O Tama Carey

Making one’s own pastry is an admirable skill everyone should acquire. But it can be time-consuming and is sometimes not worth it, especially when it comes to filo. I have been known to make filo and it has been delicious and rustic and oh so satisfying, …

Mulligatawny is a dish I’d heard of growing up. My mum spoke of it – it was a soup her mum made for her when she was sick. As far as I was concerned, it was Sri Lankan and a mythical cure-all soup with an excellent name. Somewhere in my memory Nan …

There are endless shapes and names that fall under the category of pasta, and learning about them, making dough, rolling and shaping is a pastime that can be endless and obsessive. The feel of the dough when rolled to the point of delicate silkiness is …

I have mentioned this many times before in various places, but I feel that it shouldn’t be understated: I love Asian breakfasts. (“Asian” as a blanket word is not great, particularly in terms of food; however, I do think we can make an exception …

The end of daylight savings signifies a definite shift to our rhythms, the way we feel and the way we eat, whether or not the weather complies. And yes, there is a little chill to the morning air, but I am not entirely convinced that we won’t still …

Wrapping a piece of fish before you cook it is an excellent way of dealing with its delicate flesh, as it offers a certain amount of protection. Make a parcel of it, add other ingredients and suddenly you have a lovely little package filled with flavours, …

We have a very roomy balcony that, at various stages, has produced a small to mediocre number of edible delights. I have great intentions and visions of the bountiful beauty it could be but, at this moment, even watering it can be a chore. Our intermittent …

With the end of January fast approaching, it’s time to reflect. Have you spent the past few weeks eating and drinking too much? Entertaining and at parties? Dressing up and cleaning up? But even as the silly season winds down and life returns to normal, …

There is great beauty in cooking traditionally, learning about the flavours and techniques of countries and their dishes, how they came about and their origins. This can be a never-ending process, once you get into it and learn the ways, but it will allow …

We are thankfully living in an age where cultural appropriation is frowned upon, and rightly so, but when it comes to food and cooking, I feel as though the edges are a little blurrier. If you look at any country’s cuisine over the past few hundred …

I know it’s not for everyone but there is something about the tactile nature of eating food with your hands that makes me happy. I love having to make a little effort, constructing or building something before the reward of a delicious mouthful. There …

You know how there are some recipes that are so common in your world that you assume everyone knows about them? Like the orange and almond cake. In my mind, it’s so familiar that mention of these two ingredients together instantly conjures a complete …

I was thinking spring thoughts and these delightful, fluffy dumplings came to mind. If you have never had them, think of a cross between gnocchi and a delicate, simple ravioli filling. The mix is made and left to rest in flour or semolina to firm up and …

When you stop to think about it, the word curry is quite clever – it’s a term that covers an almost endless array of dishes. The flavours it covers range wildly, and traditional versions are found all over Asia and bastardised versions have been adopted …

Winter’s end is near but there is still time for us to talk about braised meats. Slow cooking has the advantage of being easy: combine a pile of ingredients, add some heat and you’re done. Put a pot in the oven in the morning and, with no fuss, dinner …

For most of my life I have very firmly been a summer person. I love being hot, swimming, beaches, tropical islands, barbecues and picnics, glary daytime sun and long sultry evenings. It feels energising. Winter traditionally made me a little grumpy, feeling …

Having a few mussel dishes up your sleeve is a very handy thing. They are relatively cheap and easy to source, you can cook them faster than it takes to decide on takeaway and they play agreeably with so many flavours. Go buttery with lots of garlic, …

One of the things we have learnt in these times of Covid is that lasagne, despite its Italian origins, seems to have made its way into the Australian psyche, becoming a strong contender for a spot as one of our national dishes. We have adopted and bastardised …

Naming dishes can be fraught with danger, especially when you are making up a recipe that hasn’t existed before and is a culmination of techniques and flavours picked from here and there. Calling these little beauties doughnuts feels wrong even though …

The idea of seasons is so important, they indicate change and movement yet are cyclic and are constantly returning. Here in Australia, though, they are somewhat curious, as we live by a European notion of them that has never really correlated with the …

I am all too aware that this recipe has the potential to be dismissed. Not only does it use a fiddly, lesser-known cut of fish, but you must also deal with the idea of deep-frying at home. If you are willing to try it, however, the rewards will be great. Let’s …

If you don’t know what a mallung is then please allow me to introduce you. Also known as mallum, it’s a Sri Lankan side dish that is usually purely vegetarian. Like a salad, which can be anything really, so too is a mallung. And like a refreshing …

There is something very satisfying about eating pie in any of its various forms. It’s comforting, usually easy to eat, and often, but not always, better with some saucy bit on the side. The variations are endless; what you put in, the type of pastry …

One of the interesting things about food and eating is how throughout your life your tastes can morph. I spent most of my life blissfully on the fence about the idea of cake. There were some delicious ones of course, but my cravings generally veered towards …

I have a love-hate relationship with eggplants. We had an auspicious start, years of deliciousness, until we hit a rocky patch, in no small part due to me. And, although it’s smooth sailing once again, the memory of that fractious period refuses to …

I love a cocktail. I love the glasses, I love the ritual of making them, I love aperitivo hour and I love nothing more than sitting at a bar drinking them while eating snacks. My go-to is a dirty martini, the murkier the better, although if there is a …

Plump, ripe, fresh-picked berries, still warm with the heat of the sun, are true summer bliss. These fruits have a delicate nature, and are small and vulnerable, needing to be handled with care. I don’t think there are any berries I don’t like, although …

Apologies, but this recipe does come conditionally: you will need a spaetzle maker; a little obscure, I know, but relatively easy to find and inexpensive. I bought mine on a trip to Italy prior to ever actually having made them. It was autumn, up near …

As much as I admire rhubarb, I still think it’s a tricky beast. For a start, it has an identity crisis: it’s a vegetable masquerading as a fruit. Second, its leaves contain high amounts of oxalic acid, which is poisonous. You would need to eat a lot …

Potatoes are nothing short of perfect. There is nothing they cannot do, no way they can’t be cooked, and each way is best. A perfectly boiled too-young potato, straight from the ground, is one of the sweetest things I have ever eaten. A crispy hot chip …

Back in the good old days, when you could move more than five kilometres and make plans in advance, we booked a holiday house for Christmas – 10 days by the beach with a smattering of overlapping friends. Our restaurants were closed, which meant any …

I love citrus, a family of fruits all with a sour tang and varying degrees of sweetness, their history a tale of hybrids. There were four firsts – citron, pomelo, papeda and the mandarin, the only sweet one – that were mixed and interbred so successfully …

Before you dismiss the idea of cooking crab because you think it’s too hard, please give me a moment to persuade you that it’s not. I think most people will agree the flesh from a crab is delicious. It’s succulent, sweet and slightly salty, with …