Hard News by Russell Brown

a really nice reusable cloth bag

Which can hold 20 kg of purchases with ease!

I thought the 3 soups for $10 from naked locals was a great deal especially with bread from Kapati Artisan Bakehouse.

We also loved the Jerk paste and sauces from the Jamaican folks were great and we remembered to get them :).

We also had a chat to the man about quite how much rice Sunrice grows in Australia, which seems to run to several million metric Australian fucktonnes. Roughly.

Where on Earth do they find the water for that?!

Oh I LOVE Aromatics! Noel and his smoked mushrooms - wow. I even made an odyssey to the Hawkes Bay once, especially to hunt him down. I ended up going to the Black Barn Farmers' Market, and finding him there. I won't be going to the Food Show this year, haven't been for a few years, but do enjoy, all who go through the doors.

I did a tour of cheese stalls – Sheeps milk Cheddar was definitely worth grabbing, to go with my Salash salamis, and big YES too to Noel’s Smoked Mushrooms, they won’t last long!

Was pleased to meet the Urban Hippie duo and tell them how much I enjoy their miso.

Today was a much better experience than my last attempt some years ago, it seemed there was a higher proportion of interesting food this year.

It wasn’t a very photogenic scene though….. except the lovely reflecty Lucky Taco caravan

the Korean Embassy (in London) did the same thing at the 2012 Thames Festival in London. Put on a great stand and blew away the competition

We also had a chat to the man about quite how much rice Sunrice grows in Australia, which seems to run to several million metric Australian fucktonnes. Roughly.

Where on Earth do they find the water for that?!

Heavily subsidised irrigation, is the short answer. About 11% of Australia's irrigation is for rice. I lived in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area for 6 years and my abiding memory will be driving past glistening rice fields on 45-degree days when it hadn't rained for months.

It's all very controversial - see this recent opinion from LaTrobe's Professor Lin Chase:

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2012/opinion/lies,-dam-lies-and-water-plans

The Korean section certainly had impressive signage!

Go and see my friends Andrew and Lisa at Mahurangi Oysters - their oysters are super delish.

It wasn’t a very photogenic scene though….. except the lovely reflecty Lucky Taco caravan

You got the man from Empire Tonic in there too!

You got the man from Empire Tonic in there too!

You can't ignore a Pith Helmeted figure!

That Nelson/Jamaican jerk rub is a staple of the Brightwater BBQ scene. Great with pork and fish as well.

Throw in some sunshine and the density of quality reggae loving folk down here and it's really no wonder we got a Windies match in the World Cup. I might start working on Martin Townshend to put together a craft ale version of Red Stripe for the big event!

Reporting in:

The Farm Butchery's straight-up beef sausages were mega-tasty last night.

And I just fried up by takeaway bulgogi for lunch. Yum!

3 soups for $10 from naked locals

I liked the Naked Locals range - but then I found out the parent company LHF is, like Sanitarium, part of the Seventh Day Adventist tax avoidance empire...
so bye bye Lisa's Hummus, Naked Locals and others...

but then I found out the parent company LHF is, like Sanitarium, part of the Seventh Day Adventist tax avoidance empire…

nooooooo, damn damn damn.

Although Lisa's hummus was on our "do not buy" list for other reasons anyway.

I think my second favourite bargain was the goodie bag from Tio Pablo they had great prices and were only too happy to swap things in and out of the goodie bag. They might be less keen when the crowd is deeper in the weekend :).

Worth noting the rise of companies selling meat from cattle bred specifically for meat quality rather than dairy.

I think my second favourite bargain was the goodie bag from Tio Pablo they had great prices and were only too happy to swap things in and out of the goodie bag.

Oh damn. I didn't notice they were doing one.

I think I get my 1kg of coconut oil from Davis trading for under $10. I'll price check and share the results.
Still not sure if I should go and risk spending my meagre disposable income on tasty morsels, or if I should eat the ones I already have at home. The comments have both whetted my appetite to go and sated my curiosity about going.
However one thing is settled, I'm definitely going to have to get some of the Empire Tonic, which I have so far managed to avoid on account of it costing almost as much as some gins.

We designed and created Foodbox's stand and I was glad how the kid's creche idea worked. The Lion stand was great. A pick and mix of 6 beers with a max of 3 of each including Leffe Brun AND Hoegaarden. Slurp slurp! I enjoyed chowing down on an amazing range of stuff and meeting fun foodies. The deal bags were flying out the door and most reported a super busy show.

For those in Auckland there is a free foodie event tomorrow (Sat 10 Aug) on at shed 10 on Queen's wharf.

It's part of Restaurant month and unlike the rest of the events it isn't exhorbitant.

I was hoping to get there but it seems unlikely now :(.

Auckland gets the Food Show; we get The Gluten Free Foods and Allergy Show, Bah!! !

With an Exit International stand, featuring Dr Philip Nitschke and a range of peanut based snacks?

,.. And fluoride-laced beverages.