“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world”

JRR Tolkien

I am writing this blog from my own position of privilege; I have been able to travel and have eaten in some excellent restaurants and have been privileged to eat some deliciously awesome food throughout my life. I have never had to go hungry, and this is evident by the size of my stomach.

I’ve just written a blog about democracy and politics which was a bit heavy, plus with the events in Ukraine this week I thought I’d write about something that makes me happy … food!

Please read this blog in the spirit it was shared; with love, compassion and a desire to learn. I wish to state that in no way am I wanting to impose myself on others with my writing, but I feel a deep desire to share my thoughts and inspirations with whoever may be reading this, and I am very grateful that you are, I warmheartedly wish you all the very best.

I hope my words inspire you to eat good food, share a meal with those you love and remember to enjoy life because you never know what may be around the corner.

…

Many of us in Australia live a fortunate and comfortable lifestyle but 90% of our illnesses are based on our lifestyle and caused by the stress we put on our body. Emotional health and diet are two key factors for keeping us healthy (or unhealthy).

This blog will focus on what we eat, our diet.

Hopefully this blog may inspire you to try some of the food I describe or visit one the restaurants I recommend and better still, you might be inspired bump me a message or a comment and point me in the direction of a great restaurant or recipe that you enjoy.

So, without further ado, let’s get into it, bon appetit, or as they say in the Netherlands, Eet smarkelijk!

Good Food, Good Mood.

“Every 35 days, your skin replaces itself. Your liver, about a month. Your body makes these cells from the food you eat. What you eat literally becomes you.”

The food we eat has a bearing on our state of mind and health. If it comes in a box or out of a freezer it’s generally going to be crap processed food. I succumb to buying the odd frozen crap occasionally. I try to keep to the mantra of ‘Eat fresh, buy local, cook from scratch’. But sometimes I just feel like eating crap, but that doesn’t happen often. I do get the odd craving for a potato cake (potato scallop if you live in NSW), they are a weakness of mine. My favourite band, The Herd, even made a song about them called ‘Scallops’.

The real currency of health is our energy, and we should think of our food as medicine and leave the food that man made (in a factory) and eat the food that god made.

I guess the old motto of everything in moderation is also a good place to start. Which gets to the heart of my main issue when it comes to food …. PORTION CONTROL!

I blame my parents for always making me finish what’s on my plate, Ha! Nah, not really. But if the food is there, I generally can’t help myself, I mean who wants any food to go to waste?

One of the benefits of working for regional Councils was the spread we’d put on for lunches and morning teas. Good old country hospitality at its best and it always seemed to include mini pies, sausage rolls, quiches and savoury toast. I was getting better in the last few years of working in Local Government of not eating too much just because it was there, it took all my self-discipline, of which I lack at times. Several Councils I worked at tried to bring in ‘healthy eating’ policies, but they were soon relegated to having a healthy option … next to the pies, sausage rolls, quiches ….

Be Mindful where Your Food Comes From

“Our DNA is made of the same DNA as the tree. The tree breathes what we exhale, we breath what the tree exhales. We have a common destiny with the tree, we are all from the Earth. When the Earth, its water and atmosphere is corrupted, then we are corrupted.”

As Graham Hancock identifies, “we have old growth rainforests being cut down and replaced with soya beans so we can feed cattle so we can all eat hamburgers. Only a truly insane state of global consciousness would allow such an abomination to occur.”[1] Similarly we are destroying old growth rainforests throughout Asia to plant palm trees so we can extract palm oil so we can eat cheap processed snacks and have cheap cosmetics. This is truly insane.

I am trying to not spend my money on industrial processed food and I have learned how the industrial seafood and meat industries are destroying the planet. As far as meat is concerned, we buy most of ours from Rollbusch Quality Meats as we know Nigel Rollbusch (he’s a great bloke and also a co-owner in our horse, Justica) and he sources his meat locally. Occasionally we will treat ourselves to his aged scotch fillet, its some of the best steak I’ve had. We also buy meat from the local Foodland, the only meat we get from Woolworths is their veal and pork mince for meatballs and chicken mince for Enchiladas.

I have been trying to reduce my intake of meat and treat it as more of a luxury than a staple part of the diet. When we do eat meat, we will eat quality cuts and try to exercise portion control, apart from when you get served a schnitzel that overlaps each end of the plate. We started by not eating meat one day a week and that is now several days a week.

