Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Akiba


Asian - Civic ACT 2601 - The Canberra Times calls it an emphasis on smoke, the influence of Japanese snack food and the pork buns of American rock-star cheffing, and an obsession with extreme flavour

RestaurantAkiba
Street address40 Bunda Street
SuburbCivic
StateACT
Postcode2601
Phone02 6162 0602
Websitewww.akiba.com.au/
StyleAsian
Awards 2014 Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes"This place combines Japanese cartoon pop with the United States love of the barbecue."
ReviewerKirsten Lawson - Canberra Times 13/1/2015 14.5/20
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Aragvi Georgian Cafe

Georgian - Bentleigh Vic 3165 - They describe their food as a remarkable combination of Middle Eastern and Eastern European flavors.

RestaurantAragvi Georgian Cafe
Street address318 Centre Road
SuburbBentleigh
StateVIC
Postcode3165
Phone03 9557 2893
Websitearagvigeorgiancuisine.com.au
StyleGeorgian
Awards 2014 Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes" Aragvi's Georgian cuisine for lunch, brunch and dinner is decently priced and, though traditional dishes are not the prettiest (a lot of beige, and stews), it's beautiful on the inside.
ReviewerSimone Egger - The Age 13/1/2015
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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Like a Cherry Merlot ice cream? Then how about a chocolate lover’s dream - a bowl of Chocolate Cabernet?

  • Wine ice cream could be the best thing ever invented - "Mercer’s Dairy, a dairy farm in Boonville, New York which dates back to the 1930s, offers eight flavours of the adult-only treat, including riesling, cherry merlot, peach white zinfandel and sparkling strawberry. ... Owner Roxaina Hurlburt first had the idea for the sweet treat when guests at a food event in Washington in 2005 started dolloping Mercer's ice cream in their glasses of wine (the dairy's stall happened to be next to a wine one).She and her niece Ruth Mignerey spent years developing the recipe, as they tried to work out how to get the ice cream to freeze."
  • From the Mercer's Dairy product sheet:


  • Sausage row reveals German disquiet over trade talks - "A small grilled sausage from Bavaria has become the unlikely symbol of German resistance to the transatlantic trade deal being negotiated between the EU and the US, after the country’s agriculture minister warned that “not every sausage can be protected” in the trade talks. Christian Schmidt, Germany’s agriculture minister, said in an interview with Der Spiegel: “If we want to seize the opportunities of free trade with the enormous American market then we can’t carry on protecting every sausage and cheese speciality.”
  • Going Dry: The Benefits Of A Month Without Booze - "... could such a short-term breakup with alcohol really impart any measurable health benefits? The staff at the magazine New Scientist decided to find out, using themselves as guinea pigs. The findings of their small but intriguing experiment suggest the answer is a resounding yes.
  • So much for New Year’s resolutions: People eat even more after the holidays - "Every year after the holidays, people inevitably swear they'll make amends for the extra calories they consumed in December by eating less when the new year comes. They'll buy more broccoli, and fewer chips; serve themselves more salad, and skip more desserts. Talk of New Year's weight resolutions begins well before the ball drops. And that talk is cheap. It turns out that people actually eat the most right around the time they say they're going to eat the least—and by a big margin. Americans buy roughly twice as many calories per serving in food in the first three months of the new year than during the holidays, according to a new study."

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Tuscany and a million bottles of bogus high-prestige wines

I wonder whar's really in those bottles?

  • A taste for scandal in Italy's Tuscany wine region - Tuscany, home to many of Italy's best-known wines, may be in danger of tarnishing its reputation with a series of wine-related scandals. ... The region's wine industry, which produces about 180 million bottles of wine per year, has been rocked in recent months. One winemaker near the Tuscan coast planted a type of grape prohibited in the area and got kicked out of the local Val di Cornia designation in November. A few weeks before that, a major Tuscan wine collector was arrested for trying to sell bottles of bogus high-prestige wines as legitimate. Even bigger, more than a million bottles of low-quality wine — enough to fill half an Olympic-size swimming pool — were seized in two separate busts in September and October. Most of it was destined to be sold under some of Tuscany's best-known labels, including Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino, according to Italian media. In May, another 30,000 bottles falsely labeled as Brunello and other top Tuscan wines — such as Chianti, Chianti Classico and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano — were seized just before being shipped to foreign markets, including the United States.
  • Nine people choke to death eating mochi rice cakes in Japan - "Japan’s habitual New Year killer has struck again, after nine people were reported to have died in recent days from choking on rice cakes. Mochi – glutinous cakes of pounded rice – are traditionally eaten in vast quantities over the holidays, usually in soup, or toasted and served with sweet soy sauce and wrapped in dried seaweed. Several people die eating the starchy delicacy every January, but this year the number is particularly high."
  • Western Rock Lobster management changes boost stocks and increase profits - "A management overhaul of Australia's most lucrative fishery, the Western Rock Lobster, has boosted the numbers of the crustaceans off the WA coast and resulted in an increase in profits. A Department of Fisheries study compared the previous control measures based on limitations on the length of the fishing season and the number of boats on the water with a new quota system. ... The beach price for an average sized rock lobster was between $70-$74 last month."
  • KFC applies for liquor licence for a new outlet in Parramatta
  • Alcohol taxes protective against binge drinking, study shows - "Higher alcohol taxes strongly protect against binge drinking, according to a new study by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers. ... The study, published in the journal Addiction, found that a one-percent increase in alcohol beverage prices from taxes was associated with a 1.4 percent decrease in the proportion of adults who binge drink. Most previous studies have examined the effect of taxes on average consumption, while the effect of taxes on high-level drinking has been controversial."
  • On the eve of the Epiphany, water becomes wine - Folk legends express profound truths about life and death, grace and happiness

