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Boat trip with Wolf Foods Ltd

Saturday the 15 March 08 is a day to remember. We the Hong Kong chefs association where invited by the German Sausage maker Wolf from Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany on a boat cruise to the south of Hong Kong Island.

16 members took up the offer and we were heading into the sea just around Lunch time.

Our host Martin Lovschall, just flew in for this event and together with Elvis King and Maggie Wong they had a beautiful afternoon set up for us and we were in good hands.

There was plenty of food, drinks and good atmosphere (Gemuetlichkeit) around and we sampled great cold cuts, sausages, flown in from Germany, grilled prawns and lamb chops, sauerkraut, salads and fruits.

Wolf is looking at the Hong Kong Market to find a niche for it products which are very good. Martin is also fully aware that Hong Kong already has well established and good Sausage makers here and the product will need to speak for it self.

Never then less we had beautiful weather, good fun and great food and I would like to say thank you to Martin and his team for a wonderful afternoon we were able to spend on the boat.

By Rudy Muller

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The all (new) American Diet

By Julian Egli

BRIG, SWITZERLAND…….For the past 40 years Americans have regarded smoking as the number one cause of avoidable deaths, but this is soon about to change. The nation is now shadowed by what seems to be a grim-reaper that no other country is so disturbed with: overeating. (Spurlock, 2005, p.7)

            An estimated $6 billion was spent on fast food in 1970, but in 2000 it was recorded that American citizens had spent more than $110 billion. According to CNN.com (march 11, 2008.), that’s more than half of what the Federal Bank, ECB, and Bank of England are currently injecting into the US economy to aid money markets.

            The American Obesity Association has concluded that “127 million Americans are overweight, 60 million Americans are obese and 9 million are ‘severely obese’.”

This alarming figure was calculated after it was found that the percentage of those who are obese almost doubled from 12% to 21% within the space of ten years. (Spurlock, 2005, p.9)

Spurlock (2005) also noted that in November 2004, the Associated Press even stated that fuel costs were increasing because of heavy flight passengers who greatly increased the pressure load of standard aircraft carriers. Not only this, but cars have been reconstructed to have reinforced seats and America is the only nation which has toilets that can bear the load of 1500 pounds.(p.10) Not to mention, the home of the “Big Tasty  Burger” which comes with a whopping 950 calories.

            Obesity may have created a new market within the US economy, but it certainly is not comforting knowing that 16% of American kids aged from 6 to 18 were recorded as “obese” in September 2004. (Spurlock, 2005, p.10-11) That alone counts for 9 million people – 1.3 times the entire population of Switzerland - not to mention the fact that type 2 diabetes is also on the rise.

            However, it has been noted that obesity rates decrease when the level of education increases as people who earn less do not have the privileges of health education as those with greater spending power. Instead, regions with lower-incomes are crowded with fast-food restaurants or grocery stores who sell items with little or no nutritional value. (Spurlock, 2005, p.12)

            One can say that it is because of so many women joining the workforce that the demand for services that housewives usually did such as: cooking, cleaning, and looking after children has become of greater demand. This means that half of the money used to buy food today is spent on restaurants – mainly in the fast food sector. (Schlosser, 2001, p.4)

The success of the fast food concept has lead to other industries to incorporate similar methods and sparked an outbreak of restaurant chains across the globe. Many blame the capitalistic ideology behind fast food corporations because they continue to produce new products and ideas which widen the gap between the rich and the poor. (Schlosser, 2001, p.6) But after all, the goal of a fast food company is to offer customers a feeling of reassurance that their products are always the same - whenever or wherever they may go.

            More recently, overseas markets have been the main target for future growth of American-owned fast food giants such as McDonald’s. Ten years ago, they had three thousand restaurants outside of the States, but now this figure has greatly increased to 15,000 restaurants in 117 different countries. At a rate of five new restaurants per day, it is the most widely recognized brand in the world – even topping Coca-Cola. (Schlosser, 2001, p.229)

            There is some hope left however, as San Antonio-based, Dr. Robert Trevino claims. As head of the Social and Health Research Center, he conducted studies that showed elementary school cafeterias serving large amounts of fats and sugars in their daily meals which strongly encourage obesity. But instead of claiming it as a pandemic that will affect everybody, they simply addressed obesity and type 2 diabetes as a “class issue”. They believed in changing the whole school environment rather than encouraging students on a person-to-person level. Cafeteria workers were taught how to prepare food through certain schemes and as the amount of fruits and vegetables went up, the level of fat and sugar consumption went down, proving that the campaign was one of the few successful ones in America today. (Crister, 2003, p.155-156)

