I need to loose weight … so doing it in public

I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes!

This means I need to get healthier and loose weight so have decided to blog about it .. ‘they’ tell me I’m as sick as my secrets so will let it all hang out so to speak, and hope that reporting on my successes and failures online will keep me on the straight and narrow.

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fav food this week

At the Tin Min restaurant, Indigo Pearl resort, Phuket Thailand

my breakfast is prepared

the result -- posh pad thai

top restaurant winners in New Zealand

passing this on for you foodies to know where to eat ( as well as all the wonderful places you will just stumble across in New Zealand)  I’m eating at Logan Brown early November for the first time . . . kiwitravelwriter

‘Wild’ hosts win top NZ restaurant award 19 Aug 2009

Wellington restaurant Logan Brown has been named Supreme Winner in the 2009 NZ Cuisine ‘Restaurant of the Year’ awards.

Owned by Steve Logan and Al Brown, hosts of the popular New Zealand television show Hunger for the Wild, the restaurant beat 39 other finalists to take New Zealand’s top restaurant award.

International flagship
Melbourne-based food and wine writer Ralph Kyte-Powell, who was guest international judge for the annual awards, said the Logan Brown dining experience was “so seamless, so ‘big occasion’ yet so welcoming, so expert yet so friendly.

”If I had to select an international flagship for New Zealand cuisine, Logan Brown would be hard to go past,” said Kyte-Powell.

Other judges praised the Cuba Street restaurant’s atmosphere, menu, wine list and service. Logan Brown also won the Best Smart Dining – Metropolitan Award.

Serious competition
The 21 food critics and hospitality professionals who judged the 2009 awards said Logan Brown was up against serious competition from Clooney, Merediths, Soul Bar & Bistro and The French Café (all in Auckland), and Saggio di Vino in Christchurch.

But Logan Brown’s win means Wellington has had four out of five supreme winners in the five years of the competition.

Last year the capital city’s Matterhorn restaurant was named supreme winner, with Martin Bosley’s, also in Wellington, winning the top award the year before.

However, judges said standards were becoming more even across New Zealand, and the 2009 category winners reflected the regional spread of excellence with Hawke’s Bay, Nelson and Canterbury making their mark.

Award winners

• Best Smart Dining – Metropolitan: Logan Brown
• Best Smart Dining – Metropolitan runner-up: Clooney, Auckland
• Best Smart Dining – Regional: Bouterey’s at 251, Richmond, Nelson
• Best Smart Dining – Regional runner-up: Pacifica, Napier
• Best Casual Dining – Metropolitan: Soul Bar & Bistro, Auckland
• Best Casual Dining – Metropolitan runner-up: Saggio di Vino, Christchurch
• Best Casual Dining – Regional: Hopgood’s Restaurant & Bar, Nelson
• Best Casual Dining – Regional runner-up: Wendy Campbell’s French Bistro, Martinborough
• Best Neighbourhood Restaurant: Molten, Mt Eden, Auckland
• Best Winery Restaurant: First equal – Terroir at Craggy Range, Hawke’s Bay; Pegasus Bay Winery Restaurant, Waipara

Background: Logan Brown Restaurant, Wellington

2009 Cuisine awards judges were unanimous in their praise for central city Wellington restaurant Logan Brown, saying the atmosphere, menu, wine list and service were all hard to fault.

A 1920s banking chamber – ringed by columns like an ancient Greek temple beneath a soaring classical dome – was seen as perhaps a surprising setting for a restaurant owned by Hunger for the Wild stars, Steve Logan and Al Brown.

Their television series casts them as hunting-shooting-fishing Kiwi lads, but the unpretentious pair have made Logan Brown a temple of serious dining that captivated judges.

Contemporary art by Paul Dibble and Ann Robinson offsets the formality of the room, as does a big lounge bar. Diners can expect to be cosseted and served by well-informed, attentive service staff, NZ Cuisine reported.

“Head chef Shaun Clouston writes the menu in conjunction with co-owner Al Brown, creating memorable dishes that are not overburdened flavour combinations.

