Fair shake of the barbie; Search for a true blue dish

Salt and pepper squid has taken over from fish and chips, and is well on the way to becoming Australia's national dish, according to Poh Ling Yeow. The comment from the Masterchef finalist, who will be seen next month in her own cooking show on ABC-TV, came as chefs, politicians and celebrities argued that our national dish is everything from a sausage in bread to pavlova. Today, The Advertiser launches a national poll asking people to vote for their favourite national dish. Feasting at Grange Jetty Cafe with her sister Antoniette Zerella yesterday, Patricia Puzzuoli wasted no time in naming salt and pepper squid her favourite dish. ``Absolutely, every time we go out to dinner I get it, I absolutely love it,'' Ms Puzzuoli said. ``It's so fresh.'' Poh agreed. ``It's a classic example of Australians eating lighter and with Asian flavours filtering into mainstream dining,'' she said. Masterchef judge Matt Preston didn't nominate a dish but said a barbecue was ``how we express our Australianness''. ``Friends from a range of cultures can get together and share their cultural heritage,'' he said. The Advertiser (Adelaide), January 25.

Flake back on menu as mako ban lifted

The federal government has moved to avoid a backlash by changing environmental laws to allow fishermen to catch mako sharks after an outcry by the Victorian government and commercial fishermen. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett last month announced he had no legal choice but to place the mako shark on the prohibited list from January 29 after it was declared a threatened migratory species in the Mediterranean. Environmental legislation introduced by the Howard government meant no discretion was allowed in the prohibition. The fishing industry argued the ban was ridiculous given there was nothing to suggest the species was threatened in Australia—or that the sharks here migrated to Europe—and it would have cost the industry up to $150 million a year. Fishermen faced an $11,000 fine if caught fishing mako shark, which is served as flake in restaurants as well as being a favourite among recreational fishermen and charter fishing tours across the country. The Australian, January 25.

Cooking for stardom

The three golden rules of any successful reality show are casting, casting and casting. Just ask the makers of Survivor and The Amazing Race -- long time hits because they are so good at picking the right contestants. Casting is something that Channel 7's new cooking-reality program My Kitchen Rules excels at. Seven has put a lot of promotional muscle behind the My Restaurant Rules spin-off. It would clearly like to capture some of the MasterChef Australia audience. The second series of Ten's reality show doesn't start until April/May. Cynics thought My Kitchen Rules would be a quick MasterChef Australia knock-off . It is much better than that. The set-up is simple. Five couples (from each of the mainland states) take turns to host a dinner party. They must serve a three-course meal that is graded by their fellow contestants and judges restaurateurs Pete Evans and Manu Feildel. Evans seems nervous in the first episode but Feildel is a Gallic charmer who will quickly win the hearts of female viewers. TV will be swamped with cooking shows in 2010 with Come Dine with Me, Poh's Kitchen, a second MasterChef Australia and even Junior MasterChef set to screen. My Kitchen Rules will screen on Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm from February 1. TV will be swamped with cooking shows in 2010 with Come Dine with Me, Poh's Kitchen, a second MasterChef Australia and even Junior MasterChef set to screen. Herald Sun (Melbourne), January 25.

Have you noticed—we're cafe-scene pack animals?

The mob mentality of the Cronulla race riots in 2005 has nothing on the mob mentality of Australian diners. At my preferred local cafe, dozens of people turn into human chicanes as they wait at least five-deep across the footpath for their morning caffeine hit. Sometimes they (OK, we) wait 15 to 20 minutes, ignoring the fact that just two doors down, the barista might as well be doing yoga for all the (perfectly good) coffees he's pumping out of the Brasilia. The great dining divide is one of the quirks of the trade, according to John Hart, CEO of Restaurant & Catering Australia. "All the research suggests there are only two factors in whether restaurants will make it or not: location and size," he says. "That doesn't go anywhere near explaining why two places next door to each other would be in that situation where one succeeds and the other doesn't." Dining precincts such as Melbourne's Southbank and Sydney's Cockle Bay Wharf attract huge numbers, but it's the same story: some restaurants do a roaring trade while others succeed like a sunken souffle. But one thing's for sure: very few of us see an empty restaurant and think, I'll give it a try. We're drawn to busy places, assuming all those customers can't be wrong. That's mob mentality, right? Sunday Telegraph Magazine (Sydney), January 24.

