Celebrate local food at Regional Flavours
18 Jul 2013This weekend’s Regional Flavours festival focuses on celebrating the joys of food, so gather the troops and feast on the very best morsels our state has to offer. more
The Grocer: Scenic Rim 4Real Milk
18 Jul 2013After Scenic Rim Robotic Dairy was offered a renewal contract from its milk processor that would no longer cover production costs, the family business decided to branch out on its own, setting up a milk processer on its Tamrookum farm. more
Help OzHarvest reduce food wastage in Brisbane
11 Jul 2013Australians throw out $5.2 billion worth of food each year, which equates to about one in every five bags of groceries we buy. Many of us may feel the pangs of guilt when we leave leftovers on our plates, but how many do anything about it? more
The Grocer: Cavolo Nero
11 Jul 2013Commonly known as Tuscan cabbage or black leaf kale, cavolo nero is a staple kitchen ingredient in Italy. A member of the brassica family and a varietal of kale, cavolo nero is in season during the cooler months – with the frost helping to sweeten its flavour – and can be often found at local supermarkets or grocers from April to September. more
The Grocer: Tamarillos
04 Jul 2013Visiting the Noosa Farmers Market last weekend, we stopped by the Wharenui Avocados stall for a chat with farmer John Tidy about his latest crop of unusual fruit – the tamarillo. more
Add hot sauce to your pantry essentials
04 Jul 2013Hot sauce is having a moment. With the surge of American and Mexican influences in our weekly diets and our increasingly discerning palate for these flavours, it seems only natural that hot sauce would too become a recurring contributor to our meals. more
Discover more about Mexican cuisine
04 Jul 2013Not just a pretty flick, this short documentary about the history and influence of Mexican cuisine will impart many fascinating facts that are sure to come in handy in your next game of food trivia. The subtitled video written and directed by Californian filmmaker Fran Guijarro has won a host of awards, including Best Cinematography at the New York Digital Short Film Festival. Warning: viewing may induce severe Mexican food cravings. more
The Grocer: Agave Syrup
27 Jun 2013Mexico’s own heavenly creation, the golden nectar of agave syrup is a delicious natural sweetener. Concocted from the same plant as fiesta-favourite tequila, the syrup is fast becoming a beloved alternative to traditional table sugar. more
Fresh food market opens in Fortitude Valley
27 Jun 2013Brisbane foodies will rejoice with the news that an unused space between Gipps Street and Turbot Street (formerly Horizon College of Hairdressing) in Fortitude Valley has been transformed into a fresh produce market and Asian grocer. The new Valley Big Fresh Market offers shelves full of inspiration for weekday dinners and weekend cook-ups. Fresh fruit and vegetables, spices, noodles and rice paper rounds are all available, while the adjoining Tommy’s Seafood Market has a range of fresh fish on offer. Valley Big Fresh Market 3/15–33 Little Street, Fortitude Valley Ph: 0405 148 743 or 0401 179 187 Open: Daily 7:00 am to 7:00 pm more
The Grocer: Cornbread
20 Jun 2013Like grits and fried chicken, cornbread is a specialty of America’s southern states. Similar to a northern version of basic damper, the bread was crafted as a solution to a lack of access to typical European groceries. more
Paddock to plate: Japanese udon noodles
20 Jun 2013In this short film, The Perennial Plate tells the story of Shimizu San – a farmer living in a small town outside of Tokyo, who has been growing wheat to make udon noodles for the past 45 years. In a true paddock to plate process, Shimizu also runs a restaurant, serving up his beloved udon noodles, preserving tradition and spreading happiness through shared meals. more
The Grocer: Raw Chocolate
13 Jun 2013Beloved by society, chocolate should perhaps have its own food group. With so many different varieties of chocolate out there, it can be overwhelming to decipher what means what, especially with the emergence of raw chocolate delights. more
The Grocer: Dukkah
06 Jun 2013A mix of nuts and spices, dukkah has immigrated from Middle Eastern cuisine to become a darling addition to the dip trays and cheese boards of Australians. more
The Grocer: Kimchi
30 May 2013Cabbage may conjure ghastly images of overcooked and tasteless cuisine, but the humble vegetable is the key ingredient of one of Korea’s most prized delicacies, kimchi. The Korean staple consists of cabbage that has been fermented and flavoured with chilli, garlic, salt and vinegar, resulting in a tart, spicy side dish that is served alone, as a side and mixed into meals. more
The Grocer: Black Pudding
23 May 2013A vegetarian’s worst nightmare, black pudding is a blood sausage. The dish has been produced in various forms in a myriad of cultures around the world as a particularly effective way of harnessing meaty ingredients that may otherwise be destined for the rubbish bin. more
Intrepid fruit adventures chronicled in The Fruit Hunters
23 May 2013Have you ever tasted a piece of fruit plucked straight from the tree? The flesh is still warm from the sun’s rays and its juices, not yet inhibited by the chill of a refrigerator, flow freely. It’s this humbling experience of dining in natural surrounds that is the subject of The Fruit Hunters documentary. The film follows adventurers and fruit obsessives in their quest to find tropical and perfectly plump treats. Shots of natural scenery and close-ups of fruit being torn in half will have you counting down the days until the start of the next mango season. more
The Grocer: Almond Butter
16 May 2013Perhaps the most well utilised of all nuts, almonds have found a home in dishes, both sweet and savoury, throughout history. Now the humble snack is also finding favour as an alternative to peanut butter. more
Centre for Growing Sustainability opens at Sunshine Coast
16 May 2013This weekend, The Big Pineapple will play host to the Growing Sustainability Expo, with free workshops, cooking classes, tree-planting activities and stalls of the region’s best eco-friendly products and services aimed at educating the Sunshine Coast community to become a world leader in eco-sustainability. The expo will coincide with the official opening of The Centre for Growing Sustainability – a learning hub with living, practical classrooms and extensive garden areas for the public to experience growing crops in a sustainable manner. This free event will run Saturday May 18 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. more
Discover where corn comes from with SUNNÚ
16 May 2013Hunger is the most dangerous weapon. A documentary about the heart of Mexico and how its demise is related to the monopolisation of the food industry, SUNNÚ will tell the story of the small indigenous farming communities of Mexico and how corn is not just a crop or a grain, but a way of living and the heart of Mexico’s identity. The team behind SUNNÚ is making the 90-minute documentary to explore the deterioration of family farming and the chasm between rural and urban realities. Find out more about the project on Kickstarter. more
The Grocer: Goji Berries
09 May 2013Often sold in its dried form of red wrinkled husks, the goji berry is becoming a mainstay in the health food aisle of many supermarkets. In its original form, you’ll find the crimson fruit swarming tall bushes of honeysuckle in Chinese plantations, where they are revered for medicinal purposes. more