The problem with ideology....

I was thinking the other day how philosophically driven vegans/vegetarians might reconcile the use of animal manures - supposedly 'obtained' under duress - that support the growth of their food? It is not dissimilar to the anxiety the organic generation faces with produce choice. Ie. Organic food doesn't necessarily equal ethical food, just as it doesn't necessarily mean sustainable, fair trade or local.

In an ideal world, organic 'should' mean something quite specific but as with 'free range' it's true meaning and ideals has been distorted by marketing, loose regulatory definitions and hype.

If we were to sit down and weigh up how specifically every item in our 'shopping basket' has been grown or processed, we would inevitable collapse in a quivering heap.

This is not to say that ideals should be dissolved, but there is a line where most have to compromise simply to survive.

Early in my 'career' there was always this fantastical statement that if you are a true artist you will 'make it work' regardless. That said, those who were forced to work part-time are almost seen as lesser than those who somehow can sustain a full-time creative practice.

This is potentially dangerous as those who have third party support that keeps them afloat are not necessarily any more sincere or righteous than those who have to spend a portion of their time simply baking crusts.

It is also biased towards those who are financially successful. Just because something sells, it is not necessarily 'good'.

Personally, the creative 'gig' is - as for most - a disaster financially and equates to literally cents per hour if you were to apply 'real world' standards.

I am long past the insecurities about the quality (and equally faults) of the work itself but will still put in the effort regardless of ideals. The ideal shifts from some utopia to simply making the next piece better and learning from the experience.

Just as we subscribe to lifestyle and food ideals, we can't and shouldn't have sleepless nights about every gram of 'life' that crosses our paths.

If work doesn't sell, the show isn't reviewed or xyz didn't get out of bed it doesn't mean the work is 'bad'.

Bitterness whilst immediately satisfying - blame transference - doesn't accomplish much other than leaving one hungrily and anxiously looking at the label on the packet.

Milk as a Metaphor

Our local supermarket is small enough that it's very easy to identify their selling strategies throughout the day. If you should enter the supermarket even within a few hours of it opening, various items aren't restocked once sold. The supermarket's own brands are topped up constantly so that the shelves almost buckle whereas any competing products are only allocated tiny - and often 'difficult'- amounts of shelf space. Fresh fruit and vegetables are also poorly restocked so that instant foods with higher profit margins are more appealing.

A good example of this is 'normal' milk. The supermarket's brand takes up close to 80-90% of the allocated shelf space. All the other brands are crammed into the remainder which is actually less than that allocated to flavoured milks.

The supermarket's brand also undercuts the other milk brands by close to 40%, a price that approaches slave labour for the producers of the milk itself.

The problem with this rather overt homogenisation - if you'll excuse the pun - is that once alternatives have been vanquished, quality inevitably is dialled back to increase profits.

Ultimately mediocrity is accepted because it's affordable, populist and 'easy'.

So... the metaphor part as it relates to one of those perpetual itches I have ... Public Art. An opinion piece was recently published on PerthNow about the disparities in arts funding.

In Western Australia, '...the State Government Percent for Art (PFA) Scheme allocates up to one percent of the estimated total construction cost of each State capital works project, valued at $2 million and over, to a commissioned Western Australian artwork.' (1)

This manifests overwhelmingly in public, photogenic artworks often with broader parameters than simply being artworks. ie. some are clearly signage or architectural 'flourish' in another guise.

It is remarkably difficult to find 'clear' statistics from Government sources about the scheme but over 700 artworks have been installed since 1989 and in 2009, 30 art projects were commissioned, to the tune of $3.7 million. Further to that $1.8 million has recently been allocated for Public Art to the Fiona Stanley Hospital alone, $1 million for the Situate project at Forrest Place (2) and $500,000 for the St George's Cathedral Project.

My 'bug' is that such things are very much driven by outcomes than creative excellence. A classic example of this would be a populist work that makes for good PR photos versus the abstract idea of people simply getting on with creating 'stuff'.

This is not to say that there isn't good work in the public realm. I also don't bemoan those who make a career from working in the - golden goose - field. I do however have issue with the imbalance.

Imagine if a portion of the PFA's one percent was redirected to subsidising artist studios, ARIs and other 'lesser' ventures? It's politically 'harder' as such venues inevitably challenge the 'norms' but how else should a society move forward and - importantly - away from hedonistic banality?

In a city/state where it is notoriously difficult to 'crack it', wouldn't it make more sense to encourage diversity rather than sickly, watered down milk?

Notes:
Images from Library of Congress.
(1) http://www.dca.wa.gov.au/
(2) http://www.scoop.com.au/Feature/ART-CHALLENGE

Food and Art....

