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By clare, January 19, 2011

Tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen

shortlisted for Best Innovative Cookbook in the world,

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

In December tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen was awarded the Best Innovative Cookbook in Australia by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.  Category winners in each country have since been judged against other winners in the same category in other countries for the Best in World.  The Gourmand judges have now shortlisted four contenders for Best Innovative Cookbook in the world, and tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen is one of these top four books.

So if you haven’t yet donated to the QLD Flood Relief appeal, or you are considering donating a further amount, take this opportunity to take part in my silent auction of 10 of my cookbooks to raise money for those affected by the horrendous QLD floods.  Your donations are tax deductible as they are made directly to the fund.  All you do is submit your intended donation amount as a bid on the silent auction bid page.  When the auction is complete and the 10 highest bidders are announced, the 10 highest bidders will simply provide evidence of the payment of their donation into the QLD Flood Relief appeal fund to receive their copy of tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen.  All the details of the silent auction are on my previous post.

This wonderful news can help me raise as much as possible by gaining media attention for tropical cuisine, so apologies to the current top 10 bidders but I have decided to extend the bidding deadline to next Tuesday 25th January 9pm AEST.  My cookbook and the auction will receive media attention over the weekend and I hope that this helps to raise further funds for the QLD Flood Relief appeal.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau.

Every year, they honour the best food and wine books. The final results will be announced on March 3, 2011 at the annual awards event. The awards ceremony takes place in Paris at Le 104, the new artistic centre of the City of Paris, on the first day of the Paris Cookbook Fair, a four day event held at the same location.

Comments (7)

By clare, January 11, 2011

(CHECK AT THE BASE OF THIS POST FOR AUCTION UPDATES)

………………………………………………………

STOP PRESS

In December tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen was awarded the Best Innovative Cookbook in Australia by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.  Category winners in each country have since been judged against other winners in the same category in other countries for the Best in World.  The Gourmand judges have now shortlisted four contenders for Best Innovative Cookbook in the world, and tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen is one of these top four books.

This wonderful news can help me raise as much as possible by gaining media attention for tropical cuisine, so apologies to the current top 10 bidders but I have decided to extend the bidding deadline to next Tuesday 25th January 9pm AEST.  My cookbook and the auction will receive media attention over the weekend and I hope that this helps to raise further funds for the QLD Flood Relief appeal.

………………………………………………………

The impact of the floods in Queensland is currently beyond comprehension, and the ongoing risk of further flooding makes what is already a disaster of extraordinary scale even more daunting.

I have been contemplating what I can do to support those affected by the floods.

Anyone who has been involved in publishing, and particularly self-publishing, would know that it leaves one with meagre resources and takes strong sales over time to come ‘back into the black’.

But I do have one thing to give – my book.

So I decided to run a silent auction of 10 of my books to raise money for the many thousands upon thousands of people affected by the Queensland floods.

Here is how it works:

Australian bids start at $59.95 Australian Dollars (AUD).

International bids start at $99.95 Australian Dollars (AUD) ($40 of international bids will go towards postage, I will cover the remaining postage cost as Australia’s international postage costs are so high).

DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE as winners of the 10 books won will be asked to make their payment directly to the QLD Flood Relief Appeal fund.

(International winning bidders will pay $40AUD of their winning bid towards postage and this portion of a winning international bid will not be tax deductible). Winners will then provide evidence of their payment to claim their cookbook.

Bids are to be made on the Silent Auction page

I will post the bid range daily at 9pm, from the lowest of the 10 highest bids to the highest bid of all. The auction runs for 10 days and closes at 9pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on Tuesday 25th January 2011.

The 10 highest bidders will be the winners of the auction.

Each of the 10 winning bid amounts will be listed on this website, with winners choosing whether they wish their name to be listed or kept private.

Bids must be paid by 9pm Thursday 27th January AEST into the QLD Flood Relief appeal fund. If bids are not paid by that time the bid will be annulled and the next closest bidder will be notified.  Proof of payment of the winning bid then needs to be forwarded to info@tropicalcuisine.com by 9pm Friday 28th January AEST after which your book will be signed and sent to you.

