Golden Ravioli

I'm still on my home-made traditional cuisine-finding jaunt, so if anyone knows of a find they don't want to keep to themselves, then drop me a line.

I was put onto Golden Ravioli by good Italian girl Dee as the "place where Italians buy their pasta when they can't be bothered making it themselves". That's a ringing endorsement if ever I heard one, so we bundled into the car and headed up to North Perth to their wholesale outlet (where they also sell to the public). There were kilo bags of fresh fettucine ($5), tubs of sauce ($8) and huge trays of ravioli bolognese ($12 for two trays). I tell you, this stuff is top drawer as well as cheap as chips and me & my sad wallet were well impressed.

Recipe: Emu Goulash

Image: Great Eggspectations

I don't think there's an awful lot of meat on an emu. I can't be entirely sure of this, but by the look of their tatty feathered frames and long appendages there doesn't seem to be too much that's edible. I don't particularly like emus.They're grumpy and snatchy and I got more than my fair share of nips as a child at local wildlife sanctuaries. So I was happy to get my own back and eat this one, which was gamey and strong.

Thanks again to Sue from Mates Meats for thinking outside the chicken/lamb/pork/beef box.

1 stick butter
3 onions sliced
1-1/2 tablespoons paprika
6 oz. can tomato puree
1-1/2 oz. vinegar
1 can beef stock
2 lbs. emu meat cut into cubes
dash sugar and garlic

Melt butter in a large pot with a cover. Add all of the ingredients and give it a bit of a stir. Cover and cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours until tender and thick. Serve over noodles with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Star Anise has a New Venture

*Hot off the press*

It's now, well, semi-official: Star Anise's David Coomer will be opening his new restaurant, tentatively named Pata Negra, in Nedlands next February.

"It will be Moorish-inspired, so will have a tapas focus," David told me today. "But it won't be exclusively tapas. There'll also be quail, octopus, tajines and vegetables roasted in the massive wood-fired oven. Most of the influences will be coming from Spain, Morocco and the Middle East. Our sous chef, Matt Stone, will be heading over there to run it and will be joined by Kurt Sampson. It will have a more casual, user-friendly feel than Star Anise".

Stay tuned..

Your Restaurants: October Profiles

Doughnuts filled with Callabeau chocolate, Meeka

My October profiles for ninemsn's Your Restaurants included:

• Maretti Caffe Cucina
• Meeka
• Cantina 663
• d'Tandoor, South Perth

Highly recommend those doughnuts..

Spanish Flavours, Wembley

Ay carumba, the price of a good paella these days.

After speaking with a Venezuelan friend who recommended this place for their authentic paellas ("It's good, but not as good as my mother's"), we just knew we had to give Spanish Flavours a go. So we call the proprietress, an energetic Spanish cook named Rosa, and ordered the paella the required two days beforehand. But man, is Rosa hard to snare. "Too busy cooking to answer the phone", she declares later. "Let them wait". So we wait.

We arrive at the appointed time just as Rosa finishes decorating our paella with King prawns, red capsicum and lemon wedges. The wait is indeed worth it. Rosa uses imported medium-grain Spanish rice for her delicious paellas, which is then reduced, risotto-style, with a secret stock. Saffron, squid, mussels, broad beans, peas, capsicum and runner beans are then added. Choices are either meat or seafood and when Rosa says it will serve four, she really means six as the portions are vast.

Oh, and it's $80 for 4 people, plus a refundable $50 deposit upon return of Rosa's Spanish flat-bottom paella dish which, she insists, the paella should be served directly from. Bellisimo.

Gold Plate Awards Winners 2008

At their recent night-of-nights at the Perth Convention Centre, the Catering Institute of Australia announced the winners of the annual Gold Plate Awards. Zafferano (food) & Voyager Estate (wine) took out the gong for the Prix D'honneur award, while White Salt won top prize of the night from a field of 151 finalists.

Other winners included:

Licensed Casual Dining – City / Metro

Red Cabbage Food & Wine

Restaurant/Cafe within a winery – Perth & Surrounds

Sandalford Estate - Caversham

Licensed Chinese and other Asian

Yu - Burswood

Seafood Casual Dining

Maretti Caffe Cucina

New Restaurant

Bistro Felix

Fine Dining

Julio's Restaurant

Wine List of the Year

(A)lure - Burswood

Big congrats to all the winners.