'As with food, good art should be visceral, emotive and nourishing. Both need to do much more than simply feed and should ultimately inspire.'

I had - very - briefly considered entering the 'Win a Masterclass with Tetsuya Wakuda' competition but do tend to talk myself out of such things easily when you see 'agrees to this or that' in the terms and conditions.

They invited a selection of bloggers over a while back - including TFP from Perth - and the food sounds amazing.

More here should others be interested:
Electrolux's page;
I Am Obsessed With Food; and
TFP.

The new fondue....

Further to the original post, we had Cuttlefish strips again tonight and it was much more obvious that they really resemble Scallops in a variety of ways. Not least of which texture and to a certain degree taste.

They are - relatively speaking - very cheap yet have character. That is, they are more than Squid 'bits' by another name.

This was further reinforced by a review we read in the Weekend Australian about MoVida's latest venture in Melbourne. Read the full review here.

Perhaps we've - very much accidentally - stumbled across the new 'Fondue'.

Saturday's Dinner - First Course

Source: David Iliff.

With apologies to vegetarians, it was only the second time we've eaten - knowingly that is - Cuttlefish. After the disappointment and, frankly, oddness of a smoked version, we got some strips a while back. I just marinated them in some oil, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper then cooked them in a dry, hot pan for about 2 minutes in total. They came up nice and smoky and were very tender. The texture was similar to a scallop but significantly cheaper.

Very satisfying on multiple levels, not least of which the feeling you are eating a Doctor Who character.

Art-making, Demi Glace and Mr Allen

With apologies - in advance - to any vegetarians.

I'd been thinking about distillation in regards to the process of art making and have since found the 'right' analogy in form of the Demi Glace.

Essentially you take a bag of seemingly inert bones and cook them in a variety of ways until any and all meat, marrow and fat falls from the bone.

Throughout this process various ingredients are 'feed' to the concoction but they are ultimately just notes in a single entity rather than being a discernable 'taste'.

The stock is then distilled and refined with any impurities that might appear being skimmed off.

After this extensive process - which can take days - the resultant product is then separated into portions and often frozen for later use.

The Demi Glace is used as a note in various dishes... that bit 'extra' to push a dish from mediocrity to 'specialness'.

Another food analogy from Mr Allen this weekend in the Weekend Australian:

We often assume that aesthetic value is measured on a scale of, say, zero to 10. In reality, though, that value can be negative as well as positive. Bad art, in other words, is not simply lacking in virtues, but actively bad: it is rather like food, which is not neutral, but either good or bad for us, healthy or unhealthy.

Good art contributes to the sharpening of our perceptions and the refinement of our sensibility. Bad art encourages our tendency to grossness and stupidity.

ZF Awards - Margaret River 2008

For anyone who wants to hear an opinion...

Best Restaurant Experience
Vasse Felix (Friday Lunch)

Best Entree
Scallops at Cullen (Thursday Lunch)
Charcuturie at Vasse Felix (Friday Lunch)

Best Main
Venison & Blue Swimmer Crab + Snapper Fritters at Clairault (Sunday Lunch)

Friendliest Cellar Door
Windance

Best Cellar Door(s)
Hayshed, Edwards and Windance

Best Red Wine
2 (!) wines at Windance - top secret which ones!

Best White Wine
Edwards 2007 Chardonnay

Best wine we bought blind
i.e not available to taste but supposedly great...
Victory Point 2005 (?) Cabernet & The Growers 2006 Shiraz

Best Wine Labels
Edwards

Best Surprise!
Finding The Growers purely by accident... and their criminally cheap wines.

Disappointment?
Lack of warmth in service at Lamonts (Saturday Lunch)... pulled the very nice food down.

Venison Fillet on a Kumara Mash with Wild Mushrooms

Made this the other night and thought I'd 'share' it around. The following
is for two people but it can obviously be doubled/halved as required.

Ingredients:
Good quality Venison fillet (all depends how hungry you are!)
One Kumara (Sweet Potato)
500gms Fresh Gourmet Mushrooms (Porcini, Oysters, Shitake or similar)
(wash and cut into bite sizes)
One Capsicum (wash and cut into bite sizes)
Two Cloves Garlic
Grapeseed Oil
Sour Cream
Butter
Verjuice or Red Wine for deglazing
Pepper
Salt

Method:
Peel and wash the Kumara and cut into slices about 10-15mm thick. Cover
these into salted water and get them going on a hob.

Wash and pat dry the Venison. Put into a bowl, add a dash of oil and season.
Turn with your hands so that the meat is well coated with the oil and
seasoning. Set aside.

