SIGNS OF LIFE
Lots of good things to like about February - tomatoes being one of them. And Lifesavers. And pita bread with taramasalata. And new restaurants. And – this was random – lotus roots.
Everywhere I look, there are signs of life. The city is waking up, yawning and stretching in the manner of Snow White. There are very loud drills everywhere, as people resume building. Restaurants are opening. Art exhibitions are running. Festivals are back. People are dreaming big again. I even – lordy – found myself punching in dates on a local airline website for the first time in two years. It’s a miracle. (For an actual Miracle, read on).
YOU SAY BURRATA, I SAY TOMATA
Right now, it’s tomato time, and I’m loving them cut all higgledy-piggledy and tossed with roasted red pepper, capers and red wine vinegar, served with fresh Stella burrata with its fat belly full of cream, like this:
It’s the sort of stuff you could live on for three months of the year and not want for anything. Yet I kept staring at it, going ‘there’s something missing’, there’s something missing’. And then it occurred to me.
WARNING, DIP AHEAD.
Mmm, dips and pita bread - more stuff you could live on for months on end. I’m on a never-ending search for great flat breads, and found a beauty: all pale and puffy, the two sides perfectly separated and ready to tear and swipe through this big swirl of taramasalata, rich and tangy with lemon, speckled with bottarga, and topped with sticks of pickled turnip.
It belongs to Roxy’s in Double Bay: you have to like a place that hustles and bustles, spills out onto the street in the golden dusk, and does reasonably priced (Double Bay!) dips and grills, sesame seed Israeli pretzels and flat breads – all the stuff we want to eat right now. And an owner who gives you a menu and says “there are no rules or regulations, order how you like” and actually means it.
WHAT A LIFESAVER
How cute is that? It’s from Jo White Studio, who paints “the nostalgic Australian life”. That’s a sign, too, that there is a quiet, growing pride in the daggy icons of our childhood. She does Minties and Wagon Wheels, Juicy Fruits and Chiko Rolls, but I adore this simple Lifesaver, recently exhibited at Michael Reid Murrurundi.
MORE SIGNS OF LIFE
They always said that when the light rail extended all the way down George Street that the southern end of the CBD would explode with life, and they might just be right. The IHG-owned Kimpton luxury hotel group has remastered one of Sydney’s most beautiful buildings into Kimpton Margot Sydney, which opened on St Valentine’s Day.
In a smart move for both, Luke Mangan has come on board to do what Luke does best – good-looking food that won’t scare the horses, in a plush, well-serviced environment (Luke’s Kitchen). Head chef MJ Olguera can do the classics but can also twist them into 2022, so the richly savoury beef tartare comes with crisp lotus root chips, and the signature roast duck has some very moreish sticky rice cubes as an accompaniment – like potato gems, only rice. Added bonus: the rooftop terrace that Sydney didn’t know it had, will open later this year.
WE’RE ALL LOTUS-EATERS NOW
Crunchy, cooling, and hypnotically beautiful, the lotus root deserves to be on your shopping list. It’s actually the stem of the lotus plant, that starts in the mud and ends with an exquisite flower floating above the water, and I’m sure there’s a metaphor in that for those who need one.
You can stir-fry, steam, deep-fry, boil, braise or you name it, and it will still be crisp.
Fresh lotus root is easy to find at Asian grocers (in autumn/winter), but that is also seriously dependent on you being near an Asian grocer. Sydney is a brilliant place to live, but she doesn’t make it easy to get around town to pick up all the esoteric things I feel like for dinner. So frozen lotus root has now been added to the long list of things I stock up on when going to a big Asian grocer like Miracle, which I can find in eight different suburbs. Thank you, Miracle, you’re a miracle.
Serving suggestion: cook up some carrots in dashi/miso broth, add lotus roots, fish balls, left-over Hainan chicken, spinach and those fat white wormy little Obento udon noodles that are so handy to keep in the cupboard.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to add a comment, or share with a friend, or subscribe for more Jill Dupleix Eats in your inbox every Thursday. And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for always screeching the car to a halt or swerving swiftly to the left whenever I suddenly spot a potentially exciting Asian supermarket, bar, café or food shop.
I would 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 bloody time, folks.
Please share when you find a great flat bread to have at home .