The Internet Chef Talks to

Myriam Thibault from “Mytinerary”, Gourmet Travel & Walking Tours

“Food is love. What’s one family dish from your childhood that holds a special place in your heart?”

Tough question – so many family dishes to pick from!! My nanna’s apple cake was a favourite, and probably the first cake I got to bake as a kid. My Dad also does a mean chilli con carne which is kind of his signature dish for family reunions. However, I’ve decided to pick another dish instead, my 70yo nanny’s out-of-this-world flower doughnuts.

You see, because my parents were both working full-time when my sister and I were younger, we would spend A LOT of time at my nanny’s. It was a very special place for us. She was minding other kids as well so it was a place with toys all over the place – I loved being there. She was a funny character, that woman. On the one hand she was really super strict (teaching us table manners, overseeing our homework etc), on the other hand she really cared about us, and I think that really translated into the food she would feed us.

Every day, her husband would pick us up from school for a homemade lunch, and then we’d be back again after school for the famous French ‘gouter’ (afternoon snack, usually fresh baguette, butter and a chocolate bar), and would stay there till 7pm-ish. Sometimes, when my parents had to work late, my sister and I would even stay there for dinner.

We ended up spending so much time there that our nanny became like a third grand-mother to us, in fact we called her “Mamie” Clement (for nanna). And she played a huge part in shaping my taste from a food perspective, introducing us to all sorts of regional French dishes such as “Beef Bourguignon”. Now I can’t say I liked everything, but she was quite strict so I had to finish my plate anyway – in retrospect it was a good thing because it helped broaden my horizon in terms of food and flavours.

Now “Mamie” Clement owned a family house in the heart of Burgundy, and we would spend quite a lot of time there in during school holidays. She had an amazing kitchen garden, they had their own beehives and made their own honey (just delicious…). And a huge garden where we would play all day long, that’s where I learnt how to ride a bike, for instance. Anyway, one of her signature desserts during summer holidays was flower doughnuts. Just a-ma-zing. Really fluffy and soft, coated in coarse sugar and dipped in that honey I was just talking about. Back then, cooking with flowers was unheard of from me, so the dish was really exotic… The flower she used were “acacia” (they’re related to the wattle family but look a bit like mini magnolias). Ohhh, what would I give for a bite of these flower doughnuts again!

So that’s me, folks. It’s not a ‘family’ dish per se as “Mamie” Clement wasn’t really family. But to me, family is about caring, sharing, educating, nurturing and putting up great food on the table – and she certainly was doing all of this!

Myriam xx

Myriam Thibault’s Bio and Social Media Links

Website: www.mytinerary.com.au

Blog: www.detours.typepad.com

Twitter: : http://twitter.com/myriamthi

Passionate blogger Myriam Thibault is a 30-something French expat living in Sydney – born and bre(a)d in Paris, France.

She’s been passionate about food for as long as she can remember. Unofficial sources confirmed she even said ‘macaron’ before saying ‘maman’, and ‘tapas’ before ‘papa’. The said mother is still shaking her head in disbelief…

An avid traveller, Myriam has visited all five continents, from Rajasthan to the Sahara Desert, Bilbao to Rio de Janeiro, Paris to Sydney. She wishes she could go on a round-the-world tour as her honeymoon, but husband (and bank account) seem to disagree. She’s among those who firmly believe that one of the best ways to discover a country and truly understand its culture is with a knife and fork in hand. Or chopsticks. Or fingers.

After a successful career in PR and Marketing, Myriam recently started a company called “Mytinerary”. Based in Sydney, Mytinerary is a boutique travel & events consultancy which delivers the ultimate gourmet experience by creating highly personalised itineraries, private tastings and deluxe walking tours for individuals and companies.

Myriam’s philosophy is to share with her clients the Sydney that she loves – its flamboyant dining scene, passionate chefs and sommeliers, vibrant cafés and small bars, rich cultural heritage, talented creative community and dramatic landscapes.

What makes Mytinerary different is Myriam’s incredible passion for Sydney as a world-class gourmet destination, and her focus on a more local, contemporary experience – taking you behind the scenes and beyond the city icons.

