Celebrity chef recommends cooking with frozen chicken nuggets

Manu Feildel was one of Australia's most respected chefs.

Known as one of the judges of the cooking show My Kitchen Rules, he established himself as a culinary superstar as head chef at Sydney restaurant Bilson's before moving to open his own restaurant, Manu at L'Étoile, in 2009. The restaurant closed in March 2014, and a subsequent venture also shut its doors quickly.

Now the chef is spruiking for one of Australia's biggest chicken producer, Inghams, and suggesting that home cooks use frozen chicken nuggets to create Mexican-style tacos.

Here is the PR spiel - and no, it was not sent out on April 1.

"Celebrity chef, Manu Feildel, is getting back to basics with weeknight dinners cooking Mexican tacos with chicken nuggets."

Known for cooking fine French cuisine, Manu said: “We all have busy days, and after a long day - like everyone - I just want Dinner Done. As a father of two wonderful kids, I also face the challenges of getting dinner on the table quickly midweek.”

I think I might just leave this right there. 

Academics weigh in over bitter prosecco row

Academics have declared that prosecco is the name of a grape variety, not a geographic name.

The news comes as Australian winemakers continue to fight for the right to use the name prosecco on their wines. Italian makers and the European Union want them to cease.

But the academics are from Australian universities. One wonders if Italian academics would have a very different view.

New research from Monash University and Macquarie University entitled The European Union’s attempts to limit the use of the term ‘Prosecco’ says that prosecco is a grape variety name.

The report is the culmination of five years of research conducted by Professor of Law Mark Davison and the team at the Faculty of Law at Monash University and the Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University.

Using evidence dating as far back as the 1700s, the report says there is extensive historical proof of prosecco being a grape variety and its broad international acceptance as such, including evidence from the Italian wine industry and the European Union (EU).

It also says a lack of evidence has been made available to justify the Italian Government and the EU changing the name of the prosecco grape variety to the name glera in the EU in 2009.

Davison says “the evidence speaks for itself, prosecco has been recognised as the name of a grape for centuries, but not as a geographical indication (GI).

"Protecting the term as a geographical indication is a cynical attempt to avoid competition from Australian wine producers."

Lee McLean, Chief Executive Officer of Australian Grape & Wine, said: "We thank the universities and the authors personally for all the effort they have made over this time in going above and beyond to expose this evidence."

He added: “With the Australian Government undertaking a public objections process on EU GIs, including prosecco, this report confirms the importance of making sure the Government receives as many submissions into this process as possible.

“The risks of banning the ability of our industry to use well-established grape variety names are significant and have to potential to cause widespread damage to our sector and the regional communities it underpins.”

Australian prosecco production has grown to over $200 million dollars in value, with regions like Victoria’s King Valley investing millions in vineyards, production facilities and associated tourism infrastructure.

The variety is now grown in 20 regions across Australia.

What a bloody mess: café worker sacked for "job terrorism"

Now here's a seriously weird story.

A Japanese café has sacked one of its employees after she allegedly used her own blood in place of coloured syrup to make cocktails.

The Mondaiji Con Cafe Daku in Sapporo, Hokkaido - whose name loosely translates to 'Problem Child Concept Café' - apologised for the staff member's actions.

The establishment’s owner added that the café had been forced to close for a day while all drinking glasses were replaced as a safety precaution.

“Such an act is no different from part-time job terrorism and is absolutely not acceptable,” the owner Tweeted.

The woman's motive was not revealed.

The establishment is one of Japan's concept cafes offering different experiences. Other offerings include cat cafés and maid and butler establishments.

The bizarre behaviour followed a spate of so-called "sushi terrorism" in Japan, where restaurant-goers interfere with sushi going round on a conveyor belt, Drinks Business reports.

In February, the share price of Akindo Sushiro’s parent company dropped by 5%, after a video was shared of a teenage boy in a restaurant in Gifu Prefecture licking and then returning a soy sauce bottle and tea cup.

