http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/cooking/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +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/the-best-chefs-cook-naked/ Society is seized by an obsession with cuisine. The Masterchef empire and the cult of the celebrity chef are facets of this fixation. All over the nation citizens rush to microwave their dinner in time to watch their favourite buff chef or pre-teen whip up something magic. This increased interest in food, and particularly food preparation, could produce concrete improvements in the way we cook and thereby enhance our everyday quality of life. Yet so much of what we are offered as culinary inspiration seems more liable to produce culinary intimidation, by virtue of its sheer complexity. And culinary intimidation is completely unnecessary since the secret of successful food preparation is to do as little as possible to it. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-best-chefs-cook-naked/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-best-chefs-cook-naked/#item7158 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lost-but-notforgotten-top-ten-food-fads/ Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Lightweight http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lost-but-notforgotten-top-ten-food-fads/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lost-but-notforgotten-top-ten-food-fads/#item5584 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-bread/ Recently I was out for dinner with friends and the bread basket duly arrived. It was a cracker: lovely thick slices of sourdough – some studded with olives, others with caramelised garlic. Next to it was a generous slab of butter and a bowl of gorgeous, grassy olive oil. But here’s the thing – no one touched it. Even the men. Like me, my companions were all famished, but that innocuous wicker basket may as well have been a nuclear reactor, such was the contempt and suspicion that greeted it. When did bread get such a bad rap? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-bread/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-bread/#item4763 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-06-01-2010/ Nigella Lawson, the sultry British chef was born today in 1960. And it’s Thursday at The Punch. What’s on your mind? Share it here. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-06-01-2010/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-06-01-2010/#item4803 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-doesnt-anyone-just-eat-normal-food-any-more/ The other day I was at a pub, which is not unusual in itself. The pub also had a $10 steak menu, which is also not uncommon. Incredibly, I decided to have a steak. The woman behind the counter dutifully took the order and then asked what sauce I would like with it. “I’ll just have gravy,” I said. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-doesnt-anyone-just-eat-normal-food-any-more/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-doesnt-anyone-just-eat-normal-food-any-more/#item4278 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bringing-in-grown-up-ratings-but-being-paid-like-children/ I’m sure $15,000 seems like a lot of money when you’re nine, especially if you break it down into mixed lollies. But heck, even cobbers are 10 cents now. One dollar’s worth of mixed lollies gets you a few strawberries and cream, a banana, a set of teeth, two snakes and some leftover white jelly beans. My point is while raising $15k requires a lot of hard work for most of us, the prize money on offer for the winner of Junior Masterchef is laughable in TV terms. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bringing-in-grown-up-ratings-but-being-paid-like-children/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bringing-in-grown-up-ratings-but-being-paid-like-children/#item4265 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/power-parenting-turning-our-food-experience-sour/ So people are forking out up to $50,000 so that the likes of Matt Moran, Neil Perry and Peter Gilmore can come over to their house and knock up dinner. I’d like to see them try it at my place. If Peter Gilmore can find a way of turning a six-pack of Boags Draught, a couple of bananas, some bacon rashers and a jar of jalapenos into a snow egg, he’s welcome to the entire contents of my bank account. Presumably the deal is that the chefs bring their own food with them, and all your fancy friends get to ooh and ahh as it is assembled. It’s all the go now among Sydney’s charity set, where the richest people in town bid obscene amounts of cash for what the marketing department likes to call “money-can’t-buy” opportunities. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/power-parenting-turning-our-food-experience-sour/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/power-parenting-turning-our-food-experience-sour/#item4151 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-defence-of-salt/ The National Health and Medical Research Council might know a fair bit about health, but they don’t know anything about cooking. The NHMRC last week released the innocuous sounding Assessing Cost-Effectiveness in Prevention report. The document is the result of five years of research by people who take carrots, nuts and celery into work in plastic lunch boxes, and think the rest of us should do the same. The report has at its centre some fairly predictable calls for smokers to be taxed out of existence with an immediate 5 per cent increase in tobacco taxes (on top of the 25 per cent increase in April this year), a 10 per cent increase in the tax on spirits, and an increase in the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-defence-of-salt/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-defence-of-salt/#item4040 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/new-celebrity-chef-captures-hearts-may-also-stop-them/ If you’re sick of swallowing all the political chatter from Jules and Tony take a break and chew on something meaningful out of America. And it’s not President Obama’s eloquent speech at the White House Ramadan dinner, where he defended plans for a mosque at Ground Zero. Rather, meet Paula Deen, the self-described ‘Queen of Southern Cooking’. A woman that makes burgers using donuts as buns, lasagna sandwiches and single handedly butchers food to the point that she induces dry retching. The video above involving frozen cheesecake and a large pot of boiling oil should give you a sufficient introduction to Deen’s world. As she says: “Just when you thought you couldn’t make cheesecake any better!” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/new-celebrity-chef-captures-hearts-may-also-stop-them/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/new-celebrity-chef-captures-hearts-may-also-stop-them/#item3826 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-masterchef-does-a-poor-imitation-of-the-british/ Watching people slice bread is officially the best thing since sliced bread. According to the Daily Telegraph this week, MasterChef is “the most powerful television show in Australia”. With $100 million worth of industry around it and almost two million viewers, it has even out bigged Big Brother. But as we mark the show’s halfway point with an oyster terrine and a joyful high-five, there’s no escaping the sad fact that our MasterChef pales in comparison to the UK version. And not just because Australian contestants are hell bent on crying their way to the title. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-masterchef-does-a-poor-imitation-of-the-british/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-masterchef-does-a-poor-imitation-of-the-british/#item3289 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Everyone should have a favourite cookbook. Mine are almost entirely from the 1980s (not forgetting the Women’s Weekly birthday cake book), and obviously a reminder of my parents’ flair for entertaining when I was growing up. Epicurean, Vogue Entertaining and the Women’s Weekly dinner party series inspired many nights of cheese soufflé, poached chicken with white sauce and hand-rolled chocolate truffles. All washed down with endless glasses of chardonnay in the 1980s. But cookbooks from the 1970s have an appeal all of their own.