so the outcome of that rather wordy post (below) ended up in a delicious dinner (pizza) with home made tomato "salsa", char grilled mushrooms and yellow capsicum, capers and bocconcini (I bought this).
I have recently taken to cooking pizza on my sandwich press (set on melt mode so the top doesn't hit the cheese).
I should go and get a stone, as my smeg on steroids is probably the perfect pizza oven; it's useless for cooking anything slowly that's for sure!
however, with all of this woodfire oven talk recently on other blogs, i thought I would put it out there... do you think cooking a pizza on a stone on the weber (NOT gas but a real one) would work?
the outcome
alchemy
today I'm feeling a tad dusty - I didn't sleep well last night, probably a result of a few too many vino de plonks on the lounge; so I thought of instead trying to exercise my cerebral center, i would refer to something I think is kind of interesting, although i do not know how factual it is.
Recently, through Jason and Shona at salads direct, I have come across 2DIE4 LIVE FOODS who describe themselves as "food alchemists". At this stage the product range several varieties of activated nuts and seeds. what does this mean?
"The 60's/70's movement into raw and whole foods contained major errors in our search for healthier diets. Sadly omitted from that wildly developing new cuisine was the ancient art of fermentation, for, with the wise application of this bounteous craft nutirents such as proteins, carbs and malts, which are otherwise toxic or allergenic and enzymatically converted to a pre-digested state, leaving that food detoxed..."
in a nutshell, fermentation = activation. Now whether we believe this or not, and whether this is scientifically proven I don't know, but the product information sheet does go into a great level of detail that makes a great deal of sense. Putting that aside, the information goes on to say some other interesting things...
"Gluten in wheat is a marvelous vegetarian 2-part protein that has been falsely demonised. Once a bread or pizza dough is allowed to ferment for at least 6 hours (as was common practice until the 1950's), the significant enzyme activity generated converts not only the gluten but also the maltose, carbs and other elements into their beneficial, digestible alter-egos. And since 99% of modern day bread and other wheat products are made at breakneck speed, we have the illusion of a gluten allergy on our hands.
"We have lost the connection with sloooow! Sloooow nourishes. Speed kills - in the kitchen too. We are not born 'gluten intolerant', we are quite naturally intolerant of any and all ill-prepared proteins like gluten. We are in fact allergic to the galloping haste of modern life and to the absolute rush of essential food and production processes"
whether or not you buy into this or not, there are some interesting points made by 2DIE4
the product is bloody tasy too!
are you ethicurean?
what the?
thanks to stickyfingers who brought my attention to an article in this week's Age that has left me pondering a new label... ETHICUREAN
"It's a new word to describe a new kind of eater - a diner whose ethical concerns take priority over epicurean whims. Ethicureans like their food as tasty as everyone else, but they insist it falls into at least some of four categories - sustainable, organic, local and ethical - SOLE food, for short."
Now I definitely spend a substantial amount of time thinking about food. in fact, I'm a food obsessive. And I do spend a lot of time thinking about what food I buy - where it comes from, its quality, what my perceived value of it is, amongst many other considerations. But I am not so sure that when it comes to eating I insist that my food comes from one of these four categories.
If I think a little harder about what I like to eat, and where I eat it, even by whim, then a large part of what I do satisfies these criteria that's the way my ship steers and I suspect nurture and nature have a large part in this.
However once I am able to stride over this introductory paragraph of media sensationalism the article I refer to begins to delve into some of the bigger questions that we should all be asking when it comes to food consumption. In the short article it is, it naturally simplifies some of the issues, but manages to still emphasis the interactive and complex analysis at play, and whilst I do not agree with necessarily everything (the apple example for example) I think this is an excellent introduction to many of the considerations that come into play.
read, moving up the food chain
(the seemingly random photo above is of Jason & Shona from salads direct, from whom I source lettuce and salad mix, and with whom I have great conversations about this sort of thing)
thanks to stickyfingers who brought my attention to an article in this week's Age that has left me pondering a new label... ETHICUREAN
"It's a new word to describe a new kind of eater - a diner whose ethical concerns take priority over epicurean whims. Ethicureans like their food as tasty as everyone else, but they insist it falls into at least some of four categories - sustainable, organic, local and ethical - SOLE food, for short."
Now I definitely spend a substantial amount of time thinking about food. in fact, I'm a food obsessive. And I do spend a lot of time thinking about what food I buy - where it comes from, its quality, what my perceived value of it is, amongst many other considerations. But I am not so sure that when it comes to eating I insist that my food comes from one of these four categories.If I think a little harder about what I like to eat, and where I eat it, even by whim, then a large part of what I do satisfies these criteria that's the way my ship steers and I suspect nurture and nature have a large part in this.
However once I am able to stride over this introductory paragraph of media sensationalism the article I refer to begins to delve into some of the bigger questions that we should all be asking when it comes to food consumption. In the short article it is, it naturally simplifies some of the issues, but manages to still emphasis the interactive and complex analysis at play, and whilst I do not agree with necessarily everything (the apple example for example) I think this is an excellent introduction to many of the considerations that come into play.
read, moving up the food chain
(the seemingly random photo above is of Jason & Shona from salads direct, from whom I source lettuce and salad mix, and with whom I have great conversations about this sort of thing)
a-z
this may seem off topic to some of you, but I assure you, it's not.
