WHY ARE PEOPLE SO UNKIND?

Hi All,

Had a very spirited conversation with a friend the other day about the virtues of British food - or in his opinion the incredible lack of virtue in English food. (I think it was Charles and Camila's visit which started  the chat) His opinion that every visa for Britain should be issued with a stomach pump, I thought was a bit unkind and definitely outdated. As any foodie knows, Britain is a major player on the worlds food stage and not just for its high end restaurant fare. Traditional dishes are now getting the respect they deserve.  As a lover of all things casseroley, hearty and warming and let's be honest, NOTHING bad ever came with a pastry lid, I love traditional British food. Bubble & Squeak, Beef & Guiness Pie, Lancashire Hot Pot and Shepherds Pie - whether served traditionally, deconstructed or reconstitued! I love em!

If you're not convinced the Brits make decent food, have a squizz at Rick Stein's Food Heros on dvd. One of my all time favourite food dvds for both the food and glorious scenery. One thing the Brits aren't too famous for however is the staff of life. I've just come across a very interesting clip on youtube which may just change my opinion on British bread though. Unfortunately, I can't upload the video but do go to youtube and look for Michel Roux Jr British Food Revival Bread.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aAWKcvvnjeY

Now that bread has become 'artisan' is seems to mystify home cooks more than ever. Here is a great clip to have a look at which demystifies the process once and for all. It comes from foodwishes.com where you can find all eight episodes on soudough bread making.

Happy Baking.

The Team at Kitchen Couture

FINE FOOD FARED WELL.

Hi All,

We visited the Fine Food Fare held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre this week and bumped into a few of our customers from all over the country. We didn't have a stall (might have one in Sydney next year) but I think our tee shirts gave us away and gave our customers the opportunity to stop and say hello.

In this age of e-stores and email, it's great to actually meet our customers face to face. Had some great and spirited conversations about where Hospitality and food in general is going these days. There was a definite division between the states as far as optimism goes, with business owners from the mining boom states Vic and Queensland saying their businesses are going great guns or at the very least growing steadily. No surprises there. Victorian and NSW folk were a very mixed bag. Those in the growing outer suburban corridors doing very well while businesses in more established areas are finding it harder to make ends meet.

Here are a few interesting facts taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics relating to the health of the Hospitality Industry.

'Retail trade data released by the ABS showed that turnover for restaurants and cafes was up 12% on last year albeit closure rates for the industry at an all-time high.

Turnover for the industry in June 2012 was up, 12% on June 2011 at $1.573 billion. Nationwide FY11/12 restaurant, cafe and catering turnover was 6% up on the FY10/11 at $19.1 Billion brought about by small movements in most States but a 9% decline in Victoria, a 15% lift in NSW and a 30% lift in WA.

Restaurant & Catering CEO John Hart commented that, “This result shows that the industry is still performing well from a revenue perspective but is suffering terribly under the weight of huge increases in the cost of wages.”

Great Aussie Pie Winner Fine Food 2012
Bart Honig - Mooroopna Bakery Vic.

Although these results show some growth a tough climate for restaurant and catering businesses still exists. Wage costs are estimated to be 45% of revenue which makes the average restaurant, cafe or catering businesses profit margins low. The industry is also seeing issues such as shortages of skilled workers, decreases in average spend and uncertainty of the effects of the pending Carbon Tax detracting from their bottom line.'

Although there are no surprises in this information, it is a good reminder that complacency has no place in business today. Customers expectations continue to increase as far as food and service go. Palates are becoming more sophisticated. Safeway now sells Macarons!!!!!! Who would have imagined that 2 years ago.??? (Even more surprising - the Macarons are made in France for a local importer. It's unbelievable that a local manufacturer isn't the supplier) However, I digress. The bottom line continues to be - lift your cafe or bakery every way possible. Including of course, the presentation of your staff. Loose those 'once were white' tees and polos and move into 2012 with KC clothing. The Baking industry is very well represented at the Fare with the Bake Skills Competition and the Great Aussie Pie Comp. This year won by Bart Honig from the Mooroopna Bakery in Victoria. Well done Bart!