We don’t eat a lot of seafood although I am partial to a piece of flake. I must mention, I reckon the best fish and chips comes from Victoria. I’m not sure why, it just tastes better over there. But if our friend Pete Ansell has caught a snapper and is cooking it up in his BBQ you best not get in my way as he cooks fish better than anyone I know, it’s delicious.

I am trying to learn more recipes that are vegetarian, and I am slowly adding to my repertoire of tasty meals that don’t have meat. But meat has been a staple part of my diet for some time so, baby steps.

I love the notion of the slow food movement which also focuses on using locally grown produce. Since finishing working and taking a gap year to write my book I have relished being able to take more time with everything, including preparing and enjoying food.

We have been growing our own vegies for several years now and have had success with beetroot, zucchinis, capsicums, spinach, strawberries, spring onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes. We finally grew some big tomatoes this year (until the heat came along) but they have been a struggle in previous years. As has cucumbers, we’ve had no luck with them either. We have also grown our own herbs such as basil, oregano, mint and peppermint and even have turmeric growing. Although we should have put the mint in a pot as it’s becoming a bit of a weed taking over the back corner of our yard. But growing your own food brings enormous satisfaction and it generally tastes so much better than what we get from a shop.

The Not So Secret Ingredient …

My theory about the taste of home grown produce is it tastes better because it’s been grown with love, I’m sure everyone else talks to their plants? Don’t you? Hmmm, well maybe I’m on my own there but I think there is much to it.

Its also why homecooked meals are always the best and the best meals are cooked by your family and friends, especially your parents and grandparents. Meals cooked by mum and Oma always taste the best. It’s the love they put into the meal.

Food can also invoke strong emotional responses and bring memories of great times and loved ones to the fore. I think that’s because of love too.

Food and Travel

I am fascinated by the myriad of cultures throughout the world and what I can learn from them. This fascination feeds my love for travelling and learning about other people, their history and culture, and especially their food.

I believe a love for food and a love for travel are synonymous.

Its another reason why I love our multiculturalism, we have the opportunity to sample foods from all over the world right here in our own backyard.

My Favourite Foods

I grew up eating a lot of traditional Dutch food cooked my mum as well as Oma and Dutch food is it for me, its ingrained into my DNA. I have learned to cook many of the meals that Oma and mum used to cook (well mum still does when I visit). The staple being stamppot which is affectionately now known as an ‘Opa tea’ in our family. Stamppot is basically mashed up vegetables of potatoes and either, beetroot, peas and carrots and/or cauliflower (always dusted with nutmeg). Beetroot is easily my favourite vegie.

The secret to stamppot is the burnt butter gravy that must be cooked in a cast iron pot. Mum bought me a traditional Dutch cast iron pot not long after I moved out of home, and I am proud to also have the pot that Oma used to cook with which I treasure. The meat is cooked in the gravy and is usually a meatball, but we also occasionally have pork chops, chicken drumsticks or steak. I make my meatballs with a combination of pork and veal mince, but you can just use beef mince as well. On special occasions we would have ‘Blinde Vinken’ which is a meatball (in a shape of a sausage, wrapped in a thin steak (bit like minute steak) which is wrapped in bacon. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

In addition to the above, I also love Boerenkool which is another version of stamppot but this time its potatoes mixed with kale which we get in a jar and can be bought from any Dutch shop, as well as Sauerkraut which is fermented pickled cabbage mixed with potatoes. We serve both Boerenkool and Sauerkraut with Rookwurst which is a traditional Dutch sausage. The best Rookwurst comes from Barossa Fine Foods. We used to get the Rookwurst made by Don, you know the company with the catch phrase, ‘Is Don Is Good’, but they don’t make them anymore. They had bought the recipe from Pieter van Wees who operated a smallgoods factory in Douro Street North Geelong for many years. He emigrated to Australia from Amsterdam and met Oma and Opa as fellow Dutch immigrants in the 1950’s. They became good friends and Opa built much of his shop in the late 1950’s.

Of course, any good Dutch meal is also served with apple sauce which I also make as the stuff bought from the supermarket just doesn’t cut it in comparison.

