There are many jokes about the Scots, kilts and Robbie Burns Night. Some say Burns Night, a tradition which began in the early 1800s, is an excuse to have a piss up and dress up in kilts. But, nowadays, it’s really about poetry (and an excuse to throw on a kilt) and a country’s romance for the poet Robbie – or Rabbie – Burns who was born on the January 25, 1759 and died, prematurely, aged just 37 following dental […]

Summer marks barbecue season in Australia. But it’s a tough one for vegetarians and vegans who’d do anything to avoid a barbecue soaked with animal fat, and who’d prefer tasty food over another nut roast. Melbourne-based naturopath Gill Stannard says there is a dearth of Christmas vegetarian recipes on the internet – most are just plain stodgy or try to mimic northern hemisphere winter recipes. What Stannard looks forward to eating is really fresh, seasonal organic vegetables with flavoursome young […]

TWO years ago, architect and former hospitality worker Zenta Ganaka wanted to create something different. He had ideas about a shared architectural office where people could walk in off the street, then he hit on the notion of combining a lifestyle retail store with a cafe. After all, he’d worked in design and had an interest in designer objects and furniture, and had worked in hospitality. And cafes nowadays are community spaces. He set up his store and cafe, Cibi, […]

Food has come a long way since Stone Age man started hunting and painting the beasts he killed on caves. What was basic nutrition (later to become a status symbol) has been refined, polished and taken to new highs, catering for both rich and poor. But now chefs are claiming food, as well as being a feast for the eyes, can be art, while art critics ask whether something that is functional, and a temporal thing that doesn’t hang around, […]