Owner: Benjamin Christie Australian Celebrity Chef URL:http://www.benjaminchristie.com Join Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 08:41:10 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Australian Celebrity Chef from TV Cooking Show Dining Downunder. Blog includes Australian native foods, recipes, ingredients, cookbooks, restaurants, menu development, bush tucker cooking. Site statistics:Click here
The Independent 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Today in London, The Independent Newspaper ran a story entitled “How ‘bush tucker’ became flavour of the month for foodies”. The article talk in general terms about the resurgence of native Australian food use in restaurants, as well as at home.
Apart from being quoted in the article myself, The Independent’s Sydney reporter, Kathy Marks also writes about Vic Cherikoff from the supply of native foods, Aboriginal chef, Mark Olive (The Black Olive), Steve Sunk, a senior lecturer in hospitality and cookery at Charles Darwin University and Ms Bauman, an elder of the Nauiyu Nambiyu community, south of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Check out The Independent article here
Food News 0000-00-00 00:00:00 This week I decided that I’m going to start doing short blogs called Food News.
The aim of Food News is that I’ll share with you things I find, hear or are sent to me. It could be a new TV cooking show, food ideas, recipes I like, gossip, a new food website, celebrity chef news, great restaurants, great jobs in the food industry, farmers markets or just a great wine I tried. So make sure you with any leads, ideas or insider info to help make the posts really interesting. I’ll aim to do one every day from the 1st October.
I’ll still be doing regular blogs as well as Australian food and Australian recipes, but Food News is something I’m going to try for October and if it works will become a permanent feature.
Food News 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Not many diabetics know that wattleseed helps lower the glycemic index (ie low GI) when used in food items. i.e when used in bread, the wattleseed bread has a lower GI than regular bread would have. Now for diabetic’s world wide there is now a resource online called dlife that helps Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics understand more about how to live well with diabetes. The dlife website includes recipes, videos, forums, blogs, podcasts and more. Definitely worth checking out.
Today I was forwarded a like to an amazing promotional website for Kitchen by the Scandinavian furniture powerhouse IKEA. The promotional website allows you to “glide” your way through different scenes which have been paused. In between the scenes there are catalogue type promotions. Arghh too hard to explain, just check it out here
Lastly, this would have to be the best cookbook pre-sale website I have ever seen. It’s rather simple and straight to the point and for me has certainly set t
Facebook Application [1] 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Shortly after joining Facebook
a month ago, Jason Deacon a senior developer at Wiliam asked me to come with ideas for a commercial Facebook application as he wanted to experiment with the Facebook developer platform.
Together with Jason we came up with the idea of an application that allowed you to publish an RSS Feed on your Facebook profile. Both of us researched the platform and found that the existing Facebook Application
s that claimed to publish your RSS feed didn’t work properly. We thought it would be great to allow your Facebook friends to read your blog. So we set about developing the specification and how it could finally look.
Yesterday we put the finishing touches on our Facebook application and called it Blog RSS Feed Reader. The signup rate has been amazing and well beyond our expectations.
What makes Wiliam’s Facebook application different, is ;
• Can be used for both blogs or commercial xml feeds or websites
• Accepts the main XML
Food News 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Young chefs Daniel Sharp and Vicki Ferrell both from Albany, Western Australia, are the National Winners of the 2007 Nestle Golden Chefs Hat Award. Some of the dishes they prepared included a Baked Fillet of Trout with enoki and roast garlic mousse and a dessert of Baked Lemon Souffle with candied pineapple and coconut icecream.
A site definitely worth looking at is from a good friend of mine and food writer, Libby Travers. Recipes for 2 is designed to help couples find great solutions for cooking healthy, delicious meals for two people.
McDonald’s Australia has partnered with Nudie to launch a new range of premium 100% juices that will be available in its 756 restaurants across the country from today.The selection of three juices has been developed exclusively by Nudie for McDonald’s. The exciting new range consists of a Mango Mash; Blueberry Blend and Strawberry Burst
Guinness Beer Book 0000-00-00 00:00:00
This week I was sent a copy of Guinness
: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint by Bill Yenne. The book retraces the 250 year tale of Arthur Guinness in Dublin, 1759 through to the modern day success of the Guinness brand which is enjoyed in over 150 countries today.
