Brunswick Kitchen Visit

14 July 2021.

Food Master’s Report

Not being able to get out of the country did not stop 12 of us venturing to Vietnam. Tracey Lister, who owns the Brunswick Kitchen, transported us with a cooking class - food from Hanoi.

We started the evening with Prawn and Omelet Spring Rolls and a Banana Flower Salad to which Anastasia matched a wine that some participants thought would have been better served after a meal. We all sat around the work bench and participated in chopping, grating and folding many ingredients which were made into delicious morsels. We all had fun with the rice paper dipping container which many of us purchased, so look out for rice paper appetisers.

Tracey spoke of her experiences in Vietnam and the development of KOTO, a grass roots charity that helps street kids to free themselves from the life of poverty through hospitality training. Tracey also opened the Hanoi Cooking Centre. Tracey often has participants help her in the Brunswick kitchen with her cooking classes. Julee Andersen, Food Master

Wine Master’s Report The Banana flower salad created much discussion as many of us had not seen the flower before and we were surprised that we eat the petals rather than the immature bananas. We followed with Beef in Betel Leaf, again another interesting leaf which grows on a vine rather than a bush. Cha Ca is the famous dish found in Hanoi, Fried Fish with Turmeric and Dill and delicious.

Tracey stressed that Vietnamese people always include the five types of nutrients in their cuisine – powder, water, protein, fat and minerals and you will always see the five colours in prepared food – white, black, red, green and yellow. But it is all about balance.

The evening finished with a special Vietnamese coffee made with condensed milk and egg, very similar to a zabaglione. It topped off the evening very nicely although I did have difficulty getting to sleep.

This evening’s wine selection was all about having some fun, new tastes and some crowd favourites as well.

Traditionally, Vietnamese don’t drink wine with their meals so for me this evening was more about playing with flavours and finding options that are a joy to drink and easy going on the palette. Due to the many and varied flavours used in each Vietnames dish it was not going to be a straightforward process simply ‘matching’ a wine to each dish – with the abundant use of herbs, chili, sauces and a variety of proteins – the learning aspect and fellowship really took centre stage rather than the wine.

2016 Disznoko Tokaji Late Harvest Furmint Traditionally a digestif or dessert-style wine, I chose to serve this crisp, fresh and off-dry wine as an aperitif. It was refreshing and stood up well against the fun, vibrant flavours of the entrée of Prawn/Omelette Spring Rolls with dipping sauce. Quite a few of the ladies returned for another serve.

2009 Seppelt Drumborg Riesling V. 2009 Joh Jos Prum Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett Riesling The Seppelt Drumborg Rielsing was deemed a little too crisp and acidic for the Veitnamese cuisine. Being a quintessential Australian varietal, it fought with the flavours. Despite the Kabinett late-harvest Riesling being sweet, a lot of the ladies would not usually have selected such a wine, however the general sentiment was that they wholeheartedly enjoyed it with the Asian flavours.

2015 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay V. 2016 Two Degrees Pinot Noir The Two Degrees Pinot Noir was excitedly received by almost all the group, as it’s an easy-drinking and flavourful favourite among the ladies. It was commented that New Zealand pinots are typically a lot sweeter than their Australian counterparts and that worked well with the Vietnamese flavours – more robust sweetness and lower tannins.

Anastasia Tushuizen, Wine Master