Burgerz review (Midsumma Festival)

In April 2016, Kikki Temple had a burger thrown at them at Flinders Street Station. The person who threw it called out a transphobic slur. There were over 100 people around at the time, and no one did anything to help. Written by Travis Alabanza - whom this actually happened to - Burgerz uses the humble burger to discuss gender identity and violence against trans people through an interactive cooking show and confessional storytelling.

Kikki Temple dazzles in this production. She establishes brilliant rapport with the audience and her interactions with us are sincere. Engaging in conversation with us means there is a level of uncertainty and spontaneity with what could happen, but Temple remains in control and her razor-sharp responses and reactions never stop coming. She's gentle with us at the beginning and gradually the anger, hurt and fear begin to come through and the implicit responsibility we must all take for the burger assault become clearer. 

Kikki Temple on how a mere burger is lifting the lid off gender and race politics with Burgerz

In 2016, a burger was thrown at performance artist Travis Alabanza as they walked along Waterloo Bridge. No one did anything to help or assist. To understand this act of violence, they created a piece based around the burger into a confessional storytelling show with live cooking, and audience interaction to share and highlight the lived experiences of a trans person of colour.

For Midsumma Festival this year, Burgerz is making its way to Theatre Works with Kikki Temple taking the audience through the unique experience that mashes together trans culture and the burger. Through some serendipitous circumstances, Temple, already aware of Alabanza and Burgerz, was put in touch with director Kitan Petkovski about starring in the production.

Long Prawn is cooking up a conversation on food with its Live Leisure Yabby Fishing Restaurant at Melbourne Fringe

If there's one rule to be aware of when going to the Melbourne Fringe Festival, it's to expect the unexpected and open yourself up to new adventures. Okay, so maybe that's two rules. But in Long Prawn's Live Leisure Yabby Fishing Restaurant, both these statements ring true. During the last weekend of the festival, the public will be given the chance to flex their fishing skills as they are given a rod for an hour to go fishing for yabbies. Catch one, and pass it to renowned chef Lorcan Kan who will cook it for you on the spot and create a delicious yabby snack.

For the brains behind Long Prawn, Frederick MG Mora and Lauren B Stephens, the appeal in putting together an event likes this stems from wanting to offer unique dining experiences while subtly asking people to think about the various stories of where our food comes from.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Cooking For - Melbourne Fringe Festival preview

Australia has always had a love for cooking shows including, Ready Steady Cook, The Great Australian Bake Off, Masterchef and Jamie's Kitchen. The latter, hosted by chef Jamie Oliver, eventually led to Oliver's 30 Minute Meals, where a healthy, instagram worthy meal could be prepared in 30 minutes. As part of the 2019 Melbourne Fringe Festival, theatre company Stage Mom (Alberto Di Troia and Hannah Fallowfield) have taken this idea and brought it to the stage with their show, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Cooking For.

A live art culinary event held in an inner north Melbourne home, the evening consists of a Fringe Festival artist cooking one of Oliver's 30 Minute Meals live in front of an audience. "It's interesting how easily cooking translates into a performance setting. Cooking is already highly performative and we're simply pointing it out!" Di Troia and Fallowfield tell me. "The show is an intimate and site-specific experience for audiences, with some very tasty treats and surprising participatory elements that we promise aren't at all scary! We have a number of extraordinary Fringe Artists being taken out of their comfort zone and will hopefully have everyone seeing Jamie Oliver in a completely different light."

A Very Fancy Dinner Party - Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Seeing Michelle Brasier in KWANDA and Laura Frew in Fringe Wives Club's Glittergrass last week was a great way to whet my appetite for their new Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, A Very Fancy Dinner Party. As individuals they certainly have a strong engaging stage presence but as Double Denim, their absurdist humour becomes unstoppable and unpredictable, leaving audiences with no idea on what is going to happen next.

The very loose premise of A Very Fancy Dinner Party is that they – along with three other couples – are competing on a reality TV cooking show, Eat My Shit, hosted by Andrew G and James Mathison. Why Andrew G and James Mathison? Why not? Brasier and Frew play all the couples and the hosts, as well as a few more guest characters, including a pair of crabs which they seem to have most fun with.

