1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (227 page)

The meringue itself may be flavored with coffee, wattleseeds (see
listing
), cocoa, or vanilla. And who would complain if its filling were ice cream, topped with whipped cream and fruit? Not a ballerina’s first choice, perhaps, but a tempting thought for the rest of us.

Where:
In Cairns, Australia
, Ochre Restaurant, tel 64/7-4051-0100,
ochrerestaurant.com.au
;
in New York
, The Musket Room, tel 212-219-0764,
musketroom.com
; Le Bernardin, tel 212-554-1515,
lebernardin.com
;
in Brooklyn
, Kiwiana, tel 718-230-3682,
kiwiana-nyc.com
;
in Montreal
, Ta Pies, tel 514-277-7437,
ta-pies.com
;
in Vancouver
, Moose’s Down Under Bar and Grill, tel 604-683-3300,
moosesdownunder.com
.
Further information and recipes:
The Down Under Cookbook
by Graeme Newman (1987);
Cooking the Australian Way
by Elizabeth Germaine (2013);
Australian Greats
by Jo Franks (2012);
The Gourmet Cookbook
by Ruth Reichl (2006);
foodnetwork.com
(search mixed berry pavlova);
cookstr.com
(search pavlova);
australianfood.about.com
(search pavlova).

A perfect sun-gold peach, peeled and poached in vanilla syrup. A crimson puree of fresh, uncooked raspberries. A scoop of vanilla ice cream. Created by a French chef working in a London hotel, in celebration of an Australian diva, the luscious summer dessert that is Peach Melba could be considered a tricountry triumph.

Nellie Melba was the name of the celebrated opera star. Born Helen Porter Mitchell in
Melbourne in 1861, she adopted her chosen name to honor her birthplace, long before she became famous. The generally accepted story is that Auguste Escoffier, then the chef at the Savoy Hotel, heard her sing at Covent Garden in London, and was inspired to create the dessert for a party she attended in 1892. Whether the hotel manager—a man named César Ritz, who would soon open a hotel or two of his own—asked him to do so is still open to question. Whatever the case, the result is an irresistible combination of sweet-tart peach and soft, fruity raspberries complementing the smooth ice cream—a dessert well worth singing for.

Apparently the dessert proved too tempting to the luxury-loving diva. Perhaps because she ate too much of her namesake peach dessert, over time Dame Nellie Melba became seriously overweight and ill. In 1897, Escoffier was apparently moved to provide an antidote. For her diet, the great chef invented melba toast. Ever since, the world has been subjected to hideously stale or limp packaged examples of what was at first a very good creation.

Strange as it may sound, at the height of its fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, the ‘21’ Club in New York was as renowned for its house-made rye melba toast as it was for its hamburger. Today, similar melba toast perfection can be attained at home. Place a single layer of very thin white or rye bread slices on a baking sheet and slide it into a 200°F to 250°F oven, turning the slices several times until they are a medium golden brown on both sides, about 25 minutes.

Once cool, the slices will become crisp and can be stored for about two weeks in an airtight container.

Mail order:
For fresh Georgia peaches in season, Hale Groves, tel 800-562-4502,
halegroves.com
.
Further information and recipes:
For peach Melba,
Escoffier: Le Guide Culinaire
by Auguste Escoffier (2011);
The New York Times Dessert Cookbook
by Florence Fabricant (2006);
Joy of Cooking
by Irma Rombauer (2006);
The Perfect Peach
by David Mas Masumoto (2013);
Peaches
by Kelly Alexander (2013);
saveur.com
(search peach melba);
pbs.org
(search peach melba);
mpeckcooks.com
(search peach melba)
epicurious.com
(search herbed melba toasts);
examiner.com
(search homemade melba toast);
parade.com
(search homemade melba toast).
Tip:
Without ice cream, the raspberry-topped poached peach is known as peach (
pêche
) cardinale. For a perfect recipe, see
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1
by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle (1961).

An offbeat delicacy from the city of Adelaide.

If the name doesn’t get you, perhaps the dish itself will. A specialty of the city of Adelaide, a pie floater is exactly that—an upside-down beef-, onion-, carrot-, and gravy-filled meat pie topped with tomato sauce and set adrift in a bowl of nicely
thick green pea soup. Perhaps the oddest part of the awkward-to-handle invention—should one use a fork? a knife? a spoon?—is not its admittedly offbeat components but the fact that it was once popular as a street food, sold from carts.

Dating back to the 1870s, the floater was dubbed a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of Australia in 2003. Although it’s native to Adelaide, one of the most popular places to have it is Harry’s Café de Wheels, a cart near the Woolloomooloo Bay Finger Wharf in Sydney. Its succulent floaters with their green, red, and golden-brown color scheme have drawn visitors such as Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra, Anthony Bourdain, Elton John, and many others.

