blight

At the library I tend to gravitate to the new glossy cookbooks on display. Call me shallow but this kind of window shopping means I can actually take the product home for a limited time with no buyers remorse if it turns out to be all front and no back, so to speak.

Cook: A Year in the Kitchen with Britain's Favourite Chefs put out by The Observer is something way too meaty to consider purchasing but was happy to take it home for a ride purely due to the name "Ottolenghi" on the cover.

Over a rather delicious late lunch, I sat outside and began flicking through the pictures.

Then I came to this.

Would you eat such a manky looking avocado?

Would you include a photo of such a poor specimen in your blog, unless it was a post on manky fruit porn or to accompany a post like this?

Just as a blighted wedge of avocado can turn me off my breakfast, such poor styling can let down a cookbook.

Or am I just shallow?

worse things than a shortage of bananas

It's been a crap summer in this part of the world. We seem to be leaping from disaster to disaster. Just as the floods, fires and cyclones are beginning to recede in Australia, it's New Zealand's turn for sorrow.

Some of you know I'm a kiwi and it's only just come to my attention that there's been a bit of quiet worry in the blogosphere as to the fate of my family and friends. It's ok, those closest to me live in Wellington, though we all know someone in the quakezone.

Full update on the almost defunct, not-about-food blog for those who are interested.

Menu for Hope 6

It's Menu For Hope time, gosh that snuck up fast. Ed is hosting the Asia Pacific prize list so hop over and make your selections.

If you're unfamiliar with this amazing blogosphere phenomena read all about it at Chez Pim, the founder of the event. Take a wee diversion checking out what's on offer in the other regions too as some can be sent to this side of the world, or you may be traveling in 2010 and want a few nights in a NY staying in an apartment in Chelsea or to dine in interesting restaurants far from our shores.

There's even a super dooper new widget to make donating even easier.

What are you waiting for?

words on walls

You have to love blogging. It is community building at its best. From these words on digital pages I have met so many interesting people. Made great friends. Experienced a diversity of virtual connections. But the latest has got to take the cake.

Ever taken much notice of the graffiti I use as an identifier? I took it on an instamatic camera (ah life before digital) when I was a teenager spending six months living in Sydney. I’d been catapulted from Wellington (population under 300,000) to a city of more than 3 million. It was 1982. Despite this era being the dizzy intersection of punk and post-punk, I put on my best frock and got a proper job, in an office doing the most menial work on a big government health study.

My time in Sydney cemented my love of graffiti. BUGA UP was at its height. Writings on walls, pre-tagging, were witty, political and an emerging art form. One sunny day in Paddington, the following spray made me laugh.



Oh the irony.

Fast forward 25 years and I am living in Australia again. As I flipped through some old photos, the words seemed just a relevant now I find myself amidst the whole food blog/foodie pretension/food porn thing. It seemed the perfect bridge between my disparate blogs. Ironic? Moi!

Then a short while ago, while bringing yet another blog to life, I got a comment from one of the people responsible for the words on the wall. I’ve got Andra’s (coincidentally another outspoken kiwi) permission to share the story. Here it, as she told me via email.

…if you remember the period and the area. Darlinghurst was full of arty squats. Kings Cross was squalid. Paddington was the height of pretension south of the bridge.

My friends and I lived (and died) in the coffee shops of Darlo, Victoria Rd and Oxford St. We fancied ourselves as real punks, feminists, artists and voyagers but we were complete wankers.

That was when the book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" had become popular. I think the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend (which we read) did a big feature on the 'arty punks of paddington.. or darlo.. and the coffee shop scene'. We stayed up all night (as we did) and decided that my 'real punks can't spell cappoc cuppa.. coffee' was clever.

We were so artschool! The trouble we had organising the logistics. Who had access to a car! What sort of paint. Who was going to be lookout. Where were we going to paint. I think we ended up with 5 lookouts, 1 driver and 1 painter. I think we sprayed in 3 locations, Darlo, Ultimo and Paddington. The Paddo location stayed up for a while. I can't remember exactly where cause it's all changed and I've moved but the bottom end of Glenmore Rd near Oxford St on the borders of Kings Cross/Rushcutters/Darlo is where I remember that one.

We really were ahead of the graffiti curve in Australia! I think that spray also got featured shortly after in a coffee table type book on public art or punk art.

I love stories that come full circle.

Words on walls, tags, public art, whatever – is by nature temporary. I'm glad this story has had its moment in the sun again, even if it is in yet another transient medium.

