Typical Mauritian meal. Chicken curry, tomato chutney, squash salad.

If you are unfamiliar with the island, it is a small tropical hotspot fringed with a colourful coral reef off the coast off the east coast of South Africa. What Mauritius lacks in size, it makes up for in beauty. The volcanic island boasts some of the most beautiful rain forests, mountains and beaches I have seen. Although it has changed considerably since my last visit seventeen years ago, the east and South coast are still very much untouched from major development.

Ripe bananas ready to pick

I spent most of my time with family on the east coast in a little town called Anse Jonchee. The town was tiny, scaling barely a 5 minute drive. This to me was a perfect getaway. My parents home is a beautiful property at the base of a mountain range, on-top of  a staggering hill with picture perfect views of the ocean. Mornings were spent watching the sunrise light up the bay as fishing boats set out for the day at 5am. The ocean is forever changing in colour, from pale green to sparkling turquoise blue, it is the most calming sight to start the day.

The morning view from home

Mornings were followed by a walk around the property picking wild papaya, bananas and passionfruit for breakfast. This was my meditation during a time of hardship. Before I left Melbourne bananas were at $14/per Kilo, imagine the joy I gained sitting under a ripe organic banana tree, plowing my way through a fresh hand. Passionfruit grows like a weed in Mauritius and we could barely keep up with the supply so it quickly became a repetitive christmas present for anyone who came to visit! Tropical fruit is ridiculously cheap, the markets are filled with bananas, logans, dragon fruit, star fruit, mangoes and lychees.

Mid morning or lunch Dholl Poori

Street style Biriyani

Lush valley of Ferney

Breakfast is generally a French affair, a piece of freshly made baguette or croissant with butter and jam from the local Tabagie (milkbar), served with white tea. Nothing beats the sound of fresh bread breaking in the morning, however I much preferred eating freshly picked fruit and yoghurt.Lunch is a festive affair, from hawker food to a simple noodle dish called Mine Frite, the locals generally eat off the street. Dholl Poori, is an Indian inspired pancake made of cooked, pureed and dried yellow split peas, served with a spicy chutney and vegetable pickles. This is the most popular street food of Mauritius. In the small boating town of Mahebourg, the local Dholl Poori vendors battle it out to win customers in quite a small space. The local favourite, arrives at 10am to a swarm of customers queing to get their daily fix. He also has perfected Gateaux Piment, a spicy chilli cake rolled in the same chickpea mixture as the Dholl Poori, studded with chives and coriander. This is my favourite snack, crispy, textural and spicy. Of course no stall is complete without Samosa’s, Di pain Frier (crispy chickpea bread) Bhajii (deep-fried onion ring) and Roti Chaud. Imagine the best Indian food wrapped in a roti and served fresh daily, this is Roti Chaud. Like a Chappatti, it is filled with a butter bean curry, and spicy tomato based chilli sauce. Lunch can also be wonton soup, beef and black bean stir fry, Mien Bouillon (noodle soup) and chicken Biriyani.

Perfect snack: Fruit, chilli powder and salt

Gateaux Piment (Chilli Cakes)

Street food vendor in Port Louis

The Chinese influence in Mauritius: Mine frite

Beef, pork ball soup

Dinner is the most important meal of the day, the locals generally eat curries of breadfruit, chicken, deer, wild boar and crab served with faratas, achard (chilli pickled vegetables) and rice. Rouagaille (spicy tomato sauce) of assorted meat, palm heart gratin or lima bean stew is also a favourite. Dinner is served with a Toddy, which is essentially a night-cap. Mauritians love to drink Beer Phoenix, which is the national beer as well as French wines and of course a selection of rum served simply with ice and water. Mauritian’s love a sweet treat after a meal, whether it be their infamous banana tart, fruit sorbet, coconut or almond ice cream or caramel flan. Most Mauritian supermarkets have great bakeries attached where you can buy tarts, croissants and pastries. The local supermarket in Mahebourg cooked bread three times daily, fresh baguettes, crusty loaves and roti bread.

