Good Food Wine Show 2014

my first good food wine show. when i saw Zumbo macaron masterclass tickets released for Sydney, i really wanted to do it (despite the $99 price tag), but then i saw you had to pay an entry fee into the show itself for over $20, but i didn't buy Zumbo class. then i got free tickets, but his classes on all 3 days sold out in about 1 day, and obviously by that time, there weren't any more spaces. $99 is quite expensive, but apparently you get $70 worth of stuff, and when you think about it, expos are always a bit more expensive since they have to connect gas, electricity, water and set up all the equipment etc.

so close yet so far!

my closest encounter would still have to be at Rozelle free ice cream earlier this year, less than 1m away. there was also Zumbo's book signing at 12, which obviously meant photo included,. his books are one of the cheaper ones, the macaron on is $25, but then i thought, do i really need a macaron book? i'll look at the pictures but won't have time to attempt anything so didn't buy it. i'll use that $25 towards a class with him (if i manage to get a ticket to the always sold out tickets to Zumbo Academy, and after i try to make them from scratch).

i still saw him make macarons, and wow, he can pipe macarons in less than 0.5seconds-such a machine, and perfection all the way. i wonder if he still makes macarons, or if he just leaves it to his team since he has so many stores now.

croquembouche verrine: textures of vanilla & caramel, profiterole, lemon jam-$9.50

i bought this one since you could only get it at the show. the piggy one was also $9.50, usually cakes at his stores are $9, so again, increased prices...the tarts and macarons were still the same price. the description on insta is a bit different/more detailed: caramel liquid, malted milk Panna Cotta, lemon jam, almond Sable, creme patisserie Legere, jersey caramel creme, profiterole filled with creme patisserie.  this dessert was so good. i can't honestly say i tasted every single layer since i was eating while walking, but i loved the vanillary creme patisserie and haven't had a good profiterole in a while. the only thing i didn't like was the caramel liquid at the bottom. it was soooo sweet that i couldn't finish it (and that's saying something since i can tolerate large amounts of sugar even though i may not like it). i think the caramel at the bottom is mainly used as a foundation for the verrine, so things stay nicely layered. i kept the little jar thing since it's made of class and i can possibly make a 1 serving size panna cotta in it. 

nespresso masterclass!

this was so fun! for once i didn't drink or eat fast enough since you kept making coffee and she taught you how she prepared to food. those little containers on the left has coffee infused muesli and coffee infused yogurt and a blueberry for garnish haha. i love nespressos! sooooo user frienldly-just lift the handle, pop the cap in, pull down the handle to start it and you get beautifully brewed coffee. the milk frother is very nice as well. and i love this nespresso model, so sleek and cute. i've wanted a proper coffee machine which you can froth your milk, but realllly thinking about it, you have to clean every single time you use it, and it's just too high maintenance. these ones you just take the rubbish out. my mum has wanted one of these for so long, but in my family we're not regular coffee drinkers, so we would rather purchase other appliances before this...

basically the 1/2 session was to teach you how you could use your nespresso machine in cooking/food. everyone had their own machine, and so many attendants around. every lid you take off, or empty cup, and bam, they clear it and help you put it in the little bin ASAP even though the bin is still within your arm's reach.

"breakfast" fortissimo lungo, intensity 8, one of the newest flavours. loved the intensity (: 

"afternoon" dharkan, intensity 11 with a goats cheese and caramelised onion tart sprinkled with bukeela ka ethopia, intensity 3

the intensity levels go up to 12, this was so bitter, and i had about half of it. it went well with the goats cheese since it's so rich. we also stabbed holes in the other capsule to use as a shaker. wow, if i owned a machine, i would never use the coffee like that, such a waste. you only use about 1/10 of the whole capsule. i regret not sprinkling more on. it smelt nice but couldn't really taste the coffee in it.

