The first belly of spring today and we are fermenting with life, from a light and fresh book review, to festival previews and reports, the odd world of North America in a sister D edition of our belly bulletin, & we are harnessing natural, time honoured bread making to bring wheat back into the lives of many of us who find the average loaf very hard to digest, with slooow baker & fermenter Clive Lawler.
They say you never forget your first, and it's true: Clive Lawler was the first guest I interviewed all on my own in the old bayfm love shack, all alone with the buttons and gear of the radio magic panel. He is a slow bread maker now based in Brisbane, coming back to this area to present occasional workshops. His books available online or at Santos Warehouse in the Byron Industrial estate.
When we first spoke he was experimenting with fermented nuts, and making a version of the no knead bread that you can easily find online and on the belly website, we have been making this in our house ever since, but Clive has moved on a long way with his methods since then.
Listen to the interview audio below for lots of tips on slow baking and fermenting, or get along to his 'playshop' this weekend in Byron Bay.
Where – Starseed Gardens, Byron Bay
When – Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 September
Connect with Clive and check out workshop details and lots more through his Facebook page here
Clive is sending us a couple of his fermented spread recipes soon.
AUDIO
BELLY BULLETIN – this week, news from North America by sister D
A recent food poisoning incident at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, Ontario has unfairly been blamed on the “cronut”. 223 people were affected by food poisoning after eating a calorie laden “cronut burger” last weekend. The “cronut” a cross between a croissant and a doughnut was created by Dominique Ansel bakery in New York City. Wildly popular, it has inspired many imitations hence the “cronut burger” at the CNE. The cronut burger is a heart stopping mixture of a beef patty topped with cheese, served in a cronut bun with a maple bacon jam. Turns out the culprit of the food poisoning was not the cronut after all, but the maple bacon jam. Long live the cronut!!!
In related news, not to be outdone by their American neighbours, a Canadian patisserie in Toronto; Calfouti, has created the “crookie”. Yes, the “crookie”. Part croissant and part oreo cookie…only in North America. We could expect no less from the continent that created the “turducken” (chicken, stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey) and the “piecaken” (pie baked inside a cake on top of another layer of pie baked inside a cake).
Good news for coffee drinkers. New research has shown that regular coffee drinking can prevent the recurrence of prostate cancer for men. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that consuming four or more cups of coffee a day is associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer recurrence in addition to decreased progression of the tumour. It should be noted the study only found an association rather than proof of causation, the authors note that the coffee may hold the protective benefits because of the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. More research is needed in this area, but for the time being, drink up!
More good news for lovers of hot beverages. Research has shown that two cups of hot chocolate per day boosted brain blood flow and memory in a sample of elderly with narrowed arteries. The research involved a sample of 60 people with a median age of 73 who were not diagnosed with dementia. Harvard Medical School in Boston who conducted the study reported improvements in working memory and an improvement of blood flow to working areas of the brain. Dr. Farzaneh Sorond who led the study said “we’re learning more about blood flow in the brain and its effect on thinking skills. As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer’s” More research is needed to explore the relationship between cocoa and blood flow and cognitive capacity, but again… we say, drink up!
Death Valley National Park in the United States are tired of people trying to cook eggs on the floor of the national park. Officials have written on the Death Valley facebook page that maintenance crews have been busy cleaning up eggs, egg cartons, and shells strewn throughout the car park. In a ironical twist, it was actually a Death Valley employee who sparked the egg cooking trend by posting a video of an egg cooking in the 127 degree F (52 C) heat. The video notes a frying pan should be used however, as the ground “makes a mess and it doesn’t work”. Clearly, the message is not sinking in as tourists continue to crack eggs on the ground in the midst of a current heat wave on the west coast of the US. This is not dissimilar to the trend some time ago of people baking trays of cookies on their dashboards of their vehicles in the summer heat, following a post of the same that went viral.
Book Review: Marie Claire-Summer: Simply Fresh Food by Michele Cranston
Review by Sister Deanna
Well, the title does not lie with this cookbook, it is simple and it is fresh. It was difficult to get the full flavour (pun intended) of this cookbook as the ingredients are geared towards summer produce and thus we are not quite there yet. Having said that, the recipes that were tried were very simple, easy to make, and as one of the taste team noted “good for a young uni student who doesn’t know much about cooking”. I’m inclined to agree, this book s strength is its simplicity, and its use of fresh foods, making it a great book for young cooks who want to cook simple, fresh, and flavourful food. It is produced by Marie Claire, so it is not surprising that it targets a younger demographic. Indeed, throughout the book in between recipes, the reader is treated to pictures of young twenty-something women frolicking in the sand and sea. Frolicking aside, a further strength in addition to simplicity and freshness is the inclusion of colour pictures of each recipe. The cookbook is divided into five sections: fruit, leaf, sea, husk (grains), and basics. Full of fresh ingredients, the meals were light and flavourful. Sometimes however, the ingredients should have been left to themselves. There were a few recipes that imparted a few too many flavours ( a salmon recipe comes to mind) that masked the beautiful flavour of the ingredients as too many spices and flavourings were added. One taste team member commented “way to ruin a perfectly good piece of fish”. On the whole however, this cookbook was reviewed positively. Great for simple, healthy mid-week meals, and for the young cook starting out. I for one will be adding a few new recipes from this book to my repertoire.