Australian Gourmet Traveller - (07)July 2019 (1)

Food for thought

By DEBORAH GRUNFELD

Booksforinstantconsumptionanddelayedgratification.

1

ON EATING MEAT

Matthew Evans

The food critic turned

farmer-restaurateur has written

an “ode to farming animals

and eating animals”. On his

Fat Pig Farm in Tasmania, the

unabashed meat-eater has

learned how difficult it is to fill

the bellies of just one family.

He wonders, then, how do

millions of Australians – in

one of the world’s biggest

meat-eatingnations– source

somuchatsuchlowprices?

Whathediscovers,explained

in a breezystylethatbelies

itsscythe-likeprecision,is

illuminating,andsometimes

unpalatable.Murdoch,$32.99,

pbk,out1 July.

2

THEFATEOFFOOD

AmandaLittle

Subtitled“Whatwe’lleatin

a bigger,hotter,smarterworld”,

thisbookcouldpresentas

a grimwarningonwaste

andfolly.Instead,journalist

AmandaLittleofferssolutions

tothecrisisin globalfood

supplytriggeredbypopulation

growthandenvironmental

degradation.Sheinvestigates

sustainablealternativesto

the meat-and-three-veg

diet, including the growing

market in edible insects and

animal-free products. Vegan

nuggets, anyone? The book’s

fans include Veep star Julia

Louis-Dreyfus, who describes

it as “a riveting adventure

story about a dire topic,

but yet it somehow brims

with optimism”. Bloomsbury,

$29.99, pbk.

3

FOOD:BIGGER

THANTHEPLATE

CatherineFlood

If youhappentobeinLondon

before 20 October,don’t

misstheexhibitionshowing

attheVictoria& Albert

Museumthataccompanies

thisbook.Together

theyexplorethecreative

connectionsbetweenfood

andart,lookingatways

inwhichartistsandactivists

areworkingwithfood

producerstounderstand

andovercometheglobal

challengesfacingfood

production.Fromcompost

totable,feastingtofood

waste,thisis a snapshot

ofcutting-edgethinking.

V&A,$49.99,pbk,out1 July.

4

BUDDHISM FOR

MEAT EATERS

Josephine Moon

In this non-fiction work

by Queensland novelist

Josephine Moon, she attempts

to reconcile her love of animals

and her vegetarian aspirations

with her love of eating meat.

With the surprising help of

Buddhist philosophy, she

charts a course towards a

guilt-free life. In striving to

balancethedemandsofbeing

ethicalandenvironmentally

responsible,sheoffersan

exampletousall.Simon&

Schuster,$24.99,pbk,out1 July.

5

DISAPPEARING

EARTHJuliaPhillips

Nowfora palatecleanser:

a novelthattransportsthe

readertotheremoteRussian

peninsulaofKamchatka.In

herdébutnovel,JuliaPhillips

vividlycontrastsbigcitieswith

a touristhavenofvolcanoes,

tundraandbears.Starringa

nuancedcastofcharacters,

thethrillerbuildsslowly,as

eachchapterunravelsthe

mysterysurroundingthe

disappearanceoftwogirls.

ScribnerUK,$32.99,pbk.

Zone out with these wireless

noise-cancelling headphones,

with built-in Google Assistant

and Amazon Alexa. Bose

QuietComfort 35 II headphones

in silver, $499.95, bose.com.au

3

HOME DELIVERY

HEROES

BEN’SBURGERS,Brisbane

There’snomessingwitha classic,

andBen’sBurgersareabout

asclassicasit gets.Addsome

pecanpieforgoodmeasure.

GOODDAYS,Melbourne

GoodDaysdeliversitssignature

noodlesoups,includingan

addictiveveganpholoadedwith

mushrooms.Goodday,indeed.

HO JIAK, Sydney

Ho Jiak’s indomie goreng comes in

all shapes and sizes, tossed with

salted duck egg and spanner crab,

or with marron, if you’re game.

GOURMET TRAVELLER 77

PHOTOGRAPHY ALASTAIR BETT (FREYCINET LODGE) & CHRIS JANSEN (BOOKS).