In this week’s column: Thebarton food secrets, new markets for Adelaide, InDaily photo competition winner, making the best of your beef, and how to prepare and eat globe artichokes.

What’s new in Thebarton

When InDaily decided to visit Adelaide Lebanese Bakery in the warehouse at the back of the West Thebarton Hotel in Anne Street, we discovered a three-week-old French patisserie/boulangerie/epicerie instead.

The Adelaide Lebanese Bakery, with its authentic pizzas, sweets, and fresh and packaged Middle Eastern grocery lines, has moved its retail operations to larger premises in Chapel Street, Thebarton, but in its place another foodie secret has emerged.

Canelé: Nat Rogers/InDaily

Kerou & Co, behind a red-painted front door, is a new food business specialising in home-made French-style bread, pastries and cakes and imported French products such as tinned escargot, walnut oil and cordials.

Owners Yael and Abel Kerouanton are brother and sister. Yael is a pastry chef and Abel is a baker. The siblings moved from Poitiers, a small city in West Central France near the famous port of La Rochelle, from where they have brought their recipes for exotic French breads and pastries.

Fougasse (“it’s like focaccia meets pizza dough”), canelé (a small rum and vanilla-flavoured cake from Bordeaux with a crunchy shell and a rich, almost custard-like, centre), Far Breton (“a cake that was traditionally made by lighthouse keepers from Brittany from leftover crepe batter and dried prunes”), Paris Brest (a choux pastry “wheel” filled with praline cream) and Yael’s own gateaux creations are the house specialities at Kerou & Co.

Hazelnut Paris Brest. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

“We only use French imported flour,” says Yael. “It has a different gluten level and flavour to Australian flour because of the soil it is grown in. The recipes wouldn’t be the same.”

At Kerou & Co they also use New Zealand butter. “New Zealand butter has 82 per cent fat, which is higher than the Australian one. The fat content changes how the pastry flakes.”

The business supplies bread, pastries and cakes to La Buvette Drinkery, Cliché Exhibition restaurant, Casablabla Multicultural Tapas Lounge Bar, Lime Square Café, Entropy eatery and bar and the French Consulate, as well as traditional French crepes and ice-cream for events such as the French Film Festival, the Alliance Francaise French Market and the Tour Down Under. They will also have a stall at the Gilles Street Market on October 18.

Best food photo

Porkbelly skewers from Hoy Pinoy by Isabell (Instagram: @temptingpalates).

One of the biggest spectacles of the OzAsia Festival was Good Food Month’s inaugural Adelaide Night Noodle Markets, where for 11 days the Festival Centre Plaza was transformed into a hawker-style food market.

As well as the free outdoor entertainment by festival performers, the markets offered foodie photo opportunities for InDaily’s food photo competition while vendors prepared signature dishes for the crowds. Stallholders Hoy Pinoy reported feeding Adelaideans 21,000 skewers and the theatre of its stall was captured beautifully by one photographer, Isabell Al-Nahat, who wins a $150 Madame Hanoi voucher and a night at the InterContinental Adelaide (value $300) for her image of porkbelly skewers.

See more of Isabell’s work on Instagram (@temptingpalates) and a selection of the best foodie photos entered in the InDaily Night Noodle Markets photo competition here.

Mastering the Grill with Richard Gunner

Richard Gunner from Feast! Fine Foods. Photo: supplied

Learn about the best beef cuts for grilling, the difference between cooking dry and wet aged beef and how to cook the perfect steak at a hands-on class with Feast! Fine Foods’ Richard Gunner at the Central Market Kitchen on November 18.

The class includes a Bremerton Wines tasting and a take-home steak pack with which to practise your newly acquired skills. Tickets are $140 per person.

‘MasterChef’ 2011 runner-up Michael Weldon. Photo: supplied

Feast! Fine Foods is also holding two Christmas cooking classes with MasterChef 2011 runner-up Michael Weldon on November 29 and December 2. More information can be found here.

Marden Markets

A local sporting club is thinking outside the goal posts to bring the community together by hosting a weekly produce market.

The Azzurri Sports Club, known as the Adelaide Blue Eagles soccer club, is holding its first market this Saturday with more than 20 stallholders selling locally produced fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, eggs, olive oil, honey, plants, spices, seafood, coffee and cakes, as well as Greek, Bulgarian, South African and Indian foods. 

“Our emphasis will be on local produce,” says Azzuri Sport Club secretary Paul Giordano. “It’s about locals helping locals.”

Breakfast will be available at the market, which opens at 8am and finishes at 1pm. Keep your eye on the Marden Markets Facebook page for weekly specials.

