Compost

Hi all, back post a successful food tour with a small group willing to investigate some of the more obscure areas of Sri Lankan foodways, like fresh coconut toddy straight out of the tappers pot or gal siambala, aka velvet tamarind, and braving the Negombo beach side fish market at squid gutting time. 

The pic this week is of saravita, a treat recalled from childhood; you put candied and coloured shreds of coconut together with all those spices and wrap them in a cone made from a betel leaf and chomp down on a burst of complex, peppery, sweet flavour. It's still sold on the street by men who carry the makings in a tray around their neck - like ushers used to with sweets and ice creams at the Saturday arvo flicks - alerting customers they are one their way by shaking a bangle of bells, You can add tobacco, but this seller wasn't into it and neither was I.

Hoping the February food and gardens tour comes off too. If you know anyone interested, they can check it out here http://www.rosstours.com/srilanka/

Meanwhile, back to scouring my inboxes for your degustation.

Five companies using waste products in surprising ways
‘Coffee shops offer used grounds as fertiliser to their customers, and coffee pulp from farms can be ground down to produce coffee flour, a new product which is high in anti-oxidants. In addition to this, a British design company has developed a way to create stunning furniture comprising 60% recycled coffee grounds, sold in many cases to the same offices and shops that they were sourced from. ‘
 
And you won’t believe what they are doing with tomatoes!
 
http://bit.ly/1KRPxRk
 
When ‘hand-crafted’ is really just crafty marketing
‘Artisan-posturing by industrial producers isn’t just a matter of regulatory transgressions. Industrial food giants who “craft-wash”, or use idioms of craft while trashing its essential values, are actively obscuring a set of political issues. Ethical consumers are often well-heeled, for sure, but their deep pockets attend to a deeper commitment to small enterprise, localism, fair trade, ethical supply chains, seasonal produce, farm animal welfare, workers’ freedoms and low environmental impact.’
 
Home-made, just like mum’s, made to a recipe not just a price, farm fresh...it was ever thus and ever will be as long as there is a buck to be made by gulling people.
 
http://bit.ly/1WeE9AY
 
Fish fingers turn 60: how Britain fell for not-very-fishy-sticks- of frozen protein
‘Why bother feeding your guilty habit by stealing fish fingers from your own kids’ plates when you can enjoy far superior examples everywhere, from Yorkshire’s award-winning Star at Harome, where they come with pea, lettuce and mint vinaigrette, to Glasgow’s Gandolfi Fish, which fries them in beef dripping before squidging them into a soft morning roll, or one of Mark Hix’s growing empire of restaurants, where they are apparently a bestseller, despite a distinctly adult-sized price tag (£17.95, mushy peas and chips thrown in).’
 
What was that I said above about (sea)gulling. Mind you, I wouldn't pass by a crisp fried fish finger with tartare sauce and an iceberg salad.
 
http://bit.ly/1FbWDhp
 
Feeding the troops: the emotional meaning of food in wartime
‘Food is central to ideas of national and cultural belonging, something that can be used to bolster wartime patriotism, but it also gives a pungent flavour to cultural difference. Food therefore also provides powerful imagery for propaganda, such as in a 1915 Australian newspaper report that equates German food with hatred and bloodlust: Blood sausage. Brain Sausage. Decaying cabbage pickled in vinegar … only a few of the cheery dishes in which the German rejoices, the delicacies upon which he feeds his hatred.”

It’s  no wonder the Barrossa Coookbook was not reprinted in the post WW1 years. And check out the triffic exhortation to saving bread to Stop the UBoats.

http://bit.ly/1KQ4fCc
 
£255 to eat in The Fat Duck? That’s indefensible
‘Football fans and music lovers have had to learn to tolerate the (emotionally contentious) corporate sponsorship of hallowed grounds and music venues, but restaurants have yet to exploit the naming rights and sponsorship deals that, for globally famous brands such as the Fat Duck, would surely be a productive revenue stream.’
 
Tina Turner pumping out Simply the Best? But of course the fat ducks of finance and industry will continue to eat there, that’s the point of this end of dining after all, to be immorally extravagant of other people’s money.
 
http://bit.ly/1ReVOWA
 
SBS will dish up its fourth free-to-air channel, dedicated to the food genre, later this year.
'The 24/7 channel will combine original SBS content with programs from around the world, sampling a wide-variety of tastes and cultures, in a bid to attract key demographics like women to the network.'
 
