Last week I wrote about the impact of WWII on our culinary landscape, through the advent of fertilisers and pesticides. It is important to note the post-war fall out was not all negative.
Touted as “the land of opportunity”, waves of European immigrants arrived on our shores looking for a new beginning. The culinary coup was that each of them brought a deeply ingrained taste for the cooking of their homeland: the food of their country, their region and of course their mother.
Their Baltic and Mediterranean sensibilities were generally at odds with Australia’s strong British tabletop traditions and yet their climates were so much more in line with our own. Their food made sense, when they could find a way to procure the produce. There would be no greater poster boy for that wave of immigration and its effects on our shores than Beppi Polese. As Lethlean chronicles:
“The son of a farm labourer, Polese came to Australia from The Veneto region of Italy in 1952 having been imprisoned in an Austrian labour camp during WWII, from which he escaped to join the partisan movement in the mountains of northern Italy’s Friuli region until Mussolini’s defeat.
Before immigrating, Polese worked in grand European hotels in Switzerland, Rome, Florence and Venice.
Four years after arriving, the restaurant bearing his name opened.”
Beppi and his wife Norma Polese opened Beppi’s in 1956. The restaurant has served four generations of diners. This week Beppi passed away at 90 years old. The restaurant continues to this day in the hands of his son Marc.
Some Easter reading -
Why has no one heard of Ana Ros? – Saveur ask the kitchen regarding chef Ana Ros, who will open the new season of Netfix’s Chef’s Table.
An Australian Chef in Hong Kong, Serving Casual French Fare – NY Times talk to James Henry about his new digs in HK.
WA organic farmer must pay $804,000 in court costs after losing GM legal battle – The Guardian on the heart-wrenching story of Steve Marsh vs his neighbour (and, it turns out the financial aid of Monsanto).
World’s largest community kitchen at Golden Temple goes organic - because it IS possible, via SBS.
Italy to change law to make all supermarkets give unsold food to the needy – Italy following in the footsteps of my mates the Frenchies in The Independent. How long until Australia does likewise?
Finally, while you are enjoying your Easter eggs this weekend, spare a thought for the birds who provide us with the non-chocolate variety. If you give a cluck about free-range eggs (and putting in place some serious parameters) sign this petition now.
The week that was (21 March 2016)
Many years ago now, I wrote my history honours thesis looking at the importance of feeding the national body, comparing France and England and their politics of food and rationing during WWII. I am ever amazed at how much that subject continues to return to me.
Of course traces of the war years remain in France to this day. This trip, I heard much talk of les legumes d’antan (the vegetables of yesteryear). The idea is to encourage people to eat seasonally, which in winter means changing the perception of root vegetables (parsnips, turnips etc) that have been forgotten for more exotic wonders. Their negative reputation is a hangover from times of rationing when that was all there was to eat.
Over dinner the other night in the Beaujolais I noted a casual encouragement to eat up (or maybe it was drink up) - “Encore un, que les boches n’aurons pas” (have one more, so the Germans won’t have any). It was not said with malice, but rather because that is what their grandmother had said, their mother had said etc.
While there, I was touring the vineyards of some of the oldest, and youngest, proponents of natural wine. It was striking to see the difference in the vineyards treated with chemicals and those that are not (this is nothing on what occurs when actually making the wine, but that’s another story).
What I had not previously considered was that both the fertilisers and pesticides we use in agriculture today are also by-products of the war. The effects of nitrogen on the earth were quickly seen when the degraded trenches and war-torn land restored itself so quickly post-bombing, due to the traces of nitrogen left from the bombs. From there the modern fertiliser was born. Furthermore, chemical warfare (particularly via gas), used both in the trenches and in concentration camps, is said to have paved the way for pesticides used on our crops. Wartime created an industry that then needed to be sustained in times of peace.
Oh, the tangled webs we weave ...
The week that was (10 March 2106)
This week my Euro adventures took me in a rather unexpected, but very poignant for this missive, direction. Following on from last week’s soapbox, Joanna Savill sent me an email inviting me to head across to the Parabere Forum in Bari, Puglia. Those who clicked on the link last week will know this is a food forum, now in it’s second year, aimed at improving gastronomy with women’s vision.
