19 March 2011
MELBOURNE MASTERCLASS AT THE LANGHAM
There’s nothing like the intensity of attending Masterclass. Over two days attendees can go to eight sessions of culinary workshops, cooking demonstrations and wine tastings. Held in The Langham Melbourne, the stars rock up from around the world to strut their stuff to a sell out crowd, as a finale to the wonderful two weeks of the Melbourne Food and Wine festival. I was there for the weekend only.
This year’s themes were Women in the Kitchen, the Lost Arts and Masters of Spice. One of drawcards was no less than Nigella Lawson, but as attending her session meant travelling to the Convention Centre and sitting amongst a cast of what appeared to be thousands, I was more than happy to stay within the hotel. Miss Lawson did attend the opening night cocktail party and up close I can report she has that very English perfect porcelain complexion and very real curves from all those midnight trips to the fridge. She’s fabulous!
Perhaps the best presenter I watched was Angela Hartnett, who, after years of working for Gordon Ramsey, has her own restaurant, Murano in London. She had plenty to say about Gordon and it was all incredibly positive. She was well organised, skilled and had superb communication skills. I loved her tomato terrine and will get out and pick more outdoor grown tomatoes at Mrs Young’s garden in Mangere this week to make that. In 75 minutes she successfully made tortellini including the pasta, the tomato terrine and a stunning chocolate mousse. Murano is now at the top of my list next time I’m in London.
Other Women in the Kitchen I loved were Margaret Xu, who has a tiny restaurant in Hong Kong and impressed with her Forgotten Lemon Chicken, Anna Hansen the Kiwi chef/owner of The Modern Pantry in London who cooked up freestyle fusion food that shows her knowledge of Asian ingredients (her take on steak and chips was really very good) , and two of my favourite cooks, Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer who did a duo act, chattering away while cooking their own dishes.
I loved Zachary Pellacio from the Fatty Crab in New York with his lovely Malaysian inspired food, and Roy Choi of Kogi who is a cool dude with trucks that race around Los Angeles each night serving tasty $2 tacos and dazzle customers with street food that is fast, easy and accessible (he has a bar and restaurant too, but it was very hard to nail him on their exact location.) The session with the most personality was when George Colombaris took to the stage with his Greek mother, Mary. It was so much fun and made even more so by the interjections of the King of Wit and Kitchen Wisdom, Matt Preston who is absolutely larger than life. George and Matt judge together on Australian Masterchef and they are stars. But for my money, Mary was the true star of this performance.
And amongst all these sessions of tastings and cooking I managed one wine class. The Bledisloe Cup of wine. Helen Masters, winemaker at Ata Rangi and Tom Carson who makes wine for Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate presented four varietals, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz/Syrah and Cabernet Merlot. There was one from New Zealand and one from Australia in each category and even though I am a Kiwi girl who loves her local wines, I have to admit that in every case, I preferred the wine made across the ditch. For the record: Coldstream Hills 2009 Chardonnay, Yabby Lake Block 2 Pinot Noir 2008, Heathcote Estate Shiraz 2008 and Cullen Diane Madelaine Cab/Merlot 2007. Go Aussie Go!
Pic above: Angela Hartnett on stage.