Capitan whole steamed fish with tomato chutney.

Faratas with tomato chutney, green mango achard and cucumber salad.

Curry de Cerf (Venison curry), with mixed achard.

Coconut and 8year aged rum icecream with fresh tropical fruit salad.

Sweet treats to rot the teeth!

Market life is plentiful, bounties of just picked vegetables, exotic fruits, freshly ground spices and jars of spicy chutneys line rickety wooden tables in a bustling environment. Price wise it’s very affordable, portion sizes are much smaller though, for example a bunch of coriander is a 1/4 of the size of those in Australia. Although as most of the herbs are picked fresh daily, the aroma and taste is much stronger than I am familiar with. The market stalls are incredibly well kept, it is a great selling technique in visual merchandising when every second producer is selling the same goods. The scent of fresh herbs filled the air, row upon row of coriander, thyme, parsley, chives and basil. The colours burst, with fresh watermelons halved next to rosy dragon fruit and new season green and yellow mangos. There are even stalls dedicated to only selling tomatoes and believe me the tomatoes in Mauritius are incredible, its no wonder they are used so heavily. If you only get to spend a short time in Mauritius it is essential that you visit Port Loius and Mahebourg markets. A nice contrast between old and new.

Maheboug market

Nothing but pumpkins here!

The king of all markets: Port Louis

Fish caught daily on the street Maheboug

So famous they have their own section of the market

Like ‘Mauritian time’, the food culture on the island is slow. From fast food on the street to slow cooked Biriyani the notion is the same, take time out from life to enjoy. Growing up, my Dad spoke so highly of Mauritian food and culture, it was as if they had discovered something that we hadn’t, discovered the notion to happiness and longevity. I think overall Mauritians just want to live life, to take time to enjoy the environment, family and friends, they laugh at the idea that a career will provide lasting happiness. If anything, this ideology is practiced in a way which it is not here, at 5pm people are at the beach, enjoying a drink with friends, sharing a meal, it is a reminder of what is important and a return to an easier way of life and slow living…..

Taking a break from life in Mauritius

Recipe:

With time, some improvements were made and my father slowly got better, he is not 100% and may never be, but I am content that I did everything in my power to support him and my mum during this difficult time. They say it takes something tragic to realise what is important in life, I feel appreciative that I live in one of the luckiest countries in the world where healthcare is free to everyone and is of the highest standard, for both inpatient and outpatients, public or private. The healthcare system in Mauritius was testing at the best of times, without stong will and “meddling” from my older sister, I believe my father would have passed away, like many people in Mauritius that cannot afford private healthcare. Mauritius has the highest rate of diabetes in the world, yet the standard of care for patients with diabetic complications was very low. Without generous financial support from family members, my dad would not have survived. These inequalities in the healthcare system of Mauritius are replicated worldwide, a modern medical plague that third world countries face daily.

The experience made me question my motivations and gave me a desire to live each day wholeheartedly, constantly seeking and discovering something new everyday. Health is my top New Years resolution for 2012, as a foodie it is easy to get carried away and ignore health problems. I have let things slide as of late and will do my best to eat in moderation this year. It is a common trend amongst those in the food industry to overeat. Tasting food for a living can lead to overindulging until your sense of hunger becomes deplete. It is important for those who love good food and wine to check your glucose levels from time to time, type two diabetes is a silent killer, its complications strike late in life when the body is already frail and weak. It is a growing health problem in modern society, often coined the ‘lifestyle disease’ , it can be avoided and controlled.

Despite the negative aspects of my holiday, I took time away to enjoy the island, para-sail over the Indian ocean, hike, snorkel the reef and eat fresh lobster, crab and fish caught daily. I will post about these experiences shortly, stay tuned for new updates, recipes and reviews……

Happy New Year!

*Tip for any traveller in Mauritius, do not use the public health system unless you know someone in politics!

