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00:00MUSIC
00:22Hello, I'm Adam Lear. Welcome to The Cook-Up,
00:23the show where our fridge is always running
00:25because it's training for a marathon.
00:27Oh, my God.
00:28On tonight's menu, citrus and saffron posset.
00:31Use your delicious and lemon olive oil cake.
00:33Let's meet our guests.
00:34My first guest is a beloved Australian literary critic.
00:37He's a writer and TV personality
00:39who you might know from his work as a Good Weekend columnist
00:41or as the co-creator of Well Mania and The Family Law.
00:45He is also, you would not know this, a focaccia master.
00:48Welcome back, Benjamin Law.
00:49Hi, Adam. Good to be back.
00:50Great to have you here.
00:51My second guest is an acclaimed executive pastry chef.
00:54She oversees the dessert program for Melbourne's Omnia Bistro,
00:57Yugen Dining and Yugen Tea Bar.
00:59And she says that everything tastes better with butter.
01:02Welcome, Kayleen Tan.
01:03Thanks for having me.
01:04Why does everything taste better with butter, Kayleen?
01:06I mean, OK, look, I think this obsession started
01:10from when I was a kid.
01:11You used to go for high teas with mum.
01:13You used to have those little butters that you get.
01:14Oh, yeah.
01:15And I used to eat those, like, straight up.
01:17And everyone would be looking at me like,
01:18is she eating cheese or is that, like, a Cuba butter?
01:21And, like, it's a Cuba butter.
01:22Wow.
01:23And I would just eat butter.
01:24Like, but, I mean, like, everything tastes better with butter.
01:26Like, whether it's really flaky pastry, really beautiful cakes,
01:28great bases of sauces, brown butter smells amazing.
01:31Like, what is there not to love about butter?
01:34Hey, you're preaching to the choir.
01:38Ben, your Good Weekend column.
01:39Yeah.
01:40Dicey topics.
01:41Yes.
01:41What's it like to meet someone and then within minutes
01:44be talking about their sex life?
01:46It's interesting.
01:47So the six taboo topics are death, sex, money, religion,
01:50politics and your body.
01:51The things that you're told not to talk about at the dinner table.
01:53And maybe it's just me.
01:55Maybe I'm a sicko, Adam.
01:56But those are the only things that I want to talk about.
02:00Should I move my chair away?
02:03You just see her move right out of front.
02:05Next time I introduce you on this show,
02:07it's going to have to be a self-described sicko, Benjamin Law.
02:10But it also means that you get down to the heart of things
02:13really quickly, the important conversations.
02:15It fast-tracks the conversations I think we all need to have.
02:19That's really fascinating.
02:20Well, we zest to be getting on with things
02:22because tonight is all about sweet citrus.
02:28Kayleen, as a pastry chef, how do you feel about citrus?
02:31That's the question I'm going to ask you.
02:32I love citrus.
02:33Okay.
02:33I think citrus adds such a different level and, you know,
02:37of flavour to any dessert, really.
02:39And sometimes just a little bit of, like, tartness
02:41just lifts up, you know, the sweetness of a dish, really.
02:44But, yeah, I love citrus.
02:46Ben, how about you?
02:48I get a little bit anxious if I don't have lemons or limes in my kitchen
02:52because I'm constantly using it for salad dressings.
02:56I mean, that whole idea that the best food is defined
03:00by salt, fat, acid, heat.
03:02I mean, it's probably my go-to acid.
03:04Yeah.
03:05Strong agree.
03:05My sweet citrus dish is up first.
03:08Citrus and saffron posset.
03:14Does anyone know what a posset is here?
03:16Why don't you tell us, Adam?
03:19I want to say I do, but I'm embarrassed
03:21because I think it's kind of creamy, chilled?
03:25Yeah.
03:25Yeah.
03:26It's basically a set dessert.
03:28You can almost describe it as, like, a cheese,
03:30but it's not really a cheese.
03:31It's basically a set dessert,
03:32but it's made basically the same way as ricotta
03:34because I'm going to use some citrus juice into...
03:37This is some cream that I'm going to bring
03:39to a very careful simmer.
