Beef cuts
Lamb cuts

As part of the Festival, the PorkStar team from Australian Pork is giving chefs the chance to win a trip to London with two return economy air fares, five nights accommodation, a dinner for two at St. John Restaurant and meet with legendary owner and Nose to Tail aficionado,  Fergus Henderson  (depending on Fergus’s availability at the time of travel).

To be part of the International Festival of Pork, chefs just need to include a pork special for the month and promote it through the menu, specials board or via the wait staff.

A national team of mystery diners will be seriously eating out that month and they will be giving on-the-spot $50 awards to wait staff who offer the pork promotion for the month, and the chef will go into the draw to win the major prize. You will need to be registered to win and it’s as simple as emailing through your details and the dish or dishes you are featuring to porkfest@australianpork.com.au.

Getting onboard the International Festival of Pork month-long trip is as easy or as excitingly challenging as a chef wants to make it.  It can be so very simple.

Just think of a pork cut like a cutlet, scotch, shoulder, belly, fillet, trotter, loin, hock or leg. Then think of a dish from pretty well any country in the world from the obvious like schnitzel, Bolognese, lasagne, BBQ cutlet, Asian pork belly, hock, won tons or char sui to even pulled pork, tonkatsu or a roast with crackling or suckling pig and everything in between…and beyond. It’s almost like being on a world tour and having your pork culinary passport stamped.  Australian Pork is looking to have as many Australians travelling the wide world of pork on their plates during April with a little creative help from chefs.

“Having an International Festival of Pork is such a great opportunity for chefs from every kind of establishment.  In April, pork prices are attractive, the quality of the meat is perfect, there is no shortage of cuts, the weather is a perfect mid-season temperature range for every style of dish providing an ideal opportunity to rethink menus – and to win,” says Australian Pork’s Mitch Edwards.

In Australia, April is a boom time for pork when production is at its highest levels with the surge of winter births of pigs coming to market.  It’s a perfect indulgent and commercial opportunity for all Australians who love pork and all those chefs who love cooking it. “Through our PorkStar programme I see firsthand how pub chefs love pork as a menu option. While many push the outside of the creative envelope looking for a great culinary edge – many perfect the simplest of signature pork dishes that purely make the excellence of the product shine.  April will be a great opportunity for chefs to show their stuff and maybe experience St John in London and meet Fergus Henderson,” he says. “And the front of house people can be rewarded too.  It’s a win-win situation all round.”

Australian Pork will be actively promoting the International Festival of Pork with TV and radio commercials throughout the month of April to generate even more interest in pork and pork dishes.  Some of the PorkStar chefs will be the faces and voices of this promotional push showing the different cultural possibilities with pork dishes. Among them will be Nino Zoccali from Pendolino Restaurant, Lauren Murdoch from the new Felix Restaurant and Boy’s Weekend’s Miguel Maestre now of Aperitif.

“This year, April has the combined Easter and Anzac Day holidays making for a long bonus festive opportunity for eating out.  The timing has never been more perfect to put pork on the forks of customers – by putting more pork on menus,” Edwards says.

A new food guide is helping to shine a light on NSW’s top hotels.

Pub food has stepped up considerably in the past few years. So much so that it’s earned itself its own dining guide in New South Wales.

Following on from the success of the restaurant-focused Good Food Guide – now in its 25th year – comes a tome dedicated solely to pub grub: The Sydney Morning Herald Good Pub Food Guide 2011.

According to guide editor Keith Austin, the timing couldn’t be better. “I think it was the right idea at the right time. Pubs are starting to realise that putting on good food brings people in the door.”

The ‘gastropub’ trend, in particular, is helping the cause. “It’s been a phenomenon that has been happening in the UK for 10 years or so,” Austin says. “Fewer and fewer people were drinking in pubs, because it was getting expensive, so the pubs were needing to find something else to attract them [as in, top-notch fare]… It’s something that’s only really started to happen in the last few years in Australia.”

From an initial list of 1600 hotels across NSW – supplied by the Australian Hotels Association NSW, a sponsor of the guide – the inclusions were whittled down to 394 hotspots, thanks to a team of 71 independent reviewers.

Pubs were given marks out of 20, broken down into food (10 points), service (five points), ambience (three points) and ‘magic’ (two points). Awards have been handed out, as well. Plus, there’s a section singling out ‘the best’ in diverse areas, ranging from pizzas to desserts.

The process of culling the list was exhaustive, including making use of local knowledge and Internet research, before visiting places. But, the strict criteria helped with the selection process. “It wasn’t just one thing,” Austin says. “You could have the best food in the world, but if you were serving it in a dump you wouldn’t get in. [Customers] also want to be in good surroundings with decent service.”

