Random Ramblings
Something that Neil wrote reminded me of a story from my quick visit to the local supermarket a few weeks back. Occasionally the checkout staff wil not know what a certain fruit or vegetable item is, especially if they are of the more exotic variety for a supermarket item - pomegranate, persimmon, starfruit - and that’s okay with me. This evening, the girl reached the last item in my basket, a bulb of baby fennel. She waved it at me and stated “This is garlic, right?”
That makes me sad.
On a different topic, we visited the Good Food Show last Friday and can I just say what a disappointment that was? $25 per person for entry but there was nothing new to discover. Like others, we tried to purchase individual Boscastle pies but they were only selling them in variety packs, we were rushed out of the Nestle Noir tent after sampling one piece although there was no line, there just seemed to be a general lack of enthusiasm from those manning the stands.
One funny thing though was the Asian stand selling Jasmine rice. They were giving out samples of rice served with a red curry and one woman came up and said “Can we have some curry without the rice? My husband doesn’t eat rice”. You can imagine the look on the server’s face!
June 11th, 2007 at 9:41 am
I must admit I’ve long given up on these shows as they are too crowded for me and it is too weird to pay $25 for the privledge of being sold food by these big companies that can afford to buy stands at these events. The same goes for these wine weekends promoted by the tourism bodies - so many people turn up that the cellar doors turn into refugee camps.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
As a Melburnian living abroad, I love reading your blog and getting homesick….I will be visiting in a few weeks yay!!!! Send Melbourne a big kiss form me. Oh, I LOVE Koko Black, I always go there with my best friend when I visit Melbourne each year.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I was thinking of going to the Food and Wine Show too but the price scared me away. From what I’ve read, lucky I didn’t go.
As for not knowing what garlic looks like, that is very sad. I was equally surprised when little kids didn’t know the names of most vegetables on the show Jamie’s School Dinners. I knew all my vegetables when I was in primary school, even if I didn’t like to eat them.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Here In Seattle we have a big food festival called Bite Of Seattle that is supposed to celebrate the culinary offerings of the state of Washington. It’s always a mediocre, overpriced, overpacked affair with the hordes of people who don’t seem to care about the quality of food just the quantity. I don’t even bother going anymore. It’s too bad. Food festivals could be such a good thing done properly.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Hmmm, fennel as garlic, so long as the price is right. I have to confess that one time I was buying some limes in a nameless supermarket (okay, it was Coles) and the checkout chick put them through as cheaper lemons. Was it wrong of me to say nothing?
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I went to the Good Food and Wine show here in Melbourne a few years ago. It is fairly expensive, I agree. The highlight for me was seeing the ‘celebrity’ chefs, I love Ainsley and Donna Hay. The only other good thing is the deals you can get on magazine subscriptions, but really, with the price of the tickets you aren’t really saving much are you? Needless to say, I don’t go to the food show any more. It’s a lot of hype over nothing.