Italian Food Safari

When it comes to food related shows on TV, Food Safari is my favourite, hands down. Over the years Maeve O'Meara has done a fantastic job of presenting cuisines from countries as diverse as Mauritius to Mexico.

Although I was sad to see that tonight was the last episode of Matthew Evans' Gourmet Farmer, I was over the moon to find out that it was being replaced with a new series of Food Safari. And just for something different, there's a twist with this series - it's all Italian. Guy Grossi from Grossi Florentino will be joining Maeve every week to tell us all there is to know about Italian food. I can't wait - tune in for the first episode next Thursday night at 7.30pm on SBSONE.

If you do happen to watch the new Italian Food Safari, make sure you keep watching at 8pm for the new series of Costa's Garden Odyssey. I'm hoping the second series will be just as interesting as the first - Costa is a very entertaining host.

Italian Food Safari
Thursday 18 March 2010, 7.30pm SBSONE
W - http://www.sbs.com.au/food/foodsafari

Costa's Garden Odyssey
Thursday 18 March 2010, 8pm SBSONE
W - http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/costa/about/page/i/2/show/costa

Luke Nguyen's Vietnam

Unfortunately my favourite food show of the moment, My Family Feast, has now finished up. Luckily for all of us though, the great people at SBS have replaced it with another food show - Luke Nguyen's Vietnam.

Luke Nguyen was born in Vietnam, but is now the chef and owner of Red Lantern restaurant in Sydney (I still haven't made it there yet). I watched the first episode last week, and he cooked some amazing dishes around Saigon - he makes them look so easy. The beef with wild betel leaf and lemongrass that he cooked on a street vendor's little van looked particularly tasty.

If you love Vietnamese food, then its definitely worth adding to your viewing schedule - Thursday nights at 7.30pm on SBS1. And stay tuned afterwards for Costa's Garden Odyssey, which is the most entertaining gardening show I've ever seen on TV - I'm hooked.

Luke Nguyen also seems to have a new cookbook out, called The Songs of Sapa, which I've been eyeing off at Borders. I think it will find its way into my cookbook collection sooner or later...

Luke Nguyen's Vietnam
Thursday nights, 7.30pm - SBS1
W - http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/lukenguyen

Celebrity MasterChef

In case you haven't seen the ads on Ten, Celebrity MasterChef kicks off this Wednesday night, 30 September 2009 at 7.30pm.

18 people have signed up for this series, including our Premier Anna Bligh, Alex Lloyd, George Negus, Peter Rowsthorn and Fuzzy Agolley from Video Hits. I expect it will be a bit less serious than the 'real' MasterChef, and hopefully there's a good enough mix of contestants to keep us all interested.

Celebrity MasterChef
W - http://www.masterchef.com.au/

My Family Feast

SBS make some terrific food shows - Food Safari is probably my favourite food show of all time. So I hope that My Family Feast turns out to be just as good.


Each week, chef Sean Connolly (the host) visits a different family and gets to help out with the preparation of traditional food. As with Food Safari, My Family Feast covers a diverse range of cuisines, including Italian, Mandean Iraqi, Vietnamese (I can't wait for that episode), Cuban and Burmese.

The first episode kicks off next Thursday night on SBS One at 7.30pm, and focuses on Congolese food in Sydney. I'm hoping SBS puts the recipes up on their website, because it sounds like there's going to be some cracking food over the course of the show. I'm really looking forward to it.

My Family Feast
7.30pm Thursdays
SBS ONE
First Episode on 27 August 2009

My Kitchen Rules

Think you could show Julie, Poh or Chris a thing or two in the kitchen? Then find a friend and get your entry in for My Kitchen Rules.

My Kitchen Rules seems to be the Seven network's attempt to ride on the enormous publicity of MasterChef. There are a few differences though with My Kitchen Rules. First of all you'll have to find a partner, as you need a team of two. The other big difference is that the food gets cooked in your own kitchen, which will be interesting as I'm sure there will be some pretty unique kitchens around the country.

