I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. Each year I attempt to get it finished before the first week of December so I don’t have to hurl myself into the fray of frantic shoppers in mid-December.
I also try to attempt some homemade goodies for people and so spent the weekend making blackberry and vanilla jam and strawberry, lime and rosewater jam. All the pots set but I fear the blackberry might be more jelly-like than jam-ish.
I have also been thinking back to Christmas last year, the time when Australians were starting to get concerned about the impact of the GFC on Australia. I reckon I will spend this year around about what I spent last year, although I can’t be entirely sure as I generally fail to set myself a Christmas budget.
In this respect I am pretty typical, according to poll Ipsos did in October of this year.
We polled 1045 Australians and ask them the following:
To what extent, if at all, will you change your Christmas spending this year compared with last year as a result of the current economic environment?
48% of respondents said ‘the same’.
There were some big spenders in the sample, with 5% reporting ‘a lot more’, and 12% ‘a little more’ (remember last year’s Christmas sales were better than expected …).
23% reported ‘a little less’ and 11% ‘a lot less’.
Consumer sentiment is certainly up compared with the beginning of the year and our most recent round of fieldwork showed consumers generally believe we are over the worst of the GFC.
And yet other research has predicted gloomier results this Christmas.
http://www.westpac.com.au/docs/pdf/aw/economics-research/er20091116BullAusConsumXmasSpending.pdf
http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/managing/christmas-cheer-in-short-supply-20091116-ihcn.html
Why might this be the case?
Well, we have been saying to our clients that despite the fact consumers aren’t focused on the GFC, that doesn’t mean they aren’t concerned about cutting costs. Indeed many feel there have been important lessons to be learned from the entire GFC experience, particularly in the area of over-the-top consumption and credit card debt.
Not to mention the fact consumer may well be in savings mode for bigger purchases like cars, home renovations and holidays, plans that may have been shelved this year but put back on the agenda in 2010.
It could be shaping up to be a merry but frugal Christmas.
Kylie, pork and 'free range'
This morning I took my feverish but bored daughter for a walk across Sydney University and a quick visit to Eveleigh Farmers Markets.
http://www.eveleighmarkets.com.au/
Like so many food markets they are a mixture of stuff you can get at any top end deli and stalls selling produce from actual, you know, farmers. As my friend James (who has just moved up the street) commented, they aren’t exactly like the Victoria Markets or the Adelaide Central Markets, but they are a decent start.
Anyhow, I procured a baby chino with marshmallows from the Toby’s Estate stall to keep Sofia occupied as I poked around. Walking in front of one stall I heard a voice say to me “Your daughter has just tipped her drink all over herself”. Indeed she had and the observant individual was none other than the gorgeous Kylie Kwong.
I asked her why she was at the markets and she said she was there to help her friends from Perfect Pasture, who supply her with her pork for her restaurant.
It seems Kwong has had some bad experiences with pork suppliers in the past.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/how-kylie-kwong-got-it-wrong/2009/11/10/1257615040211.html
What a champ that she fixed the issue and now seems to be working directly with Perfect Pasture to spruik their offerings.
Anyhow, while my daughter happily sat in a pool of marshmallow froth, I chatted to the lady from Perfect Pasture – Miriam - about their farming processes and their wonderful produce.
The whole issue of how free range and organic gets marketed to consumers is a serious issue. (Note that in his book, How Good Are You? marketing journalist Julian Lee covers this whole issue in some depth).
It seems that the suppliers that take ‘free range’ and ‘organic’ seriously go to an enormous amount of effort and expense. Those who cut corners are damaging the image of the entire sector. They profit from the label and any good will around the issue. If they are exposed as not being truly organic or free range the revelation simply feeds strong consumer perceptions that they can’t trust food claims. This is sometimes used as justification by consumers to continue to buy conventionally produced foods or simply block out any questions or queries around how their food is produced.
We encounter these issues time and again in the research we do on food for Ipsos Mackay.
I still believe that organic, free and cruelty free products need to be supported. I buy as much of them as I can find, trust and afford. But we have to start asking more questions of the people who make and sell us our food to ensure integrity in claims about ‘organic’ and ‘free range’.
