The pic in this edition comes courtesy of Ross Kelly:
‘’22 years ago in London I was addressing some people on the
subject of ‘Process Management’. I found this perfect example, an advertisement
by the UK ‘The Better Butter council Ltd.’
And now a short vid that gets to me, a child of the 60s and
the Detroit Sound.
‘Detroit was literally devoured by the economic crisis, but
it is now being reborn in an unexpected way.’
How the Rock Oyster
Came to Be
An excellent origin story I am going to reproduce in full from Ross Kelly
again.
‘Sydney Rock
Some years ago, while studying a TAFE course on
aboriginal heritage I met an aboriginal man, named Dave Pross. Dave lives
towards Terrigal, not far from Patonga.
He gave me this story about the origin of the Sydney Rock Oyster
The Darkjinjung word for
Oyster is Patanga, but some call it Potonga.
The Darkinjung story is about how Shark got his small eyes and fin and
why oysters live on rocks.
This story comes from the
alcatringa time when all animals had limbs.
Shark was in the shallow part
of the bay rushing backwards and forwards chasing fish hoping to catch some for
his meal, and did not notice in the bushes the Patanga brothers were watching
him. Shark caught a fish and walked out
of the water to place it in the sand for later, then going back into the water
to hunt for more. His second attempt was no good the fish had gone. So he went back to cook the fish he had
caught earlier, but while he was in the water the Patangas had stolen his fish
and hid it in the bush. Shark looked around for his fish but could not see it,
all he could see was the two Patangas sitting near the bushes, he walked over
to them and asked have you seen my fish, they said what fish, you know very
well said shark you two are the only people on the beach, the Patangas held up
their arms and shrugged, Shark walked away then turned and said if you took my
fish you will be sorry.
The Patangas gathered some
wood to light a fire, Patangas being lazy the did not go far for the wood so
the wood they gathered was a special type that when you burnt it, it made
glue. The Patangas cooked fish and then
ate it, after this one Patanga said to his brother that was then best meal, the
brother replied yes, any meal you do not have to catch is the best, and they
just burst out laughing, being lazy they then did not get rid of the remains of
the fish, they just rolled over near the fire and went to sleep.
The next morning the Patangas
were woken by Shark kicking them, and he said you two ate my fish, they replied
no we did not, Shark pointed at the remains and said liars, kicking them again.
The eldest Patanga jumped up as Shark was kicking the other brother, and he
grabbed Shark and they fell into the hot sand near the fire, as they were
rolling around, the two Patangas rushed at him trying to knock him down again,
Shark side stepped and they fell into the ashes of the fire, and as they tried
to get out Shark pushed them back in, getting white ash all over them.
Shark started to walk away
and the Patangas got out of the ashes, then the eldest Patanga picked up his
boomerang, threw it at Shark hitting him in the middle of the back, Shark
screamed out, turned and picked up a big waddy then rushed to the
Patangas. He beat them with the waddy
hard they got smaller and smaller. He
then picked them up and tossed them in the water, and they landed on the rocks
in the water.
So now Shark has small eyes
because of the hot sand and a fin on his back - the boomerang, and because the
Patangas were lazy and used special wood they were covered in glue from the
ashes and are now stuck on the rocks.
Eels Festival
And keeping with the native food team, big congratulations to Clive
Freeman and Jacqui Newling on the first eel festival at Baramatta. And
booooooooooooo to Jacqiu for not telling me it was on L Just as well they reckon it is going to be annual.
I had a lovely encounter recently with a labrador in Sydney Park who
decided to give his owners a present...a quite dead eel from the creek that
comes down from the Sydney City Council maintenance shed and nursery to Wetland
3. I resisted the impulse to say that I would take the task of getting rid of
it for the human companions and instead stuffing it down my front and taking it
home.
And for more on Aussie eels http://nswaqua.com.au/fish-species/eels/
Macho diets, sludge
eating techies, and ‘miracle diets’; how did food get so tricky?
‘While the “science of cooking” might strike some as a strategy to appeal
to men, new research suggests that young Australian women are embracing science
education and careers vigorously. That shift suggests a generational change
that could itself bring new perspectives into ‘food science.’
Not just a generatoinal change but perhaps a gendered change and what
might that look like? What does women-centered science look like overall and
how would a women-centered science of cooking be different to what the lads of
molecular gastronomy have done thus far? It’s my impression that women are Will
women continue to be confined to the nutritional and dietary realms of food
science where they frequently currently are?
This is apparently the first in a series in The Conversation called
‘Tastes of a Nation’. Which rather begs the question in the title of this
article, I think.
And any way, what/who on earth is/are ‘sludge eating
techies’?
Can we be Australian without eating indigenous food?
Second cab of the rank in ‘Tastes of a Nation’ is our much esteemed colleague John Newton’s
piece. Excellent to see John’s book getting lots of interest.
Kitchen Science: The
many wonders of humble flour
‘A non-Newtownian
fluid can be poured, but if you strike it quickly, it will go stiff and hard.
This is because the colloid changes the surface tension of the fluid to make it
behave as if it were solid when struck. This tends to work only when the
starches are uncooked.’
I would love to
try this with cornflour some time – does anyone have a pool I could use?