03:40And then the setting of my dessert
03:43is going to come from the citrus juice
03:45in the same way that you would set ricotta.
03:47So it's normally done traditionally with lemon,
03:50which I'm going to put some lemon in there,
03:51but I'm going to do a mix of citrus.
03:54The citrus party.
03:56Yeah, citrus party.
03:57All the colours.
03:59What's your favourite citrus, Ben?
04:01I'd have to say yuzu.
04:02I mean, every time I come back from Japan,
04:04my whole suitcase is just filled with yuzu product
04:06because it's like perfume.
04:08It's citrus, but it's so fragrant and beautiful.
04:11It's intoxicating.
04:12It's really, really, really good.
04:13And one that you don't like?
04:15One that I don't like.
04:17Is there a citrus that I don't like?
04:19I don't think so, actually.
04:21Can I tell you which citrus I'm not that fond of?
04:23The Buddha's Hand.
04:24It looks like it's going to be this amazing,
04:26kind of fragrant thing, otherworldly,
04:29and then it's just kind of like, oh, it's a bit silly.
04:30Is it really ordinary?
04:31Yeah, it's kind of ordinary.
04:32Because as you said that, I've seen it,
04:33but I've realised I haven't eaten it.
04:34You can confit it, make it into jam and stuff,
04:37but it's not the most versatile citrus.
04:40You don't look thrilled about it.
04:41Like, even as you're saying that,
04:42you could do that, but do you want it?
04:44I just feel it's one of those things that people use
04:46because it looks cool, but, you know,
04:48it's like a trendy citrus.
04:50You could do without.
04:51The trendy citrus, yeah.
04:52Kayleen, what citrus do you love?
04:54I love Kalamansi.
04:56Oh, yeah.
04:56It's my favourite citrus.
04:59It's almost a kumquat,
05:00but it's the most spherical one, isn't it?
05:02Yes, and it's, like, so good with, like, you know,
05:03when you're in Singapore, when you have noodles,
05:05it's always, like, there on the side.
05:07They have Kalamansi juice.
05:08You can get sugar cane juice with Kalamansi in it.
05:11Like, when I was in Singapore,
05:12I always go nuts with lime juice.
05:14Yeah, the limau ice.
05:16Oh, yes.
05:17So good.
05:18And a citrus that you don't like?
05:20Grapefruit.
05:21Absolutely.
05:22Yeah, we're going to bring up some childhood trauma over here.
05:26Long story short, I love oranges when I was growing up
05:29and when we were at a supermarket,
05:31my mum, I saw this huge orange and my mum was like,
05:34do you want it?
05:34Like, I said, mum, can we buy this huge orange?
05:37Like, it was massive for, like, a six-year-old, right?
05:39Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:40So I brought it home and my mum was like,
05:42you can have it after dinner and after my dinner,
05:45she cuts it up.
05:46I'm like, this orange kind of looks like a different colour,
05:48but it's a big orange.
05:49I'm going to eat it.
05:50And, of course, I eat it and six-year-old me
05:52kind of just spat it out while my mum stood there laughing at me.
05:57So, as you can imagine,
05:58I have never since then eaten a single grapefruit.
06:01I absolutely hate it.
06:03And thanks, mum.
06:04It is my very firm belief that all food aversions
06:07come down to childhood trauma,
06:08which is very clear from your perspective.
06:10But is the trauma,
06:13I was expecting a nice sweet orange
06:15and got a bit of grapefruit,
06:16or is it the trauma my mum laughed at me
06:19when I ate a grapefruit?
06:20I don't know.
06:22Ben, you need to have, like, a dice roll and unpack that.
06:25Thank you, Dr. Liao.
06:26It's like a mental health professional here
06:28getting all our deepest, darkest secrets.
06:30This is great.
06:31I know my mum's, like, sitting.
06:32I can imagine her watching this and going, like,
06:34what is everyone going to think of your mum now, huh?
06:37Huh?
06:38As she's just eating her revenge grapefruit.
06:41I love my mum.
06:42Ben, this is something that I think that you could explore,
06:44because the link between food aversions of childhood trauma
06:48is one that's very apparent.
