the heart of food is now a little over a year old, having first started on February of 2009. The birth of this blog is in some part thanks to Helen, from the prolific Sydney food blog Grab Your Fork. She was the one that inspired me to start this whole blogging thing, as she has with a number of other Sydney food bloggers.

Over this past year, there have been quite a number of amazing food experiences. One of the things that stands out in my mind are the birthday celebrations of various food bloggers.

Please join me for a review of the food experiences regarding birthdays and birthday-related posts over the past year, including some new material and images.

Before I continue, apologies in advance if I’ve overlooked anyone’s birthday that I was a part of over the past year.

The first series of posts on the heart of food were about presents and a birthday, or rather a birthday I had to miss due to a last minute work related matter.

The birthday boy, whom I’ll refer to as “That Guy”, is of Filipino origin. The food to be showcased on his birthday was authentic, homemade food from the Philippines made with loving care by his mother. It saddened me to no end that I not only had to cancel, after previously agreeing to go, due to work (on a Saturday no less!), but also had to miss out on such a good food opportunity, especially considering Filipino restaurant food just doesn’t rate from what I’ve been told.

Despite these circumstances, he was kind enough to offer me some of the party left overs the following day. I returned his generosity by getting him a hamper of various gourmet goods from a few of my favourite vendors.

Not long afterwards, Richard from Here Comes the Food had kindly invited me out to a birthday dinner to have all you can eat mussels at Bungalow 8. It was an intimate affair with only four of us in total.

The experience was somewhat surreal. I guess it’s kind of like that moment when you first make friends at preschool or in kindergarten. There’s a sense of child-like joy when you meet with someone that likes what you’re interested in, and just “gets you”, for lack of a better term. In some ways it’s also a sense of belonging. That you’re among like minded individuals, and not just some weird, misunderstood outcast. From a food blogging perspective, that was my moment.

To this day I don’t know why Richard invited me. However, I am thankful that he did, as a lot of interesting experiences have been had since that time.

For instance, a masquerade themed birthday party of around 30 food bloggers, crammed into a private dining room at Wagaya that is supposed to only cater for 25. Who else other than the ever popular Suze of chocolatesuze, whom I like to jokingly refer to as the poster child of Sydney food bloggers (though not entirely untrue), could organise a gathering of this size? It was a gathering of her food blogging friends, acquaintances and other food bloggers that she has yet to meet in person.

At the time it was rather surreal to see a roomful of food bloggers pause from their current activity or conversation in order to take photos of food that had just arrived. A storm of people gather around plates of food. The rolling thunder of conversation goes quiet as photographers focus; the beeps, clicks and whirrs of digital cameras taking over the growing din of silence. On occasion a flash fires; a blinding bolt of lightning that briefly illuminates the room. The eye of the storm soon approaches, as one by one food bloggers sit back and wait patiently for others to finish with their photos. A calm settles in as the beeps, clicks, whirrs and flashes become fewer, less frequent. As the last of the photos are taken, the rest of the storm front rolls in as hungry food bloggers rain down upon a plain of food.

The dinner is a large gathering of friends and strangers alike, all with the common purpose to not only celebrate a birthday or share a meal, but also partake in the appreciation of food beyond that of mere sustenance. It is one that has only since been eclipsed by the Sydney food blogger’s Christmas picnic in Hyde park. Another successful gathering organised, in part, by the poster child of Sydney food bloggers.

Karen of Citrus and Candy gathers a small, intimate  group of some of her closest food blogging friends to celebrate her birthday at the Belgian Bier Cafe. The hearty fare of Belgian beers, meatballs and mussels, finished with some wonderful sweet desserts of chocolate and waffles, makes for a fantastic meal.

It ceases to amaze me how quickly friendships can be born and forged over the common appreciation of food. People, that under different circumstances would likely amount to little more than casual acquaintances, become close friends, mentors, advisors and confidants.

It isn’t just with food bloggers that birthday celebrations have been shared. Adriano Zumbo’s Macaron Day was not only a celebration of 60 different flavours of macarons, but also an opportunity for the food blogging community as well as the general public to celebrate his birthday.