The only cost recouped from the auction will be $40AUD from each successful international bid – all other funds will go directly to the Queensland Flood Relief appeal. If $59.95 is beyond your means to contribute at auction, or if you don’t obtain a winning bid, please consider donating directly to the Queensland Flood Relief appeal.

Books will be inscribed as follows:

“This book is one of ten copies won in a silent auction that raised $…… for those affected by the Queensland floods. Thank you ………… for your generous support, kind regards, Clare”

I hope you will join me in this effort to raise funds for our fellow citizens. Please send the link to this post (http://tropicalcuisine.com/2011/01/11/silent-auction-to-support-qld-flood-relief/) and the donation page (http://tropicalcuisine.com/silent-auction/) to anyone who you feel may be interested, and keep checking in to see how the auction is progressing,

kind regards,

Clare

AUCTION UPDATES

9pm Tuesday 11th: Thank you to the first bidders, we have a range from the starting bid of $59.95 to $300.

9pm Wednesday 12th: We’ve had another few bidders join in to $100 range, so bid numbers have increased and the range is from $59.95 to $300. Thanks everyone, keep them rolling in!

9pm Thursday 13th: More bidders and we are in the range up to $300. Thanks to our new bidders!

9pm Friday 14th: Bids are now between $100 and $300. As of tomorrow I will be listing the top 10 bids individually. Private bids will be listed by their ID number (which is issued when you place a bid) so that the bidder can see if they are still in the action. Public bids will be listed by the bidders name. Thank you to everyone who is participating, and remember as I note above, that winning bids will be tax deductible as they are to be paid by the winning bidder directly into the QLD Flood Relief Appeal fund. I look forward to checking in with you all again tomorrow.

9pm Tuesday 18th: Bids have filled to 10 within the $100 to $300 range. Apologies for the break in transmission – due to internet disruption.

9pm Wednesday 19th: We now have
6 bidders at $100
1 bidder at $120
1 bidder at $150
1 bidder at $200
1 bidder at $300
Thanks everyone and keep the bids rolling in so that we can give as much support to the flooded Queenslanders as possible!

9pm Sunday 21st: We now have
3 bidders (ID 42749306, ID 42792361, ID 43006969) at $100
1 bidder (ID 42862765) at $110
1 bidder (ID 42746608) at $120
3 bidders (ID 42747882, ID 42783101 and ID 43142466) at $150
1 bidder (ID 42836868) at $200
1 bidder (ID 42751972) at $300

9pm Monday 22nd:
Bidding remains the same with 1 day to go, and the bidders are
3 bidders (ID 42749306, ID 42792361, ID 43006969) at $100
1 bidder (ID 42862765) at $110
1 bidder (ID 42746608) at $120
3 bidders (ID 42747882, ID 42783101 and ID 43142466) at $150
1 bidder (ID 42836868) at $200
1 bidder (ID 42751972) at $300

9pm Tuesday 23rd:
The auction is complete! And the winning bidders are:
3 bidders (ID 42749306, ID 42792361, ID 43006969) at $100
1 bidder (ID 42862765) at $110
1 bidder (ID 42746608) at $120
3 bidders (ID 42747882, ID 42783101 and ID 43142466) at $150
1 bidder (ID 42836868) at $200
1 bidder (ID 42751972) at $300
Tomorrow morning you will receive an email confirming your winning bid. Thank you to everyone for taking part in this effort to raise support for those affected by the Queensland floods.

Comments (4)

By clare, January 9, 2011

Salaks

ORIGIN

Salak, sometimes also called snake-skin or snake fruit because the skin resembles snake leather in appearance, is the fruit of a range of closely related and very spiny palms.  Salak (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm tree of the family Arecaceae and is native to Indonesia. The variety available in Bali is widely held as being the most appetising.

