborates with DNA Distillery to bring out the world’s first rakija and tonic IN A CAN, which can only elicit the response of “why has someone not put Balkan fruit brandy with a mixer before now?” As they say, “it gets hot in the suburbs”. Cue plastic picnic chair melting on the concrete under the Hills Hoist.
As a drink, it’s very cool, light, fresh and nose-tickly. It’s also an outlier: expect to see more life-enhancing initiatives spring from the suburbs rather than trickle down from the top end of town. Because the top end of town is not where it’s at any more.
For some reason, a souffle seems like the perfect farewell to the year; light, tangy, and as summery as a passionfruit vine hanging from the back fence, baubled with purple fruit.
Souffles aren’t that tricky. If you can beat egg whites, you can cook a souffle. But do allow space for them to rise in the oven - I once cooked them at a friend’s place, and when I went to take them out, discovered that each one had risen and stuck to the oven rack above. Eeek.
So thanks, 2022, and here’s to a spectacular new year around the corner. Let the possibilities rise before us, and not hit the oven rack above.
Passionfruit and banana souffle
Serves 4
1 tbsp melted butter
4 tsp caster sugar for dishes
3 good eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
1 banana (around 125g), mashed
100ml passionfruit pulp, from 4 to 5 passionfruit
icing sugar for serving
Heat the oven to 190C.
Brush 4 individual (200 ml) soufflé moulds with melted butter, painting from bottom to top, to encourage the souffle to rise.
Add caster sugar to one mould, rotating it to coat, then tip excess into the next mould and repeat, until all moulds are lightly coated.
With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 50g caster sugar until pale and smooth.
Add the mashed banana and passionfruit pulp, beating well.
Beat the egg whites in a large clean bowl to soft peaks.
Scatter with the remaining 50g caster sugar and continue beating until glossy and meringue-like.
Gently fold a little of the egg white into the yolks, then fold in the rest, taking care to keep as much air in the mix as possible.
Fill the soufflé moulds to the brim, and run your thumb around the inside of each mould ( which will help the souffles get a head start on rising).
Place on a tray, and bake on a rack just below the middle of the oven for 10 minutes or until puffed and golden.
Gently remove from the oven, and dust with icing sugar.
Serve (immediately, obviously), with cream or ice-cream as you see fit. Makes four.
# Clean and dry the beaters of the electric mixer before beating the egg whites.
# Butter the soufflé dishes evenly to help those tiny bubbles of hot air trapped in the beaten egg whites to zoom up the sides and over the top.
# It might test your nerves, but try not to overcook it, or the poor thing will shrink from the sides and virtually disappear before your eyes.
# Apologies to those in Melbourne whose passionfruit may not yet have ripened. Won’t be long now.
Thanks for reading, and especially for commenting and sharing your own ideas and thoughts. And special thanks to Terry Durack for the boundless appetite and love.
I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.