Each year over two billion Guinness pints are poured around the world each with their distinctive creamy head and rich drinkability. The book offers an inside look at a legendary brewing company and the craftsmanship and pride that go into every keg. For anyone who hopes to keep their business vibrant and dynamic for the next few centuries, the book offers important lessons on continuity, quality, and innovation.
For everyone who loves a good beer story, Guinness offers a perfect pint more than two centuries in the pouring.
For those that just love Guinness, then definitely grab a copy of Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint.
Order a copy now
Photo Shoot Sydney 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Last week in Sydney
, Vic Cherikoff and I did a photo shoot, updating our professional portfolio for our new Aussie Chefs Media Portal. We did the photo shoot with photographer, John Fotiadis who seriously did a great job of capturing the moment throughout the day.
We started the day at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on Sydney Harbour doing a variety of shots on the water with Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background. Sort of stereotypical Sydney Harbour shots. We also did some photos of me jumping into the sky with a pot and pan. It all became too much, when a mob of Japanese Tourists Paparazzi arrived and started taking photos of us having photos taken. Bizzare, but a good laugh.
From there we ventured in to the streets of Surry Hills for some urban shots which worked really well, then on to John’s studio at Bondi Beach for some white background shots.
To view some shots from the PhotoShoot
, click here. Read more:Photo Shoot
Gourmet Coffee 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Australians that live in the in America know that coffee here lacks the complexity, taste and aroma of espresso coffee compared to the gourmet coffee back in Australia. The reason for this is it all comes down to the way that the coffee beans are roasted. In America and most probably because of the massive volumes required, the coffee beans are flash roasted. Flash roasting causes the beans to be very bitter, which creates what I refer to as a bad cup of coffee. Starbucks for example roasts over 60 tonnes a week in four roasting facilities across America.
Knowing what the coffee was going to be like here in America, I thought I’d grab a bottle of Nescafe Short Black before I left Australia. Nescafe Short Black is an instant coffee which is more like an espresso than an instant coffee. Unlike most instant coffee, Nescafe Short Black is made with only 100% Arabica beans and when you add boiling water, provides an authentic short black with golden crema.
I found a TV co Read more:Coffee
Aussie Chefs on Facebook 0000-00-00 00:00:00
I’ve been on Facebook
for sometime now, but today I created the AussieChefs
page as part of Facebook’s recent update. The Aussie Chefs page will become one of the central locations for information on events, cookbooks, TV shows, cooking classes, media mentions and more.
If you’re on Facebook you can become a Fan of the Aussie Chefs by clicking here
Learn more about the Aussie Chefs.
My Mobile Office 0000-00-00 00:00:00 In the past few years, I think I been to like 15 countries and worked in nearly 20 cities around the world. So apart from my chef’s knives and toolkit, my mobile office is the most important thing to pack. I’ thought I share just some of the tools that get packed in the carryon bag.
Lenovo T60p ThinkPad Laptop
Probally the most important tool in my mobile office is my laptop. The Lenovo T60p ThinkPad is only a recent addition to my mobile office, however is my third ThinkPad, the past two from IBM over the past ten years. I was first recommended to ThinkPad’s by my cousin a network administrator who found they ‘just worked’.
I chose the T60p ThinkPad for a few reasons; I needed a wide screen laptop given the increasing amount of presentations I am doing for our cooking shows. I also needed a laptop that was going to be light enough to carry but also powerful enough to use for photo and video editing on the road. Also necessary was a DVD burner, Blueto Read more:Mobile
Room Service 0000-00-00 00:00:00
In the last 12 months, I’ve spent about 100 nights staying in hotels. I’m sure this number is set to increase in the next 12 months as I get busier. I very rarely order from room service as like most chefs who travel I like to try the local fare and find something new or different. Over the years I have found some great restaurants. However on rare occasions when I do order room service I somehow feel like I am seriously getting ripped off.
Recently while staying at a 4 star hotel Los Angeles, I was jet lagged and tired and didn’t have the energy to venture out and just felt like something simple. So I reluctantly pressed the “Room Service
” button on the phone and ordered in. I grabbed a turkey club sandwich and a bottle of sparkling mineral water. Fairly basic order of which you’d expect to pay say $15 in an up market cafe.
So when dinner arrived and the check was presented, the sandwich and water cost nearly $37. The check had a $2 per per Read more:Room Service
Chef Knives Competition 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Just in time for Christmas, Chef’s Armoury is giving away four Japanese Chef knives. Unlike other knife companies that imitate Japanese chef knives, the team from Chef’s Armoury actually go to Japan and source the knives directly.