06:50Well, you said that you were starting to feel sick
06:52before thinking about grapefruit.
06:54You're starting to make me feel, like, clenched
06:56thinking about all of the things that I've taken into adulthood
06:59that I should not have taken into adulthood.
07:02It's a conversation for my therapist now.
07:04So what I've done here is I put in some saffron
07:06that I soaked in some milk,
07:08and this is sort of a very slow reduction process.
07:12You need to concentrate the flavour,
07:14but then also concentrate a lot of the water out of the cream.
07:18I use thickened cream because I like the fact
07:20that it contains a little bit of gelatin
07:21that's going to help this set.
07:22I also am going to use some icing sugar mixture
07:27because the mixture has a bit of cornstarch through it
07:29to stop it from clumping, but also that's going to help it set.
07:31The real setting agent is here in the lemon juice.
07:35But what I do is...
07:36I'm not going to do it at this point
07:37because I know that we're about right.
07:39I want this to reduce to about 550 mils.
07:42So I can keep pouring it back and forth
07:44into this measuring jug to see where that 550 mils is.
07:48But then I just want to whisk in my icing sugar mixture.
07:52I'm going to put in some vanilla.
07:58This is orange blossom water.
08:00I love orange blossom water.
08:02And I can turn off the heat and put my lemon juice in
08:05and whisk all of that together.
08:08Adam, can I ask...
08:09Yeah.
08:09..how important is the saffron here?
08:11Because saffron, of course, is quite pricey,
08:14but it's also beautiful when you use it in desserts especially.
08:19Honestly, the reason why I decided to put it in there
08:20is because I think the main drawback of lemon posset
08:23is that it doesn't look lemony.
08:25Because if you just put lemon juice into this, you know, white cream,
08:31you're not going to end up with something
08:32that looks the way it's supposed to taste.
08:35I do think that food has to be very intuitive in the way that...
08:39You even your eyes first, yeah.
08:40Yeah, so if you don't have something that tells you visually
08:44what that's going to be...
08:46Mm.
08:47..and if I wanted to keep the bits of saffron in there,
08:49I would, you know, instead of sieving it,
08:50I could just use these chopsticks
08:51and pull out all of my bits and pieces.
08:55But just as this sets,
08:57and I should probably let this cool down a little bit
08:58before I set it,
09:02as it sets, it's going to set into a beautiful kind of yellowy colour.
09:08Mm.
09:08And frankly, for the purposes of this television show,
09:12I'm doing this over here,
09:13but if not, I would do this over in the fridge.
09:16I would literally do it inside the fridge
09:17so that as I carry this over to the fridge,
09:20it doesn't create these little lines.
09:22Yeah, yeah.
09:22I see.
09:26So as this sets in the fridge,
09:29you get this really lovely...
09:30Oh, wow.
09:31..completely set posset, just with the lemon juice.
09:33It's essentially like a sweetened ricotta.
09:35Yum.
09:35And one thing I love about doing it in these glasses
09:37is that you can tell that it's actually set like that
09:40because you have a little bit of separation right at the bottom.
09:43That's like...
09:44To me, that's the imperfection
09:46that tells you that it's nearly perfect.
09:48That's very cool.
09:48You know, like if it was just completely set,
09:50you'd be like, oh, this could have come out of a packet.
09:52But because it has that slight little bit of separation there,
09:55it's like, oh, it was set the right way.
09:56So this doesn't contain gelatin
09:58other than the stuff that was in the thickened cream
10:00and it's no egg yolks or anything like that?
10:02No, nothing like that.
10:03It's just the power of the citrus that is setting it.
10:08So I'm just going to put a little bit more citrus on top
10:10just for kicks.
10:11Is that grapefruit there?
10:13Just asking for a friend.
10:14I slightly wish that there was at this point.
10:17But no, it is just the citrus peels
10:19that went in there before
10:20and that is my citrus possum.
10:26I love the texture of this.
10:28Like it comes out like really thick double cream or something.
10:33You can really taste the saffron as well at the end.
10:37Delicious.
10:37And then having the citrus segments on top
10:39makes it sort of balances it out.
10:41So it's not too sweet.
10:42Wow.