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The Internet Chef Talks to

New York Times Bestselling Author & Leading New Media Marketing Thinker ~ Chris Brogan

“Food is love. What’s one family dish from your childhood that holds a special place in your heart?”

Photo Credit: Craig Dugas

My favorite dish that reminds me of family and makes me smile is shepherd’s pie. It’s a very simple Irish dish, and the version I grew up with was the most common of common foods: ground beef, potatoes, corn, butter. What makes this a favorite is that it was always served in my home as if it were a treasure and a treat, and I never once questioned whether it was a luxurious meal. My mother and father simply presented it as if it were. We didn’t have a lot of money, but my family made it all work, and in such a way that it wasn’t much of a story around the table.

Now, years later, my own family isn’t all that interested in shepherd’s pie. My daughter prefers filet mignon to any other cut of meat and my son doesn’t eat foods that aren’t beige or orange (like macaroni and cheese). I travel the world for business, and on occasion, I’ll find myself in a restaurant that boasts of a shepherd’s pie. Theirs always has something a bit more exotic to it, but if I close my eyes and pretend, I can remember the warmth of a family that protected me from knowing times were tough, and fed me with simple food that filled the belly.

Chris Brogan’s Bio and Social Media Links

Website: http://www.chrisbrogan.com

Twitter: : http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dotchrisbrogan

Trust Agents by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith

Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, on the future of business communications, and social software technologies. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. Chris’s blog, [chrisbrogan.com], is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150. He has over 11 years experience in online community, social media, and related technologies.

Chris is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency serving primarily Fortune 100 and 500 clients, and president of Human Business Works, an online education and community company for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs.

Chris is also the cofounder of the PodCamp new media conference series, exploring the use of new media community tools to extend and build value.

He has 16 years of enterprise telecommunications and wireless experience prior to all this.

Click HERE to contact Chris

Chris Brogan Photo Credit http://becky-johns.com

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The Internet Chef Talks to

Stefanie Michaels a.k.a @adventuregirl

and asks her Just One Question…

“Food is love. What’s one family dish from your childhood that holds a special place in your heart?”

YES! Food=love to me.

Eating for me means happy times. I came from a large Italian family on my Mom’s side, and a tiny Italian one of my Dad’s side, but non-the-less, they both offered this everything from scratch foodie haven.

I had gourmet dueling grandmothers who would cook all day long. My Mom’s side were known for the heavier sauces and meatballs, my Dad’s side, the Northern Abruzzi area, best at creating chicken based lighter sauces. Needless to say, holidays were about passing bowls of pasta dishes to 30 or so family members and friends. It was time for celebration.

Braided bread, homemade lasagna, hand rolled pastas, biscotti, and Pizzelles- delicate lace like cookie with flavors of vanilla, orange and anise are my favorite.

And, mostacholi which is what we call it- most people know it as penne pasta. My Grandma would hand roll each one so delicately, then create this light tomato and basil sauce to pour on top.

Those are my favorite memories, watching my Nonna Lucia in the kitchen with her rolling pins, smelling of Jean Nate perfume and flour. Then sitting down at the table for her quick wit, heavy Italian accent, and of course her amazing homemade pasta.

Something special was given to me by my father, when Nonna passed,  her rolling pins, which I cherish to this day.

Stefanie’s Bio and Social Media Links

Website: http://adventuregirl.com/

Twitter: : http://twitter.com/ADVENTUREGIRL

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adventuregirl

Stefanie Michaels, known to legions of fans as “Adventure Girl®,” has carved a unique niche in the world of travel and entertainment.  Her website, AdventureGirl.com, has been utilized by millions looking for tips on exciting places to visit, be it sleeping in an Ice Hotel in Reykjavík, Iceland, swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas, or tapping into the chicest eco-friendly destinations in travel today.

But with almost 1.5 million followers (and growing) on Twitter (Twitter.com/Adventuregirl) it’s her status as one of Twitter’s “Top Global 100” and “Top 50 Tweeple to Follow” that has really accentuated her reach to fans and travelers around the globe, cementing her reputation as the go-to girl for everything travel, and then some.   Her staggering number of followers is also the reason companies from every facet of the global travel industry – from international resorts to socially conscious charities and events – are clamoring to have her experience what they have to offer first-hand in the hopes she will report about their unique qualities, offers and opportunities to her legion of loyal followers.

