Here at the Bundoora campus of La Trobe University, food options are a plenty, different vendors offering goods for any one with any culinary hankering.
Unlike many other universities who have access to ‘the outside world’, such as Melbourne University’s convenient position near Lygon St, and Swinburn’s Hawthorn campus sitting right on Glenferrie Rd, La Trobe’s Melbourne campus in Bundoora is little further out of the way, and so they’ve had to bring the varying cuisines (and the not so-cuisines) to us!

I know when I first started attending La Trobe back in 2008, my pals and I would stick to the Eagle Bar; it was a safe bet. How can you go wrong with chips and gravy? But as my tastes have matured and changed, I’ve shifted away from the sub-par pub grub and ventured into more tastier waters. Celia told me that the first place she was brave enough to buy her food from was the campus juice bar, who work out of a redesigned caravan in the Agora (Bundoora campus’ central area); “It was freezing and they had pumpkin soup. It was a match made in heaven!”

I asked Tyrone where the best place was to get the most out of your Centrelink-student allowance-earned buck; “Pings if you want value for money. For $7.50 you have a massive plate of food. There are different dishes available each day of the week.” While Celia mentioned Ping’s was on her to-try list, she had her own list of favourites; “I’d have to say that it’s a tie between the curry cafe (Cafe Spice) and the juice bar. Both have lots of different meals and flavours to choose from and both are reasonably priced and have great serving sizes.”

(Celia and I trying our first Campus Cafe dumplings.)

Celia and I decided to head to the Campus Cafe to cross a do-do off our list. Over the 2010/2011 holiday season, the Campus Cafe went through a refit and returned with the addition of a dumpling house. For $7.50-$12 you can stuff your face full of delicious boiled or fried treats. I’ll let Tyrone’s desctiption of one of his campus favourites set the scene; “they offer an assortment of dumplings – beef, pork, cabbage and chive. You name it and they will most likely stuff it in a layer of whatever it is on the outside. I eat it, not analyse it.”
Thanks Tyrone!

Anyway, I had the mushroom boiled dumplings, and Celia went with Pork. Both A++ decisions. My only gripe would be that even though they came out warm, if they were served a little hotter, they wouldn’t go cold as quick as they did. However, it’s a good sit-down place for a satisfying meal, with good value for money.

Now, down to the important stuff; coffee.
Celia and I both dig a morning, midday and afternoon coffee and with pretty much every second place offering it, you definitely build up a list of places to go and to avoid. Now, I’ve tried  a few different places since I’ve been here, such as Velocci and Charlie’s, however it is Caffine, the little purple corner in between the Agora cinema and theatre, that produces the goods. They’re barista’s ability to still make the perfect coffee under the pressure of 20-30 students standing around waiting is a testament to their coffee-making abilities, as opposed to Charlie’s which we found cracks a little under pressure; “I used to love getting my morning coffee there but I got sick of the crowds and the bitter grind,” Celia said, “they rush through the orders and don’t always take the time to properly prepare the grind.” This however is the complete opposite of what Tyrone had to say about the issuse, almost disgusted by Caffine; “I like Charlie’s coffee. It makes my taste buds tingle with glee. Caffeine… It’s small, cramped, full of alternatives, shit coffee.” Harsh, but a fair opinion none-the-less.

(Caffine, attracting a divided opinion.)

So, how does La Trobe compare? Celia, who has also studied at Melbourne University speaks jovially of Bundoora’s food situation; “La Trobe is definitely value for money! At Melbourne Uni I couldn’t have gotten a decent coffee for less than $4, but at Caffeine I can get one for $2.70! While Melbourne has more cafes spread around campus and is next to Lygon St, I feel like La Trobe has more variety that you can get on a student budget.”

I’ve been working in a pub for the last couple of years, and even though it’s more your Gastropub (food-oriented pub)/ Carlton Draught swilling establishment, over my period working in the beer-lovin’ industry I’ve noticed a growing trend in the amount of cider being consumed. I, myself am I cider fan however I always found we were few and far between. Nowadays it’s popularity is growing along with the amount of different cider beverages available.
Over the last couple of week I’ve been road-testing a few, and thought I would bring you the results.