Cross-posted at Health, Philosophy, Politics and Other Rants

blogging with a purpose

Most of us like getting an award, even if our modesty gets in the way some of the time. To be acknowledged by your peers is a darn fine thing. It seems that Kitchenetta at Got No Milk considers me a blogger with to be a purpose. “How nice" I thought, “Someone else gets me!” So thanks very much Kitchenetta. I will continue to share with the blogoshpere ways to make yummy and healthy dairy-free food.

Pay it forward time. As health is my passion, I’ll stick to the theme and joyously award the following for blogging with a purpose:

1. Lucy at Nourish Me. Some of you may have noticed there is a bit of a mutual love link-fest going on between the two of us at the moment but that is for a very good reason. Lucy is also a believer that healthy food can taste great and be low in the animal products too. If you are not familiar with Nourish-Me then you are in for a delight, especially with her great photographic work.

2. Kathryn at Limes and Lycopenes. A Sydney nutritionist, quietly educating the world with tips and treats for sound eating. Keep up the good work Kathryn!

3. Melissa at Gluten-free for Good. I’m a newcomer to her blog this year and have been thoroughly enjoying her gluten-free goodness. You don’t have to be a celiac to try Melissa’s recipes or read her thoughts, they are a treat for one and all.


I’d like to reward everyone who drops by for Reading with a Purpose. Thanks to you all.

is being gluten-free a fad and what to do with those annoying guests who have food allergies

I started this post a couple of months ago with good intentions to get it up within a day. Yet it has languished in my documents not quite complete until until a few events nudged it back into life.

It all began one rainy morning. I was meeting a friend for brunch. There had been a change of plans and her wee girl came too, so a bakery a short walk away seemed to be a good compromise to tempt a child with a fussy appetite and little legs. Once seated the friend announced that she’d just been diagnosed with coeliac disease, an intolerance to anything containing gluten. There we sat surrounded by a whole shop full of the most delicious wheat products. Fortunately, the bakery was Babka and there were also some toast-avoidable meals, like eggs, on the menu and sustenance could be found. But I worried that just sitting in the gluten dusted air may harm her.

That morning, before I headed of to chat and eat, I had an email from a gluten-free blogger who was enjoying the rich pickings at food nazi. It seems that every tenth person I speak to right now is wrestling with a food allergy. In the medical world, coeliac appears to be the new black, with a greater awareness amongst health professionals about the indirect ways this condition can show itself. But unfortunately large pockets of the food world still treat food allergies and intolerances as a fad.

In the past week all this erupted thanks to a piece in Epicure.

Gastronomic snobbery is nothing particularly novel. The princess and her pea are but the latest in a long historical line of snotty food wowsers. There have always been those who consider your pantry an index of refinement.

They snigger if you pronounce "l'ancienne" or "conch" inaccurately. They consider your pantry the register of your moral condition too. You know the sort. They're gluten intolerant and bring their own nut-meat and herbal tea to lunch.

Helen Razer’s rant about food snobbery, carelessly implying gluten intolerance was a fad, understandably got the backs up of many in the local coeliac community.

For those lucky individuals whose lives haven’t been touched by a food allergy, it might seem like it’s a case ‘they’ll never know – a little bit won’t hurt them’. Unfortunately it might. Some allergies can be excruciatingly painful or even fatal. Sometimes it is a case of ignorance but too often there is condescending annoyance, especially in the food world. Unfortunately I’ve spoken to many caterers and chefs who don’t understand that the client is not being fussy or wants special attention – not to be ungrateful but they’ll get sick if they eat the beautiful food and in this enlightened age people shouldn’t have to miss out and go hungry. Looking at the lunch provided by a local gourmet bakery at the local Fairfax run food talkfest, it was gluten as far as the eye could see. “What about the coeliacs” I asked, as an aside to someone in the know. The look and pithy condescending response told me the answer to that question.

I have been aware of my dairy intolerance for 20 years now. Of course, I've had it all my life but I thought it was normal to get tonsillitis or a cold every month let alone the ongoing bloating and pain in my gut. Even now two decades on at least half the time I eat at a catered event (when I have let my food preferences be known well in advance) there is a mistake or a chunk of the meal is missing, such as a dessert or a starter (if you can't eat dairy you obviously wouldn't like to eat something sweet or have dried fruit instead of the cheese platter). Or what is delivered for the same price as the standard meal is clearly lacking. I can’t count the amount of times my vegan airline meal has arrived with its nifty little “VGML” sticker, with dairy on the tray. The Wellington to Melbourne leg of my frequent, Trans-Tasman trips often have up to three milk containing items. Don’t get me started on what meat and dairy-free food I can stock up on at the airport for an exorbitant price. It’s a toss up between a 2 day old, utterly tasteless egg and lettuce sandwich or 12 hour old sushi.

Though my food allergies are of a different variety, a lot of gluten-containing recipes just aren’t that healthy so much of what I tend to cook is coeliac friendly. I am slowly retro-tagging my posts to show this but be patient it might take a while.