The forum was host to twenty-three speakers and, indeed, a room full of amazing women, each connected to the food industry in some way, shape or form. Personally, I am a firm believer in creating solutions with both sexes in the room, but (and this is a big but) I was fascinated by the conversation that came out of this forum.
There was an incredible community spirit evident in each speaker’s vision, a focus on building a community, not furthering an individual. Women such as Zoubida Charrouf who has built co-operatives making argan oil in Morocco, creating an income stream for women where traditionally women working at all was frowned upon. Her work has also led to protection for the plants and the oil itself, a product that is indigenous to Morocco. There was also an impressive breadth of vision in each idea; such as Trine’s canteens that are now feeding healthy, vegetable driven meals to 3000 workers a day, on a dime; orSusanne’s organic farm that has turned the idea of large scale organic production on its head (it is the largest organic farm in Denmark); and Britt-Marie’s incredible vision for the future of abattoirs and butchery, with the creation of a mobile slaughter house with full traceability. Sustainability and the environment were both writ large across the forum.
In all of this, the over-riding theme to my mind, and indeed solution, kept coming back to diversity. This counts for agriculture, for the soil, for the approach to new solutions with the help of diverse backgrounds, diverse studies and diverse careers. But also, with diversity in the sexes. It’s about celebrating the differences.
There was a study in France I read about last year, that looked at the best way to plant crops. Much to the surprise of modern agriculture, the study concluded that the plots with a variety of different plants growing together were the most successful, particularly in times of drought. It was the way the different root systems drew from the minerals and the water in the soil that allowed them to generate the best long-term results when they were working in synergy. As it is in nature, I believe it is for us.
The week that was (3 March 2016)
- A quick note to say the line up at Noosa Food and Wine is an outrage. They have invited one woman (ok, now three with the last minute MKR additions) out of 47 chefs?! Unfortunately they're not alone. Did you know there were only 17 women among the 600 Michelin starred chefs? If you want a global perspective read this petition regarding Omnivore, and for a more positive spin check out theParebere Forum and their Instagram feed. I am not an advocate for 50% for the sake of 50%, but this percentage can not be right. It can't even be close.
- Finally, France ... I'll keep the boasting brief. As always there have been some delightful meals: today's was in a butchery beside the Marché Aligre - a brilliant outdoor and indoor market that runs six days a week in the 12th, incidentally it's close to one of the best Parisian bakeries I know for a pain au chocolat (Le Ble Sucre). Lunch was enjoyed sitting in the butchery, surrounded by other happy market goers. In fact, it gave me that feeling of the forbidden, of being invited to the convivial meals I have seen many Frenchie stall holders share when lunch descends. It was excellent. Earlier in the week it was a classic bistro lunch at Paul Bert (laden with truffles) and, if I get this finished, I will be heading out for a cheeky drink and snack at Le Dauphin.
If it's good, I generally put it on the gram, which brings me to one post I would like to reiterate from this week, one I thought was particularly poignant and probably worth sharing again - Last winter, the French announced a ban on open fires in chimneys. The move, designed to cut pollution in Paris, was met with outrage and quickly overturned. It became evident the statistics used to create the ban were exaggerated (or misinterpreted). This was coupled with the realisation there were many other ways to educate and influence the way people heat their home. The ecology minister, Ségolène Royal, was quoted - "Je ne suis pas favorable à une société des interdictions." ("I am not in favour of a society of prohibitions"). It turns out she's a bit of a hero, she's even had a crack at Monsanto. Lotta Continua.
The week that was (25 February 2016)
The week’s big food scandal revolved around the role of the critic.
A couple of former MKR contestants got themselves in trouble for their review of the West End Deli in WA. They caned the restaurant (I can't find the original); bizarrely thinking the restaurant would not call them on their fabrications (one of the girls was not even present at the review, despite a direct quote, in print, about her experience that evening). The restaurant did call them on it, via Facebook.
The story is ridiculous, as much for the publications who choose to employ “reviewers” like this, as it is for the faux reviewers themselves (watch the MKR vid here where one notes her favourite restaurant is “Madison Eleven Park”). They were out of line and have been sacked as a result.