10:43I love it.
10:44When we return, more sweet citrusy goodness
10:46from Benjamin and Kayleigh.
11:00Welcome back to The Cook-Up,
11:01where the zest of the zest,
11:02writer Benjamin Law and chef Kayleigh Tan
11:04are making some sweet citrus recipes.
11:06Kayleigh, what are you making?
11:07I'm making a lemon olive oil cake.
11:10Beautiful.
11:11And Ben?
11:12I'm making a yuzu delicious.
11:14So it's a yuzu spin on the lemon delicious classic.
11:17Oh, lovely.
11:28All right, Ben.
11:30Yuzu delicious.
11:31Yeah.
11:32I love a lemon delicious pudding.
11:33I've never tried one with yuzu,
11:34but I'm assuming it's going to be good.
11:36Yeah, look, I didn't grow up with pudding.
11:38Yes.
11:39And it was only when I think it was Elizabeth Chong
11:42introduced me to lemon delicious.
11:44So I was like, oh, I get it now.
11:46You mean like personally or like on the Bert Newton show?
11:48No, she introduced it to me personally.
11:50We actually, this is a longer story,
11:51but we spent like a couple of weeks in quarantine together.
11:54Oh, wow.
11:54Okay.
11:55So we ended up having this happy household in quarantine
11:58and we cooked for her, she baked for us.
12:00And I was like, oh, I get why pudding is such a central part
12:04of so many Australian meals now.
12:06Amazing.
12:06Okay, so egg yolks have gone in and now we're going to alternate
12:09with like a bit of flour and a bit of milk.
12:13It's one and a half cups of milk until it forms like a nice kind
12:19of battery slurry.
12:21Yeah.
12:21And I kind of like putting how like forgiving they are
12:23because even if they don't really come out super perfect,
12:27you can still serve it with ice cream or custard
12:28and it's still going to be delicious, right?
12:30Nice.
12:30Yeah.
12:31Lemon delicious pudding, like I feel that there's a lot,
12:33there are a lot of these classic Australian desserts that I reckon
12:38when I was growing up, my stepsister would make apple crumble
12:42like six times a year or something.
12:44Did you love it?
12:45I loved it.
12:46Absolutely loved it.
12:46I don't think anyone's made an apple crumble in my household
12:49for years now.
12:50I would like for us to reinvigorate some of those traditions.
12:53Yeah.
12:54And I think like putting a yuzu twist on it,
12:55I know every time I come back from Japan, my suitcase is full
12:59of yuzu things, yuzu syrups, yuzu lollies and things like that.
13:03Lovely.
13:04And this is our yuzu juice.
13:06Yeah, smell that.
13:07Oh, that's lovely.
13:08It smells like perfume, right?
13:10Yeah.
13:11Yeah, I could just put that on my wrist.
13:15I actually, honestly, I tend to use it more in savoury foods.
13:17Do you?
13:18Even pasta.
13:19Oh, no way.
13:19You know, like a lemon cream pasta,
13:20but you can do it with yuzu korsho, like yuzu the chilli.
13:23Oh, I love that.
13:24They're really, really nice.
13:26But yuzu sweets I love.
13:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:30But for some reason I just don't get around to making them.
13:32I think it's because I grow my own yuzu at home.
13:34Oh, do you?
13:34Yeah.
13:35And what that means is there's not enough to kind of go around for the sweet foods,
13:39which sometimes, you know, I would never get that much yuzu juice out of one.
13:43I'm looking forward to tasting this, Ben.
13:45I really am.
13:45Yeah, thanks, Adam.
13:49Heylene, lemon olive oil cake.
13:51Yes.
13:52Um, yeah.
13:54Have you had one before?
13:55I've never had a lemon one.
13:56I've had lots of orange ones.
13:58I've never had a lemon one.
13:59I don't actually remember where I got this recipe from because it's been so, so long.
14:04Yes.
14:05But one of my colleagues that I used to work with at Tonka, his name is Travis Howe, amazing
14:09sommelier, one day came to me and asked me if I could make him a lemon olive oil cake.
14:13I somehow found this recipe.
14:15I made it.