 If you didn't attend the Fine Food Fare this year, put it in your diary for next year. It's a must for anyone in the Food or Hospitality industry.

Cheers for now.

The Team at Kitchen Couture.

Cauliflower - is it the new black?

Hi all,


Don't mean to harp on about Masterchef but it constantly keeps throwing up great subjects for chat. You've probably gathered by now that we're not huge fans of molecular gastronomy - don't dislike it - but we have reservations about it being touted as being something for home cooks to get their teeth into. That's not a slur on the Masterchef contestants who are all exceptional cooks but 

Surely this is one of the reasons we pay exorbitant sums to eat out, to experience food we can't make at home ourselves or choose not to dues to the enormous amount of work involved.


Some of our chef friends aren't too enamoured over the plethora of cooking shows on TV these days believing that the more professional tips and secrets given away will see a return to the three course home dinner party of the 80's.  A time which saw bums on seats in restaurants diminish as home cooks strove to out do each other each Saturday night. It's mind boggling as to how much money it would cost to entertain at that level in this day and age. With the extravagant ingredients and kitchen toys needed to create the food of today we're thinking about $200 per head should cover it. Please, someone pass me the phone so I can make a restaurant reservation!


Of course, kitchen ware shops will be loving the art of molecular gastronomy being brought to the people. Now no home kitchen, of anyone seriously calling themselves a foodie, is complete without a Thermo Mix, Pacojet, Cream Gun and as of last week, a Smoking Gun. At around $1800 for a Thermomix these kitchen toys don't come cheap. So Masterchef has a positive knock on effect for lots of industries. ( By the way, if you're thinking of buying a Thermomix, have a look at a Hot Mix instead - a much better product)


The other side of the coin of course is the health aspect of sitting down to restaurant rich meals every night on the week. As so well expressed in foodiecure.com.au "Why fine dining may be a health hazard. Thanks to cooking shows such as Masterchef that are contributing to why we eat out more and why our home cooked fare is recreated restaurant dishes. We are simply eating better and richer all of the time. Now that’s fantastic for the food movement and food ingredient awareness, but not necessarily a step in the right direction for health maintenance."


However, our advice is pick up the phone and make a reservation with your favourite professionals and enjoy it as the occassion eating out should be.  Sit back enjoy being waited on (rather than waiting by the stove), the fine glassware (that you didn't have to polish), starched table cloths (you didn't have to iron) and lack of washing up required! 


Cheers,


The Team at Kitchen Couture

MASTERCHE$$$$$

Hi all,

Don't get us wrong - we love Masterchef and plethora of cooking shows on Aussie TV BUT does anyone else feel that to recreate most of the recipes featured, the first steps in the method of the recipe should read as follows -

METHOD

1/ Make appointment with Loans Officer at local bank

2/ If knocked back on loan - case bank for possible heist

3/ Buy balaclava/fake moustache for above mentioned heist

It's great that the contestants have such wonderfully stocked pantries to choose their ingredients from but seriously, when was the last time you threw a little something together using lobster, prawns, scallops, abalone  and truffle oil? Well, maybe you do but that's not how we eat in our house. How could you not produce great food when using ingredients like that?

In the last series of My Kitchen Rules, the lovely Tassie couple Megan & Andy (who were our favourites) throughout the series, used enough seafood to have paid off the average mortage! And we're talking mainland mortages!

Justine Schofield currently features in an ad for one of the major supermarkets and knocks together a seafood pie with all of the above ingredients, minus the abalone and truffle oil and we estimate the pie would cost around $60. Maybe families in Toorak and Rose Bay are sitting down to seafood extravaganzas and a bottle of Moet as they watch Current Affair or the Project balancing their plates on their Stable Tables but it ain't happening for the rest of us plebs. Times are tough for most Aussies at the moment so it would be nice to see our TV chefs cooking something that we can all afford. As one of our chef mates said, a really great chef can make a gourmet meal literally out of a sows ear. Maybe not a great analogy these days, as everything rustic becomes trendy and pigs ears probably aren't the cheap cut they used to be. Our mate prides himself on being able to create great food from the cheaper cuts of meat - skirt steak, mutton etc which is an art in itself and one which chefs should be trained in. It seems today using liquid nitrogen, Pacojets and thermal mixers is given priority over basic cooking skills. 