Because of course women will be hanging around the house 24/7 just wondering what to cook.
 
http://bit.ly/1LjeFkp

 

Compost

Joint project maps Sydney’s future food supply

In the Local Government section of the Sydney Morning Herald 25 August there is small article about the Syndey Peri-Urban Netowrk (12 councils around the ring of the city) and the Institute of Sustainable Futures at UTS starting work on a project called Mapping Sydney’s Potential Foodsheds, the aim of which is develop info that ‘will help inform both local and stage government land-use planning decisions relating to Sydney’s fringe’.

I look forward to the release later this year. Here’s a link to more info http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/institute-sustainable-futures/news/planning-sydneys-food-futures

[Note to self, must read Local Government pages more often}

A social history of Jell-O: The rise and fall of an American icon

‘Plain Jell-O and sweet Jell-O salads remain popular in the US, especially in the rural Midwest and the Deep South. Savory Jell-O salads do, however, remain popular in Utah and other heavily Mormon areas. "There will be at least four or five kinds of Jell-O salads at any event," almost all of them savory, Sariah Hilliam of Roosevelt, Utah, told the Los Angeles Times. In fact, this region is often nicknamed the "Jell-O Belt," and in 2001 the state of Utah named Jell-O its official state snack.’

I don’t recall every having the savoury made-grelatine salads of the peak of this fashion but I have to confess I am tempted to try some. I do recall quite fondly the Aeroplane jellies my mum made with canned peaches or pineapple or cherries inside, though, with a dollop or two of vanilla ice cream; I used to love mashing it all up together, vomitous though the result often looked. In latter years I have on occasion made a fruit jelly though I am likley to use agar agar these days as I live with a vegan; the consistency is quite different at least in my experience, and I have had an interesting time when too much agar agar has made a think rubbery sliceable lump.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/history-of-jell-o-salad.html?utm_source=The+Shortlist+Daily&utm_campaign=42f475ab8b-The_Shortlist_Daily_20_August_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7870ce0889-42f475ab8b-302682317

Weird waters: the trend for modified, mleted or infused H2O

‘“Lots of people are really working the water space,” says Morgaine Gaye, a food futurologist.’

Well, there certainly is a lot of space to work between the ears of the likes of Morgaine, that’s for sure. On the other hand, you have to be in awe of capitalism at times like this.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/aug/23/weird-waters-the-trend-for-modified-melted-or-infused-h20?CMP=ema_632

Kale crisis: aphids could destroy the superfood smoothie revolution

‘It doesn’t bear thinking about. Where will they get their daily doses of beta-carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, sulforaphane, indole-3-carbinol and bile acid sequestrants now?

And smugness. Don’t forget the smugness. You would be smug, too, if you were banishing cancer, wrinkles, bowel woes and cholesterol in one fell swoop.

And joy. You banish joy if you’re forever chewing on a fibrous bale of bitter greens. There are lots of ways to improve those aspects of this wonderfood.

Mm-hm. Any of them wholly successful? The Italian method of calling it cavolo nero and drowning small portions of it in cream, cheese, olive oil and spaghetti seems to work best.’

Look, you can slapdown your superfood kale any time and that’s fine with me, but keep your satire away from cavalo nero.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/aug/25/kale-crisis-aphids-could-destroy-the-superfood-smoothie-revolution?CMP=ema_632

Less salt in home brand foods, surprised researchers find

‘"This research shows that is not always the case in regard to salt," she said. "This is good news, especially for families shopping on tight budgets who are more likely to buy private label products, but are also most likely to suffer from health problems caused by high blood pressure.’

Yeah, but, call me cynical, just how much of the whole product is salt, hmmm. And can I say this research is typically the kind that Tim Spector criticises in his book The Diet Myth. The Real Science Behind What We Eat, research that looks at a single part of foods whose overall nutritional value is still staggeringly low.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/less-salt-in-home-brand-foods-surprised-researchers-find-20150826-gj7ws5.html?eid=email:nnn-13omn656-ret_newsl-membereng:nnn-04/11/2013-news_am-dom-news-nnn-smh-u&campaign_code=13INO010&et_bid=24504251&promote_channel=edmail&mbnr=MTA3Mzk4Njg#ixzz3jzsXu6wW

Compost

Loved finding this new treat - Yunnan pot noodle soup - yep, this is a single serve :)

A surprise J

https://video-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xpa1/v/t42.1790-2/10879063_557688521001183_605278623_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjY0NiwicmxhIjoxMTA5fQ%3D%3D&rl=646&vabr=359&oh=c07006508614cd533c4dd4e266fec3ea&oe=55C86E50

Deer penis with hagfish: City of Gold celebrates the eclectic flaours of L.A.