In season – globe artichokes

Globe artichoke. Photo: Adelaide Farmers’ Market

The globe artichoke is an edible flower bud of Mediterranean origin. It grows to 6 to 10cm in diameter and weighs about 150g. A popular portion of the artichoke is its “heart”, which is buried deep under the partially edible leaves that surround the central choke (its fuzzy centre).

The ancient Greeks and Romans believed the artichoke has great health and medicinal benefits, and they were right. It is full of antioxidants, vitamins and folic acid, not to mention being a rich source of minerals.

The best artichokes feel heavy for their size, without cuts or bruises, and have leaves that lie close together. Avoid larger-sized artichokes as they are usually not as tasty. It is best to use them when they are fresh, but you can store them for up to a week in a plastic bag in the fridge.

To prepare the artichoke, cut off most of the stem, leaving about 2cm below the head. Then cut off most of the crown, leaving about 3cm above the stalk. Remove the tough leaves and then run a paring knife along the stalk to remove any remaining bits of skin and leaves. Take a spoon and scoop out the choke in the middle. Once finished, immediately put prepared artichokes into a bowl of cool water with sliced lemons to prevent too much browning.

A great way to serve artichokes is as a dip. Boil six medium-sized prepared artichokes until soft with a dash of salt and some lemon juice. Remove from water and allow to cool. Then roughly chop and put in a food processor with ¾ cup of cashews and ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese. Pulse for a minute, or until smooth, adding a splash of olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh artichokes are available from Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market stallholders Alnda Farms and Virgara’s Garden every Sunday from 9am-1pm at the Adelaide Showground, Leader Street, Wayville. The Prospect Farmers’ Market is also held on Thursday afternoons at Vine Street Plaza next to the town hall on Prospect Road from 3pm.

What’s on?

Asiafest – until October 11
Food and cultural festival Asiafest is in Rymill Park for 10 days this year, showcasing more than 20 of Adelaide’s restaurateurs in pop-up food stalls reflecting an Asian street market ambiance and the culinary delights of countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. 

Sukhumvit Soi.38 birthday banquet – October 18
Sukhumvit Soi.38 chef Terry Intarakhamhaeng is preparing a banquet menu matched to seven South Australian wines to celebrate the Pulteney Street restaurant’s first birthday. The dinner is a one-off event; tickets cost $85 per head and are limited to 50 people. Bookings can be made by calling the restaurant on 8223 5472.

Fresh Eyre to Clare – until October 31
In a regional collaboration between the Eyre Peninsula and the Clare Valley, a program of food and wine events showcasing seafood and Riesling will be held in the Clare Valley this month. A highlight of the program will be a large public event on the lawns at Sevenhill Cellars with live entertainment and a Riesling bar with more than 20 wineries pouring Rieslings matched to seafood dishes prepared by the regions’ chefs. The full event program can be found here.

Variety on King Wiliam lunch – October 23
Enjoy a three-course lunch by Bottega Rotolo, Ichitaro Dining, Faraja, Parisi’s, By Blackbird and Mulot’s Patisserie matched to Tomich Wines and Wicks Estate wines by the runway along King William Road at this year’s Adelaide Fashion Festival. Tickets are $140 per person. The menu and more information can be found here.

2015 Vale Brewing CheeseFest – October 23 to 25
Now in its 10th year, CheeseFest has grown from a grassroots fair celebrating cheese to a three-day festival with a national following where visitors immerse themselves in SA’s cheese culture with tastings, talks, cooking sessions and picnic trails. The full program and tickets are available here.

Lunch with BK Wines and Performance Anxiety – October 25
Adelaide Hills winemaker and ex-chef Brendon Keys is matching his spring-release wines to a creative menu at the Chihuahua Lunch Club, while thespians Amber McMahon and Sarah Giles provide the entertainment. Tickets are $89 per person. Booking enquiries can be made here.

Langhorne Creek out of the barrel – November 7 and 8
This is Langhorne Creek’s annual springtime tasting event for new and special-release wines that are otherwise unavailable for tasting. Experience wine bottling at Angas Plains Wines, a wine and cheese-pairing masterclass at The Winehouse, food and wine and music at Bleasdale Wines, a pop-up tasting of Temple Bruer Organic Wine at the Langhorne Creek Memorial Hall and much more. See the full program here.

Picnic at Marble Hill – November 22
Tickets are now on sale for this one-day festival of artisan wine, food and music from the cool heart of the Adelaide Hills. A group of Adelaide Hills wineries and cider makers will showcase their drops alongside a range of local food producers against the stunning backdrop of the historic Marble Hill ruins. Proceeds go to the Cora Barclay Centre for deaf and hearing-impaired children, the Basket Range Primary School and the Cherryville CFS. Tickets are $15 for adults. More information here.

News, tips and information?

The Forager would love to hear about your news, events and suggestions. Please contact us at [email protected].