You Saucey Minx!!

My love of rubs and spice blends is well documented. I am a rub-o-holic. At last count I owned 30+ vials of spice blends, most bought at gourmet stores and markets, some of which I have created on my own. And when Furry and I were packing to go on our recent holiday, I was tempted to pack some.

When Furry and I holiday, we pack differently to most holiday makers. We take 2 suitcases. One has our clothes, togs, sarongs, thongs, maybe a good casual dress or two for going out, a pile of dodgy holiday reading.. stuff like that.

The second suitcase houses a wok, a bamboo steamer, a non-stick pan, a non stick saucepan, a cast iron fry pan, 2 cook's knives, a cleaver and various essentials like flour, rice flour, herbs and spices, up to 3 types of rice and a few assorted gow gee wrappers.

Can never be too careful, is our motto.

Our reasoning is that if you're going away somewhere for only a week, there's no point buying sushi rice for the one night you might feel like cooking it, arborio for the single risotto, 2 tablespoons of rice flour for a crispy battered fish, etc.

And god forbid that we have a hankering for Furry Balls in a small town whose supermarket doesn't stock won ton wrappers!!

The spice blends are good when that freshly caught fish just screams Sri-Lankan fish curry. I mean who is going to go out and buy the individual sachets of turmeric and asafoedita in Merimbula??

So this holiday I packed home made Greek, Italian, Indian and Mexican blends, my sea salt, black pepper and oregano rub, some store bought z'aatar and rasa al hanout, some sumac and a few other assorted bits and pieces.

So imagine my sheer joy to find The Saucy Spice Company selling its wares at Eden Whale Festival Market!!

The first thing that catches your eye is the packaging. Simple. Bold. Bright. Like a barracuda with ADHD, I can't resist anything bright and purple. Their stall is row upon row of little paper bags, all purple or pink or yellow or orange, all in line like little soldiers! Each package contains about 50g of spice mic, and a simple recipe instruction leaflet.

Each sachet contains only herbs and spices, no preservatives, fillers or other nasties.


I picked up a Creamy Seafood Chowder, a Seafood Laksa, a dhal and spinach soup mix, a Jamaican Jerk for chicken and an Afghani Lamb.

So far I have only used the chowder, but was very VERY impressed with the simple instructions, the depth of flavour and the authenticity of the mix. The Chowder mix was a combination of coriander, fennel, ginger, nutmeg, cardamon, cinnamon, black pepper, garlic, onion, chili, turmeric and parsley. Each pack costs about $4.50, and my chowder pack made 5 litres of soup!!

They have hundreds of different spice blends, from the ubiquitous Butter Chicken to a Mulligatawny blend, a spicy braised rabbit to a South African Boerewors mix for meatloaf or patties. They even have an Egyptian fish blend, flavoured with honey!!!

They sell on line, as well as in markets throughout the South Coast (NSW), and are based in Pambula, or contact Nick Bamford on 02 6495 7818. It's a small, family-owned company and while it imports many of its ingredients, uses locally grown or Aussie owned stock where it can.

If you're looking for spice blends that aren't full of filler, and "anti-clumping" agents, and want to support a small, local Aussie business providing a superior quality product, drop by their web site.

I am an oyster snob.

We all know a noisy noise annoys an oyster. Ok. maybe YOU don't, but I have been waiting for MONTHS to use that.

Ok.. moving right along.

**ahem**

Oysters. Up until this past holiday, I thought they were preety much like wine, or art. All the nuance was in the eye... or in this case, the mouth of the beholder. Or the eater.

Whatever.

Recently, on our trip to Merim-Bueller, we got to taste a whole range of the local seafood. Which included the local oysters. I can guarantee these were as fresh as you are ever likely to get, as we saw them harvested and shucked directly in front of us.

And sadly, I was expecting ambrosia and all I got was "Meh" **insert Jewish Bubbu shoulder shrug**

Really, the damn things didn't taste any different from the oysters I get at my suppliers back in Melbourne.

They were nice, don't get me wrong, and cheap.. $10 a doz, but they sadly left me totally underwhelmed. After the Bruny Bay oysters I tasted at last years Slow Food Fest, the difference was palpable. Rather than plump, succulent morsels bursting with briney goodness, these were just flat. Flat as in not plump in shape, or flavour. Rather than a bold whack-in-the-face taste of the sea, this was a flat, pale imitation.

A real disappointment.

However, the region's seafood rep redeemed itself with the local Eden mussels, which I had served at The Aquarium Wharf Restaurant, in Merimbula. The reverse of the above. I had seen them at the Fisherman's co-op in Eden for $11 a kg, which was rather pricey when I can get Melbourne mussels for $2 a kg in season.

Newp. These mussels are larger and fuller flavoured than my local ones. While the Merimbula oysters were flat, these mussels were plump and luscious. More so than any other mussel I've ever tried. The Wharf Restaurant served them steamed in an Asian "soup" of Tiger beer, coconut milk, galangal, coriander and chilli. This dish was a first place tie for Best Lunch of the Tour, along with the open steak sandwich at Rockpool (at the Merimbula Bowls Club!).

Not only was the food outstanding, the view from the wharf restaurant was spectacular! Our waitress was teeling us that the previous week, they'd had whales frolicking just off the restaurant, but alas, none graced us with their presence that day.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Merimbula. I thought it was God's waiting room. And to a certain extent, it is. One of the most amazing meals we had was at Rockpool... not the shi shi pooh pooh Sydnet one... Rockpool cafe, at the Merimbula Bowls Club! As in white hats, gentle clapping and Volvos kinda bowls club. In town, we were stunned by Cantina, at the top of Market Street, (02 6945 1085, 56 Market Street, Merimbula). We went there for breakfast on several occasions. Their Flamenco eggs (above) were a generous ramekin filled with eggs, chorizo, capsicum, local bacon and cheese, served with door-stop pieces of whole grain bread.

Free range poached eggs, organic spinach and tommies on whole meal.

My fave. Local Eden sardines, pesto-crumbed, served on whole meal toast with tomato/capsicum/bacon salsa.

And Furry's fave, the big breakfast. Home cooked baked beans. These were slow cooked with a ham hock, and light years away from anything you can get in cans.

The big breakky also came with the most amazing locally smoked bacon, marinated mushies, a bush pepper and tomato sausage, a pork breakky sausage, and a potato roesti.

Seriously fantastic local food, served fabulously well, with great friendly staff, excellent Byron Bay coffee.

Without doubt, the best breakky of the tour.

Stand by for the Bad and the Ugly.