On air on Bayfm 99.9 Community radio, Byron Bay, on 23 July 2012

 

WRITER, COLLECTOR, RESTAURATEUR, LEGEND, GAY BILSON ON WRITING ABOUT FOOD

Today we start a month-long banquet of writers on belly with Gay Bilson, a woman who says she was a late bloomer in gastronomical matters, and attempted to retire early.  Somehow she has managed to run two legendary places in the history of Australian restaurants.  First with then husband Tony Bilson at Tony’s Bon Gout in the ’70s, haunt of politicians, gourmets and other reprobates; then for 18 years as owner and restaurateur  at Berowra Waters Inn on the Hawkesbury river, where the journey, the building, the place were as memorable as the wonderful food.  And then at that little known spot, the Sydney Opera House, at the Bennelong restaurant.  However, at a previous Byron Bay Writers Festival she has said that she has always wanted to write a book – restaurants were just a “25 year glitch”  With “Plenty – Digressions on Food” (Penguin, 2004),  she turned out a book that is very beautiful both as an object and for the writing.  It is one of my favourite books on food, and won a bunch of awards including the Age book of the year.  One of the many passions that shines out of “Plenty” is Gay’s love of reading.

Her latest book is “On Digestion”, part of Melbourne University Publishing’s “Little Books on Big Themes” series.   The Writers’ Centre tells me Gay’s titles are out of print, but you can find them at our local library, which even has an interesting little book on Australia’s culinary history: “Acquired Tastes”, with a contribution by Gay.

This year as well as appearing on Writers Festival panels, she is running a workshop titled : “What we talk about when we talk about food”, on Tuesday 31 July.

“What is it we are addressing when we write about food? What should we be addressing? What do you want to address? What words best serve your purpose?

If food is a shared material, economic and cultural concern for all people, then we need food journalism to include serious and informed writing about food security, food waste, food pricing, food distribution, food and health, and, especially, agriculture and all that agriculture entails – climate, soil, labour, the uses to which land is put.”  (Workshop description from festival site, click on link for more) i

One thing that is missing from the workshop info – very important – Gay would like all participants to bring something to eat together, and has promised to bring something she has made.

Gay Bilson “has been a frequent contributor to The Monthly and continues to write for Australian Book Review. Her essays have been published in Voracious (Hardie Grant, 2011) and Island magazine, University of Tasmania, 2012.  She is now a local, having recently moved to Bangalow.” (from the festival site)

So today on belly Sister T  talked about food writing with Gay Bilson, a woman who notices the sound of charcoal and the sandwiches of fictional detectives, a collector of fallen nests and beautiful bowls, a mailer of soup and maker of tripe tablecloths.

And we had fun having a good old growl about the lack of respect given to people and writers who are interested in food.  If you meet Gay at the festival, it might be an idea not to call her a ‘foodie’.

If you are going to that great feast of thinking, talking, reading and writing that is the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival, you can catch Gay Bilson on:

Friday 9am – “collectables : the bounty of our desires”

Saturday 12.30pm – “real food”

Sunday 2.15pm – “nests”

For more information on 2012 Byron Bay Writers Festival authors, tune in to bayfm and listen to to Karena on Arts Canvass,  on air Thursdays 9 to 11.  Every week until the festival, she will be doing interviews at 10.20 am.  And subscribe before the end of July to go in a draw for 2 lots of 3 day festival passes.

This week on Arts Canvass Karina is talking to:

Alex Miller – ‘Autumn Laing’

Arnold Zable – ‘Violin Lessons’

Ailsa Piper – ‘Sinning across Spain’

Jonathon Parsons – Byron Writers Fest Director

Dev Lengel – Byron Writers Fest Sculpture Show

 

FRANCISCO’S HIDEAWAY

 

And then we are off to the beautiful Coorabell Hall, saved by a bunch of heroic music and life lovers for all sorts of interesting events, and currently hosting a mini-series (only 3 so far) of POP UP DINNERS by Argentinian Chef Francisco Smoje.  The pop up restaurant is a relatively new concept that has already been abused and misused in the big cities, but pretty new around here, and this looks like the real deal.  Francisco says :

“I might give people a hint of which produce I will use found in a friends gardens or local markets. You don’t have to go through the intellectual process of choosing what you are going to eat. Everyone on the table has the same flavours in their mouth. Its one of the things I love most, it’s like going to a friends house, but you never call your friend and ask ‘hey what are you cooking for me?’ you just go and relax and enjoy what they have prepared.”

