Kitchen Radio

Yusuf Curuk caused quite a stir when he opened his food truck in Alice Springs in late 2024, called 'Turkish Treats'. He was making and selling fabulous pastries and sweets, Turkish coffee, Ottoman coffee, baklava and more... and then he was gone.

Well Yusuf is re-opening 'Turkish Treats' on May 8, outside the Alice Springs hospital carpark with more wonderful Turkish Treats.  In this episode we chat to Yusuf about his approach to creating wonderful Turkish food in Alice Springs and Turkish cuisine.

Giuliana White, a wonderful Italian cook and instructor, teaches regular cooking classes on the cuisine of Puglia in a lovely farmhouse just outside Cygnet in Tasmania's Huon Valley. In this episode, I interview Giuliana about Puglian cooking, her upbringing in Hobart, tomatoes, and so much more.

To find out more about The Farmhouse Kitchen, head to:

https://www.thefarmhousekitchen-tas.com

People in Tassie are going crazy for these locally made sourdough crumpets, and they are soooo good. With variations such as coconut, chocolate and saffron, it's little wonder this popup is such a great success story.

In this episode, we get to chat to Cam and Ally Skeels, the creators of the 'Huon Me Crumpets' , about their origin story.

This is the first of a sub-series of episodes of Kitchen Radio, recorded in the summer in Tasmania of 2023-24.

If you're inspired to make your own crumpets, I reckon this recipe is worth a try:

https://www.essentialingredient.com.au/blogs/essential-recipes/recipe-sourdough-crumpets

Rosy Costa is a local Alice Springs educator, and is of Italian descent, with her parents coming from Veneto and Sardinia. In this episode of Kitchen Radio we find out about the cooking of Veneto and the migrant experience of Venetians in Australia. Lots of chat about brodo, risotto and peperonata, plus a few recipes.

For this Christmas Special of Kitchen Radio, I am joined by Nathaline (Nat) Ross who was not only the winner of the Damper Competition at the Alice Springs' Show this year, but she has also spent every Christmas throughout her entire life, bar one, in Alice Springs. In this episode of Kitchen Radio we're chatting about what makes a good damper and what makes Christmas in Alice Springs special.

He’s known locally as a builder and playwright, but did you know Michael Watts is also a prolific gardener/cook? In this episode of 'Kitchen Radio', Michael takes us on a food journey through his youth – killing rabbits in Gippsland, having an ‘Alone’ experience on the Mary River (Top End) and then landing in Central Australia around the same time that ‘Cloudy’s Restaurant was in its prime. What is consistent throughout Michael's life is food  - whether he’s growing artichokes or dressing quails… it’s all about what ends up on the table.

In this fortnight's episode of Kitchen Radio, local garden enthusiast and former restauranteur/chef - Kim Mackay - chats about how to grow vegetables in the desert and life on the local date farm.

Bec Capp, coordinator and curator of the Plating Exhibition, joins regular host Rita Cattoni to chat about this unique Show which celebrates collaborations between artists and bakers to celebrate the 30th Birthday of 'Watch This Space' in Mpartnwe (Alice Springs).

This episode is a homage to the award winning restaurant - Cloudy's - at Glen Helen Resort which operated from 1987 to the early 1990s.  It includes an interview with former head chef Mindy Byrne and restauranteur, Sandra Clyne about their time at Cloudy's.  It also includes a second interview with Cloudy patron, Liz Scott who gives us the diner experience first hand.

Special guest Donna O'Brien joins regular host Rita Cattoni to discuss the highlights and lowlights of this year's Alice Springs Show.  They also chat to a number of entrants, onlookers and the steward for the Cooking Comp.