Coffee: The Elixir of Life

Easily one of the most popular beverages in the world, coffee has done an exceptional job of working its way into the daily lives of many people. We rely on its high caffeine content to get us going in the morning and help us to get through the dreaded midday droop.

With green unroasted coffee beans being one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world, there is no surprise that coffee has become such an important part of daily Western life.

Cultivation first began in approximately 850 C.E in Ethiopia before the coffee plant was discovered in Arabia in approximate 900 C.E. Although carefully guarded by the Arabians, some plants were eventually smuggled out by the Dutch into the Netherlands. It wasn't until 1723 that the Americas were introduced to the coffee bean with South America now responsible for over 50 per cent of the world's total coffee production.

For me, there is nothing more satisfying than waking up to a house filled with the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

Turkish coffee is prepared by boiling pulverised coffee beans in a pot before being served and the dregs left to settle.

Out of the ordinary

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things."

--Theodore Levitt

More and more, culinary art is creeping its way into our everyday lives. The number of available gourmet cooking and home entertaining magazines has grown abundantly, there is an increasing emphasis on healthy eating, daily gourmet food columns in newspapers as well as cooking shows on most television channels. Food writers and chefs alike are revered as gods and gourmet has become the norm.

There is, however, one modern day chef who is pushing the boundaries of traditional cuisine as well as those of modern day gastronomy. Heston Blumenthal is known for his continuous supply of innovated dishes, some of which include bacon and egg ice cream as well as snail porridge.


Heston's Feasts airs on SBS at 8.30 pm on Thursday nights. Each week, Blumenthal and his culinary team revisit a specific time period and provide their take on the popular food of that era.


Last night's show returned to the 1960s with a Willy Wonka theme. The menu included lickable wall paper, psychedelic duck l'orange and a woodland Magic Mushroom dish- all presented in a candied Wonka style.



Without pioneers, such as Blumenthal, the culinary scene would remain drab and stagnant. These innovators provide excitement and interest within the world of food and ensure progression generation after generation.

Works in progress

A taste of what's yet to come...

Broccoli florets.

Beetroot forest.

Tomatoes.

A golden box with no lid or key...

There is nothing better than fresh eggs. For years we have lived off of the Supermarket variety which spend weeks in transit and sitting on the shelves before finally being purchased and making it into our meals. Now, after having chickens for the last five months and access to fresh eggs that are laid daily, I can't imagine ever going back to our old ways of buying them.



The difference between fresh eggs and the Supermarket eggs is evident immediately after cracking open an egg laid that morning; the yolks are a stunning yellow with which Supermarket eggs simply cannot compare. When a fresh egg is cracked into a pan, the white seems to cling together and almost stand up in the pan, unlike bought eggs whose whites are often murky in colour and watery in substance.

All of our egg dishes have improved immensely since having access to daily laid eggs, whether they be used in omelets, baking, poaching or simply for frying.

August Harvest

Yesterday August finally fell upon us which meant harvesting time for a few, long awaited winter vegetables from the kitchen garden. Some of these included lettuce, baby potatoes, turnips, baby carrots and Chinese cabbage.