“When people come to my dinners, it’s usually only my partner Emma and myself that work the floor. The food is shared on the table, we never change the plates till desert and people really respond to this.”

“I like the fact that everyone comes at the same time and eats at the same time as if they were one group of friends. Everyone has the same sensations with the food at the same time. It’s not like going to a restaurant when you’re at one table having a starter and your first glass of wine and you’re all loud and next to you is a couple that’s having a desert and want to talk mellow. Here it’s like everyone goes onto a roller-coaster at the same time and experiences similar things, and I think that’s really special.”

Today on belly we will talk about the fun and the challenges of doing a pop up restaurant, and as many of Francisco’s adventures as we can fit in, from his Argentinian childhood, to exploring the 3-hat restaurants of Australia at 21, to his North Coast experiences with growers and food producers (I especially want to hear about the Mullumbimby butcher), and providing tasty food and eye candy as a movie caterer.

Francisco’s Table opens at Coorabell Hall on the following Sundays the 15th July (yes already gone), 5th August and 26th August.  [Francisco has now decided to do the dinners about every 3 weeks for a while, maybe with some guest chefs in future].

To book & more info see here

And if you are on facebook, details and an olive recipe : www.facebook.com/FranciscosTable

Here is a chorizo and sweet potato recipe.

And Francisco has promised us a panna cotta recipe, very popular at the first pop up dinner.

Here it is now – enjoy.

 

CARDAMON-VANILLA PANNA COTTA WITH CITRUS CARAMEL

By Francisco Smoje

 

[note : you need to start the day before you want to serve this]

 

PANNA COTTA

1 L cream

1 vanilla pod

10 cardamom pods

120 gm sugar

4 gelatin sheets

 

CITRUS CARAMEL

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup mandarin juice

 

For panna cotta – crack cardamom pods and cut vanilla pod lengthways, place in a pot with cream and sugar, simmer for 15 minues for flavours to infuse being careful of not boiling.

Soak gelatin in cold water, strain cream, squeeze gelatin and mix into strained cream until dissolved.

Cool mix by placing in a bowl on top of ice water and stir with wooden spoon.

Place into moulds and refrigerate overnight.

For caramel – place water and sugar in a small pot, boil until caramel stage (about 8 minutes) quickly add mandarin juice and reduce temperature and simmer until caramel coats back of a spoon.  Let caramel cool down.

To serve run a knife carefully around panna cotta and submerge panna cotta mould in a bit of hot water for 10 seconds or so to help unmould. Place in a bowl and spoon over some of the caramel.  If desired you can add a sprinkle of roasted almond flakes.

 

 

BELLY BULLETIN

 

In the bulletin today just a big ‘congratulations’ to local legend Helena Norberg-Hodge, filmmaker  and food activist, for winning the Japan based Goi Peace Award.  She is the first woman and the first bellysister to win the award, given for her “pioneering work in the new economy movement to promote a more sustainable and equitable world”. The citation reads in part, “Through your outreach and educational activities advocating for localization, you have contributed to the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.”  More about Helena here

 

MUSIC

Thanks to Gay Bilson for bringing us music from one of her favourite composers, Dmitri Shostakovich

Prelude & Fugue no 3 in G major, and Prelude no 1 in C major, pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva

Koechlin, Evening Song, pianist Tamara Anna Cislowska

Astor Piazzolla, Marron Y Azul and Contrastes

Fulana, Encerrada en la Ciudad

Gotan Project, El Capitalismo Foraneo

 

love and chocolate covered mandarins, sister T