‘But the documentary is mainly focused on the families and communities that run, support and keep alive the numerous eateries and restaurants that make up the LA food scene. Guerilla Tacos, Soban, Chengdu Taste, Jitlada, Meals by Genet, Pho Minh, Petit Trois and Earlez Dogs all get a special mention with interesting snapshots into how these places got started. Many of these are stories of migration, financial struggle and passionate determination. These fascinating mini-narratives are a celebration of the ethnic diversity of LA and support Gold’s contention that cuisine should continually break with convention and create something new.’

I hope the film lives up to this claim.

https://theconversation.com/deer-penis-with-hagfish-city-of-gold-celebrates-the-eclectic-flavours-of-la-45305

Bitter truth

‘On the face of it, reducing bitterness in foods sounds like a great idea...But there is a catch. The same chemicals thatmake fruit and veg bitter also imbue them with many of their health benefits. When scientists talk of the healthiness of green tea, dark chocolate, red wine or broccoli, much of  what they are talking about is due to bitter chemicals called phytonutrients. To satisfy our love of sweetness, food manufacturers are now removing many of these substances, causing some people to worry that we are turning bitter fruit and veg into junk foods of the fresh produce aisle.’

A terrific article from New Scientist, 1 August 2015. Jennifer McLagan gets a side bar talking about how to keep bitter in food based on her book Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavour. Happily I have never had a problem with bitter, which I put down to my Sri Lankan foodways in which vegies like bittergourd and aubergine are common items at table.  I have scanned the article and can make copies available on request.

Ah Toy’s Garden: A Chinese market garden on the Palmer River goldfield.

I came across a reference to this study in Susan Parham’s Food and Urbanism. It’s a 1984 paper in Australian Historical Archaeology by Ian Jack, Kate Holmes, and Ruth Kerr. I’ve been reading some other short studies by archaeologists and anthrolopologists on interpreting sites for what they say about foodways and find them fascinating both for their approach to deduction and also the insights they report. This one spends more time on the dwelling and the site but has intriguing findings on irrigation and identifies some fruit trees but has little about what market produce was grown. Still, I can make a copy available to those of you who are interested.

NASA astronauts take first bit of lettuce grown in space: “Tastes like arugula”

Is it just me, or do you also worry that a romaine lettuce grown in outer space – well, inside a space thingy – would taste like rocket/arugula? I mean, they aren’t even the same species, yeh? Arugula is Eruca sativa and Romaine is Lactuca sativa L. var. Longifolia. Sure, they both have ‘sativa’ in their name but so does pot.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/10/nasa-astronauts-lettuce-vegetables-grown-space?CMP=ema_632

Greek the Salad

‘Horiatiki was not one of the salads Kremezi grew up eating, because it didn’t exist until the mid-nineteen sixties. “When you sat down at the tavern, you ordered tomato salad and feta cheese, and then whatever else you wanted to order,” Kremezi says. Tomato salad, sometimes with cucumber or onion, sometimes not, was its own dish. A big slab of feta cheese (sheep’s milk only, or if you must, a tiny bit of goat’s milk, says Kremezi), covered in olive oil and dried oregano, was its own dish. Olives, too, were separate. Horiatiki takes all of those disparate meze dishes and combines them into one big salad. Horiatiki was created, and then adopted throughout the country, in response to Greece’s desire in the sixties to be considered a real urban power—a European country, not a Middle Eastern country, like Turkey. Horiatiki is a salad to compete with niçoise.’ 

I asked Maria Kelly to comment on this one: Great article….I totally agree with Aglaiia...I can never recall in my childhood having so called Greek salad - though growing up in Gunnedah there was never any fetta available. I recall that a salesman used to regularly come through the town  and we used to always buy our tins of olive oil,  a head of pecorino cheese and huge tins of salted sardines from him.  I think they (the wholesalers) were called Gallanis  Bros, but don’t quote me.  Our family did mix tomatoes and cucumbers together, with olive oil and S & P.

http://www.theawl.com/2015/08/greek-the-salad

Fighting food waste: four stories from around the world

‘“If the market price is favourable, the farmer can choose to sell, but they are now no longer forced to sell immediately following harvest to avoid losses,” explains WFP’s Uganda programme officer, Richard Sewava. Nakaziba, who purchased the silo and a plastic tarpaulin from the WFP on a cost-sharing basis, is happy. “Now the rats cannot get to my grain, and by selling later I am able to get 900 shillings [16p] per kilogram instead of 350,” she says. “With the extra money I’m getting I can buy things for my children and my garden.”