One of the great things about Eveleigh is now I have made a connection with a producer and when I see their products I can buy them without any niggling doubts about authenticity.
For more on Perfect Pasture see:
http://pastureperfectpork.wordpress.com
I bought $10 worth of the most wonderful fennel and pork sausage, which I sliced and served with apple paste and crackers, a side of roasted balsamic and thyme tomatoes and a salad of avocado, cucumber, lettuce, walnuts and orange segments.
When Daniel and I were in Florence – too many years ago – we enjoyed a very simply entrée of fennel sausage, pecorino and bread at a restaurant we stumbled across with our friends Pete and Sarah. This sausage came very close to that!
http://www.eveleighmarkets.com.au/
Like so many food markets they are a mixture of stuff you can get at any top end deli and stalls selling produce from actual, you know, farmers. As my friend James (who has just moved up the street) commented, they aren’t exactly like the Victoria Markets or the Adelaide Central Markets, but they are a decent start.
Anyhow, I procured a baby chino with marshmallows from the Toby’s Estate stall to keep Sofia occupied as I poked around. Walking in front of one stall I heard a voice say to me “Your daughter has just tipped her drink all over herself”. Indeed she had and the observant individual was none other than the gorgeous Kylie Kwong.
I asked her why she was at the markets and she said she was there to help her friends from Perfect Pasture, who supply her with her pork for her restaurant.
It seems Kwong has had some bad experiences with pork suppliers in the past.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/how-kylie-kwong-got-it-wrong/2009/11/10/1257615040211.html
What a champ that she fixed the issue and now seems to be working directly with Perfect Pasture to spruik their offerings.
Anyhow, while my daughter happily sat in a pool of marshmallow froth, I chatted to the lady from Perfect Pasture – Miriam - about their farming processes and their wonderful produce.
The whole issue of how free range and organic gets marketed to consumers is a serious issue. (Note that in his book, How Good Are You? marketing journalist Julian Lee covers this whole issue in some depth).
It seems that the suppliers that take ‘free range’ and ‘organic’ seriously go to an enormous amount of effort and expense. Those who cut corners are damaging the image of the entire sector. They profit from the label and any good will around the issue. If they are exposed as not being truly organic or free range the revelation simply feeds strong consumer perceptions that they can’t trust food claims. This is sometimes used as justification by consumers to continue to buy conventionally produced foods or simply block out any questions or queries around how their food is produced.
We encounter these issues time and again in the research we do on food for Ipsos Mackay.
I still believe that organic, free and cruelty free products need to be supported. I buy as much of them as I can find, trust and afford. But we have to start asking more questions of the people who make and sell us our food to ensure integrity in claims about ‘organic’ and ‘free range’.
One of the great things about Eveleigh is now I have made a connection with a producer and when I see their products I can buy them without any niggling doubts about authenticity.
For more on Perfect Pasture see:
http://pastureperfectpork.wordpress.com
I bought $10 worth of the most wonderful fennel and pork sausage, which I sliced and served with apple paste and crackers, a side of roasted balsamic and thyme tomatoes and a salad of avocado, cucumber, lettuce, walnuts and orange segments.
When Daniel and I were in Florence – too many years ago – we enjoyed a very simply entrée of fennel sausage, pecorino and bread at a restaurant we stumbled across with our friends Pete and Sarah. This sausage came very close to that!
What's in your repertoire?
In the last two days I have been doing a lot of radio commenting on a report called “Last Night’s Dinner”.
The report is available here.
http://www.mla.com.au/TopicHierarchy/News/MediaReleases/What+did+you+have+for+dinner+last+night.htm
And see the following link for a news story on the report:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26363511-421,00.html
We know from this report and many others we have done at Ipsos Mackay that despite being surrounded by food inspiration, when it gets down to it most cooks rely on a revolving repertoire of tried and true, somewhat traditional meals.
According to the study, commissioned by the Meat and Livestock Australia, our top four meals are (in this order): steak and veggies, roast chicken and veggies, spag bog and beef stew.