Other Dutch foods that I love include Bitterballen and Kroketten. Bitterbollen are a beef gravy ball that is crumbed and cooked in the deep fryer. Kroketten is the same but in the shape of a croquette, Duh! We make them ourselves and I’ll enjoy them at least every couple of weeks (we currently have a big stash in the freezer). But any trip to the Netherlands has generally involved eating Bitterbollen nearly every day. In fact, McDonalds in the Netherlands has them on the menu, they are OK but not half as good as what you get from restaurants and bars. Did I forget to mention they also go very well with a beer? They are best served with a Dijon mustard and the best one for Bitterbollen comes from Aldi.

Another Dutch treat is Hagelslag which are chocolate ‘ants’ that are best sprinkled over fresh white bread. I always think of Oma when I enjoy this as she used to serve it to me regularly when she looked after me as a kid.

At New Years the tradition is to eat Oliebollen which are a traditional Dutch doughnut. I haven’t always been able to be at mum and dads at New Years, so I have learned to make these myself which means I generally eat too many.

The final bit of Dutch food that are among my favourites is what we just call Dutch Soup, but I think its real name is Juliana soup. It’s a vegetable soup with meatballs. My favourite Dutch soup however is Ertwensoep or Snert which is a traditional Dutch pea and ham soup which we also serve with Rookwurst.

I love soups and they are a regular part of our cruisine, in addition to the above I also make a mean Minestrone (especially when we’ve picked zucchinis from the garden) and Amy makes an excellent Pumpkin soup but her best soup is her Sweet Potato Soup. Following our visit to Prague in 2019 I have been making Česnečka a Czech garlic soup. It’s also referred to as hangover soup and is regarded as a cure for all ailments (I reckon it’d cure Covid as well). It’s made of loads of garlic, potatoes and onions. I have made several pots of this soup over the last 2 years and am sure to make it again a couple of times this winter.

One of our favourite meals to cook at home is lamb that’s marinaded with garlic, oregano, lemon and pepper which we serve with spinach and feta falafels accompanied with pita breads with homemade hummus and tzatziki, with maybe a green salad on the side or some fried rosemary potatoes. We generally make a huge batch of the falafels when we have heaps of spinach in the garden.

I am also a fan of Italian (who isn’t?) and we make a pretty good spag bog (who doesn’t?), lasagna and carbonara. Mexican is also a favourite, and I also make a pretty good chili con carne, but I have recently been making a vego version of it by essentially substituting the mince with diced sweet potatoes and mushrooms. It goes pretty good too.

Another favourite is a good ole’ roast cooked in the weber and on special occasions we might treat ourselves to a chunk of scotch fillet. However as far as pork goes I must say that getting pork crackle right is still hit and miss, mostly hits but I don’t get it perfect every time. This of course is served with a range of vegies with duck fat roast potatoes, or a potato bake, an essential part of these meals.

I guess as a final wrap up of my favourite foods I must mention Christmas time as that is when we all enjoy some of the greatest food we can prepare. It has become tradition for Amy and I to baste a ham with a mustard, marmalade and Jameson glaze, the results are always amazing. Amy also makes a Chocolate Hazelnut Pavlova, the recipe of which we got from Tracey Bye.  We also make a heap of tim tam cheesecake balls and Kruidnoten (a Dutch biscuit associated with Sinterklaas). No Christmas would be complete without a trifle which is my favourite dessert.

The cover picture for this blog is of the pavlova and other Christmas yummies including our tim tam cheesecake balls as well as mums rocky road and lemon slice.

Favourite TV Shows

I guess it’s no surprise that my favourite TV viewing also tends to revolve around food. One of the first cooking shows I fell in love with was The Cook And The Chef which features Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant. I’ve got all of the series on DVD, and it is still regularly shown on the SBS food channel. Another show that I still enjoy is Food Safari with Maeve O’Meara. I also used to enjoy Two Fat Ladies and I’ve got that on DVD somewhere too.

Another food related show I enjoy is Matthew Evans’ Gourmet Farmer, and I am inspired by what he is doing on his ‘Fat Pig Farm’. I have also enjoyed watching his series called What’s the Catch which puts a spotlight on the truth about the seafood industry as well as his series For the Love of Meat which puts a spotlight on the meat industry. I am also keen to read his book, Soil, which was published last year.