As much as he may be the maestro of the macaron, he is a rather humble, approachable and softly spoken individual in person. One without the pretension or arrogance that quite often comes with those with a high degree of skill or, dare I say, genius. It was personally satisfying to be able to wish him a happy birthday, as well as to discuss a range of topics including his favourite macarons from the collection.

Then it came time to organise & celebrate my own birthday party. Well, birthday parties but I’ll get to that.

When it was time to organise my birthday dinner for a close circle of food blogging friends, I wanted to incorporate a little of the familiar with something that was new to all of us. The familiar ended up being Wagaya, a safe bet when it comes to the quality of the food (not bad), service (fast & attentive) and cost (reasonable, depending on what you order). Wagaya is the sort of dining experience that I prefer; fairly casual & laid back with food that can be easily shared amongst a group of people.

We then moved onto the something new for entertainment and dessert, in the form of Norita Cafe & Board Games. It’s a place where you can enjoy various contemporary & Asian flavoured drinks, desserts and the occasional savoury snack whilst playing a multitude of board games.

The board games are a core part of the experience rather than some tacked-on gimmick, as is demonstrated by the extensive menu of board games they have on offer, separate to that of the food & beverage menu. Though the food & drinks weren’t noteworthy, the fun that was had with the board games was well worth the experience. There were many fits of uncontrollable laughter, as well as a few things that are better left unmentioned. What happens in Norita, stays in Norita :)

Birthdays are a fantastic opportunity to meet with new people and be reacquainted with ones that you may not keep in as close contact with as you may have liked. My second birthday party, a BBQ picnic at Centennial Park, introduced a few new faces, namely Jacq from Penguin Says Feed Me, as well as The Shooter and The Ninja from The Ninja Review.

I could imagine that it would be somewhat intimidating for newcomers entering into an established group of friends or associates, especially when it’s a sizable group.  For instance, it took some time for the The Ninja Review crew to step down from a battle-ready state, take off their disguises and intimidating weaponry, and actually relax and enjoy the company and the food. Well, as much as one could in a blistering 40+ degree heat wave. Once the picnic was over, a subset of the attendees made their way to Sinma Laksa House to counteract the heat wave with Ais Kachang.

On the subject of food at the picnic, a huge thanks must go out to Mei from Brasserie Bread for catering a large portion of the picnic. So large in fact that everyone had a generous parting gift to take home with them, all of it great stuff. From a number of chewy rolls and sour dough loaves (the wholemeal mountain bread makes for excellent toasted sandwiches), wonderful sweet pastries such as various fruit tarts, tea cakes and brownies, as well as THE BEST garlic bread to date I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. The caramelised garlic bread was so highly regarded by the picnic attendees that negotiations were held to determine the lucky few that would be taking a portion home.

The birthday party of Helen from Grab Your Fork was something of a special event for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was a dumpling making party, for lack of a better term. Everyone contributing ingredients and making a large number of handmade gyoza-style dumplings, a fair portion of which were devoured with gusto soon afterwards.

For dessert, Ais Kachang was made from scratch. This began with preparing the various ingredients to form the mise en place. Once this was done, two ice shaving machines buzzed constantly as mountains of ice shavings piled up, ready to be topped by the ingredients and syrups prepared earlier.

To close the evening, chocolatesuze had prepared a fork-shaped cake, a reference to Helen’s blog name. Whilst this was in itself impressive and well received, the true genius of the cake lay within, in the form of a stunning rainbow of colours. Though rainbow coloured cakes are not anything new for chocolatesuze, this implementation of her trademark cake was particularly impressive.

Lastly, we come to a recent birthday dinner, celebrating the birthday of Jacq from Penguin Says Feed Me. She had managed to gather an impressive 17 food bloggers at the Waterfront Grill for all you can eat ribs for $29. The ribs are served along with some tasty but stomach filling steak chips. There is also a web special that is meant to score you a free soft drink with your ribs. It had taken a fair amount of insistence, the attention of the restaurant manager and an iPhone before the free drinks were flowing.

