Eat It - 17 June 2012

We started off today's show noting the sad passing of Alan Saunders, one of Australia's great thinkers and broadcasters, and someone who has influenced our humble radio program despite the fact that he probably never heard it!

Our first guest today was John Roach from Fresh State, who discussed what is happening in the wholesale food markets. As we are firmly in the grip of winter, look out for some excellent mandarins (with fewer seeds each season), cabbages, cauliflowers, brussel sprouts, potatoes, onions, pumpkins... all good winter fare. We also spoke about the effects of weather events and other pressures on food growers, and the effect this causes for consumers.

Matt and Jo McConnell joined us next, to discuss their new Gertrude St venture Casa Ciuccio. For those familiar with Bar Lourinha you'll kind of know what to expect, and we talked about the slightly different directions they're taking with the new venue. We also spoke about BBQing meat sloooowly, cooking trends vs cooking movements, and the rather high price of lamb. 

To finish up today's show Duncan Buchanan made the long drive up from Dromana Estate to speak about the 2012 vintage and how it's looking in the barrels... and the news is rather good. We had a taste of their 2012 Pinot Noir, which was tasting surprisingly good for a wine that was only picked at the start of March. We also spoke about judging the readiness of the grapes by measuring their baume levels, and how all that hard work in the vineyard can easily be screwed up in the winery itself.