14:15And ever since then, on his birthday, he always used to ask me to make it for him.
14:20Oh, that's so kind.
14:21That's nice.
14:22And you do make it?
14:23I do make it whenever he asks me.
14:25It would be actually a really awesome story if you're like, he asked me to make it for
14:28him every year on his birthday and I don't do it.
14:30I've never done it.
14:31The one thing I love about this recipe is that you can actually like interchange your citrus,
14:35right?
14:35Yeah.
14:36So like, you know, I like to use, as mentioned before, I like to use like calamansi.
14:40So, um, another, I've actually done this as a calamansi version, which is super fragrant.
14:45Yes.
14:46You know, Ben over there with his yuzu, like you could definitely do a yuzu one as well.
14:50And, you know, because of the olive oil and no butter, actually.
14:53Yes.
14:54Um, it actually makes the cake really, really, really moist.
14:57You're using, that looks like a quite a fruity olive oil.
15:00Yes.
15:01Um, I like baking with oil rather than butter.
15:04Yes.
15:05Because I feel that it produces a more moist cake.
15:08Yeah.
15:09Almost always.
15:10Yes.
15:10Um, do you know why that is?
15:13I don't know why that is.
15:14I think it's just the way that, um, like the fat, the difference in types of fat that
15:20you get in, um, butter and that you get in olive oil, definitely.
15:23And also because like with butter, obviously it sets into that solidified form.
15:28So when you bake it, that crumb content you get is going to be a little bit different from
15:32the crumb content that you get when you're using, um, something like olive oil, which
15:35actually has a different, um, solidifying temperature than, than butter.
15:41Fabulous.
15:42We're going to get into the scientific bits about it if you want.
15:45Well, yeah, like let's not overwhelm me too much.
15:47You added the olive oil, milk and lemon juice a little bit at a time.
15:51Yes.
15:52A little bit at a time.
15:53Because I guess at the, uh, at the only, like when it comes to baking, it's all about
15:57emulsifying fat and oil and water, right?
15:59I kind of like how you would make a mayonnaise.
16:01So the, the trick I feel with any good cake or cookie is that initial point where you're
16:07adding liquid into fat.
16:09So when it bakes, you don't get that oily texture and finish that you get when like fat and liquid
16:15is not properly emulsified.
16:17Yeah.
16:17So that's why I'm adding it a little bit at the time to make sure that all those beautiful
16:21molecules inside the batter are like well incorporated.
16:25It's all like, it's like, I feel like a mad scientist right now.
16:28You look like it, like picking up all the little beakers and.
16:30I just need the goggles maybe.
16:33Then it will explode as it comes out of the oven.
16:36Well, let's hope not, Adam.
16:38This is great.
16:39And I'm assuming that they will go then into the cake tin and head into the oven.
16:43Yes.
16:44So I'm going to go in that cake tin.
16:46I'm going to bake it in the oven for about like an hour or so until it's done.
16:50And that's it.
16:51And then hopefully after that, we'll have a delicious cake to share.
16:55Lovely.
16:58OK, Ben, how have you gotten to this point?
17:01OK, so we have whipped together some egg whites and we've folded that into that kind of like
17:06Oh, great texture.
17:07mixture there.
17:07Yeah, you can see that's kind of like all bubbly and gooey and delicious.
17:12So then we're just going to pour all of that into this tin here.
17:16The yuzu juice has also gone in now.
17:17Right.
17:18As well, and that whole delicious mess goes into here.
17:24Lovely.
17:25You are a writer.
17:26Yes.
17:27Is that how you would describe it?
17:28I mean, you do so much, but would you describe yourself as a writer?
17:32It's what I put on my customs forms to make it easiest, right?
17:34Like you, you've got a million jobs.
17:36What do you put down first and foremost?
17:38What's your creative process like?
17:40Well, it's really about figuring out what story I'm telling and what form it's going to take.
17:45Because I work in theatre and I work on scripts as well as newspapers and magazines and books,
17:52right?
17:53Yes.
17:53Like, I'm trying to match up which form suits the story.
17:56And then from there, I'm trying to...
17:58It's like a puzzle, really.
17:59Yes.
