Friday, September 15, 2006

Blog by Mail outgoing



I had a lot of fun putting together my blog by mail package. This is what I included:

Gourmet Dips ( Mexican)
Add to mayo, sour cream or fromage frais as a dip, or use as a rub for meat. I bought this recently at the Melbourne Food and Wine Fair.

Vittoria coffee
Melbourne is a real coffee-lover’s paradise, like Seattle. Vittoria coffee is Melburnians’ choice for coffee in a city who take coffee more seriously than anyone in the southern hemisphere.

Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea
I struggled to find much from Ireland here in Melbourne, but we are famous for our reliance on tea. Twinings is the nicest Irish tea we can get here. Great with a nice fruit scone (recipe on this blog!).

Tree of Life Macadamia Oil
Macadamia nuts are a huge Australian crop. This Australian oil is great for cooking or salad dressing.

Outback Spirit wild rosella jam
Rosellas are a native fruit. This preserve is reminiscent of a tart raspberry or plum jam.

Outback Spirit mango native mint chutney
Native mint is fresh with a peppery finish, and goes really well with the Australian-grown mangoes.

Mangal tea masala
One of my absolute favourite drinks since living in India. Add half a teaspoon to a pot of your usual tea, or sprinkle a quarter teaspoon on your café latte or hot milk with plenty of sugar for a taste of real Indian chai. Chai lattes are all the rage here in Aus, but the ones served in coffee shops are ridiculously expensive and are more sweet than spicy. This is the real thing.

Mangal butter chicken masala
This spice mix (masala simply means spice mix) is easy to use and results in a creamy rich chicken curry.

Mangal vindaloo masala
Vindaloo is hot and vinegary, my favourite curry of all. It comes from Goa in India which was colonised by the Portuguese until the mid-sixties. It has a reputation for being searing hot, but it should be strong-flavoured and not overly chilli hot.

Spice Bazaar outback pack
A pack of spice blends using native spices like lemon myrtle and spicy-sweet pepperberries, not available outside Australia .

…and for dessert:

Tim Tams – the classic Aussie chocolate biscuit, craved by Australians when they leave the country
Cherry Ripes – my personal favourite Australian chocolate bar

I also included the ABC Delicious magazine, which I enjoy reading.

Hope Jenny in Baton Rouge enjoys it!

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea? I LIVE on that stuff. My favorite, no kidding. English breakfast is nice, but the Irish stuff? Oh, love it.

I was completely spoiled during my stay in Ireland; everywhere I went, someone brought me tea! I hated the thought of coming home...well, for many reasons...because I knew I'd be back to making it myself. And we all know everything tastes better when someone else prepares it for you!

As we were a day or so from coming home, my husband noticed a sign for a company where he could probably have found work: it was very difficult just driving on by! I think we'd have gladly just stayed there for the rest of our lives.

Mairead said...

Thanks Stephanie. It was hard to choose what to send!