First we headed over to the newly opened Coorparoo Markets. I was trying not to get my hopes up too much in case they weren't very good, but they were awesome!!! There was a fantastic array of gourmet foods, meats, produce, baked goods... it was great! We were too early to check out the upstairs section so we are just going to have to go back.
After the Coorparoo Markets we headed over to Rosalie to visit Rosalie Gourmet Market. We were out at Rosalie on Mum's first night and we pointed the market out to Mum and she was disappointed it wasn't open. Since it was on our way, we stopped in to check it out.
Next up was Enoggera and where we showed Mum Wray Organic Market and Cafe because there isn't anything like that in Cairns. I love Wray Organic. Mum did too. Luckily D doesn't mind it either because he likes the sourdough toast they have in the cafe.
We took a little bit longer at the Coorparoo Markets, Rosalie Markets and Wray Organic than we expected so we had to cut out a few of the other places we were going to visit. We brought the morning to a close with a visit to Flannerys Grocers at Annerley.
Since we had such a busy morning, we were still only going to the show to see Janella's presentation. In the end we decided to go a little bit earlier because I was a bit concerned about the parking situation. Sure enough, the Convention Centre was showing that the carpark was pretty full, but we managed to get a spot in the QPAC carpark. We were a little early, so we walked along the river to the other end of Grey Street and walked back looking for the South Bank Lifestyle Markets. We wandered through the markets, but it was incredibly hot so we didn't spend that much time there.
Finally, the Food and Wine Show...
It was incredibly busy on Saturday. We headed to the Brisbane Oxford Landing Restaurant as soon as we arrived at the show because I had some tickets left over from Friday and we thought it would be nice to sit and eat something. Well, that was the idea.
The organisers had really thought about how to make the restaurant work better this year. Last year when you went in the staff would tell you to try and find a seat before you got your meals because they were full. Even on Friday you just had to fend for yourself. On Saturday, the restaurant was fully manned. There were staff members at the entrance and exit. The guys at the entrance had a walkie talkie and would only let you in once a spot had opened up. The staff on the floor would signal the staff with walkie talkies and then you would be directed to an empty table. It was awesome!!!
We were lucky and got a lovely spot in an out of the way corner where we enjoyed some dessert.
This piece of chocolatey goodness is George Calombaris' Chocolate and Walnut Tart with Salted Caramel Sauce. I'm a sucker for anything with salted caramel, so I knew I had to try this. The tart was lovely and rich, as you imagine it would be. Mum said that she felt the pastry could have been more buttery and I felt that the sauce was really just a caramel sauce as there was no salty flavour whatsoever. I do have a preference for my salted caramel to be confidently salted though and it may be that the restaurant was trying to cater for those who weren't as familiar with it? I'm not sure. I know people in Sydney go nuts for salted caramel, so I would have thought it wouldn't be that much of an issue.
Janella Purcell in the Celebrity Theatre
Janella's show was:
Janella Purcell - Janella's Healthy Food Experience
Janella has years of experience and loads of tips on how to make food taste good and be good for you. In this session, Janella will show you how easy is it to put meals together, whilst explaining how to use some not so common ingredients, and their value in a healthy diet. This informative and fun show shouldn't be missed by anyone who's interested in learning more about nutritious and yummy food!
It was pretty empty in the theatre when we got in there, I hope it filled up after the show started though. Everyone was really excited and really responsive. Janella was fantastic, so down to earth, friendly and accessible. Mum said that she couldn't believe that the Janella on Good Chef / Bad Chef was the same Janella on stage.
Janella made two recipes. One was her Chocolate and Tofu Cheesecake and the other I can't put my finger on.
I think it was her Bliss Balls, because I remember millet and rice syrup. However, I also remember arame and ume vinegar because I wrote them down so I could buy some. Did she make three? Oh, I was such a failure as a food blogger at this year's show.
The Show makes a very big point of the fact that you can get all of the recipes from the Show if you sign up to their Recipes Club. They had arranged for free wifi access so you could sign up on your phone and before each show there were advertisements giving you step by step instructions. There were people walking around with iPads and then there were fixed stations where you could sign up as well. I just want to point out that even though all of this was in place, Janella's recipes are nowhere to be found!!!
Janella conducted a little impromptu quiz to determine who was going to get prizes. It was a really good idea and she did it really well.
The cheesecake looked incredible. Mum has been very interested in my forays into raw desserts but she isn't sold on them as they are high in fat, due to the nuts and avocado etc. This cheesecake was made with tofu instead of avocado and Mum was intrigued by that. She wasn't too keen on the crust being made with ground hazelnuts and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work out what she could use instead to cut down the fat.
On the way out we passed one of the people who were chosen to come up on stage to taste the tart and Mum asked her what she thought. She said that it was wonderful and she offered us a taste. Who could say no to that? Certainly not us. It was silky and smooth and very rich and dark. Mum said that she wouldn't add as much chocolate as she felt it was too rich but she was determined to give it a try.
After Janella's presentation we wandered around for a little bit more, as a lot of the people had already started to leave. On Friday, we only managed to get through half the show before we ran out of time so there was a substantial portion we hadn't seen. We were going to start at the opposite end on Sunday so we covered everything. While we were wandering through the as-yet-unexplored stalls, we came across the Sunshine Coast Regional Producers stall and the wonderful Richard from Noosa Reds.
My food blogging failures just keep coming, because I have been enjoying Richard's amazing tomatoes for many months now and just as he is looking at a few months hiatus while they change greenhouses, I decide to mention him. Richard is too awesome to just be mentioned in a post, so look out for a Noosa Reds post coming soon.
So after another long day and an awfully large number of tomatoes (story coming soon), we headed off to plan our attack for Sunday!
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