Owned by Matt Vero and Steve Rowley, from Window Espresso in St Kilda, the duo have maintained the old signage and holstered tea-towels to the ceiling in homage if times past. The vibe inside is loud and bustling, open windows and traditional greek colours of white and blue liven up this large space. The rough wooden tables and colours remind me of a seaside fish and chippery. The man behind the mask is Eddie Atkins of St Kilda’s Il Fornaio and Ramsey’s by Gordon Ramsey in London. After a twenty-minute wait, we pull up a chair at a large bench table. The cafe serves an all day breakfast and lunch daily.  The menu is modern and uncomplicated with middle Eastern, Moroccan and Asian influences. Think burgers, sweet corn fritters, baked eggs, gourmet sandwiches, fancy salads and Moroccan chicken. Coffee is from Allpress. My usual eating partner and I order a Vietnamese iced coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, a warm Thai beef salad and a Wagyu burger with chunky chips.

After a short wait we receive our juice and coffee. Vietnamese iced coffee seems to be on trend in Melbourne and can be ordered from most cafes. I loved the appearance and taste of my coffee, however their wasn’t enough condensed milk in the coffee to make it truly authentic. In Vietnam you will be hard pressed to find a coffee which isn’t made with condensed milk, besides Starbucks. Naturally, you become used to it and crave not only the coffee but the heavy sugar hit.  I may be bias as I have become used to Boundary Espresso’s version, which definitely packs a sugar hit.

The Wagyu beef burger arrives on a wooden chopping board with fresh tomato relish and chunky chips with herbed spice. The chips are roughly cut with the skins left on, they are salty but tasty none the less. The relish is nicely spiced without being sickly sweet like many commercial relish’s. I love the aesthetics of serving homely food on wood, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Now to the burger, a medium pattie is wedged between two soft rolls, topped with beetroot relish, aioli, tomato, lettuce and cheddar cheese. Slightly undercooked the way I prefer, the meat is moist and it’s juice softens the burger roll. The toppings are simplistic and allow the meat to shine. definitely a new contender in my personal top 5 burger list.

My salad is on the specials board, so it may not make it to the fixed menu, but be sure to ask. I loved my first few bites of this salad but found that I became bored half way through. Is that possible? Asian herbs, thin beef slices and fresh salad leaves are topped with chopped peanuts and a sweet Thai sauce. I would have preferred the meat to be chargrilled, as it tasted somewhat soggy, even though it was incredibly tender. The main issue was with the sauce, personally I thought there was too much and it was too sweet. Whilst as a side the salad may suffix, after a few mouthfuls I grew tired of the sweetness. However, it is a fresh and tasty salad much better than most and I polished it off completely. Serving sizes are generous and can be shared between two.

As a whole this cafe has every chance of success, great food and produce, speedy and friendly staff and a beautiful decor. Their hidden location in suburban Melbourne plays to their success, busy without being exhausted. Take a venture to the “posh” side of Melbourne for a great feed….

Now to most people this will be bizarre, something reserved for an Anthony Bourdain special, but to me this brings out my competitive side. We arrive late in the evening and are herded to a free table by a waiter speaking into a hearing device, which obviously relays your order to the kitchen. Talk about speedy service. The decor is typically Chinese, gold trimmings, open front windows, paintings and bronze sculptures. I feel like I have been transported to a restaurant in Imperial China, minus the technologically savvy waiters. The menu is large and daunting when all you can smell and see are chillies. The moment you walk into the place, the smoky scent of chillies fills the air. Dishes are rated out of five for heat, to give you a better chance of success. We choose the Kung Pao chicken to see if it can rival my own version, Bang Bang chicken, steamed pork buns and iced tea to wash down the lot.