18:00And at a certain stage, certain pieces lock and you realise, oh, I'm onto something.
18:04So I see it as a big puzzle.
18:06So, and I struggle with this because I write as well.
18:09Yeah.
18:09And I write a lot of recipes mainly, but articles and things as well.
18:12I feel like I'm bad at it.
18:15Really?
18:15Why?
18:16Why do you feel like you're bad at it?
18:17I just feel like with output, the number of words I can get done per day.
18:21Like, I will sit and think about something I'm...
18:23Like, a bit Jackson Pollocky.
18:24I'll think about something for a very long time.
18:26Yeah.
18:26And then I'll just, boom, I'll get it all out.
18:28But sometimes I can just sit there in front of my computer for hours on end.
18:31Sometimes I work backwards.
18:32It's like I actually know the end first, so I write it first.
18:35Oh.
18:35And then the puzzle is actually solving out how it starts.
18:38Yeah, it's like Guy Pearce in Memento.
18:46I'll tell you later.
18:47But it just...
18:50Ben just blew my mind.
18:51It would be like me telling you how to make a cake by making the icing first and then making
18:55the cake second.
18:56Hmm.
18:57Well, speaking of icing, I've got some lemon icing that I'm going to make right now that's
19:03going to go on top of the lemon olive oil cake.
19:06Amazing.
19:07Yeah.
19:07These very traditional, simple icings, I stuff up all the time.
19:12Yeah, me too.
19:15But I think what I do, and the weird part is I know I stuff it up all the time.
19:20Yeah.
19:21But I still stuff it up again because I think I add too much liquid at the...
19:25Yeah.
19:25I mean, it's always too much liquid is what it always is.
19:27It's always too much liquid.
19:28I don't have actually any tip or secret for this.
19:32Just stop doing it.
19:33Just like go in small increments.
19:35But I always feel it's better to start like with a little bit of liquid first and then you
19:41can add on later as opposed to putting in too much liquid.
19:45I think visually, like you see the amount of lemon that you're putting, lemon juice that
19:50you're putting in there, it's so tiny compared to the amount of icing.
19:54Yeah.
19:54But later when you'll see, like once you start adding this liquid in, it actually gets that
20:00consistency pretty quickly, even though that looks like a very confronting amount of icing
20:05sugar.
20:05Yeah.
20:06It actually becomes pretty much nothing by the end of it.
20:09So as you can see, I'm just adding this in just a little bit.
20:12When you're designing a dessert menu for a restaurant, how do you, how do you do, like
20:19what's your thought process?
20:20I usually do things that I love to eat or that somehow rather reflect my story, I guess,
20:28as a chef, you know, just flavours that I love working with or that are familiar to
20:33me.
20:34Love it.
20:35Maybe I'll see lemon posset on a menu.
20:36Maybe.
20:37In the future.
20:38Call it like adds, adds lemon posset on the Omnia menu.
20:43I didn't invent lemon gossip posset.
20:45You can just do whatever you want with that.
20:47When life gives you lemons or yuzu, you taste them after the break and I'll show you how
20:51to make go in lemonade.
21:03Welcome back to The Cook Up.
21:04The juice is worth the squeeze because Benjamin, Laura and Kayleen Tan are working wonders with
21:08sweet citrus dishes.
21:10Kayleen, how's your cake looking?
21:11It's looking good.
21:13Can't wait for you to taste.
21:14Oh, can't wait to see.
21:15Ben, this is a thing of beauty.
21:17Yeah, look, it's wobbly but firm, which is exactly what we want, right?
21:20Are you ready for a hunk of this?
21:21Yeah, let's rip a hunk out of it.
21:23Hunk for the hunk.
21:24Okay, let's do this.
21:25Maybe the corn.
21:26Oh, man, that's so good.
21:29Okay, maybe that goes like that.
21:31Yeah.
21:32So we're going to see all that delicious saucy goo at the bottom.
21:35And then some pouring cream.
21:38Yeah, okay.
21:40Okay, you have my attention.
21:41Okay, you ready for that?
21:43Can't wait to try it.
21:47Kayleen, wow, that looks so moist.
21:51Word of the day.