One of four terrific vignettes about the small and not so small changes that can avoide food waste from production to consumption.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/12/fighting-food-waste-four-stories-from-around-the-world?CMP=ema_632

Kottu Roti: The creation of a fusion dish in Sri Lanka

I was asked recently whether kottu roti, a Sri Lankan dish of chopped god(h)amba (wheat-based) roti combined with vegetables and egg and sometimes meat, was a Tamil contribution to Sri Lankan cuisine.

When I was growing up in Sri Lanka there was no such dish. By most accounts from Sri Lankans it made its appearance on the streets of Kandy sometime in the 1970's.

It's origins, I hazard, are twofold.

The first is the godamba roti itself, a long established part of Sri Lankan cuisine, most usually associated with Tamils, and similar to Malaysian murtabak; made from an buttery and oily wheat based dough that is tossed and tossed till thin and almost translucent onto a flat hot plate. Here it cooks rapidly, being folded from time to time to make a layered flat bread. When an egg is cracked into it as it is cooking you get egg godamba.

Godamba roti like other rotis in Sri Lanka and India are used as you would other flat breads like naan or pita, mainly to scoop up another dish, say a curry or a a vegetable sabzi.

The other part of the creation of kottu roti is not so clear, but the process through which it is made, two heavy wide flat blades being used to chop up and mix pre cut godamba with other ingredients - meat, vegetables, spices - is exactly the way Pakistani kat-a-kat is made. This latter is usually a dish of offal that is tossed onto a hot plate and chopped as it cooks using two flat wide blades. Here also onion, chilies, spices are mixed in with sweeping and gathering and cutting motions of the blades. The name kat-a-kat comes from the sound of the blades hitting the hot plate.

I have no idea as to how the two came together in Kandy in the 1970's but they seem to have. Certainly there is no other dish like it in the 'classic' Sri Lankan menu.

Here's a video of making kottu roti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSnqHbH19KA.

Compost

Labelling liars: how Australia food is hot property

‘These counterfeit products are found in the supply chain of many companies and not only on the streets, as we assume."

One who learned the hard way was wagyu beef farmer David Blackmore, whose beef takes pride of place on the menu of Neil Perry's Rockpool restaurants and other high-end eateries across the globe.’

...and who is facing closure because of complaints that his farm is a ‘feedlot’ which has led Neil Perry to start a campaign in his defence.

https://www.change.org/p/tell-our-mps-support-david-blackmore-s-right-to-farm?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=362004&alert_id=PqEthRgzzI_NbAUNKc4K%2FAOGNSOhqqnfG5XzwbYLdNpy%2F1cp3gYhlRGk%2FrGBG3CRyHnnETpvlyi

http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/labelling-liars-how-australian-food-is-hot-property-20150805-girzir.html?eid=email:nnn-13omn656-ret_newsl-membereng:nnn-04/11/2013-news_am-dom-news-nnn-smh-u&campaign_code=13INO010&et_bid=24311880&promote_channel=edmail&mbnr=MTA3Mzk4Njg

Most Australians now Contestants on a Cooking Show

‘Social researcher Gabby Henderson said the way we cook at home had changed as a result. “Most people now describe out loud how they are cooking something, while they are cooking it, which is a great new development”.

...as two more of them are about to hit our screens L

http://www.theshovel.com.au/2015/08/04/most-australians-now-contestants-on-a-cooking-show/

Micreogravity veg

New Scientist 18 July 2015 reports:

‘On July 8, astronauts on the International Space Station began growing their own romaine lettuce. If all goes well, by next month they’ll get to eat some.’

...yeah, unless the lettuce eats them first! Haven’t these people ever seen Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!!!

Rice’s gas problem gets muted

More news from New Scientist, this time from 25 July:

‘It’s food for climate conscious consumers. A strain of rice has been genetically modified to produce less methane. Rice agriculture is responsible for between 7 and 17 per cent of human-induced mehtane emissons. Sugars produced during photsynthesis leak into the soil via the roots, where they are used up by methane-producing soil microrganisms. Chuanxin Sun from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala and his colleagues have now engineered rice that stores more sugar in its grains and stems. In a three-year long trial, the rice grew well and led to drops in paddy field methane emissions’

And here I thought the stench in the rice fields behind our house when I was young was the windy farmers.