Ellie from Almost Bourdain capped of the dinner with a homemade Momofuku Crack Pie, which she had generously offered as a birthday cake. I can see why it’s called Crack Pie. So addictive… :)

To end this post, I’d like to thank those of you that have followed my blog over the past year, especially the ones that have weathered through the dry spells, and those that take the time to leave comments. It’s very much appreciated!

For the silent readers out there, I encourage you to step out of your shell and show your love, or share your opinion, by leaving a comment. I don’t just mean for my blog, but for any other one that you may be reading as well. We food bloggers, and I presume bloggers in general, thrive on comments.

Also, a special thanks to Helen for inspiring me to begin this food blog in the first place, as well as all the people to date that have made the past year of food, friends & fun a memorable experience.

Imagine spending an afternoon on the water, just past the heads of Sydney Harbour in a small charter vessel courtesy of Deep Sea Charters.

A beautiful, clear Summer’s day. The wide blue yonder stretches out before you as far as the eye can see. Moderate temperates with a cool sea breeze, carrying the fresh scent of the sea. The pleasant company of friends. Lines over the side of the boat waiting for a sizable catch to take back home for dinner. The gentle rocking of the boat. The more vigorous rocking of the boat. Fending off waves of nausea brought on by sea sickness. Succumbing to the nausea of sea sickness. The cramped toilet cubicle with a toilet so small that you have to make the difficult choice between going No.1 or No.2, as the seat was only big enough to accommodate the motion one or the other and not both.

Believe it or not, it was a great day in hindsight.

At 2pm sharp one Saturday afternoon, twelve friend and acquaintances boarded the Deep Sea Charters fishing vessel Kingfisher (rather aptly named), docked at Balmain’s Thames St Ferry Wharf. We brought along a variety of snack foods, dips & beverages to keep our hunger and thirst at bay, as the fishing tour was not officially catered.

Unofficially however, there was a large platter of cold cuts that was left behind by the previous tour group that was offered to us by Adrian, our Captain, as it was unlikely that the previous group would come back for it.

Score!

Little did we know at the time that there was a reason why the platter was left behind, virtually untouched…

We made our way through the harbour from Balmain, passing the Opera House and the Harbour bridge on our journey out past the heads. A single red buoy stands at attention; a solitary gate keeper and our last sign of civilisation as we travel out to the deep blue sea.

Once we’re a few kilometers past the heads, we make anchor, supposedly over a reef where there is an abundance of large fish feeding along the sea bed.

This far out, where the only sounds are that of the boat and her passengers, the sounds and sights of city life, the ebb & flow of crowds of workers & tourists alike, the din of the traffic and the occasional enraged motorist, all seem a distant memory. A silhouette off the distant horizon. Mere shadows of a mind unwinding, as it adjusts to a slower, more relaxed pace.

Adrian and his First Mate Tony make the round, baiting out fishing hooks with hunks of fish and squid.

There’s more than enough fishing gear for all on board. Once our bait is set, we cast our lines and our hopes into the sea, optimistic of a large catch to feast on later that evening.

Fishing is a game of observation and patience. Watching the line jiggle from a bite of a potential catch. Being mindful of the jiggles that naturally occur with the pull of the current or the rocking of the boat. Keeping your line as close to the sea bed as possible in order to have the best possible chance of landing a prime catch. It may look like not much is going on but there is plenty happening under the surface.

It didn’t take long before we had our first catch. A deep sea bream that was around 30-40cm long. Soon after, wave after wave of fish were brought on board, mostly of the same variety.

However, one catch that stood out was of this pig fish. The only one of its kind that was caught on the day. Cpt. Adrian had remarked that this was a particularly tasty fish.

It was around this time that I stopped taking photos. There is a bit of a story to this. Depending on who you talk to, the story plays out quite differently. However, what I’ll present you with is the true version of events.