“Game often appears on the menu as well as unusual indigenous ingredients, such as farmed Bluff-style oysters (meatier than the wild). The paua ravioli has become a classic not to be missed and anything from the ocean is guaranteed to be utterly fresh. There’s a light hand at work on the desserts, creating a choice that’s hard to decide on.

“Fittingly for the magnificent food, the wine list is one of the most impressive around, with premium New Zealand bottles and a stellar selection of imported prestige wines,” said the judges’ report.

food and expectations at home and when travelling

Very recently I went shopping with an Afghani family: their first shopping experience in New Zealand. It was a reminder that what we may think of as normal or usual is not always so in others eyes. I was grateful to the supermarket staff who were patient and understanding – some of my fellow shoppers were not quite the same. I managed to stop myself in giving them a lesson about racism, intolerance, and ethnocentricity. Biting my tongue is useful behaviour sometimes.

This shopping, and kiwi-language, trip led my mind to wandering –yet again – thinking of my own experiences in other cultures supermarkets. It’s not always in the really different countries that the most difficulties are encountered. I know if I go to Timbuktu (yes there really is such a place- it’s not just in a song) I will not be able to eat as I do at home and that’s fine. However in western countries somehow the food and supermarket culture shock can be greater. For some weird reason I think it should be familiar to me. Not so.

American bread and cheese caused me great consternation: the cheese was bright orange and the bread cake-like. Up and down the chilled cabinets I walked, trying to decide what was the best option – or rather the least objectionable. On a low budget to ensure I could travel for a year without working, my purse dictated the local cheese, my palate, and eyes, demanded the imported variety.

Dye is added to many American cheeses: some years ago when it was removed, cheese sales plummeted to such a degree that it was immediately put back into the recipe – this is not real cheese consumers said when confronted with the paler version. For me the exact opposite was true.

I also hated the toast being slathered with butter when eating out and a packet of crisps on my plate instead of the chips I thought I’d ordered.  Recently in Picton (NZ) with a group of Americans they were upset that their toast was delivered dry: the butter to be added by them. “Normal” is what we are used to. I love sweet honey on crumpets; my son in law likes savoury additions on them. We both think our taste the normal one, just as the Americans did with the buttered toast.

So with our kiwifruit being called’ kiwis’,(a kiwi is either a bird or a person, not a piece of fruit) bright orange cheese, waxed fruit and vegetables, along with the strangely textured bread, I found American supermarket trips a slow  and surreal.

When I arrived in The Netherlands after that trip I was in heaven. Wonderful bread, fantastic cheeses: the difficulty then became one of which to choose so once again I was walking up and down the aisle trying to decide!

Conversely Americans here find many of our habits and food strange too. Vegemite is absolutely, unbelievably, unfathomable to all the Americans I know.

“You should be sealing your roads with it darling” said one friend.

An ex-Chicago woman told me of her first supermarket expedition in Christchurch.

She started in the vegetable section. – where most entrances seem to be placed – but within a few minutes she was back out to the car and her waiting husband.

“Honey this must be the bad side of town; they only have dirty potatoes. We have to go somewhere else”

They duly drove to the next supermarket. Still the bad part of town! Only dirty potatoes again. Off to yet a third supermarket on the far side of town – dreading the weekly trip this would entail and worrying about the locality of the rented house-and knowing when they finally bought the house would be in the good part of town.

She boldly walks into this final supermarket, this must be on the best side of town; at last she will be safe. Wrong: dirty potatoes displayed there too for all to see.

She slowly realised it had nothing to do with the part of town she was in. that it was all about fresh food, not contaminated by the waxy finishes she had become used to. Now she hates to shop in Chicago with all the fruit looking very unreal with its ‘perfect’ appearance and is constantly nagging her friends into buying fresh, to make meals from scratch. I think she has become a kiwi.

Unlike our new New Zealanders, the Americans and I understood the language we were talking in. Well no, that’s not really so: our common language separates us too – but that’s another column.

traveling? want cake for dessert? make your own!

