Here’s a really simple dish that I ate in Ikaria many mornings for breakfast. Because why not? And aren’t we always after a new breakfast idea?
Fava with some cucumber, purslane, feta and mountain tea: a perfect breakfast
Fava is essentially pureed yellow split peas and is served as a meze or side dish. But I found it a super day-starter. (Note: Greek fava is not the same as fava beans…confusing, I know.)
I’m not a big fan of eating too many pulses…they are quite hard to digest and the phytic acid and other toxins can be rough going for folk like myself with digestion and autoimmune issues. Which is why I make my own sprouts.
But while I was in Ikaria, my health was so good that I read my body and knew I was fine to eat some beans. This is how I work. Feel how my body is feeling. I don’t like food rules.
Fava is super cheap to make. You can store it for some time in the fridge and it can be eaten cold or warmed.
I like it with some yoghurt, cucumber and olives. Or feta. And always serve with chopped onion or eschalots and
Media is in trouble. There are 29384792387 Communications graduates competing for the three jobs still going in the industry. Which are generally taken up by the girl whose Daddy is mates with the CEO. Right?
Without a doubt the media landscape has changed in the past few years. And if you’re a hungry communicator things could be looking bleak. How to get a toe in? Should you give up now and become a corporate lawyer? And blogging – how the bloody hell can you make a living from it?
Good questions. Big questions. And the fact the answers are so elusive is why my good friend Faustina Agolley (you might know her as Fuzzy from such programs as The Voice) has put together Media Talks, a public event where a few wise old media souls will be sharing their advice and answering the good big questions.
Fuzzy and I spoke ages ago about how we truly feel for everyone trying to get ahead in the game today. We know, because we found it tough back in our day. And we both believe if you have knowledge that can help others, then it should be shared. Fuzzy is a girl of her word and has put together this event.
The Event
Media Talks:
A Panel Q and A with Faustina Agolley (TV Presenter), Auskar Surbakti (Journalist, ABC), Darren Rowse (Problogger, Renown as Australia’s #1 blogger and most influential Twitter user), Sarah Wilson* (Journalist, TV Host and Blogger) *Appearing via Skype, Megan Miller (Features Writer, Herald Sun) and Rachel Moor (Television Executive Producer)
When: Thursday August 30th, 6pm for 6.30 start – 9pm finish
How to apply: Free registration online here. (Registrations close Wed August 22nd)
Just a heads up: the event is geared at those about to enter, or are attending university. But all are welcome to take part!
Get your questions answered
This is the good bit. Faustina is inviting everyone – even those who can’t make the event – to submit their questions now … which will then be answered by us all on the day. You can do that here.
I’ve just finished reading Henry Miller’s The Colossus of Maroussi– one of the finest travelogues ever. It chronicles Miller’s year out travelling around Greece just as World War ll broke. He describes Greece with such fondness.
It echoes where I’m at. I’ve been to Greece three times now – the first time was 20 years ago. I had no money and I hitchhiked all over. Old men on the islands gave me food. I hiked. I swam. I ate. I was 18 and lost and philosophical and seeking life. I came, again, 10 years ago, with my partner at the time. He’s Greek-Australian – from Kythera – and the experience was much the same. No, the sensation was the same.
Each time I’m here I feel a pounding connection. Like the place grabs me from my insides and says, “Hey, sit down a while. You’ve arrived safely.”
What is it exactly about the place?
It’s the light. It’s honest and raw. And the smells. The wild thyme, fig trees and mountain herbs, the brine of the sea, the dry-earthiness of the heat hitting dust and rock. It stirs something inside, something that yearns to be freed and expressive. And yet it doesn’t demand the expression. You can just sit quietly with it.
It says, “this is how life is meant to be”. This is why history is preserved here and the Greek ethos remains unmoved: life arrived and stayed.
Millar’s reflections on Greece very much mirror my own. He arrived in Athens in a heat wave and during a time of incredible poverty; the day I stepped into Syntagma Square it was 47 degrees. The country has just had a whopping 40 per cent cut to wages and families are starving all over the country. Miller was taking time out from writing for the first time in years; ditto me. Miller travelled with few possessions, ditto me.
“I’m glad I arrived in Athens in during that incredible heatwave,” he wrote. “Glad I saw it under the worst
During my time with the Blue Zones/National Geographic team, I had the highly satisfying experience of having something that I do instinctively, passionately and naturally confirmed as A Good Thing.
Ikarian lemon pork…and the rest
I learned that eating pork can make you live longer. Or, more scientifically, one of the dietary staples that the various communities in the Blue Zones around the world had in common is pork – read more on that here.
Pork is a protein-rich substance that clears the skin, protects the liver, detoxifies the lungs, even cleanses the system of cholesterol. Okinawans – lauded as the longest lived people on the planet – are the only Japanese to eat pork. The Japanese as a whole do not rate high on the life expectancy stakes. Only the pork eaters.
Dan Buettner and I talked a lot about meat consumption. He’s a reticent meat fan. But I think we agree: meat is great. But eat more… and less (see below), is my mantra.
Dan says:
“Pork is interesting. It’s an anomaly and I would not have guessed it, but I can’t deny it. One Okinawan scientist studied this. His theory, and I’m not sure I agree with it completely, is that because pig is the most genetically similar to humans, there’s something in the pork protein that helps repair arterial damage. What he cites is that in America we die of heart disease and the Japanese tend to die of strokes, but in Okinawa they have fewer strokes. This is part of the reason they live longer. The doctor theorizes that it’s because they eat more pork than any other prefecture of Japan, and pork protein serves almost as caulking.”
This trip I’ve celebrated pork everywhere. I’ve craved it, my body has benefited almost immediately from it, I’ve been thoroughly grateful for it. In Spain it was Iberian pork – roasted, as a prosciutto type tapas, as salami, in
I passed through France a week or two back, specifically Provence. Embarrassingly, Peter Mayle is responsible. I stumbled on one of his Provence books as I was deciding where to head after Spain and followed the “sign”. I had a perfect time there. A splendid blend of comfort and rusticness and, as always, a focus on food and hiking, in a slow, considered “This is What Life Is Meant To Be About” way. