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Friend
Christmas is now in the distant past, the
fire season almost over, the kids back at
school and pre-season football on the
radio...it even rained a bit today - so it
must be Autumn.
Which means it is also the start of a frenzy
of festivals here in Melbourne: the Comedy
Festival; the Fashion Festival; the Grand
Prix and - of course - the Melbourne Wine &
Food Festival. Our girls are most excited
about 'Wicked Sunday' - a feast of chocolate,
coffee, beer, wine & cheese at Federation
Square (15 March). As we'll have a stall
there with mountains of books on
chocolate...they'll be trying to test as many
samples as possible. Prizes will be awarded
for girls covered in chocolate returned
safely....
This year we will also be at the Langham
Master class Weekend (21-22 March) with
guests such as Thomas Keller, Heston
Blumenthal, Maggie Beer & Antonio Carluccio -
to name a few. The full program is on line
at www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au. Tickets
are still
available for a few individual sessions, but
if you can't make it let us know if you would
like signed copies of any of the presenters'
books.
As usual, a steady trickle of unusual and
interesting titles are arriving on a regular
basis. In particular:
- for coffee aficionados we now stock David
Schomer's Espresso book
- for cocktail enthusiasts, we now have a
facsimile of Jerry Thomas' original cocktail
book (1853)
- Ferran Adria's new book Natura - will
arrive in a few weeks
- we have just put into stock a number of
vintage & antique eastern European cookbooks
in German, Hungarian, Croatian, Slovenian,
Serbian etc
- an English translation of Bartolomeo
Scappi's masterpiece (c1570) is in store
- and much much more...
Enjoy!
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...event - Tuesday 10 March ..
An Evening in Liguria with Lucio Galleto & David Dale
Join us this coming Tuesday for an evening
not to be missed - of tales & tastes with
the award winning Sydney based authors (and
restaurateur) Lucio Galletto & David Dale.
Liguria is another country. They do things
differently there, particularly when it comes
to food.
Lucio Galletto grew up in Liguria - at the
eastern end of the Riviera di Levante (coast
of the rising sun). He didn't realise how
special his region was until he fell in love
with an Australian girl and travelled 12,000
kilometres to be with her.
In 2008 Lucio, and writer David Dale, along
with photographer Paul Green, returned to the
birthplace of ravioli and pesto and
wild-greens pie to investigate how the
cooking of Lucio's region had evolved during
his twenty-five-year absence. They found a
new breed of chefs, farmers, and fishermen
adapting traditions to the environmental
concerns of the twenty-first century. Still
using the wonderful array of local herbs,
vegetables and seafood, they apply a lighter
touch and a more adventurous spirit.
In this stunningly photographed book, Lucio
brings us the fruits of his travels - 180
delicious recipes that respect the experience
of the past and anticipate the demands of the
future, dishes that are fun to cook,
beautiful to look at, a pleasure to share,
and kind to the body. And, importantly, that
pay homage to the sunny Riviera di Levante
from which Lucio's culinary journey
began.
Awards
Winner of the 2008 Gourmand Award for Best
Italian Cuisine Book (Australian Category)
Winner of the 2009 Cordon d'Or Cuisine Award
for Best Illustrated Culinary Book
LUCIO GALLETTO was born into a family of
farmers and restaurateurs in north-west
Italy. He was studying to become an architect
when he fell in love with a visiting
Australian girl and moved to Sydney. In 1981,
they set up Lucio's, which has become one of
Australia's most awarded Italian
restaurants.
DAVID DALE trained in
clinical psychology but decided he would do
less harm to the cause of mental health if he
went into journalism. He has been a political
reporter for The Australian, New York
correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald,
editor of The Bulletin and breakfast
broadcaster with ABC radio. His books include
The 100 Things Everyone Needs to Know About
Italy; Who We Are - a snapshot of Australia
today; and Essential Places.
An Evening with Lucio Galletto & David
Dale
Date: Tuesday 10 March
Venue: Books for Cooks
Time: 7pm
Charge: Free
Bookings Essential (only 30 places available)
Lucio's Ligurian Kitchen
ISBN: 9781741750775
Format: Hardback
RRP: $65
Soffrito: a delicious Ligurian memoir
ISBN: 9781741750768
Format: Hardback
RRP: $49.95
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To Cork or Not to Cork
George M Taber
Although a year old, this went home over
Christmas (along with the Richard Corrigan
book above) and was not put down until
finished. Taber was the journalist present
at the historical Judgment of Paris in 1976
(which is itself a good read).
Here he explores the most controversial topic
in the world of wine: What product should be
used to seal a bottle? Should it be cork,
plastic, glass, a screwcap, or some other
type of closure still to be invented?
For nearly four centuries virtually every
bottle of wine had a cork in it. But starting
in the 1970s, a revolution began to topple
the cork monopoly. In recent years, the
rebellion has been gathering strength.
Belatedly, the cork industry began fighting
back, while trying to retain its predominant
position. Each year 20 billion closures go
onto wine bottles, and, increasingly, they
are not corks.
The cause of the onslaught against cork is a
chemical compound known as TCA. In amounts as
low as several parts per trillion, the
compound can make a $400 bottle of wine smell
like wet newspaper and taste equally bad.
Such wine is said to be "corked." While
cork's enemies urge people to throw off the
old and embrace new closures, millions of
wine drinkers around the world are still in
love with the romance of the cork and the
ceremony of opening a bottle.
Weaving history, science, winemaking, and
marketing, Taber examines all sides of the
debate. Along the way, he collects a host of
great characters and pivotal moments in the
production, storage, and consumption of wine,
and paints a truly satisfying portrait of a
wholly intriguing controversy.
As
Australian winemaker Brian Croser describes
it: "It's scary how passionate people can be
on this topic. Prejudice and extreme
positions have taken over, and science has
often gone out the window."
To Cork or Not to Cork
ISBN: 9780743299343
Format: Hardcover
RRP: 29.95
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That's all from us for now, but we will have
another
newsletter out shortly.
Regards & Best Wishes
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The youngest chef ever (22) to win a Michelin
star, Aiden has worked with a number of
high-profile chefs including Tom Aiken,
before taking up the position of head chef at
the Grill in London's prestigious Dorchester
hotel - and it shows....
Delivering a giddying feast for the senses with
over 200 events across 17 delicious days, the
2009 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival will
take place from 7 - 23 March
2009.
Richard Corrigan is one of Britain′s most
distingushed chefs. He has been a key pioneer
in the rehabilitation of British food' a
champion of small producers and' above all'
the creator of a highly personal repertoire
of innovative dishes utilising ingredients
that once formed the basis of a a vibrant
native cuisine but which had been largely
ignored by fashionable chefs in recent decades.
Ramon Morato will be a guest at this year's
Wine & Food Festival. He will be conducting
a number of classes at William Angliss and
dinners with various restaurants including
The Press Club.