`Woolly' but it's ours

Matt Moran

With Australia Day almost upon us, it set me to thinking about if there is an Australian national dish. For many other countries with much longer histories and deeply entrenched food cultures, the question of their national dish, or at least signature flavours and styles, is a no-brainer. Italian pasta and pizza, Spanish paella and tapas, American hotdogs, Japanese sushi and soba noodles . . . the list goes on. Yes, they're almost a cliche. And no, they're not the sum total of the cooking styles of each country, but they're a kind of shorthand to explaining each cuisine. As a relatively young country, it's a different story for us. It's taken us this long to assimilate the cooking styles of the nations that colonised us with those of more recent arrivals. The only term available to us to describe the result is a bit of a catch-all phrase that raises as many questions as it answers. Modern Australian cuisine -- what does that really mean? The ever-evolving answer would certainly take far more than the length of this story. When I began to think of a classic Aussie dish, some of the most obvious came to mind (although I think Australian food is far more diverse than this selection). The good old meat pie—endorsed as such by former NSW premier, Bob Carr. Vegemite—not a dish in itself, but most definitely uniquely Australian. Pavlova, topped with whipped cream, banana, strawberries and passionfruit—but ownership is hotly contested by the Kiwis. Kangaroo? Still more widely recognised as part of our coat of arms than as a foodstuff. And then the aha! moment: lamingtons. If not the national dish, they surely count as our national cake. These little cubes of chocolate-icing soaked, desiccated coconut-coated cake have been the back-bone of many a school or church fundraiser (they unfortunately seem to have been superseded by chocolate-bar fundraising). Sunday Telegraph (Sydney).

Pie's the limit for us

The humble pie is still considered Australia's national dish, according to 37 per cent of people surveyed by Galaxy Research exclusively for The Sunday Mail. Of the 1000 Australians surveyed, 28 per cent of people considered roast lamb our national dish, 12 per cent thought lamingtons should take out the title, and 11 per cent voted for pavlova. Cameron Ferguson, 27, wife Linzee, 26, and daughter Harmony, 2, stopped for pies at award-winning pie maker Beefy's at Aussie World on the Sunshine Coast yesterday, and were happy with the results. ``It's a little stew in it's own little oven. You can go anywhere yet have your own packed meat in a little shell,'' Mr Ferguson said of the pie's national appeal. Chef and owner of Restaurant Two in Brisbane, David Pugh, said he was not surprised by the findings. ``I think lamb on the barbecue would have been a better national food but the price of lamb is quite high, so I think the meat pie is the more affordable option for more Australians,'' he said. The Sunday Mail (Brisbane), January 24.

Pubs on the menu --- Diners developing a taste for their local hotel fare

Gourmet menus and classically trained chefs are leading a revolution in Sydney hotels that is taking the grub out of pub grub. With customer numbers falling due to tough new smoking laws, publicans have been forced to revamp their image. And offering patrons a cheaper alternative to restaurant dining is one measure they are using to bring people back to their locals. Now many of the city's pubs have a menu that offers market fresh fish alongside old favourites like chicken schnitzel and bangers and mash. So lucrative is the gastropub market that chefs can earn more than $100,000, particularly if they graduate to executive chef. The AHA insists the makeovers aren't pushing prices up and that dinner at the local is still one of the more budget-friendly nights out. ``We were definitely seeing a rise in the standard of food and people are now seeing pubs as a great community meeting place,'' AHA National CEO Bill Healey said. ``Families might be trying to save money and might think a restaurant meal is too expensive, but they can go to a pub bistro and still get that same standard at a cheaper price.' During his 23-year career, Paul Jury has worked as Paul Keating's chef at Parliament House and as one of the corporate chefs at the Sydney Olympics, where he cooked 40,000 meals in two weeks. Now he creates seasonal menus as executive chef for five pubs across Sydney, including the Macquarie Hotel in Liverpool. ``People want quality, freshness and good value when they're dining out and I think that is all available at pubs,'' Mr Jury said. ``We would never stop serving the pub classics but the produce we use is first class.'' The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), January 23.

