Healthy Food: Seizure Magazine Launch: Black Star Pastry catering, The Paper Mill, Sydney (25 May 2011)

Friday, June 10, 2011

Seizure Magazine Launch: Black Star Pastry catering, The Paper Mill, Sydney (25 May 2011)

Ash Street Shop 2, 1 Angel Place, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.thepapermill.org.au
Magazine: http://www.seizureonline.com
Catering: http://www.blackstarpastry.com.au

Flavour tripping launch

“Seizure is an exciting new magazine showcasing the talents of some of our best young editors, writers and designers. Founded by a band of frustrated creatives hell-bent on producing something good while toying with new ideas, new styles and new media. Each issue will take on a different magazine genre and challenge writers and readers expectations.”

Thanks to Rosanna Stevens, the sub editor for Seizure, for inviting me along to their magazine launch at The Paper Mill. Catering was by the ever popular Christopher Thé from Black Star Pastry. Cute mini Aussie burgers and tasty Spiced pumpkin tarts filled the stomach while I tried to work out if the Test tube of apple cider granita with champagne was worth the visual effort of presentation. Green olives in dukka and honey were a little finger messy but flavoursome and the roasting of the chestnuts nearly set off the smoke alarm. I was most interested to try the Stonehurst Vintage 2006 Methode Champenoise Chardonnay Semillon which had a nice palatable finish and one I might look out for as a cheaper option to French champagne. On the night the magazine was available for $10 ($14.95 RRP) which I thought was a little strange for a media launch but I guess they had to recover the production costs somehow.

Guests were invited to partake in a gimmicky flavour trip by taking a Miracle Frooties tablet. The unmarked wrappers were passed around like some illegal party drug at a private nightclub. I wasn’t sure what to expect but like lemmings we all seemed to follow suit. Although before taking the tablet I wanted to try everything to see what it first tasted like in its natural state. This included limes, lemon, red grapefruit, strawberries, an interesting balsamic turkish delight with strawberry, beetroot sherbet, Guinness and chocolate spider, goats curd on pumpernickel, a wonderful crème brûlée flambée and even some bitters and balsamic vinegar (not recommended). After which I took a tablet which tasted like a flavourless piece of cardboard. It took a while to dissolve on my tongue so I munched on it a bit as well. Trying some of the fruits it didn’t make much of a difference for me so I ended up having another tablet and this time let it dissolve naturally. I did notice a difference in sweetness but for me it wasn’t as epic in change as others seemed to experience. Perhaps because I tried everything already my taste buds already had a reference point of expectation and difference.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Something different and interesting to read, The Paper Mill is a great gallery space

CONS: I didn’t notice an epic change in my taste buds from the Miracle Frooties which were liking sucking on cardboard, Don’t try roasting chestnuts inside a gallery

MUST TRY: Crème brûlée flambée

WORTH TRYING: Balsamic turkish delight — very unusual but strangely works in moderation, Stonehurst Vintage 2006 Methode Champenoise

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