Starting local (actually, only a few kilometres down the road from me,) I tried the Kelly Brothers apple cider, and its pear counterpart. Kelly Brothers cider is produced out of Kellybrook Winery, in Wonga Park, just on the cusp of the Yarra Valley, and through they’ve been producing cider for their annual Cider Festival since the 1960s, it is now available for purchase in store.
For the apple cider, their fruit is sourced from the Varra Valley and while pears don’t grow so well in the colder weather, they still source is from Australian farms.
Both the apple and pear ciders have a naturally sweet taste, almost warm. I feel like this isn’t the kind of cider you have to drink freezing cold or over ice. Cool, straight from a fridge would probably bring out the best of the fruit flavour.

Next up on my list is Rekorderlig. Rekoderlig is a Swedish cider brewery and have probably made the biggest splash in the cider-drinking of late. Located in Vimmerby, the cider is produced with the fresh water from the spring that flows straight through the brewery. They have your standard apple and pear cider available, however have a few extra treats to share. Pictured is Rekorderlig’s wild berry flavour. They mention that this is meant to have a semi-sweet flavour, but do not be fooled, this shit is deadly! Literally tasting like fizzy Ribena, Rekorderlig’s wild berry cider is incredibly sweet and a little too easy to drink.
I think there are better ciders than Rekorderlig’s apple and pear, however they do take the cake for creative flavours, recently releasing a Winter cider; designed to be drunk both hot or chilled, it is an apple cider infused with the winter aromas of vanilla and cinnamon. Haven’t yet tried it, but I am dying to.

Old Mout Cider is a New Zealand cider brewery operating out of Nelson since 1947. This one is little harder to come across at your local Bottle-O, but well-worth the hunt down, as they too do a variety of cider, but in a slightly more subtle manner. The first Old Mout cider I tried was the apple with feijoa, which is a small green fruit similar to a guava. You might actually have one of these trees in your back yard, as they’re cultivated as a garden plant throughout Australia and New Zealand. Anyway, I found that the feijoa added a tart-ness to the cider, working well with the sweetness of the apple. Served cold and over ice, this is the ultimate Australian summer-time cider. Refreshing and clean. The next one I tried was Old Mout’s Boysencider. This was an apple cider with boysenberry wine. Described by the guys at Old Mout as a ‘the zing of berry sorbet’, nothing sums it up any better, as it contains that berry sweetness, without being over-powering or sickly.
It must be something in the water down there, because New Zealand do cider particularly well. Another awesome NW cider to look out for is Monteith’s Crushed Apple and Pear. Like Old Mout, the perfect cider for a hot summer day.

Some other awesome cider beverages include Punt Road Wines. Just off of the Maroondah Highway in Coldstream is Punt Road Wines, who like Kellybrook are primarily a winery. However, they use the apples and pears from their own farm to produce a nice local drop. White Rabbit brewery in Healsville (part of the Fremantle, WA brewery Little Creatures) produce a cider called Pipsqueak. It receives mixed reviews amongst my peers, however I dig it.

My list isn’t in any particular order, however I am going to start with my number one breakfast haunt, Manchester Press (above). Positioned in an old printing press in the Melbourne CBD (8 Rankins Lane), to me Manchester Press is home of the best coffee in Melbourne. Owners Nir Kalif and Issy Shaked (also owners of Loco Cafe in Elsternwick) are incredibly tight-lipped about where their coffee comes from. It’s a custom blend from 8oz Coffee Co. and very little has been revealed aside from it coming from four different regions.

To Manchester Press coffee is a work of art, extending further then the who’s and why’s of their blend, but literally becoming pieces of artwork! In the caramel browns of their coffees comes intricate faces staring up at you. I most enjoy their nude work.

