Where is Waldo?
It has been so hot that I am taking a break from baking. I went out the other day for a walk and when I spotted these birds (below), I turned back to get my camera. As I moved closer to the birds to take my shots, I noticed the color of the green became whiter and whiter because of the scorching sun.
We've had so much rain that everything is luscious looking, especially the grass. I have never known my street has so many fruit trees (mango mostly). My husband called me to the yard where he was doing the hedges. He wanted to show me that a branch of our neighbour's fully-loaded fruit tree was on our side of the fence. We never knew that their fruit tree existed.
It is very strange. This fruit is popular in Taiwan and is one of my favourite fruits over there, but I had never seen it before over here in Brisbane. I don't know why my neighbour has this fruit tree... unless ... I have a Taiwanese countryman right next door??
We never knew our hedges would flower either; if not for the rain....
Have you ever had the experience of searching for something high and low when it's right before your eyes?
Well, there is a new French-style village bakery right in my neighbourhood now. Open just two weeks ago, it is only a stone-throw away from my house. A lovely big tree provides a shady area for their car park, enough for 6 to 7 cars. A couple of deck chairs are outside their shop door. What a lovely spot. The owner-baker is a young chap from the French Riviera. He is a cyclist. Fifteen minutes from my house is a popular mountainous area for cyclists, so he moved to my neighbourhood. (Every other weekend, we hear the ambulance siren going on loud because some motorcyclists had been riding too fast and had accidents.)
bread display at Banneton Bakery
I brought my own bread board, bread knife and butter this morning and went with my son to Banneton Bakery to have breakfast. He had hot cocoa and chocolate croissant while I had my flat white coffee with a slice of this pain au levain:
Plain Sourdough, Banneton Bakery
The bread tastes wonderfully "creamy," if that is possible. The sourness is almost undistinguishable, or should I say, almost all lactic acidity. I have never had a bought-one that is so much to my taste. What a lovely bread that is.
Recently, MC's Gérard Rubaud story is stirring up a lot of interest in the man and baker's specially prepared levain in search for a delicately balanced and yet full-flavored French-style pain au levain. Good bread cannot be made in a hurry. When you bite into a bread, if the aroma and flavor continue to unfold and linger about you as you chew, this is got to be a special bread. But good bread cannot exist in a vacuum. Good bread exists because of bread connoisseurs. Gourmet food exists because of gourmets. One cannot exist without the other. Two thousand and five hundred years ago, Chinese poet-musician, Bo-Yia, played qin for his friend Chong Tse-Chi because Chong understood his music. When Chong Tse-Chi died, Bo-Yia destroyed his qin and never played again.
Back home I enjoyed a pot of Oolong tea with my husband. A couple of birds came to visit outside my tea room. The mid-morning sun cast beautiful shadows over our backyard.
Where is Waldo?
Shiao-Ping
Comments
I always look forward to your blog posts.
Shiao-Ping
I love the bakery and what a plus having it so close.
What a lovely colorful bird in the tree and all those pretty white ones on the ground. I used to have a lot of canaries. I once raised a tiny common little society finch that was tossed from the nest. It's foot was crippled in the fall. It was no bigger than your littest pinky tip and not a feather on it.. I hand fed it every two hours. Weeks passed I still warmed it's food and sterilized everything in my food steamer. I used my instant read thermometer and plant bulb to keep it warm. I named it Little Bird and it would come to me when I called it...Little Bird lived to be 4 yrs. old.
When my elderly Aunt goes to Australia to visit her sisters and brother she told me about all the lovely parrots that would come sit in the trees by the kitchen. She always has a wonderful time and enjoys the beauty of Australia.
I had a little vistor fly in my kitchen for visit just the other day. I love these little guys they come up and look you right in the face!
Sylvia
And he lived to 4 years old! That must be ripe old age for a little bird like your Little Bird.
Whenever I do my morning walks (and I like to go different places whenever I can), when I hear an increase in the birds' chirpings, I know I am approaching a spot where there are many trees. There are a lot of birds in Australia. There are a lot of birds in Australia. My husband's late mother used to have a kookaburra visiting her in her patio all the time. She always had something for him but his favourite food was mince.
Those are lovely photos you've got there.
Went to Banneton Bakery again this morning and bought:
New York Deli Rye, Banneton Bakery
It is really lovely. Tomorrow I shall ask the manager what percentage of rye is in there. It's got very fine roasted onions in there too. It would make a great platform for cold meats and salads.
Did you find Waldo in that last picture in my post?
