On Food, Words and the Internet

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This coming October, I’ve been invited to participate in the second annual Food Writers’ Festival. The line up of speakers include Belinda Jeffery (one of my all time favourite cookbook authors) and one of the best chefs in Sydney, Peter Gilmore of Quay. Needless to say, I’m absolutely terrified of being amongst such esteemed company and the very idea of public speaking fills me with gut churning anxiety not dissimilar to that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you’ve eaten too many pork buns.

Which is why I have agreed to do it. Conquering demons, constantly seeking new ways of self improvement and all that kind of stuff.

My presentation will be about this blog and my use of social media. Kind of amusing in a way, given I’m secretly pretty technologically challenged. However, not a day goes by that I’m reminded of how much of an influence social media has had on my life. At the most personal level, B and I met online 17.5 years ago. When he travelled to Tokyo recently for work, I asked an Instagram friend for some shop recommendations, and he managed to bring back a few pieces from a place we would never have otherwise known about. See, the Internet is not just about Grumpy Cat and Gangnam Style!

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(Ceramic pieces from Chidori, a shop recommended by Chika)

One of my current projects for work is looking into the possibility of creating a pork bun recipe using sourdough or a preferment. Despite owning hundreds of cookbooks, I ended up with the best first-attempt success via several food blogs. For those who regard the majority of food blogs as self indulgent rubbish, well it turns out self indulgent rubbish can often be quite useful afterall. If you want the recipe, I think it’d be best if you go read a few food blogs 🙂

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(Steamed buns made with sourdough)

PS: If you’re interested in attending the festival, to listen to Paul Allam and David McGuinness of Bourke Street Bakery talk about the Bread & Butter project, or hear Belinda Jeffery speak about cookbooks and successful recipe writing, or even to heckle me, you can get more information and tickets here.

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