Michaels’ meteoric rise on Twitter has been highlighted by some of the most influential press outlets in the world, including Vanity Fair Magazine (February 2010), dubbing her “America’s Tweetheart,” TIME Magazine (May 2010), CNN (“5 Twitter Stars You’ve Never Heard Of”) and Forbes.com (Aug. 2010) who touted Michaels as #1 in their list of the “20 Best-Branded Women on Online.”

A sought-after spokesperson in the media, Michaels is the travel expert for Travel + Escape Channel’s “UberGuide” series, with regular appearances as the social media/travel expert for E! Entertainment’s “That Morning Show” and the eco-travel expert for Discovery’s “Planet Green.” She garnered the coveted spot as the green lifestyle expert for The Huffington Post, and has been an expert travel reporter on CNN and FOX News, with continuous television show appearances across the US, most recently on a two-part technology segment for “The Rachael Ray Show” and celebrity guest for Al Roker’s ”Morning Show.”  In addition to her on-camera appearances, Michaels has been frequently quoted in press outlets including the The New York Times and CNN.com.  In addition, her travel pieces have appeared in magazines and online outlets across the globe including Affluent Worldwide, Elite Traveler, Self, People Magazine and Access Hollywood.com.

In addition to reporting on the most recent developments and innovations in travel, recommending must-have travel apps and giving honest and valuable travel tips and advice, Michaels utilizes the reach she has to her many followers on Twitter to help promote causes and events that are important to her. She is one of the new media luminaries named to the United Nations Social Media Envoy Group, including Bill Gates, Aston Kutcher, Larry King and Gen. Colin Powell, tasked with inspiring and activating social media audiences in support of malaria control, and helping to raise funds for 50 million mosquito bed nets in Africa to help eradicate malaria. In addition, Michaels launched, in conjunction with the International Children’s medical charity Operation Smile, the “140 Smiles (in 140 characters)” campaign, to unite the Twitter community to help raise funds for 140 underprivileged children to get life-changing surgeries to correct facial deformities.  As the official Twitter Smile Ambassador, she is committed to helping spread the word about the groundbreaking work Operation Smile performs.

The past year alone has been indicative of Michaels’ exciting and varied adventures as she defied gravity (tapping into a dream of one day traveling to space) when she, along with astronaut Buzz Aldrin, participated in the inaugural flight of Las Vegas’ ZERO G, an airplane ride that lets passengers experience zero gravity, and hit the ocean’s depths to swim with black-tip and lemon sharks in the waters of Oceana.

Michaels’ work as an author is equally exciting.  Her book Adventure Girl’s Guide to Adventure Travel…without Breaking a Nail was last year and upcoming books will feature the next editions in her Adventure Girl’s Guide series.

Michaels’ passion for travel started when her parents took her on her first flight at six-months of age.  Little did those friendly skies know what they were in for. She has since traveled extensively both for business and pleasure.  It has always been about adventure for Michaels, who embodies the spirit of her greatest heroine, Amelia Earhart, and lives by Earhart’s mantra:  “If someone asks you on an adventure, never refuse.”

A Los Angeles native, Michaels began working in commercials at the age of three. Her love for acting was overshadowed by her self proclaimed “geekiness”.

E-mail was the new means of communication in the nascent internet years and, it turns out, the ideal medium for Michaels.  She became an online tour guide for fans who wanted to keep track of her travels. Michaels created Travel Partners, a web site where she kept a photo journal of her excursions. The site became a go to destination for fans, and in 2001 Michaels hosted an online travel show, “Adventures with Adventure Girl.”  Visitors to the site entered online contests to win dream adventures with Stefanie Michaels, film crew in tow.

Michaels, who calls the world her home, resides in Los Angeles, CA, with her husband and a houseful of rescued pets, currently talied at five dogs and three cats.  She attended UCLA’s journalism program, is a member of Boston University’s Archeological Institute of America, The North American Travel Journalists Association, The Society of Professional Journalists, Screen Actors Guild, and The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

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The Internet Chef Talks to

Shira Lazar

and asks her Just One Question…

“Food is love. What’s one family dish from your childhood that holds a special place in your heart?”