A Renaissance painting reveals how breeding changed watermelons

Thanks to Jacqui Newling for these two delightful and informative links. No I did not pursue the link at the bottom of the painting page to discover...well, you may like to do it and you can report to me what the answer is.

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/15/6982053/selective-breeding-farming-evolution-corn-watermelon-peaches

http://www.vox.com/2015/7/28/9050469/watermelon-breeding-paintings

On MSG and Chinese Restaurant Syndrome

‘But the important thing to know is that, hundreds and hundreds of studies later, there is no evidence that MSG causes the symptoms of Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. This was an unfortunate episode that should teach us a lot about carefully reading proposals of cause and effect between something we eat and some effect that it might have.’

A timely article by Harold McGee and a fascinating story of the origins of a food myth.

http://luckypeach.com/on-msg-and-chinese-restaurant-syndrome/

Frequent spicy meals linked to human longevity

As the study, published in the BMJ on Tuesday, was observational, conclusions could not be drawn about cause and effect but the team of international authors, led by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, suggested that more research could lead to dietary advice being updated. Experts warned that the study did not provide evidence to “prompt a change in diet”.

I somehow think this is a diet fad that won’t take off. That being said, nice to know that my return to chili flakes on pasta and upping the ante on chili ion my curries generally can now be passed of as a health intervention.

And look, I know I am in a losing battle, but can we please stop equating ‘spicy’ with chili-ed.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/05/frequent-spicy-meals-linked-to-human-longevity?CMP=ema_632

The day I ordered pizza that ‘doesn’t exist’

‘As we eat them upstairs in my flat, I'm still unable to come to terms with Emanuela's reaction. "I've ordered it a few times in various pizzerias, and nobody's ever batted an eyelid!" I say defensively. I'm now wondering if the waiters were simply being polite. Chicca - who's Sicilian - says she can see my point, but thinks it would be wise if in future I ordered margherita with garlic to avoid, I quote, "emotionally destabilising the pizza-maker"

I can undestand the reaction of the pizzaiola in this article. My sister in law, of Sicilian parentage, was ‘emotionally destabilised’ when someone at the dinnner table put parmesan on her marinara pasta. I get emotionally destabilised when someone puts yoghurt in a Sri Lankan goat curry I have made.  It’s not rational; it’s visceral; I cannot but feel a little disregarded when it happens.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33542392

Russians despair at food destruction as Moscow says it is having its desire effect

‘Tonnes of pork tossed into incinerators, truckloads of cheese bulldozed into the ground, and an orchard’s worth of apples buried in a shallow grave. The visuals ofRussia’s stepped-up fight against sanctioned foodstuffs have been dramatic, and left many Russians wondering why so much is being destroyed in a country where millions of people live below the poverty line.’

I can only hope that the undesired effect of this criminality is violent revolution.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/07/russian-food-imports-destruction-moscow-desired-effect-waste-poverty?CMP=ema_632

How colour coding your fridge can stop your greens going to waste

‘To help households waste less food, first we need to understand exactly why it happens. My research has identified three major contributing factors: food location knowledge (where are items stored?), food supply knowledge (what items are available?), and food literacy (how are items used and how do we judge if they are still edible?).’

And you need to colour code your fridge to resolve this?!! Can you just teach people to use their senses intelligently – LOOK where things are in the fridge; SEE what you have and don’t buy  more; SMELL & TOUCH to test for freshness. Sheesh! But I suppose it’s better than having fridgecam for chrissakes!

https://theconversation.com/how-colour-coding-your-fridge-can-stop-your-greens-going-to-waste-45703?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Weekend+Conversation+-+3219&utm_content=The+Weekend+Conversation+-+3219+CID_6049f2764b11990bd70ff3e400c931b7&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=How%20colour-coding%20your%20fridge%20can%20stop%20your%20greens%20going%20to%20waste

Brew do you think you are? Why tea needs to copy coffee in order to survive

‘With its steely levers, clanking and hissing, the coffee machine hides its secrets in a puff of magic steam. But any fool can make a tea.’