(check out the best dessert in the world here too)

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR ONE PERSON seems this recipe has traveled the world in an email — so passing it on for you to use when you’re travelling and just NEED a homemade yummy treat 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE 4 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) A small splash of vanilla extract 1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe) Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

top tips to avoid tourist traps in thailand

Found this in BootsNall travel stories.As someone who goes to Thailand a lot, i can reccomend these tips to get off the tourist trail … which some thai tourist operators  try and keep you on. for me, Thailand is fabulous when you get away from the pancake trail, eat REAL Thai food, meet real Thai people and expericnce real Thai events and sites> just as if you are in New Zealand you need to see more than Auckland, Rorotua and Queenstown: sure thay are all part of New Zealand: but NZ , like Thailand, is more than these places  .. lots of these tips can be used in every where you travel. So well done Steve. a great piece .. will check out more of your writing

This kiwitravelwriter blog has many pieces on Thailand … check the categories to read more from the ‘land of smiles’ as the country is often called.

Thailand’s “Banana Pancake Trail” and 5 Insider Tips for Escaping it

By: Steve Bramucci

1 – Ask the right questions

Guidebooks like the Lonely Planet make a habit of recommending that you ask locals for up-to-date advice. But in a country that sees as much foot traffic as Thailand, this question becomes skewed. The friendly Thai people are quick to name spots where they think you might be happy, places where the other tourists seem to visit. When asked, they’ll usually refer you to locales firmly on the beaten track: Khao San Road in Bangkok or the islands of Ko Phi Phi and Ko Pha Ngan.

The right question in this case is not “where should I visit? Eat? Stay? Etc.” it’s “Where would you visit? Eat? Stay? Etc.” One of my favorite places in Thailand is a tiered waterfall called Ti Lor Su. Tourism officials at the waterfall told me that it gets ten-thousand visitors annually but that more than nine thousand of those are Thai citizens. No offense to the Wheeler’s, but I’d rather to put my faith in a statistic like that than a book when deciding where to visit. Three days after hearing backpackers complain about the prevalence of other backpackers in Bangkok I spent an entire day cliff jumping at Ti Lor Su and never saw another soul.

2 – Be intrepid

Here’s a secret: every single one of Thailand’s National Marine Parks (and there are 22 of them) allow camping. I once considered sharing that tip to be a crime, like giving away how Houdini did the Water Torture Trick. But like Houdini’s escapes, a bold spirit is required for making use of any good travel secret. Thailand is full of remote corners and beautiful sites just waiting to be uncovered. Anyone who has traveled the country thoroughly will rave about places that get little mention in the Lonely Planet. In 2006 I spent two-weeks camped with a handful of friends on an empty beach less than an hour by boat from some of Thailand’s most overrun tourist traps. We paid seventy-five cents a night.

3 – Learn the value of a good map

I first learned about the usefulness of real topographical maps from my surf buddies. It’s common for surf-vagabonds to study maps with burning intensity. By comparing the layout of well-known breaks to the position of unexplored beaches and reefs they have found hundreds of previously unknown waves.

Thailand is a great place to apply this sort of thinking: you want to see the far north but don’t want to be at a place as clogged with tourists as Chang Rai? Check a map to find someplace geographically similar but smaller. The people will inevitably be less burnt out on visitors and the cost of living will be significantly cheaper.

4 – The Fibonacci Spiral – Think concentric circles

A Fibonacci Spiral constantly increases in diameter as it expands outward. This is exactly how I recommend traveling through Thailand’s tourist mainstays. Here’s an example: because of their guaranteed customer base, the food near Khao San Road (Bangkok’s ground-zero for backpackers) has seen a huge drop in quality. Even if you’re staying in this area try walking a Fibonacci spiral away from your hotel when looking for some place to eat. The further you get the fresher the ingredients will be, the richer the flavors, the friendlier the service and the more authentic the experience.

When making your spiral be sure not to avoid residential neighborhoods. The best meal I ever had in Bangkok was at a small restaurant built into someone’s garage with two plastic tables, a matron who didn’t speak a word of English and a clientele of locals from the neighborhood. It wasn’t just my best meal because of the cultural realism either. The food was better and less expensive by a power of two.

5 – Plan for a Festival

Southeast Asia on a Shoestring makes passing mention of festivals and national holidays but backpackers rarely let such things dictate their plans. This is incredibly convenient for the rest of us, because Thailand boasts some of the world’s best festivals at times that don’t line up with the Commonwealth of Nations’ school holidays.