Manchester Press’ menu is made up entirely of bagels, however they are amazing and only $12, which to me seems a little under-cost considering the generous amounts of awesome they put on them. Left  is a photo of my personal favourite bagel; wholemeal with basil pesto, cherry tomatoes, roasted capsicum, roquette and goats cheese. Other bagel delights are the salmon and cream cheese, and pastrami and pickle.

Manchester Press on Urbanspoon

Nestled in a group of shops on Whitehorse Rd (95 Whitehorse Rd, Balwyn, just after the Bourke Rd intersection coming from the city,) is Snow Pony. Though Snow Pony don’t put boobies in their coffee, they still make the equal best coffee in Melbourne; strong, creamy and goes down a treat.  However, what I really love about Snow Pony is their emphasis on using quality local produce. Everything is sourced as close to home as possible. Their mushrooms come from the Yarra Valley, chorizo is from the Casa Iberica Deli in Fitzroy and smoked salmon from local curer Tom Cooper, and all organic bread some from Noisette, a boulangerie in Port Melbourne.  Snow Pony’s menu is appropriately varied. It’s not huge but has something for those who want something savoury as well as those with a sweet tooth. My particular Snow Pony favourite is the Smashed Avocado; crushed avocado on thick-cut Noisette multigrain toast, topped with sautéed mushrooms in thyme, fetta and fresh basil. The best pick-me-up after a big night out.

If Balwyn is a little too far out for you, in Hawthorn is Snow Pony’s sister cafe Porgies and Mr Jones. P+MJ has the same menu as Snow Pony, however is a little more formal and attracts a few too many suits for my liking, but still a cozy breakfast dining experience.
(Pictured right is the banana bread with mascapone, berry compote and crushed pistachios.)

Snow Pony on Urbanspoon

On the corner of its namesake streets, New and York, New York Tomato (6 New St) is a little Richmond gem. After hours, the cafe is hidden behind roller doors, blending in with the matching apartments neighbouring it, however if you’re lucky enough to win the battle of one-way-streets, New York Tomato will treat you with good coffee and an awesome menu. Out the front is an open courtyard, perfect for wasting breezy summer afternoons! When the sun shines in, it’s hard to get moving. However, on the cooler days, if you’re lucky you can make your way upstairs to an indoor dining area, decked out with padded benches, dark curtains and succulents growing in tomato cans.
I find that New York Tomato’s menu has a more savoury leaning (although I am dying to try out the Belgium waffles), it is varied and has some very different dishes to the standard breakfast menu. Pictured left is the parmesan-crusted polenta, with poached egg, mushrooms and roasted tomato. Not the kind of thing you would find on many breakfast menus, but New York Tomato take these kind of things and give them a breakfast twist. They even make Mexican food breakfast-worthy with their Breakfast quesadilla topped with fresh tomato salsa and chilli.

New York Tomato on Urbanspoon

A little further out in the north-eastern suburb of Rosanna is Miss Marie (45 Beetham Pde.) Armed with a great little shop front, a faithful 5Senses blend and a basic but well-executed menu, Miss Marie is the cafe many have been missing out on. Miss Marie’s is perfect for any weather; great big window that flood the room with light and give a generous view what is going on outside.

As I mentioned before, Miss Marie don’t have a crazy menu, most of it made up with the usuals of a breakfast menu, however they make what they do incredibly well, giving the customer more options to build the breakfast they want.  They also have house made goodies such as cakes and muffins available everyday! They too, like Snow Pony, get their organic bread from Noisette.
I understand that for many Rosanna is the middle of no where, however it’s conveniently right next to Rosanna train station, so if you’re looking for somewhere new for a nice coffee and reliable breakfast, Miss Marie is perfect.
Miss Marie on Urbanspoon

(All photos taken by me!)