Oddly our dishes arrived before I had barely finished placing the order, talk about a fast turnover. The first dish was the Bang Bang chicken, traditionally served as street food, it derives its name from the noise that chefs make when tenderizing chicken with a meat cleaver. Pieces of  cold white cooked chicken are submerged in a chilli, soy and sesame sauce, laden with Sichuan peppercorns and garnished with coriander. The flavour was smoky and spicy due to the heavy-handed addiction of Sichuan pepper. The chicken was incredibly tender. Sichuan pepper is supposed to numb the mouth while eating hot dishes, unfortunately it didn’t live up to its promise. While I enjoyed the dish, I struggled to finish my share.

Before our meal I laughed at a man who carried in a bottle of milk, one dish down I envied him. Now like some Alice in Wonderland trip, all I could see was bottles of milk on every table. How could people even attempt to drink wine? Next up was their signature dish Kung Pao chicken, soft caramelised chicken pieces stir-fried with dried chillies, peanuts, spring onions, soy and vinegar. I must have ignored the chilli scale when choosing my meal, this was even hotter than the last. The sticky sweetness of sugar paired perfectly with the sour notes in the vinegar and the saltiness of soy. A perfect example of balanced flavours in Chinese food philosophy. Next time, I’d order this one with milk. To sound bias, I prefer my own Kung Pao chicken, I can at least have a second serve without chargrilling my mouth.

By the time we had sufficiently sweated out all of our toxins, cried and laughed at our pathetic attempt at finishing the meal, our steam buns reach the table. After all the chilli, I found the buns dry and boring. Overall, I had a rather entertaining experience, I wouldn’t say it is the best Chinese I have had, nor the worst, it is more about the experience. Sometimes a hit of chilli does wonders for the body and soul, however in hindsight I would have chosen milder dishes. Although I enjoyed the meal, I was not able to truly taste all of the flavours of each dish. For the chilli tolerant or for those who live on the edge this is an old favourite…..

This was an odd day for myself and the lovely Miss J, who planned to spend the day eating and catching up before her trip to the land where time was lost(Hawaii). The day went as such, head to Mexican Cousin, realise that our budgets were tighter than our stomachs, head to Paco Taco and eat to our little hearts content, but for my reputation I will review it in the usual manner of eating first and enjoying dessert after. Even though on this ideal day dessert was definitely eaten first.

The fit out of Paco’s Taco’s is like a modern greenhouse, bright yellow lattice shades an outdoor eating area which is simple and great for seating large groups. The area is decorated with colourful flower pots which brighten up the space. The menu is simple and playful, it is pasted to a large board in front of the cantina opening where they will take your order. With six types of tacos all under six dollars, this place is great for those on a budget. They use an authentic corn taco, as at the Taco Truck, and each taco is served with the obligatory cabbage, spring onion and coriander mix.There is a range of Mexican cocktails, beers, cider and wine for those wanting Thursday or Friday night drinks. Unfortunately they are only open for dinner on the two nights suggested. As the weather is oddly fantastic for Melbourne, we order two Pimms cocktails, two fish tacos, a beef brisket taco, pulled pork taco and a bowl of nachos.

The cocktail is light and refreshing, the perfect drink to kick off our mexican fever. Pimms, ginger ale, cucumber, lemon and mint: the perfect summer combination. The fish taco is incredible, I adore the crisp batter coating the fish bites. The beef brisket melts in the mouth, and I loved the spicy sauce it was marinated in. Miss J enjoyed her pulled pork, but I assume she hated the branch of coriander that it was garnished with, as she despises the herb. One serious issue we both experienced was keeping the taco in tact, the thin layer of taco breaks apart at the first sign of moisture, leaving most of the dish back in the basket. They appeared dry and flaky and not very enjoyable at all. Now I hate to compare, but the Taco Truck doubles up their taco to ensure that it doesn’t break, making it the perfect mess free street food. They should take a hint.

After two tacos our stomachs were begging for more, so we tried a bowl of nachos. Crisp corn nachos served with guacamole, a hot tomato salsa, sour cream and ‘branches’ of coriander. Whilst Miss J digged away happily at the nachos, I found them rather soggy, too much sauce not enough chip. Which sounds absurd because it is usually the reverse problem, but I really did feel like I could have done with less sauce.