Fie! Making a good cup of tea is every bit as expert as making a skinny flat soy latte with extra froth. I’ve drunk some perfectly awful tea in my time. And then there was the marvellous chai strained through the filthiest cloth imaginable outside a Ganesh temple somewhere in Rajasthan.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/aug/05/brew-do-you-think-you-are-why-tea-needs-to-copy-coffee-in-order-to-survive?CMP=ema_632

The secret life of cheese

‘This peculiar cheese—known as caligù or su callu, depending on whom you talk to—is one of Sardinia’s lesser-known but more ubiquitous specialties. It’s also one of the most primal dairy products you’ll encounter in the modern world. Upon killing a kid, a farmer simply takes its milk-filled stomach, ties it off in a tight knot or sews it shut, perhaps covers it in mesh to keep the flies off, then hangs it from the ceiling of a cool, dark room. He then waits for a few months until the natural rennet within curdles and hardens the milk into a thick, creamy cheese and desiccation tightens the gut into a pungent, leathery rind.’

Wow, su callu AND casu marzu. I really really have to go to Sardinia. Warning: this article has one perhaps very confronting image among its stunning pics. And it’s a damn good read, too.

http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2015/the-secret-life-of-cheese/?utm_source=R%26K+Insider&utm_campaign=ae2c43afd6-Newsletter_Aug_6_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb0486b9d0-ae2c43afd6-93433477

This article is one of three food stories in the latest ebulletins from the Roads and Kingdom site, each well written and with fantastic pics. The other two are:

Keep on bierockin in the free world, about what sounds like a triffic pastry of the Volga Germans http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2015/keep-on-bierockin-in-the-free-world/?utm_source=R%26K+Insider&utm_campaign=ae2c43afd6-Newsletter_Aug_6_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb0486b9d0-ae2c43afd6-93433477

Iranian comfort food which describes in dizzying detail the dish...dizi (an obvious pun I could not pass by)  http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2015/the-iranian-comfort-food/?utm_source=R%26K+Insider&utm_campaign=ae2c43afd6-Newsletter_Aug_6_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb0486b9d0-ae2c43afd6-93433477

This Week's Compost

This week's image is a lovely naive painting a tad hidden in Trattoria da Carlo in Orvieto where I had the second best meals in Italy last year..the best being at Benito Osteria in Rome. Carlo mixes deconstructedish dishes with plain old round the kitchen table ones but all deeply satisfying flavour, texture and visual-wise. I am hoping to get up a foodie excursion to Orvieto for their food and wine festival in October 2016 and am open to expressions of interest in joining me.

Also, if you have anyone you think might like to be on the Compost email list, please direct them my way.

And thanks for contributors to this week's ed.

Food and Words
A shameless plug for Barbara Sweeney’s 4th wonderful fest of food and falderol J Je suis desole that I will not be there this year L
http://foodandwords.com.au/

‘I’ve got judges who love them’: in defence of the deep fried Mars bar
‘Birthplace of the World Famous Deep Fried Mars Bar,” the banner announces. It’s vast, proud, and as of this week under threat. Welcome to The Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, where 20 years ago – so the legend has it – two pupils from the local academy challenged each other to eat a load of random battered stuff, resulting in the Scottish delicacy (or culinary embarrassment, depending on who you talk to) known as the deep-fried Mars bar. Aberdeenshire council refuses to share The Carron’s pride and has demanded the banner’s removal.’
As some of you know, I tried one earlier this year and I LOVED it. Oily, gooey, hot, gushy...everything you want in the worst of indulgence. It needs no defending. And I love someone who is not ashamed to say ‘ “I would draw the line at Minstrels and Maltesers,” he says. “Too small. But other than that, I’ll deep fry anything.”
http://bit.ly/1GB0xtI

Faith, Philosophy and Food
‘In these last weeks of Ramadan we hear how those of Muslim and Jewish faith navigate this and how it affects their everyday lives. We also hear from a vegan how her personal ethics have influenced her food choices and the knock-on effect that has had in where she lives and works.’
July 11 ep of Radio National’s Blueprint for Living, The discussion starts at around 53:00. A nicely pitched exploration of the personal and the convivial.
 
The lunchtime revolution at a school for children with autism
‘He also handles the more refined dietary requests, like those of a 15-year-old boy called Finn who for a long while favoured things that were black, like Oreos and burnt toast. “He used to burn his own toast which would bring the fire brigade,” Ragan tells me. “Now they phone us up when there’s an alarm and ask whether Finn has been burning the toast again.” At lunchtime, Lucio makes the toast for him, gently reducing the level of burn so that now it is merely a shade of brown.’
 