Why are we so traditional? Lots of reasons I believe. First of all everyday cooks tend to enjoy the kinds of meals they ate when they were children and so old food habits die hard. Also if you are cooking for children you want meals that you know are easy to prepare and have worked in the past, so you are driven by what’s familiar and reliable. This tends to work against any desire to experiment wildly with new ingredients and techniques.
It seems the weekend and special occasions are when everyday cooks are prepared to get a bit crazy in the kitchen. If something works and the family likes it and it is not too time consuming or expensive to prepare, then it might be added to the repertoire.
What’s for dinner at my house tonight? Well, those people who know me know that it’s always something a bit different every night but tonight I am out doing some research so Sofia will have a fish and veggie braise with mashed potato and Daniel will have orange and chilli pork with broccoli and rice. I will have a cheese sandwich.
The report is available here.
http://www.mla.com.au/TopicHierarchy/News/MediaReleases/What+did+you+have+for+dinner+last+night.htm
And see the following link for a news story on the report:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26363511-421,00.html
We know from this report and many others we have done at Ipsos Mackay that despite being surrounded by food inspiration, when it gets down to it most cooks rely on a revolving repertoire of tried and true, somewhat traditional meals.
According to the study, commissioned by the Meat and Livestock Australia, our top four meals are (in this order): steak and veggies, roast chicken and veggies, spag bog and beef stew.
Why are we so traditional? Lots of reasons I believe. First of all everyday cooks tend to enjoy the kinds of meals they ate when they were children and so old food habits die hard. Also if you are cooking for children you want meals that you know are easy to prepare and have worked in the past, so you are driven by what’s familiar and reliable. This tends to work against any desire to experiment wildly with new ingredients and techniques.
It seems the weekend and special occasions are when everyday cooks are prepared to get a bit crazy in the kitchen. If something works and the family likes it and it is not too time consuming or expensive to prepare, then it might be added to the repertoire.
What’s for dinner at my house tonight? Well, those people who know me know that it’s always something a bit different every night but tonight I am out doing some research so Sofia will have a fish and veggie braise with mashed potato and Daniel will have orange and chilli pork with broccoli and rice. I will have a cheese sandwich.
The New Wolf in Chef's Clothing
Further thoughts provoked by looking through my odd cookbook collection.
Browsing through a second hand bookshop one day I discovered a real gem of a cookbook from ‘the bachelor kitchen’ genre. Entitled The New Wolf in Chef’s Clothing, this recipe collection looks like a kids cartoon book. It is in fact a step-by-step cooking guide in which the central protagonist is a cartoon wolf (a reflection of the predatory lothario hidden in every male).
Written by Robert H. Loeb, a former Esquire cook and drink editor and published in 1958, the book is dedicated by the author to: ‘my father, and my father’s father, and my father’s father’s father, right back to Adam, all of whom spent their lives as the passive victims of feminine culinary caprice’. Ah, here is cooking as Adam’s retribution against Eve’s original sin. Adam is tossing that apple right back in Eve’s face in the form of a tarte tatin. Indeed, Loeb says the purpose of his book is ‘to liberate the male, to unshackle him from the role of refrigerator vulture, pantry pirate, from being a parasitic gourmet forced to feed on the leftovers of female cookery’.
The book’s focus is on entertaining, wooing women through cookery and booze concoctions, BBQing, meat dishes and canapés to have at soirees of various kinds. No everyday cooking, no cooking for the kids or in-laws or meals to impress the boss. Menus are graded according to type of date (and I don’t mean the central ingredient in a sticky pudding). If she’s athletic, make her the mignon et béarnaise, if she’s an indoor type, the lamb chops etc, All gastronomic foreplay until Mr. Wolf settles down with Miss Wolf, who will promptly take her place at the stove, transforming the bachelor kitchen into domesticated space.
This book is wonderful and makes me laugh. The men’s cook books and new bloke cooking shows of today are vastly more sophisticated in their approach than The New Wolf in Chef’s Clothing. Today’s bachelor kitchen is not untouched by feminism. Indeed both Jamie Oliver and a celeb chef like Bill Granger do deal with family cooking and cooking for kids. Granger in particular projects an image of a competent dad in the kitchen, serving up every day meals to his wife and kids with his phosphorescent smile and unbesmerched white t-shirt. Ian ‘Hewy’ Hewitson is another example, albeit one that appeals more to the mature cook, whose dishes are primarily everyday fodder for the busy family.
