Something for spring

Spring in Sydney – an end to the colder months and a welcome to longer, sunnier days and flowers. It’s just the beginning of my favourite time of year, and to celebrate it I put together a few spring-inspired foods.

At the grocer, I picked up a bunch of vegetables and herbs. I made a simple salad of sliced vine-ripened tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and torn basil and dressed the two ingredients with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic and freshly cracked black pepper - a light vegetable salad. Of course, if this was going to be a celebration of spring I had to place something exciting on the table. What’s more of a treat than fresh oysters!

Not just any oysters of course – these were Sydney rock oysters and they were crazy delicious.  Sweet, creamy and different than Pacific oysters which are more salty, rock oysters are something special and a local delicacy.  I know not everyone loves the soft (and perhaps somewhat slimy) texture of raw oysters but these are seriously something to try. All you need is a little lemon – the tang of the citrus works well against the briney (and iodine-filled) ocean flavours of the oyster. A few fresh flavours for spring.