Ridicule aside, I do think it’s a decent opportunity to take a moment to consider the role of the critic. Rob Broadhurst, food editor for the West Australian thought so too:
“So, is everyone a restaurant critic? No. Everyone has a point of view, but the critic’s role in our society, whether it be ballet, books, motor cars or restaurants, is one of enormous responsibility and it’s not without gravity … When it's all added up, a good critic should amplify the good and the bad for the benefit of their readers without grinding their own axes, self-aggrandising, looking for adulation from chefs or looking after their mates.”
I agree. It’s a serious profession with real consequences. It is not a role I covet. You have someone’s business in your hands, you also have your readers' wallets in your hand. It takes a particular person to walk that line.
Writing this missive, I have somewhat made it my job to poke fun at the reviewers, thus I have thought a bit about what makes a good restaurant critic in my eyes:
- They are impartial.
- They are educated on the topic.
- They are able to communicate it well.
If I were to add in a fourth, I would suggest they also focus their writing on the matter at hand; less banging on about your taxidermy collection and more about what we will find in the restaurant. Unlike Rob, I don’t think a journalism degree is fundamental.
One final point, and this one is for the readers, is to realise a reviewer’s opinion will not always be your opinion. It is subjective. It always will be. That’s the point. Find a reviewer you like (and generally agree with) and be guided by them. That’s how taste works and that’s ok. I don’t have to like heavy metal to like music, that doesn’t make metal wrong, nor does it make the critics who like it wrong, nor does it mean I don't like music. Likewise for food.
The week that was (18 February 2016)
Food waste. It's a massive issue. According to the United Nations, if wasted food became its own country it would be the number three contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the entire world. With nearly 800 million people not getting enough to eat each day, this is a ridiculous case of "deprivation in a sea of plenty".
The French are at the head of the game when it comes to solutions. Last month they passed a bill making it illegal for supermarkets (with a retail space bigger than 400 square metres) to throw out food that is still fit for consumption. Instead they are now required to donate it to charity or send it to be turned into compost or animal feed (instead of the previous practice of dousing in bleach or water to render it inedible - a bizarre habit to ensure if they can't sell it then no-one will eat it). They are the first country to create a law like this (punishable by a $75k fine or two years in jail).
But it doesn't stop there. They have laws for restaurants who throw out too much waste (in the form of food scraps), forcing them to recycle this waste. They've even written a law about le doggy bag, taking it from the crass to the classy and making it a requirement for all restaurants to offer it, rather than scrape the excess in the bin.
The French are historically good at this waste caper. So good in fact, that the Brits used them as the gold standard when creating their rationing schemes during WWII. Think about the ways they have traditionally consumed the pig ... and then watch this brilliant stop motion animation illustrating my point (skip to 35 seconds if you're squeamish, but definitely take the time to watch it).
The French have Arash Derambarsh to thank for his single mindedness in getting this done. We have people like Ronni Kahn.
Tonight OzHarvest launches the CEO Cook Off (to be held on the 7th March). According to Bestie, as of yesterday, "they have rescued 15,000 tonnes of good quality surplus food from landfill and delivered the equivalent of more than 45 million quality nutritious meals to people in need." You can read more here. Hats off to all of you lovely people involved.
The week that was (11 February 2016)
Let's talk lock out. It's all we've talked about (on social) for the past week. You'll have read much along the way, so I am limiting this to links, click to read more.
It started with an 8,000 word diatribe on Linkedin. It was exacerbated by police, who picked on the wrong wine bar (10 William), Gio took to instagram, the chef fraternity responded, the newspapers picked up on it, the cops were forced to release a statement, a lawyer dining at the time refuted their version of events, and then the Premier added his 2 cents on Facebook. What a debacle.
To my mind places like 10 William St are actually the answer to the problem, which is why this is so poignant. If we want a better drinking culture and less violence (although the culture of violence in this country probably needs to be looked at separately too) we need to encourage more drinking and eating together.
Like France. And Italy. And Spain. And many other delightful cultures that celebrate conviviality at the table first and foremost. Bringing back the six o'clock swill is not a solution. It is a step back. It's a leap back. It's embarrassing.
