Dinner with Family!

Until this post, it has been a little known fact that I have family in Melbourne.  We have been looking forward to visiting with my (second) cousin Lisa, her husband Lawrence, and daughter Zoe, and today was the day.

The price of bananas!

We met for a get acquainted/reacquainted Japanese noodle lunch near the Victoria Market. John Roy chatted so much his lunch barely looked touched.  Alan made his ramen vanish in no time flat, though. 

You can see the meat hooks near the ceiling.

This market is a wide eyed experience.  It has a 'swap meet' section for merchandise, but it's the food market that really grabs the attention.  There is a green grocer section, a deli section and a fish and meat market section.  Lisa told me that Australia imports very little produce.  It was amazing that there was domestic pineapple in season at the same time as strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus, citrus and apples.  We were there near to the end of the selling day, and the butchers were actively hawking the meat. It was a very old world experience to be able to shop for food this way, and very attractive.  We each selected the meat we wanted to eat for dinner:  sea trout for Lisa, lamb for Mark, Lawrence and myself, a beef sausage for Zoe and rump steak for JR and Alan.  We had a little more time to gawk, and then set out for the train to Lisa & Lawrence's home.

We're still digesting our mixed grill dinner, with greens, fresh chips from the seller down the street, and Lebanese pastry for desert.  We also got to play with Quinn, the labradoodle, and learn a little Japanese from Zoe. Basically, it was just great to spend a Saturday evening in a home with nice conversation, and we are grateful for the hospitality.  We hope they like the Pleasant Valley, New York maple syrup we carried over for a hostess gift.  We also hope we can have a chance to return the dinner sometime.  We are advertising Mark's beer can chicken as an enticement.
This is our last night in Melbourne - Sydney is going to have a lot to do to measure up.  I have really liked this city!

Coffee Tour!

Mark and I spent the morning on a coffee tasting and history tour of Melbourne with the hugely enthusiastic and knowledgeable Maria Paoli (evolvingsuccess.com.au).   Forget about Starbucks, and anyway, Seattle is really a neophyte to the coffee culture compared to Melbourne. Espresso has been made here since the city really began, in the 1850's.  Fueled by an immigrant culture (read: the Italians!), there are hundreds of cafes.  Maria explained that Australia, unlike the USA, does not thrive on developing chains and franchises.  They have more of a boutique sensibility.  We wove our way through cafes on major streets and also in the laneways.  Maria knew everyone.

She even took us into Melbourne's oldest retaurant, Grossi.  It is a beautiful restaurant with a bistro and a dining room.  The dining room had wood paneled walls and paintings, giving it a very old world atmosphere.  While many of the cafes had had a young crowd, this one had an older set enjoying their coffee.  We went upstairs and eventually into the kitchen where Guy Grossi himself was cutting steaks.  This Australian celebrity chef was very gracious to stop, wash his hands and greet us for a few minutes.  I find it exciting to be in a restaurant kitchen.  It's rather like a lab.  Everyone works with care, and areas are well segregated.  This one was extremely clean as well.

Just how much coffee did we drink?  About three espressos each, over the two hours.  The last was in the vestibule of David Jones, one of Mebourne's chicest department stores.  This was the coffee lab, where the coffee is siphoned and then served very cold.  The siphoning is  like distilling and takes seven hours!  Mark stuck with espresso the whole way.  His palate is accustomed to Starbucks and he persistently likes his coffee roasted so dark that is is on the edge of a burnt flavor.  Maria is adamantly against this sort of treatment of the bean.  For my part, I discovered that I like macchiaito.  Maria drinks hers as macchiatone; she is particular about having the foamiest part only to top off her cup.  This gave the coffee a carmel flavor, but definitely not a dairy or milky flavor.  Any barrista in the states would be able to do this for me. 

I haven't been drinking daily coffee for about a year.  It's almost ten hours later and I still feel under the influence!  Mark went back to the meetings for the afternoon.  I felt as though I owed the abandoned boys their choice for the afternoon and they have been yearning for a game of laser tag at the Crown Entertainment Complex across the river.  So, we walked over and I set them up with some games and cash cards for the game arcade.  I spent the next two hours walking and window shopping.  Melbourne may be the only major city in the world where I have some sense of direction.  The horizon over the river looks different from the inland horizon, which helps me.  The central city is laid out in a grid and I am getting used to the names of the streets and their orientation.  The only treacherous part for me is that once I enter an arcade and come out the other side, I have to reason out my orientation again!

The headine in the IBC news today was :  "How cotton was born:  a million year-old mating opens up an improved future."  Think what you will, cotton is a very interesting plant.  Mark says the meetings a winding down.  He's not attending tomorrow since it is really only business.   He'll spend the day with us and sacrifice his chance to vote down Latin.

How to Open a Ketchup Packet in AUS

When we landed a week and a half ago, we were exhausted and had a few hours layover until our flight to Brisbane.  We looked for a bite to eat.  Mark had something that needed tomato sauce (ie. ketchup).  He struggled with the packet, it burst open, and suddenly my lap looked like a crime scene.

The same thing happened to Alan earlier this week at the aquarium.  Never fear, John Roy the mechanic took charge, and now all the world (if you have link) can see how to open a ketchup packet in Australia.  It is quite a clever design, actually.  Enjoy!