For the step-sister of a Spanish owner, this place is tons of fun and relatively fair priced. Although the taco fell apart very easily, the fillings were flavourful and simplistic. They may need to work on their corn taco’s to get Mexican enthusiasts to return. Leave any expectations of Movida at the door otherwise you may be disappointed. A funky lunchtime dig to bring good friends, listen to cool tunes and relax in the sun with a refreshing cocktail. This place is going to be huge…..

To add to this experience we enjoyed a mid afternoon dessert at My Mexican Cousin, the brainchild of a crew of Melbourne’s best restauranteurs and chefs: Salvatore Malatesta(St Ali), Jerome Borazio(Sister Bella), Maurice Esposito (Esposito), Grant Smillie and Andrew McKinnon. The idea is to create Louisianan creole inspired food, to share a relatively uncommon cuisine in Melbourne. Although they have faced heavy criticism regarding the authenticity of their take on creole cuisine, as the daughter of a creole Mauritian father, I was curious to see how Louisianan creole food would connect to my heritage, if at all.

After a quick glance at the menu prices and the suited business crowd, we decided to just try dessert and save the whole experience for another time. We ordered two great coffees and a white rum & coconut sherbet with crumbled popcorn. The latte I ordered never arrived and instead I received a cappuccino. I drank it anyway and enjoyed it immensely. Coconut, rum and popcorn are quintessential creole flavours, so naturally the two paired well. Sherbet is similar to sorbet but dairy is added, which gives it a smooth icy texture. The popcorn gave a unique texture and sweet corn taste. A great dessert on a hot day.

Now to the service, what service? When attempting to pay our bill, we were not only ignored, but when asking a waiter for help he replied that he wasn’t familiar with the system and walked off on us. We were left waiting at the front counter, awkwardly trying to grab the attention of the wait staff who knew we were waiting there to pay. Once we were finally served, we almost felt bad for wanting to pay our bill. This type of service is not the way you treat customers who are eager to come and support your restaurant. This incident tainted my perception of their concept and may change my willingness to return in the future. Great dessert, poor service….

The book is organised into four sections: equipment & ingredients, basics, traditional recipes and signature desserts. I have only tried the pate sucrée and shortbread recipes so far, but have already learnt that I need to improve basic baking skills and increase my small range of baking equipment. Sibley shows that baking well, is about understanding the basics fist and foremost, before moving on to more complex techniques. Alas a book which will hold your hand along the way to becoming a baking extraordinaire. What I love about the book, is that Sibley provides her golden rules on picking chocolate, fruit, eggs etc, while she teaches her techniques. Unsure whether your brioche dough is mixed well, or whether your puff pastry has risen, all of the technique recipes have step by step pictures to help along the way.

Once you have conquered pâtes and pastries, cakes, sponges and meringues, move on to creams and mousse, fruits and ice cream and chocolate work. These skills will enable you to make her famous Snickers dessert, her peach Melba she made for Oprah, lemon tart and tiramisu. Along the way she has added inspiring quotes to share her passion for all things sweet, despite the fact that in her daily life she  actually prefers savoury food. One of my favourite quotes was ‘I want a good body, but not as much as I want dessert’ (Jason Love). Summing up my love of dessert and how happy I am to be able to work my way through such a well written cookbook. To purchase try Books for Cooks and Readings. Be sure to check out her new food store/cafe/wine bar Albert Street Foodstore, opening mid December in Brunswick.

The kitchen is graced by Head Chef Tom Stanislavski (ex Next Door Diner Northcote), who combines modern European fare with a gastro pub influence, while focusing on a naturalistic organic approach. The large industrial barn-like interior is cleverly organised to avoid looking empty, which ensures that you are not part of the adjacent tables conversation, but still visible to be served. The interior is dressed up with mood lamp lighting, dark modern fittings and homely  70s wooden tables and furniture. It is these touches, a combination of modern and vintage ,which make the place much more enjoyable.