Having been past the heads quite a number of years back and remembering that I’ve never been sea sick prior, I figured that I would be fine without sea sickness medication. Whilst we traveled out to the heads I was feeling fine. However, once the boat had stopped and was rocking to the movement of the sea, circumstances changed. For a while I fought off waves of nausea with little effort, taking the occasional photo here, doing a spot of fishing there. I heeded natures call and struggled with my No. 1/No. 2 dilemma. That tipped me over the edge. From there onwards, well, let’s just say that I wasn’t bend over the low railing off the side of the boat just to watch the water lap up against the hull. During this state it was suggested to me that I take some of the sea sickness medication. As much as I’d felt it wise to do so, not moving from my current position and thereby potentially unsettling what little remained within my stomach seemed a more prudent move at the time.

I wasn’t the only one that had felt the same way. Everyone had felt nausea to some degree, even with the medication. However, only three of us actually went all the way, so to speak, one of whom was the person who had organised this trip. Ironic, in that Alanis Morissette sort of way.

We left our prime fishing spot for the sheltered waters of the harbour. To calmer waters and calmer stomachs alike. However, there were few bites and those that we did manage to hook weren’t of sufficient size to keep. Soon after, we made our way back to Balmain, arriving at the wharf around 6pm. With nausea setting in quite early on in the trip, we disembarked with the majority of the food we’d brought on board. We now knew why there was a virtually untouched platter of cold cuts left on board and why there would likely be a virtually untouched platter of cold cuts for the next tour group to pass up.

All in all, around ten fish were caught, all of which were reeled in at the reef within a span of around an hour. Tony, the First Mate, was kind enough to scale, gut and clean the fish for us. All we had to do was take it home and prepare it to our hearts content.

Speaking of which…

Dinner that night was a very simple affair. Feeling somewhat exhausted from the physical and mental trials earlier that day, we made do with whatever ingredients were available at my friend’s house.

Deep sea bream, simply coated in flour and pan fried in butter.

A frittata, essentially an omelette, containing slices of pan fried potato, red onion & green capsicum finished off with a generous dusting of paprika.

Lastly, I guess what I’d call a roasted garlic pilaf for lack of a better term, as it’s technically not a pilaf. Slivers of garlic were gently fried in melted butter turning a nice golden brown whilst flavouring the butter with a roasted, nutty flavour & aroma. The garlic chips and butter were stirred into steamed jasmin rice, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Looking back, it was a great day, all things considered. I’ll just have to make sure that the next time around, I come with a little more sea sickness medication and a little less bravado.

Deep Sea Charters
02 97586252 or 0400 173 717

Cost: $100 per person with a minimum of 12 people.
Pick up from Thames St Wharf, Balmain.

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A rainbow of happiness as one food blogger described it, the selection of macarons available on Macaron Day (the celebration of macarons for Adriano Zumbo’s birthday) was astounding! As the opening quote indicates, a veritable spectrum of bright colours and wonderful & unique flavours ranging from the rather pedestrian green tea to the more exotic flavours of cheeseburger. Well, at least by my standards.

Eighteen flavours of macarons were purchased in the morning, while later that day, three food bloggers gathered to sample & discuss the various macaron flavours.

Actually, Richard & I gathered to play some Xbox over at Yas’ house but the offer of macaron tasting had overshadowed the original intent for the gathering.

Eighteen macarons were carefully laid out on a couple of plates. Unfortunately, some of them didn’t fare well during transportation while others, perished very quickly due to their moisture content.

The flavours were, clockwise from the top – avocado, manga & tonka bean, chocolate 1, chocolate 2, chocolate 3, chocolate 4, chocolate 5, burnt toast & butter, and blue cheese & pear (centre).

Clockwise from the top – maple syrup bacon & pancake, chocolate 6, olive oil & rosemary, cheeseburger, french toast, chocolate 7, carrot cake, vegemite sourdough, and black truffle.

For the full list of macaron flavours available on the day, please refer to my previous post or the original list from Grab Your Fork.

Why the generically numbered chocolate macarons? Well, with the curious mind such that I have, I’d selected a wide range of chocolate flavoured macarons, including all of the single origin chocolates. However, there was some identification fail as I didn’t know which chocolate macaron was which, nor did I think to ask. Not being attuned to the taste of single origin chocolate, going by taste was of no help either.

Oh well.

Anyhow, for completeness sake the list of chocolate macarons I did purchase were chocolate citrus, plantation chocolate, Tanzanian salted chocolate, Mexican chocolate, and chocolate & red wine.

