Comfort food: Top chefs nominate the best dishes for winter – HERALD SUN
WHEN the wind is whipping and the sky is dripping we crave food with the comfort factor ramped up to 11. Here’s what chefs rate as winter’s best.
Megan Miller 5 min read May 30, 2016 – 7:00PM
IT’S the time of year when thoughts turn from salads to soups and stews.
Winter is here and brings with it every excuse to settle in with a bowl of steaming pasta, a beef braise with buttery mash or a gooey chocolate pud.
For when the wind’s whipping and the sky is dripping we crave food with the comfort factor ramped up to 11 — whether nostalgic, indulgent or satisfyingly stodgy.
Here some of our favourite chefs — including interstate stars Analiese Gregory, Paul Carmichael and Duncan Welgemoed who were in town for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival — share their favourite things to eat on the couch when the weather is cold.
What’s your favourite comfort food? Tell us below.
NEIL PERRY, Rockpool Group
“It’s always a bowl of fresh tomato, smoked bacon and chilli spaghetti with freshly grated parmesan.
It’s a favourite on Sunday nights or whenever I have a rare night at home with my wife and girls.
They all love it and it’s so simple to make using great quality ingredients.”
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Spaghetti is a family favourite.
MATT PRESTON, MasterChef host and Taste columnist
“A rich lamb casserole, braised in pineapple juice with walnuts and brown rice.
I’ll make it weeknights or whenever my mother-in-law brings it down. It’s her recipe.
What I love about this recipe is that when I make it at home it’s as good as my mother in law’s original — almost!
Good braises are all too rare in Melbourne cafes and restaurants. Home cooks have the wood on them here.”
The humble souva is an excellent cutlery-free winter dish. Pictures: Andrew Tauber
GEORGE CALOMBARIS, MasterChef host and Press Club Group executive chef
“Souvlaki, of course. I can eat it without a knife and fork and it’s delish.
I’d have it once a fortnight for sure. Love that a souvlaki has become more than just lamb and chicken.
I made a raw vegetable one the other day with smoky kasundi chutney.
I’m also lucky enough to have a Jimmy Grants around the corner from my house so it’s always a nice Sunday lunch treat with my kids to go down there and enjoy.
But I also love the souvlaki bars in Oakleigh. It’s like mini Athens down there and there are some cool authentic souvas to be eaten.”
GARY MEHIGAN, MasterChef host and The Boathouse executive chef
“My favourite comfort food is Vietnamese pho.
It always used to be roast chicken but after my extensive travels through South-East Asia, particularly Vietnam, I’ve fallen in love with Vietnamese flavours.
I could have pho for breakfast, lunch and dinner any time of the week with lots of chilli, lime and Chinese doughnut.
Victoria St in Richmond and Footscray are the best places when eating out.”
Good pho you: The traditional Vietnamese soup is a winter warmer.
EMMA JEFFREY, Mammoth chef
“My favourite comfort food would have to be pho. I’m a sucker for broths and soups because it takes me back to my childhood.
We would visit my grandparents every couple of months in Altona from Daylesford and Nan would make the best broths and soups.
It was always packed with loads of flavour which we would finish off with a crusty sourdough loaf coated with butter.
For the past seven years I’ve been going to the same Vietnamese restaurant, Thanh Thanh in Victoria St, Richmond to have pho.
This is one of the best places in Melbourne for pho as it is rich with flavours and always consistent.”
A ladle of minestrone.
TOBIE PUTTOCK, chef and author
“Most of my favourite dishes come under the “comfort food” category but the one we probably have the most of is a minestrone soup.
The soup is a little tricked up to make a substantial meal, the base is simple consisting of garlic, chilli, rosemary, onion, carrot, celery, leek, parsnip, cannellini beans and cherry tomatoes.
I finish the soup in an Italian manner by cooking little cheese tortellini in the soup and finally an excellent amount of freshly grated reggiano cheese, freshly torn basil and a drizzle of our favourite extra virgin olive oil.”
Spaghetti aglio olio hits the spot.
ADAM D’SYLVA, Coda and Tonka executive chef
“Spaghettini aglio olio, with chilli, parsley and plenty of parmigiano reggiano.
I love it for lunch, dinner or a late night snack after work.
It’s not great to be eating pasta so late, although it does hit the spot.
I make it myself. I do love a good pasta of any sort. It’s my mother’s Italian side, where Italian food is my comfort.”
ADRIANO ZUMBO, dessert king
“You just can’t beat Mum’s cooking for comfort food, and also the nostalgia factor.
Some of my favourite dishes Mum whips up include involtini, meatballs, gnocchi, ravioli and chicken schnitzel.
From the supermarket aisle, custard out of the carton is another favourite.”
Chicken schnitzel.
Meatballs.
ALLA WOLF TASKER,Lake House culinary director
“There’s something really comforting about chicken, whether it’s in the form of a gorgeous juicy roast or poached gently to produce a fabulous broth.
With the roast, good seasoning, fresh herbs, garlic and lemon in the cavity and plenty of basting during the cooking are essential.
With the broth, enhance it with a handful of noodles, Asian brassicas, a nob of ginger and you have a great pho.
Mind you, none of this will work unless you make up your mind to source a great bird. Those poor battered overstocked hens just won’t do the job.
Besides you’ll be rewarding some bad practices with your purchase. Get yourself a truly beautiful bird that’s led a good life and I promise that you’ll be able to tell the difference.”
Hard to go past a roast chook. Picture: iStock / Getty Images
ANALIESE GREGORY, Bar Brose chef
“My favourite comfort food would have to be congee with fried bread.
It’s something I remember from growing up in a part Chinese family. But we called it ‘jook’, not congee. My Mum would make it in the rice cooker overnight with the leftover rice from dinner and dried scallops. We would wake up to it being ready and have it for breakfast.
Now it’s my favourite hangover cure and also my go-to meal when I’m jet-lagged or just feeling under the weather.
Sometimes, I make it for my staff in whatever restaurant I’m working in.
My mother’s congee was very plain — just rice and a light fish flavour. However, when I make it for myself, I like to add lots of garnish.
So really, it’s all about the condiments. What makes it great is you can go as plain or as involved as you like!”
PAUL CARMICHAEL, Executive chef of Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney
“My favourite comfort food dish is bakes with fried eggs and crispy salt fish.
The eggs need to have crispy edges, fried in a hot cast iron and cooked sunny side up.
It reminds me of being in Barbados. I’ll have this in the morning for breakfast, but only when my Mum makes it for me! I can make them myself, but not as well as my Mum.
The dish is eaten widely throughout the Caribbean but the way she makes it is special to me. ”
Paul Carmichael, Executive Chef of Seiōbo.
DUNCAN WELGEMOED, Chef at Adelaide’s Africola
“My favourite Sunday comfort food is a simple spaghetti and red sauce.
I’m generally shattered after my working week and this recipe is simple to put together, with no complaints from my two young boys.
This sauce is extremely versatile and also a great one to freeze and defrost for the babysitter, or maybe yourself on a lazy Sunday.”