A top chef who claims to have the maturity of a six-year-old is the perfect choice to teach children about the wonder and simplicity of fresh food. Simon Bryant, from ABC-TV's The Cook and The Chef is also the executive chef at Hilton Adelaide, managing many young apprentices. At the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market yesterday he launched the new Kids' Club, a culinary skill-building session designed to encourage healthy food choices in children. English-born Bryant, whose early culinary forays involved cucumber sandwiches, is a strong believer in the program and children's diets. ``If you get your palate developed, and you start to get interested in different flavours, and serious about what food is about, and especially where it comes from—you are kind of setting yourself up for life,'' he said. The market will hold children's culinary skill-building sessions each Sunday. The Advertiser (Adelaide), February 4.
Tobie’s healthy lunch plea
As a new school year gets under way, chef Tobie Puttock has issued a plea to parents to get the healthy message out to their children. After finding that many of the 16 to 18-year-olds he worked with had grown up only eating take-away food, the executive chef at Melbourne's Fifteen restaurant decided to intervene. The celebrity cook has urged parents not only to pack a healthy lunch box for students, but to engage them in the kitchen at home. Speaking at Pakenham Springs Primary School last week, one of the state's newest schools, Puttock said that if students adopted healthy eating at primary school, they would most likely continue for the rest of their lives. "With the amount of money that goes into advertising unhealthy food, it really makes me want to get the healthy message out there to kids and across to parents as well," he said. The Age (Melbourne), February 4.
Tokyo to test eateries for `real taste' of Japan
Japanese master chef Kimitaka Azuma has been working on the Australian palate for more than a decade. Tempura sukiyaki and shabu shabu go down well but he has yet to get his customers to appreciate the delicacy of kinako flour, made from soy beans and used in desserts. Now Australian customers will be able to judge just how ``Japanese'' the food at Mr Azuma's restaurant in Sydney's Chifley Tower really is. Officials in Tokyo are offering a worldwide ``authenticity screen'' for restaurants that claim to be Japanese. The scheme may lead to an equivalent of the Michelin star system for the world's 25,000 Japanese restaurants, they say. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture will run the scheme—assessing the origin of ingredients and whether they offer a real taste of Japan. The origins of the wasabi horseradish (preferably from the Izu peninsula), miso paste (preferably from the Nagano mountains) and pickled ginger (preferably from Tochigi) will all be scrutinised. Rice is expected to be the most frequent area of failure: a true sushi master will insist on koshihikari rice grown in Japan. Mr Azuma said he welcomed the scrutiny, so customers would know he was offering them the real thing. His long kitchen bustles with Japanese chefs, most of whom have had more than seven years of training in Japan. The Australian, January 31.
Working is such a treat
Lindt pastry chef Dave Digiaro works in Sydney's answer to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Like the famous set-up in Roald Dahl's tale, the Lindt factory in Mascot has separate rooms: one for chocolate making, a baking room for pastries and one for ice cream. ``When I started I got lost a few times,'' Digiaro says. ``There is a freezer here the size of my house. The kitchen alone is just huge.'' Digiaro, a fourth-year apprentice, makes cakes, chocolates, quiches, ice creams, breads and pastries for Lindt's three cafes. Each day begins at 5am or 6am. ``The first thing we do when we come in is finish the cakes for the cafes,'' Digiaro says. Depending on the day Digiaro and three other chefs will spend the rest of the shift on focusing on one area of operation. Digiaro says there are deadlines to ensure the cakes are in time for the daily delivery. The Daily Telegraph, February 4.
Battle of menus is a fine surprise
It's enough to make you cry in your beer—the days of cheap pub food appear to be over, with many popular hotel eateries now charging more than fine-dining restaurants for the same meals, a Sunday Mail survey has found. A comparison of menu prices for similar dishes at a selection of pubs and restaurants across the state found that a group of four adults—ordering two shared entrees and four mains—could eat more than 12 per cent cheaper by choosing fine dining instead of their local hotel. They could have eaten at a restaurant for a food-only bill of just over $159, while the same selections at the pub would have set them back $178. And people who are taking the restaurant option say it comes with quieter surrounds, more interesting wine lists and much better service. Queensland Hotels Association chief executive officer Justin O'Connor was quick to defend the prices of pub food and said many establishments were producing dishes that rivalled the quality of restaurant food. Samford Hotel owner Les Pullos agreed that while some prices had gone up, so too had the quality. He blamed fast-rising wages for chefs as one of the reasons for price increases. ``The costs involved are no less for me in running a hotel than any restaurant,'' he said. The Sunday Mail (Brisbane), February 3.