The New York Deli rye looks delicious I can't find the roasted onions but I bet the flavor and aroma is wonderful. I see Waldo : )
Sylvia
Very high percentage of rye flour, considering how light it is. The pretty girl, a uni student, who works part-time there this morning confirmed to me that it's got sautéed onions.
This morning I tried their Multigrain (and seeds) Sourdough, really lovely:
Multigrain Sourdough, Banneton Bakery
...and the whole thread. Beautiful atmosphere. Bread, fruit and birds. Chinese musicians and islands lost. East and West delicately woven together. Your soul shines through, SP!
MC
(and thank you very much for mentioning the Gérard series)
Dear MC
Thank you, too, for your visit. When I was at Banneton Bakery yesterday, the girl told me that her boss is surprised that New York Deli Rye is not selling as well as they thought it would be. Now I am worried - that Banneton will resort to selling only plain stuff to please the local tastes, and that over time you get the sameness from this shop as with others.
The concept of "Gourmet food cannot exist without the gourmets" was articulated for me in the book that you recommended me to read, Nicole Mones's The Last Chinese Chef. If we extrapolate that concept, we'll find it is quite true to life's many other events and phenomena. The case in point is your Gérard Rubaud story. Without you, there will be no Gérard Rubaud (or at least many others and I wouldn't know about it).
Guite simply, you are the gourmet in this case.
Shiao-Ping
Preferably from New York or New Jersey. I'm sure you can find some.
They know good rye bread because that's where you could find the best deli ryes once upon a time in the US. Once they know it's available at a local bakery, the bread will sell.
Have you ever seen an English comedy TV series, "Yes, Prime Minister"? When I first got married and came to Australia some twenty years ago, that was the show that we watched the most. You can appreciate how difficult it was for me to fully understand their English back then. But there was one scene that I still remember clearly to this day: The Prime Minister's rating was down and his Government was really worried. He was discussing with his chief of staff how best to lift his rating. His chief of staff, an Oxford graduate, said, in a stroke of geniuses, "How about a royal wedding, or a christening of a royal baby (or something like that)?" The Prime Minister looked at him with a stern expression and asked as he raised one of his eyebrows, "You can arrange that?"
So yeah, I would love it if Brisbane has more expats, but then it would be a very different city from today (and alredy the traffic is bad in certain area). Thanks for your comment.
My ex-boyfriend grew up in Brisbane but he had never mentioned anything about mango trees there. I grew up in Hawaii and of course mango was just another every-day thing. Now I live in Canada, mangoes are like gold. Don't get to eat them too often. By the way, what is that fruit tree that you mentioned, some very popular Taiwanese fruit? I have never seen anything like that. I am curious. Al
... by the road side. Too bad I don't eat mango.
Oh Shiao-Ping, I'm so jealous! That fruit is my favourite fruit in the whole world and I've never seen it anywhere else other than Taiwan. My mother tells me that it's too delicate to ship which is probably why I've never seen it in the US! You take such beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing with us :)
Althetrainer, the Chinese name for it is: Lian Wu, and I believe in English we call it a Wax Apple or something? I just googled for it and came up with this wiki article.
They are Lian Wu alright. But too delicate to ship? I wouldn't think so. There wouldn't be much interest outside its native land and that's why you don't see it around. My husband left a big branch of fruits hanging over our side of the fence. He "hedged" most of it. In a few days time, I should be able to "harvest" the fruits. Lucky me. I would be happy to send you a small box by priority mail but do you think they can get through your Customs?
You are so kind :) They probably couldn't make it through customs though I have no idea! Thank you for the sweet offer though :)
Let us know what you end up doing with your plethora of fruit. We're all waiting anxiously for your creative juices to strike up again! Thanks for being so inspirational.
Oh Shiao-Ping, I'm so jealous! That fruit is my favourite fruit in the whole world and I've never seen it anywhere else other than Taiwan. My mother tells me that it's too delicate to ship which is probably why I've never seen it in the US! You take such beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing with us :)
Althetrainer, the Chinese name for it is: Lian Wu, and I believe in English we call it a Wax Apple or something? I just googled for it and came up with this wiki article.
I know them as jambu or wax jambu, wax apple, or water fruit (jambu air) or rose apples. I put them in the same family as star fruit or carambola. Tastes are similar, trees are similar. I've seen them from greenish white to white and cream color with touches of pink, pink to dark pink and red. I also like them and know they don't keep long with their very thin skins but they are beautiful fruits, a delight to behold as well as thirst quenching.
The foliage can be very dense dark green often hiding the fruit. Many times they are planted for the foliage and not the fruit and many owners are unaware of the fruit growing in their bushes. I happen to be a fruit spotter by nature and have seen them on the edges of supermarket parking lots, golf courses, hotel grounds and in parks in tropical climates.