Try to set your trip for Loy Krathong, held on the full moon in November, and make your way to Chang Mai. There you will witness the waterways filled with floating Krathong (banana leaf rafts lit with candles) and the night-sky speckled with flying lanterns. It’s truly a stunning sight.

If you’re visiting in the spring shoot for Songkran, one of the world’s most unusual, fascinating and brilliantly chaotic festivals. Songkran marks the Thai New Year and spans from April 13th-15h. During the celebration businesses throughout the country shut down (particularly in Bangkok and Chang Mai) and citizens partake in a national water fight. The streets are filled with revelers signing, spreading mud paste on each other’s faces and dumping water on each other. It challenges Spain’s famous Tomatina Festival for both messiness and enjoyment. Both Loy Krathong and Songkran offer excellent opportunities to connect with locals.

At the end of the day, finding a way off the Banana Pancake Trail is simple—all it takes is a spirit for adventure, a thirst for something new and a willingness to split from the pack. The only downside is you might have to try a new dish for breakfast. I’d say it’s certainly worth the trade-off.

Additional photo credits:
Pancake by soma-samui.com on Flickr, Songkran Festival by Wyndham on Flickr, All other photos by Steve Bramucci

read all about guide books and banana pancakes here

food in foreign places? vegetarian? no problems really

only 12% of westerners like durian - I am one of them

Notwithstanding having a kitchen the size of a yacht galley, I love food.

Living alone, I whip up very few culinary delights. This is despite watching the occasional TV chef, attending a cooking school in Thailand, managing a cafe in Athens, and working as an entree chef in Wales! (In an Italian restaurant, under a temperamental French Chef)

However this experience has qualified me, like people at an art gallery, to know what I like – and what I miss when I travel.

Usually simple things like good bread, vegemite,  good cheese, seafood, and poached eggs on toast. However it all depends on the country I am in, how long I have been on the road and my state of mind.

When all is well I am happy with the local food no matter what it may be, although a snack of sun-dried caterpillar in a Zimbabwean food market was hard to swallow because of its dryness.

When I was vegetarian it was difficult to be sure no chicken had sat in the soup water despite having learnt to say ‘I don’t eat meat’ in a dozen different languages. “Vegetarian meal? No problem, here is chicken, fish or pork.” As long as it is not red meat some assume that it must be vegetarian. “No – no meat, no chicken no pork, just rice please. No. No soup on it” I say as they would carefully scoop up some liquid and leave the chicken pieces floating in the fatty cauldron.

Some countries are easier to travel in when you don’t eat meat however even some Buddhist eat meat. The best place in the world for vegetarian meals is a small suburb in Georgetown. (Malaysia) If you are going there, write out these directions.

Go to the reclining Buddha, (walk or bus from town) then cross the road to visit the peaceful Burmese Buddhist temple and when you have finished looking, go out the front gate – turn left, walk a kilometre down the road to a t intersection, turn left and stop at any food shop. I guarantee it will be fantastic. I also know you will ask, as I did, “Are you sure this is vegetarian? No meat?”

They are amused. Yes, no meat. They have developed creative and tasty ways of using tofu in its many forms. Menus are varied, the food delicious and I went back, and back to sample the lot.

Many British people I met had become vegetarian for their travels, they wanted to reduce the chances of gastric problems and maybe it helps. I certainly ate everything I wanted, everywhere, and apart from the occasional quick trips to the toilet it seems my stomach could handle anything.

A young British GP I met in Harare said she always eats the local yoghurt for a day or two when she goes anywhere new – a gentle way introduce her stomach to the local bug culture- sounds feasible – I have no idea if it works but she swore by it.

I finally gave up being a strict vegetarian so I could join with locals and try cultural delicacies such as crocodile, haggis and in Cairo, pigeon stuffed with green rice. My stomach continued its cast-iron behaviour. I put it down to the earthworms I told my parents I had eaten when I was a very young child. True? I have no idea!

So eschew the international fast food places and tourist restaurants that will deliver the same meal as you get at home, and vegetarian or carnivore, go visit the local markets and give your taste buds a scrumptious surprise.