B-Kyu Newsletter - 31 January 2021
Vienetta, food maps, Māori cookbooks, prahok, cannabis themed hospital cafes, African gardens, mahjong, beetroot, warung recipes, robusta coffee and fish semen.
Hi folks
Welcome to the B-Kyuniverse for 31 January 2021. Our first newsletter of the year! We’ve been super lazy over the last month, but there’s always plenty to read and eat and share so here’s a fresh batch of spicy, tongue numbing stories for you.
Feel free to share the B-Kyu love by sending this newsletter to all your good eating and reading friends and get them to subscribe for themselves. You can read past copies of the newsletter here and our blog here.
In each newsletter we search out articles for you the curious reader to broaden your eating adventures. We collect a wide menu of stories, blogs (including our own) or other media for you to digest, consume and hopefully, get out and feast on the wonderful world of food in Sydney and beyond. Links in the title, a $ sign after a story means you may have to go through a payment firewall if you’ve used up all your free hits.
Food and food writing
15 January 2021: Best new Sydney restaurants opening in 2021 (Adella Beaini, The Daily Telegraph, $) While the opening of new Chargrill Charlie’s is of course a cause for city-wide celebration, other interesting points here are the opening of Soul Deli, an offshoot of the Korean Soul Dining, and The Social Cup, a Hungarian street food restaurant in Monterey. Nice to see some places mentioned outside the Surry Hills / Newtown bubble.
30 December 2020: Gone but not forgotten 2020 - our annual round up of farewells in the year (B-Kyu) Where there are openings there are always closures that make them possible. 2020 was a year of many, many closures for many, many reasons, one of them Covid-19.
25 January 2021: Viennetta Ice Cream Cakes Are Coming Back To The U.S. After Nearly 30 Years (Kristen Salaky, Alexis Morillo, Delish) We’ve always had Viennetta in Australia, but other countries have had to suffer a Viennetta-less life. No more shall the people of the United States endure the suffering of living without this creamy vanilla ice cream with crackly chocolate. The pillowy waves of dessert will make their celebrations whole again.
30 January 2021: Weis Bar factory in Toowoomba closes as Unilever moves operation to Sydney (Lucy Robinson, ABC News) So while Weis Bars are not in danger, they will no longer be made in Toowoomba. Originating as Fruito bars and made in the town for the last 60 years, Unilever is transferring production to their Western Sydney factory.
28 January 2021: Here’s what it’s like to spend 10 months covering a restaurant industry in extended crisis (Bret Thorn, Karen Stabiner, The Counter) A nice long read about the state of restaurants (mostly a US focus) and where to from here by Bret Thorn from Nation’s Restaurant News. It covers authenticity, ghost and virtual kitchens, plant and lab-based food and the likelihood of a roaring twenties style resurgence.
Have You Eaten? Writers Nick Jordan and software developer Louis Lepper have created Have You Eaten, an ambitious effort to document and map dishes and cuisines across Sydney and where to eat them. The aim is to not just list restaurants, but to showcase restaurants with regional variations or where to find a specific dish. It’s currently a pay per month model and you can get in and support them with varying levels of contribution.
New Zealand
28 January 2021: Feast on This Guide to Modern Māori Cooking (Reina Gattuso, Gastro Obscura) The first haute-cuisine cookbook devoted to Maori food, from Monique Fiso the chef behind Hiakai restaurant in Wellington. Two years in the making, this book seeks to restore knowledge of Māori food and cooking. Researched through historical sources and local knowledge, it represents a way for the food of New Zealand and Kiwis to take on a sense of pride and learn a more of their own culture as well.
Chinese
13 January 2021: Montreal Restaurant’s Extremely Honest Menu Descriptions Go Viral on Twitter (Valerie Silva, Eater Montreal) This Chinese restaurant in Montreal has taken to rating and describing their own dishes with a wonderful honesty. From mentioning the number of shrimp in a dish (13, they are expensive) to why they serve their cumin lamb sans skewers (customers cut their lips on them) the owner is a marketing genius. While there has been a surge in customers because of the popularity, the owner is still downplaying the dishes he serves, hoping customers don’t get disappointed when they order.
13 January 2021: Mahjong design 'refresh' reignites debate over cultural appropriation (Jessie Yeung, CNN Style) This story highlights the many layers of complexity surrounding cultures and the way they influence and embed. How we pay respect to a culture and acknowledge inspiration (not just a nod but perhaps something more meaningful) seems to be the big question and reflection here, something important in food and restaurant creation as well.
14 January 2021: Uncle Roger comedian deletes video with China critic (BBC News) The UK based Malaysian comic Nigel Ng has a popular You Tube channel where as Uncle Roger, he makes fun of Asian recipe videos. Recently he hosted Mike Chen when reviewing “the ugliest dumpling ever”, not realising the US based host of the show ‘Strictly Dumpling’ has been critical of the Chinese government. After removing the video, he’s been accused of pandering to the might of China and as one commentator put it, preferring RMB over MSG.
Japanese
20 January 2021: Noodle soup ties me to Japanese New Year, and my roots – plus the recipe (Marie Mutsuki Mockett, The Guardian) A reflection on the links between noodles and new year, family and country. Eating soba noodles ties you between the old and new year and is a familiar tradition in Japan. The Asian-American author talks about her family in Japan and her new understanding of old customs.