Scones are a type of bread that is thought to have originally come from Scotland, however grew in popularity in Australia due to being simple and cost efficient, similar to damper. According to wikipedia, the Pumpkin scone is a more Australianised version, and was brought to the publics attention thanks to Florence Bjelke-Petersen, wife of the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen! Lady Flo eventually published her own cookbook, of which has her famous pumpkin scone recipe. It’s out of print, but I’ve been eying it off on Ebay for a while now!
Anyway, when I decided to tackle the pumpkin scone, I decided to substitute the pumpkin bit for sweet potato. Not for any particular reason other than having a few in the pantry already. Now, the title suggests that my scones were a bit of a fluff-up. Well, they weren’t, I can probably just do a better job next time. AND IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SWEET POTATO NOT BEING PUMPKIN! Just my own cooking inabilities.
I used this recipe as a guide   but here is my tweaked version of pumpkin scones…sweet potato scones!
You will need-
3 cups of wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup of mashed sweet potato (it’s about 300 grams)
55 grams of butter
1 egg
1/2 of brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Boil sweet potato till it’s soft enough to mash. One that’s done, set it aside and beat the butter and suger together untill it’s all combined. It will be kind of dry and clumpy. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Then begin to mix through the sweet potato and egg, and once all turned through, add the milk and slowly add the flour. I found that using wholemeal flour adds a nutty, more earthy flavour. However, it is mush denser than white flour, so if you feel the need to add extra glugs of milk here and there, go for it. The original recipe called for 1/2 a cup of milk, but I ended up using 1 1/2, so my measurement does have that extra added in.

One all the flour is added, knead the mixture around the bowl with floured hands, as it will be quite sticky. Once the mixture is all sticking together, knead it out on a floured surface, to a thickness of about 1cm. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out circles and place them in a lined/greased baking tray. Continue kneading and rolling out the dough till it’s all gone!

Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes and those babies should come out a gold colour.

While your standard Devonshire tea has scones served with cream and jam, I think these sweet potato scones would go perfectly with honey ricotta.
I felt mine came out a little dry, do to me inadvertently adding extra flour through the constant flouring of my hands when I was kneading and cutting them out, so be wary of that. I was kind of sad when they didn’t come out like giant orange puffy cloud, but scones are traditionally small, round and very dense.

What I like about this recipe is while it can be served as a sweet, if you add some cheese, maybe some red capsicum and bacon, you have a savoury treat.

I’m a big fan of masala chai, or more commonly known as in western culture as chai tea. Created by using a mix of black tea and various Asian spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and sweetened with honey or palm sugar, chai is a drink that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

In its more westernised form, it can come as a powder or syrup and even tea bags, just heated up with hot water or milk. Though not my favourite way to serve it, the syrup is handy to have, and when you make it yourself, it’s that little bit more satisfying.

Using this chai recipe as a bit of a guide, I created my own syrup at home!

(The ingredients…)

YOU WILL NEED…
5 cups of water
2 bay leaves
3 star anise
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
2 quills of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of cloves
10-15 cardamom pods
1/2 tablespoon of black peppercorns
1/2 cup of loose leaf black tea
1.5 cups of sugar, preferably brown (I used white though, all I had.)
1 heaped tablespoon of honey
Bottle for storage (old screwcap wine bottle is handy!)

(I use whole nutmeg and grate it, but obviously buying the pre-ground stuff is a sensible option.)

In a saucepan, combine all of the spices and water, slowly bringing it to the boil (use a medium to high heat.) Once boiling, add black tea. For this, I used an Earl Grey as the bergamot adds even more flavour.  Turn it down to simmer for 10-15 minutes. It should look as though you are boiling a whole handful of tree bark, but smell like a warm, cozy Indian-spiced heaven.

(Star anise make me crave Sambuca.)

FUN FACT! Masala Chai literally translates to ‘spiced tea’, so when you call it Chai Tea, you are actually saying ‘tea tea’.

(Cooking a delicious tree bark broth.)

Once it’s finished simmering away, pour the liquid through a strainer or cheese cloth, into a clean jug. After removing any left over tea and spiced from the saucepan, pour the liquid back in and put it on a low heat to get it simmering again. Pour in the sugar and honey, stirring to dissolve.
I found that is never gets as syrupy as you would think, however keep it simmering along for another 20 minutes or so till you can see it thinking up a little. It will become a little thicker on cooling.