Furthermore, renowned pediatrician Leonard Epstein of Stanford University also believes that parents can - and should, be the main motivator for children who are combating or dealing with weight loss programs. By getting rid of fatty foods in the house or reducing time spent laying on the sofa watching TV, parents can easily encourage their children to participate in other activities requiring more body movement, i.e. outdoor sports. However, it must also be taken into consideration that children who are rewarded for their hard efforts, or those who are given the freedom to choose what kind of activities they take part in, perform much better than those who believe that they are being “punished” to participate in sports because of their weight problems.(Crister, 2003, p.159-161). This is an example of a “positive reinforcement” theory of motivation, in the sense that children understand that they have full support from their parents and that they will be able to achieve their goals.

            On a healthier note, recent economic pressures and a moral belief in “family bonding” have resulted in Americans eating more meals at home. In 2007, two-thirds of families sat down together for dinner at home (GfK Roper, 2007).Dining-in rather than eating out or purchasing take-away, seems to be a new trend in most major cities. Classic favorites such as burgers, hot dogs, and pot pies have all been re-introduced in “mini-form” and are growing in demand amongst restaurants. Yankelovich noted that in 2007, baking was the most common form of meal preparation followed by microwaving and grilling, but what is more noticeable is that RBC Capital reported that in 2007, 43% of consumers bought restaurant meals less often than in 2006, and that 59% planned to eat out less over the early months of 2008 – only 20% intended to order appetizers or desserts. (Food Technology, January, 2008, p.20-21)

Aside from this, Spurlock (2005) also concluded that over the past few years, manufacturers have constantly been releasing products with lower sugar levels. From only a mere 36 items in 1999, to a more acceptable number of 948 by the year 2004. Big named brands such as Kellogs now advertise for how little sugar their products contain rather than boasting colorful packages stating how sweet their cereal brands are. For example, General Mills came up with the slogan: “75% less sugar. Because kids are sweet enough.” (p.258)

            According to Drenowski’s Consumer Food Choice Model, “an individual’s dietary domain is established before he or she sets foot in a restaurant, deli, or supermarket.” Furthermore, one’s choice of food is mainly determined by factors such as taste, aroma, color, cost, and convenience. There is no doubt that through the mass media and increased globalization and availability of fast food products that the nation has succumbed to such levels of health problems. But with successful campaigns such as Dr. Trevino’s, maybe there is still light at the end of the burrito….

Black Box Competition Beijing 2008

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Travelogue Tasmania, Flavours of a Natural Island

 TRAVELLOGE TASMANIA, FLAVOURS OF A NATURAL ISLAND

It was a cold gloomy early January day when I got a call from Richard Ekkebus the Chef from the Mandarin Landmark, he had worked out a trip to Tasmania with a handful of Chefs from various Hotels in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development.

I took me about 5 seconds to decide, 10 minutes to apply for leave, and 2 hrs to clear my calendar and a bit longer to convince my boss, that I have to be a part of that trip.

Pure rainwater, fertile soils and the cleanest air in the world… the superb foods and wonderful cool climate wines grown and produced in Tasmania, so many natural advantages. Encircled by the waters of the Tasman Sea, Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean who waters touch the shores of New Zealand and Antarctica, Tasmania natural habitat is well protected.

For a chef  from Hong Kong to go to such a place of lush chemical free pasture, where the cattle freely graze, to be in the vineyards and sample some of their premium Cabaret Sauvignons and to taste the great cheeses of Tasmania, to visit its shores with its abundance of Salmon, Ocean Trout’s,  Scallops, Pacific Oysters and Mussels; is like for an explorer of the past to go to the source of the Nile River with the anticipation to find the treasures of the Queen of Sheba or Hilton’s lost Shangri-La.

A few days later I got a call from Ann Atkinson the Project Manager of the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development (TDED). Ann together with George Chambers, the Deputy General Manager of Export and Marketing Development (TDED) were our guides for this trips, they put down a travel agenda for us, it was done with great care and we were able to see, to feel, to touch and to taste the culinary highlight of Tasmania in five days in a very relaxing and professional environment, seamlessly we went from peak to peak.