Alfresco ban: MPs go cold on outdoor heaters
Alfresco drinkers and diners across Europe could find themselves out in the cold amid a push for a widespread ban on patio heaters. European MPs in Brussels have voted overwhelmingly in favour of outlawing the heaters in an attempt to slash carbon dioxide emissions. The vote came after MPs debated a report calling on the European Commission to abolish all electrical goods with low-energy efficiency ratings, including outdoor heaters and appliances with standby controls. MPs voted 592 to 26 in favour of the report's recommendations, which the commission will now consider adopting. In England, where thousands of pubs spent millions on outdoor heaters when a smoking ban for enclosed public spaces came into force last July, the idea of a ban has sparked outrage. Some fear it could cost the hospitality industry $563 million a year if smokers give up going to pubs and restaurants because they can no longer cosy up to a heater while popping outside for a cigarette. The Advertiser (Adelaide), February 2.
Goat's got Kyari's vote
Graeme Philips
One of the exciting trends we're beginning to see in Australia is the emergence of restaurants, other than steak houses, specialising in one particular type of meat. It's a trend very much still in its infancy, best represented here by the pork-every-which-way dishes at the Farm Gate Cafe in Kettering and Pecora's pork salume and famously understated ``pig of the day'' on their menu. Now Kylie and Bari Short have chevon and capretto—goat and kid meat respectively—as regular features on their menu at their award-winning Kyari Cafe in Geeveston. I once read somewhere that goat is the most widely consumed meat in the world. If so, then Tasmania has never contributed much to the consumption stats. In the rush to rural diversification and gentrification about 12 or 15 years ago, quite a number of Tasmanian hobbyists got into raising goats, first for their fleece and, when that market stalled, for their milk and meat, forming a breeding and marketing organisation to introduce capretto to local restaurants and tables. While we happily scoffed the then new goat cheeses, capretto met only limited success and, to the best of my knowledge, the organisation soon faded and disbanded. Peter and Marilyn Brack started farming goats on their Mathom Farm Stay Property at Gunns Plains in 2000 and are now by far the largest goat milk producer in the state, daily milking a herd of about 330 and producing some 180,000 litres of milk a year. Sunday Tasmanian, February 3.
Take the slow road to Orange for feasts of the wood-fired kind
The Slow Food concept has so subtly crept into our thinking about good eating that it doesn't always get a mention. Top restaurant dishes usually involve traditional methods, and seasonality is the key. But home cooks sometimes need to rethink approaches to family eating. Homemade doesn't have to be hard, which is why Slow Food organisations, and festivals such as Slow Food Orange in NSW, are important. It's this mini-festival's second year and it aims to showcase the good food and wine of the region. Kim Currie—a chef in another life, she says, and now organiser of Brand Orange for the local vignerons association—tells Food Detective Nashdale Hall will be the centre of events. The hall is a true community focus, with an $8000 wood-fired oven out the back, which was donated to the people of the district by Slow Food Orange. Slip out there at the Slow Summer Supper ($30; $15 for under 12s) on Sunday, February 10, the last day of the festival, and you will find a clutch of the region's top chefs gathered around the oven. There'll be Michael Manners, ex Selkirks, now of Manners & Borg, the Old Convent cafe's Josie Chapman, Lesley Russell of Orange Regional Cooking School, Currie and others. The Australian, February 2.
Festival's cobblestone preview just a sampler of foodies' Big Night
Apart from a few fine restaurants, George Parade in the city houses nothing more than rubbish bins and rats. At lunchtime yesterday, however, it was the scene of a lavish banquet inspired by the cult food movie, Big Night. The acclaimed 1996 film tells the story of two Italian brothers who emmigrate to the US in the 1950s to open a restaurant. The problem is their American customers only want spaghetti and meatballs. Desperate to showcase the traditional fare of their homeland - and to save their business - they plan a feast for the locals. It could just as easily have been set in 1950s Melbourne. Today, however, we hardly need convincing of the pleasures of authentic, regional food. So it was with a sense of irony that this scene was recreated for 50 journalists, celebrities and foodies. Chefs from Fifteen Melbourne, Grand Hyatt and Italy 1 took care of the food. High-heeled women and well-dressed men sipped white wine. And the waiters tried not to trip over the cobblestones. But that was just a preview. The real deal - a night time banquet for 200 and a screening of Big Night - will be open to the public as part of the 16th Age Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, which launches on February 22. The Age (Melbourne), January 31.
Replacing a Bondi `beast' with a `monster'
The Swiss Grand hotel at Bondi is regarded by locals as ``ugly'', ``tacky'' and ill-fitting with the rest of the beach-front buildings. But the ``monstrosity'' developers plan to replace it with has left residents aghast. The redevelopment will turn the ageing hotel into luxury apartments with a two-storey supermarket, restaurants, shops and an extra two floors—or 3m—of height. Luke Whitington, organiser of the Bondi Residents Action Group against the Swiss Grand Redevelopment said it was just too big for Bondi. He has hit back in the best way Bondi residents know how, by starting the Facebook group ``Stop the Swiss Grand redevelopment—Bondi isn't the Gold Coast!” The group has 67 members protesting the intensification of use, traffic, waste and parking. The Daily Telegraph, February 4.