Next week we have a vegetarian and her meat eating, recently diagnosed, coeliac partner coming for lunch. It shouldn’t send me into a spin but for a moment I can understand that little panic that sends you back to square one to rethink the menu. Between us there are three major food restrictions to cater for. Oh no, make that four, as there will also be a hypertensive at the table, requesting a low sodium diet. When it is something out of the box, even as an allergy aware cook it can feel like you’ve hit a culinary road blog block.

After a deep breath or two, you realise there is a world of variety. Do I want to pop out to Silly Yaks in the morning and grab a gluten-free loaf of bread as a treat for the recently diagnosed one to go with a bean and tomato soup? A Spanish omelette and green salad to follow perhaps? Or a selection of curries, rice and pappadams (mild with extra chilli on the side, so as not to upset the digestion of the breastfed baby, food restriction number five)? Or just throw together a deli spread – dolmades, smoked fish, (low salt) olives, and salads so it is easy to graze around the demands of the little one?

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by low allergy cooking check out some of the following tags:

Gluten-free (as mentioned, some untagged ones also fit the category but retro-tagging 280 posts takes a while). All the salads, soups and healthy detox foods in the drop down boxes on the sidebar are also coeliac friendly.

Almost all my recipes are dairy-free with butter being easily substituted in the rest. And of course all vegan and the tautological tag ’vegan dairy free' are by definition free of all animal products including moo juice.

Gluten-free bloggers everywhere

Gluten-free for good by Melissa who incidentally is a coeliac (like all the following bloggers) and is a nutritionist. If all this it new to you, keep an eye out for her evolving celiac (yes that’s the way they spell it in some parts of the world) FAQ.

Gluten A Go Go

Gluten-free Goddess, Karina is an artist and author as well as a cook, with links to a great vegan and vegetarian section at Karinas Kitchen.

Gluten-free Girl, who has turned her whole life around by embracing what her body really needed. Though so many of her recipes are out of bounds for me due to the dairy and meat content, I recommend anyone newly diagnosed with coeliac and those wanting to understand it, check out the early posts starting with The Diagnosis.


Gluten-free in Melbourne

Melbourne Naturopath, Gill Stannard’s RRR segment and write up on wheat allergy and coeliac.

Silly yaks a long running coeliac café in Northcote (which even makes gluten-free beer!). I’m told that Pizza Farro just down the road in Thornbury has also started making it’s own GF beer. More gluten-free beer courtesy of the Beer Guide.

S.KomatsuStill waiting on some feedback about this one, a dairy-free and gluten-free restaurant in East Melbourne.

Some gluten-free eateries and more dining links from the Victorian Coeliac Society

Allergy Block is a store in Carlton specialising in allergy-free products. It also has online shopping. Flinders Organics ,a part of the IGA supermarket chain in the CBD, has a growing array of gluten-free and dairy-free foods.

..and more coeliac, even celiac, gluten-free, allergy friendly links

Keep the comments coming and I will add your site to the links

Sure foods living a comprehensive gluten-free and allergy-focused site with medical updates, gluten-free recipes and a heap of great resourses.

more tales from the frying pan

Warning: This post contains opinions, lacks objectivity, is not written by a journalist and would benefit from a once over with a red correction pen. It would never appear in print media and will probably only be read by a couple of dozen hundred people.



I return to my modest, non-niched, only accidentally witty and rarely entertaining blog to formally acknowledge today’s post is sponsored by The Age. If not cash, then definitely a smoked salmon filled roll and a drink or 2 for comment. I managed to pop into the Food Festival’s Frying Pan sessions a little late, after a fulfilling a work obligation and left at afternoon tea. I’ll admit my limitations and say this is no fair review of the entire day as I can only write about putting my head into 3, half sessions on various aspects of the world of food writing and have come away a little baffled. I am not entirely sure what audience the presentations were pitched at (but then again, I spread myself thinly and did not witness a complete session so the bewilderment is likely of my own making). There was more than a pinch of smugness exuding from a few of the professionals on the very heavily Farifax biased panels but this was tempered by the generosity of many of the others that braved the stage.

I headed off to Recipe Writing because you may have noticed it is not my forte to slavishly quantify. I picked up some bitchy gossip about some famous food writers (if you want to appear witty and in the know, slagging off Nigella and Delia is currently in vogue) and as a bonus learnt more about writing styles than from the other sessions I attended. I came away a fan of Lucy Malouf for her modesty, calm and practical advice. While I don’t think I learnt anything new about actually writing a recipe, it was an eye opener to realise that cookbooks are rarely recipe tested by anyone other than the author. That explained a lot.

