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Plus: two classic Japanese dishes
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Have you ever cooked a dish you feel rather smug about only to later realise you'd actually just tweaked a classic? I have, many times. This exact thing happened to our contributing cook Elizabeth Hewson once when she spent a year living in Italy. The dish she 'invented' turned out to be this week's recipe, a delicious chicken saltimbocca, or chicken wrapped in prosciutto and served with fried sage. Wherever the inspiration comes from, this easy dish is a winner, full-flavoured and simple to produce. She serves it with a healthy dish of greens spiked with chilli and garlic that's good enough to eat on its own.

We go from Elizabeth's Italian kitchen to Emiko Davies' Japanese one, with two classic dishes that are central to the Japanese diet. Davies adores Japanese food and her book Gohan is full of inspired and achievable dishes including these two favourites: corn soup and pork tonkatsu. Try them to see how easy they are. And if you are after something sweet, we have three David Herbert sweets to tempt you back into the kitchen.

Also this week we welcome our new wine writer Nick Ryan, who replaces the incomparable James Halliday, who last week retired from his weekly column after a mighty 40 years. Welcome, Nick.

Elizabeth Meryment
The Weekend Australian Magazine

Recipes

ITALIAN COOKING
These spicy Italian greens add colour to the table
Served with some crusty bread to soak up the fragrant juices, this is a meal that can solve all problems.
ELIZABETH HEWSON
CLASSIC
An Italian chicken dish your nonna would love
This dish holds a special place for me. It was one of the first dishes I made upon moving to Italy for a year, more than 10 years ago. It quickly became a staple in the tiny kitche...
By ELIZABETH HEWSON
AUTUMN COOKING
With only four ingredients, this corn soup is a winner for young and old
It is incredibly easy to make at home – you only need two ingredients, four if you count salt and water.
By EMIKO DAVIES
TASTE OF TOKYO
Delicious and easy, this is one of Japan’s best-loved dishes
A thick pork cutlet, coated in crisp panko crumbs, fried and served with a specially made sauce, tonkatsu is iconic among the best-known Japanese dishes.
By EMIKO DAVIES

Wine

THE AUSTRALIAN WINE CLUB
Halliday names best red as Secret Cellar offers shiraz super deal
The most influential Australian wine writer names his favourite red of all-time as the wine club offers its best deal yet on premium shiraz.
By JOHN LEHMANN
FIRST COLUMN
Farewell James Halliday, hello Nick Ryan. Meet our new wine columnist
James Halliday made this the most important column in Australian wine writing through his work ethic, peerless perspective on the world of wine and love for his subject.
By NICK RYAN

Three David Herbert desserts

La dolce vita
Get your sweet Italian groove on with these three recipes - orange polenta cake, taralli and almond & lemon biscottini.
By DAVID HERBERT

Journeys

JOURNEYS
Forget the houses, the celebrities, the mythology. The best thing about Malibu is its nature
From mid-February to May you might spot migrating grey whales as they travel up the coast from winter birthing grounds in Baja California to summer feeding grounds in Alaska.
By CAROLINE CLEMENTS AND DILLON SEITCHIK-REARDON

P.S.

The Western Sydney council of Canterbury Bankstown has a runaway hit on its hands with Ramadan Nights Lakemba, an event so huge that it is claimed more than 1.4 million people attended it in 2023. The night food market is a celebration of Australia's multicultural eating culture and runs Thursday to Sunday from 6pm to 3am throughout March and April. This weekend will be the final weekend of 2024, so if you are interested in seeing what it is all about, get along. More information can be found here.