I Don't Eat, I Devour

Ah, nostalgia. Is it just me, or has the past ten years been nothing but a long, ceaseless stream of nostalgia? Not that I mind: I love the stylistic choices of every decade before the 70s. Daisy's Milk Bar, as its name may suggest, is a 50s-styled, American-feel eatery that specialises in quick, greasy eats and frothy milkshakes. Classic strawberry milkshake, $6 I mean, it's a milkshake. Delicious enough, but nothing special. Daisy's also serves a 'deluxe' milkshake for $8 (a tad steep!) that 'comes in a glass' and has slightly more interesting flavours such as 'iced vovo' and 'choc peanut butter'. Call me a grinch, but I've never understood milkshakes. It seems a very quick and unsatisfying way of consuming a lot of calories. Bacon & Egg Roll, $10  The addition of fried onion to this breakfast classic makes the otherwise unremarkable dish smell like heaven. The egg is fresh with runny yolk, and the brioche bun is gently ...

One of the most lovable TV chefs is also a keen businessman, opening up a range of Italian restaurants around Australia. Threatened by liquidation of the company that used to own it, Jamie Oliver has since then bought back the Sydney restaurant named after himself and the menu has been refreshed to include a pretty good deal - 2 courses for $25, 3 courses for $30 Super Lunch (available Monday to Saturday).  The menu is not limiting at all - you can choose from 4 entrees, 5 main courses and 3 desserts; and they are all very substantial.  One of the entrees, for example, is the truffle tagliatelle - this is probably my favourite dish at Jamie's (and one of the few dishes that would tempt me back). Black truffle is, of course, an acquired taste - one I happen to love; and it is combined with a lovely soft porcini mushroom and al dente pasta. Truffle Tagliatelle The pate bruschetta is also delicious: grilled bread topped with a generous slathering of chicken liver p...

PART I: USELESS PREAMBLES  I would like to start this blog by quoting Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan of the Katering Show: 'But food isn't just about not shitting your pants...it's about controlling your life expectancy through what you put in your body so you never die expectantly on a toilet.' I, for one, definitely don't want to die on a toilet. And one way not to die on a toilet, I'm told, is to limit my sugar intake. Sugar, as we all know, is a great evil: it has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, obesity and slavery. Queen Elizabeth I, my idol, was a great lover of sugar, and she lost all her teeth. Clearly, our society did not learn from the loss by Liz I of her teeth, because since the 50s we keep on coming up with sugary treats targeted at children so that we grow up addicted to the sweet stuff: more than half of the cereals sold in the US sound like nothing but corn syrup held together by bits of wheat and marshmallows. Nothing excites u...