He’s big, bald and boisterous and swears the whole time, in a broad Midlands accent, with the rapid-fire delivery of a stand-up comedian. Ed Charles caught up with Sat Bains at the recent Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Sat Bains is the hottest of the new generation of British chefs, but he’s not based in the culinary capital London, instead he resides in Robin Hood territory, the regional city of Nottingham. Born to Sikh parents from the Punjab, he doesn’t […]
Recent posts
40 exclusive minutes with Heston Blumenthal
With thanks to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. It’s 3.50 on a Friday afternoon. I’ve just finished a great meal cooked by Scott Pickett at The Point in Albert Park and his mentor the brilliant Phil Howard from Two Michelin star The Square in London as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. I can’t get a taxi to take me to The Langham where I’m interviewing possibly the most important chef in the world Heston Blumenthal who […]
Brand development through social media
How to be social View more presentations from Edward Charles.
Culinary Car Crash
SBS Food caught up with the man who invented bacon and egg ice-cream when he was in town recently for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and asked: is he having a laugh? Heston Blumenthal says he is the kind of bloke whose happy to eat prawn cocktail, a cheap one bought from a supermarket straight from the plastic tub. He’s also happy at home eating a doner kebab with his son. But on screen he’s the very serious, clean, […]
The perfect pork pie part 3: pork harder
It took four hours of a Saturday afternoon to construct this gigantic pie. The recipes available are all pretty similar, three different types of pork with herbs and spices surrounded by jelly and encased in a hot water pastry. This one based, again on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s, seems to be similar to most. Ingredients For the filling: 1kg pork shoulder 250g home made bacon 250g minced pork belly 12 finely sliced sage leaves Several sprigs fresh thyme salt to taste (my […]
The perfect pork pie part 2: in a pickle
There’s a lot of meat and fat in a pork pie including the hot crust pastry which is made with lard and butter. I bought a whole tub of dripping, which is basically like lard (pig fat) but from beef, as my local Coles didn’t have any lard. I’ll be making Yorkshire puddings with the remainder in a few weeks. And, bugger, I can’t make the Roy Hattersley joke now. The acid in the piccalilli cuts through the fat in […]
The perfect pork pie part 1: Makin’ bacon
Five days later and the bacon is cured. Salty and sweet, with a hint of juniper and sage, it was worth it. Nothing is ever easy for me. Frustrated by the poor quality of filling and pastry in local pork pies it is my mission to make the perfect one. Or at least start wandering down that route. Where local artisans and manufacturers go wrong is the filling, which should be three types of pig chopped into different sizes and […]
Twitter is helpful for small business
WITH sales falling and a faltering reputation caused by dirt-cheap brands, Australian wineries have a problem abroad, but small Australian wineries are fighting back. They are building their brands online using the free social networking tool of the moment, Twitter, which allows people to post frequent short messages of up to 140 characters and keep fellow users updated on their world. Many wineries and wine websites are discovering the advantages of Twitter, which is simple to use, costs nothing more […]
Q&A: Should I modify my tipping in the global financial crisis?
Q What is the appropriate amount to tip? I realise that tipping has never been much of a norm in Australia, but for some reason I still feel obliged to tip at high-end restaurants, and I’m very conscious of the etiquette. I simply don’t know what the proper amount is, if any. In times of global financial crisis, the problem becomes more difficult, as I feel more constrained. I suppose my question is, what is the tipping etiquette in general, […]