Thai-riffic

February 2010

As his latest ode to Thai food walks off the shelves, David Thompson talks to SBS Food about the evolution of Thai cooking in Australia. If you want to eat Thai food in Australia the place to do it has traditionally been Sydney. For a sit down meal you’ll find the food even better than [...]

Read the full story →

Demystifying Beef

February 2010

Do you know the difference between grain- and grass-fed beef? Is organic beef better? And what about how the animal is killed? Read on to find out what it all means. The range of meat supermarkets today is bewildering. At an upmarket Coles in Melbourne it is difficult to know what steak to buy let [...]

Read the full story →

Survival guide to eating alfresco

January 2010

Outdoor dining has its perils but picnicking can be a great social leveller, writes Ed Charles. VICTORIANS love to gamble. And when the horses are out to pasture and cricket at the MCG is a distant memory, there’s nothing better than a side bet on a picnic. On the face of it, picnics are a [...]

Read the full story →

Word to the wise on vinous sins

January 2010

With a little imagination, a less than wonderful bottle can be given an impressive makeover, writes Ed Charles. NOW the party season is over, it’s time to count the leftovers as well as the empties. If you have so-called friends like mine you’ll be wondering what to do with all those crappy bottles of wine [...]

Read the full story →

Tea gets a quality infusion and becomes a fashionable trend

November 2009

IF you believe the trend hunters, tea has been on the cusp of being the hot, fashionable beverage for years. But in most cafes and restaurants tea remains the indifferent teabag infused in water heated to a random temperature. In short, you are better dunking a bag in a cup of boiling water at home. [...]

Read the full story →

Relative merits of family businesses

November 2009

THERE are many big issues facing family businesses. For a start, the family members are not only the shareholders and the board of directors, but the management of the company too. But of everything they face, the most thorny issue is how to deal with the kids when they either want to join the business [...]

Read the full story →

I Could Eat A Horse

October 2009

From Pharlap to Makybe Diva, Australia loves its horses, but you might be shocked to discover how many horses from the sharp-end of breeding end up on the plate. The fact is that as food in most English-speaking countries horse meat is taboo, despite the fact that it is harvested and exported as a foodstuff. [...]

Read the full story →

Beans means big business: coffee

September 2009

IT’S too busy,” complains Mark Dundon the co-owner of Seven Seeds, a Melbourne-based specialty coffee roaster and cafe, which opened earlier this year. Customers are queuing and sitting around waiting for specialty espressos, and lattes and other newfangled brews. He’s not the only specialty coffee operator facing a boom in trade and a shortage of [...]

Read the full story →

Good ideas beat all comers, but keep flexibility

August 2009

IN a rapidly changing market, success isn’t just about bringing the right product to market at the right time but charting the correct course through the shifting media environment. For Geoff Hunt, who spent four years working on the launch of online print-on-demand photo book service Momento, his advantage in 2004 was that he was [...]

Read the full story →

Preserving the Australian Way

August 2009

Ever wondered where salami comes from? Ed Charles spends a day learning the ropes from a family of winemakers in the Yarra Valley. Fattened on acorns, the end of three pigs Brick, Stick and Straw was always inevitable. A family meeting of the De Bortoli winemaking clan at their Yarra Valley property brought about a [...]

Read the full story →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →