Taste Buddies - A Sydney Food Blog

Wagyu BBQ at Chef's Armoury, Sydney

I’ve never been a big carnivore, preferring to graze mostly on vegetables, legumes and seafood. Recently, however, I attended the Wagyu BBQ at the Chef’s Armoury in Sydney, where I ate about a month’s worth of the most succulent, tender and flavoursome beef I’ve ever tasted.

On the menu was Wagyu. Two varieties – grain fed and organic, grass-fed beef. Both were expertly barbecued on a traditional Hibachi grill by Chef’s Armoury owner, Leigh Hudson, and served with salad, grilled garlic skewers and fresh wasabi.

Wagyu is highly marbled Japanese beef, also known as Kobe beef. The marbling is what gives the beef its tenderness and complexity in flavour. A fellow guest aptly exclaimed that he could actually "feel the fat melting" in his mouth. I certainly could. It was almost addictive with each bite being somewhat of a revelation.

Thankfully I had other things to distract me from the beef binge -- Japanese knives. Some of the very best.  It's no wonder the Japanese are so skilled at creating such beautiful tools. In the home of the Samurai, forging sharp steel is a most esteemed craft.

 

Hudson's knives sit gleaming like museum artifacts in glass cases. Each one seems to speak to whomever looks upon it. Knives of all shapes and sizes. All Japanese. All exquisite.

Chef's Armoury 
747 - 751 Botany Road,
Rosebery NSW Australia
Tel: +61 2 9699 2353
www.chefsarmoury.com

Cumquat Marmalade

It’s been a long time since my last post. Thank you to those of you who have written to me to see if I’m still alive. I am. More than ever.  But busy. So, so busy.

I recently started studying to become a chef. While it’s a lot of fun, it’s also all consuming, so posts will be less frequent for a little while.

While I haven’t had much time to spare I did manage to attend a country wedding in a town called Wombat in south west New South Wales. I had hoped the town would live up to its name with constant sightings of the furry little creatures. While I never saw a wombat, the scenery didn’t disappoint. It was magical.

The wedding ceremony was held at the couples’ property amongst an orchard of blossoming cherry and apricot trees. I was suspicious. The blossoms were too perfect – like strategically placed props from a movie set.

I left Wombat in verdant daze lovingly clutching my gift from the bride and groom – a bottle of homemade apricot jam “made with love” from their own trees. That was it. I was moving to the country to grow my own fruit, harvest my own vegetables and bottle-feed lambs.

Two weeks later, I’m firmly ensconced back into city life but the dream of one day having my own patch of land, even a small backyard, is firmly lodged in my heart. And while I don’t have my own plot of land, I am living in a rather expansive, green urban haven with its own orchard of sorts.