24 January 2021: Japanese restaurant from the Edo Period to close due to coronavirus (Oona McGee, SoraNews24, Japan Today) Stories of closures are usual throughout the year, but the closure of places due to the changed world is extra sad. Founded in 1790, the restaurant in Tokyo is also famous in literature and film, featuring in novels and stories.
30 January 2021: Fish sperm is a delicacy in Japan – this is how to eat it (Jessica Thompson, USA Today) In the first month, on the first date, Jessica Thompson tried fish sperm and reports back on the flavour, texture and different ways of preparation. If you’ve tried and liked caviar, milt or sea urchin, then you’ll already be a fan. And yes, it is good for your skin.
Cambodian
23 December 2020: Food Diplomacy for Cambodia’s Nation Branding (Chhem Rethy, Chhem Siriwat, Khmer Times) In an effort to increase the knowledge of Cambodian food outside of the country, the authors argue that Cambodia should develop a food as branding strategy even suggesting teaching diplomats to cook. In the forefront of this is prahok, the fermented, full flavoured fish paste that is the core of Cambodian cooking.
3 January 2021: Cambodia is taking a pungent, potent approach to food diplomacy: prepare for prahok (Maria Siow, South China Morning Post, $)
29 January 2021: Feels like home: Cambodian noodle soup tells this family's story (Iris Ni, told to Elli Jacobs, SBS Food) Kuy teav is a pork noodle soup with a soup base linked to the beef or chicken based pho style across the border. Once made by the chef grandfathers of Ni, she remembers them by cooking this soup and recalling her life and food she loved.
Vietnamese
27 December 2020: Sustaining Vietnam’s Robusta through uncertainty (Mekong Eye) Ever wondered why Vietnamese coffee has such a kick? 97% of the coffee produced in Vietnam is the heartier, heart kicking, blood stomping brother of Arabica - Robusta. Impacted by climate change and rising temperatures, Robusta is more susceptible to disease and is less adaptable to higher temperatures, causing problems for coffee farmers. To fight this, there are small farmers already planning to combat the increased reliance on fertilizers, the impact of warming and by improving the way the coffee is processed to fight the stigma of a less popular, bitter flavour. Strengthening the processes and improving production, including organics, also leads to better prices for farmers.
Thai
14 January 2021: Team of Isaan Women Wins Michelin Star for Thai Restaurant in Belgium (Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Khaosod English) Boo Raan in Knokke-Heist, Belgium has been awarded a Michelin Star. Head chef Dokkoon Kapueak hails from Ubon Ratchathani and has lived in Belgium for 12 years. She makes no excuse for cooking her food with all the heat and spice you would expect from Isaan Thai food, even after customers complained it was too spicy.
13 January 2021: Weed is on the menu at Thailand’s first cannabis-cookin’ cafe (Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Coconuts Bangkok) With the removal off the Narcotics list of most parts of the cannabis plant (flowers and buds are still illegal) there has been a rise in edibles in Thailand, starting with cafes. Tempura ‘smiley leaves’, green smoothies and feel good pizza are on the menu, with plants legally grown by a near by hospital. Other hospitals are following suite, and expect to see a growth in the market soon.
17 January 2021: A hospital that serves a 'happy menu' with cannabis-laced food (Reuters, Mint Lounge)
27 January 2021: Multicultural Eats: Where to find the best Thai food in Canberra and what to order (Sophia Brady, The Riot ACT) OK Canberra folk, here’s a list of great Thai places (and a little Lao) to get your fix. Brady interviews Charinya Ruecha, Thai home cook based in the ACT, and gets the low down on where to find boat noodle soup, nam kao, larb and tom yum.
Malaysian
13 January 2021: New and old meet as social media breathes life into Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown (Huei Ting Cheong, South East Asia Globe) We last visited Kuala Lumpur in January of 2020, the last time we got to travel, wow we thank our stars we got that trip in. We didn’t head down to Petaling Street and stories coming out of KL didn’t paint a hopeful picture for its future. This all appears to be changing, as the beauty of the old shop fronts is starting to be embraced by Malaysians and the rise of social media is fuelling a resurgence in popularity. It’s the same story of neglect and resurrection, but one that also means good traditional food is celebrated and maintained.
Indonesian
10 January 2021: COVID-19 has crushed Bali's tourism industry. These Australians are giving back (Mark Bannerman, ABC News) Restaurant owner Dean Keddell has written a cookbook Our Bali, Your Bali, featuring recipes from warungs around Bali. As a way to counteract the effects of the tourist downturn, funds are to be distributed to local charities.
Congolese
3 January 2021: Bouk couldn't find the food from home when he came to Australia, so he grew his own (Lucy Murray, SBS News) Hyeronime "Bouk" Tshindngi emigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Australia and wondered why his family could get sweet potatoes at the supermarket but not the just as tasty leaves? Fast forward to creating a backyard farm, demand outstripping supply and loss of a job through Covid, Bouk has created a full time farm and income producing greens and vegetables for the African community in the west of Sydney.
Russian
29 January 2021: Comment: What is Russian food without potatoes and beetroot? (Yuri Smolyar, SBS Food) And what is it without ‘herring under a fur coat”?
It’s a B-Kyu world
He picked up one, he licked the other. It’s your freedom of choice.
As always, get out and explore the beautiful world we live in.
Alison and Shawn, B-Kyu