Today, whilst doing my morning scoot through the plethora of blogs, forums and posts on food on the internet I came across a blog new to me, whereby a woman in England is encouraging her children to eat vegetables, working her way through the alphabet with them and providing taste tests of a number of recipes for each vegetable.
"THE GREAT BIG VEGETABLE CHALLENGE"
"Welcome to the World's First Great Big Vegetable Challenge! Take one seven year old boy named Freddie and his mother as they face the challenge of turning him from a Vegetable-Phobic into a boy who will eat and even enjoy some of life's leafier pleasures. Join us as we work through the A to Z of vegetables!"
the thing I find most impressive is the creativity and level of determination this lady. there's no hiding vegies under creamy pastas, and no throwing her hands up in the air, sighing, and sprinkling a tin of metamucil in everything as the advertising on television would have us believe is the ONLY solution.
i want to introduce all and sundry to this marvellous blog!
Today, whilst doing my morning scoot through the plethora of blogs, forums and posts on food on the internet I came across a blog new to me, whereby a woman in England is encouraging her children to eat vegetables, working her way through the alphabet with them and providing taste tests of a number of recipes for each vegetable.
"THE GREAT BIG VEGETABLE CHALLENGE"
"Welcome to the World's First Great Big Vegetable Challenge! Take one seven year old boy named Freddie and his mother as they face the challenge of turning him from a Vegetable-Phobic into a boy who will eat and even enjoy some of life's leafier pleasures. Join us as we work through the A to Z of vegetables!"the thing I find most impressive is the creativity and level of determination this lady. there's no hiding vegies under creamy pastas, and no throwing her hands up in the air, sighing, and sprinkling a tin of metamucil in everything as the advertising on television would have us believe is the ONLY solution.
i want to introduce all and sundry to this marvellous blog!
all packaged up
I have espoused a level of contempt for supermarkets on this blog to date, to the point where at least one of my 'readers' has become concerned about the straightness of my underpants. I am checking and they are still well aligned - no twisting for this girl thanks
but on a more serious note, it's not just supermarkets that have the sole rights to corporate bastardry. in fact, it happens throughout most things we consume and is probably far worse in many other countries. today i refer to the visy v.s amcor ACCC saga, as today's SMH points out, if we've consumed a cucumber, tomato, or capsicum in the last year, we're included in the group of mugs who end up paying.
you can read the article here ...
PR wheels are a'spinning
I sure hope the PR department at Bella Vista based grocery chain is well paid, because they are doing an absolutely fantastic job! Really, they are. the dominance of the company in the media pages over the past few weeks has been supreme.
In another article posted by fairfax (are they on a retainer?) we hear that the food retail sector is not concentrated, and that AC Nielsen data stating that the market share of Coles & Woolworths is misleading. According to a different set of statistics (ABS), independents make up more than 50 per cent of the total market and are growing.
unfortunately the article provides no facts and figures regarding $spend, population catchment, product ranges, licenses or anything else that is vaguely relevant; we are merely meant to find some sympathy for the "BIG GUYS" because they may or may not be as big as you think... hmmmmmmmmm
feed us another line
I don't really know why I thought a change of the guard at one of our major supermarkets would lead to a more pallatable set of ethics; probably because I am a dreamer, and romantically think that the world is a good and kind place. Which in fact, it often is, as long as you keep your nose out of corporate dealings and media myths.
again we have been inundated again with articles on the cost of food in relation to the drought and how we all better prepare ourselves for further price increases:
significant food price increases
drought begins to bite at the checkout
Apparently Woolworths group CEO, Michael Luscombe has said, "We will negotiate prices that are fair," Mr Luscombe said. "We help them in times of surplus and scarcity."
Now I haven't seen Woolworths help anyone but themselves in times of surplus nor scarcity. so far, all we have seen from WOW! is a donation of one day's profit to the drought cause. In light of that let me refer you back to a recent post on this blog where the amount of drought relief provided by the government is compared agains the nett profit after tax of Australia's top 2 supermarket retailers.
And with the media lapping up whatever the Wooworths' PR spin is, it's no wonder Mr Luscombe has a smug look of contentment about him!
sanity will never prevail
that's right ladies and gents, after reading the article below, i have decided that sanity is a lost cause.
this week I saw the following article regarding a dessert in a Sri Lankan Hotel for the meagre sum of USD14,500. to be fair you get to keep a 80carat aquamarine worth USD14,000 that's part of the dish (unless of course you eat it, and then i expect a small sum of money will find a pauper to help you retrieve it!).
still that's a USD500 dessert. not having a particularly sweet tooth I cannot fathom a dessert at AUD50, but I cannot help but wonder what hope we have to address poverty, human rights, global warming, or anything of any consequence, when "creative thought" is being allocated to this kind of thing.
sourced from taste online
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