21:53There's no other word to describe other than that, but that's stunning.
21:58Yeah.
21:58And you've nailed the icing perfectly.
22:00Oh, thank you.
22:00Something that I could never do.
22:02Lemon olive oil cake and yuzu delicious.
22:15Oh, that's good.
22:16Kayleen, this looks just the way I like a cake to look.
22:19That looks good.
22:20Mmm, mmm.
22:21And it's so fresh as well.
22:22Like that olive oil, that kind of fresh taste that good olive oil brings,
22:26like that shines through the cake.
22:27The lemon just lightens it up, and so you have that lovely density from the lemon,
22:32but it's not heavy.
22:33Yep.
22:34All right.
22:34Yuzu pudding time.
22:36Yuzu delicious.
22:37Yuzu delicious.
22:39Mmm.
22:40You can taste that yuzu juice, right?
22:42Yeah.
22:43And it's not as intense as a lemon delicious,
22:47because it doesn't have that really sharp acid, but...
22:51Such a wonderful texture.
22:53Yum.
22:53Mmm.
22:54All right.
22:56When it comes to citrus season,
22:59anybody who has a lemon tree will be quite familiar
23:02with the idea of having quite a lot of lemons.
23:05Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
23:08So I'm going to show you how to make lemonade,
23:11but like a Gowan-style lemonade.
23:14Huh.
23:14I've just got some lemons taking the pith off,
23:17and I'm going to drop those into the bottom of my jar.
23:22And this is rock sugar.
23:23Uh-huh.
23:24Like, I mean, just sort of...
23:26In the same way that you would...
23:26You know those Korean syrups?
23:29Mmm.
23:29The fruit syrups?
23:30It's essentially that.
23:31And layering all of those lemons and sugar all together,
23:36leave it on your bench for a while,
23:39and what you end up with is that.
23:40Okay.
23:41And is that basically like an intense lemony syrup?
23:44A very intense lemony syrup,
23:46which then we can dilute thusly.
23:50Yeah.
23:51Yummy.
23:51I am interested.
23:53So if I didn't...
23:54If I couldn't find, like, that kind of sugar,
23:57could I use, like, normal cashew sugar, you reckon?
24:00Yeah.
24:00Just, I mean, you would have to use an awful lot less
24:04and probably cut your lemons a lot smaller.
24:08Right.
24:08And how long do I leave it in the bottle to...
24:11Well, this is the great thing.
24:12For a lot of the Korean syrups, we're talking months.
24:15But for this, a few days.
24:18Like, this has just been on my bench for two days
24:20and then in the fridge for another two days after that.
24:22Wow, okay.
24:23So just room temperature, I'll just gradually get like that.
24:26Cool.
24:26And it will slightly, ever so slightly kind of ferment,
24:30which will give me a delicious aroma.
24:35Now, I don't know how you feel about this,
24:38but I would love to add a pinch of salt to this.
24:40Oh, yeah.
24:42When you're talking about goa,
24:43it reminds me of when you're in India.
24:45Yeah.
24:45A lot of the sweet drinks is kind of laced with that lick of salt,
24:49which is so fantastic.
24:50Sometimes some, like, spices as well.
24:53But I just think that, particularly for the hot weather,
24:55you're almost creating like a, I don't know,
24:58like a...
24:59Like a huge drink.
25:00Yeah.
25:02So you let me know how you think we've gone with this.
25:05Thank you, Aded.
25:05Picture.
25:06Cheers.
25:06Cheers.
25:07Super hot day.
25:08Bottoms up.
25:08Bottoms up.
25:09Mmm.
25:11Oh, that is refreshing.
25:13Yum.
25:14That's so good.
25:15Mmm.
25:15I like it.
25:17Kayleen, Ben, thank you so much for joining me.
25:19This has been citrusy and fresh.
25:21Yeah.
25:23Trust me when I say that tonight's sweet recipes
25:26are guaranteed to put a pep in your step.
25:28If you want more of The Cook Up and more delicious food ideas,
25:30follow SBS Food on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
25:33I'm Adam Liao.
25:34Thanks for watching The Cook Up.
25:35I like it.
25:50I will be right back.
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