The time has come again for me to praise multiculturalism and revel in the fact that you can walk down a bustling strip in any major Australian city and sample cuisine from at least 10 different countries. Not only that, but the food is usually excellent if you know where to go. Perhaps because the…
Read more
‘[There is] a recent trend towards high quality meals that don’t even need a frying pan, but simply require heating.’– John Newton, 1999 ‘Cooking … is a process – a source of pleasure, a means of exercising skill – not simply a collection of ingredients or “tastes” ’– Jean Duruz, 2000 In my first year…
Read more
Recently a good friend of mine decided to go on a paleo diet. This is a diet that mimics the eating habits of the people of paleontological times (our caveman ancestors) – meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It’s a way of eating that is designed to encourage your body to burn fat rather than…
Read more
I used to be a very unimaginative cook because I knew I could rely on a few unoriginal ingredients – namely meat – to satiate the people I was feeding. Pasta sauce a bit boring? Add some bacon, because everyone likes bacon. Or, say you have people coming around to dinner, what is guaranteed to…
Read more
Like a lot of people, I love me some spaghetti (so much so that I’m willing to sacrifice talking like a grown-up). But like a lot of people, if I find myself eating too much of it, I have to wear the things in my wardrobe that are “blousy” or empire-lined. I don’t just like…
Read more
One of my favourite things to do is to throw a dinner party. Once or twice a fortnight I’ll invite up to half a dozen of my friends around and cook up a couple of different things (I can’t seem to only ever cook one thing – I always get carried away) and uncork several…
Read more
I am a big fan of meals that have more than one course. It lends a sense of occasion to weeknight dinners and makes the host/cook of dinner parties seem very impressive (especially if they sigh happily after taking the first bite – it’s a fabulous ego boost). The problem I encounter when preparing two…
Read more
Perhaps thanks to the popularity of televisions shows like My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef, and the rising profile of chefs into celebrities, many Australians are now identifying themselves as foodies. The exposure to cooking shows and iconic chefs has made high-end dining no longer daunting, and words like congee, carpaccio, and chantilly have entered…
Read more
I often find that some of the best dishes are the ones you don’t have to screw around with – nothing but good, fresh ingredients and a little heat, allowing them to be delicious on their own merit. There’s a mentality towards food that you see in a lot of Greek and Italian recipes where…
Read more
