http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/nola-james/ Nola is a Melbourne-based writer and photographer. After treading the boards in some of Melbourne and Tasmania’s best restaurants over the past 10 years she now has a largely unused Bachelor of Arts in Illustrative Photography from RMIT and a very useful Graduate Diploma in Journalism from UTas. She is the author of one of Melbourne’s three zillion food blogs, Once A Waitress, and also gets paid to write about food and wine in real life. After her recent return to the big smoke she is frequenting as many restaurants and bars as possible in order to catch up with her Melbourne contemporaries, and as a result is rapidly expanding. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/i-cant-believe-its-not-splutter-butter-vs-margarine/ Butter is made by the simple act of churning cream. Margarine is a fake food that originated in a laboratory as a result of food science. It commonly contains a lengthy list of ingredients, like hydrogenated vegetable oil and artificial colours and flavours, to control its taste, texture and colour. In fact, margarine is pumped full of artificial colouring agents so it looks yellow like butter (we’re so easily fooled). There were once laws against dying artificial foods to look like natural foods. These days our governments are rarely bothered by chemically altered concoctions posing as food. We trust science now. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/i-cant-believe-its-not-splutter-butter-vs-margarine/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/i-cant-believe-its-not-splutter-butter-vs-margarine/#item4158 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:45:50 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-national-dish-a-big-pile-of-meat/ Much discussion has been had recently – mostly media engineered discussion to coincide with Australia Day and the launch of News Ltd’s new nationally syndicated Taste section – on the subject of Australia’s national dish. In years past dinner meant a slab of charcoaled fatty steak and three kinds of over-microwaved veg. Food was once the subject of much inattention and is now our newest obsessive interest. However, no one is sure exactly what Australia’s national dish is – or if we even have one – and there has been an awful lot of to-ing and fro-ing about it. Traditionally lacking in a food culture to call our own that doesn’t involve a well-done steak (and with the majority of the Australian population having little knowledge of indigenous eating habits beyond the witchetty grub) generations of immigrants to our shores have introduced stir-fries, pastas, curries and many more culinary masterpieces that make up the wonderful multicultural cuisines eaten across Australia. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-national-dish-a-big-pile-of-meat/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-national-dish-a-big-pile-of-meat/#item2396 Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:35:53 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-nine-biggest-sins-of-packaged-food/ We live in a society where almost everything can be purchased single serve, individually wrapped and stuffed with enough preservatives to last a life-time – a very short life-time for most of us if we don’t pick up some slack. A simple fact of life is that some things just come in packets. Bread, even from a bakery, comes in a plastic bag. We don’t go the butcher to be handed a handful of mince meat, and a carton of milk wouldn’t be much chop without the carton. Beyond that simple carton of milk, it is easy to cut corners with pre-packaged ingredients: garlic from a jar, powdered stock, instant noodles, canned vegetables and packet mixes. I too am guilty of pre-prepared ingredients in times of need. It seems easy to buy a packet mix, add meat and pre-chopped vegetables and microwave some pre-boiled vacuum packed rice than cook from scratch – but it’s not real food. We are sacrificing our health, and the environment, to eat food that brings instant gratification but no satisfaction - the idea that it takes a long time to make something from scratch is a myth. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-nine-biggest-sins-of-packaged-food/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-nine-biggest-sins-of-packaged-food/#item2128 Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:50:22 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/krushing-independent-purchasing-decisions/ Everyone’s favourite chicken shop (for anyone born after 1992, KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken) has, very surprisingly, branched out into smoothie production. Obviously, there was a gap in the smoothie market and fried chicken, hot chips and a banana smoothie, or “krusher,” a KFC coined term, really is a winning combo. Lick it, bite it, taste it, suck it, the hot guys and girls from the sleek TV adverts licking the “real bitz,” off their hands and fingers encourage us to buy, buy, buy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/krushing-independent-purchasing-decisions/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/krushing-independent-purchasing-decisions/#item1804 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:40:27 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-way-to-good-cooking-may-be-learning-what-not-to-do/ My parents never taught me how to cook, they just taught me how not to. My 50-something father still burns fish fingers, and has done since I was three. Probably earlier. My mother micro-waved all of the nutrients out of anything I ever ate. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-way-to-good-cooking-may-be-learning-what-not-to-do/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-way-to-good-cooking-may-be-learning-what-not-to-do/#item1469 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:30:48 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wheres-the-good-customer-award/ The Gourmet Top 100, the Weekend Australian’s Top 50 Restaurants, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide. If this year’s restaurant awards silly season illuminated anything, it was the fact that dining standards are on the up, and that the general public has a high level of awareness about what constitutes a quality dining experience. How could we not, with the media (figuratively) pushing food down our throats every day? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wheres-the-good-customer-award/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wheres-the-good-customer-award/#item1202 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:40:25 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/masterchef-created-a-nation-of-know-nothing-food-tossers/ MasterChef has a lot to answer for, and not just because my work colleagues have been spending their weekends at home teaching their 10-year-olds how to make croquembouche. And it’s not over yet. The MasterChef season two cattle-call is closing this week, so it’s only a matter of time before it all starts again. Now, while I missed out on watching the first season of MasterChef (it’s a long story) what I did watch was the rest of Australia watching MasterChef. And you all went a little crazy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nola James) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/masterchef-created-a-nation-of-know-nothing-food-tossers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/masterchef-created-a-nation-of-know-nothing-food-tossers/#item1089 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:30:11 +0000 Nola James | Author bios | The Punch