GIRLS' DAY OUT AT MORNINGTON : BAY HOTEL

Herself and I had a girls day out to-day. We drove to Mornington. First of all, we stopped for lunch at the Bay Hotel.  You can see the bistro section - which was beautifully warm and toasty - on the right of the collage above. We checked out the menu:

We had certainly picked our day because we were able to avail ourselves of the Monday/Tuesday Special which meant that if we picked a "starred" item we got it for $15 with a complimentary glass of wine.  I know I don't dine out often these days, Trad Padders, but I hadn't come across a cleverly marked menu such as this.  Along with the stars, the menu sported tiny 'v's for vegetarian and 'gf's for gluten free.  I am vegetarian and I appreciated this thoughtful touch and I am sure the gluten free brigade would too. I ordered Mediterranean Pappardelle which, ordinarily according to the menu, has chicken.  I asked for the dish without the chicken and they were happy to oblige.  So my pappardelle came with roasted vegetables, pan seared with olive oil, tossed through the pappardelle and sprinkled with feta and toasted pine nuts.  Herself - who is a carnivore - ordered the Hopkins River Beef Burger.  I didn't have the wine.  Herself had mine and I had a coke.  She seemed well pleased with her vino.  I noted that The Bay promotes local Mornington Peninsula wines with other Australian wines bringing up the rear.  So, as you can see, we had good provender.

If you want to get the rest of the story about what we did in Mornington, please go here.

Be tempted: and be mindful of your food and its origins

The program for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival came out with The Age yesterday. It's on for young and old. If you missed out on getting a hard copy yesterday, then try here.

Miss Eagle's spending priorities (she wants to be in WA in May for the ARIDS launch - see below) will keep her on a tight leash. But not to worry! Miss E's top priority event has three of her favourite things: Flour, Fed Square, and Free.

Top of the list for Miss Eagle is the International Flour Festival. For a breadmaker like Miss E, this promises to be wonderful. Please go to the bottom of the page for what Miss E thinks about Flour. For the non-rice dependent world corn and maize and wheat are the staple grains. From these four grains come flours to feed the world.

And then there are qualities and strains within the grains. For instance, durum wheat is THE breakmaking wheat. It is a 'hard' wheat and it's great for pasta too. Please check the product information on your packet of flour. The cheaper home brand flours on the shelf of your local supermarket are usually NOT durum wheat. They are of a softer wheat - great for cakes, but not for bread or pasta.

Picture at right: Durum Wheat

In recent years, there has been a periodic shortage of durum wheat in this country. For Miss Eagle, this is a dramatic issue second only to Climate Change. Australia is among the world's major wheat growers and exporters. We have a small population (20 million). If we have to import bread-making wheat, what is Australia coming to? If we cannot be self-sufficient in the factors of production of the staff of life in this country, why is this not a matter of national priority?

The item below comes from Bellata Gold

From the Farm Gate by Natalie Tydd

The 2006 durum wheat harvest, that took a little over two weeks to complete, was the culmination of months of hard work and planning, the ultimate goal being to produce a plump, golden grain high in protein and gluten strength with no chemical residue. Pasta quality is dependent on the durum characteristics as there are only two main ingredients in pasta -semolina and water. The 2006 growing season was plagued by drought, little to no rainfall meant many farmers were grateful to harvest at all, the result being a significant shortage of quality Australian durum wheat on the market. However, though the Bellata Gold yields were slightly down on previous years due to the lack of rainfall, the quality of the grain harvested is first-class. Owner, Doug Cush, believes the 2006/07 pasta produced will be a particularly good vintage, believing that the grain will have even more natural flavour than previous years due to the dry growing conditions. Once again the unique 100% traceability from the farm through to pasta production has ensured that Bellata Gold pasta quality and supply remains consistent from one season to the next.