Escaping the rain and arriving without a booking, we gladly sat adjacent to the bar when we were given the option of the ten dollar bar special. Being students, Mr M and I happily sat at the corner of the bar. Being able to sit in privacy, is one of their perks, something many Melbourne restaurants refrain from doing. Personally, I love my space even though I am privy to gossip. Despite the bar special of goat ragu sounding incredibly hearty, we are both drawn instantly to the sound of the ’Dirty Burger’. The name alone was enough to make up my decision. We each ordered a ‘Dirty Burger, a share plate of rabbit chips, southern fried buttermilk chicken and an iced cold Mountain Goat organic steam pale ale.

The service staff was excellent, relaxed yet clued, knowledgable without appearing pompous. They were happy to serve us the ten dollar special despite the fact that we were not even sitting at the bar. Although I am no beer aficionado, the beer was crisp and fruity, apparently it should have had an aroma of fresh bread, but I failed to pick it out. Our rabbit chips were an oddity. The name obviously suggests that they would actually taste of rabbit, however all I could taste was polenta. Somewhat dry and soggy, it was the case of a great idea, badly executed.

A combination which seemed like a winner on the menu, was badly paired with yoghurt. Authentic or not, the only chicken I want with yoghurt is Tandoori, the actual buttermilk chicken was good, crisp and tasty, but desperately needed a better dipping sauce. The ‘Dirty Burger’ consisted of a beef Pattie, olive mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, mustard, pickled onions and iceberg lettuce wedged between two pieces of lightly toasted brioche. To me the combination on paper was magnetic. In practice, it came off rather average. Firstly it looked like a McDonald’s burger, secondly the olive mayonnaise overpowered the meat, thirdly the brioche was too sweet and dry to soak up the burger juice. The bread is the most important part of a burger, too hard and the burger slides, to dry and it becomes all about the bread.  In short, it was disappointing. The chips were chunky and well spiced, which somewhat kept me in good spirits. Although the burger was not bad, I have tasted better for far less money.

Despite the food experience on the night, this place has serious potential and I would like to come back for a bar feed, this time however I may stick to the specials list. On Tuesday and Wednesday night the bar offers ten dollar bar specials, which are well worth the money. The staff was very welcoming and although this may seem minor, it is the only thing which will make me return. Good floor staff hold a restaurant together and deal with the toughest act of all, calming disgruntled customers when the food is not up to scratch. Worth a visit to relax by the bar, or to people watch by the open windows….

The classic cake combination of sweet carrots, spiced cinnamon and tangy cream cheese is eternal. Cream cheese and carrot cake have a natural affinity, somewhat like the romance played out between tomato and basil. One is incomplete without the other. Carrot cake is perhaps one of the quickest and easiest cakes to make when your fridge is packed full of the star ingredient. Carrot cake should be moist and lightly spiced, never dry and one note in flavour. It takes less than thirty minutes to prepare and if there is any left over, it will keep in the  fridge covered for up to a week. Although many avid cooks have a tried and tested recipe for carrot cake, or have grown bored of this old classic, this is an indulgent and homely version to satisfy even the most disheartened carrot cake eaters. Personally, the thicker the icing the better, so I have made quite a big batch, if there is any leftover save it to serve with the cake. In my house there is always space for extra icing on the cake.

Recipe Adapted from Thomas Keller’s Carrot cupcakes, and my mother’s brilliant carrot cake recipe.

Indulgent carrot cake.

