So my parents came to visit us here in Australia and we loved showing them our lifestyle and all the things we do. It was great but towards the end of the holiday they mentioned how very food-centric we all seemed to be and thinking about it, they are 100% correct. Australia is a foodie paradise. There is no shortage of 3 hat restaurants and the diversity of the food to which we are exposed is enormous. With such close proximity to so many Asian countries, it is no wonder that we are able to pick and choose the best Thai, the best Chinese, the best Vietnamese etc. Every Sydneysider that you meet will tell you where to go for each particular food group and even down to particular foods. An entire conversation can be focused around where to get the best grilled chicken or baked cheesecake. When Masterchef Australia aired their first season finale, 5.1 million people tuned in to watch. This means that roughly 1 in 4 of every Australian was watching two chefs taste a beef soup, create a signature dish and a chocolate tasting plate. It's amazing. The end of last years second season coincided with a national debate between the two politicians competing for Prime Minister. The higher interest programme won and the debate was postponed by an hour or two.
So how does this food obsession impact on everyone? Well more and more people are in the kitchen. The supermarkets are pressed to source better and more diverse ingredients and even children are motivated to get in the kitchen. Currently Junior Masterchef is on TV. The kids are aged between 8 and 12 and are producing involtini, tempering chocolate and roasting rabbits. I don't think I could make more than a toasted cheese before the age of thirteen. Rafi has started to show more interest in helping out in the kitchen and has been doing the chopping and stirring. The other night he made meatballs from scratch for his brother (I did the hot part). I can only see the positive aspect in having children wanting to be more involved in what they eat and how it is prepared.
Anyway, back to my parent's holiday. They tasted everything from Japanese to burgers (from Grill'd - yum). They had fish and chips at Doyles and they had macarons from Adriano Zumba. I think they were amazed to see people queuing for ages to get to a hole in the wall kind of shop for pastries, but luckily my brother had prepared them by taking them to an equally famous hole in the wall for sour dough bread. I think that we were slowly turning them into foodies themselves because by the time the holiday ended, they proclaimed the pastry that we got at the airport to be bland and ordinary.
I don't know what they are eating now that they are back home but hopefully when they hear that people are coming to visit us, they can impart a bit of wisdom and tell them to "Come Hungry!".
So how does this food obsession impact on everyone? Well more and more people are in the kitchen. The supermarkets are pressed to source better and more diverse ingredients and even children are motivated to get in the kitchen. Currently Junior Masterchef is on TV. The kids are aged between 8 and 12 and are producing involtini, tempering chocolate and roasting rabbits. I don't think I could make more than a toasted cheese before the age of thirteen. Rafi has started to show more interest in helping out in the kitchen and has been doing the chopping and stirring. The other night he made meatballs from scratch for his brother (I did the hot part). I can only see the positive aspect in having children wanting to be more involved in what they eat and how it is prepared.
Anyway, back to my parent's holiday. They tasted everything from Japanese to burgers (from Grill'd - yum). They had fish and chips at Doyles and they had macarons from Adriano Zumba. I think they were amazed to see people queuing for ages to get to a hole in the wall kind of shop for pastries, but luckily my brother had prepared them by taking them to an equally famous hole in the wall for sour dough bread. I think that we were slowly turning them into foodies themselves because by the time the holiday ended, they proclaimed the pastry that we got at the airport to be bland and ordinary.
I don't know what they are eating now that they are back home but hopefully when they hear that people are coming to visit us, they can impart a bit of wisdom and tell them to "Come Hungry!".
Welcome back Sheryl!!
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