The prize will consist of these four knives and is valued at approx AUD$600.
Hamaguri utility knife 130mm
Hamaguri santoku 170mm
Hamaguri gyuto 210mm
Kanetsune damascus utility knife 150mm
What is the handle colour of the Tezukuri damascus 140mm utility knife?
Hint click here
Terms and Conditions
• To be eligible to win the prize you must register on www.benjaminchristie.com
• The prize cannot be exchanged for cash.
• You must answer the question regarding the Chef’s Armoury Website
• Prize closes 12pm Sydney time, 17th December
• To enter you must provide a valid email address
• Prize winner will be notified by email on the 17th December 2007 and published on the website.
• B Read more:Knives
Japanese Chef Knives 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Many readers would have seen then the chef knives competition that’s running at present on my site currently, and I thought I’d tell you a little bit about the Chefs Armoury who are doing the giveaway.
Chefs Armoury which is the brainchild of Leigh Hudson and Stephanie Leong and is the first Australian online shop dedicated to selling Japanese
chefs knives. Unlike other knife companies, Chefs Armoury actually go to Japan and source the stock directly from the manufacturers like Kanestune, Masamoto, Mcusta, MAC, Athro, Hamaguri and a selection of artisan knifemakers producing some stunning designer knives.
You’ll see after browsing their website, www.chefsarmoury.com that they have an amazing range of Japanese chefs knives. Want a one of a kind handmade santoku knife? They’ve got it. Want a professional sashimi knife from the world’s best maker? They’ve got it. Want a professional grade knife to use at home or in your restaurant kitchen? They Read more:Knives
Produce by Lynne Mullins 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Most cookbooks these days include recipes with meat, seafood or poultry. However award-winning food writer Lynne
Mullins’ latest cookbook features over 350 recipes predominately using fruit, vegetables, herbs and exotics.
Produce has different sections for fruit, vegetables, herbs and exotics and features over 100 ingredients. Lyn provides a brief history on each ingredient as well as advice on the best way to select and prepare the finest fruit and vegetables for your cooking. Each ingredient is stunningly photographed. She also provides a few recipes for each ingredient, however unlike many cookbooks; there are only limited photography of finished dishes.
Two of my favourite recipes in Produce include Salad of king prawns with cucumber, watercress, papaya and chilli as well as a Tomato, chilli, calamari and chorizo salad with cannellini beans.
Lynne Mullins is an experienced and passionate food writer. Lynne has travelled extensively, experiencing the many different
Never order chicken on a Monday by Mathew Evans 0000-00-00 00:00:00
When you pick up a copy Matthew Evans
latest cookbook, Never order chicken on a Monday
its hard not to miss the large red sticker from the publisher which says “Australia’s answer to Kitchen Confidential”. I recall when reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain I constantly had shivers up my spine because I’d has very similar experiences as a chef of that to Anthony. I was hoping that this would be the same with Never order chicken on a Monday.
Never order chicken on a Monday starts off with Matthew talking about his experiences as a young boy and the food experiences he had prior to chefs apprenticeship. He talks about gaining his fathers approval and support at becoming an apprentice chef. The book then explores the world of cooking and some of the dodgy experiences Matthew’s experienced along the way.
After that the book turns to Matthew’s experience as one of the leading restaurant critics. Unlike the majority of restaurant critic Read more:Mathew
Cheese Slices by Will Studd 0000-00-00 00:00:00
While learning to cook as an apprentice chef, I often turned to food magazines as a form of inspiration and direction. Whenever cheese was mentioned in these magazines an English guy named Will Studd was interviewed or asked for a comment. Since then, Will has become Australia’s leading expert on cheese, as well as being a Maitre Fromager and Ambassadeur of the prestigious Guilde des Fromagers in Paris. So, when I heard that Will had released a new book on cheese, I immediately knew it would be the ultimate guide about cheese.
Cleverly titled, Cheese
Slices is a book about cheese and presents readers with an interesting and informative view on how different variety of cheeses are made, their history and what they taste like. There are also sections on how to store particular styles of cheeses as well as what wine and bread goes with each variety of cheese.