Locals losing beer battle Drinkers show taste for more exotic brands

They drink VB at barbies but enjoy Asahi at their favourite trendy bar and unwind with a glass of red when they get home from work. Aussie drinkers are tailoring their tipple to the social setting in which they find themselves -- and they're driving a revolution in how we consume alcohol. Peter Sinclair, marketing director for Foster's beer division, Carlton & United Breweries, said the traditional Aussie drinker who sticks to beer -- and one or two brands at that -- is quickly becoming an endangered species. ``Nowadays people enjoy a wide range of brands across different alcohol types and different occasions,'' he said. ``The days of having one beer brand that is going to have 30 per cent plus of the total marketplace is a thing of the past.” The increasingly sophisticated Aussie attitude to imbibing has led to an explosion in new alcohol brands. Beer, in particular, has seen a proliferation of low-carb, premium, international and craft brands that have eroded the dominance of traditional heavyweights such as VB. Herald Sun (Melbourne), January 23.

Woolies has $2m gift for food rescue

A move by supermarket giant Woolworths to boost its surplus food donations to the needy should prompt other companies to follow its lead, charities say. Woolworths announced in Melbourne yesterday it would donate the equivalent of two million meals in 2010 to charity -- up by 500,000 meals over last year -- with a $2 million cash injection. The food-rescue services that will benefit from the help include SecondBite, Foodbank, OzHarvest, FareShare and Food 4 Life. As well as the cash, Woolworths will add 800 more stores to the 687 supermarkets that now take fresh produce and groceries deemed unfit for sale and redirect them to charities instead of landfills. The food is still safe to eat and can be used to make anything from pies to casseroles. SecondBite food program manager Russell Shields said SecondBite's focus was on providing agencies that provide meals with fresh food. It also works on innovative and long-term food-relief programs that help families in crisis. ``This funding will help us to collect and redistribute over 900 tonnes of fresh food in 2010 across Victoria and Tasmania,'' he said. Hobart Mercury, January 23.

When the curtain goes down, you might as well go to bed

Another weekend in Sydney, another post-theatre apocalypse. At Walsh Bay, Hamlet finishes. The audience drifts out to find the foyer bar already closed. They drift onto the street, finding little to keep them there. By the water, one bar is shutting up. Its licence ends at 11pm. At the bar next door, staff are already stacking chairs. Over at the State Theatre, it is not much better. David Sedaris has left the building and so have the chefs at many restaurants nearby. There is something sad about a trip to the theatre which begins and ends in a foyer. The brief, failed search for a civilised late night venue, then the cab ride home. At least during the Sydney Festival there is the Becks Bar and the Spiegeltent, but what about the rest of the year? Why does Sydney lack a civilised post-theatre scene? Beyond the usual complaints - drinking laws, expensive rents, apartment owners who expect late-night silence even in the middle of the city - there is something else, particular to theatre. Sydney does not have a theatre district. Sydney Morning Herald, January 23.

Tourism dollars beginning to fly back in as the belt-tightening eases

At the quaint Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney's outer-western suburbs the mood is cautious. Positive, certainly, but still there's a hint of caution. As hundreds of families and tourists both local and from abroad watch the daily feeding of the park's collection of Australian animals -- claimed to be the largest in the world -- management is hoping their luck holds. So far, the outlook seems good. The number of international tourists coming into Australia was down 1 per cent last year -- a good result considering the global financial crisis and the rise in the Australian dollar. Featherdale's marketing manager, Kelly Ames, said the park, which was voted NSW's No 1 tourist attraction in 2009, was keen to grow its share of the intensely competitive local tourism market. ``We have been happy, we haven't seen too much of a drop in the past 12 months,'' Ms Ames said. ``I think with the financial climate some people were not travelling as much because most of our domestic customers are coming from Sydney. ``Our international numbers dropped a bit. Korea dropped for us in 2009 but we did well with a lot of visitors from China and the US because there were a number of cruise ships coming into town.” The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) estimates that overseas inbound tourist numbers will grow by 4.3 per cent this year, after surviving the downturn in better shape than most had expected. Domestic tourism was hit in 2009 by a steep 5.4 per cent decline, but the forecast is for a 2.9 per cent rebound this year. Weekend Australian, January 23.

Our culinary stars set to sparkle in Madrid

The Spanish capital is the place for any self-respecting food lover to be this week; the three-day Madrid Fusion gastronomic festival kicks off on Tuesday and has attracted a who's who of the international culinary fraternity. Three of Australia's most innovative chefs -- Ben Shewry, Mark Best and Cheong Liew -- will attend for the first time as our national representatives, alongside international stars such as Ferran Adria (El Bulli, Spain), Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck, England), Alain Ducasse (Plaza Athenee, France and Louis XV, Monaco), Rene Redzepi (Noma, Copenhagen) and Thomas Keller (The French Laundry and Per Se, US). For Shewry, whose theatrical offerings at Melbourne's Attica restaurant have gained him high praise from critics and customers alike, the event is ``a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'' but, oddly enough, not the only thing on his mind at the moment. ``I head off [to Spain] four days after my wife Natalia has our third child, as horrific as that sounds,'' Shewry tells Food Detective.