Montreal bagels with smoked lox and cream cheese. It’s a Montreal favorite and on weekends my mom would buy fresh bagels and lox and lay it out on the kitchen table. It’s not really a dish but it’s something special to my hometown. My Dad has since bought an actual bagel shop in Montreal, Mount-Royal Bagel Bakery, so the bagel tradition will be one in my family that lives on hopefully for generations to come.

Shira’s Bio and Social Media Links

Website: http://shiralazar.com

Twitter: : http://twitter.com/ShiraLazar and if you’re in Montreal, please support Shira’s Dad’s bagel shop http://twitter.com/MontrealBagel

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ShiraLazar

Shira Lazar is an EMMY nominated TV and Web Personality who continues to bridge the gap between traditional and new media and be a voice for the digital age. She covers the latest in digital trends, tech and pop culture on her blog- On The Scene– on CBSNews.com and hostsBackstage Live, the live-stream during the CBS Early Show on Saturday. You can also catch her as the host of MSN.com’s first social media reality competition, The Tastemaker. She is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Fox News Channel and CNN. An authority in the new media space, Shira also hosts and speaks around the world at influencer events and conferences including Mashable Media Summit, Mashable Social Good Conference, Ignite, Branded Content Summit, Twiistup, Women In Tech International, Banff NEXTMedia, 140 Conference, Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, Big Omaha, and SXSW among many others.

Shira’s extensive hosting work includes some of the biggest live-streams on the web from Awards Shows to blockbuster Hollywood premieres and events–including, The Grammy Awards, The Tony Awards, The Independent Spirit Awards, Sex and the City and Twilight premieres among many others.

In addition to her work in live online programming, Shira has also hosted television shows including NBC’s 1^st Look and Open House, DirecTV’s Havoc on the 101, and was a correspondent on CourtTV’s Hollywood Heat, Reelz Channel’s daily movies news show, Dailies, and Travel Channel’sConfessions of a Travel Writer.

Online, she has developed and hosted video content for Live Earth Video, This Week In YouTube, Yahoo!’s daily What’s So Funny, Condenast’s travel blog Jaunted, Movies.com, Hollywood.com, Mania! TV, Verizon VCAST and more. She has been the official video blogger for Internet Week NY, red carpet host for the Webby Awards and the first-ever Streamy Awards, and was named a “Social Media Maven” when she won Ashton Kutcher’s 24 Hours at Sundance.

A native of Montréal, Shira graduated with honors from Emerson College, and now lives in Los Angeles.

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Bagel, lox and cottage cheese photograph by http://www.emunahmagazine.com

The Internet Chef Talks to

Sean a.k.a. “2morrowknight”

and asks him Just One Question…

“Food is love. What’s one family dish from your childhood that holds a special place in your heart?”

If there is one dish, it would have to be Turkey.

My mother, grandmothers and aunts love to cook, and, they love family get-togethers. Whether Thanksgiving, Christmas or a special occasion, Turkey was always on the menu. In fact, those turkey dinners were always accompanied by great conversation. They talked about current events, and they always took “moments in time” from our family history and encouraged the younger generation to follow that example.

For over two centuries, the combination of food and conversation has been an essential element in my family’s American journey. And this is something I wish to pass on when I have children.

Seans Bio and Social Media Links

Website: http://2morrowknight.blogspot.com

Twitter: @2morrowknight

Co-Creator of the #TwitterPowerhouses Series, and #TwitterCharityFacts. Blogger for @HuffpostImpact and @op_editorial, Marketing Strategist, Master Surfer!

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Turkey Dinner photograph by Pink Sherbet Photography

The Internet Chef Talks to

Denea Buckingham aka

“Gourmet Rabbit”

and asks her Just One Question…

“What inspired you to write about food?”

Food blogger profile:

Bio and Social Media Links:

Website: www.gourmetrabbit.com www.myrabbitgroup.wordpress.com

Twitter: @gourmetrabbit

4Square: Denea G

Facebook: GourmetRabbit

I am a 23 year old with a passion for food, people and connecting the two. My (some would say “varied”, others would say “confused”) background is in a ballet school in America, studying inorganic chemistry at university (but spending most of my time in the cooking school instead..) then events management, media, marketing and (for no apparent reason) flight attending after I ran away to Australia at age 17.