Will’s writing style makes it very easy to understand, with an equal amount of technical and non-technical writ
Kitchen by Australian Women’s Weekly 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Many of you would have grown up with those thin 60 page Woman’s Weekly
cookbooks in your kitchen. For decades the Australian
Woman’s Weekly Test Kitchen
has been creating these books with titles like Easy Entertaining, Great Barbeques, Essential Soups and a myriad of others. Then last year they released COOK, which my girlfriend gave me for Christmas. COOK was very different to what the Australian Woman’s Weekly usually published and had over 688 pages. COOK went on to become a best seller, and now the Australian Women
’s Weekly has released the long awaited companion book, KITCHEN.
And wow what a cookbook! Packaged in the same iconic striped livery as COOK and with its bold blue colour, KITCHEN also has a whopping 688 pages and over 1000 recipes. KITCHEN’S layout is clear and concise with a great range of recipes to choose from. The superb photography is simple and the food is styled exquisitely. As with many cookbooks KITCHEN offers information on h
Staropramen Czech Beer 0000-00-00 00:00:00
A few years ago I spent sometime working in Prague doing Australian events for our government as well as teaching some of Prague’s best chefs on Australian Food. In return, the Prague chef’s taught me the appreciation of drinking Czech
beers. Czechs actually call beer “Liquid Bread” and consume it accordingly. It fact, Czechs drink more beer per capita then any other country in the world.
One of the beers which I remember and enjoyed was Staropramen, a classic Czech pilsner. Pilsner is one of the world’s most famous styles of beer and originally described beer produced from Pilsen (Plzen). For Czechs Pilsner means beer from Plzen and nothing else. Outside of the Czech Republic it is often spelled Pilsener or abbreviated to Pils.
Staropramen is an easy drinking beer with a crisp, malty palate with a bitter and hoppy finish. Staropramen has been brewed in Prague since 1869 and still is today, where it is also the Czech Republic’s the top selli
Picarus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Before reviewing the Picarus Wrattonbully CabernetSauvignon
, I’d never heard about the Wrattonbully wine region. So before opening the bottle did a little research and I found that the relatively unknown Wrattonbully wine region is located in South Australian between the Padthaway and Coonawarra wine regions. Apparently according to Wine Australia, there is very little variation in the wines across the three regions.
The Picarus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon
is a full bodied wine with distinct berry and blackcurrant notes and oak flavour. The grapes are nurtured by renowned Coonawarra district viticulturist, Greg Koch and made by ex-Wynns Coonawarra/Southcorp legend, Rob Moody. Greg and Rob first became involved in the production of Picarus with the highly acclaimed 2005 wines.
Picarus recommend that the 2006 Picarus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon is ready to drink now, but will be in its prime in 5-7 years.
The Picarus brand is Winetrust Estate’s premium wi
Lemon Myrtle Witbier 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Ever since staying with friends in the Netherlands a few years ago, I have nearly always had a carton of the Belgium’s famous Hoegaarden Witbier in the garage beer fridge, chilled and ready to drink on a hot summer day…that was until now.
Sydney based Barons Brewing Company have produced a simply stunning LemonMyrtle
Witbier as part of their Native Range of beers. The flavour combination of lemon myrtle in a witbier works really well, as Hoegaarden is always served with a wedge of lemon, so the lemon myrtle just makes sense. This easy drinking and uniquely Australian beer has a lemony aroma with fresh herb fragrances together with a crisp palate which makes this beer really exciting. It will be a great summer beer on a hot day.
For those that don’t know what a Witbier is, it’s a beer brewed using wheat instead of barley which lends to light flavoured and cloudy white beer. Some brewers add flavours like coriander and orange peel to enhance its fruitine
Facebook for Restaurants 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Since joining Facebook
a couple of months ago I’ve been able to connect with past friends as well as chefs from all over the world. But while in a restaurant today I thought about how any restaurant could use Facebook to promote themselves. Every day there are thousands of people joining the already millions on this social network, so why not spread your reach to them. After all the price is right.. Its free.
Why Facebook? Good question. There’s been a number of studies and surveys on the internet looking at the demographic of Facebook users, and there is significant evidence that business people are joining the social network in droves. There is a strong chance that a good percentage of your existing customers are already on Facebook. This demographic can be very ha
Chopping Block on Channel Nine 0000-00-00 00:00:00
This week, I was sent by Channel
Nine an advance copy of the first episode of their new TV series Chopping Block. The format is simple. Each episode, two restaurants in either Sydney or Melbourne compete against each other to win $20,000. Both restaurants are reviewed by the show’s restaurant reviewer, and after the review each restaurant has to $5000 budget to overhaul of their décor, service and menu in order to win over the critic on his next visit. The restaurant that’s done a better job wins. It’s a bit like the Block vs My Restaurant Rules but nowhere as drawn out of either of those two programs.