I had divided loyalties in the afternoon over which food bloggers to support by attending their session. Hence the double act starting with So You Want to Write About Food. Two panellists were Fairfax food publication editors – whose advice could almost be summed up by “Whatever makes you think you could be anywhere near good enough to get published?” along with “be funny, entertaining, irreverent and informative” (but still don’t imagine we’d ever print you). Julie Gibbs from Penguin, gave a similar message but with more humility and at least one story of hope for anyone whose manuscript has languished in a publishers slush pile. And then there was Jamie Wodetzki from The Breakfast Blog who as a “reformed lawyer” may be better equipped than the average blogger to hold his own in a hostile environment. It was mentioned that in earlier sessions there had been a fair amount of slagging off about blogs and he did a more than valiant job at representing us all. (If you are reading this Jamie, I’m the woman grinning inanely at you every time they tried to take a swipe at the blogworld and had a polite coughing fit to cover my laughter when there was the speech about the pristine ethics of wonderful journalists).

I snuck out and headed off to see Ed and others speak to the converted about the joys of blogging moderated by the irrepressible Helen Razer. Full marks to the organisers for taking onboard the criticism from last year's festival. The session was both practical and passionate (including input from the floor). I love Stephanie Wood’s Elegant Sufficiency but felt at times she straddled the dual roles of journalist and blogger a little uncomfortably*, though when she actually talked about writing her blog – she beamed. I left the session with my head spinning with all the reasons I blog. Do I secretly want to be a writer? Yes and no, I have been paid very generously in the past to write on other issues which was an utter joy but food writing is a hobby rather than a vocation. Do I see myself as a journalist? Not at all, nor have I ever claimed to be. I write a blog mostly out of enjoyment but am very happy to know other people get something out of it as well. A narcissist perhaps but if I learnt anything about the world of food writing today it is that I am not alone in that!

The highlight for me was putting faces to the names of some other bloggers and catching up with those who also get a perverse enjoyment of living a well-seasoned life. Thanks to Ed and Matt for facilitating that.


*Update: A spirited debate along the lines of 'does the quality (or lack) of writing in food blogs threaten the future of good journalism' (at least that's the part of the thread I've taken - there are other strands as well) continues in Stephanie's Blog - a must read for food bloggers.

Apologies for those who've stopped by to read more on cooking whole fish, how to make gyoza, thoughts on vegan food or just a peak to get ideas on where to eat in Melbourne healthily or not on an expense account. Normal food oriented, amateur writing will resume shortly.

into the fire

Last year I got a bit of a bee in my bonnet (or perhaps my apron) about a talkfest put on during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival looking at the future of food and the media. I was stunned to see that food bloggers failed to rate a mention, let alone a seat on the panel.

I built up a good head of steam on the subject:

I find this curious. After all we are the punters. We are not the insiders from the mainstream media. We are the ones who pay for our meals, have no editorial restrictions and are read in the thousands each day. Bloggers are at the coalface. We actually try out the recipes from the latest hyped cookbooks (well some of you do), rather than have them displayed prominently and hope osmosis will do the trick. But we remain invisible, according to the festival guide and in a whole day of workshops discussing this theme, are nowhere to be seen.

Well guess what? They listened. Matt Preston commented on the post with promises things would be different this year. And they are. We have our own Ed from Tomato and Stephanie Wood from Elegant Sufficiency (yes she is in the Fairfax stable but she blogs beautifully) on the panel of one of this year’s Out of the Frying Pan sessions.

Though despite his response, inviting us to get more involved, “We are also keen to keep all those bloggers who are interested updated with Festival announcements. This was the first year that we started to compile a dedicated media list of online media and we'd love that to grow. If any one wants to email us so we can add them to out media database that would be great. Send your details …” I am sad to say this hasn’t happened.

But Matt’s made amends. If you’re interested in going to the all day event on Monday March 3rd and would like to score yourself a free ticket pop over to tomato for a very special ticket give away offer for food bloggers. It would be nice having an informal blogmeet sponsored by the festival, as well as the opportunity to add our 2 cents worth from the audience.



Update: It looks like I am one of the lucky recipients of a free ticket. Thanks Ed. As of 26.2.08 only 8 of the 20 tickets on offer have been taken. There might be room for a last minute pitch for bloggers who want to attend.



The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is on from 22 February - 8 March. Tickets for Out of the Frying Pan can be purchased online.

link

While researching the history of a medicine bottle unearthed from my backyard I came across an interesting food history blog hosted by Gillian Polack. A blog written by someone "addicted to food, history and writing" ticks a lot of boxes for me and despite the plethora of American advertising (which is a bit annoying) it originates from our nation's capital. If you are so inclined, check out "Food history"