And yet the whole idea that men need to be enticed into the kitchen with the promise of danger, fun and sex is still something that persists in food media aimed at men.
I know a lot of men who cook would disagree with me …
Browsing through a second hand bookshop one day I discovered a real gem of a cookbook from ‘the bachelor kitchen’ genre. Entitled The New Wolf in Chef’s Clothing, this recipe collection looks like a kids cartoon book. It is in fact a step-by-step cooking guide in which the central protagonist is a cartoon wolf (a reflection of the predatory lothario hidden in every male).
Written by Robert H. Loeb, a former Esquire cook and drink editor and published in 1958, the book is dedicated by the author to: ‘my father, and my father’s father, and my father’s father’s father, right back to Adam, all of whom spent their lives as the passive victims of feminine culinary caprice’. Ah, here is cooking as Adam’s retribution against Eve’s original sin. Adam is tossing that apple right back in Eve’s face in the form of a tarte tatin. Indeed, Loeb says the purpose of his book is ‘to liberate the male, to unshackle him from the role of refrigerator vulture, pantry pirate, from being a parasitic gourmet forced to feed on the leftovers of female cookery’.
The book’s focus is on entertaining, wooing women through cookery and booze concoctions, BBQing, meat dishes and canapés to have at soirees of various kinds. No everyday cooking, no cooking for the kids or in-laws or meals to impress the boss. Menus are graded according to type of date (and I don’t mean the central ingredient in a sticky pudding). If she’s athletic, make her the mignon et béarnaise, if she’s an indoor type, the lamb chops etc, All gastronomic foreplay until Mr. Wolf settles down with Miss Wolf, who will promptly take her place at the stove, transforming the bachelor kitchen into domesticated space.
This book is wonderful and makes me laugh. The men’s cook books and new bloke cooking shows of today are vastly more sophisticated in their approach than The New Wolf in Chef’s Clothing. Today’s bachelor kitchen is not untouched by feminism. Indeed both Jamie Oliver and a celeb chef like Bill Granger do deal with family cooking and cooking for kids. Granger in particular projects an image of a competent dad in the kitchen, serving up every day meals to his wife and kids with his phosphorescent smile and unbesmerched white t-shirt. Ian ‘Hewy’ Hewitson is another example, albeit one that appeals more to the mature cook, whose dishes are primarily everyday fodder for the busy family.
And yet the whole idea that men need to be enticed into the kitchen with the promise of danger, fun and sex is still something that persists in food media aimed at men.
I know a lot of men who cook would disagree with me …
The cost of food
In August of this year, Ipsos Mackay released a report entitled We Are What We Eat. The report is based on a series of 16 group discussions with Australian men and women ranging in age from early 20s to mid-70s, conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Wollongong, Geelong and Bunbury in July 2009.
One of the many findings from that report was that Australian consumers believed that they pay more than they used to for food and more than they should.
The not-so-humble lamb chop seemed to be a litmus test for how much food prices have shot up. Older consumers in particular recalled that the lamb chop used to be a cheap cut for family dinners whereas now little French-cut lamb chops are as expensive as anything, more like dinner party fare.
In the context of this report, who did consumers blame for these increasing costs? Well, the lack of supermarket competition for one.
The following story shows consumer perception may have some justification with new OECD figures showing Australia has the fastest rising food prices of any major developed nation.
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,26323275-5017313,00.html
As this story shows, Associate Professor Frank Zumbo, an academic at UNSW in business law and taxation, agrees with consumer sentiment and blames the lack of competition in the supermarket sector.
Perhaps more concerning than rising food prices is the growing consumer perception that it is cheaper to eat fast and unhealthy food than it is to eat healthy food. More than taste and convenience, it now seems economically rational to opt for bad pizza and burgers over home cooked, healthy dinners.
One of the many findings from that report was that Australian consumers believed that they pay more than they used to for food and more than they should.
