THE CURIOUS COOK: Ed Charles THERE are so many excellent markets, cafes and food shops in Melbourne it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. Even as an intrepid local I relax into my shopping comfort zones and forget to explore new territory. Curious cook Luckily, I’m one of about 20 souls from as far away as Brisbane, Perth and Auckland taking Melbourne’s Foodies’ Bus Tour this Saturday. Our host, Allan Campion, is the embodiment of a Melbourne foodie. […]
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Cabbage turnip beats grapefruit into space
Today we celebrate the anniversary of the start of the space race, the Soviet cabbage turnip beating the American grapefruit into space. Adapted from the archives: Stone cold sober, this vegetable does pass for Sputnik, the first artificial satellite sent into the earth’s orbit. The only thing is that Sputnik was 23cm in diameter, this veggie is about a quarter of the size. Sputnik was metallic while the kohlrabi comes either in a light green or purple variety. According to […]
Putting out the garbage
The Australian, Entrepreneur An online questionnaire can help employers sort the chaff from the grain when it comes to recruiting workers, writes Ed Charles. THE internet is a wonderful thing for job hunters. Once an online resume is created, it can be sent almost effortlessly to as many potential employers as the applicant wishes. The SME recruiter, however, is fast becoming overwhelmed by resumes — many from people who are inappropriate for the job. According to Carolyne Burns, managing director […]
Some retailers are not playing fair
The Australian, Entrepreneur: FAIR-TRADE COFFEE A lot of companies are selling Fairtrade products at a different price to free trade products and pocketing the difference, Ed Charles reports SOME companies are exploiting the fair and sustainable certification schemes by charging over and above the premium they pay for Fairtrade coffee beans and boosting their own profits. Getting to the bottom of which is the best and fairest way to buy coffee is a tricky one requiring a deep knowledge of […]
Seeking the roast with the most
From The Australian, Entrepreneur: BOUTIQUE ROASTERS Unique blends stand out from the crowd, writes Ed Charles IT’S a typical Melbourne location, an old warehouse off the main drag of Clarendon Street in South Melbourne, better known for its brothels than its beans. If it wasn’t for the smell of coffee roasting you wouldn’t even know St Ali was in this back alley. But despite the unpromising location, the micro-roaster and cafe named after the father of coffee, the 14th century […]
Putting out the garbage
From The Australian, Entrepreneur: An online questionnaire can help employers sort the chaff from the grain when it comes to recruiting workers, writes Ed Charles | September 28, 2007 THE internet is a wonderful thing for job hunters. Once an online resume is created, it can be sent almost effortlessly to as many potential employers as the applicant wishes. The SME recruiter, however, is fast becoming overwhelmed by resumes — many from people who are inappropriate for the job. According […]
Hunter gatherer
From The Herald Sun, Citystyle By ED CHARLES ED CHARLES meets a chef bringing world-class culinary innovations to a regional kitchen IT’S 7am. Chef Dan Hunter is collecting baby carrots, herbs and flowers from the garden at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. Later, in the kitchen of the southern Grampians getaway, he picks tiny blue flowers from rosemary, ready to be used in a dish plainly called “lamb rump, hazelnut, sheep’s milk, rosemary”. Hunter is going back to the […]
Arabic bazaar
From The Australian. Indulgence: Brunswick, Melbourne: Most visitors to this neighbourhood venture no further up Sydney Road than the Brunswick institution Mediterranean Wholesalers, which stocks more types of anchovy, tuna, cheeses, cured meats and olives than you could poke a salami at. But it is worth pressing on. Sydney Road may look downtrodden and the Lebanese influence may have been diluted but there are still old-school butchers and bakeries to be found among the newcomers. Signs in Arabic script read […]
Chips are down on magnetic strips
From The Australian, Wealth: CONSUMER NEWS: Your credit card might not work overseas, Ed Charles reports | September 19, 2007 AUSTRALIANS may be enjoying the Rugby World Cup in Europe but many may find that they will have trouble spending any money on their credit cards. The problem is that in Britain and Europe, credit cards that contain microchips and require a PIN rather than a signature have become the norm. Through ignorance, many merchants are now rejecting cards with […]