Benjamin Christie Australian Celebrity Chef

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Touch and Taste Australia Devil
2008-03-31 02:00:00
Tasmanian Devil promo video which was developed for the Touch and Taste Australia event in Prague

Bushetta
2008-03-31 02:00:00
Bushetta is the Australian version of Italian bruschetta and I reckon it even tastes better too.
More About: Vegetarian Recipes

Alpine Pepper Jus
2008-03-30 01:00:00
The ultimate pepper sauce for lamb or beef dishes and is flavoured with alpine pepper from Tasmania
More About: Pepper , Alpine

Pepperberry Beef with Rosella Jam
2008-03-30 01:00:00
Like Szechuan beef this Pepperberry Beef is fiery and spicy

Fig & Cherry
2008-03-30 01:00:00
Christie is a self taught cook and self confessed cookbook and magazine addict!
More About: Cherry

Gumleaf scented Creme Caramel
2008-03-30 01:00:00
This rich custard dessert is flavoured with Australian gumleaf oil which provides a subtle Eucalyptus flavour.
More About: Caramel , Creme

Grilled Barramundi with Lemon Myrtle Mash
2008-03-30 01:00:00
Australian barramundi has a reputation as one of our finest eating fish in the world
More About: Lemon , Myrtle , Grilled , Mash

Sydney Rock Oysters with Wild Limes
2008-03-30 01:00:00
Freshly shucked oysters with the sweet and sour notes of the wild limes are a great combination.
More About: Sydney , Rock , Wild , Oysters

Fifteen Restaurant Melbourne
2008-03-17 00:00:00
Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Foundation which operates the Fifteen Restaurant Melbourne is looking for the latest intake of enthusiastic young people who are interested in a career as a chef. The Fifteen Foundation training program combines time spent at TAFE, work placement at Melbourne’s top restaurants, fantastic produce sourcing trips and cooking in the Fifteen Melbourne restaurant under the expert guidance of a team of talented and passionate chefs. To be eligible, you’ll be 16-24 yrs old, live in the greater Melbourne area, be unemployed, not in full-time education, have experienced homelessness, drug or alcohol problems, or been involved with the law. Finally and the most importantly, you’ll need to have a passion for cooking. Applications open 17 March and close 18 April, for more information and details on how to apply go to www.fifteenfoundation.org.au

Social Networking for Restaurants
2008-03-16 00:00:00
In recent times social networking has become the buzz term with websites like Facebook growing in popularity. However for the restaurant industry, two new social networking websites have emerged specifically designed for our industries. The first site is Fohboh the Restaurant Network and the other is Bite Club which claims to Uniting the Food and Drink Culture. Both sites are designed to allow chefs, waiters, bartenders and restaurant managers the opportunity to network and share ideas, concepts, marketing strategies and advice. They do have an American slant to them, but I am sure over time this will expand into other countries. Checkout my profiles on Fohboh and Bite Club.
More About: Social , Social Networking , Restaurants , Networking

Cutting the Food Costs
2008-03-15 00:00:00
This week, Wall St Journal writer, Juliet Chung wrote an article aptly named Cutback Cuisine. Chung’s article discusses how some restaurants in cities like New York City, Boston and San Francisco have been forced to reduce costs of dishes with the increase in food prices. Some of the cost cutting strategies mentioned in the article include; 1.Using beef fillet trimmings to make a marinated beef maki roll 2.Serving a ½ confit of duck; as buying whole ducks is cheaper than buying duck breasts 3.Adding more pasta options to the menu 4.No caviar as garnish on dishes 5.Not using expensive ingredients like truffles 6.Using cheaper oils like vegetable oil instead of using extra virgin olive oil 7.Not using expensive vegetable ingredients like Asparagus but rather Brussels sprouts. 8.Avoiding imports like French cheese, Italian olive oil and European wines. When times are tough chefs are forced to think about the ingredients they use and how they can reduce costs. Bu...
More About: Food , Costs , Cutting