I also love watching the likes of Rick Stein and Anthony Bourdain who both combine two of my passions, food and travel. My favourite series by Rick Stein is his Long Weekends series which he did in 2016. We have visiting several of the restaurants and enjoyed some of the dishes he recommends. Rick has also produced TV series that showcase the food in France, the Mediterranean, India, Southeast Asia, Mexico, England and most recently Cornwall which is where he lives.

I love watching Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown series, which is not a cooking show as such, but it does revolve around sharing meals and showcases human stories from many parts of the world that we rarely see or hear about.

I don’t enjoy the reality TV cooking shows however the exception is The Great Australian Bake Off as its just good wholesome people who actually help each other out if needed and they don’t bitch about it. I think that it is on Foxtel now so I can’t watch the latest series.

Favourite Restaurants

In the Riverland you can’t go past Eleni’s at Mallee Estate Wines in Renmark. This is a Greek Restaurant, and we dine there often. We always start with a trio of dips with their pita breads, my favourite dip being Skordalia which is like garlic mashed potato, yum! My favourite dishes are their Keftedes, Spanakopitas, Calamari and their Dolmades (however they haven’t been on the menu for quite some time). If we ever leave room for dessert, which is not often, we will enjoy their Bougatsa which is a Greek semolina custard pastry with fruit syrup.

For the best feed in Loxton, you are best to go to the The Loxton Club, but I guess I can be accused of being biased as I am a board member. Its standard pub fare and the schnitzels are usually pretty good. But we also have an awesome pizza shop, the Loxton Pizza Bar.

The best restaurant in Adelaide is La Trattoria on King William Street and I’ve been eating there for over 20 years. It’s awesome, I love the atmosphere, the staff and their food and we generally eat there whenever we have the opportunity. I usually have a Calzone, but their Spinach Gnocchi is delicious too. As a creature of habit, I know I’ve had other dishes which have all been delicious, but I just can’t go past the Calzone or the Spinach Gnocchi whenever I’m there now.

I must say I am a bit of a Calzone connoisseur and will generally have one whenever I find one on a menu. The best Calzone I’ve ever had was from Caffe Belgiorno in Mount Gambier, another great Italian restaurant.

My love for the Calzone probably stems from a pizza we used to get in Baulkham Hills, it was called a UFO and was essentially a normal pizza with another pizza base on top. So instead of being like a pizza pasty which is a Calzone, it was a whole pizza covered with a pizza. They were only $10 back in the day and you’d generally have to share one with a mate. I reckon we used to get them from Belmonte’s but a look at their menu tells me they don’t do them anymore… but their menu still looks pretty good.

Other restaurants I have enjoyed in Adelaide include House of Chow on Hutt Street, Concubine in Gouger Street and Sosta Argentinian Kitchen and Eros Kafe In Rundle Steet. We also love dining at The Haus in Hahndorf.

For breakfast we love to go to Biga Cafe on Hutt Street (for Eggs Benedict or Pancakes) or Hey Jupiter Brasserie Francaise in Ebenezer Place (but beware their ‘Croque Monsieur’ is a heart attack on a plate but absolutely scrumptious).

In Melbourne my favourite restaurant is Byblos, which overlooks the Yarra but on the opposite side to the Convention Centre and serves Lebanese fare. I recommend having a crack at the Mezza banquet, it’s a massive feed but totally delicious. In Sydney my favourite restaurant would be Nada’s Lebanese Restaurant in Cleveland Street Surry Hills. The food is awesome and its like being in the dining room of a friend’s home. Hmmm, there’s a theme here, yes, I do love middle eastern food. One of my most memorable feeds was at an Iraqi restaurant in Dubai, it was awesome.

I’m also a fan of a pizza, and I love eggs, and I love egg on a pizza. The best egg pizza I’ve had was the ‘Outback Aussie’ from Starvin’ Pizza Bar in Wagga.

But my favourite restaurant of all time is The Pantry, and I’ll dine there at least a couple of times whenever I’m in Amsterdam, just get off the tram at the Leidseplein and its about 2-5 minutes stroll from there. It serves traditional Dutch food that is close to as good as what Oma used to make. You are crammed into the restaurant as its pretty tight but the food, atmosphere, décor and especially the staff are just awesome. I can tell you exactly what I have each time I’m there too, Menu 1, which starts with ‘Pea-soup with rye bread and smoked bacon’, a main of ‘Combination of Hutspot, Boerenkoolstamppot and Zuurkoolstamppot served with a Smoked Sausage or a Meatball’ and a ‘Vlaflip (vanilla custard with yoghurt and fruit syrup)’ for dessert. By the end of all that it’s time to open the top button of your jeans and then roll out of there!