I wrote an article for the Oz five years ago comparing the drinking culture in France and Australia. "It’s accepted wisdom in Australia that the relationship between alcohol and violence is linear – i.e., the more we drink, the more violent we become. Consequently, health lobbies and government bodies obsess about trying to reduce the volume of alcohol consumed and making access to alcohol more difficult. It’s a simple concept, and one that is totally contradicted by the example of France." While it's a little odd to quote myself, I think the point is important. It's also odd my opinion hasn't changed in five years, but it hasn't. At all. You can read the article here.
Isn't it astounding that on the one hand our government will spend millions to bring a chef to Sydney with a view to show the world what we are made of (in a culinary sense), while the other hand is making sure we have nothing to show when they get here. Wake up.
The week that was (4 February 2016)
- CN Traveller have released their ten young chefs to watch in 2016 (including our own lovely Louis Tikaram). The gender split also gives cause to smile. Click on the links to read more.
Rosio Sanchez, 30, owner of Copenhagen's Hija de Sanchez
Louis Tikaram, 30, executive chef at L.A.'s EP & LP
Victoria Eliasdóttir, 27, chef of Berlin's Dóttir
Malcolm Livingston II, 29, pastry chef at Copenhagen's Noma
Katia (28) and Tatiana Levha (30) of Paris's Le Servan
Sergey Berezutskiy, 28, chef and owner of Moscow's Twins (with his twin brother)
Cara Stadler, 27, chef and owner, Maine's Tao Yuan and Bao Bao
Fabián von Hauske Valtierra, 26, of NYC's Contra and Wildair
Elise Kornack, 28, chef and owner of Brooklyn's Take Root
Keiichi Terada, 29, chef at Den
- The 2016 French Michelin Guide was announced this week. Alain Ducasse’s Plaza Athénée and Christian Le Squer’s Le V both ascended to three hats, while Le Meurice and Le Relais Bernard Loiseau were demoted to two. Full list here.
- The critic vs chef palaver is a very old chestnut. That doesn’t seem to stop anyone. This week Thomas Keller published a poised and gentle response to that Per Se review. This was in stark contrast to restaurateur Ahmass Fakahany, who also received a negative review from Wells for Vaucluse. He was not-so-poised: “You need to do some of the basic journalism and sharpen your food knowledge …” Wells wasn’t ruffled: “I just think that we show an awful lot of deference to chefs in our culture and maybe not enough deference to customers …”
- Wells is not alone in that appraisal of the system. If you want to delve a little deeper, read this article on First we Feast. It’s a pretty blunt look at the US food media: from those who let their fear of losing access interfere with their ability to report the facts; the bandwagon jumpers; the list writers; the focus on cheap eats (based on cuisine not ingredient); the dud recipes (not just online, but everywhere); the “pre-review” review hack; etc etc. It’s pretty harsh but largely fair, and we are far from immune.
“We constantly challenge the makers of food to be better—to serve us better, more sustainable products while keeping prices down; to abolish tipping and address the wage gap in restaurants; to be thought-leaders but never say the wrong thing—yet we rarely turn the mirror on ourselves. If we dock an ambitious chef for putting populist burgers and fried chicken on the menu to prop up the bottom line, shouldn’t we be willing to stop publishing clickbait lists to subsidize longform stories? If we demand more diversity in kitchens, shouldn’t we demand the same in our edit bays?”
- My favourite Noma story of the week (in fact to date) belongs to The California Sunday Magazine. Tienlon Ho clearly spent a considerable amount of time with the team, understanding their creative process ("Think about fire, char, and smoke, the flavors of cooking in Aboriginal camps and backyard barbecues, he suggested; think about ocean breezes, the way an oyster brines your teeth.") It is a thoughtful and insightful piece, and there are some lovely pics.
- If you’re not Noma’d out you can read how they built the beverage list, in an article from Mads Kleppe (their somm) in GT. There are some interesting thoughts about Australia’s young wine producers, a little touch up for the many Aussie winemakers who “spray their grapes to pieces with chemicals” and the rather large claim “we're going to make the best coffee in Sydney.” Clearly he doesn't mind stirring the pot ... but I quite like that.