Facebook for Restaurants
2008-03-08 00:00:00
Since joining Facebook a couple of months ago I’ve been able to connect with past friends as well as chefs from all over the world. But while in a restaurant today I thought about how any restaurant could use Facebook to promote themselves. Every day there are thousands of people joining the already millions on this social network, so why not spread your reach to them.  After all the price is right.. Its free. Why Facebook? Good question. There’s been a number of studies and surveys on the internet looking at the demographic of Facebook users, and there is significant evidence that business people are joining the social network in droves. There is a strong chance that a good percentage of your existing customers are already on Facebook. This demographic can be very hard to market to as a restaurant as they are busy people and many don’t engage in usual media like TV, radio or newsletters making them very hard to reach. With this in mind Facebook is a good plat...
More About: Restaurants

Chopping Block on Channel Nine
2008-02-06 00:00:00
This week, I was sent by Channel Nine an advance copy of the first episode of their new TV series Chopping Block . The format is simple. Each episode, two restaurants in either Sydney or Melbourne compete against each other to win $20,000. Both restaurants are reviewed by the show’s restaurant reviewer, and after the review each restaurant has to $5000 budget to overhaul of their décor, service and menu in order to win over the critic on his next visit. The restaurant that’s done a better job wins. It’s a bit like the Block vs My Restaurant Rules but nowhere as drawn out of either of those two programs. In the episode of the Chopping Block I was sent it was Café Parlo vs Café 43 from the beach side suburb of Cronulla where there are almost 50 restaurants competing for diners. Each café is struggling to survive and the $20,000 will inject a much wanted addition to cash flow. Both restaurants have inexperienced owners and are going broke. They b...

Facebook Chef
2008-02-05 00:00:00
Over the past few months, Facebook has been a great social networking tool which has “connected” me with heaps of other chefs around the world and many friends – my profile Now it seems that Facebook itself is on the search for an Executive Chef of their own. As Facebook Chef you’ll develop, cook, and manage breakfast, lunch and dinner for Facebook employees. There’s been rumours on the net that my mate, Charlie Ayers, ex Google Chef should step up to the plate and work at Facebook, but Charlie is busy with his new book (Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google) and the launch of Calafia Café & Market later this year. To be the Facebook Chef, you’ll need to have 4-5 years of experience under your belt as Executive Chef and must be a culinary school graduate. If you’re interested in applying the Facebook Chef, then the job specification can be found here, best of luck.

Hot Tomatoes by Angelo Mc Donnell
2008-01-06 00:00:00
Recently, Irish born chef Angelo Mc Donnell sent me his latest book, Hot Tomatoes . Angelo is the group Executive chef of the Igor Group, a 32 outlet F&B company in Hong Kong where he has resided for the past 14 years. An avid competitor in competitions he has won numerous accolades for his innovative cuisine and is the Hong Kong national culinary team captain. So when he sent me his 2nd book (Angelo’s first book was Bold Appetizers), I knew it would be good. As soon as I opened Hot Tomatoes, I was amazed to see bright 4 red and luscious tomatoes being smashed with a rubber mallet in first few pages of the book. I was intrigued and wanted more. Hot Tomatoes unusually doesn’t have a contents page, but rather launches straight away into tomato recipes. There are over 50 recipes each using tomatoes in one form or another. Beware; Hot Tomatoes isn’t a salad cookbook it’s a cookbook using tomatoes. Each recipe can only be described as innovative with imp...
More About: Gelo

Food Costing Survey
2007-12-31 00:00:00
Many of you will know that I am writing a book about Food Costing and Menu Engineering for chefs and restaurant owners. As part of my research for the book, I am running a short survey, to gain a little feedback on the topics and for me to learn more about what’s happening in restaurants around the world at present. The survey is just 1 page and has 13 easy questions and the results will remain anonymous. At the conclusion of the survey, I’ll be happy to share the results with all participants. Click Here to take survey
More About: Survey