Early in 2010 I started a publication called GourmetRabbit which gives a voice to those who are working in the food and hospitality industry. We print a collectors edition book once a year and publish monthly online at www.gourmetrabbit.com. Never one to be found sitting still I also contract to restaurants and companies along with the lovely Miss Spicy Icecream (my art director, Lisa Manche) to provide graphic design and tailored connective media strategy. Oh yea and I’m going to be on a tv show on SBS next year, I love dark chocolate, the colour purple (royal purple) and my dog, a rescued papillon named Fizzgig.

If I could give one piece of advice to everyone out there it is: do the best for yourself, and the group, and you will succeed.

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Thank you

Ed Charles from Tomato

The Internet Chef Talks to Ed Charles from

“Tomato”

and asks him  Just One Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

I was inspired to write about food because I wanted to escape “foodie” food writing and communication in an unwanky way.

Originally I was a financial and business journalist from the UK who moved to Sydney in 1995 and then Melbourne in 2000.

In 2004, I started my own food magazine Tomato, which was distributed through cool cafes, bars and restaurants. While the content, which was similar to my blog, was successful, financially the project was ill-thought out.

I then discovered blog platforms and put my content onto the blog, also called Tomato.

I used the name Tomato as my maternal grandfather imported fruit (mainly bananas) and vegetables to the old Covent Garden market in England and had his own Tomato plantations. As well as the family connection, the Tomato also symbolized everything that is good and bad about food from the delicious heirloom variety warm from the sun served simply with basil and olive oil to the hard, cardboard variety sold out of season in the supermarkets.

Food blogger profile:

Bio and Social Media Links:

Food Blog: http://www.tomatom.com

Facebook address: http://www.facebook.com/ed.charles

Twitter handle: @Tomatom

Other websites:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/edcharles http://www.youtube.com/gastrotom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomatom http://friendfeed.com/tomatom

http://delicious.com/edjak

Since then, thanks to my blogging I’ve written on food and drink for many newspapers and magazines, including The Australian, Herald Sun, The Age and Gourmet Traveller. I’ve reviewed for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide and The Age Good Food Guide, judged cakes, cheese, cocktails and participated in almost any food or drink tasting you can think of.

Currently, I’m reviewing for the Melbourne Coffee Guide and will be disappearing to India and South East Asia from November for a few months to complete my search for the perfect curry (with only one spare pair of underpants).

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Thank you

Written and photographed by Zoe Roy

“The truffle is not exactly an aphrodisiac, but tends to make women more tender, and men more likeable”- Jean Antheleme Brillet-Savarin, renowned 17th century gastronome.

The history of truffles is older than one might think. In 300BC, truffles were already a sought after expensive delicacy.

They were the favourite dish of Pharaoh Cheops and in early writing were referred to as “children of the earth”. Legend has it that the first being on the planet to devour truffles was a female wild boar. A farmer watched the sow dig up and eat the presumably poisonous underground funghi and waited patiently for her to die. Instead she flew into a fit of passion and attracted so many lovesick suitors that the species began to proliferate in hot haste.

Now skip to 1997 when Australian CSIRO scientist Dr. Nick Malajczuk, specialising in trees and funghi started experimenting with some initial planting in Tasmania. He identified Manjimup in Western Australia as an ideal location for growing truffles. Hence was born the Hazel Hill Truffiére..

In 1998, 13,000 Oak and Hazel tree saplings were inoculated with the French Black Truffle. To do this, the Perigold truffles are made into a mush which is rubbed into the roots of the saplings.

At this early stage, Dr. Nick chose to use both oak and hazel with the foresight that if the truffles didn’t develop then they would at least have hazelnuts to harvest! More than 5 years of experimentation and anxious waiting passed and in 2003 the first truffle was uncovered accidently on a morning walk.

So it is here in Manjimup, we went truffle hunting…

Manjimup is a thriving agricultural centre, about 3 1/2 hours SE from Fremantle in Western Australia, a land of cherries, apples, pears, avocados, marron, and of course truffles.

A nice early road trip with my friend- head chef Peter Manifis landed us in Manjimup at 930am. We join another couple and began the tour with some history and truffle science.

