Taste of Sydney: Centennial Park, March 10 – March 13, 2011 0

Taste of Sydney. The food festival to end all food festivals. The place to be if you want to gorge yourself from pillar to post. A not-to-be-missed event for anyone who loves to slurp good wine and chomp on great food. Yee haw! Well, as a result of me responding to a tweet, I was fortunate enough to attend Taste as one of SBS Food’s ‘Taste of Sydney reviewers’! Said reviewers were a lucky few, who were given crowns galore and an extra special VIP pass to access the event, sample Taste’s finest and write about it whilst snapping away.

FOUR IN HAND

Even though this was certainly one of the more popular stalls to be visiting, service was super fast and also with a smile!

DISH 1: Confit Pork Belly with Squid, Chorizo and Chickpeas

The pork belly was cooked to absolute perfection. Succulent, scrumptious, moist and full of flavour. The dish was flawlessly seasoned. However, I must say I found the lingering taste of squid in the sauce to overpower the dish slightly. As much as I love chickpeas, I actually left them on the plate as I didn’t really enjoy what they were bathed in. This dish, minus the squid, would to me equal nirvana.

DISH 2: 12 Hour Braised Lamb Shoulder with Yoghurt and Peas

POSSIBLY my choice for ‘dish of the day’! The lamb didn’t require teeth to eat it. SO incredibly soft and melt-in-the-mouth was it, that it literally dissolved on the tongue. Deliciousness to the max. It was perfectly coupled with juicy plump peas and a light refreshing yoghurt sauce. Faultless. I licked the plate clean. People stopped and stared at me. How embarrassing.

DISH 3: Chocolate Snickers

I mean honestly, what was not to love about this? Absolutely nothing. A delectable chocolate delice topped with velvety peanut ice cream and crunchy peanut praline. Short of being too embarrassed to order 12 servings, that’s how many I could have eaten. The texture of the praline was the perfect juxtaposition to the smooth creamy delice, and the ice cream had a subtle peanut flavour that complemented all of the other components incredibly well. No wheels were reinvented here and the presentation was ah……look…….ah……I don’t know, but purely on the yum-factor, I say ten out of ten.

OMERTA / A TAVOLA

DISH 1: Potato Gnocchi with Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu

Come to think of it, THIS was actually my dish of the day. I cried as I ate it. Well I didn’t really, but I could have. Everything about this dish was exactly as it should have been. The gnocchi were light and fluffy, the sauce was rich and jam-packed full of gorgeous lamb flavour, and the perfect amount of cheese had been added and gently tossed through the plate before it was served. Seasoning was also spot on. As I looked up after finishing this heavenly plate of food I noticed three young ladies having a chuckle in my direction. I smiled at them and one of them said “You REALLY looked as though you enjoyed that!” and all I could say was “You’re not wrong there!”

DISH 2: Ricotta Fritters with Berries and Honey

Again, absolutely beautiful. The hotcakes were crispy on the outside and almost gooey in the centre. The ricotta flavour was definitely there but subtle enough not to take over. And really, honey and berries?! What’s not to love?! The presentation of this dish was also very, very attractive. Not just the colours but the care that had been taken with the drizzling of the sauce and berries on the plate. Pretty as a picture.