Lemon Myrtle Witbier
2007-12-12 00:00:00
Ever since staying with friends in the Netherlands a few years ago, I have nearly always had a carton of the Belgium’s famous Hoegaarden Witbier in the garage beer fridge, chilled and ready to drink on a hot summer day…that was until now. Sydney based Barons Brewing Company have produced a simply stunning Lemon Myrtle Witbier as part of their Native Range of beers. The flavour combination of lemon myrtle in a witbier works really well, as Hoegaarden is always served with a wedge of lemon, so the lemon myrtle just makes sense. This easy drinking and uniquely Australian beer has a lemony aroma with fresh herb fragrances together with a crisp palate which makes this beer really exciting. It will be a great summer beer on a hot day. For those that don’t know what a Witbier is, it’s a beer brewed using wheat instead of barley which lends to light flavoured and cloudy white beer. Some brewers add flavours like coriander and orange peel to enhance its fruitine...

Picarus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon
2007-12-07 00:00:00
Before reviewing the Pica rus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon , I’d never heard about the Wrattonbully wine region. So before opening the bottle did a little research and I found that the relatively unknown Wrattonbully wine region is located in South Australian between the Padthaway and Coonawarra wine regions. Apparently according to Wine Australia, there is very little variation in the wines across the three regions. The Picarus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon is a full bodied wine with distinct berry and blackcurrant notes and oak flavour. The grapes are nurtured by renowned Coonawarra district viticulturist, Greg Koch and made by ex-Wynns Coonawarra/Southcorp legend, Rob Moody. Greg and Rob first became involved in the production of Picarus with the highly acclaimed 2005 wines. Picarus recommend that the 2006 Picarus Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon is ready to drink now, but will be in its prime in 5-7 years. The Picarus brand is Winetrust Estate’s premium wi...

Staropramen Czech Beer
2007-12-07 00:00:00
A few years ago I spent sometime working in Prague doing Australian events for our government as well as teaching some of Prague’s best chefs on Australian Food. In return, the Prague chef’s taught me the appreciation of drinking Czech beers. Czechs actually call beer “Liquid Bread” and consume it accordingly. It fact, Czechs drink more beer per capita then any other country in the world. One of the beers which I remember and enjoyed was Staropramen, a classic Czech pilsner. Pilsner is one of the world’s most famous styles of beer and originally described beer produced from Pilsen (Plzen). For Czechs Pilsner means beer from Plzen and nothing else. Outside of the Czech Republic it is often spelled Pilsener or abbreviated to Pils. Staropramen is an easy drinking beer with a crisp, malty palate with a bitter and hoppy finish. Staropramen has been brewed in Prague since 1869 and still is today, where it is also the Czech Republic’s the top selli...
More About: Beer , Amen

Kitchen by Australian Women’s Weekly
2007-11-26 00:00:00
Many of you would have grown up with those thin 60 page Woman’s Weekly cookbooks in your kitchen. For decades the Australian Woman’s Weekly Test Kitchen has been creating these books with titles like Easy Entertaining, Great Barbeques, Essential Soups and a myriad of others. Then last year they released COOK, which my girlfriend gave me for Christmas. COOK was very different to what the Australian Woman’s Weekly usually published and had over 688 pages. COOK went on to become a best seller, and now the Australian Women ’s Weekly has released the long awaited companion book, KITCHEN. And wow what a cookbook! Packaged in the same iconic striped livery as COOK and with its bold blue colour, KITCHEN also has a whopping 688 pages and over 1000 recipes. KITCHEN’S layout is clear and concise with a great range of recipes to choose from. The superb photography is simple and the food is styled exquisitely. As with many cookbooks KITCHEN offers information on h...

Produce by Lynne Mullins
2007-11-25 00:00:00
Most cookbooks these days include recipes with meat, seafood or poultry. However award-winning food writer Lynne Mullins’ latest cookbook features over 350 recipes predominately using fruit, vegetables, herbs and exotics. Produce has different sections for fruit, vegetables, herbs and exotics and features over 100 ingredients. Lyn provides a brief history on each ingredient as well as advice on the best way to select and prepare the finest fruit and vegetables for your cooking. Each ingredient is stunningly photographed. She also provides a few recipes for each ingredient, however unlike many cookbooks; there are only limited photography of finished dishes. Two of my favourite recipes in Produce include Salad of king prawns with cucumber, watercress, papaya and chilli as well as a Tomato, chilli, calamari and chorizo salad with cannellini beans. Lynne Mullins is an experienced and passionate food writer. Lynne has travelled extensively, experiencing the many different...

