I hate myself a little for admitting this but there is not a day that goes by where I don’t wish I was skinnier. The feminist in me rankles at this – so many times have I had internal rants that go something like ‘I will not conform to an unattainable ideology of beauty blah…
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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…
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When it comes to combating the common cold, does chicken soup actually have any medicinal qualities or is it made of placebo? This is a subject of much interest to me at the moment because I’ve transformed into a snot incubus. I thought the cold had finished doing the rounds in Canberra and that I…
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‘[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…
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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…
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Last weekend I visited my soon to be in laws with my fiancé. Despite his parents being uncommonly lovely, low-maintenance people, I was a little nervous. The reason for our visit was to help them build a house out on their vineyard. We piled into the car, our ridiculous little Pomeranian, my partner and myself…
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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…
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Food trends are a double-edged sword. They can be fantastic and give a type of food or cuisine well-deserved attention and popularity. I remember when I was in Year 12, all of a sudden, sushi was uber trendy. The exquisite combination of salty soy, sweet salmon and hot wasabi was suddenly all the rage. The…
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French Onion Soup is one of those recipes that manage to make the most basic, taken-for-granted ingredient and make it taste exquisite (also, funny trivia, in France, French Onion Soup is apparently just called Onion Soup). I suppose it’s easy to make anything taste good if you caramelise it in butter, but it’s still pretty…
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This is embarrassing to admit but I’ve never been able to master the perfect risotto. I don’t know if my stock/broth to rice ratio was way off, tipped in the favour of stock, if I stirred too much, not enough… I follow the recipe exactly, recipes written by the Nigellas and Jamies of the world…
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I absolutely love soup. It’s the ultimate comfort food. It’s nourishing and satisfying. It takes on various forms and can be honed by its creator to suit the needs and desires of those who consume it (meaty, salty, garlicky, zesty… the list goes on). It can be light, it can be hearty, it can be…
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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…
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I’ve recently been looking into the ways food can provide energy. My unfortunate reality is that the foods I absolutely adore often leave me feeling bloated and sleepy. (I completely understand and love the Spanish idea of a siesta after lunch.) It often seems like a good idea to have a delicious steak sandwich with…
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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…
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