Last week I introduced you to individual smoked salmon quiches. I had been inspired by the fabulous quiches I'd seen while wandering around the Sydney Harbour Bridge which had been laid with green grass and turned into a picnicker's paradise.

I have not yet finished with my quiche phase and this week I made delicious little mushroom and arugula quiches. Arugula, in New Zealand and Australia, is known as "roquette" - which is the French equivalent.

Roquette has a lovely pepperiness which contrasts nicely with the soft mushroom flavors.

Like last week's quiches, they're easy to make, quick to bake and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, snacks, appetizers or taken on picnics.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

At my recent McIntosh & Bowman cheese-making class, one of the cheeses we made was ricotta.

The soft, white cheese is actually made from reheating whey - the liquid that is separated from the curds when cheese is made, thus the name "ricotta", which translates to "twice-cooked".

There are many wonderful things you can do with ricotta -- stuff ravioli, make a cheesecake, bake some cupcakes, or serve it with some poached fruit like I have in this breakfast brioche recipe. I call this dish my "cheat's" French toast. It's simply toasted brioche or challa bread topped with poached strawberries and blueberries and a large dollop of fresh ricotta.

It's divine, easy to prepare and will satisfy that French toast craving.

More Breakfast Recipes

• Blueberry & Buttermilk Pikelets
• Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie
• Apple & Passionfruit Bircher Muesli

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

As you know, I attended the inaugural Breakfast on the Bridge last weekend. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is an icon. You can see it from many parts of the city, but up close, the bridge is most commonly viewed from the seat of a car or train.

On Sunday, 6000 Sydney-siders turned up at 6.30am to see their beloved bridge in a completely different light. As part of the Crave Sydney festival, the bridge had been turned into a park - covered with green grass.

I had the privilege of being there. As I moved amongst the crowd of happy picnickers, I was especially interested in what people had brought to eat. Quiche was one of the crowd favorites.

I love smoked salmon quiches. They are great any time of the day or night, so can be eaten for breakfast, snacked on at picnics or devoured as party food. These individual-sized quiches are elegant as well as being delicious.

Best of all, they're easy to prepare and quick to bake - it took me only 10 minutes of prep and less than 20 minutes of baking.

If I'm lucky enough to be invited to next years' Breakfast on the Bridge, these individual smoked salmon quiches are definitely going to be in my picnic hamper.

More baking recipes

• Beautiful baking photo gallery
• Bacon and egg pie (step-by-step)
• Moroccan lamb sausage rolls

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

Despite the forecast of rain thousands turned up with blankets and baskets in hand for Sydney's inaugural Breakfast on the Bridge event.

The gates opened at 6.30AM and air was electric with a mixture of curiosity and excitement as attendees took their first steps on Sydney's most famous landmark. The bridge deck, usually covered with bumper-to-bumper traffic, was carpeted with over 10,500 square meters of lush, green grass - a surreal sight to behold.

Picnickers enjoyed breakfasts of every kind. There were bagels, bacon & eggs, croissants, champagne, smoothies, granola, fruit salad, curries and quiches. Freshly baked breads, jams, apples and yogurt were also handed out.

At a cost of $1 million, the Breakfast on the Bridge event is part of the month-long Crave Sydney festival showcasing the city's entertainment, food and art scene.
Premier Nathan Rees said it was likely to become an annual event, following the success of Sunday's turnout, which he predicted was worth $10 million in tourism dollars.

"Among the picnickers were a four-week-old baby, a man who proposed to his girlfriend, and a young man celebrating his 19th birthday...people are having a ball" Rees said.

People did have a ball. Crave Sydney has been a real triumph -- especially for lovers of food. The Breakfast on the Bridge was a great event in a month of great events. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is an international icon. Using it in this unusual way was a great opportunity for the people of New South Wales, 6000 of whom were awarded tickets by lottery.

Breakfast on the Bridge Image Gallery

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

On Sunday October 25, Australia's most famous icon will be turned into a grassy picnic spot for the first time in history. The Breakfast on the Bridge event is expected to draw 6000 picnickers.

Attendees are encouraged to go green for the event. Here are some tips for keeping your picnics green:

• Avoid using excessive plastic food packaging - use plastic storage containers instead.
• Reduce your food miles - buy produce and product locally produced in your area. Ask at your local Farmer's Market, supermarket or favorite deli. You will also be doing your bit to support our farmers and local suppliers.
• Go homemade! Take some time to prepare your picnic goodies in your own kitchen instead of buying them.
• Don't buy bottled water - fill up at home.
• Don't use plastic plates instead use a picnic set or light weight ones from home, they will look better too.
• Plan your picnic well so you don't waste food.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

I went for a picnic last Sunday in the Royal Botanic Gardens. At this particular picnic, rather than bringing my own supplies, I just brought my rug and my camera. Everything else was provided. This was the 2009 Sydney International Food Festival's "Slow Food Bush Tucker Picnic".