The not-so-humble lamb chop seemed to be a litmus test for how much food prices have shot up. Older consumers in particular recalled that the lamb chop used to be a cheap cut for family dinners whereas now little French-cut lamb chops are as expensive as anything, more like dinner party fare.
In the context of this report, who did consumers blame for these increasing costs? Well, the lack of supermarket competition for one.
The following story shows consumer perception may have some justification with new OECD figures showing Australia has the fastest rising food prices of any major developed nation.
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,26323275-5017313,00.html
As this story shows, Associate Professor Frank Zumbo, an academic at UNSW in business law and taxation, agrees with consumer sentiment and blames the lack of competition in the supermarket sector.
Perhaps more concerning than rising food prices is the growing consumer perception that it is cheaper to eat fast and unhealthy food than it is to eat healthy food. More than taste and convenience, it now seems economically rational to opt for bad pizza and burgers over home cooked, healthy dinners.
Buon Appetito Your Holiness
A few years ago I started collecting quirky cookbooks and books about food. One prized possession is a book by two Italians, Mariangela Rinaldi and Mariangela Vicini called Buon Appetito, Your Holiness: the Secrets of the Papal Table.
http://www.arcadepub.com/book/?GCOI=55970100093110
The book is a history of what popes have eaten since St Peter, but also includes some historical and biographical information about each Pope, their time in power and the society they ruled over.
Unsurprisingly, I particularly liked the section on Pope Joan, who does not feature among the official list of Popes but m,any argue was Pope nonetheless from 855-858. She, of course, posed as a man during that time, but was undone when she gave birth to a baby boy right in the middle of a religious procession, after which she was stoned to death.
Some say this was all a fabrication – there was no Pope Joan. Merely a story to dissuade cross dressing or women aspiring to the heights position in the Catholic Church?
According to Rinaldi and Vicini, Pope Joan loved exotic, flavoursome and spicy dishes and these elements are at work in one of the recipes they include in her section ‘Pope Joan’s Fruit Salad’ The salad contains, among other things, dried figs and dates, pistachios and walnuts, honey and kirsch served with yoghurt or whipped cream.
The book stops at John Paul II. His section includes a lot of polish dishes naturally.
What might a section on the current pope involve?
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802029.htm
The story here above covers the menu for Pope Benedict’s 81th birthday, which sees him bypass German food for Italian cuisine from the Emilia-Romagna district of Italy.
This blog post from the US covers another dinner celebrating the Pope’s 81st birthday, less emphasis on Italian cuisine here.
http://www.cakehead.com/archives/2008/04/menu_suggestion.html
If I was cooking for Pope Benedict, I know exactly what I would serve him.
A piece of my mind.
http://www.arcadepub.com/book/?GCOI=55970100093110
The book is a history of what popes have eaten since St Peter, but also includes some historical and biographical information about each Pope, their time in power and the society they ruled over.
Unsurprisingly, I particularly liked the section on Pope Joan, who does not feature among the official list of Popes but m,any argue was Pope nonetheless from 855-858. She, of course, posed as a man during that time, but was undone when she gave birth to a baby boy right in the middle of a religious procession, after which she was stoned to death.
Some say this was all a fabrication – there was no Pope Joan. Merely a story to dissuade cross dressing or women aspiring to the heights position in the Catholic Church?
According to Rinaldi and Vicini, Pope Joan loved exotic, flavoursome and spicy dishes and these elements are at work in one of the recipes they include in her section ‘Pope Joan’s Fruit Salad’ The salad contains, among other things, dried figs and dates, pistachios and walnuts, honey and kirsch served with yoghurt or whipped cream.
The book stops at John Paul II. His section includes a lot of polish dishes naturally.
What might a section on the current pope involve?
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802029.htm
The story here above covers the menu for Pope Benedict’s 81th birthday, which sees him bypass German food for Italian cuisine from the Emilia-Romagna district of Italy.
This blog post from the US covers another dinner celebrating the Pope’s 81st birthday, less emphasis on Italian cuisine here.
http://www.cakehead.com/archives/2008/04/menu_suggestion.html
If I was cooking for Pope Benedict, I know exactly what I would serve him.
A piece of my mind.
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