Which troubles me somewhat since there are seven anonymous chocolate flavoured macarons…

As good as the chocolate ones generally were, there weren’t the stand outs. The ones that stood out for me, for better or for worse, were the maple syrup bacon & pancake, olive oil & rosemary, cheeseburger, french toast, vegemite sourdough and the black truffle.

The black truffle. Special in its own right. Not just because it’s a dessert item that contained truffles. Not even that it contained real truffle pieces. It was unique amongst the 50 other odd truffles in that it was the only one priced differently at $10 a pop, rather than the more modest amount of $2 for the rest of the collection (at least by comparison).

The black truffle macaron was left until the end. Perhaps to savour the anticipation. Perhaps to avoid setting a bar too high, too early, and ruining the experience of other noteworthy macarons that would have been considered “not good enough” in comparison.

The crumbled remains of the olive oil & rosemary macaron. The dark, gelatinous cube was an intense core of rosemary flavour, to the point of being somewhat unpleasant to taste on its own. The olive oil flavouring permeated the macaron shells as well as the ganache filling around the rosemary core. On its own, it’s somewhat bland. Though, when consumed with the rosemary gel, it served to mute some of the intensity of the rosemary. Even still, though I admire Adriano for attempting such a macaron, it just wasn’t for me.

A couple of other macarons that fell a little short off the mark for me were the maple bacon & pancake and french toast macarons.

The maple bacon & pancake macaron certainly tasted of maple syrup. However, the bacon did little more than add a textural note as the bacon’s flavour & smokiness didn’t come through. If there was more of that bacon flavour & aroma, this may have been one of my favourites.

The french toast macaron tasted more like rice pudding than something that could specifically be defined as french toast. A little disappointing. Not that it was a bad macaron. It just didn’t taste like french toast to me.

On the other hand, I found the burnt toast & butter macaron to be an absolute stroke of genius. Not only showing off Adriano Zumbo’s talents, but also some of his personality & fiendish sense of humour as well. The firm, chewy, almost bread-like texture of the macaron shells with the slightly crusty outer surface. The distinct flavour & aroma of well toasted bread serves as filling, along with a tiny knob of butter. Simultaneously, familiar and unique. Ordinary, yet extraordinary.

The vegemite and sourdough macaron was similarly impressive. Not only delivering on the flavours of vegemite and sour dough bread but also with the chewy texture of the macaron shell itself.

One other macaron that deserves a mention is the cheeseburger one. Though, it had perished to a sloppy mush, the flavour and attention to detail with this one was amazing. The strong flavour of tomato ketchup. A nearly imperceptible hint of meatiness, or perhaps a figment of my imagination. A real, albeit tiny slice of cheese, a tiny fragment of pickle and a sprinkle of sesame seeds on the macaron shells completed the illusion, for lack of a better word. This one made me smile from ear to ear. A pleasant and pleasurable surprise.

I truly hope that these three macarons make it onto the standard roster of macaron flavours, though something would need to be done with perishability of the cheeseburger macaron.

Finally we come to the black truffle macaron. Having savoured this moment as the three of us worked our way through seventeen other macarons, I was quite disappointed with this one. There wasn’t much of a flavour to it and though there were hints of truffle flavour and aroma, nothing significant enough to come even close to the $10 price tag.

I can appreciate that an elevated price tag was warranted, since real truffle pieces were incorporated into the ganache (note the little black specks in the image above). However, I had a much better experience and more thoroughly enjoyed some of the other macarons. Even if it were only $2, I would still only consider it to be an average macaron.

The whole experience of Macaron Day was amazing. From waiting at the front of the queue with the bloggers from Grab Your Fork and chocolatesuze, the dazzling array of macarons, having a chat with Adriano Zumbo, & sharing the experience of tasting the macarons with Richard & Yas. I hope there will be more Macaron Day macarons to come in the future.

Actually, there will be. Reasonably soon too, as I went back to the store to the day after to pick up some additional macaron flavours that I’d not selected, or had known about, the first time around. Yep, another post to come. One last one, I promise.