Kudos to Ready, Steady, Cook for being one of the few exceptions to use everyday ingredients in their cook offs.

So come on guys, give us food we can afford to recreate ourselves.

Share your thoughts with us.

The Team at Kitchen Couture.

PS. You could always buy one of our Seafood T Shirts which won't break the bank!

IT'S NEARLY HERE.

Hi all,


Seems just the other day we were all complaining desperately about the heat. Now as winter slowly glides in, chefs everywhere are enjoying some respite from the infernal heat. It's still astounding in this day and age of over the top, at times nonsensical, OH&S rulings by the Health Department that kitchen ventilation is so far down the list of priorities. Well, it doesn't even make it onto the list does it? As mornings get cooler, I notice the chefs and kitchen folk we see all look a hell of a lot more relaxed and happy and soon we'll all be complaining about the cold. 

After a great response last year, we've just received another shipment of our Grey Slouch Beanies. (Grey being the new black of course ) Perfect for keeping you warm on your way to work or being worn in the kitchen instead of an 'oh so dreary' bla bla bla chefs or bakers cap. Bring some style to your kitchen with a beanie stylish enough for work or casual wear.


If it's good enough for Becks, Brad, Channing & Jonny - think how good it will look on you.  (We're not saying they're wearing our beanies in the piccies - but god we wish they were!)


Cheers,


The Team at Kitchen Couture.

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - CHEFS INK

Hi again, 


Epicure checks out the world of kitchen brigade body art.



Forget toques and chef's whites, the men and women manning commercial stovetops are choosing an altogether more permanent form of tribal recognition - the tattoo. Enter Tasmanian chef Steven Cumper and his tongue-in-cheek tweet: "Do trade schools offer tattoo advice these days?"From koi fish and Celtic bands to Chinese dragons and family crests. 


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/chefs-ink-20120514-1ymgv.html#ixzz1vFwYUrqQ


It's amazing how times change. It's not that long ago that having any visible tattoo would have you barred from working in some of the best kitchens in the country. Now it's almost mandatory to sport a bit of ink to be taken seriously as a chef, baker or pastry cook and judging by the feature in Epicure this week, we're going to be seeing a lot more of it.  


Creative plating up on the skin seems to hold nearly as much cred as plating up on a plate so we hope to see a lot more illustrated chefs showing their wares in our short sleeved tees. There's a lot of serious ink hidden away in kitchens across the country with great stories behind the design, cultural and emotional significance behind them. So ladies and gentlemen - put them out on show. Tatts ain't  cheap so why hide them under a chefs jacket? Do yourself a favour and loose the traditional whites. 

Un named Canadian Chef with serious ink

Here's more of a  snippet of the article taken from Epicure.

Daniel Dobra - chef, The Aylesbury and Collective Espresso

Advertisement: Story continues below

A FIVE-minute chat turns into a 30-minute conversation as Daniel Dobra, 24, recounts the extent of his bodywork. With a left-arm sleeve and elbow, biceps, hand, feet, chest and even thumb tattoos, body art has been top priority for the chef since his first foray six years ago.

''I'm not going to stop until I'm covered from the chin downwards,'' he says of the artwork that ranges from tattoos celebrating his Croatian heritage to a nautical star on his elbow. And all at a price. ''My left arm alone took 52 hours and cost me $5000.''

Dobra says cheffing's ''crazy'' element draws workers to the artist's needle. ''You work in a kitchen that's 40 or 50 degrees over long hours and you don't get paid well,'' he says. ''It's this craziness and detachment from the outside world that means you can be open-minded and a bit more free- thinking toward a lot of things.''

The Aylesbury is at 103 Lonsdale Street, city; Collective Espresso is at 1/3 Cookson Street, Camberwell.

