 | | Beans and garlic toast in broth. Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Amy Wilson. | |
| The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week's issue is written by Tacey Rychter, a writer and audience editor with the Australia bureau. |
| ______ |
| Where in the world is Besha Rodell? |
| Some of you wrote in, noticing that our Australia Fare columnist has seemingly gone missing. Our food critic has been traveling the world on an enviable eating/writing project, but she'll be back in business at the end of July. |
| In the meantime, I'm devoting this week's Australia Letter to food — specifically, what to cook when it's too cold to go do anything else. |
| I rang Dave Verheul, one of my favorite chefs and the force behind two Melbourne restaurants, Embla and Lesa, for some winter cooking inspiration. |
| His tip: the bitter-vegetables seller in your farmers' market is your new best friend. Growers of hearty winter vegetables like kale, radicchio, chicory and dandelion greens can be oddly obsessive about "weird varietals," but they're "my kind of people," he said. |
| These sturdy greens actually develop sweetness when grown in frosty weather, he told me, and they're delicious braised. |
| Here's how: sweat off diced onion (or shallots) and garlic in a pan with plenty of olive oil and throw in hard herbs like rosemary, bay leaves or thyme. Add a little chicken stock. Start braising your bitter vegetable of choice, which will turn "bright green" and will be done at "army green" (except the reddish radicchio). |
| Finish with a dash of acid (sherry vinegar or malt vinegar works) to sharpen the flavors, and season with salt and pepper. Serve with roast chicken or pork and mustard, or as a vegetarian pasta topping with lots of Parmesan. |
| I had great fun plumbing the NYT Cooking archives this week for tips and recipes to help see you through the winter. |
| Like one of my favorite little food pieces of the past year: Tejal Rao's love letter to cooking beans from scratch. It does feel a little magical to bring something seemingly dead and dried back to flavorful life — kind of like a culinary version of Sea Monkeys, I guess, but more delicious. |
| For some warming spice, see this velvety, tangy butter chicken recipe adapted from a kitchen hand who used to make it for a staff meal at the Melbourne restaurant Attica. |
| If you love Samin Nosrat, the delightful author of "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," as I do, check out this stunningly simple Roman egg drop soup and a verdant Persian soup that goes to town on fresh herbs. |
| Recently on a cold night I attempted Melissa Clark's seared broccoli and potato soup, nearly setting off my building's fire alarm in the searing step. Hanging a billowing, scorched pot out an apartment window in the freezing air is worth it for the smoky flavor, I promise! |
| If you do cook any of the above during the week, write in at nytaustralia@nytimes.com or join our NYT Australia Facebook group and tell us how you went (triumphs and hilarious mishaps equally welcome). Or just tell us what you're obsessed with eating and cooking this winter. |
| If you want more recipes from The Times, make sure you sign up to Sam Sifton's addictive Cooking newsletter. |
| Now, onto some other stories from the week. |
| _____ |
| Australia |
A camp in northern Syria in March holding women and children who fled the Islamic State's last areas of control.
Ivor Prickett for The New York Times |
| • Australia Is Bringing Children of ISIS Home. Is It Ready? Orphaned Australian children of an ISIS fighter are on their way home from a Syrian camp. Experts question whether the country is capable of reintegrating them into society. |
| • As Wimbledon Begins, Ashleigh Barty Is on Top of the World: The Australian player's rise to No. 1 has been sudden — just 12 weeks in the top 10 before reaching the top spot, the fewest ever for a top-ranked woman. |
| • How a Rugby Star's Homophobic Posts Got Australians Arguing About Religion: If there is one way to drag Australians, who pride themselves on their easygoing nature, into talking about divisive social issues, it is for those issues to intrude onto the sports field. |
| • Australian Student Is Released From Detention in North Korea Alek Sigley was pursuing a master's degree in the North Korean capital when he lost contact with family members and others. |
| Around The Times |
La Pedrera, designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, in Barcelona, Spain.
Samuel Aranda for The New York Times |
| • What's It Like to Live in Barcelona's Most Famous Gaudí Home? A Bit Inconvenient: Every year, more than a million people visit La Pedrera, the home of Ana Viladomiu in Barcelona. She does her best to avoid them. |
| • What to Know About Hong Kong's Evolving Protest Movement: We explain the main takeaways and look at why things took a destructive turn on Monday. |
| • Why So Many of Us Don't Lose Weight When We Exercise: Most of us eat more when we exercise, and though it may be just a few extra bites a day, the result is weight gain. |
| • Princess Haya, Wife of Dubai's Ruler, Seeks Refuge in London: The princess, the most visible and glamorous wife of the ruler of Dubai, has fled to London and is seeking a divorce. |
| And Over to You |
| Last week, we discussed the Israel Folau case and asked you whether freedom of religion and equality for all can truly coexist. We appreciated reading all of your responses. |
| "When Australians voted in favor of same-sex marriage, the government was obliged to change the outdated law. When Folau expresses his religious views, based on his understanding of the Bible, as he has been doing in social media for years, no one is obliged to do anything. |
| We accept gay and straight and various sexualities, but no one tries to make everyone share their choice. We accept Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and many other religions, but no one who tries to make the beliefs of one into a rule for everyone is going to succeed. The problem arises when 'values' are invoked, by a government or a football code, with the implication that if you don't share them you are un-Australian, or not a 'role model' for the sport. |
| What's ironic about Folau's absurd claims is that the very Christian churches who endorse Folau's views about mortal sins have fostered and concealed clergy who committed them. When the Coalition introduces its 'religious freedom' legislation, it will be interesting to see how far into their comfort zone that freedom extends — Or how far into the confessional." |
| — Alison Broinowski |
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