Well, for this year, at least :)

Adriano Zumbo. A name that is associated with great, unique and occasionally odd collection of cakes, desserts and, of course, macarons. A master craftsman of his trade; I would doubt that you would find a better macaron, or one that is more unique, in or around the Sydney area.

So, when such an artisan looks to celebrate his birthday (Friday, 6th November), what can one expect?

Well, from the eyes of a food obsessed fan of his creations such that I am, you can expect an early morning rise in order to meet and queue up with other food obsessed fans. People such as fellow food bloggers Helen (Grab Your Fork) and Susan (Chocolatesuze) with the three of us arriving 30 minutes prior to opening time. Others, such as Trina (Foraging Otaku) and Belle (Ohh, Look…), join us in the queue along with other early birds soon afterwards.

The queue starts to build momentum as the time approaches the store’s opening hour of 8am.

Actually, quite a lot of momentum. For a Friday morning no less.

An occasional passerby lets their curiosity get the better of them and stops to enquire about the reason for the queue.

Why, Macaron Day, of course!

What better way to celebrate Adriano Zumbo’s birthday than to have a day devoted to a vast array of unique, limited edition macarons.

The passerby, seemingly regretting his decision to succumb to his curiosity, shakes his head and moves on.

Though the window display pictured above stated optimistically 60 flavours would be available, I believe the final number was closer to 50. However, oh what a collection of 50 they were! Though, more on that later.

The staff arrive with a van load of white cake boxes filled with macarons and proceed to setup shop as the building queue anxiously waits. Then whispers start to buzz around the staff. “Is he coming”? Should we wait for him?

There was a scheduled meet & greet with Adriano at 11am. I’d given up on meeting up with him once more as I had other things I needed to see to that day. Surely, they don’t mean that he’s coming now?

Surely enough, the birthday boy makes his entrance, supplementing the already abundant stock with additional varieties of macarons that had not arrived along with the first shipment.

Adriano takes charge and preps the store for the inevitable onslaught of the salivating food obsessed, and I’m sure the occasional normal customer as well.

Soon afterwards the mob start to file in. The friendly and helpful staff inform us that not all the varieties are available at this stage. So decisions are pondered, compromises made, and seemingly a number of finger nail and possibly tips of fingers were gnawed clean off in the process.

There was much to ponder too, as illustrated by the small sample of photos below.

Each macaron was $2, with the black truffle macaron, containing actual pieces of black truffle within was the princely sum of $10 each (not pictured above). A one-of-everything box, which contained the full range was $110.

For a full list of macaron flavours available on the day, do what pretty much everyone else did and peruse the list on Grab Your Fork. For your convenience and with permission, I’ve supplied an alphabetised list below, with some slight modifications:

• Avocado
• Black truffle
• Blue cheese and pear
• Burnt butter
• Burnt toast and butter
• Caramello Koala
• Carrot cake
• Cheeseburger
• Cheesecake
• Chocolate and mint
• Chocolate and passionfruit
• Chocolate and praline
• Chocolate and red wine
• Chocolate and salted caramel
• Chocolate citrus
• Chocolate foie gras
• Chupa chupa, on a stick
• Date and orange
• Doughnut
• Fig and blackcurrant
• Finger bun
• French toast
• Goats cheese and blueberry
• Golden Gaytime
• Green tea
• Iced Vovo
• Lamington
• Liquorice
• Lord Nelson beer
• Mango and tonka bean
• Maple syrup, bacon and pancake
• Mastic, yoghurt, cucumber and mint
• Mexican chocolate
• Neopolitan
• Olive oil and rosemary
• Pan d’epice
• Peanut butter
• Pink grapefruit
• Plantation chocolate
• Popcorn
• Raspberry chocolate
• Rice pudding
• Strawberries and cream
• Strawberry bubblegum
• Tanzanian salted chocolate
• Toasted marshmallow
• Turkish delight
• Vegemite sourdough

This young gentleman was kind enough to model my first batch of macarons purchased.

Yep, that’s right. First batch.

You see, a lot of the flavours we were after weren’t available the first time around. However, just as we were leaving another batch of macarons arrived, and with it, additional flavours.