Our group was made up with Brett Patterson, Four Season Hotel, Laurent Andree, Intercontinental, Florian Trento, The Peninsula, Richard and I. We left on a Saturday night on a flight to Melbourne. We were meet by Alan Campbell General Manager of Export and Marketing Development (TDED) and moved on to a domestic flight to Launceston, Tasmania’s city in the north. There we finally met Ann and George and were taken to a farm nearby which produces some of Tasmania’s finest Lamb the Aurora Gourmet Produce.

The weather was great 25 to 28 degree, blue sky, beautiful vistas and there we were; in the garden of the farm and enjoyed an afternoon BBQ with the great marbled lamb, grilled to perfection, salads, good wines and homemade lemon meringue pie.

Later on we visited the healthy life stock and Michael Doherty explained us his environmental friendly farm.

Soon after on a very small plane, we were flying over the breathtaking Cradle Mountains toward Strahan, a small pictures town on the West Coast. We meet with Tim and Diana Hess from Petuna Seafood and Charlie Wagstaff from Mulwarra.

After Dinner at the 42Degree South Restaurant hosted by our new friends, overlooking the Sunset at the Macquarie Harbour we called it a night in anticipation for the coming day.

Early next morning we were on a boat trip with breakfast and visited the breeding and holding pens of the Ocean trout farm from Petuna, they explained is the feed process ( 800 Kg of fish food for thousands of Ocean Trout’s which grow less then10 gram a day until they are between 24 to 26 months old. This is a big undertaking and investment.) We also witnessed the harvesting of grown Ocean trout, 3 to 4 kilos which was carried out on a boat nearby.

 “The whole plant is an open air factory in a natural surrounding”.

Some of the chefs tried their luck with their own fishing skills afterwards.

Lucky that there was a Fish and Chips lunch arranged for us back in Strahan as the daily catch of the chefs would have not been enough for one full portion.

The same small airplane brought us back to Launceston and in the late afternoon we had a tutored wine tasting at Estelle, Rosevears Function Centre by Premium Wine maker Dr. Andrew Pirie AM and Anthony Woollams. We were joined by Robert Ryan from Greenham Meats, who brought also the steaks for this outdoor dinner overlooking the vineyards. The steak and the wines were outstanding; we sampled Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernets, Pinot, sparkling wines and many other good drops. For dessert there was a special tread for us: The Cheeses from Ashgrove Farm. I still remember the Traditional Cloth Matured Cheddar and the wild Tasmanian Wasabi Cheese. It was late when we returned to our hotel.

The next day after breakfast we were on the way to the East Coast.

We took the Midland highway which leads to Hobart the states capital and passed though endless farm and ranches and it reminded me of the great Australian Outback on the continent. We stopped in Campbell for Flat Whites and Long Blacks (coffee in Australian), before turning of the main highway and heading on a small country road towards Swansea on the East coast.

It was on this road that we had seen Wallabies (small kangaroos) dead and life ones, Cockatiels and a big black Snake (every Eden has one). The view was spectacular and this is a popular drive for tourists.

However our scenic stop was the Abalone farm in Bicheno.

They using a natural feed and the taste of the green lip Abalone is close to the wild one. The big difference it that this is a sustainable and controlled source and in collaboration with the nature.

Further down the road we stopped at Spring Bay seafood where Phillip Lamb was waiting for us and explained and showed us from A to Z of the Famous Blue Mussel and the Scallops growing and farming methods. Mollusk are some of the oldest living things on earth, way before the Dinosaurs and yet Spring Bay is looking to even further perfect this creature in equal growth and quality and once again to create a sustainable food source without compromising on the environment.

Their laboratory to come up with the right water environment mixed with their feeds for start growing and monitoring the Mussels, it is amazing.  Once they reach a certain size in their hatcheries, they will be attached to robes which are to be lowering into the sea with weight on the bottom. It will take between 14 to 18 months before they reach maturity. The clean and cool ocean will do the rest.

Back into the car and we were heading south to Hobart. We arrived in that beautiful city in the early afternoon and checked in to the Henry Jones.

Australia’s first and only dedicated Art Hotel stands on Hobart’s waterfront where Governor Collins first settled Hobart. A row of historic warehouses dating from the 1820ties and a former IXL jam factory have been transformed into an enthralling first class hotel showcasing the work of Tasmania’s finest visual and performing artists.

On the same evening we had a very nice dinner with the best food Tasmania had to offer; hosted by the Honorable Paula Wriedt MHA, Tasmania’s Minister for Economic Development and Tourism. We met up with some local chefs, great winemakers and had even a Single Malt Whiskey from Tasmania.