The week that was (28 January 2016)
Soap box:
- LA chefs Daniel Patterson (ex Coi and known for his modernist haute cuisine) and Roy Choi (LA’s food truck tzar) opened Locol in LA last week. Jonothon Gold went to check it out. It’s a great yarn ...
It started at the MAD Symposium in 2013 with Choi’s talk - A Gateway to Feed Hunger: The Promise of Street Food (watch it here). Choi suggested that with chefs currently enjoying unprecedented celebrity it was time to use that influence to “change the culture; to make sure that everyone in those communities had access to food as healthful and delicious as what they were serving their relatively affluent customers.”
A year later (at MAD 2014) Choi and Patterson announced their idea for Locol: “skate park feel, serving fresh, healthful cooking for about the price of a drive-thru meal - not a replacement for fast food, but a better version of it.”
Two years later, Locol has opened in Watts, LA. "Watts is at the center of what is sometimes called a food desert, which the USDA defines as "a census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.” Choi goes a step further: “In this neighborhood, in Jordan Downs, there's not just a lack of markets and places to go, there's a persistent institutional design, dreary furniture — it's just bleak. Good design is important. And the energy of Watts, this specific neighborhood, is on the block." (click the Jordan Downs link for a visual, it's straight out of the movies).
Gold went on to look at other chefs doing amazing things to better the community around them. I have mentioned some of them previously in this missive, but they're all worth looking at again (I have linked all the articles in his quote below). Go, get inspired:
“This is a key moment for chefs attempting to change the morality of the food chain. Massimo Bottura, perhaps the most influential chef in Italy at the moment, ran a soup kitchen for the homeless at the World's Fair in Milan last summer. Brooks Headley quit his job as pastry chef at New York's revered Del Posto to open the vegan fast-food stand Superiority Burger. Dan Barber of Blue Hill in New York organizes events battling food waste, Jose Andres of Bazaar is involved with food initiatives in Africa and Haiti, and Michael Cimarusti of Hollywood's Providence launched a sustainable dock-to-dish program in Southern California. But perhaps none of the projects is quite so ambitious as Locol, which is making a stand against some of the most entrenched pockets of urban hunger in the U.S.”
It's early days for Choi, Patterson and the people of Watts, but right now it's working. And they have more planned. Nice one.
- If you want to eat in Japan, read In Search of Japan's Hidden Culinary Revolution. It’s a beautiful, evocative article, delving into the cuisine but also the culture and the history that stands behind the food. There are many amazing ideas, starting in the capital, "... a marvel of consistent variation, ringing fluid changes of texture and flavor on those three little words that define the cuisine of this island nation at its heart: iso no aji, or “tastes like ocean spray.” Then there was a giant oyster “You freeze it while alive and then slow-cook it at low temperatures ... makes the umami come out.” Or, "tiny fish called an ayu, or “sweet fish,” which is fermented in the dregs of sake for three years to make the bones grow edibly soft."
And finally to the holy grail kanburi, considered the greatest white fleshed sashimi in the world. Why? "Because texture, along with temperature and flavor, are part of the “mouth moment” of Japanese cuisine, the challenge is to find a firm fish that is also rich in oil. Enter kanburi, which for that brief, miraculous period every winter, is both those things." How very delightful.
- If you want to drink wine, read this (short) article by Ryan Opaz: On Wine. A Tragedy. It explores something I have thought about for some time now, namely, why should wine be enjoyed any differently to food? Why do I feel less confident saying I like it (or I don't)?
Opaz encourages wine conversation, including among the most intense wine nerds, but begs: “Please do not assume that your new found knowledge is somehow absolute. Don’t assume that your finely honed palate is better than another’s. Definitely do not assume that your ideal wine is everyone’s ideal wine. It isn’t. We all have very different palates, cultural histories, childhood memories and favorite meals. We are not the same. There is no perfect wine. There is no right wine.”
What a cracking article. I found it via Mike Bennie, who noted, among other things: “We miss our cultural vernacular chasing down fine wine ideals. A fine thing, a great pursuit, but there has to be room for appropriateness; like a carafe, a tumbler and a piazza, we should celebrate and enjoy what fits well here too, alongside 'great wine'.” Hear, hear!