Peel the garlic and chop finely. Melt a bit of butter in a pan and when
foaming add mushrooms, capsicums and garlic. Set to a medium heat and watch
to ensure it doesn't burn or stick.

Be sure to check the Kumara as they cook quicker than a potato. If a knife
doesn't stick when inserted then drain and cover with a lid to keep warm.

Get another pan very hot. DON'T ADD ANY EXTRA OIL and put in the Venison. The
fillets we get are normally 10-15mm thick so 4 minutes each side is normally
enough for medium rare. Turn once only and don't cut to 'look' - you'll
regret it! Set aside to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with a teaspoon or so of the Verjuice or Red Wine. Scrape
the bottom to get the good stuff. When all loosened then add this to the
mushroom mixture.

Add more seasoning, sour cream and butter to the Kumara and mash.

There shouldn't be much liquid left in the mushrooms but if so don't reduce
just use it as a sauce.

Plate up. Kumara in the middle, mushrooms mixture around the edge of the
plate and Venison on top of the mash. If a bit of sauce is still left over
then drizzle this over the venison.

Grilled Sardines at Cicerellos

We went to Cicerellos (http://www.Cicerellos.com.au) on Saturday and,
besides ordering way too much food, had a great time.

The sardines are more than enough to kill a few close relatives for. Really
beautiful soft fish with a great 'grilled' taste. Easy to eat and all that
for $12.50?!? Should be criminal!

For two, an 'entree' each is more than enough and I dare to think what
quantity of food the 'seafood platter for 2' would entail!

Dhu Fish (Pearl Perch)

Dhu Fish is really a fantastic eat and well worth the dosh.

It can be a bit hard to get for a 'reasonable' price considering that some
fish markets (ie. Kailis Brothers in Perth) sells fillets for anything
between AUD$50-60/kilo.

They quite often will also sell whole fish and will fillet them on the spot
for $20 a kilo (bones and all). Considering that some fish can weigh between
10-15 kgs that can be an expensive exercise. Smaller examples are often hard
to come by.

If you ever get to Geraldton (approx 400km north of Perth) make sure you go
to the docks and there you can pick up fantastically fresh Dhu Fish for less
than $15/kg. The difference will blow even the hardest fish eater away!

We get ours snap frozen (and home delivered!) through West Coast Seafoods in
Perth. A 2kg bag costs $40 and provided you defrost the fillet (one is
normally enough for both of us!) in the fridge overnight you still get the
delicateness of fresh fish -- not as soft but still very nice.

We simply season and dust with flour before cooking 2 minutes each side in a
little bit of oil. Normally a tick more if it's a bit thicker. Have only
once had Dhu Fish deep fried (to my great regret) and wouldn't recommend it.

It all goes a treat with a sauce made up of salted capers, garlic, butter
and cream. Big fan of a simple mash with this and a VERY cold glass of
Chenin Blanc.

The sweetness of the wine, the saltiness of the sauce and the fragility of
the fish really melt together wonderfully!

How to cook Duck Breasts?

All sounds a bit seedy but quite innocent really!

I'm one of those cooks who 'needs' times when cooking things. It annoys me
to tears when you read in a recipe 'cook until tender' or 'cook until
golden' ... who's gold? fools gold?

Duck Breasts. This is for two 250gm duck breasts with skin on. I have no
idea if that's big or small as that would seem to be the standard from our
butcher. Preheat the oven to 200C. Clean the breasts well and pat dry with
some paper towels - keep the skin and fat on.

Get a large non-stick pan very hot (smoking!) without (VERY important) any
oil - the skin and fat will do their magic. Score the skin side and season
with salt and pepper.

If you have a rangehood turn it on full before putting them in the pan skin
side down for 3 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for 1 minute before
putting them into the oven for 7 minutes. Once that's all done get them out
and leave them to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. The 7 minutes
will give you a moist (but not too pink for the squeamish) flesh. Shorten
the oven time by a minute or two if you prefer medium-rare.

I leave the skin and fat on and eat around them ... keeps everything nice
and moist. Like to serve resting on either a Kumara (Sweet Potato) or potato
mash. Add a few spring onions, some butter and some cream. A nice sauce can
also be made with some shallots, garlic, red wine reduction and a tart berry
ie. sour cherries.

A nice glass (or two!) of fruity Shiraz goes down very well.

The only disadvantages with cooking duck is that they are quite expensive
($45/kg in Perth!), the kitchen will smell a bit and you'll spend a while
cleaning up the cooktop ... but! .... they've lovely!