Ingredients:

23cm Springform pan

Cream cheese frosting:

500g cream cheese, bring to room temp

220g unsalted full fat butter, bring to room temp

1 1/4 cups  icing sugar

Extract of 1 vanilla bean

1 tsp lemon juice

Cake

2 cups plain flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch ground cloves

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch Allspice

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb soda

4 eggs

1/4 cup full fat milk

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup brown sugar

Extract of 1 vanilla pod

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

1. Preheat oven to 170C
2. Grease springform pan with butter, cut out a circle of baking paper, the size of the pan, and place inside bottom, to prevent the cake from sticking.
3. Sift the flour, dry spices, baking powder and bicarb soda together into a bowl. Repeat. 
4. Using a stand mixer with a paddle, beat eggs, vanilla paste, milk and sugar on a medium setting until combined. Can easily be done by hand.
5. Slowly beat in oil, then add the sifted flour mixture, beat until combined on low. 
6. Add carrots and walnuts and mix on low until combined.
7. Pour into springform pan, and cook in oven for 40-60 mins. Use a small skewer or butter knife to test if cake is ready at around the 40 minute mark, if the knife/skewer comes out clean, the cake is ready. 
8. Leave to cool on a rack.
9. Meanwhile, cream the cheese, butter, sugar and lemon juice in a mixer on high, until light and velvety in texture. Leave to cool in fridge, it will ‘smear” better. 
10. Using a spatula, frost the cake with the mixture so that it is thick and even, it is important to frost the sides as well. There will be icing leftover, I like to serve it on the side for friends who eat carrot cake just for the cream cheese frosting!
11. Serve with a small sprinkle of walnuts in the centre. 

Tips:

• Use organic, locally grown or home grown carrots, the taste rivals any supermarket varieties and will drastically improve the cake.
• Always grease the pan, and use baking paper. Carrot cake can get quite sticky.
• The timing is an estimate only, it took me 55 mins as my oven is quite low, however I have cooked this at my mother’s house in half an hour. Always use a skewer to check progress.
• PLEASE use full cream products, it’s a cake not a protein bar, eat in moderation.

This is where I stumbled upon the use of popcorn on chicken, something so simple which had never crossed my mind before. The challenger chef Daniel Langerer beat Bobby Flay in Battle Beer with a simple dish of popcorn crusted chicken and spinach Spaetzle. The light and aerated texture of popcorn works perfectly as a chicken crust, especially for southern fried chicken. Popcorn adds a beautiful corn flavour, which surprisingly is reminiscent of the Kernel’s famous chicken, only better. It has been a hot and humid week in Melbourne, so I paired the chicken with a fresh Thai mango salad. Vibrant and refreshing, the perfect dish to end a long hot day with an iced cold pale ale.

Thai ‘Popcorn Chicken’ & mango salad.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 sweet mango, cubed

1 sour green mango, grated

1 cos lettuce

1/2 coconut milk

2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 garlic clove, chopped finely

2cm piece Galangal, finely chopped

4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

Juice from 1 lime

2 tbsp palm sugar

2 tsp black peppercorns

10 cups popcorn, already popped

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten lightly

1 cup flour

Salt and Pepper to season

Method:

1. Pop the corn kernels, then process in a food processor while warm to resemble rough breadcrumbs. Do not over process, it is the texture which makes it delicious. Add breadcrumbs and reserve.
2. Pound chicken breasts quickly underneath plastic film, to ensure that they are tender.
3. Make yourself a station, with the egg in one bowl, the flour on a plate and the popcorn breadcrumb mixture.
4. Dip the chicken in egg, followed by the flour, back to the egg, then the crumbs. Let sit on a plate in the fridge to cool.
5. In a serving bowl, break cos lettuce leaves into bite sized pieces, add grated mango and mix.
6. Mix/beat in a bowl: coconut milk, fish sauce, chilli, galangal, kaffir lime and lime juice until combined.
7. Heat oil in skillet or large frying pan on medium heat, fry chicken pieces until golden and cooked right through, usually 10 minutes.
8. Cut chicken pieces, into 2-3cm strips, quickly toss through salad, add sweet mango pieces.
9. Drizzle dressing with each individual serve so that chicken does not get soggy. Serve.