Another favourite restaurant in the Netherlands would be De Mastenbar in Enkhuizen (dad’s hometown). The food there is awesome as is their view over the water of the Ijsselmeer. De Mastenbar has special significance as it is where we celebrated Tante Marie’s 100^th birthday, it was one of the best days of my life.

Other restaurants we have loved overseas include the Gasthaus Krombach in Berlin (we loved it so much we dined there twice), their Kongsberger Klopse was to die for, Harry’s Grill and Seafood Restaurant in Reykjavik (we loved it there so much we ate there twice as well), their lamb tenderloin was the best lamb I’ve ever eaten, bar none, and we also had so much fun one night at the Bier und Bierli in Vienna where the Tafelspitz and Schnitzel were awesome, as was their beer.

One other thing I must mention from overseas are the servo’s in Italy. When our tour guide said we were stopping at the service station for lunch we first thought that was a bit dodgy. How wrong we were and we really shouldn’t have been surprised, we were in Italy where all food is first class! The smorgasbord of food available was absolute gourmet and we looked forward to lunch every day in Italy to see what culinary delights we could choose from. They put the crusty old pie and microwave hotdog that our servo’s offer to shame!

Favourite Bakeries

I used to be a connoisseur of sausage rolls but not so much anymore as I’d be twice the size than I am and I’m fat enough as it is. I used to be able to tell you where all the best sausage rolls could be found south of Adelaide from the Fleurieu down to the Limestone Coast. Back in the day the best sausage roll was found in Victor Harbor, but not anymore.

For me the best pies and sausage rolls are now found at Home Grain Bakery in Middleton (their sour dough bread is awesome too) and in second place would be the pies and sausages rolls from our very own Country Bakehouse here in Loxton.

Any trip down to Middleton is not complete without visiting the Port Elliot Bakery to sample their donut of the month … their other pastries, cakes, pies, sausage rolls and bread are pretty good too. But go there early as the lines can get pretty long.

Favourite Festival Food

Not only is Womad my favourite music festival but we get pretty excited by the food offerings there as well. Amy loves the ‘shrooms from FunGuys but I’m not much of a fan of the ‘shroom. But next week I’ll definitely be visiting some of our favourites and enjoy a gozleme from Ozzie Gözleme or Uz Gözleme and some lukoumades from Lukoumades. I’m also looking forward to enjoying some Afghan delights from Parwana and some Dutch street food from Toetjes. I’m sure we’ll find some other delights to tantalise the taste buds over the 4 days of Womad as well …. I can’t wait!

The favourite food we’ve ever found at Womad was a ‘Meloui’ which was a Moroccan pancake with spinach and feta in it (it was very similar to a gozleme but better), but alas the stall that served them hasn’t been there for several years … but we live in hope and each year we always look for them with the prospect of enjoying it again.

Final Thoughts …

The most important ingredient of any meal is love.

At the end of the day life all comes down to choice. For those of us with the ability to choose what we eat and where we purchase it, we can start to change the world for the better by choosing local produce and eating gods food, not something from a box. A home cooked meal is always the best but its also great to support locally owned restaurants and cafes.

We are not on this Earth for a long time so we may as well enjoy it and for me one of the most pleasurable experiences is enjoying a meal cooked with love, shared with friends and family. I heard someone say something quite profound once and I will share it to end this blog ….

Whilst food is the connection, laughter is the cement.

Now just for a bit of fun I’ve decided to mix two of my passions, food and music, so here’s my top 5 food related songs ….

5. ‘That’s Amore’ by Dean Martin

4. ‘I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts’ by Danny Kaye

3. ‘Banana Pancakes’ by Jack Johnson

2. ‘Pub Feed’ by The Chats

1. ‘Scallops’ by The Herd

With special mention to ‘Weinerschnitzel’ by the Descendents which always features several times in any playlist I’ll put together. Its the best!

I hope you enjoyed this blog and thank you for reading it.

Now I’m off to cook something up, I’m starving!

[1] Hancock, G., quoted from a David Al-Badri film, ‘Rebirth’, 2020, Link Here