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Newsletter, April 30, 2008
Hi there,
Well the past month has been an incredibly busy one for us – launching the new website, letting everyone know about it, fielding the responses (many of them congratulatory and positive, we’re happy to say), fixing the inevitable glitches, and beginning this newsletter.
Oh, and then there’s the data-basing of an enormous backlog of places which should be on the various regional listings already, but aren’t. Their details are in several large boxes lining the office. Please be patient with us, we’re working as fast as we can, but Australia is huge, and new and wonderful places keep popping up all the time. So do also keep telling us about ones you know and which you think really should be listed.
We’ve all seen those show and festival fliers that stay tacked to power poles for months after an event, getting more and more tattered. We don’t want the Australian Regional Food Guide site to be like that so please can you drop us an email if you see something still listed which you know has closed?
All being well, you should receive this newsletter fortnightly, but don’t call the emergency services if it is a day or two late. Most regional food people understand the pressures that can evaporate time unexpectedly – especially those of you, working as we are, in a co-dependent, multi-tasking environment. That’s business-speak for married and in business together!
Here’s hoping that May begins well and finishes even better.
Enjoy the rest of the goodies we have for you here.
Cheers,
Sally & Gordon Hammond
 OH, YES, THE CONTEST!
Let’s ask for the location of a very strange stone pyramid somewhere in Australia, and tell us why it was built. Hint: there’s a picture of it on the site. The first person to give us the correct answer will receive a signed copy of our fun little book about other unusual things: Weird & Wacky
SPECIALS BOARD
We know what is on the Australian Regional Food Guide website Special Board at present: vastly reduced costs for taking out a Gold or Silver Premier listing. Do be quick though as we can’t do this forever! Look at the deal on Subscribe and choose whether you want a Gold or Silver listing.
However, we also want to know what is on YOUR specials board? Do you have a great deal, a great dish or a great idea? Let us know and we might be able to share the news with everyone on the next newsletter.
LOVE IT, HATE IT?
 There may be a reason why you can’t stomach coriander. It appears that some people have enzymes in their mouths that make it taste like soap. The rest of us love it and it’s good to know that coriander has more antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables. Of course you may not want to eat it by the cupful, but it’s interesting to know that this ancient herb thought to be traced back around 5000 years, came from the Mediterranean notably Morocco and Romania. The Spanish call it by another name, and it is often referred to by this word in US recipes. What is it? Answer next newsletter.
(Thanks to Anna Wallin and www.gourmetgarden.com for this information.)
GIVEAWAYS
We would love to be able to offer you all special deals and giveaways, but this new site is just beginning to roll, and right now – apart from our own books – we don’t have much to offer as prizes.
SO-O-O if you would like to give your business (or client) a little more exposure, please contact us to offer a product giveaway on this newsletter.
It can be in response to a quiz question, the first reply, the best recipe, anything you think will work. We’re happy to be part of what has to be actually a true WIN-WIN situation!
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 WE HAVE A WINNER!
We promised an Australian Regional Cookbook for the quiz winner and although many clever people used our new SEARCH button to find the answer – and saw through our thinly disguised trick to bring it to your attention – the winner was Jacqui Good of Thistle Be Good, in Port Willunga in the lovely Fleurieu Peninsula region of South Australia. CONGRATULATIONS Jacqui, and thanks to all who participated.
That was so much fun, we’ll do it again. Details later in this newsletter.
NEWSLETTERS – WE WANT YOUR NEWSLETTERS TOO
You’ve probably noticed that the front page of the Australian Regional Food Guide website is always full of interesting Snippets and News information. That is because many people share their news with us and it is so good, we have to pass it on.
So please put us on your mailing list, and who knows, you may see something featured here – or on the site – soon.
JUST LIKE THIS (From Feast on Q’s, latest newsletter)
 I have always been fascinated that this fruit that looks more reptilian than botanical. I didn’t know it was also grown here. Read on….
Pitayas or dragon fruit flower mainly from January to May with the fruit developing and ready in about 40 days. They are an epiphytic or vine type member of the cactus family and can have stems up to seven metres in length. The flowers are white, 30cm long and are open for only one night. They begin to burst as early as 4pm and by 9pm have reached their full translucent beauty, glowing in the dark. There are at least seven flushes of buds in one season.
Pitayas originated in South America, but it wasn’t until the French took them to Vietnam that they were marketed under the name Dragon Fruit. Since then they have spread to many countries and are now one of Vietnam’s major exports.
 These cacti have far less water and fertilizer requirements than most other crops and no known predators. Red Fox Pitayas have been growing dragon fruit at east Nanango for the past five years. Farm tours are available.
Pitayas are wonderful chilled and eaten with ice-cream or fresh out of hand just like a kiwi fruit, they are used to flavour drinks, jams and pastries. They freeze well and make the wonderful sorbets. Pitayas are packed with vitamin C and high in antioxidants.
Pictured: Bernice Danahay with pitayas, www.aussiedragonfruit.com
HERE’S ONE FOR NSW
The Department of State and Regional development has a range of newsletters too, which you can access on their website
AND NO, THIS IS NOT ALL ABOUT NEWSLETTERS BUT . . .
. . if you are involved with food manufacturing you may find this one useful.
JUST FOR NEWSLETTER READERS!
FOOD NETWORK IS LOOKING FOR AMAZING STORIES FOR A GROUNDBREAKING NEW SERIES!!!
Do you or someone you know have an amazing food related story to tell? Do you know someone who has gone from being homeless to the owner of their own restaurant, makes pop art out of pineapples, or eats nothing but peanuts? Do you know someone who is battling food fears or phobias? Has food helped to cure an illness, changed the course of your life, or helped to inspire you in some dramatic way? We are looking for all types of stories even those that are odd or humorous to feature on and upcoming series for the Food Network. This came in the other day. It’s US-based and my contact is not sure if there will be any episodes shot in Australia, but why not? Anyone interested should email a brief description of their story with their contact information and picture of themself ASAP to Michael Raptis or call 646.723.9848 to be considered for the show.
 LOCAL STAR
How’s this for industry? Charlotte Brown and her partner-chef Michael Whatley manage to run two restaurants on opposite sides of the country. In Stanley in north-western Tasmania it’s the Old Cable Station (www.oldcablestation.com.au) while their other restaurant, Cafe Carlotta, is diagonally across the continent in Broome. It is closed in the summer wet season while they travel across and open the Stanley one. When it is too cold in the northern Tasmanian winter, they close the Old Cable Station and head west again. Neat. We have eaten in Stanley in the rustic dining room surrounded by bits of memorabilia from the days when this place was about communications not coffee, and had an excellent main dish of tray-roasted salmon and vegetables prepared in the wood-fired oven to one side of the room. Definitely worth a visit.
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