Japanese Chef Knives
2007-11-25 00:00:00
Many readers would have seen then the chef knives competition that’s running at present on my site currently, and I thought I’d tell you a little bit about the Chef s Armoury who are doing the giveaway. Chefs Armoury which is the brainchild of Leigh Hudson and Stephanie Leong and is the first Australian online shop dedicated to selling Japanese chefs knives. Unlike other knife companies, Chefs Armoury actually go to Japan and source the stock directly from the manufacturers like Kanestune, Masamoto, Mcusta, MAC, Athro, Hamaguri and a selection of artisan knifemakers producing some stunning designer knives. You’ll see after browsing their website, www.chefsarmoury.com that they have an amazing range of Japanese chefs knives. Want a one of a kind handmade santoku knife? They’ve got it. Want a professional sashimi knife from the world’s best maker? They’ve got it. Want a professional grade knife to use at home or in your restaurant kitchen? They...
More About: Knives

Cheese Slices by Will Studd
2007-11-23 00:00:00
While learning to cook as an apprentice chef, I often turned to food magazines as a form of inspiration and direction. Whenever cheese was mentioned in these magazines an English guy named Will Studd was interviewed or asked for a comment. Since then, Will has become Australia’s leading expert on cheese, as well as being a Maitre Fromager and Ambassadeur of the prestigious Guilde des Fromagers in Paris. So, when I heard that Will had released a new book on cheese, I immediately knew it would be the ultimate guide about cheese. Cleverly titled, Cheese Slice s is a book about cheese and presents readers with an interesting and informative view on how different variety of cheeses are made, their history and what they taste like. There are also sections on how to store particular styles of cheeses as well as what wine and bread goes with each variety of cheese. Will’s writing style makes it very easy to understand, with an equal amount of technical and non-technical writ...

Never order chicken on a Monday by Mathew Evans
2007-11-23 00:00:00
When you pick up a copy Matthew Evans latest cookbook, Never order chicken on a Monday its hard not to miss the large red sticker from the publisher which says “Australia’s answer to Kitchen Confidential”. I recall when reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain I constantly had shivers up my spine because I’d has very similar experiences as a chef of that to Anthony. I was hoping that this would be the same with Never order chicken on a Monday. Never order chicken on a Monday starts off with Matthew talking about his experiences as a young boy and the food experiences he had prior to chefs apprenticeship. He talks about gaining his fathers approval and support at becoming an apprentice chef. The book then explores the world of cooking and some of the dodgy experiences Matthew’s experienced along the way. After that the book turns to Matthew’s experience as one of the leading restaurant critics. Unlike the majority of restaurant critic...
More About: Chicken , Order

Chef Knives Competition
2007-11-15 00:00:00
Just in time for Christmas, Chef ’s Armoury is giving away four Japanese Chef knives. Unlike other knife companies that imitate Japanese chef knives, the team from Chef’s Armoury actually go to Japan and source the knives directly. The prize will consist of these four knives and is valued at approx AUD$600. Hamaguri utility knife 130mm Hamaguri santoku 170mm Hamaguri gyuto 210mm Kanetsune damascus utility knife 150mm What is the handle colour of the Tezukuri damascus 140mm utility knife? Hint click here Terms and Conditions • To be eligible to win the prize you must register on www.benjaminchristie.com • The prize cannot be exchanged for cash. • You must answer the question regarding the Chef’s Armoury Website • Prize closes 12pm Sydney time, 17th December • To enter you must provide a valid email address • Prize winner will be notified by email on the 17th December 2007 and published on the website. • B...
More About: Competition , Knives

Aussie Chefs on Facebook
2007-11-13 00:00:00
I’ve been on Facebook for sometime now, but today I created the Aussie Chefs page as part of Facebook’s recent update. The Aussie Chefs page will become one of the central locations for information on events, cookbooks, TV shows, cooking classes, media mentions and more. A few months ago I also created the Australian Chefs group on Facebook for Australian Chefs to chat about anything. If you’re on Facebook you can become a Fan of the Aussie Chefs by clicking here Learn more about the Aussie Chefs.

