Return to Pasteur's

It may look like a simple soup dish, but the pho noodles from an outlet of this Pasteur's chain speaks volumes in my heart. I first came across them upon moving into Sydney and recently was delightfully surprised to find this unique food offering still alive and available from the very first chain of modest shops making them. The world-wide Pasteur chain has a business history pre-Australia and is an illustration of the combination of French influence, Asian spices and Vietnamese creativity. You can find noodle soups in various forms in several countries, from the clear forms with dumplings to Japanese bean miso and chilli laden encounters in tom yam and prawn flavoured versions. The stock soup of the pho utilises the potent aromatic stewing of cinnamon and meat bones, filled in by chicken or beef slices and tempered by fresh bean sprouts, fiery chilli cuts, a twist of a lemon slice and the headiness of basil leaves. It is a product of the Vietnamese penchant for fresh produce and a solid brew.

The look and feel of the Pasteur shops in Sydney have not changed much despite the passing of the years. Even if they were the pioneers, they now face competition from many to cater for a large regular market. It is not just the pho which attracts this clientele - my other favs from the Pasteur days include the broken rice dishes, the crispy fried chicken served on a bed of tomato-flavoured rice, the paper thin rolls with the most sweet tasting refreshing vegetables and the sugar cane cuts with prawns. Why the name Pastuer? Louis would have been proud.

In The Ozzie Bush

Love Harder

Copyright Ali Love

A Letter from Wollongong

The cicadas were having an intense orchrestral session almost every evening in early March, a good sign that summer was still with me, despite the official pronouncements of autumn arriving,  Soon, I hope, the evenings will be crisp, fresh and have a bite of nippiness.  This would be great for a meal in the outdoor settings of places like Sushi-ya in Artarmon or Kaiser Stuben in Terry Hills. Seriously, the heralding of autumn should be put off to May in coastal New South Wales and then winter skipped, with spring barging its way by early August.

It is already April Fools Day and there has been some relief. It has been cloudy and raining - yes with wet downpours swooshing with gusty winds - for the past three or so days, and how cosy it has been to settle under the doona on such ensuing nights. One of thr reasons I have remained in Australia for so long is this type of benign temperature and to watch the dew and moisture on plants during a misty morning.

Clearing electronic garbage can provide a calming sense of letting go, just like the unwelcome junk mail from old fashioned postboxes.  Email can be quick and easy to use, but also accumulates a devastating trial of unwanted addresses, forgotten unsolicited marks of strangers we pass by in the proverbial wasteland and highways of cyberspace traffic.  To clear what they left behind is to clarify, to de-clutter and to seemingly have more space - again.

I do have a penchant for mangosteens.  the Queensland varieties are now in season, and I could not resist getting 32 of them for around twenty dollars. The shop guy was also enthusiastic and had a smile for me as he persuaded me to try, not knowing that I would have bought them anyway. This fruit has not reached Australian suburban supermarkets like Thai durians and red rambutans. Is it because of its forbidding hard purple shield, desperately hiding a luscious inside?

There is nothing much to watch on holiday TV in this nation, only the threats of double or triple penalties on drivers licenses, increased petrol prices at the bowser and a thick settling in of quietness that may not truly reflect the liberation of a long weekend. Many families use the Easter season to catch up on reunions. April may herald a more leisurely pace as opposed to the Christmas and the end of financial year season, but also offers two separate public holidays in Australia, the other involving Anzac Day.  It is an opportunity for more introspective reflection, beyond the group camping and outdoor activities. The business season has progressed in earnest, it is time for consolidation and changing of the seasons.

Simple Pleasures

Growing Foliage in Balgownie

Delightful but unexpected entrance to the Canterbury Leagues Club in Sydney

Light on the palate, fresh in sensation and easy on the diet - a Japanese lunch offering

(Image credit - R Lim)

Syrup flavoured ice shavings, compemented with beans, fruit slices and more

(Image credit - R Lim)

Pattern on porcelian, kept for over twenty years

Only a few know what I went through to get this speedometer mileage of 70, 459 km as at 31 March 2010 - yes, but I love driving too