Women 'tricked' into being binge drinkers
Millions of women are drinking far more alcohol than they realise and big wine glasses are a major cause, a national study has found. The shock statistics reveal that wine drinkers in particular are consuming up to twice as much as they think. Researchers from the National Drug Research Institute blamed the surge on the use of larger wine glasses at bars and in homes, and the differences in alcohol percentages in beverages. Professor Steve Allsop said the heavy alcohol consumption by females was creating a generation of women who were at greater risk of weight gain, cancer and brain and liver damage. The federal Government has been forced to respond to the problem and will introduce new standard-drink logos on wine bottles to better educate people. A Department of Health spokeswoman said the labels would more clearly identify the number of standard drinks within a product. A standard drink is equivalent to 100ml of wine or 285ml of beer. Pub owners say patrons feel "ripped off" when they are served smaller glasses. Professor Mattick said women would one day overtake men in terms of heavy alcohol consumption, similar to the trend which occurred with smoking. Sunday Telegraph (Sydney), February 3.
Family focus in the pub
A new focus on families, high-tech gaming and upmarket cuisine has re-invented the Aussie pub. Gone are the days of stale public bars and paved, open beer gardens—today's local is more likely to feature contemporary furniture in an air conditioned space, a modern-cuisine kitchen and a fully covered children's adventure playground and computer room. And there's more upgrading to come, says Queensland's ``king of pubs'', Tom Hedley, a self-made property tycoon who owns more than 100 licensed properties Australia-wide through the Hedley Leisure and Gaming Property Fund. Mr Hedley has so much faith in the future of the industry, he's about to add another eight to his stable. ``Hotels are an entertaining place. They're enjoyment for all, whether it's kids and playgrounds or computer game rooms, there's families and restaurants, you can have a bet here, play the pokies and have a drink,'' Mr Hedley said. He said a new style of public bar was also making a comeback, with drinkers expecting more than a vinyl-covered stool and a pub TAB. ``There has been a big turnaround in the public bars. We are building three new taverns now and we've had to go back to the drawing boards and make (the bars) bigger.Sunday Mail (Brisbane), February 3.
What's wrong with a drink from the tap
It's the test that all Dr Georgine Clarsen's students fail. As part of her course on the cultural history of water, the University of Wollongong historian gives each person in her class two glasses. One contains tap water; one contains bottled water. Their task is to identify which is which. "They can never tell the difference," says Clarsen. It raises the question she poses in her course: if the waters taste identical, why do we drink so much bottled water? It's something many Australians are starting to ask themselves. We love bottled water. According to ACNielsen, Australians drank 252 million litres of the stuff in 2006, spending $385m in the process. While that's low by international standards—our annual consumption is 24 litres per capita, compared with North America, where it's 70 litres per capita, according to research company Canadean—the market is growing. Sales of our best-selling water, Mount Franklin, rose by almost 20 per cent in 2007, according to manufacturer Coca-Cola Amatil. And with an average 10 per cent yearly growth industry-wide, it's clear we're hitting the bottle harder and harder. Sun Herald (Sydney), February 3.
Our tips are full of good food. Why the waste?
The average Victorian household bins up to 250 kilograms of uneaten fresh fruit, vegetables and meat every year—the equivalent of throwing away one in every five bags of groceries. Annually, more than a million tonnes of rotting food is tipped into Victorian landfills, creating 1.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. And the problem is getting worse, not better, according to government agencies charged with analysing the contents of our garbage bins. But the eating habits of Victorians are about to become the new frontier in the fight against overflowing landfills and greenhouse gas emissions according to Sustainability Victoria resource recovery manager Simon Clay. "The next step to that kind of system is to get food waste included in the green waste collection system," he said. Mr Clay said Sustainability Victoria would also be targeting food waste coming out of "hospitality, food manufacturing food services and the food retail sector". Sunday Age (Melbourne), February 3.
Alert over Drayton explosion
Preliminary findings from a WorkCover NSW inquiry into the fatal Drayton's Family Wines explosion have shown welding work was being done near stored ethanol at the time of the blast. The authority says it is continuing to investigate the cause of the blast on January 17, which killed winemaker Trevor Drayton and boilermaker Edgar Orgo, and seriously injured assistant winemaker William Rikard-Bell. It issued a safety alert yesterday about the risk of fire and explosions at wineries. The alert said initial investigations showed welding work was being done at the Pokolbin winery near a building where ethanol and other flammable liquids were stored when the explosion occurred. Workcover NSW chief executive Jon Blackwell said risk assessments for manufacturing processes and storage involving flammable liquids needed regular review. Newcastle Herald, February 2.