The Menu: “Flavours of Tasmania”

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Tassal Atlantic salmon, Tasea oysters and Bicheno abalone

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Southern rock lobster, sweet corn custard and coriander bisque

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Spring Bay Mussel “tartar”, pork belly, Keta and blood orange

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Pink ling, pink eye potatoes, smoked eel, Ashbolt extra virgin olive oil

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Spring Bay scallops, red cooked brisket, Vietnamese mint, lemongrass and lime leaf foam

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Valrhona Manjari chocolate tart, muscatel and Sullivan’s Cove single malt whiskey ice cream and truffled honey

With 2001 Kreglinger Brut, 2007 Craigow Sauvignon Blanc, 2004 572 Josef Chromy Pinot noir, 1999 Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 Bream Creek Late picked Schonburger

Wednesday the 20^th February was our last day in Tasmania and we were heading toward Dover to Visit Tassal which is Australia’s largest producer and marketer of premium quality Atlantic salmon and Ocean Trout.

Salmon farming commenced in Tasmania in the mid 1980ties after a report to the Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority concluded that a salmon farming industry could be successfully established in Tasmania.

Today as we enter the Tassal plant, we can see that this foresight has paid off. Tassal alone had a steady growth and processed a volume of 7000 tones last year alone. It employs over 600 people.

At the plant we were welcomed by Rod Shelley and once again the Honorable Paula Wriedt, MHA, Tasmania’s Minister for Economic Development who joined the tour trough the plant and smoke house with us. It was very educational and interesting to see such a large and efficient plant.

Tassal has an annual intake of about 3.3 million juvenile salmon of smolths. These are transferred from hatcheries to the nurseries sites.

We were invited for a salmon tasting which went down well with a glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

We then returned to Hobart were we had a bit time to relax and to do some shopping at the Salamanca Market before boarding a plain to Melbourne.

There we checked in at the Crown Hotel down at the Yarra River were we had some welcome drinks with Walter Wagner and Marcus Moore both F&B executives at the busy Crown Tower.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at the trendy Number 8 restaurant next to the Yarra River. We were joined by Victoria Chick MG from Intanat and Alistair Sloman from Tassal. It was a wonderful and relaxing evening with great company food and wine.

After the dinner some tried their luck on one of the many gambling table, wile the rest went to bed.

On the last morning of our Trip after breakfast, we visited the abattoir of the Tasman Group in Brooklyn, north of Melbourne.

Australian owned Tasman Group services was established in Melbourne in the early 1970ties. The company has grown to become Australia’s largest multi-species processor, with a capacity to process in excess of 600,000 cattle, 3 million small stock and 80,000 pigs annually. They employ 1800 people across 6 plants in Victoria and Tasmania.

There brands are King Island Beef, Tasman Meats, Yambinya Wagyu, Tasmanian Premium Lamb, Beef and Meats, Seattle Meat and Tasman Grain Fed Lamb.

We had an introduction by Lydia Horsburgh and a grand tour though the facility by Andrew Roysmith. The plant was busy and had state of art equipment. The hygiene, safety and segregation of the plant was evident everywhere. We witnessed the possess from the slaughter (Halal) to the skinning, health check, gutting, parting and segregating the cuts to the packing and boxing of the meats, to the cold storage areas. The plant is well laid out and critical control point (HACCP) was visible on our tour.

Deeply impressed we moved on for lunch at the Point Restaurant in Albert Park in Melbourne where we enjoyed our last meal in Australia in the privacy of their vine cellar. The lunch was hosted by the Tasman group, as this restaurant show cases their products which we had seen earlier on; and the food and wines were once again outstanding.

Time flies and we had to bit farewell to Ann and George our new Tasmanian Friends.

We were all deeply impressed by the whole trip, and I can only echo on Richard’s philosophy in the quest of finding natural food sources; free from hormone and pesticide, self sustainable and in a environmental friendly surrounding, managed with people who are professional enough and care about their product, have integrity and put quality ahead of quantity, to ensure that there is a world tomorrow for our future generations to come.

And as Richard says, we the chefs can play a role in this by questioning and finding the right produce from the right sources for our kitchens and guest, it is a price issue at times, but if we manage it properly, we may be able to change one or two products into something which is not over fished or overgrown.

For my part, I have become an ambassador of Tasmania and it philosophy of pure, fresh and self sustainable produce raised and grown with great care in an environment friendly place called Tasmania.

Thank you Ann, George for an unforgettable experience and thank you Richard, Florian, Brett and Laurent, you are a great team to travel with.

Until we meet again

By Rudy Muller

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