Crunch Time - Next Wave Festival review

Imagine having a five-course meal with a group of strangers, where you must democratically vote on all the ingredients that will be used. What if someone is vegetarian or has allergies to pineapple? Or simply doesn't like spicy food? Presented as part of Next Wave Festival, Counterpilot's Crunch Time has its participants doing just that, and as a result, leaves them thinking about much more than just their food choices.

Co-founded by Sandra Carluccio and Nathan Sibthorpe, Counterpilot's performative dinner party sits us around a table and through the use of some interactive tools, we vote on each ingredient that our guest chef will prepare in a kitchen that is a few metres away from where we dine. The chefs for each session are public figures in the arts world and include Georgie Meagher, the Director and CEO of Next Wave, and Simon Abrahams, the Artistic Director of Melbourne Fringe. In our session, we are treated to the culinary expertise of Wesley Enoch, the Artistic Director of Sydney Festival.

One Suitcase: Four Stories review

In Italian culture, family and close friends always enter the house from the back door. The thinking behind this being that the back door leads to the kitchen and the kitchen is where everything happens. So, in Barking Spider Visual Theatre's latest production, One Suitcase: Four Stories, it's only fitting that we are taken round the Northcote Town Hall and enter from the back entrance.

Our host, Linda Catalano, welcomes us with open arms into her 'kitchen', and by looking at the set design by Tristan Shelley, you would think it was a real kitchen that has been in use for years and filled with many stories to tell. We take our seat at one of the five dinner tables with six other people and immediately, we all have a sense of familiarity with each other and conversation and jokes flow. Such is the power of good food! 

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 29 - The Calm Before...

The penultimate day...not much to report, had a busy day preparing things for the next challenge, which starts on MONDAY! But more about that later.

Tonight's dinner was ricotta and spinach tortellini with spinach and garlic - starting to develop a bit of a love affair with the spinach I must say. Broccoli still retains the title of being my favourite vegetable though.


That's about it for tonight...short and sweet...looking forward to tomorrow, not so i can eat meat again but because I will have completed my first of 12 "30 Day Challenges". Whoop!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 28 - Junk food!!!

It's amazing how your diet and food intake can be so much affected by what's going on in your life. When I'm nervous, anxious or stressed I don't eat. And that's what happened today. I won't delve into what or anything as that's not what this blog is about. It's about my experiences of not eating meat. So after a really long day, I was really exhausted and lethargic I decided to get a vegorama pizza from Domino's - yes, I hear you groan, Domino's. Not exactly the world's best food but it's close, cheap and convenient. Was actually pretty good but does not even come close to comparing to the pizza I made in the beginning of the month.

As I near to the end of my challenge, I felt it necessary to remind myself of the vast array of reasons why I should continue to be vegetarian. Especially as I seem to have fallen into that trap of  cooking the same foods and the laziness I have in preparing food - hence the pizza tonight.

I found this documentary online, Myth and Truth about Vegetarianism - For Earth, for Animals, for Yourself which its description states it 'systematically analyzes the scientific basis of claims thart vegetariansim is unnatural for humans and thart we require meat". Just a reminder as to the benefits of being a vegetarian.

Ironically, those who say we need meat in order to stay healthy, I came across this news article today; A spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill - a burger place with burgers names such as "the triple bypass' died of a hear attack. Whilst sad, it is also ironic. What's even more frightening is that they offer "diet plan eating" to customers with items such as the Double Bypass Burger, Flatliner Fries and Full Sugar Coke - although I am genuinely hoping they are having a laugh. Anyway, I may have digressed a bit from the vegetarian thing but it's just a reminder to me that eating meat is not always the best thing for a person.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 27 - Tivall

Mock schnitzel

Coming in to the home stretch. For dinner, I have sampled another mock-meat company; Tivall - founded in 1985, is the world's leader in ready-made vegetarian food products. In their website it states: 

"Tivall products are specifically designed to be a complete source of protein and to provide all the amino acids necessary for a healthy meat-free diet. They contain natural sources of egg protein, soya protein and wheat protein."

Having learnt to be a little sceptical of the healthiness of vegetarian meals, I have done some research and from what I can see egg and wheat protein are good for you as the support each other in storing and using protein. I know about soy but again, it's not like I am having massive amounts of it. So I think this might be a good one, but again, in moderation.