If your brother/girlfriend/mum/postman is a kitchen maestro, then get your entry in today. You'll need to submit your entry through the My Kitchen Rules casting website.

Tour de France Finale at Limes Hotel

If you're a fan of the Tour de France, Limes Hotel in the Valley will be showing the final stage from 10pm on Sunday night, at its rooftop cinema. While I've been really enjoying the Tour, drinking cocktails on a Sunday night sounds particularly dangerous for work on Monday morning. If you're lucky enough to have Monday off, or have a very understanding boss, it sounds like a very civilised way to watch the peleton ride into Paris.

Limes Hotel
142 Constance Street
Fortitude Valley 4006
P - 07 3852 9000
E - info@limeshotel.com.au
W - http://www.limeshotel.com.au/

MasterChef

So what does everyone think of MasterChef so far?

Here are my thoughts, after diligently watching it for most of the last two weeks:

• It seems compulsory to say "Yeah" at the end of most sentences - eg "You've really got to concentrate, Yeah?"
• Why is there a host? The three judges are more than enough to keep the show interesting
• Does it really need to be so strung out? I can't believe they managed to stretch out the voting the other night for a whole episode. I've decided only to watch MasterChef after its been taped, so I can skip through all the repeated bits either side of an ad break
• I wish I had entered
• Why does the starting time and length of the show seem to change every night? I can't keep track of when it's going to be on
• George is brilliant
• Why is Justine never shown in any footage? This is an outrage! Please send your protests directly to Channel Ten
• Is it just me, or does Linda think she is a young Cate Blanchett?
• I can't decide who I want to win yet. At the moment I like Sandra, Justine & Trevor

Anyway I hope it stays interesting. I think everyone is starting to realise just how competitive it's going to be. It's about time there was a decent food show on every night of the week.

MasterChef Australia

It doesn't seem that long ago when I put up a post for budding chefs to become contestants on MasterChef Australia, but the show starts on Monday night - 7.30pm on Channel Ten.

Channel Ten's website gives this rundown on their new show:

Thousands of applications flooded in from across the country. Students, mums, professional sportsmen, solicitors, nurses and cleaners all applied. Young and old, each came prepared with raw talent and enthusiasm to leave their old life behind and enter the kitchen with one driving aim: To become Australia's first ever MasterChef.

Hosted by Sarah Wilson, MasterChef Australia gives budding chefs the ultimate once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop their cooking skills, to be mentored by the best, and ultimately make a change in their lives.

I'm really looking forward to it. No doubt there will be some disasters (which are usually great to watch), but at the same time I love to see people whipping up some amazing dishes under loads of pressure.

Judging by my quick glance of the tv guide today, it looks like the episodes this week will cover the audition process around Australia. That should definitely make for some interesting viewing. Hopefully we'll all still be watching it this time next week.

Susan the Providore

I know it's a bit of a tenuous link for a food blog, but I really love the new CGU ad, featuring the fast-rhyming Susan the Providore. If you haven't seen the ad yet, you can watch it here. It was filmed at the Rosalie Gourmet Market, so I suppose that justifies my post. Why can't there be more original ads like this one?

By the way, if you've never been, Rosalie Gourmet Market is definitely worth a visit. It's the perfect spot to drop into next time you're driving off to a long, lazy picnic.

Food Safari

Food Safari is my favourite Australian food show. I think the reason I enjoy it so much is because you can sense that Maeve is having such a good time with every single episode, no matter what country's food is in the spotlight.

So I was really happy to read today that a new season of Food Safari kicks off on Wednesday night. Apparently the first episode is all about South America, and it looks like Peru will get a mention.

If you haven't watched Food Safari before, put it in your diary for Wednesday night. Maeve O'Mara is a terrific host, and the food is always tantalising.

Food Safari
7.30pm Wednesday nights, SBS
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/show/food-safari