What is slow food? Alison Drover, of Slow Food Sydney explained: "It's the opposite of fast food." Slow food tries to rediscover food. Real food. Food that comes from the earth, not a wrapper. The slow food philosophy means trying to shorten the food chain - know where your food comes from. The more refined, the more processed your food is, the less nutrition it's going to contain. Our tomatoes are engineered to pack neatly, withstand bumpy truck rides and still look their best. It's just not natural. Slow food suggests a better way. Food without plastic: as nature intended.

The day dawned wet, but rain doesn't deter slow foodies. The god father of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini himself made a special guest appearance to sample Aussie offerings. Huddled under a large tree, the crowd was introduced to the Botanic Gardens with a recognition of the traditional aboriginal owners. Then began our lesson in bush tucker.

I cannot adequately summarize the scope and joys of native Australian food. They are many and varied. The menu we were treated to was designed by multi-award-winning chef Jean-Paul Bruneteau, author of Tukka, Real Australian Food.

The appetizer was a delicate and delicious emu prosciutto served with Australian olives and coz lettuce drizzled with lemon myrtle mayonnaise, and scattered with perfect garlic croutons roasted with a hint of aniseed myrtle.

Next, the main - slow roo torpedo roll -- a hearty and rustic meal. Kangaroo and lamb sausage was smothered with bush tomato onion relish and served with crisp salad leaves on a fresh sourdough roll with wattleseed crust.

And finally, rocky road trifle was served for dessert. It came with marshmallow, macadamia nut brittle, native fruit jellies and wattleseed liqueur.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

This weekend I discovered the magic of cheese-making with Sydney-based McIntosh & Bowman Cheesemongers. There is nothing more satisfying than watching the metamorphosis of creamy milk into a wheel of Camembert or a plump ball of glossy mozzarella. And the best part is that it's all made by your own hand. The process is slow. It requires patience and tenderness but the results are well worth it.

The six-hour class was taught by guest cheese-makers, Giorgio Linguanti, of That's Amore Cheese in Melbourne, Australia's youngest cheese-maker, Claire Bailey of award-winning Hunter Belle Cheese and cheese specialist Claudia McIntosh.

Waiting for the milk to transform into curds didn't seem so bad when we were treated to plates of freshly baked pastries and Italian coffee in the morning. For lunch, a selection of gourmet meats, cheeses, chutneys, mixed greens and crusty bread -- all washed down with local wines and beer. Then there's afternoon tea -- more cheese of course.

We made four cheeses: mozzarella; ricotta; Camembert and a washed rind cheese. The last two are sitting in my fridge and will be ready in a month or so. The mozzarella was spectacular, and not because it was made by my own hand. Praise must be given to the Jersey cows for their milk -- fresh and unpasteurized, creamy and organic. Being the main ingredient in cheese, it's vital that the milk used is of the highest quality from healthy cows.

As soon as I got home I served my beloved mozzarella Caprese-style with slices of ripe Roma tomatoes, sweet basil and a splash of peppery extra virgin olive oil. Cheese has never tasted so good.

Read more about my cheese-making experience with McIntosh & Bowman Cheesemongers.

Cheese-making Image Gallery

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

Peaches, one of the many joys of the Australian summer, have arrived early.

The sweet perfume of a ripe peach conjures up many blissful teenage memories of sitting of the beach and taking that first bite, the nectarous juices running down my chin.

There was no need for napkins, just dive into the ocean and wash it all away.

I'd like to tell you about a salad that is as refreshing as a peach and ocean dip - a peach, corn & buffalo mozzarella salad tossed with basil, mint, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The combination of flavors and textures in this salad is delightful. It simply must be tried to fully appreciate the harmony of ingredients.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

Today I went in search of that elusive fifth taste 'umami'.

I attended a presentation by Kumiko Ninomiya of Japan's Umami Information Center, chef and author David Thompson and chef Alexandre Bourdas. The presentation was part of the Sydney International Food Festival. Their goal was to try to demystify this obscure culinary concept.

There are five basic tastes which humans can sense when eating food: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. The first four are easy. Umami is harder to pin down.

Even though umami is a relatively new concept in western cuisine, it is vital to our sense of taste. Describing a taste is difficult, but Ninomiya, Thompson and Bourdas were up for the challenge.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc

There's only one thing better than a hot dinner and that's a hot dessert.

The strawberry crumble cake is best served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or yogurt.

The dessert starts with a layer of strawberries macerated in sugar and vanilla, over which the cake batter is spooned and then topped off with the macadamia nut crumble. For an extra crispy topping sprinkle on some Demerara (turbinado) sugar. Demerara is to sugar what Kosher salt is to salt - it's made of large, coarse crystals with undertones of caramel and treacle.

The crumble cake takes just over an hour to bake. So it's the kind of dessert you can pop in the oven during dinner. The result is spectacular. The strawberries liquefy into a gorgeous syrupy pulp, while the cake has risen to form a soft, airy sponge. The crumble is rich with toasty macadamia nuts and made even crispier with the layer of caramelized Demerara.

More Dessert Recipes

• Apple & Passionfruit Crumble
• Baked Rice Custard with Vanilla Poached Plums
• Chocolate Mousse Profiteroles

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc