The recent terror attacks in Belgium and the current economic climate have led to the postponement of Wallonia's European festival of gastronomy. Mindjî, was scheduled to be held at the Citadel of Namur between 3 and 7 June 2016 has been postponed to next year, Generation W said in a statement. The festival, the first European festival of gastronomy was scheduled to be organised by Generation W, a collective of chefs from Wallonia (the W representing the French speaking part of Belgium - Wallonia). The event would have showcased the artisanal, gastronomic and creative abilities of Wallonia bringing together chefs and producers from the region together with Flemish and European chefs. The event had to feature not only participants from the world of gastronomy but also academia as well as economic actors from the Wallonian region. The organisers said that it in the current climate it was too risky to organise the festival. They examined all options and possibilities, … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2016
Second Food on the Edge symposium to be held in Galway in October
Food on the Edge, Ireland's top food symposium created by JP McMahon (photo above) will return in October this year after the huge success of the inaugural event in 2015. A great lineup of speakers has already been announced for this year's edition. This includes Massimo Bottura, the Italian chef from Modena who will deliver a presentation on the future of food, Daniel Burns, of Luksus in New York City, Shaun Hill, who owns The Walnut Tree in Wales and Tim Hollingsworth who recently opened the three Michelin star restaurant Otium in Los Angeles. Atsuhi Tanaka, Christian Puglisi, Danielle Barry, Luciana Bianchi, Magnus Ek, Virgilio Martinez and Margarita Fores have already confirmed their participation among many others. Last year’s event held in Eyre Square in the heart of Galway city in October, saw 40 of the best international chefs attend The Food On The Edge symposium listened to intently by over 350 people on each day. Audience members included food enthusiasts, chefs, … [Read more...]
Bishop’s Gin: Blending tradition with modernity
Bishop's Gin is a new London Dry Gin that has just been launched on the Belgian market. Created by Thierry Ponet, founder of Ponet Spirits and Matthieu Chaumont of Brussels cocktail bar Hortense, it is a gin that is steeped in tradition while being innovative at the same time. The gin with its distinct label designed by Stranger and Stranger is already competing for the best packaging in the World's Packaging Design Society. This new gin is the result of a collaboration and a discussion between master cocktail maker Matthieu Chaumont who was on the watch for a versatile gin and Thierry Ponet who wanted to revive his family's anestral genever craftsmanship. Ponet lived in London for 15 years before moving back to Belgium around two years ago. "Thierry wanted to relaunch the distillation activity of his family but we reflected that it would be better to create a gin rather than genever. The name Bishop's Gin comes from the fact that when they were looking at Thierry's family … [Read more...]
Delphine Lippens – from Brussels to Los Angeles: ‘Working with clay was never part of my plan’
An illuminating discussion with Belgian-born, longtime Los Angeles resident Delphine Lippens, currently a successful ceramicist. We met in February at her studio, proudly located in South Central Los Angeles. Artisan Block Los Angeles (A B.L.A) is a collective of artists, artisans and makers located in one single block in this area of the city. Lippens created Humble Ceramics in 2010 and what you see today is the evolution of an exploration in clay. Delphine where are you from originally? Brussels but I came to live in Los Angeles, in 1982. when I was almost 13. Have you lived in California ever since? Yes primarily but I also spent time and years going to and fro from Europe when I was a little older. So where does Humble Ceramics begin? I am sitting with you in a vast warehouse surrounded by ceramic filled shelves in all degrees of readiness. How did you get to be here? Working with clay was never part of my “plan”. So this is a very unexpected evolution. After … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #72
Restaurants are struggling to make ends meet and rising rents and changes in labour laws in various countries have made it even harder. David Chang has a great article on the subject. Called the earthquake that is about to hit restaurants he says razor-thin does not even begin to describe just how slender the margins are in the restaurant business, and that’s if you’re one of the fortunate few that don’t go under in the first year. Anthony Bourdain has 3 Best Tips For Eating Great When Traveling Abroad: If you like traveling and you're an even bigger fan of food, then you might also be a fan of Anthony Bourdain. The restaurant chef turned author has become a popular TV personality in recent years, first with his show No Reservations on the Discovery Channel and now with Parts Unknown on CNN. At 6 feet 4 inches tall, Bourdain has a large and respected presence in the worlds of food and travel. The 58-year-old is known for his honest, no bullshit approach to exploring and telling the … [Read more...]
Malta’s first craft brewery Lord Chambray starts to export its beer
Malta's first craft brewery Lord Chambray is starting to export a newly released beer, Special Bitter, to Germany and Italy. Special Bitter, is the fifth beer in Lord Chambray's range of beers. Samuele Imperio, managing director of Lord Chambray told Food and Wine Gazette during the first ever craft beer master class organised in Malta that a new beer, the Special Bitter which is a traditional English style bitter is now available in Germany and Italy. The beer, which was tasted in Malta for the first time last week, is characterised by an optimal balance between the scents of malts and mild notes of hops. The choice of hops have been rigorously sourced from the English countryside and give the beer its character while remaining faithful to the traditional style. This bitter ale has a medium body and a moderate carbonation that guarantees that the beer is easy to drink. Hops is added during maturation to increase the bitterness of the beer. The end result is a … [Read more...]
A contemporary take on Maltese cuisine at Michael’s in Valletta
Maltese chef Michael Cauchi needs no introduction in Malta. Famous for his former restaurant Il Re Del Pesce, today the chef works together with his son Daniel at Michael's in Valletta. When I was younger (and still living in Malta), the chef was a household name on this small Mediterranean island. He used to be on television showcasing his fish dishes, for which he was renowned even at a time when food was not as in vogue as it is today. Since that time, he has worked in various kitchens on the island but none more important than Aziamendi's 100 day pop-up restaurant two summers ago. Michael and his son Daniel were involved with Eneko Atxa and his team who set up the pop-up restaurant in a historic building in Valletta known as L’Hostel De Verdelin, after Fra Jean Jacques De Verdelin, a nephew of Grandmaster De Verdalle. On a recent visit to this restaurant, we really loved the freshness of the food, the clean flavours, the presentation and also the restaurant itself with … [Read more...]
Italian chef Massimo Bottura launches Food for Soul to open soup kitchens around the world
World renowned chef Massimo Bottura has launched the Food for Soul organisation which is aimed at fighting food waste through creative management of daily food waste. He announced this project during the MAD symposium, organised yesterday in Sydney. Through Food for Soul, he will be supporting the opening of soup kitchens based on the Refettorio Ambrosiano model and also empowering communities around the world. Bottura is a visionary chef, who has dedicated much of last year to a project to feed Milan's poor during Expo Milan. The Refettorio Ambrosiano was a soup kitchen that was built in an abandoned theatre which brought together over 60 international chefs to cook using food leftovers from the Expo. During the 6 months of Expo, 100 volunteers washed dishes, mopped the floors and served over 10,000 healthy meals cooked from 15 tons of salvaged food. Long after Expo has left the city, the Refettorio Ambrosiano continues to serve meals 5 days every week to the homeless people of … [Read more...]
New contributor for Food and Wine Gazette: A reader writer
“Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change" - Heraclitus I have been a reader as long as I can remember. Encouraged I believe by my father, who smuggled me into the local library on Adults only nights. There I was, a five-year-old scurrying into the children’s corner and roaming the shelves alone and in silence. Despite the rules, Mrs Beech, the librarian, always stamped my books with a slight smile part privy to the secret. Since then I have had this thing with books and libraries, books shops and news stands. You could say it is a fixation and an ongoing obsession with words and what happens when they are strung together. I chase words not only in the usual places but on wrappers, signs, tickets, on buildings, hoardings, travel brochures, DIY pamphlets, online blogs, credits in movies, labels, packets, where to them words is limitless and their meanings unequaled. It doesn't take much leap of imagination to see that quite possibly reading a lot can lead to writing a … [Read more...]