Also got a response from Grill'd regarding my Vitamin C question. What do people think? Is this all above board or are they just talking it up to make it seem like it's that great? How much vitamin C can you actually get from a few slices of tomato and tomato relish?

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 23 - An old favourite

Spent the day at the Werribee Open Range Zoo today - was so much fun and great to hear how the zoo was helping these animals survive. I can't remember the exact name of the horses they had there, but they mentioned at one point there was only 20 of them in the world and they have helped to prevent them fro, becoming extinct. Lunch was a boring cous cous salad that was bland bland bland! YUCK!

And my friend finger flirting

Dinner tonight was back at Madame K's Vegetarian Cafe. I actually had the same meal as last time because I found it that great. It was pretty much the same except the miso soup this time was pretty bad, almost as if they had left out the miso paste. I still finished mine but my mate couldn't deal with it. Luckily he loved his main, which was the Massaman curry; a slow cooked mushroom made lamb curry topped with cashew nuts and mashed sweet potato. Despite the poor miso, this is still my favourite establishment I have been to in the last 23 days!

A twitter friend linked me to this photo as well with the following caption..now, it hasn't come from what a reputable source, was just posted on someone's Facebook but we've all heard enough horror stories of what's really in a chicken nugget or a sausage for me to believe that this may actually be real. And that's enough to turn me off my beloved McDonald's chicken nuggets forever!

Can you guess what McDonald's food item this is????? Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It's what all fast-food chicken items are made of. It's chicken nuggets, patties, and the meat in fajitas... In addition the processed frozen chicken in stores is made from this.. Basically the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve... bones, eyes, feet, guts and all. It comes out looking like this... There is more, because it's crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, and soaked in it.. Then because it taste gross it is re-flavored artificially. Finally since it is weirdly coloured like 'Pepto Bismol' pink, it is dyed with artificial colour.. This is what people eat and feed to their children... Enjoy !!!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 22 - Hare Hare!!!

Lunch at Crossways

So today I went to a Hare Krishna vegetarian cafe in the city, Crossways. Was all you can eat for $5-7 and even though there's only one item on the menu, it changes daily. Today was chickpea clinch curry and basmati rice with date and orange halava with custard for dessert. Really nice place, very relaxed and thankfully you don't have to put up with their annoying music. Haha...

Veggie burger BBQ

For dinner I was invited to a vegetarian friend's house for an impromptu BBQ. I just assumed everyone would be vegetarian but no. So there was still free flowing meat, (kangaroo sausages!) and my ultimate temptation, BBQ chicken - drool to the power of two.

But again, once we sat down, didn't notice the smell and was more than happy with my beet root and lentil burger. Genuinely. And lots of salads.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 20 - Not Eating Meat Is Easy...

The not eating meat part of being a vegetarian is so easy. In 20 days, perhaps I have been tempted three times. All were fleeting moments and it's not like I was face-up to a piece of steak, salivating and inhaling it's scent. However, and I think I have touched on this before, I am finding it incredibly hard to maintain a healthy diet. Ironically, since I became vegetarian I have halved my junk food (choklit, candy, crisps) intake too. I guess when you start making a conscience decision about what food you can/cant' eat, it easily rubs off to others too.

Based on a "readers comments" I have looked at some health sites about the best foods and stuff I should be eating. It is quite overwhelming and am struggling of a way to slowly make the switch. So beans and legumes - and that word alone is weird - are two of the best foods I cna be eating. Yet, I am clueless as to how to use them, what beans are the best and what to make with them. It seems, that everyone and everything disputes everyone and everything. Black beans or red beans? Lentils or peas? They all do different things so how do I pick the best?

I know broccoli and garlic are great foods, and i try to incorporate them a lot. A friend of mine would cover a clove of garlic in honey and eat that every night. Is minced garlic still got health benefits? If I make a broccoli pizza in the oven, is it still healthy? All this makes me head hurt!

However, despite all this, I have found I am eating more, almost at three meals a day! :) And filling ones too. Lunch was a gnocchi with greek salad from a food-court in Southbank. It was actually really good, and might even surpass my falafel salad from the same food court. Dinner again was the tofu/tomato/mushroom sauce with pasta and even though tofu isn't even healthy for you, it must have some health benefits to eating it. Especially if I eat it twice a week. I guess it's just not the super food I thought it was.

