Grown and Gathered

One of the greatest things about returning home to Melbourne has been discovering new food producers and suppliers. As someone obsessed with vegetables, and in particular the locally grown, organic variety, I was super excited to find Grown and Gathered.

Owned by Matt and Lentil, the couple grow organic veggies, herbs, fruit and flowers (over 500 varieties!) from their one acre farm where they operate a sustainable closed loop system (read more here). They supply some of Melbourne's best restaurants and florists, and now they also sell direct to the public with a weekly veggie box drop off on Thursday nights.

I ordered last week and was blown away by the quality of the produce. Beautiful coloured carrots, the most aromatic basil I've ever smelt, bok choy, edible flowers, beetroots, salad greens and so much more were all lovingly wrapped up for me to collect. 

It was great to meet the people who grew, cared for, harvested, wrapped and packed my food. If you live near one of their weekly drop off points I highly recommend ditching the supermarket and ordering from these guys. You simply place your order by the Tuesday night before, pay online, and then pick up between 5 - 7pm. It is so much nicer, and potentially way quicker, than going to Coles/Woolworths, and the produce is top quality - it tastes how food should taste! 

Check Matt and Lentil's work out here. 

An evening at Kumari's

One of the best things I did in India was take a cooking class led by Kumari at her home in Kerala. Kumari is a local woman who makes amazing food based on traditional recipes, using local ingredients including her own coconuts, milk from her cows, and heaps of fresh herbs from her garden.

Over the course of two hours, we watched and took notes while Kumari cooked around 15 dishes for us to eat for dinner. She explained traditional methods of cooking, including thorans, curry, dal and chutney. Cardamom, mustard seeds, curry leaves, garlic and onion featured heavily.

After the food was ready, we ate the meal served on banana leaves in Kumari's backyard, who would check on us regularly to make sure we had enough food (which was definitely not a problem, we needed more stomach space!). A generous and vivacious host, we returned the next morning to have brunch with even more local foods including pancakes and banana curry, and to hear more of Kumari's stories.

If you are ever in Kerala, in the south near Varkala, I recommend tracking Kumari down. She doesn't advertise and has even refused to be included in Lonely Planet. But most people near South Cliff would know of her, so you can always ask your accommodation provider to call and book for you.

I heard about Kumari from the place I stayed called Soul & Surf - a yoga and surfing resort run by two Brits that was a truly wonderful and relaxing place to start our trip. With a healthy cafe on site that provides breakfast, daily morning trips to the beach to surf and yoga sessions at sunset on the rooftop, it is a pretty idyllic place and has a lovely community feel. Lots of the other guests had been previous years and had returned for more, which is always a good sign!

Confessions of a fussy, flying foodie

The first thing I packed for my recent trip to Berlin was not the typical essentials like my passport or plane tickets. It was a 500g bag of quinoa and some rice cakes.

For the past eight weeks, I’ve been on a dietician-imposed elimination diet that has meant no gluten, lactose or fructose and saying goodbye to a whole range of vegetables and legumes for two months. It was overwhelming at first. But after feeling bloated and nauseas every afternoon for many months I was up for the challenge in the hope of determining the culprit.

After an initial shock factor, it has been surprisingly easy (although admittedly time-consuming and a little tedious) to maintain. Except when it has come to eating out. With such complex dietary requirements, I’ve been housebound at mealtimes. So you can imagine the anxiety I felt when my long-anticipated Berlin holiday fell just before the end of the elimination phase.

Luckily for me, and anyone else with allergies, intolerances or simply certain food preferences, Berlin has come up with the (gluten-free) goods that will allow even the fussiest of eaters to enjoy their city break.

Self-Catering

Firstly, for those planning to cook, there’s no need to waste precious luggage space on food supplies. Quinoa, rice cakes and all kinds of gluten and lactose-free foods, as well as fruit, vegetables, baking goods, cheese and more, can be found at Bio Company, an organic whole food supermarket chain with 26 locations across Berlin. If one isn’t near you, there are locally run whole food stores in most neighbourhoods. For fresh produce, the brilliant Turkish Market along the canal in Kreuzberg is on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Further north a recently revived market hall, Markthalle IX, plays host to a lively food market Thursday nights and all day Friday and Saturday. Local farmers and food producers attend, so you can pick up artisan cheese or bread to take away, or linger and enjoy melt-in-your-mouth pulled pork from Big Stuff Smoked BBQ, vegan burgers from Kantine Neun or smoked fish from Glut & Spaene.

Images: Flowers at theTurkish Market from Stil in Berlin,  Big Stuff Smoked BBQ from Berlin Food Stories, stalls setting up at Markthalle IX from Colour Me Blind, fresh produce and delicious cuisine at Markthalle IX from Stil in Berlin.

