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Australia's Favourite Mum-Made Meals

Australia's Favourite Mum-Made Meals

by Mireille Kilgour

Our comp winner Phoebe meets chef Giovanni Pilu

There's something sacred about Mum's speciality dish that means other versions fail to come close in deliciousness. In May this year we ran a special Mother's Day competition where people could share a photo of their favourite mum-made meal and describe what makes it so special to all the family. There were five $200 Good Food Gift Cards to win, but the ultimate prize was to have top chef Giovanni Pilu cook your mum's dish at Pilu at Freshwater for the winner and their mum. The lucky winner was Phoebe, who's mum's signature dish was a seafood risotto. Yet there were many fabulous dishes our entrants told us about, and they all sounded so good we thought we'd share some with you!

There were over 50 entrants into the competition, with many saying they loved the hearty comfort food that mum did best, such as warm stews, pastas and curries. Here were some of the top trends:

Italian and Spanish dishes

Of the submitted meals, around 30% were Italian or Spanish! Common favourites were homemade pizza, risotto, paella and spaghetti dishes. There were also some very traditional meals like Brodetto alla Vastese, trentino with brodo (pasta in soup) and Italian Sausage and Pasta Fagioli. However, the stand out favourite was mum's lasagne!

Lasagne: It seems big, rich lasanges brought the family together. As one entrant said, "We all sit around when it's lasagne night, with a glass of wine, and talk about the day". The lasagnes themselves were often grand affairs packed with quality ingredients. One entrant explained that their mother used only the finest ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, with six layers full of herbs and spices. Another said that their mum's lasagne was packed full of vegetables – potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips – and layered with cheese sauce, tomato sauce and spinach too.

Pizza: Homemade pizzas were also a favourite. One family has a pizza night every Friday night where their mother makes them all from scratch. Another family loved using their pizza oven and topping the pizzas with roasted vegetables.

Paella: As for the Spanish dishes, paella was always a big hit, especially the seafood or chicken variety. One entrant spoke of how they loved the way the family sat down to share the meal together, surrounding a big dish in the middle of the table.

Risotto: Risotto was mentioned a few times, with seafood or mushroom being the favourites. The quality ingredients were key here, such as fresh shellfish, dried Forest mushrooms from France and good parmesan on top. Seafood risotto was the winning dish in our Good Food Gift Card Mother's Day competition.

Spaghetti: Fabulous gourmet spaghetti was held in high regard by entrants. Spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) was a favourite of two entrants, tossed with white wine, parsley and scallops.

Stews

shutterstock_130359986 There were five mentions of mum's best stew, from beef goulash to beef and Guinness stew. Most of the stews were cooked for hours until the meat melted in your mouth and many entrants said it was the perfect comfort food for a cold winter's night!

A Food Heritage

Many of the dishes had a connection to the family's heritage and entrants often said that the meals reminded them of their past. One of our competition entrants loves their Mum's sweet sticky rice dessert with caramelised papaya in coconut sauce. This traditional Burmese dessert "sends me back to my childhood and warms my heart & soul with every taste." Another said that their favourite meal was Polish Pierogi, or Polish Dumplings, which is a traditional dish where the homemade pasta dumplings are filled with meat, onions and vegetables. It's a meal that transports the entrant back to their homeland, showing that good food is better with great memories.

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Mireille Kilgour

Mireille Kilgour has been an entrepreneur for 35 years in the hospitality sector. French born, she has been an accomplished business owner and operator for a number of Sydney venues. Leading the industry with high profile institutions such as Lamrock Café Bondi, she has endless passion for the industry, and now has the pleasure of supporting restaurants to fill their tables with the new Good Food Gift Card program.