Monday, January 5, 2015

Problems for Italian food producers - the Parmigiano-Reggiano sales are collapsing

Italy’s Food Producers Look Abroad to Survive - "Italian food may be world renowned, but its producers are caught in a painful squeeze at home. The food industry makes up about oneseventh of Italy’s economy, but with the country locked in its third recession in six years, consumer spending has fallen 13% since 2008, according to consumers’ association Federconsumatori. That is weighing heavily on makers of delicacies such as prosciutto, cheese and wine. For instance, the consortium of makers of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese decided in June to withdraw 90,000 wheels from the market, faced with a drop in prices due to declining demand."Could 'salt potatoes' create a food revolution? - "A team of researchers in the Netherlands has discovered that potatoes can grow in earth fed by salty sea water. The development could spark a revolution in the way food is produced in land previously considered unsuitable for agriculture."


Dining out on London’s Walkie Talkie - "For a restaurant operator, as for the landlord, this space is as complex as it is extravagant. When Land Securities and Canary Wharf PLC began the tender process for the catering, they knew they needed an events operator, according to Pieter-Bas Jacobse, managing director of Rhubarb, the “food designers” who won the contract."
Government Dietary Guidelines May Back Off Meat To Be More Environmentally Friendly - "The dietary guidelines are issued every five years and as the new recommendations are being drafted, “an advisory panel to the Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments has been discussing the idea of sustainability in public meetings, indicating that its recommendations, expected this month, may address the environment,” the Associated Press reported. Once they are finalized, the new guidelines will be reflected in the USDA’s MyPlate icon, which replaced the famous food pyramid in 2011."

Sunday, January 4, 2015

The starring role of onions in the world's 4000 year old cookbook and other food and drink news


  • Three cheers for the onion - Deep in the archives of Yale University's Babylonian Collection lie three small clay tablets with a particular claim to fame - they are the oldest known cookery books.Covered in minute cuneiform writing, they did not give-up their secrets until 1985, nearly 4,000 years after they were written. The French Assyriologist and gourmet cook Jean Bottero - a combination only possible in France, some might say - was the man who cracked them. He discovered "a cuisine of striking richness, refinement, sophistication and artistry" with many flavours we would recognise today. Especially one flavour. "They seem obsessed with every member of the onion family!" says Bottero. Mesopotamians knew not just their onions, but also their leeks, garlic and shallots."
  • Is a Great Wine Palate God Given, Learned or Bought? - "I’ve read one wine lover’s waggish suggestion that the greatness of someone’s palate is directly proportional to the value and size of his or her wine cellar."
  • New restaurant trends for 2015 - - Venture capital is bolstering start-ups that aim to bring about changes to how, and especially where, people eat out. ... the appearance on the dessert menu of a new category: chocolate boards ... similar to a charcuterie board, with various flavours of chocolate to share ... This could be a breakthrough. Outside of tasting menus, restaurateurs currently persuade only 25 per cent of their customers to order dessert. Hyman’s approach of canvassing sommeliers to enthuse about chocolate boards is clever, as the flavour descriptors of chocolate and wine overlap. And for the customer, it offers a lighter option than a rich pudding."

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Piari and Co


RestaurantPiari and Co
Street address5/54 Dunn Bay Road
SuburbDunsborough
StateWA
Postcode6281
Phone08 9756 7977
Websitepiarirandco.com.au
StyleAustralian
Awards 2014 Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes"Exception to a tourist curse. ... it's all about locals ... You could do a lot worse."
ReviewerJohn Lethlean - The Australian - 3 January 2015
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