The Four in Hand in Paddington won ‘best overall’ and was also awarded three schooners for the city and suburbs (schooners being the equivalent of the Good Food Guide’s hats). A mouth-watering menu of beef cheeks, fish of the day en papillotte and grazing plates of juicy, tempura-battered scallops – which don’t break the bank – helped its footing. The Welcome Hotel in Rozelle also nabbed three schooners (as in, top marks).

“The thing about both of these pubs is that they have got the fine-dining component to the hotel, but they also still do bar food,” Austin enthuses. “And, the people, who are knocking out the fine-dining experience, are doing the same food in the pub – it’s just not as expensive. I had a really good pork belly roast for under $20 [at The Four in Hand]. It’s nice, clean, well-run and not too noisy.”

And, The Welcome is suitably named, according to Austin. “It’s a very welcoming pub. It’s clean, friendly and they do good food – especially good food! It’s also one of the few pubs that has a beer garden that’s non-smoking.”

When it came to putting country pubs up against city ones, Austin says, care was taken. “We know what things are like for country pubs. You can’t have a goat’s cheese omelette on the menu if you’ve just got the locals coming in, who work all day and want a really good schnitzel. But, it has to be a good piece of schnitzel!”

Austin points to the Mount Kembla Village Hotel, awarded the ‘best country pub’ and three schooners by the guide, which has a rosemary-crumbed chicken schnitzel on the menu – “trying to take [a pub staple] a little bit out of the ordinary”. Austin also mentions the Mittagong Hotel, which has a Le Catalan bistro out the back, “serving up some of the best tapas we’ve had outside of Spain”. Food delights there include braised ox tongue, with tomato and caper sauce, and baby eel omelette!

Another pleasing country pub trend, Austin notes, is the ‘locavore’ movement, referring to where fare from the local area is used. “You might be a country pub, but just up the road’s a farm with veg and meat or, if you’re in a coastal place in the middle of nowhere, you can put your fish on the menu. More pubs are starting to get involved in the local community [like that]. The Heads Hotel Motel in Shoalhaven Heads even does a Saturday farmers market every week.”  Hence, the latter spot won a guide award for ‘best community involvement’.

When it comes to comparisons between restaurant and pub service, Austin says the only real difference is the dining vibe. “In pubs, you can often talk to the chef – often restaurants are a less casual atmosphere. They haven’t got the time to stand and chat about the providence of the pig. I grew up around and in pubs – and I love pubs for that reason. It’s much more relaxing. You can have a bit of a laugh and chat. It’s a home away from home.”

Austin says the AHA’s involvement in the guide was kept to a minimum, aside from helping with the judging criteria and the types of awards given. “[The guide’s] absolutely independent – that was the thing I was very adamant about right from the start.”

And, with it being the first guide of its kind, Austin admits to “flying by the seat of our pants”. “If we do it again next year, I’m very tempted to give more points to the food and we might give fewer points to the service. Only because so many pubs have ‘beepers’ [or, pagers] and numbers and you’re basically serving yourself, so you can’t really mark a place down for that.”

Plus, he welcomes recommendations and comments for the next edition. “We’ve got a Facebook page, under ‘Good Pub Food Guide’, and an email address – goodpubfoodguide@gmail.com – right in the introduction of the guide. We’re not perfect – it’s the first one – we will have missed some places! Hopefully, people will get in touch with me, so we can add more pubs next time and make it even more competitive.”

While sales figures for the guide aren’t yet available, Austin says: “Friends who live around town in Sydney, have said it’s sold out in the smaller, independent bookshops. So, I think it’s going well.”

Here’s hoping a second edition is forthcoming!

SNAPSHOT ON THE GUIDE EDITOR: Keith Austin, originally from London, has been a journalist for more than 30 years, including working in newspapers in Fleet Street, as a restaurant reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald and as an editor of two cookbooks. His food blog, Scoff, is at www.ozkeef.wordpress.com.

GOOD PUB FOOD GUIDE AWARDS

Best overall: The Four in Hand, Paddington

Best pub by region (city & suburbs): The Four in Hand, Paddington

Best pub by region (Newcastle & surrounds): Carrington Place, Newcastle

Best pub by region (country): Mount Kembla Village Hotel, Mount Kembla

Best family-friendly: Appin Hotel, Appin

Best location: The Newport Arms, Newport

Best waterfront location: The Smithtown Riverview Hotel, Smithtown

Best beer garden: Burrawang Village Hotel, Burrawang

Best service (individual): Danielle Jukes at The Royal Hotel, Moree

Best service (team): Harwood Hotel, Harwood

Most promising: Simon Si at the Botany Bay Hotel

Best beer list: The Local Taphouse, Darlinghurst

Best use of local produce: Mount Kembla Village Hotel, Mount Kembla

Best value for money: The Shakespeare Hotel, Surry Hills

Best community involvement: The Heads Hotel Motel, Shoalhaven Heads

Ask The Butcher, available from iTune store, is the ultimate meat cooking application for professionals and aspiring home master chefs! It shows diagram of lamb, beef, veal and pork cuts, and lets you search exclusive recipes from one of the world’s leading Charcuterie Chefs.