Benjamin Cooper - head chef, Chin Chin

AS FAMILIAR with body art as he is with the scent of Thai basil, Benjamin Cooper is discussing the two tattoos he plans on adding to his collection of five during a family holiday to Thailand.

''I'm looking at another couple of stars and potentially a Mexican Day of the Dead skull,'' he says, adding there is more work to do on the Japanese-inspired koi and dragonfly design that adorns half of his back.For Cooper, the link between tattoos and commercial kitchens is clear. ''Hospitality attracts people of an artistic nature,'' he says. ''The food that you put on your plate is a representation of yourself. And it's people with that sort of bent who take an interest in things like tattoos.''

Chin Chin is at 125 Flinders Lane, city.

Click for more photos

Chefs Ink

Chef Giovanni Pilu. Pilu has the names of his siblings Martino, Cri for Christian and Ale for Alessandra on his calf. "Some people go, 'Oh man, what's that on the back of your leg; your recipe for suckling pig or something?'" Photo: Jon Reid

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Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/chefs-ink-20120514-1ymgv.html#ixzz1vFum2BUU

SHOULD BE BEHIND BARS.

Hi all,

We stepped out recently to catch up with friends in the City and visited a couple of fantastic bars along the way. We're so lucky we live in an age where meeting friends for a few drinks doesn't have to involve your shoes sticking to the carpet and the smell of those little blue blocks in the urinals. (Even us females know that smell, it permeates everything!) That Melbourne is full of funky little bars isn't ground breaking.news but the choice and quality of the cocktail and wine lists was mind boggling. Strongly recommend the Tokyo Drifter from THE AVIARY - a blend of plum wine, sake & lemon. Also the Summer Sangria by the jug, a more economical way to enjoy the evening. Can't quite remember what was in it but there was definitely Vodka, wine & lychee liquor.



Also loved TRUNK in Exhibition Street. Their Zombie, a mix of dark and white rum, pineapple, apple and passionfruit juices was to die for. And then arise and come back from the dead, eat people, die, arise from the dead etc etc etc. What was also mind boggling was the array of new spirits and liqueurs on the market. There is nothing you can't get these days. Pomegranate, Coca Leaf, Passionfruit, Champagne liqueurs - the list is endless.My favourite would have to be Hypnotic Harmony - French vodka, cognac and berries. It'a a lovely purple colour reminiscent of Parfait Amour but there's nothing 70ish about the Harmony. With this in mind we're featuring our Cocktail Tee this week Great for professional Mixologists or enthusiastic home bartenders. Wear one when you host your next  party.

Cheers,

The Team at Kitchen Couture.

IT SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED!!

Hi all,

I'm serious - it shouldn't be allowed! How can we ever save for our next trip to France if people keep publishing "absolute must have" cook books. This weeks acquisition is Pierre Hermes latest book "Macarons". The recipes are arranged in sections such as - The Classics including the Inca Macaron - avocado & banana and the Americano - grapefruit, orange & Campari ( have to try that one!)  Fetish Flavours, Signatures and Exceptions. This last heading features left of field flavour combinations like foie gras & chocolate, black truffle macaron and 25 year old balsamic macaron. Can't imagine what the balsamic one would taste like, so I guess we'll just have to make that as well. This is a must have book for professional pastry chefs, committed home cooks and macaron lovers as it offers a few extraordinary tips for creating macaron perfection every time.

Don't forget we still have a few random sizes of our Macaron Tees available for ladies and men. Email us for available sizes.

We'd like to say hi to a few new customers this week. A big congratulations to Joy & Wendy  who have just taken over Cafe 22 in Proserpine, Ali & Soraya and Meredith & Ryan, both from Sydney. We'd love to see photos of your staff decked out in their KC uniforms so please send us in some piccies.


Just when you think you've seen the best of the best, along comes another fantastic French patisserie. Have you checked out the work of Sadaharu Aoki? This talented Pastry Chef trained in Japan before making his mark on the Paris food scene, opening his first shop in 1998. ( This one slipped past us somehow) He is known for his trademark of incorporating  traditional Japanese flavours such as yuzu and matcha into classic French desserts.

Here's a few snaps of his fantastic food.