Is it weird that I am thinking about all this 20 days in? I am two thirds of the way in to the challenge and only now starting to think about the food I eat and what it's actually doing to my body. Although, I guess this is something I should have been thinking about for 30 years. Like I said in the beginning of this post, it is easy to cut meat out of your diet. It is hard to maintain a healthy diet without it.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 19 - Tofu is healthy right?

tofu, pesto, feta, tomato and mushrooms

So today I cooked tofu for the very first time. I've had it before but never cooked it. I got a recipe for a tofu with mushroom sauce however I did tweak it a little and put in some vegetable pasta sauce and some spaghetti. Was actually really nice and filling. And again, easy to make.

I thought all was going well when a twitter friend told me:

"Ooh, hun, you might want to do some careful reading about tofu before you label it healthy… Fermented soya can be ok, but… :/ "

which has totally got me all confused because I thought tofu was like a super-food! So back to the internet I went to research and discovered the following...

From one website:

"Of course, tofu comes from a bean and doesn't contain antibiotics, added hormones and animal producst, but it's still - all together now - a processed food."

But then I found the following article, Is Soy/Tofu Good or Bad for you? and it seemed to dispel any negative comments on tofu, which I tend to agree with. Especially after having lived in Japan for two years and having seen tofu consumed quite regularly there. I guess like all things, in moderation - but I don't think I will start seeing tofu as bad for me. I think its good qualities far outweigh the bad.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 18 - The Great Aussie BBQ?

I was supposed to go to a Save The Pigs Rally but I - for want of a better word, chickened out. With the research I have done, I am becoming anti-meat but I still don't think I feel that strongly enough where i can go to such an event. And without giving out any negative vibes, I don't want to be surrounded by people who are such strong activists about animal rights and think they are holier than thou that they end up turning me off a cause I am trying to ease myself in. Because those people do exist and I have come across them already and I did not appreciate it.

However, what I did do was research more into the problem and how pigs are raised and it was an interesting/disturbing read. Yet again, it saddens me that we can treat animals so cruelly and without a shred of compassion. Even if you are going to continue eating meat, I think it's still important to know where your food is coming from and making an informed decision from that. I don't believe there is a right or wrong choice here as long as you're choosing to remain ignorant.

In the evening I went to a mate's BBQ which was filled with meat...and sausages. And nothing beats a sausage in bread with sauce. Am I right!?!? Fortunately, I had my vegetarian garlic sausages with me which I "wacked on the barbie". I personal wasn't really fussed if they touched the meat ones but when I did see them resting on the cooked ones there was a part of me that felt a little bit dirty. Like, somehow I had cheated and had a morsel of meat that had rubbed off onto my veggie snags.

They were actually quite nice, and really, there wasn't a world of difference between them I must say. Fortunately there was a lot of salads too so that filled me up.

But guess this is another example where a vegetarian can be seen as an "inconvenience" to big parties and so forth. I wonder what would have happened had I been a strict no meat contact vegetarian...

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 17 - Bad Food Day

Firstly, I have not had meat today but I have had a horrible day of food and eating loads of crap. Breakfast was two pieces of toast with honey. Lunch was back to the falafel salad which again, nice and filling.

I had all these grand plans of coming home from work and cooking tofu for the first time ever. Did a grocery shop and everything. And then when i came home, I ended up eating three packets of life savers, packet of liquorice and a packet of crisps. I have not moved from my bed in three hours! Bah, so many good intentions! I need a chef!

Whilst I was walking past the butchers, I did look at all that meat and think of all the animals that had been killed for it and the conditions in which they would have been killed. Just kept walking past it and got myself my mock schnitzel instead!

I have however  bought quinoa, nuts and flaxseed and B12 vitamins so it feels like I will be keeping this thing going just a little bit longer than 30 days!

Also watched this clip of Ellen talking about being vegan and although I'm not that extreme I stand by exactly what she say...

