My heart skipped a beat (actually, two) today. The first time was because the 2012 issue of Eat Out is just about to go to the printers – and is looking super. The second time was when my pre-ordered pashmak arrived – a box of spun halva; little balls flavoured with chocolate and vanilla.
 
Pashmak is a Middle Eastern lokum which is a sweet treat eaten with cups of very dark coffee and Turkish delight, a bit like candy floss but tastier as it is spun with sesame seeds which melt away as you eat it. It looks like a tuft out of a flokati carpet but I can assure you it doesn’t taste like one. Not that I’ve actually tasted any sort of carpet…
 
Across the road from our offices is a small Turkish-style eatery called Silver Moon and I recently discovered that on their travels to Turkey the owners bring back a few local products. Turkish rose petal jam, sour cherry preserve, the best ever pistachios and some other delights.
 
I first discovered this fantastical fluff in David Jones Food Hall in Sydney – packets of rose, coffee and orange blossom flavours – and noticed how chefs turned a quite ordinary pudding into something quite magical.
 
Not that Luke Dale-Roberts, chef and owner of The Test Kitchen in Cape Town, needs any more magic, but I did notice a few weeks ago that he has managed to get his hands on some of this prized stuff. It’s worth going just for that!
 
I’m also looking forward to speaking about my favourite food movie, at the Food and Film event at the Freeworld Design Centre, on the 30th November. There’s a whole month of fab food movies this November – don’t miss it.
 
Happy eating!
Abigail