A truly inspiring story which needs no commentary from me.
 
http://bit.ly/1I45tZ5
 
Researchers at Oregon State University have found a new seaweed that tastes like bacon and has twice the nutritional value of kale
I am not sure that any vegan I know is hanging out for things that taste like bacon.
 
http://bit.ly/1Ibfquc
 
I, on the other hand, am TOTALLY hanging out for someone to invite me round for a Bacon Bowl. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/bacon-bowl-recipe-2014-1
 
Lunch at Dunkin’ Don’t-nuts
Meanwhile in India..I  hope you can open the link...the descriptions of the burgers are more than OTT.
 
‘http://luckypeach.com/lunch-at-dunkin-dont-nuts/
 
Read this and you’ll never eat a ready meal again
‘Irish authorities were equally shocked to discover that a pizza bearing the label 'country of origin Ireland' in fact contained 35 ingredients that had passed through 60 countries during preparation and packaging.’

Ta to Sarah Benjamin for directing to me to this article. I haven’t eaten a ‘ready meal’ in many many a year and am in no danger of doing so in the near future but already get the chills when I visit my mum in the nursing home and see the gloop she gets some times.
 
Barbara Sweeney commented on the article in another forum:
‘I don’t think it would be too far from the commercial reality of food manufacturing here. The only reason why it wouldn’t be is scale. I’ve been looking at the increase in heat and serve dishes onside at Woolies in Potts Point and wondering about them - what ingredients are used, how old the ingredients are, have they been irradiated etc. John’s example can’t be compared to the meals referred to in the story, which is more about Lean Cuisine or other packaged meals, which really do look like the dog’s breakfast. Buying someone else home cooked food from a deli is still home cooked food, like eating at a friend’s house. Local food manufacturers would definitely be buying in single components of pre-prepared ingredients - peeled, chopped frozen vegies for example, mashed potato for gratin toppings etc. This specialisation has seen big growth in commercial catering in last few decades. I know that most yogurt and pie makers here – including organic – cannot get enough locally produced fruit purees for their products and so buy in from Europe.’
 
And John Newton also commented:
‘I remember some years ago a UK ready meal company came bursting onto the scene, promising 'home made goodness in every bite' or some such crap and exited some six months later. For a Short Black piece I asked the company guy what went wrong. He told me the main reason was that most people in Australia can cook, whereas in the UK they couldn't. True or false?’
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2978316/Read-ll-never-eat-ready-meal-again.html
 
 
How Greece’s Debt Crisis Is Impacting It’s Wine Industry
And thanks to Helen Greenwoood for directing me to this article. Interesting info on Greek drinking patterns and alcohol tax system as well as a look at the impact of the financial crisis.
 
‘One of the large issues looming for Greek wineries, beyond the difficulty of sales, is the approaching harvest. Many wineries are having trouble sourcing the bottles they need from abroad and shipments of bottles can require significant lead time to purchase. With bank transfers out of the country recently on hold, many Greek wineries are wondering if they will have enough bottles for their wine. Winemaker Yiannis Paraskevopoulos of Gaia Wines notes that most bottle suppliers have stopped delivering, or are requesting to be paid in cash, up-front. This is especially challenging for Greek winemakers like him who make wine in regions, like Santorini, where harvest may be as early as August.’
 
http://bit.ly/1MjDGKw

 

This Weeks Compost

Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, also has been shown to have wide reaching positive impacts on brain functioning. It causes mild stress to brain cells triggering the production of antioxidant enzymes that hold down free radicals and the accumulation of toxic proteins. Some animal studies also suggest that it may reduce damage from strokes and could help alleviate depression and anxiety (Mattson, Mark What Doesn't Kill You...Scientific American, July 2015). I love that Big Science every now and then finds that old wives or indeed old ayurvedic's tales have some truth in them.

But enough schadenfreude...this week’s pic comes courtesy of Martin Boetz new venture in bringing his Portland farm produce to the Inner West, the frontiers of the IW at that...St Peters! Between this and the Addison Road Markets and popping up the road to see what’s on the quick sale trays at Arcella Fresh up the street I am one very happy urban foodista.

Fork to Fork

Ta to Helen Campbell for directing my attention to this. It will be interesting to see it working.