Pie floaters are still dished up at several restaurants in Adelaide today. And rumors continually swirl regarding the forthcoming resurrection of this or that pie cart. No wonder—with its offbeat sensibility and cold-weather appeal, the floater is due for a street-food revival.

Where:
In Adelaide
, Bakery on O’Connell, tel 61/8-8361-7377,
bakeryonoconnell.com.au
; for an upscale version, The Kings, tel 61/8-8212-6657,
thekingsbardining.com
;
in Sydney
, Harry’s Café de Wheels, tel 61/2-9357-3074,
harryscafedewheels.com.au
;
in Boston
, KO Catering and Pies at two locations,
kocateringandpies.com
.
Further information and recipes:
food.com
(search pea soup floater);
lifestylefood.com.au
(meat pie floater);
homegrown.org
(search australian pie floater).

No raw seafood fan should miss the chance to sample the tiny, rose-silver gem that is the Sydney rock oyster, or
Saccostrea commercialis
, the most highly prized of the many oysters that spawn in the bays and inlets of Australia, from Queensland to Victoria and around New Zealand. Inside their ridged, charcoal-gray shells, the meat is succulently silky, with a palate-tingling salinity that grows stronger in oysters harvested in the northernmost waters of that eastern coast.

Sliding down easily, an order of a dozen of these petite briny beauties should be considered a bare minimum. Two to three dozen as an appetizer is more like it, and if true hunger is a factor, who knows? For purists, the only permissible flavoring is a quick squirt of lemon juice.

Although Sydney rock oysters are regulars on upscale menus in Hong Kong and other
nearby ports, they are rarely sent farther from their native waters—with the exception of the occasional showy special event for which they are heavily packed in ice and shipped by air.

Sydney rocks aren’t the only Australian and New Zealand oysters worth trying. Other local specimens include rock oysters from Albany, Camden Haven, the Nambucca River, Pambula Lake, Wallis Lake, and several spots along the coasts of New South Wales and New Zealand.

Among the many places in New South Wales where one may try the greatest variety of local oysters, two favorites are the Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, where they are served with an optional Champagne-and-shallot mignonette dip; and the no-frills stands and stalls of the sprawling Sydney Fish Market, where they can be slurped informally and at fairly reasonable prices. Between those luscious indulgences, one can wander through the operatic fish market, established in 1945, and take in the working port, the colorful daily auctions, and the school of fish cookery. The market claims to have more species of seafood than any other in the world, except for Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji (see
listing
).

Where:
In Sydney
, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, tel 61/2-9518-9011,
boathouse.net.au
; Sydney Fish Market,
sydneyfishmarket.com.au
; Doyles on the Beach, tel 61/2-9337-2007,
doyles.com.au
;
in Wellington, New Zealand
, Logan Brown, tel 64/480-151-14,
loganbrown.co.nz
.
Further information and recipes:
A Multitude of Fishes
by Ann Creber (1987);
foodnetwork.com
(search sydney rock oyster pasty);
lifestylefood.com.au
(search sydney rock oyster with chili dressing);
taste.com.au
(search oysters with champagne sauce).

The color of molten gold, this headily perfumed and elegant honey is derived from the nectar of the starry white blossoms of 350-year-old leatherwood trees. Canny bees gather the nectar in the humid rainforests of Tasmania, the only place on earth where the
Eucryphia lucida
tree grows. The unblended honey that results has a unique, smoked candy flavor with a hint of spicy bitterness and a slightly overripe aroma like that of some aged cheeses. Just as with those cheeses, it may take a little getting used to, but any acclimation period will be well worth the effort. Sampled by the spoonful, drizzled onto yogurt or vanilla ice cream, stirred into tea or warm milk, or spread over hot buttered English muffins, scones, or flaky croissants, leatherwood honey is all sweetness and engaging complexity.

Most attractive in tall, tapering glass bottles, the honey is also sold in cans. Because it is neither filtered nor heated, it tends to become very thick; setting the closed bottle or can in warm water will help make the honey more fluid and spreadable.

After you fall in love with this sophisticated honey, you’ll want to get behind the effort to protect the endangered leatherwood trees. Along with neighboring eucalyptus trees, they are the frequent victims of the lumber industry. Saving the leatherwood forest has important benefits beyond the obvious pleasure of continuing to enjoy its honey. Also at stake is the livelihood of the beekeepers whose hives are already declining in number, and the local farmers who depend on busy bees to cross-pollinate their crops.

Mail order:
markethallfoods.com
(search leatherwood);
deandeluca.com
(search leatherwood);
igourmet.com
(search leatherwood).
Further information and recipes:
Australian Greats
by Jo Franks (2012);
feastmagazine.com
(search rustic fig tart with tasmanian leatherwood);
sbs.com.au/food
(search blue cheese and leatherwood);
marthastewart.com
(search honey and pine nut tart);
saveyourleatherwoodhoney.com
;
tasmanianhoney.com
.
Tip:
As with all honeys, remember the old rule for safest storage: Honey keeps where salt stays dry.