Two major restaurant chains have disabled their conveyor belts and returned to a traditional table-serving process to remove the risk of people carrying out the crimes, which have include spraying hand sanitiser on passing plates of food.

Image: Ivan Naunov, Scop.io

Discover a new gourmet burger trail

Wine trails are 10 a penny. Craft beer and craft cider trails are popular, and even distillery trails are a thing.

Now one county in California has launched a more prosaic trail - dedicated to the humble hamburger.

Tuolumne County has launched a craft burger trail encouraging visitors to explore the region’s big attractions and wander from bun to bun.

Tuolumne County is east of San Francisco and is centred on the town of Sonora in the Sierra Nevada region. It includes the northern half of the Yosemite National Park.

There are nine eateries featured on the trail at visittuolumne.com/burgertrail where you can get a free craft burger trail passport and use it to redeem discounts at each participating location using a 4-digit PIN code.

In the town of Twain Harte, perhaps, pop into Local Press, where the Shack Burger features homemade bourbon bacon jam.

In the former Gold Rush town of Jamestown, the National Hotel and Restaurant serves the intriguing sounding whiskey burger. Nearby, The Service Station (above) serves a salmon burger on ciabatta, that can be combined with craft beer and wine tastings.

In central Sonora, The Armoury serves burgers in its beer garden, while Emberz Woodfired Foodz showcases a fondue burger with roquette cheese poured over your burger tableside.

Sounds like a great idea that could easily be copied by a region in Australia. Get to it burger barons. 

Meet the "orange" wine inspired by Bruce Springsteen

Combine the name Bruce Springsteen with hip Melbourne suburb Fitzroy and you know the topic has to be on trend.

It's wine that we are talking about - a small-batch orange wine, of course.

Fitzroy pizza joint Deep End Pizza has teamed up with natural wine hipsters Dirty Black Denim to create "an energetic and gritty" pinot grigio inspired by “The Boss” himself, Bruce Springsteen.

Who could resist?

Available exclusively at the pizza spot, the Born In Fitzroy Pinot Grigio is a small-batch orange wine made with minimal intervention from grapes grown in a small vineyard in Whitfield (King Valley).

I have not tried it yet, but I'm told the wine "boasts a bright orange colour and lively notes of lychee, green mango, fernet bitter herbs, and spring florals."

I'll report back when I have sampled it.

It apparently will pair well with Deep End’s three styles of American regional pizzas: the New York Thin Crust, Detroit Deep Pan and Chicago Deep Dish.

Dirty Black Denim is the artisan winemaking project from brothers Tim and Lawrence Scanlon, who "aim to make wines that should be drunk from a mug or tumbler in a park with your mates". Or, apparently, with pizzas.

"We are extremely excited to launch this new collaboration with Dirty Black Denim," said Deep End Pizza co-owner Kate Paterson.

"We have had a lifelong love of Bruce Springsteen and his music, and we wanted to create a wine that embodied his spirit and passion - particularly given his Italian and New York roots [well, New Jersey, actually] - while also celebrating the local community of Fitzroy.

"Thanks to Tim and Lawrence, Born In Fitzroy Pinot Grigio is a fitting tribute to The Boss, and we can't wait for pizza, wine and Springsteen-lovers alike to give it a crack the next time they join us at the shop."

Why tourists are avoiding Chiang Mai

Tourists are avoiding visiting Chiang Mai, Thailand's third-largest city, because of high air pollution levels.

Poor air quality has been affecting the city for several weeks after local farmers undertook a series of burnoffs in the region.

Thailand’s health ministry this week advised people not to partake in outdoor activities and to wear masks to avoid breathing in the polluted air.

The Thai Hotel Association Northern Chapter told local media that hotel bookings had plunged to just 45% occupancy.

The city welcomed over 10 million visitors annually before the pandemic.

In recent weeks Chiang Mai air pollution levels reached 289 on IQAir’s air quality index, which is reported to be one of the worst in the world.

Authorities blamed a combination of forest fires and crop burning.