Mini
... my neighbour planted it for foliage ... (and a bit of privacy from me as a neighbour!). THANKS, Mini, for the observation...you, a fruit spotter, aye!
Hi Al (Al the trainer), Mini has given all the explanation we need.
And look at this:
seven days later from the first photo of Lian-Wu (wax apple) in the post
seven days later (2)
seven days later (3)
What am I going to do with them? Stew? It won't be good to eat as stewed fruit as they are too watery and no texture to hold the body. Puree them? What a waste. Juice them and make it into a .... bread?! You lose it in the bread (or anything); it doesn't have a strong or distinct flavor.
A dilemma for modern city people.
Shiao-Ping
Some of the fallen fruit looked pretty big on the ground. What beautiful color! I wouldn't know what to do with so many of them. Since they are high in water content, cooking probably is not the way to make the best out of them. Can you juice them and drink it as is, or blend with other types of juice for a stronger flavor? It's a pity to see all these go to waste. Hope you will find a way to enjoy them. Al
maybe that's what I'll end up doing... a glass of organic Lian-Wu juice!
Pick the nicer ones before they fall and take them with you to your favorite small family owned market. Or bring a big basket to the baker. You can trade them for something else and they can pass them out to customers. I have thrown a few into fruit salad and such. They're best just eaten fresh as you know and when displayed, they are too pretty to resist.
Good sum-up.
Yes, I googled Wax Apple and sure enough, a picture looked very similar to this popped up. Very interesting! Al
hi shiao- ping what a lovely blog post , definately to hot for baking it has been 40 degrees for 3 days in a row here but the promise of cooler weather to come tomorow and the next day.
The fruit lookS a lot like strawberry guava which has quite a sweet aroma and the fruit likely to get fruit fly here in western australia.
The bird is a male Eastern King Parrot and a very handsome fellow too.
The greens in your pics are beautifull everything here is straw coloured to a bleached white. i think we are about to break a record for the days without rain approaching 60.
I was impressed by your choice of west australian rock salt and a margaret river white in a recent post. do try a red from Frankland in our Great Sothern if you get the opportunity.Awine region to rival Margaret River without all the hype. ALKOOMI, OLD KENT RIVER. FERNGROVE just to name a few. Alkoomi is available in the US as the owner is often there for our American TFL cousins.
If you can find a HAREWOOD SHIRAZ the fruit comes from my cousins property and is a great little drop.
Regards Yozza
I am no good when it comes to wine labels. My husband knows what I like to drink and which vintage, etc, so I don't try any more; I don't even go to his cellar. But the labels you suggested look very interesting and I'll definitely look them up. Thanks.
Regards, Shiaoping
p.s. Are Eastern King Parrots all male? The one that visits my backyard all the time does look kingly. But we can't get a good view of Waldo. Do you think it is also a male?
but I'm only going by color. Looks to have less color and a yellow/green head? Females have green head, grey chest area, males are so colorful!! Sylvia
Shiao-Ping
you've got a talent for photography! keep it up.
is located at the left hand margin of the photo, about 1/4 of the way down from the top.
Paul
... my husband was the first one who spotted it. I had to get him to spell it for me ....
Beautiful pictures, beautiful bread.
Imagine a flock of cockatoos out in the neighborhood like that. Here they are only kept as exotic pets. Sweet, funny birds.
hi shiao-ping
EASTERN KING PARROTS
if they were all males there would not be eastern kings for very long!
the hens do not have the bright red colouring of the males and the green is less vivid.
the white birds are of course sulpur crested cockatoos and are very difficuly to differentiate sexes.
regards yozza
When I read what Sylvia wrote, I already knew what a silly question that I asked.
That was classic! (for a laugh)
THANKS!!!
I love my village bakery so much that I am uploading these pictures:
Olive & Rosemary Sourdough, Banneton Bakery
When the weather is cooler I will be able to sit outside their store, enjoying a cup of coffee with their sourdough, and watching the leaves of the great big tree waving in the breeze. I will have to coax them into employing a barista though.
It looks so delicious with such a beautiful crumb and just around the corner. How fun that will be to visit even on a cold day. What flours do you think they used?
Sylvia
The flour they use would have to be just plain flour (there is no sign of any grains or seeds, and not normally anyway with this type of bread).
I am waiting for my first (yet unbeknown) visiter to show off my village bakery. My son has been there (quite uninterested) but my daughter has not, who is overseas at the moment. I think my first "guest" may have to be my husband.