A Light Saturday Lunch

 I obviously hadn't done enough travelling during the week. I had run out of time to get my hair cut before I went to Japan so when my hairdresser offered a late afternoon appointment on Thursday, I grabbed it.

I went to Ballarat on the train. Most fortunately, Lindsey had said that her car was parked at the Ballarat station, if I wanted to use it. We met in the morning for her to give me her spare key. I say it was fortunate because as I drove from the station to my hairdressing salon the heavens opened. You might say that it was a tropical downpour, except the rain was cold. I got rather wet just walking from the car to the door, which is no distance.

My hair is now much tidier. And yes, I did return the car to the station, more or less where I picked it up from.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival has been on in the last fortnight. Some time before I went to Japan I bought a ticket to a Long Lunch up near the University of Melbourne,  hosted by Mindy Woods, who was a contestant on Masterchef Australia. She runs a native food restaurant up near Byron Bay and had brought her food to Melbourne for the food festival.

It was absolutely delicious.

(Food photos, incoming!)

Seasonal spritzer to start.
I did have wine later

I had forgotten to mention my nut allergy, so I looked up bunya nuts and discovered they are a seed. I do have a reaction to pine and macadamia nuts, which are also seeds but other seeds are usually ok. So I had a cautious taste, all was well so I ate the bunya nut damper, which was delicious.

Moreton Bay bugs in a bisque mayo

These were much like prawn crackers.
I do not know what coloured them green

To my surprise this was, for me, the stand out dish of the lunch. A beef curry, made with native spices. There was no heat in it, just a really flavoursome curry taste. The meat was melting, and there were surprise small pieces of potato. The tamarind paste that was on top was delightful. I did not eat the  the lettuce, which was dressed with a macadamia and miso sauce.

I had expected this to be my stand out dish. Roasted beef is one of my favourite Sunday lunches. And it was very nice indeed. But it wasn't as flavourful as the curry. I didn't eat the macadamia cream. The finger lime chutney and saltbush cream were excellent condiments for the roast beef

The strawberry gum custard that 
accompanied the rhubarb 
was a real treat

I was on my own at this lunch and they put me at the bar, looking into the kitchen. I do enjoy being able to see the menu being cooked and served.

Mindy Woods

You might think, after such a large lunch, that I would not require anything further to eat. I did, however, have a bowl of mashed potatoes and vegetables in the evening. My lunch was interesting, tasty and lots of fun but it was very light on plant matter.