Foodies’ Diary

Tis’ The Season
Sweet Infinity (www.sweetinfinity.com.au) pastry chef Leanne Beck first captured my taste buds with her pies, but in more recent times, it’s her community spirit that’s garnered my attention. In a wonderful breezeway between two of the restored Walsh Bay wharves, she and florist Naomi Jones held a party earlier this month to thank their customers; putting on live music, mood lighting, unique floral displays, tasty canapés and a cleverly chosen boutique Rosé that I liked a lot. Rather than a media frenzy, it was a thanks to those who, through word of mouth, build their businesses – sometimes that’s the best way! A near-perfect zucchini flower alerted me to her catering skills, and with that time of year rapidly approaching, she may be the caterer for you! As her own seasonal gift, she’ll also be donating all proceeds from cakes sold at her Woolloomooloo bakery to the Sydney Children’s Hospital on Saturday 5th December.

Food In The Raw
If you’ve been curious about veganism and food movements like raw food, get on down to Belmore Park (next to Central Station) on Sunday 1st November for the 2009 Cruelty Free Festival (www.crueltyfreefestival.org.au). As well as highlighting a bunch of ways we can all help out our animal friends, the festival will be serving up cruelty free foods and entertaining guests with musical acts from artists including Deni Hines, and live cookery demonstrations. Joy Mozzi from Fruvenu (www.fruvenu.com.au) will be preparing three basic recipes, including a “quick ‘n easy coconut/date/strawberry dessert”. According to Joy, raw food “is succulent, energising, delicious, colourful and vibrant… as well as being lactose, gluten, egg and soy free.” So if you struggle with diet or allergies, you may find an alternative answer in the fifty odd stalls on display.

Fizzy Pop
I recently rediscovered the explosive sugary joy of the iconic Aussie sherbet product Wizz Fizz, on one of my increasingly rare (independent) supermarket outings. Although repackaged for the new millennium, it’s tongue-tingling bite took me straight back to suburban childhood, as only tastes and smells can do. Imagine my surprise when on returning home I saw the most amazing piece of neo-pop art online, by Australia’s hottest young artist, Ben Frost (www.benfrostisdead.com).  ‘Oprah Winfrey destroyed my sex life’ (below) incorporates the equally iconic Wizz Fizz font, proving that it truly has become part of the collective unconscious. Take a sweet trip down memory lane…