Eat It

On a cracking Melbourne afternoon we spoke to Mitchell Horrocks about his time and work in Uganda. He first travelled to Africa in high school, and since then learned about their disease problems due to unclean drinking water. But every problem is a solution waiting to happen, so Mitchell has designed an apparatus that can sit on an existing cooking setup and purify water at the same time. Have a look at his crowd-sourcing page here.

Heston Blumenthal is one of the most influential chefs of our time, and his "right hand man" - and Dinner by Heston Executive Chef - Ashley Palmer-Watts joined us in the studio to talk about running restaurants in different continents. We spoke about his Fat Duck journey, the logistics of setting up Dinner in Melbourne, and the awesome gin they created based on a trip from Perth to Margaret River.

On today's show we started by talking about the humble potato latke... or rosti, or whatever the hell you call it. How does such a simple potato dish manage to taste so awesome?

Speaking of awesome, the team behind Tivoli Road Bakery have released a new book and it is, uhhh... awesome. Michael and Pippa James joined us in the studio to talk about their journey from cheffing to baking, the differences between "traditional" baking and industralised baking, and why supermarket flours ain't that great for your sourdough starter.

Lastly the co-editor of the Good Food Guide Roslyn Grundy dropped in to talk about the recent launch of the 2018 edition, the first time the guide had been truly national. We spoke about some of this year's trends as well as a few of Roslyn's favourite places to eat.

On today's show we spoke to Tammi Jonas about the ongoing campaign to allow small-scale animal farmers to have their farming methods permitted under the law. Currently these style of farms are considered "intensive agriculture" which are not permitted in certain areas. Have a look at the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance website for more info.

Dorelle Havilland joined us next to chat about her restaurant The Moldy Fig. We spoke about her travels around New Orleans, the differences between Creole and Cajun cuisine, and how she's re-creating these food styles here on Lygon St.

Our good buddy Hannah Dupree also popped into the studio, to explore a rather interesting pairing: tea and cheese. Hannah has run Storm in a Teacup for years, and on this occasion we tried matching two styles of tea to specific styles of cheese. And guess what? It's valid!

It's a cracking Spring day in Melbourne, and we started today's show with a chat to Dr Rosemary Stanton about the government's Health Star Rating website and some of the issues and challenges still being faced by public health advocates.

The chef behind Northcote's Camus restaurant Pierre Khodja popping to the studio to talk about Algerian cuisine, its origins and influences, and some of the key ingredients he uses each day.

To finish the show, Good Food writer Dani Valent spoke about her recent FULL POINTS review of Melbourne's Miznon restaurant and why such a casual eatery is soooo freaking good.

Spring! It is here! (kinda)... soooooo we had a chat to Jo Toscano about what produce is starting to come on-stream (rhubarb, artichokes, and even mangoes), and what's expected in the next few weeks (asparagus, morels, stonefruit).

Now that you've stocked up with in-season ingredients what should you do with them? The duo behind Pope Joan Matt Wilkinson and Sharlee Gibb have just released their new book Mr & Mrs Wilkinson's How It Is At Home, and there are some great ingredient-focussed recipes within. So many chefs have release "at home" cookbooks, but this one genuinely is what Matt & Sharlee (and their kids) eat during the week. Including... Cowboy Dinner!

It finally feels like Spring! And we started today's Springy show talking to Michelle Barnett who is organising an event as part of the Do It In A Dress charity to raisse money for girls education in Sierra Leone and Uganda. You can find more info and donate at the Chef It In A Dress page.

The Forum is one of the great rooms in Melbourne, and David & Gareth from the Mariner Group joined us to talk about its recent renovation. How the hell do you reliably cook good food for 1000 people? (answer: planning!)

Finally the great Hilary McNevin wandered into the studio to speak about one of life's conundrums: how you can prepare your offspring to omve out of the house. We spoke about kitchen essentials, and the importance of getting kids confident in the kitchen as they grow up.

On today's show we spoke to Michelle Pearson about her upcoming Fringe Festival show Comfort Food Cabaret, chef / owner of Bar Lourinha Matt McConnell, and a cocktail-making double-act Shaun Byrne and Sebastian Reaburn chatting about Maidenii vermouth.

On today's show we spoke to Nick Haddow from Bruny Island Cheese, and we were lucky enough to chat to Melbourne food legend Philippe Mouchel about his eponymous restaurant one year in.

On today's show we started with Matt's top tips for an excellent mushroom risotto, lifted from a Giorgio Locatelli: add some soaked dried porcini in with the rice, use carnaroli rice if you can find it, and lightly fry fresh mushrooms in a separate pan before adding them with the butter and parmesan at the end.

We caught up with our good market buddy John to see how his surgery recovery is going; the good news is that he hopes to be back on the market stall by Christmas. We also had a quick forage around in his shopping basket to learn what's good this week.

Chef Ravi Presser joined us in the studio to talk about charity cooking, his Indian and Polish descent, and the importance of good relationships with food suppliers in this world of less sustainable agriculture.

Mesa Verde in Curtin House is one of our Eat It faves, and we chatted to Kathy Reid about the recent renovations in the restaurant and her search for THE PERFECT TACO. Kath's tips for excellent Mexican food at home? Have some dried chilli, chipotle and adobo handy in the pantry. And don't skimp on the quality of the tortilla!

Today we had a chat to Oakridge chef Matt Stone, who was recently awarded by the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival for his trailblazing work in the Yarra Valley. He's also just returned from some overseas travel and we spoke about some of the new items on the Oakridge menu.

Next up we had a market report with Toscano's Joanne Toscano.

Finally we caught up with chef Raymond Capaldi, who spent a couple of years in the 1990s cooking in Moscow. Right now he's working on Wonder Pies and Fries, and we chatted about how to make a decent pie at home.