So back we joined the queue for another run. We’re not the only ones too, as we make pleasant small talk with another person who rejoined the queue.

Adriano seemingly has a moments peace. A rare luxury I would imagine for what must have been a hectic lead up to the culmination of this day.

Even with our second run through, still not all the flavours are available. So, this time we hang out inside the store along with Adriano, offering birthday wishes, making conversation about the macarons as well as his new collection of his soon-to-be-released cakes and posing for the occasional photo.

Some of the time is passed with a free sample or two. Suze poses with the delightful lollipop macaron, inspired by the chuppa chup. Chuppa chup flavoured with pop rocks, though I don’t think we ever found out which chupa chup flavour it was meant to be. Still, a nice macaron all the same.

The french toast macaron. One of the few macarons that weren’t on the original flavour list. We’d initially thought we were handed a different macaron as it tasted like rice pudding, and there was a rice pudding one on the list.

Eventually, all the flavours we were after had arrived, purchases finalised and boxes of macarons accompanied us as we head off to our respective workplaces, albeit an hour or two late.

Which macarons did I get? How did they taste? Unfortunately, this is material for another post.

Make sure to mark down the 6th November on next year’s calendar. Though this was the first Macaron Day, I hope it’s not the last. Happy Birthday Adriano :)

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie
296 Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2040
Ph: (02) 9810 7318

Monday to Saturday 8am – 6pm
Sunday 8am – 4pm

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It’s a name that I kept hearing within food blogging circles. So much so that it makes me wonder what all the fuss is about. For those that have experienced Zumbo, there was nothing but fanboy/fangirl-like fanaticism. For those that had not, it was high on their list of things to experience. For me, I never got the whole Zumbophilia that had swept Twitter and the Sydney food blogs. Well, that is until recently.

“What the hell is this Zumbo that he keeps referring to”?

Surely, you jest…

Adriano Zumbo, the man behind the mania, master artisan of the self named Adriano Zumbo Patisserie . Before we get into the works of art that are Zumbo, let’s have a little look at the man himself.

Adriano presents himself as a bit of a quiet fellow, a little shy and perhaps still getting use to his niche celebrity status. The attention he attracts with his works of art draw hordes of food blogging fans and gushing women alike (he’s somewhat popular with the ladies). However, once he opens up and gives you a little insight into the man and the ideas behind his creations, you start to see the genius behind it all.

However, I only ever caught a glimpse. When he lets you in on the inspiration behind one of his creations or a future idea, he’s like a kid, snickering as he lets you in on the secret details of a hilariously ingenious prank. However, even when he does so, there’s a nagging feeling that there’s more to the prank than he’s letting on, as if he’s only telling you part of the joke while he alone is privy to the true depth of genius behind it all.

His ideas are as playful as they are clever, going places that I would have never contemplated or thought possible. Yet somehow he’s able to not only pull it off, but does so with style and an air of fun. The kind of fun that takes you back to your preteen years when life was all about playing, eating lollies and going on adventures, free from the burdens of society and responsibility.

Before we move onto his winter collection of cakes, an apology in advance for the poorly executed flash photography to come.

Thanks to Reem, a number of food bloggers gather at Cafe Chocolat to sample the recently unveiled winter collection entitled “40 Days and Nights in Paris“. Numerous platters such as the photo above and below are laid out within the cafe for the gathered food bloggers to fawn over, photo and later sample and/or take home.

As there is much variety and artistic appeal in the appearance of the various cakes, so too is there an equivalent variety and appeal in the flavours and textures of these desserts. However, there are still tweaks to be made with the final presentation and flavours of his latest collection. There are also names to be sorted out as well.

The cake are (clockwise from the top) 6/11/81 (after Zumbo’s birth date), Ed Rock the Cradle, x, z (ingenious combination of olive, olive oil and citrus flavours), …….., m a.k.a. Upside Down Cloud, v and Escape from a Colombian Rain Forest (centre).

See what I mean? :)

V (millefeuille) – Macadamia praline mousse, macadamia dacquoise. vanilla chantilly, pear tartin pallette, macadamia feulletine.