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 10 - Falafel Love

Sadly, not much to report on today. Obviously I kept my distance from any meaty substances. Found a place in Southbank food court that makes an awesome felafel salad. Haven't had felafel in many many years, forgotten how awesome it can be! Although I did find it annoying that there was so much tomato in it. I hate tomato. I can eat it when it's mixed in with other vegetables but I probably had the equivalent of a whole tomato left when I had finished the salad. But if that's my only food gripe today then I think I am doing very well.

I'm quite surprised by the misconception a lot of people - including myself - have about vegetarians thinking they can only not eat meat, when in reality, a proper vegetarian stays away from all animal derived products - eggs and dairy. Vegans on the other hand, include this but also make it a lifestyle choice with cosmetics and clothes and the rest. If I am wrong, someone correct me!

That's it today folks...officially one third of the way and feeling pretty good about it!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 9 - Even Milk Isn't Safe!

So now that I am getting some routine in my life, I am eating properly...for lunch today I had a pumpkin, eggplant, cheese, capsicum, caramelised onion focaccia with basil pesto at Centro Espresso which is a cafe near my work. Wasn't too bad...I did have a wander around neighbouring stores to see what other food options I have available to me, and I spotted one place's pretty intense looking falafel salad. That's tomorrow sorted.

Had to dash to a friend's book launch straight after work so dinner was a few slices of vegetarian pizza. Nothing exciting but was in a rush and starving so had to settle for that. In the past, it would have been a few dim sims, KFC or something like that. And I definitely have those thoughts at times, and talking about it doesn't help! What do you do when you have that craving and you see that damn colonel staring right back at you. Or, like what happened to me the other day, a girl gets on a train and sits right next to me and begins eating popcorn chicken KFC - My ONE weakness! I'm having the beginnings of an internal Family Guy Chicken Fight!

In non-food related news, I came across Animals Australia and their petition to demand animals not be treated as waste product as a lot of calves are after they are born. The video below is pretty harrowing to watch. I didn't think anything since Earthlings would get to me but it seems to be constant, this abuse to animals. And the video below refers to producing milk, has nothing to do with the cow being killed for its meat. I don't understand how such practises can continue and people not doing anything about it.

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 8 - Mexican Beauties

Had dinner at Mamasita tonight with three friends and between us we were vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free so they really had their work cut out for them. Fortunately, the guys at Mamasita are extremely accommodating and were pretty much able to meet most of our needs within their menu. 

Started off with the to die for corn and then we got platters to share including the buñuelos de garbanzos (Chickpea fritters, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini & jalapeño herb sauce - pictured below) and the enchiladitas de queso y papas (Goat’s cheese & potato stuffed tortillas, blackbean arbol sauce & cress salad)

Great platter, just too spicy for my sensitive buds :(

Fortunately I didn't need to pronounce these names. Everything was delicious and even though there was a couple clearly eating some meat dishes next to us, I did not once think about the beef or lamb options that I would usually readily have. 

I still don't know if I will continue with the vegetarian in me once the 30 days are up but if the food is always as good as this could be, including the variety that was on offer, then it certainly makes the decisions a bit easier!

Currently on the lookout for any CBD situated vegetarian restaurants, so if anyone knows of any, hit me up!

30 Days of Vegetarian: Day 7 - In My Grill('d)

Nothing exciting to report today actually. Had a pretty busy day/night so no time to watch or read anything. However, at work I did discuss with a few people Earthlings and even my description about it was enough for them to be 'grossed out' by it. Yet they said they would not watch it and continue eating meat because 'that sort of thing doesn't really happen here' and even though I don't have anything to show it does, I feel confident that it does. But I guess it just goes to show people will believe what they want to believe as long as it suits them.

Had to rush to review a play straight afterwards and was famished by 9:30pm. I was with a very fussy eater so we ended up at Grill'd (and even there, she didn't like the fact that there was a bit of seasoning in the ketchup!) I had their Field of Dreams veggie burger; grilled field mushroom, basil pesto, roasted peppers, tasty cheese, salad and herbed mayo. Was sooo good. Almost better than their chicken burger. Almost.

Did find this short ad on YouTube with their 3 reasons on why people should be vegetarian. And if you can't watch the video, here are the three reasons...

1) Because no one should have to make a living by killing
2 )Because you know this is wrong
3) Because everyone wants to be free