"evening" on the far right-vanilla bean ice cream with decaffeinato intense, intensity 7 and hazelnut sugar

the ice cream is gourmet because you could see heaps of vanilla bean seeds in it! it's actually my first time having an affogato outside my house (since i usually just order a cap at cafes to compare them), and this was my favourite (: the intensity of the coffee balanced the sweetness of the ice cream and was so lovely to eat and drink. 

justine from S1 master chef!

sammy (bella was doing the paid masterclass), winners of mkr 2011 teaching how to cook stuff. 

i definitely recognised them, but back then i wasn't a massive mkr fan so didn't bother taking a photo. i won heaps of jalna yogurt here, and some expensive micro fibre/fancy new technology cleaning cloths here. too bad you couldn't taste it. at least i got some scone and bread mix. it was at this point my mum and i decided to buy a trolley for $30 =/ it's not worth, and was out most expensive purchase of the day, but it's impossible to carry around 3kg of yogurt for the whole day, let alone all the stuff we were yet to get. at least the trolley is pretty good quality.

barilla pasta masterclass!

didn't book online, and managed to make it in for the 2nd last session of the day after waiting 1/2 hour. i wouldn't mind waiting for another hour for the last class since it's free and i didn't bother paying $5 to book online. 

the left two look familiar...

2 people per stove.

watched the chef for 20 mins, then they had heaps of other chefs helping around to help you make it

pasta with winter veggies and ricotta

btw, barilla pasta is considered expensive. masterchef went there last year or year before to their factory in Italy (: the chefs around said the sauce is expensive, so not to use a lot, and also the olive il is expensive, and if the Italian say it's expensive, well it's expensive (hence us asians put more in). kind of regret not making more pasta. they said one handful per person, but i guess they technically can't control how much we put in. the curry's next to us managed to take home 1.5 boxes of pasta home! also, at the end of the show, they tipped all the pastas into a box/sauce into jars together to not waste it, and i guess emphasising that it's expensive.

the chef from Barilla

Darren Robertson from Three Blue Ducks and Recipe to Riches

he is another boy to have washed dishes for Marco Pierre White. lately a lot of chefs on master chef this year has cleaned dishes, then worked for Marco in their early years.

if you wanted to eat any of the celebrity chef's food, you had to pay $55. initially it seems expensive, but when you think about it, it's less than $20 a plate, and the price also include wine. like the breakfast the other day cost a bit over $20 and there were no celebrity chefs involved. i have been wanting to go to Three Blue Ducks for a long time now...

i counted 13 "behind the scenes" chefs, aka the people who cook whilst Darren talks

different angle

my mum managed to get free ice cream at the end of the show. the guy didn't give it to me ):

this was strawberry flavoured and today it was $5 a scoop. at find food show, it's free. well the scoops are smaller but the point is that over there it's free so i was refs not paying $5 for it.

free food haul!

it's quite small compared to fine food show, but i guess this stuff is more quality over quantity. we also bought gourmet sausages for $2 a packet, normally $8 a pack/$16 a kg. it was 10 for $20, but we shared half of it with some randoms, and we also kept the cooler bag. those sausages are so lean and gourtmet-ish (: they sold $2 for one sausage on a stick, but $2 a packet-bargain! my mum also bought $2 a packet organic/healthier italian pasta. we did most of our buying just before the show closed (:

i didn't even bother trying everything. a lot of wines and cheeses which were so filling...i got filled up on coffee and heaps of free Dr Oetker pizza from the morning when there were no lines. probably everything i ate today is on my not supposed to eat list...

goodfoodwine is probably the only time you'll see so many white people with trolleys (usually it's asian), and since this event is ticketed, a lot less asians are here. compared to fine food expo (which has more free tickets available), this show is more "higher class" with renowned chefs. there are less samples, but more hands on stuff and definitely kid friendly. fine food bans people under 18 (it used to allow high schoolers doing food related stuff, luckily they made that rule after i turned 18...). there's not as many expos here, but definitely more chances of rubbing shoulders with celebrity chefs. too bad george only came yday when i couldn't make it ):

things i learnt/nts:

- bring a pen. i could have totally filled out all the entry forms to increase my chances of winning. didn't bring a pen ): my mum found a free pen with the yogurt, but we were already home

- bring a trolley next time

- stand near the ice cream trucks when the show is about to close

- put up your hand for everything. this person said they had one of Darren Robertson's cook books and got free wine. the chef himself said "you know, you guys could have lied, i wouldn't have known"

2 past contestants from mrk liked my photo hehe #winning