When it has cooled down, pour into a storage container. I found a glass bottle is the best, as they’re easy to clean and reusable. Plus I think it enhances the longevity of the syrup, which is about two months in the fridge. It should make about 1 litre.

(Fin.)

The good thing about the syrup is it is versatile. Add it to warm milk or a combination of warm water and milk for a nice winter drink, or even drink it cold with milk and some ice (below!) like some funky spiced-out mocktail. I like to mix it into porridge, as well as add a little bit to banana bread or my awesome sweet potato and cinnamon loaf.

(The chai syrup with milk and ice. And a slurpee straw.)

This past week in the world of my eating habits, I discovered two new amazing culinary delights I was completely unaware of and yet have been in my life, in some form, for as long as I remember. The first of those I am going to introduce you to is, the Creamy Soda flavoured Slurpee!

The humble Seven-Eleven Slurpee has evolved very quickly over the last few years. No longer are the days of Cola and Raspberry. Every week the chain service stations are changing their flavours, most recently delving into a world of sour-related flavours, such as sour blueberry and watermelon, as well as trying to tap into the ‘healthy people’ market with their Sports Slurpee’s with electrolytes. However, on my continuous hunt for the ultimate Slurpee flavour (it was the sour watermelon before this, closely followed by Lemon, Lime and Bitters) I think I have found the holy grail…Creamy Soda.

Every sip of Creamy Soda is like being whisked back to the 1950s in a bobsled time machine.

- Slurpee’s romantic description of one of it’s newer flavour additions.

As a child, Creamy Soda was one of those soft drinks that parents never really understood. Coke, Lemonade and maybe a bottle of Lemon Squash were the staples of any Christmas barbeque or birthday, however when a relative was to act out and purchase a bottle of creamy soda, it was swarmed on by those under 15, each child coming away with a weird brown mustache and essentially a half cup of sugar, as well as a great feeling of satisfaction that only a sausage in white bread with lots of tomato sauce, can compete with.

You just have to look at the Slurpee ingredients list below to realise that there really isn’t much too it. However, when the summer months roll around, I sure hope this baby is still around to satisfy both my Slurpee and Creamy soda-related needs.

Slurpee Creamy Soda contains:

Carbonated Water, Sugar, Food Acids (330, 331), Flavour, Preservative (211), Colour (133).

Savour the delicate balance between the intense richness of peanut butter and the smooth melting milk chocolate. When it comes together on the tongue in perfect harmony it’s a sensorial triumph. Available from selected stores for a limited time.

- Lindt creating a picturesque landscape of their limited edition Peanut Butter Truffles.

Working in a pub, I’m often introduced to new, amazing food by the chefs, and I always then try to pass on what I learn from then to my (rarely) adventurous customers. I never thought it would be the other way around, a customer introducing me to amazing food delights. However since the day a customer accidentally left a bag of these babies behind, my life has never been the same.

I was rather devastated to discover that these new Peanut Butter Lindt truffles are a limited edition. It’s like having someone completely awesome, that ticks all of your boxes, walk into your life and then after a few months of a whirl-wind romance, walks back out again. It sucks, and you’ll be pining after them for the rest of your life, despite the plethora of other amazing people you meet. This. This is how I feel about Peanut Butter Lindt Truffles.

I guess the most simple description of these I can give is it being kind of like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, except you don’t come away feeling as though you’ve eaten a tonne of salty, chocolate coated death.  It is in fact far more reminiscent of these;

The humble party treat of Chocolate Peanut Butter noodle spiders. With the peanut butter Lindt truffle, Lindt have created, most likely unintentional, the treat for adults that want to indulge in something that little bit childish.  As soon as one hits your mouth, it’s a wave of sentimentality. Lindt should produce a series of ‘Children’s parties’ flavours; honey joys would be that sickly-sweet combination of honey and cornflakes, and of course that barely-chocolate and Copha scent evoking the party favourite, chocolate crackles!

So, go forth and find these pieces of culinary artwork!

(Image of the Lindt Truffles taken from Google.)