Casella Wines beats the blues
New South Wales wine producer, Casella Wines, is enjoying solid growth, despite tough conditions. The group has had great success exporting its Yellow Tail wine brand to the US. Casella Wines has reported a 1.5 per cent rise in annual profit for 2006-07 to $A65.3m. Casella is owned by members of the Casella family and has 460 staff. On 31 January 2008, MD John Casella noted that the high Australian dollar is making life harder for Casella, but the group is cutting costs. He said that the grape glut has gone, to be replaced by a shortage of grapes. The Australian Financial Review, February 1.
Brits say our shop staff can shape up
Australia is lagging behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to service, according to a British ``customer experience'' expert. Phil Corke, from English innovation agency What If!, visited Sydney recently and found our retail outlets and hotels disappointing. “This is quite surprising, especially when you consider Australia has a lot going for it,” Mr Corke said. Mr Corke believes Australia's declining service standards mirror a global trend. According to a recent report by Accenture, 47 per cent of shoppers worldwide say their service expectations are met ``sometimes, rarely or never''. ``People's levels of expectation have dropped, and standards have fallen across the board,'' Mr Corke said. “I did see some good stuff in Australia, but it could be a lot better. Some countries have taken on the idea of providing service better than others. With the amount of choice shoppers have now—including shopping online— giving better service is one of the best ways to gain a competitive advantage.'' Sunday Telegraph (Sydney).
Hope of rescue deal for MFS
A deal to rescue besieged investment group MFS Ltd could be completed as early as tomorrow. The Gold Coast-based company needs to sell its Stella Group of tourism and accommodation operations to clear hundreds of millions of dollars in debts. Talks were continuing yesterday and sources said a quick deal was looking likely. Despite other media reports of a bidding war, The Sunday Mail understands MFS chiefs are negotiating with only one party—CVC Asia Pacific. An earlier offer by CVC, believed to be $1.6bn, was rejected by MFS, which spent $1.9bn building the Stella Group, which includes Harvey World Travel, BreakFree Hotels, Peppers Retreats and Saville Hotels. MFS has debts of $1.7bn, $220m of which has to be repaid during the next three months. New MFS chief executive Craig White yesterday declined to speculate on a time frame but said: “We continue to work as quickly as we can on the proposition on the table. That will enable us to release cash needed within the business to move forward.'' The Sunday Mail, February 3.
Best of times for hotels - with more on the way
The hotel sector was one of the busiest last year, and with a 10 per cent rise in average room rates, the coming 12 months are tipped to be as hectic. Sales turnover and improved room prices reflected stronger domestic travel and the volume of liquidity in property markets looking for a home. Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics accommodation data, published two weeks ago, show growth came largely on the back of record occupancy levels and strong increases in room rates during the September quarter of last year. The executive vice-president of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Mark Durran, said the 10 per cent increase in revenue per available room had caught the attention of investors. Average daily rates jumped by 7 per cent across Australia, supported by an all-time national occupancy high of 67.1 per cent—surpassing the record highs recorded during the summer of 2006, Mr Durran said. While all major markets recorded excellent improvements in room yield, Perth and Sydney remained markets to watch as the best opportunity for income and capital growth, he said. Sydney Morning Herald, February 2.
Lychees in big demand
Lychees may have originated in China around 1700BC, but it is the Australian lychees that are world renowned today.
Growers in Australia have developed a reputation around the world for their harvesting of the heart-shaped summer fruit, picking them only first thing in the morning when it's cool, and quickly packing and transporting them to market in a very short supply chain. In fact, Chinese producers are now in touch with Australian growers for help in improving their supply chain and post-harvest handling. Australian lychees are also free of sulphur dioxide, a preservative used in many other countries to help keep a pleasant colour on the fruit but resulting in a poor taste. They are in season until the end of March. Choose fruit with skin as red-pink as possible and fruit that looks fresh and firm. The skin is naturally tough and leathery, but it should not be overly dull, dry or dark. Sunday Telegraph,
February 3.
Move over, Grange, here comes Two Hands
Three bottles of South Australian wine have sold for almost $A145,000 at auction in the United States. The Barossa Valley Ares Shiraz, Aphrodite Cabernet Sauvignon and Aerope Grenache—all produced by Two Hands Wines—fetched a total of $US130,000 ($A144,260) at the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida. The festival brings together vintners, chefs and wine collectors and includes an annual auction which this year raised $US14m for charity. Two Hands Wines owner Michael Twelftree said the company's involvement was a significant achievement both for the winery and the Australian wine industry. Two Hands has a strong following in the United States and this latest achievement confirms we are hitting the mark with our wines," Mr Twelftree said. "It's also excellent recognition for the Australian wine industry and the calibre of our premium wine regions." The Australian, February 4.