Breakfast 

For Aussie-style breakky, try Melbourne Canteen in Kreuzberg. Eggs are cooked how you like them and served alongside a mix-and-match selection of delicious sides including perfectly crispy bacon, cherry tomatoes and garlic mushrooms. The menu is in both German and English, handy for those of us not so familiar with Deutsch and trying to avoid certain foods. As you would expect from a café inspired by Melbourne, the coffee is also exceptional.

Image: Exterior of Melbourne Canteen from the blog Berlin Day Life.

Lunch/Dinner

Further down the same road is Lupus, a café/restaurant open all day serving locally sourced, organic dishes. The menu offers lots of gluten-free and vegan options alongside meat dishes, catering for everyone. With a beautiful, rustic interior, and ample outdoor seating, it’s the kind of place where a breakfast of quinoa-cranberry museli could very quickly turn into an evening of black bean burgers and cucumber pomegranate salad.

For dinner, my favourite spot was Vietnamese restaurant Chi Chu located on the lovely green square of Laustizer Platz. Choose from inexpensive, fresh Pho soups or one of the many rice and veggie variations. Sit outside and enjoy the buzz of the neighbourhood as the day fades away.

Images: Lupus via Unlike, food at Chi Chu via Tip Berlin. 

After a week exploring Berlin’s food scene I hadn’t even scratched the surface. But I did discover there is something for every taste and budget, unlike London no hour-long queues at the hotspots, and plenty of healthy, wholesome meal opportunities to satisfy even the fussiest of foodies.

Details:

Turkish Market, Maybachufer, 12047

Markthalle IX, Eisenbahnstasse, 10997

Melbourne Canteen, Pannierstrasse 57, 12047

Lupus, Pannierstrasse 40, 12047

Chi Chu, Laustizer Platz 14, 10997

What's in a name? The mysteries of organic food

Image via the wonderful instagram feed 16House

The word organic has been thrown around a lot in recent years, promoted by everyone from wholesome gardeners and cooks to high-end health centres and celebrities. But what does it really mean for food to be organic? Is it worth the extra price and what are the benefits?

I explored these questions in my latest article for The Australian Times, you can read it in full here.

Sparrow Kitchen

All images by @sparrowkitchen on Instagram.

One of my favourite sources for food inspiration recently has been the instagram feed @sparrowkitchen. By Tommy who blogs at Fatale here, (and used to blog at This is Naive, which is sadly no longer active), there is a wealth of beautiful images that combine excellent food styling, exceptional produce and exciting cuisine. The text that accompanies the images is just as interesting and definitely worth a look/read.

a healthy status

Image from my old food blog Food We Made.

Healthy living is without a doubt expensive, especially if you go down the path of raw, organic, superfoods, vitamin supplements, detox retreats and yoga. But this doesn't mean you need to be a rich or famous to lead a healthy life. A lot of what we are told is essential for wellbeing is really just luxury and frills, looking beyond these it is possible to eat simple, nutritious food. It just requires a bit of planning and some know-how in the kitchen.

Recently I wrote some tips on how to eat healthy when on a budget over at The Australian Times, you can read the full article here. 

high in rotation

A few recipes that are in high rotation in my kitchen at the moment.



Buckwheat crepes from Canal House Every Day

I adapted the recipe to be gluten free by using all buckwheat flour instead of the mix suggested. They are still a great consistency and just as delicious as the wheat versions. These are really quick and easy to prepare, and if you are in a real push you can skip the resting time and they will still turn out. It's as simple as combining 1.5 cups of buckwheat flour, 1.5 cups of water and 3 eggs, mixing until smooth and then pouring onto a warm frying pan. Cook for a few minutes until they look about right.

My favourite topping is some grated cheddar cheese (added to the crepe while still warm on the pan so it melts), mustard and fresh rocket. Also can be made into a dessert by putting a small amount of home-made chocolate (see this post for tips), letting it melt and spreading all over. Tastes very delicious and decadent.

Image source: Canal House




Super Crispy Roast Chicken from It's All Good

This has been a Sunday night favourite. I buy my chicken from Ginger Pig via Hubbub or from Meat N16. This is another super simple recipe that tastes amazing. All you need to do is clean the chicken, rub butter/coconut oil, salt and pepper on both sides, stuff with half a lemon and garlic, and pop in the oven for 1.5 hours, basting every 30 min. The best tip is at the end, add half a cup of boiling water to the pan and scrape up all the delicious roasted bits to make a kind of gravy. Pour this over the chicken meat to serve.

Image source: Goop





Coconut Butter from I Quit Sugar 

This recipe makes you feel like a magician. You take a bag of shredded coconut, put it in your food processor or high-powered blender, and let it mix on high for about 10 - 15 minutes, scraping down as needed. After this time it will turn into a really creamy liquid that you can then pop in the fridge. It tastes amazing, a truly creamy coconut treat!

Image source: The I Quit Sugar Pinterest Page