Carrot & seaweed tea cake with walnut and sesame seeds.

If you’re wondering, yes that is a sheet of nori wrapped around the cake and yes, it is meant to resemble a maki sushi roll. The combination of carrot and seaweed was inspired by a Japanese salad that Zumbo once had. It’s an ambitious combination of flavours, especially in dessert form.

Though I liked the taste of what was essentially a dressed up carrot and walnut cake as it is, there is more that could be done with this. The seaweed within the caked lends a subtle flavour to the overall cake, which was nice. However, I felt that the nori sheet wrapped around the cake could have done with a little work. As it was, it make it hard to cut the cake and was difficult to portion pieces of the nori sheet as you’re eating the cake.

I’d raised the suggestion of toasting the nori, making it more brittle to get around this problem, as well as add a crispy texture and slight smokey aroma. Regardless of whether he takes up my suggestion, I’ll be curious to see how this cake evolves. I’ll be certainly be keeping an eye out for this one over the coming weeks! :)

D – Smoked toasted marshmallow & chocolate cake. A cake that was inspired by the flavours of toasted marshmallows over a camp fire.

It’s a moist cake that has an unmistakable pleasant smokiness to it. A chocolate marshmallow log tied in a knot sits upon greyish-blue sugar confection that resemble coals. Embedded within the top of the cake are more marshmallows, lending a gooey contrast in texture to the rest of the cake.

S – Tea & passionfruit soaked pears and savarin, lavender saffron mascapone creme, crumble, raspberry jelly, coconut rehydration pipette. Not to be confused with S – Tomato, chocolate, olive oil upside down cake.

S looks to be an interpretation of a trifle. The coconut rehydration pipette is not only an interesting novelty but likely a way to get the sponged soaked just right so that it’s not too soggy at the point of consumption. Attention to detail. Nice.

The price includes the glass, which you get to keep. Bonus!

A shot of my take home selection (individual shots and descriptions below).

W – Chocolate pop rocks & popcorn disc, vanilla almond chantilly, dulce de leche, flourless chocolate sponge, almond feulletine.

This one is spectacular! Everything is great about it; from its visual appeal, to its flavours as well as its textures (especially with the pop rocks). The incorporation of pop rocks introduces a surprising popping sensation to the unwary, which can be a bit much for some.

Ed Rock the Cradle – milk coffee cheesecake with chocolate cheesecake base, coffee scented caramel creme, Italian meringue.

I hear that this is the latest Ed-ition to the Ed series which includes Ed Knocked Me Up and Ed, It’s Twins but… With Ed Rock the Cradle, though visually it appears to look like a baby in swaddling clothes and a milk bottle on top of what I imagine to be the cradle, the flavours are inspired by the humble Chokito chocolate bar.

A slice of the carrot and seaweed teacake. Goes well with whipped cream and a cup of green tea.

6/11/81 – Milk passion caramel mousse, lime creme, passionfruit marshmallow, coconut crunch & brownie.

As stated above, this one was named after Zumbo’s birth date. The variations in flavour, texture are quite interesting as each layer brings with it a distinct flavour, texture or both. Though there are distinctive layers, they harmonise well with each other.

X – Pine nut guanduja mousse, dark chocolate creme, pate feulletage caramelise, sacher sponge.

This millefeuille was a popular one with the crowd, with flavours that are not too challenging to the palate. The flavour and aroma of the pine nuts are reasonably subtle but are also not lost in amongst the other flavours.

A big thanks to Adriano Zumbo, Rachel and the staff at Cafe Chocolat. Thanks also to Reem for organising this event and a shout out to the attending food bloggers Karen (Citrus & Candy), Trina (Foraging Otaku), Anita (Leave Room For Dessert), Belle (Ooh, Look…), Lili (pikelet & pie), Stephanie (raspberri cupcakes), Susan (Something to nibble on). A special thanks to Chris (the way it crumbles) for saving me having to hunt down all the names and associated blogs! :)

Rather than my usual Google map, I’ve just borrowed the image from the Contacts page on the Adriano Zumbo website as it looks far more interesting. Click on the Contacts page link for specific details like address, phone number and trading hours.