Shopping is not really one of my favourite activities, but I went to
South Melbourne Market on Wednesday, actually to buy some underwear.
There are lots of stalls selling stuff you wouldn't want to buy in a
pink fit unless you were nine years old, but there are some really good
specialty places.

I can never resist the kitchen supplies stall. It's a veritable
Aladdin's cave, the most amazing assortment of stuff crammed into a
space about the size of our living room. I think they get a lot of their
stock from fire sales and the like, because you never know what they'll
have. The prices are very competitive with The Chef's Hat across the
road, which admittedly has a much bigger range.

Anyway, we picked up a few bits and bobs, and then I spotted the
casserole of my dreams! I've been needing a small casserole with lid for
some time - I've got a stainless steel one (a wedding present, believe
it or not) that's a bit too small, and a pyrex dish with awful 80s
decoration that is a useful size but doesn't have a lid. Lo and behold!
Emile Henry have introduced a new range, called Flame, which is ceramic,
though it looks like cast iron, and it's flameproof.

I've got some of that Spanish terracotta ware, a large casserole, a
couple of small round dishes and a large round dish with no lid. Now
I've got a 1.8 litre round black Emile Henry casserole, and I love it
already. The recommended seasoning was to boil a little milk in it for 3
minutes and allow to cool. Interesting, since the terracotta had to be
soaked overnight in cold water. Well, did that, and then used it to cook
risotto. Wonderful! I will be using it on Sunday to make self saucing
chocolate pudding for Dad, and I can see it being used for a lot of
things which I presently cook in the smaller stainless steel Fissler.
$79.99 well spent, I reckon!

If anybody wants to see what it looks like, here's the manufacturer's page

http://tinyurl.com/hdo2j

Christine




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