‘Fork to Fork is a project that aims to provide an online marketplace for the sale
of Tasmanian food. The project is run by Sprout Tasmania. Sprout Tasmania is a not for profit organisation dedicated to supporting local food producers who would like to get their ideas in the ground, growing and to market’

http://www.forktofork.org.au/

Green is the new black: the unstoppable rise of the healthy eating guru

‘The wellness blogger is, crucially, photogenic and young, which is why “wellness” looks so much more desirable than it did a decade ago, when it wasGillian McKeith, say, telling us all to eat more fibre. Eat like me, look like me, is the message. Typical photo poses include sitting on a beach lounger in a bikini while drinking from a coconut, or reclining in a rustic kitchen in skinny jeans, a cute porcelain bowl of vegetables in one hand. There are differences, however: some bloggers endorse juice fasts, whereas others scorn juice and compare its sugar content to Coca-Cola; some promote fasting, others advise against. Such subjective disagreements are perhaps inevitable among a profession in which no training is required.’

Depressing reading, the comments included.

Why does food taste different on planes?

‘Taste buds and sense of smell are the first things to go at 30,000 feet, says Russ Brown, director of In-flight Dining & Retail at American Airlines. “Flavour is a combination of both, and our perception of saltiness and sweetness drop when inside a pressurised cabin. Everything that makes up the in-flight experience, it turns out, affects how your food tastes. “Food and drink really do taste different in the air compared to on the ground,” says Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University. “There are several reasons for this: lack of humidity, lower air pressure, and the background noise.”

Also the attitude of the flight stewards has a really really big impact, and who you are sitting next to and how gross it is that they ordered the nasi goreng chicken...But seriously, some fascinating info in here about how being inside a plane plays havoc with your senses generally.

http://bbc.in/1tZYoJ5

Land of pork and honey

‘At Truck De Luxe, you can while away the hours on a patio that stretches into the street, tucking into a cold beer and a soft pretzel with bacon jam, or its signature pancake tower, which is layered with pulled pork and slathered with maple syrup. In the past five years, Israelis’ passion for pork has blown up, says one of the restaurant’s owners, Ori Marmorstein. And since the pork industry is monopolized by only a few pig farms, mostly in Israel’s northern Arab-Christian area, demand has made pork prices skyrocket almost 100 percent, he says, with some cuts up to about $8 per pound... But at the truck, the staff is quintessentially Tel Aviv: beautiful, hedonistic, blasé, flirty young things who see good food and alcohol not as moments of gratification, but as a way of life. Ignoring the country’s loaded and increasingly depressing political scene is exactly the point, and pork is a means to that escape.’

Okay, you all know I love pork, but why oh why does it have to come in a pulled pork stack smothered in maple syrup. The point of an accompaniment to pork for me is to balance its sweetness with something sour like in a classsic Sri Lankan pork curry where goroka (aka gamboge) makes the fat the more unctuous by its sharpness. Transgression and rebellion via food I applaud, but can we do it with some discernment?

What? Too flippant?

http://bit.ly/1CPUyB7

Big Plates Are the New Small Plates

‘At Provision No. 14, the Filipino-style fried suckling pork leg arrives at the table on a silver platter with a  large white-handled knife stabbed in the middle. The upright serrated blade is the chef’s mic drop. It’s the kind of gesture that dares you to question it.’

No, what it does is tell me that the chef is up himself, and the rest of the article just confirms it.

http://bit.ly/1JSnDD9

The madness of drinking bottled water shipped halfway around the world

‘Bottled water’s global boom is arguably driven by fear, firstly among developing world consumers who worry about water quality from the tap, and secondly among developed world consumers about the health impacts of sugary drinks.’

It has been one of the most successful unnecessary campaigns in years, get us to (a) drink more water per se and (b) drink bottled water. Such a frisson still when to the inevitable questoin of do I want still or sparkling water I answer ‘tap water’.

http://bit.ly/1ScLMEh

Curry on cooking: how long will the UKs adopted national dish survive?

Salim’s restaurant, which he has owned for 15 years, is one of thousands comprising the £3.6bn Indian restaurant industry in Britain. It is a quirk of colonialism, globalisation, and modernisation that a curry has become as synonymous with British culinary culture as fish and chips. But in Conservative Britain – where the attitude toward migrants is becoming increasingly and explicitly hostile – this culinary mainstay is in sharp decline not due to lack of demand, but to a lack of skilled chefs. 

Well, that’s it. The end of Empire and God Save the Queen and all who sail in her. Look, if this means the end of crap Bangladeshi curry, rejoice all ye say I.

Oh, all right, the article has some excellent points to make about the nature of the labour market at this end of the food sector not only in the UK but generally in Western economies and the abuse of labour arguments in anti-immigration polemic and politics. Mind you there is also a thead of neo-imperialism in all of this curry-national-dish-exploitation-of-former-colonial-serfs that isn’t canvassed,

http://bit.ly/1Mk23We