The Challenge....

Hi there,
My name is Adam, I'm 28 and from Melbourne, Australia. I'm relatively new to the world of blogging, but like to think I'm a bit of alright in the kitchen. Last year I completed my Certificate 2 in Commercial Cookery, just for fun (I don't work in the industry, but am seriously considering it.) If you've seen my other blog which I started a few months ago, Totally Addicted To Taste, you might have noticed that I'm a big fan of Teage Ezard's cooking (and restaurants for that matter). Teage has 2 restaurants here in Melbourne; Ezard @ Adelphi and Gingerboy. He also has 2 restaurants in Hong Kong, which from what I can tell are based on his 2 restaurants in Melbourne. They are located at Jia Boutique Hotel.
When I first laid my eyes on Teage's first book 'Ezard,' I instantly fell in love with the presentation of his dishes; the crispy garnishes, the sticky soy swirls on the plate and the high rise desserts just look outstanding!



Back when I discovered this book a couple of years ago I never thought I'd be able to cook recipes from the book, as they do appear to be quite complicated to the novice cook. Nowadays, even though some of the recipes have more than 30 ingredients, I find the recipes to be more exciting to cook, rather than complicated. Although, I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say I feel a slight rush of adrenalin when I know I have to cook one or more of these dishes for a dinner party!
I've counted 65 recipes in this book and I've decided to cook every single one of them. My goal is to make at least 1 dish per week. Now you might be thinking that 1 recipe per week isn't much of a challenge, but as I mentioned earlier- some of these recipes have 30+ ingredients or take 24 hours+ to prepare. Not to mention the fact that cooking such intricate dishes can get quite expensive. So one dish a week it is (at least) until I've cooked them all.

Why am I doing this? Well, firstly for fun. I love cooking and I love Ezard's food, so at the very least, I'll have fun and eat some damn good food.

I'm also hoping that by doing this, I'll be able to learn some cooking techniques that only a world renowned chef like Ezard could teach me. And since I don't work in a kitchen learning from a chef's book is the best I can do for the moment.

I have already cooked some of the recipes previously in this book, but for the purpose of this challenge, I'll make them all again, to show you how I go.

I just want to point out also, that unfortunately I won't be publishing the recipes on this blog. I don't want to take away from book sales from Ezard or breach copyright. So, if you're wanting the full recipes, you will need to pick up the book yourself. ($50 available signed from the restaurant). I will be taking photos though, to show you some of how I put together the meals and also obviously the finished dishes. So, it looks like my friends are going to be eating some of the best food of their entire lives! (even if I do say so myself!)

So, come and join me on a journey through the back streets of Melbourne, around Italy, through the Middle East finishing up in Asia for a tour of the taste buds!!



Here goes..... wish me luck!!