Eat It

Cam is in Bendigo today, so after a quick intro on the phone we reached into the freezer to pull out an interview originally aired in 2009. John Reader is the author of Potato: A History Of The Propitious Esculent, and his book is an amazing story of the history of the humble spud.

We started today's show with a quick mention of St Kilda's seminal Dogs Bar, which is now back under independant ownership... great news!

Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food has been operating in Australia for three years now, and Katherine Hardingjoined us to talk about the ethos of the program, the importance of cooking skills on everyday health, and how you can get involved.

Chef Ian Curlie has established himself in Melbourne's culinary scene at The European (amongst many other venues), and we spoke to him and his butcher Simon Poole about how they prepare their meat for the demand of their venues. Did you know the price of beef has increased 70% since last year? Nor did we!

To finish today's show we had a chat to John Patton about indigenous culture and food habits. The good news is that many endangered bush foods are now being re-cultivated, so that cuisine will not - hopefully! - be lost to us forever.

On today's show we spoke to Vue de Monde's head chef Cory Campbell and cocktail guru Sebastian Reaburn. We chatted about the terrine that Cory had kindly brought in to keep us all fed, how both folks got hooked on flavour, the variety of Melbourne's dining scene (everything from fine dining to excellent burgers), and to finish Seb mixed us some hot buttered rum. What's not to like?

Good food? We've had some, and we started the show talking about some recent experiences at Merricote in Northcote, Bella Vedere in the Yarra Valley (food with amazing soul!), and Minamishima in Richmond (the greatest Japanese food experience OF CAM'S WHOLE LIFE).

We spoke to Rosemary Stanton about the new Healthy Eating Pyramid developed by Nutrition Australia, caught up with John at the Vic Market, and finished with an extended chat with Chef's Armoury's Leigh Hudson about the Japanese beverege Shochu.

On today's show we spoke to Dr Sally Norton about the Australian Grains Genebank in Horsham and how that facility works with other gene banks worldwide. We then had an extended chat with two Melbourne chefs, Raymond Capaldi and Nick Stanton, about what to cook now that winter has arrived.

We started today's show with a market report from John at QVM's Tomato City.

We reached into the freezer to re-heat our next interview: we spoke to Joel Salatin from Polyface Farm in Virginia USA. We spoke to Joel about how he started out as a farmer, the effects of commercial food production on us and our environment, what large food producers do to the food they sell you to eat, and also wondered what we as consumer can do to try and improve the situation.

We started today's show with a quick wrap-up of Matt's trip to adult Disneyland, Las Vegas... surreal.

Frank and Elizabeth from Home Make It joined us to tak about the upcoming Darebin Home Made Food and Wine Festival, which as the name suggests is all about the cultural traditions of doing things yourself at home. Home Make It specialise in classes for making your own passata, salami, and (clearly the most important) wine. Never thought of trying this at home yourself? Maybe check out the festival and learn how!

Next up we spoke to John at the Vic Market.

To finish today's show we spoke to Philippa Sibley, who has just finished up running the kitchen at Prix Fixe. We chatted about mushroom season and how best to use them, as well as Philippa's spooky flavor combination of passionfruit and mandarins.

On today's show we had a quick market report from John at the Vic Market.

One of Melbourne's super-chefs Donovan Cooke joined us with Hillary McNevin to talk about his new book The Atlantic at Home. We spoke about his history as a chef, his initial memories of seafood as a child, working with Marco Pierre White, and his approach to cooking with various types of fish.

We finished the show enjoying a Knickerbocker cocktail courtesy of Sebastian Reaburn. Melbourne hosts the final of the Cricket World Cup today, and we'll bet you didn't know that the first ever tour of the English cricket team to Australia was bankrolled by Melbourne's famous Cafe de Paris. Commercialisation of sport has been around for a long time!

The president of the Australian Culinary Foundation Neil Abrahams joined us today to talk about their various efforts to assist Vanuatu residents recover from the recent cyclone.

Next up we had a chat to John at the Vic Market.

Pope Joan's Matt Wilkinson has just released another book (just as excellent as his last one): Mr Wilkinson's Simply Dressed Salads. We chatted about some of his favourites, what actually even defines a "salad", and enjoyed his kids tearing around the green room destroying the place.

To finish today's show Alice Zaslevsky joined us to talk about her new book Alice's Food A-Z. Designed to teach kids about fresh food, it is an approachable and (dare we say it) enjoyable way to introduce kids to better eating. Which is a conversation we really should make sure we have!

We started today's show with a lengthy chat to legendary Melbourne chef Guy Grossi. Guy's annual tomato harvest and passata creation has grown into what is now know at the Melbourne Tomato Festival, which is happening in a couple of weeks time. We talked about how traditional Italian cultural traditions persist in Melbourne, as well as some of the history of Farm Vigano where the festival will be held.

Next up Storm In A Teacup's Hannah Dupree joined us in the studio to talk about tea. First up, did you know that all the tea you buy - Earl Grey, Oolong, etc etc - is all the same plant? Differences in processing the leaves is what creates up to 20,000 different recognised varieties of tea. We also spoke about boiling vs not boiling water, cold infusions, and what to avoid (answer: teabags).

Chef Scott Pickett took some time out from running the kitchens at Estelle and St Crispin to talk us through the recent renovation - and tweaking of culinary direction - of Estelle in Northcote. We also chatted generally about the pressures and commercial realities of running a modern restaurant. We finished the show discussing some ingredients that are currently in season, and some of the best ways to prepare them.