Category Archives: Food

Food, Media, Movie Reviews, Popular Culture, Society, TV

The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2009

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Here they are again. Random, disorganised, informed by personal prejudice…just how you like it. Yes you do. YES, you DO!

Right, now that that’s established, are you all sitting comftybold two square on your botties? Then I’ll begin…

2009 Boomtown Rap Free-to-air TV Awards: The BR Bogeys

Pet Semetary Award: Hey Hey It’s Saturday. Whose idea was it to dig this rotting cadaver up, give it mouth-to-mouth and send it lurching back to TV land? I never could understand the popularity of Hey Hey even back in its halcyon days, but what do I know – exhuming it was a ratings winner. Daryl Somers proved there is plenty to eat in the afterlife. Other than that, what to say except thank God for the blackface ‘Red Faces’ skit – anything that riles Harry Connick Jnr gets my tick of approval.

Family Show of the Year: John Safran’s Race Relations. This is confessional comedy taken to its limits (until the next Safran outing). Continue reading The Boomtown Rap Awards For 2009 →

Food, Modern Marketing, Popular Culture, TV

MasterChef Australia In Review (Now That The Cake Is Almost Baked)

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During the early elimination rounds of MasterChef Australia, I suggested in my post entitled ‘MasterChef Australia’ – Egos in Aprons, Seeking Celebrity that this was just another ‘reality TV’ show, and therefore all about entertainment and ratings, rather than determining which of the contestants was the best cook. A fake, in other words. I predicted that the final 20 would be selected not solely on cooking prowess, but on other criteria to do with maximising the appeal of the show. My punt, ignoring the cooking ability factor altogether, was that the finalists would fit into the following categories: Continue reading MasterChef Australia In Review (Now That The Cake Is Almost Baked) →

Bread & Pizza, Food

Making Your Own GREAT Pizzas At Home

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Announcement:
Here is an intrusion from the future (February 2010). When I wrote the post below, it was prior to stumbling upon a website that would set my pizza-making on an entirely new course. I’m referring to Jeff Varasano’s rave on sourdough pizzas. Quite simply, my strong conviction now, having tested Varasano’s assertions for myself, is that sourdough pizzas are better than any dry yeast version. The recipe below is fine, so go ahead and try it by all means, but if you want to bake the best, go straight to the following post and do not pass ‘Go’: Sourdough Pizzas – As Good As Home Oven Pizzas Get!
Announcement ends.

As promised in the previous post, here’s my recipe for DIY pizza. This is the result of a lot of research, trial and error. Over months of systematic tweaking (one change at a time, so the results could be validly compared), I am now satisfied that I am turning out pizzas that are pretty damned good. The benchmark by which I gauge pizza excellence is set by Sandrino’s wood-fired pizzas in Fremantle – the best I have had in Perth.

Mine are not yet quite as good, but they are close – if you can turn out better pizzas than these from a domestic electric oven, PLEASE post your suggestions under Comments. This is not about ego. It’s about sharing the love! And if you love pizza as I do, I know you’ll know exactly what I mean.

OK, on to the recipe. Continue reading Making Your Own GREAT Pizzas At Home →