``I think I'm probably the only person at the summit who will be able to say Madrid Fusion wasn't the most exciting thing to happen to them at the time.'' But he's thrilled to be one of the few Australians who've taken part in the event. ``With the exception of Tetsuya [Wakuda], Australia has never really been represented at Madrid Fusion and as a small child growing up with a dream of becoming a chef, it was impossible to imagine travelling the world showing other people how you cook and what your philosophies are,'' Shewry says. Weekend Australian, January 23.

Burger chain defies code

A major fast food outlet has made a mockery of self-regulated advertising for the industry after it continued to spruik a kids meal with a toy despite a ruling by the Advertising Standards Board against doing so, health experts say. Last year, Hungry Jacks and other fast food chains agreed not to advertise products with toys to children unless the food met specific nutrition criteria. But Jane Martin, a spokeswoman for the Obesity Policy Coalition, said that after breaching the rule last year and being told by the Advertising Standards Board to stop advertising the product in November, Hungry Jacks continued to advertise the same meal with a different toy. She said the ad, broadcast more than 300 times on commercial TV in recent weeks, showed the industry was incapable of self-regulation and that the Government needed to impose effective sanctions. "Fast food advertisers are laughing in the face of the self-regulatory regime and the Advertising Standards Bureau," she said. "They are not taking concerns about childhood obesity seriously." The Age (Melbourne), January 22.

District wineries raise their glasses to super mulch

Amid nationwide calls for thousands of hectares of vineyards to be uprooted to resolve the wine glut, some Canberra district wineries are turning to carbon sequestration in the hope they'll not only help save the planet, but improve the quality of their grapes. Canberra District Wine Industry Association president Anne Caine said that as long as wine was of a high enough quality, there would always be buyers. As part-owner of Lerida Estate, her and husband Jim Lumbers stopped the tradition of burning the vine offcuts about two years ago, and now uses the by-products to mulch under the vines, making the vineyard carbon neutral. Mr Lumbers said, "We use the waste, which usually releases CO2, and we spread the mulch under the vines so carbon is locked into the soil by worms and micro-organisms.” Canberra Times. January 25.

Bar bans caffeine drink set

A Sydney bar is refusing to sell energy drinks, claiming the caffeine-laden mixers encourage anti-social behaviour and can lead to violence. In an attempt to control its clientele, and despite regular requests from patrons, Darlinghurst bar Ching-a-lings no longer stocks the controversial drinks. Owners Jack Brown and Cameron Reid, who opened the small bar last June, say they don't want revellers who are ``charged up'' to prolong a big night out. They say energy drinks change a venue's vibe and fuel anti-social behaviour, revving up clubbers who become ``more wasted''. High-caffeine energy drinks are also notoriously popular at dance parties where illegal drugs are consumed. ``It's actually a filtering exercise about who we want in the bar,'' Mr Brown said. ``The people who drink energy drinks are generally a young demographic who are out to seriously abuse alcohol— all energy drinks do is allow you to drink more and keep on drinking. That kind of drinking changes the mood of the venue.” Sunday Telegraph, January 24.

A case of light and easy; Low-alcohol wines appeal to dieters

Diet-conscious Australians are driving a new trend towards lower-alcohol wines, which are soaring in popularity. For the first time Weight Watchers has endorsed a wine range - the new low-alcohol Balance range from Hunter Valley family winery McWilliam's. And another low-alcohol wine, the Jacob's Creek Sparkling Moscato, has been named official Australia Day Wine of the Year. Consumer research conducted by McWilliam's found many wine drinkers want lighter, more refreshing styles of wine that better align to their lifestyle. The McWilliam's Balance range has 8.5 per cent alcohol, a third lower in alcohol and a third lower in kilojoules than a standard bottle. One glass has a Weight Watchers points value of one, as is highlighted on the label, and equals one standard drink. "We're really pleased to have this endorsement," McWilliam's winemaker Jim Brayne said. "It's fulfilling to know that we're giving a lower-kilojoule and lower-alcohol option to people who like to enjoy a glass of wine. This is about making dining out and entertaining a lot easier." Dietitian and Weight Watchers adviser Emma Stirling said being able to still enjoy the foods (and wines) people loved, while losing weight, was key to the Weight Watchers program. The Balance range comprises a semillon sauvignon blanc and shiraz selling at $16.99. The Jacob's Creek Sparkling Moscato, which has just 9 per cent alcohol as against 15 to 16 per cent for big South Australian reds, is the first moscato to be named the official Australia Day wine. The Sun Herald (Sydney), January 24.