My Mobile Office
2007-11-13 00:00:00
In the past few years, I think I been to like 15 countries and worked in nearly 20 cities around the world. So apart from my chef’s knives and toolkit, my mobile office is the most important thing to pack. I’ thought I share just some of the tools that get packed in the carryon bag. Lenovo T60p ThinkPad Laptop Probally the most important tool in my mobile office is my laptop. The Lenovo T60p ThinkPad is only a recent addition to my mobile office, however is my third ThinkPad, the past two from IBM over the past ten years. I was first recommended to ThinkPad’s by my cousin a network administrator who found they ‘just worked’. I chose the T60p ThinkPad for a few reasons; I needed a wide screen laptop given the increasing amount of presentations I am doing for our cooking shows. I also needed a laptop that was going to be light enough to carry but also powerful enough to use for photo and video editing on the road. Also necessary was a DVD burner, Blu...
More About: Mobile , Office

Room Service
2007-11-07 00:00:00
In the last 12 months, I’ve spent about 100 nights staying in hotels. I’m sure this number is set to increase in the next 12 months as I get busier. I very rarely order from room service as like most chefs who travel I like to try the local fare and find something new or different. Over the years I have found some great restaurants. However on rare occasions when I do order room service I somehow feel like I am seriously getting ripped off. Recently while staying at a 4 star hotel Los Angeles, I was jet lagged and tired and didn’t have the energy to venture out and just felt like something simple. So I reluctantly pressed the “Room Service ” button on the phone and ordered in. I grabbed a turkey club sandwich and a bottle of sparkling mineral water. Fairly basic order of which you’d expect to pay say $15 in an up market cafe. So when dinner arrived and the check was presented, the sandwich and water cost nearly $37. The check had a $2 per per...

Gourmet Coffee
2007-11-03 00:00:00
Australians that live in the in America know that coffee here lacks the complexity, taste and aroma of espresso coffee compared to the gourmet coffee back in Australia. The reason for this is it all comes down to the way that the coffee beans are roasted. In America and most probably because of the massive volumes required, the coffee beans are flash roasted. Flash roasting causes the beans to be very bitter, which creates what I refer to as a bad cup of coffee. Starbucks for example roasts over 60 tonnes a week in four roasting facilities across America. Knowing what the coffee was going to be like here in America, I thought I’d grab a bottle of Nescafe Short Black before I left Australia. Nescafe Short Black is an instant coffee which is more like an espresso than an instant coffee. Unlike most instant coffee, Nescafe Short Black is made with only 100% Arabica beans and when you add boiling water, provides an authentic short black with golden crema. I found a TV co...
More About: Coffee , Gourmet

Photo Shoot Sydney
2007-10-25 00:00:00
Last week in Sydney , Vic Cherikoff and I did a photo shoot, updating our professional portfolio for our new Aussie Chefs Media Portal. We did the photo shoot with photographer, John Fotiadis who seriously did a great job of capturing the moment throughout the day. We started the day at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on Sydney Harbour doing a variety of shots on the water with Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background. Sort of stereotypical Sydney Harbour shots. We also did some photos of me jumping into the sky with a pot and pan. It all became too much, when a mob of Japanese Tourists Paparazzi arrived and started taking photos of us having photos taken. Bizzare, but a good laugh. From there we ventured in to the streets of Surry Hills for some urban shots which worked really well, then on to John’s studio at Bondi Beach for some white background shots. To view some shots from the Photo Shoot , click here.
More About: Photo Shoot