In the episode of the Chopping Block I was sent it was Café Parlo vs Café 43 from the beach side suburb of Cronulla where there are almost 50 restauran
Facebook Chef 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Over the past few months, Facebook
has been a great social networking tool which has “connected” me with heaps of other chefs around the world and many friends – my profile
Now it seems that Facebook itself is on the search for an Executive Chef of their own. As Facebook Chef you’ll develop, cook, and manage breakfast, lunch and dinner for Facebook employees.
There’s been rumours on the net that my mate, Charlie Ayers, ex Google Chef should step up to the plate and work at Facebook, but Charlie is busy with his new book (Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google) and the launch of Calafia Café & Market later this year.
To be the Facebook Chef, you’ll need to have 4-5 years of experience under your belt as Executive Chef and must
Hot Tomatoes by Angelo Mc Donnell 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Recently, Irish born chef Angelo
Mc Donnell sent me his latest book, Hot Tomatoes
. Angelo is the group Executive chef of the Igor Group, a 32 outlet F&B company in Hong Kong where he has resided for the past 14 years. An avid competitor in competitions he has won numerous accolades for his innovative cuisine and is the Hong Kong national culinary team captain. So when he sent me his 2nd book (Angelo’s first book was Bold Appetizers), I knew it would be good.
As soon as I opened Hot Tomatoes, I was amazed to see bright 4 red and luscious tomatoes being smashed with a rubber mallet in first few pages of the book. I was intrigued and wanted more.
Hot Tomatoes unusually doesn’t have a contents page, but rather launches straight away into tomato recipes. There are over
Food Costing Survey 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Many of you will know that I am writing a book about Food Costing and Menu Engineering for chefs and restaurant owners. As part of my research for the book, I am running a short survey, to gain a little feedback on the topics and for me to learn more about what’s happening in restaurants around the world at present.
The survey is just 1 page and has 13 easy questions and the results will remain anonymous.
At the conclusion of the survey, I’ll be happy to share the results with all participants.
Click Here to take survey
Cutting the Food Costs 0000-00-00 00:00:00
This week, Wall St Journal writer, Juliet Chung wrote an article aptly named Cutback Cuisine. Chung’s article discusses how some restaurants in cities like New York City, Boston and San Francisco have been forced to reduce costs of dishes with the increase in food prices.
Some of the cost cutting strategies mentioned in the article include;
1.Using beef fillet trimmings to make a marinated beef maki roll
2.Serving a ½ confit of duck; as buying whole ducks is cheaper than buying duck breasts
3.Adding more pasta options to the menu
4.No caviar as garnish on dishes
5.Not using expensive ingredients like truffles
6.Using cheaper oils like vegetable oil instead of using extra virgin olive oil
7.Not using expensive vegetable ingredients like Asparagus but rather Brussels s Read more:Cutting
, Costs
Fifteen Restaurant Melbourne 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen
Foundation which operates the Fifteen Restaurant Melbourne
is looking for the latest intake of enthusiastic young people who are interested in a career as a chef.
The Fifteen Foundation training program combines time spent at TAFE, work placement at Melbourne’s top restaurants, fantastic produce sourcing trips and cooking in the Fifteen Melbourne restaurant under the expert guidance of a team of talented and passionate chefs.
To be eligible, you’ll be 16-24 yrs old, live in the greater Melbourne area, be unemployed, not in full-time education, have experienced homelessness, drug or alcohol problems, or been involved with the law. Finally and the most importantly, you’ll need to have a passion for cooking.
Applications open 17 March an
Social Networking for Restaurants 0000-00-00 00:00:00
In recent times social networking has become the buzz term with websites like Facebook growing in popularity. However for the restaurant industry, two new social networking websites have emerged specifically designed for our industries. The first site is Fohboh the Restaurant Network and the other is Bite Club which claims to Uniting the Food and Drink Culture.
Both sites are designed to allow chefs, waiters, bartenders and restaurant managers the opportunity to network and share ideas, concepts, marketing strategies and advice. They do have an American slant to them, but I am sure over time this will expand into other countries.
Checkout my profiles on Fohboh and Bite Club. Read more:Social
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