Master Chef Academy Review instead of being a simple recipe app, MCA puts you through the chef education ringer, showing you how to do everything from blanching veggies to making salmon cakes with hollandaise. The app is divided up into a class section and a recipe section, in case you don’t need any training.
Pocket Chef™ is the first 3D COOKING GAME on the App Store. The need for precision makes Pocket Chef loads of fun! Thanks to the accelerometer, you’ll play by making the same movements as if you were really cooking. Soon you will become obsessed with flipping steaks before they burn, or breaking an egg without smashing it!

And at last, Romantic Chef is the app, which most blokes can find very useful. Recent surveys conducted by the biggest selling Women’s magazines tell us time and time again, the way to win the attention and to connect with a female is to make some effort to impress her. Find most romantic recipes, you got the rest of the skills!

Favor some other crazy app? Please let us know-leave the comment!

Read the full story from mashable.com

The inaugural issue of the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Pub Guide showcases the top 400 pub food destinations in New South Wales.

The scoring system with total marks  out of 20 were broken down into food, service , ambience and ‘magic’

While the top gongs in  the SMH Good Food Guide receive a chefs hat,  the top  pubs  are awarded a ‘schooner’

The main award winners were:

CITY

Three Schooners – The Four in Hand ( Paddington )

-       The Welcome Hotel ( Rozelle)

Two Schooners – Longueville Hotel

- The Newport Arms Hotel

- The Pub with No Name

- The Riverview Hotel

- Rocksia Hotel

COUNTRY

Three Schooners – Jack Duggans Irish Pub ( Bathurst)

- Mount Kembla  Hotel ( Mount Kembla)

- The Royal Hotel ( Moree)

Two Schooners – Burrawang Village Hotel 9Burrawang)

- The Royal Hotel Carcoar ( Carcora)

- Sutton Forest Inn ( Sutton Forest )

Along with food reviews the Good Food Pub Guide also lists the best venues serving beer, individual dishes,burgers, desserts,steaks and pizzas.

The Good Food Pub Guide 2011 retails for $24.95 and is available to purchase through www.smhshop.com.au

Best Bistro – Metro (Joint-winners)

Belair Hotel (SA)

Botanica Brasserie – Sheraton on the Park (NSW)

Best Restaurant – Accommodation Division

Altitude – Shangri-La (NSW)

Best Restaurant – General Division (Country)

Queens Wharf Brewery Nor’East (NSW)

Best Restaurant – General Division (Metro)

The Breakwater (WA)

Best Bar Presentation & Service – Country

Irish Murphy’s (Vic)

Best Bar Presentation & Service – Metro

Story Bridge Hotel (Qld)

Bartender of the Year

Steward Luk – Cargo Bar (NSW)

Chef of the Year

Steven Krasicki – Shangri-La (NSW)

Chef Curtis Stone is making his first appearance on American television, ambushing unaware shoppers with an bid they plainly cannot refuse. Each episode in the series phoned “Take Home Chef,” starts with a covert Stone racing through a grocery shop as he searches for the ideal culinary partner. Once he is establish one he turns on the charm, offering to attend the shopper home & cook a gourmet meal utilising the details in his or her shopping cart-plus a couple of savoury extras.
Once participants appear willing to go by with this culinary adventure, they take Stone home & labour with him in their personal kitchens or out at the grill to produce a tasteful dinner. Chef Stone is probably to be sharing a lot of his secrets from Down Under, although at the same time studying how to function in an median American kitchen.

His tips to american public so far:
• When preparing more massive pieces of meat, like roasts, pile the embers on one side & spot the meal on the other. This allows for indirect preparing & reduces charring.
• Do not use charcoal clearer fluid or briquettes that have added starter fluid constructed into them. This will go away an unpleasant taste in the smoke.
• Rubs are one of the best stuff you may use to enlarge flavour to your meat. They are combinations of spices that seal in the flavor of the meat, shape a tasty crust, elaborate colour & pull moisture from the air although drawing juices from inside the meat, causing the flesh to marinate itself as it cooks.

So what is this new American television exhibit like for Curtis Stone? “Cooking in someone else’s home may be completely anything; it may be fabulous or a total disaster,” he says. “It’s the fright of the unknown that makes it so exciting.”