Austin Bush

writer/photographer

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Print is not (entirely) dead! Proud of the work I did for @lonelyplanet on the latest edition of this title. In particular, George Town, Penang, is arguably the best food destination in SE Asia, and I think I put together a pretty good primer on what and where to eat there. #lpinmalaysia

GUYS. Very excited to announce that www.fantasticfoodsearch.com is live! You can head to the URL — ideally on mobile — or go to @fantasticfoodsearch and hit the link in our bio. If you’re on the ground in Bangkok, you’ll get the added bonus of meeting Mr Fantastic (pictured here). Please play around w it and send any feedback to us at ffsfantastic@gmail.com — we’d love to know what you think!

It was only a matter of time: I have access to an open fire, wood, paella pans, rabbit and the right rice, so on my last night here I made paella valenciana! Before you @ me, I could not find snails or lima beans here in Cómpeta. But I did make my own stock and grate fresh tomatoes. Yet another meal alone, but I made a goddamn tasty paella in Spain — a proud cooking accomplishment! (@johnnoble11, you have some excellent leftovers to look forward to!)

Almejas a la marenga, big-ass clams in a sauce of fresh tomatoes, peppers, white wine and lots of pimentón dulce, w a dry moscatel from Málaga. Going to miss cooking these meals. 🇪🇸

There was some other stuff — a tasty braised ox tail and a thick kind of local cold almond and garlic soup — but this jamón ibérico from Córdoba and this glass of amontillado from Montilla-Moriles were outta control. The ham was rich rather than salty, and each sip of that wine revealed a new flavor and aroma. 🇪🇸

Salmorejo, chilled tomato soup so thick and rich you could stand a spoon in it, a simple but deeply delicious salad of salt cod, oranges, onions and olive oil, and a kind of amazing glass of amontillado, in what is easily the most charming bar in the world. But why the bread w the look feel and character of a sleeve of Saltines? 🇪🇸

I finally got my hands on chivo al horno de leña, wood-roasted goat kid. And it was, more or less, a giant hunk of meat. But kinda perfect fuel for a long bike ride up many many many hills (and through some really really really beautiful countryside). And I’m always happy to visit Canillas de Aceituno, maybe my fave village around these parts. 🐐 🚲 🇪🇸

SO FUN: To celebrate the annual village festival, the folks here made two very very very big pans of paella! And it was excellent — rich and fragrant. And some ladies at the church made salmorejo (sort of a heartier gazpacho) and were frying up chorizo. 🇪🇸

Ensaladilla arriera: potatoes, tomatoes, oranges, salt cod, onions, olives and a lot of olive oil. A recipe from Málaga Cocina Emoción that allegedly comes from Árchez, two villages over! Accompanied by a rosé from across the street. 🇪🇸

Went to the beach today. More importantly: GOT TO EAT GRILLED SARDINES. They were grilled Andalusian-style, skewered, over some type of gnarly, knotted wood that was insanely hot and burned really slowly. Maybe my fave fish dish of all. 🇪🇸

OK, maybe I made the right decision: braised wild boar and a beautiful, still warm, house-baked bread w local olive oil and thyme — in a formerly abandoned village that’s currently home to eight people. (I still don’t know how I’m going to get out of here.) 🇪🇸

Hong Kong and Macau

November 09, 2009 in blog

Chefs at work in the kitchen of the InterContinental Hong Kong's Chinese restaurant

I apologise for my silence -- I've spent the last several days in Hong Kong (my first time there) and Macau (my third) and have had no time to blog. I'll be posting on some of the more interesting things I saw and ate in these two places over the next few days.