This is followed by a breakfast of  truffled scrambled eggs served on  hazelnut bread, whipped up in front of us by the head chef of The Wine & Truffle Company. To wash it down we had a sneaky little glass of their well regarded Riesling. Good start to the day!

Next we were assigned gumboots and overalls and taken to the training area to meet the dogs. They have three prize hunters. Sunny- a kelpie, Lizzie- a beagle and Bella- a black lab.

In the training area they have set up rows of plastic trees, at the base of which there are little pieces of sponge. Some have a drop of truffle oil on them, and the others have a red cross. The dogs all have there own commands so that they know which one is working. It’s either “seek”, “go get it” or “find”. The dogs run from tree to tree and when they smell the truffle they sit and wait for a treat.

With training complete it’s time for the real thing! We all board the little wooden carriage, pulled by a tractor, to take us up to the truffiére. Before we board we must walk through water in our boots, yet another precaution they take to prevent any potentially harmful spores reaching the truffiére.

Once we are there, its all business and not even 2 minutes pass before Sunny has found a beauty. When a truffle is identified in the ground, the hunter first smells is to assess its state. Truffles are formed in November/December, grow through Feb/March and mature during the winter months. Only when a truffle is mature does it release its aroma.

When a truffle has matured it needs to be harvested within 3 days or it will begin to rot in the ground. A very small window! Once a truffle has been deemed mature, fingers and a small plastic needle are used to scrape the ground around the truffle until it is unearthed. Truffles can be found as deep as 60cm, and a single tree can produce up to 2.5kg each season.

Truffles are often found in clusters and a lot of small truffles can come together to form a very large truffle. Like the one we dug up, weighing about 430gms! Unfortunately we were not permitted to take it with us, and there are no pockets in the overalls they provided!

The Manjimup truffles typically sell for between $2000-$3500/kg, except for the “icon” truffles which are the largest ones ranging from 750g-1.5kg, which are usually auctioned on ebay for up to $6000/kg.

This year they expect to harvest 1tonne of black truffle. Australia is the biggest producer of French black truffles outside Europe and currently produce 15% of the world black truffles. Because of Europe’s rapidly decreasing production due to the age of the trees, it is predicted that by 2020, Australia will be producing 50% of the world’s truffles.

This little truffiére in Manimup is now exporting to 15 countries, including France.

Then we headed to the farm café for a beef pie on truffled mash and glass of shiraz before we hit the orchards to pick some vine-ripened Granny Smiths!

Back at the restaurant where we work in Fremantle, we were couriered 1kg of Manjimup truffles for our annual Truffle Dinner, which consisted of 100 people, 5 courses, 8 chefs and lots of truffles……

Woodfired Pizza Bianco with Shaved Truffle, Parmesan and Truffle Oil

Truffled Leek & Potato Soup

Marron & Truffle Omelette

Housemade Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms & Marsala

Roasted Spatchcok with Truffle Butter (under the skin), Asparagus wrapped in Pancetta

Mielle Feille with Caramal Apples and Truffled Custard

At the end of the night we all realised we would be happy not to see or smell another truffle until next season!

About Chef Zoe Roy!

At 16 working as a waitress I became captivated by the concept of creating flavour. The next 3 years I spent exploring Europe and UK, working in England, Ireland, Scotland, Turkey and finally 6 months in France working in a farmhouse ‘La Ferme du Mont Mussey’ at the foothills of the Jura mountains. It was here that my path was truly cemented for me…. The quest for food that still smells of the earth or the forest or the ocean it came from, and the creation of simple flavours that make your heart sing.

Back in Melbourne I began a catering business ‘Feed your Friends’. I provided fully personalised menus, catering for schools, hospitals, film sets, corporate, cocktail parties and dinner parties.  After two years, at 21, I again craved the pace of  a commercial kitchen… I became Head Chef of Montsalvat Café & Restaurant in Eltham, cooking European food with the help of a beautiful kitchen garden. After 1 year I was enticed by the excitement of Richmond Hill Café & Larder, which was to become my home for the next 4 years. Working alongside Stephanie Alexander and other wonderful chefs and top shelf ingredients in a professional environment kept me very stimulated. I finally bid farewell to Richmond Hill, and became Head Chef of The Commoner. A modern British restaurant in the heart of Fitzroy with a woodfire oven and a Moorish touch. This took me back to my travelling days and my first love affair with food, following the spice trail around the world.