The shiraz Bledisloe

James Halliday

Australian sommeliers seem convinced that if you can't afford Burgundy, pinot noir from New Zealand's Central Otago region is the next best thing, our pinot noirs being dismissed with an imperious sniff . Then there is the much discussed sauvignon tsunami from across the Tasman. Now the Kiwis are staring down Australian shiraz, our most important grape and wine. In 2008 our country's 44,000 hectares (25 per cent of total plantings) of shiraz vines produced 442,000 tonnes - narrowly in front of chardonnay on both measures. How is it then that New Zealand is stirring us up with its recent, and still tiny, venture into shiraz? The answer lies in one region above all others: Hawke's Bay. It has 192 hectares of shiraz, two-thirds of New Zealand's total, most planted since 1999. The Australian Magazine, January 23.

Liquor laws could stop the music

Melbourne’s live music scene could become a shell of its former self if smaller venues continue to fall under the Liquor Licensing Commission's crackdown on late-night pubs and venues, owners say. The owners of two of Melbourne's best-known live music spots, the Corner Hotel in Richmond and the Northcote Social Club, both said if small venues continue to collapse under the crackdown line-ups in all major venues across Melbourne would suffer as a result. Tim Northeast, co-owner of the Corner Hotel, said local bands that make it to the Corner spend years honing their performances in small pubs around the city and without that experience, the entire industry would suffer. ``You can't put bands into places like the Corner until they've sort of got off the ground by playing in the smaller ones,'' he said. ``Unless they're supported the industry could quickly find itself in a problem.'' Mr Northeast said rising costs from record companies, increased council pressures, the higher licence fees and the costs of CCTV and bouncers in venues was making it harder to operate a live-music venue. Herald Sun (Melbourne), January 25.

Push is on for uniform hotel trading hours

Lower Hunter Valley hotels are a step closer to having uniform trading hours after two councillors this week pushed for earlier closing times. Cessnock councillor Chris Parker and Maitland councillor Ray Fairweather have raised questions at council meetings this week about the feasibility of uniform operating hours for hotels in their local government areas. Cr Parker was to address a council meeting on Wednesday night but withdrew his question after he received an overwhelming response from hoteliers, residents and police in Cessnock after he aired his concerns in The Herald. "I was not aware that the key stakeholders are already working together in a bid to combat antisocial problems in Cessnock later at night," Cr Parker said. "Hotels in Cessnock are already doing their best to raise their image and curtail bad behaviour. "The problem seems to be youth but it is still alcohol-related, but I have learned they are not buying it directly from hotels," Cr Parker said. He said some hotels in the city had a licence to stay open until 3am but closed at midnight. Newcastle Herald, January 23.

Drinkers toast switch to tempered glassware

The proof is in the pot glass—Toowoomba drinkers like Terry Maddison haven't noticed a difference between glass and glass alternatives. Bar 839 general manager Richard Bowley said his hotel switched to tempered glass in July last year and not one of his customers had complained, let alone noticed. Tempered glass is a product that was introduced to reduce the chance of serious injury in glassing incidents. The glass shatters when it is smashed, similar to a windscreen, as opposed to a glass that will break into shards. Mr Bowley said the glasses were about 30 per cent more expensive, but he had no hesitation in making the switch to the safer alternative. "We're a suburban family hotel. We're not a night club venue," he said. "But the safety of our patrons is foremost in our minds and of the utmost importance." Tomba's Niteclub licensee Trevor Watts said his venue only served drinks in tempered glass or polycarbonate plastic. But he said it was treating a symptom of the glassing problem, not the cause. "There are very, very few offences. But assaults with glass should be a much more serious offence with harsher punishments." Minister for Liquor Licensing Peter Lawlor said licensees who had made the proactive and voluntary switch to regular glass alternatives should be recognised for taking a serious approach to safety. The Chronicle (Toowoomba),

January 22.