- Finally, in his presentation at MAD, Choi mentioned being “as happy as a clam”. I had never heard this phrase, but I like it, and thus share it with you.
The week that was (21 January 2016)
What I'm saying on the soapbox:
- Now for the article that ruffled my feathers (ha) … Lethlean took a couple of well-known chefs to task for their chicken choices. “Fried chicken joints (such as Belle’s in Melbourne and Sydney) proliferate. Chefs who once tweezered at places like Momofuku Seiobo, such as Ben Greeno, now at the Paddington in Sydney, sell hundreds of rotisserie chickens a day.”
I want to take a moment to unpack this.
Both these chefs do not hide where their chicken comes from.
While I agree there is not much of merit in the La Ionica brand (their claim to fame is they don’t wash their chicken in chlorine), it is important to note Morgie (Belles Hot Chicken) certainly has never hidden their provenance from his customers (it’s written on the bottom of every menu).
Ben Greeno, also mentioned in the article, insisted on securing a free range bird at The Paddington. This is no mean feat when you are talking the volumes and price point he was expected to hit (as Letho points out). Greeno found that in Bannockburn. Bannockburn are accredited free-range by Free Range Egg and Poultry Association (FREPA).
The FREPA standards allow for a massive variance in the stocking density of birds. This is often not in keeping with the public perspective of the free-range bird. I agree with Lethlean that this should be addressed. What I don’t agree with, is that this should be addressed by calling out a chef who is using an accredited product. Instead, shouldn't we focus on the board that is creating and enforcing the standards? Please call them out.
What of the chefs who do not put the provenance on the menu and trade on their reputation as champions of sustainability (with coolrooms that tell a different story)? We could call them out.
Or the companies out there who do not conform to the standards they put on their labels. Let's call more of them out.
There are also chefs all over Sydney proudly displaying a brand that is not free-range but simply has nice branding. They could be called out too.
But, I just don't agree with calling out the guys who have made it their modus operandi to be transparent about the choices they make. That’s not fair, as they have not actually deceived anyone.
- Letho does reference a cracking article (ha) in the Smithsonian (from 2012) about how the chicken conquered the world. “Modern chickens are cogs in a system designed to convert grain into protein with staggering efficiency ... selective breeding has made the broilers so docile that even if chickens are given access to outdoor space — a marketing device that qualifies the resulting meat to be sold as ‘free-range’ — they prefer hanging out at the mechanised trough.” This is so important. If culinary history is your thing, this article is for you.
- If you want to know the worst of the chicken world, read Michael Rulhman on “mechanically separated meat” in the Washington Post this week. The article also looks at the fallacy that is healthy food: "Our food is not healthy; we will be healthy if we eat nutritious food. Words matter … Because, and this is the judgment call, fat isn’t bad; stupid is bad. And until we have better information and clearer shared language defining our food, smart choices will be ever harder to make." It’s a very worthy read.
- If you like a visual and you haven’t seen Hugh’s Chicken Run find it and watch it. It’s been years since I did, but the lessons Fearnley-Whittingstall drew from running the two chicken sheds (barn vs free-range) side by side were absolutely fascinating. My lightbulb moment was the acknowledgement that the commercial breeds are largely unsuited to the outside world (as per Lethlean/Smithsonian above).
- Thus the importance of Sommerlads story and their victory in breeding birds other than Ross and Cobb and making them commercially available. The problem here is that Australia is incredibly limited in regards to poultry genetics and further hampered by our quarantine restrictions. Note that Lethlean has been a massive (and rightful) campaigner of the Sommerlads people.
- Finally, I give you the Choice study on the vastly different stocking densities allowed within the free-range egg code. It will give you some idea of the argument I believe to be at the crux of the article. This does need to be sorted out, in regards to both meat chickens and egg chickens.
I wholeheartedly agree the free-range guidelines are paltry (ha!) in comparison to what they should be. They need to be fixed. Lethlean is right to champion that cause and I am behind him 100%. I just don’t agree with the fried chicken click bait he chose to employ on the way through.