OUR social media GRIFFE

What is a 'griffe'? I first came across the word 'griffe' this last holiday season, when I devoured 'Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas' in one overnight helping. I must admit when I first picked it up in the Shakespeare & Co bookshop, it was the similarity of the title to the Hemingway classic, 'A Moveable Feast' that attracted me.

As it turned out, the book and I were well suited. Baxter is an Aussie who now lives in Paris; I am an Aussie who stills lives in Sydney but likes to visit Paris. The connection did not end there and was cemented with a love of food, French food. Baxter also describes his daughter's coming of age when she brings home her 'griffe'.

My Google search found the definition of griffe: a clawlike ornament extending from the base of a column. The griffe Baxter refers to is the sum of ourselves that describes our personal style. For his daughter her griffe was her business card holder.

The New York Times writer, Dawn Drzal, describes this griffe as the "individual and passionately held map of 'favorite cafes, shops, walks, meeting places' that every Parisian constructs of the city".

I got to thinking. We are calling it out, putting it out there, everyday, our own griffe. The griffe has become international and available. We put it out there on our Twitter, our Facebook pages and however else we connect ourselves with the world through social media. Yes, our individual statements of preferences, taste and style are publicly on display.

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Boeuf Bourguignon (Inspired by Julia Child)

This week was an exciting moment in the food blogging world as the movie Julie & Julia opened. (here in Australia we've still got a couple of months to wait though ... and my fingers are tapping the kitchen table impatiently). The movie features two stories: the memoirs of Julia Child and the story of food blogger Julie Powell cooking her way through Julia's recipes. One of the things I'm delighted about with the movie is that it features some of my French (classic) favourites. They've never gone out of style with me. They are the dishes I taught myself as a teenager and have been cooking ever since. Every winter since I first cooked this recipe, I've warmed family and friends with Boeuf Bourguignon. Here's my adaptation using mustard, not flour, for thickening. Where possible, for added depth of flavour, I prepare a day ahead of eating, and start preparations with the marinade the day before that. Boeuf Bourguignon 1.5 kg (3 1/2 lbs) casserole beef

Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

Rhubarb and Apple Crumble with Mum's Crumble Topping Crumble is one of my favourite comfort foods. It's warming to the heart as well as the tummy in winter. In summer, I still serve crumble (with a change of seasonal fruit) and serve it at room temperature or cold. There's a couple of ways I make the fruit filling for the crumble, but I always use mum's crumble topping; this is the one we ate at home as kids. For the Topping In all honesty, while I don't remember ever measuring the ingredients, here's my attempt to recreate with measurements. There are four ingredients butter (125g or 4oz), brown sugar (1/2 cup), plain flour (1 cup), rolled oats (1 cup). - Mix the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter. Stir, and loosely sprinkle on top of the fruit mixture. - After a hint from Chef Luke Mangan , I've recently created a 'friends to dinner' variation by adding little chocolate nuggets (I used dark chocolate roughly chopped) to the crumble topping mix

Spring Lamb Navarin

Yesterday I took a jaunt to Sydney's newest (and oldest) retail butcher. I knew something was different as soon as I saw the window in Queen Street Woollahra. Paintly boldly is the motto: "If Pigs Could Fly". In the window is a small whole pig with wings and in the base of the display a bed of white feathers. This is no ordinary butchers. Father and son, Vic and Anthony Puharich are suppliers to many of Sydney's finest restaurants. "The Churchill's Butchery site has been a butcher shop since 1876, so it seemed only appropriate that we opened our flagship shop there" say Anthony Puharich, CEO of Vic's Premium Quality Meat . Anthony was kind enough to take time out of a busy Saturday to proudly yet humbly show me around the store. There's a fine range of goodies, including charcuterie, traiteur and rotisserie. Not sure if the secret's out yet but my favourite mustards and salts are also stocked there. There's even dessert. While we were

Thoughts From Becca

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