Currently I have moved out west with my partner (also a passionate chef!) and we have plans to open a small and intimate European style bar in Fremantle. Watch this space!

So tell me, whats your favorite way to eat truffle?

The Internet Chef Talks to Christie Connelly from

“Fig and Cherry”

and asks her Just One Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

Two words – my hubby! He’s a web developer and he designed and built my blog for me in June 2007. Then he kept coaxing me to put my first post up – which took me until December 3rd 2007 – talk about procrastination! Once I got going there was no stopping me though, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I’m also fortunate to have had a very multicultural upbringing with two grandmothers, one Lebanese, one Hungarian, who were both incredible cooks. They never taught me any specific recipes, but just being surrounded by their passion for food in their respective cultures was very inspiring. Not to mention a delicious experience.

My next big adventure will be to create delectable, organic baby food for my little girl who is due in November. I’m looking forward to pleasing one of my toughest critics, I’m sure!

Food blogger profile:

Blog and Social Media Links:

Food Blog: http://www.figandcherry.com/

Company website: http://www.morningcopy.com.au/

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/figandcherry

Twitter: http://twitter.com/figandcherry

Bio:

Christie is a self-taught and health-conscious cook who lives in Sydney. She’s always searching for new and exotic flavours and has travelled all over the world in pursuit of the perfect meal, including: Barcelona, Tokyo, Bangkok, New York and Istanbul… with Mallorca and Hong Kong next on the list.

Fig and Cherry allows her to express her love of cooking, eating, photography and travel. Through the blog, she has been lucky enough to meet amazing chefs such as Tetsuya Wakuda and work with brands like Electrolux, Bessemer and Sunbeam.

The name Fig and Cherry is strongly marinated in history; reflecting her family heritage of Hungarian and Lebanese cultures. Figs are often used in Mediterranean cooking and simply devoured fresh from the tree. Cherries, particularly sour ones, play an integral part in delicious Hungarian desserts, such as strudels and crêpes.

Christie is a very busy woman. She also owns the online marketing agency, Morning Copy, and has a baby due in November 2010! She’ll be launching another blog in September that will feature stories, reviews and competitions about pregnancy and motherhood.

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and asks her Just One Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

‘PASSIONATE ABOUT BAKING’…and that’s what I am!! Time on hand, and breathtakingly beautiful food photography at food blogs like Canelle Et Vanille & La Tartine Gourmande inspired me to begin food blogging. Been baking at home for over 10 years, and enjoy it more and more each passing day. It’s challenging, inspirational, creative and therapeutic. My blog has pictures and recipes of my fun in the kitchen, and a few bits and pieces about other stuff I enjoy – nature, art, photography, props, travel….

I am a SAHM (stay-at-home-mother), or rather, a “Domestic Engineer” as the newly updated lexicon glorifies us mere mortals to be, with two lovely kids. My passions in life are baking, cooking, nature, art and photography. It’s mainly about FOOD as an art. My mantra…‘Do It From Scratch’ which must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too! Not a very experimental eater, but I seem to be developing a knack for experimental cooking!

My family enjoys good food, and this gives me some therapeutic stuff to do. A die hard foodie, I love exploring new ingredients and cuisines, and sing the ‘locavore’ anthem.

Food styling is something I absolutely adore. Mr. PAB has just got me a new camera, a Canon EOS 50D, which I am exploring. I’ve recently begun writing an online baking blog for the Times of India, one of India’s largest newspapers. You can find me here under the name The Rabid Baker {rabid: (adj) marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea}. I also write on a freelance basis, do cookbook and product reviews, and sometimes carry out recipe testings on request, and dream of writing a baking book one day!

Food blogger profile: Deeba Rajpal

My main blog:

Also find me at:

Deeba Rajpal’s passions in life are baking, cooking, nature, art and photography. She has two kids, a daughter who is 14, and a son who is 11, both foodies through and through. Her better half is her greatest critic, and the motivation for her culinary adventures in her kitchen in India! Photography, nature, art, travel, macarons, food styling & recipe development are her other interests.

{All Deeba’s work is under copyright ©. Please feel free to ask her if you would like to use it.}

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