I recently obtained some fruit from the Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm to experiment with their uses.  Salaks have a lovely flavour somewhere between passionfruit, banana and pineapple to my palate.

PREPARATION

Despite their almost fearsome looking skin, salaks are very easy to peel.  Simply push the tip sideways and the skin will break open, and from there it is easy to peel them.  If the tip is inverted, as it is on some fruit, push inwards on it and you’ll achieve the same result.  Keep them stored in the fridge and they can last for up to two weeks.  I am about to also try freezing the peeled flesh as I suspect it may cope quite well with freezing due to its firm texture.

The texture is crunchy, similar to the crunchy varieties of jackfruit.

SERVING

The fruit is astringent while unripe, and a small amount of astringency can remain in the ripe fruit – the only effect of which is a slight dry sensation on the palate when eaten plain out of hand.  It is easy to counteract this by serving salak, de-seeded, sliced or chopped and mixed with juicy fruit such as passionfruit, papaya or carambola.  In these combinations any dryness on the palate disappears and the flavour and crunchy texture shine through – a great combination with soft luscious tropical fruits.  For a contrast to salak’s crisp texture, it is also a great match with the creamy, juicy pulp of any of the Atemoyas such as custard apple, rollinia or guanabana (soursop).

This morning we made coconut rice pudding with a sprinkling of ground chai spices (I make my own blend which is in my cookbook tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen) and served it with a fruit salad of salak, banana, passionfruit, carambola and papaya.  YUM!

As a savoury snack, try dipping larger slices of salak which have been marinating in freshly squeezed lime juice into a mixture of chilli powder and salt, a great Asian approach to snacking that goes very well with a beer.

I also expect they will make a great salad sliced finely with jicama and dressed with lime juice, flaky salt and some fresh sliced chilli – that one is on my to do list for the next day or two.

Salak can also be added to warm salads or stir fries, in the same way that I use longans in the longans and shitake mushrooms with soba noodles recipe in tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen.  Longans provide lush juiciness to that dish, so if using salaks instead you may want to use a mixture of soft and firm tofu as the soft tofu will reintroduce a creamy texture to the dish to counter the removal of the longans.

The flesh is also delicious just sliced and mixed with freshly squeezed lime juice.

Keep an eye out for salaks at your local Asian grocer or fresh produce outlet – their flavour and crispy texture make them well worth trying.

Comments (6)

By clare, January 8, 2011

Brazilian spinach (Alternanthera Sissoo)

I’ve just had an enquiry from Meg in Babinda about where to get Brazilian spinach.  This is one green I included in tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen knowing that it is not easy to source commercially.  I decided to include it though as it is SO easy to grow at home in the tropics and suvives both dry spells and heavy rain. Furthermore it is probably the best ‘spinach’ style green in my book for flavour and texture.

At www.herbs-to-use.com they stock seed of Brazilian spinach which they call by another of its names, Sissoo lettuce, so you can source it there.  It is also listed on the stock list for Northey Street City Farm, so Brisbane residents should also be able to source it at Northey Street.

What I will do for locals is pass some branches on to members of Permaculture Cairns and the Cairns Gardening Club to grow and pass on to others.  I am also taking some to one of the growers and stallholders at Rusty’s Markets, Rick who is happy to trial growing them and selling them if they take off (which they will, they are so easy).

If there are other gardening and permaculture groups in the region who would like some branches to get local stock going to share around, email me at info@tropicalcuisine.com and we’ll see what we can organise.

Hope that helps!

Comments (2)

By clare, December 15, 2010

Tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen has won an international award!

Tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen is

the national winner, Best Innovative Cookbook,

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Category winners in each country now compete against winners in the same category in other countries for the Best in the World.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau.

Every year, they honour the best food and wine books. The final results will be announced on March 3, 2011 at the annual awards event. The awards ceremony takes place in Paris at Le 104, the new artistic centre of the City of Paris, on the first day of the Paris Cookbook Fair, a four day event held at the same location.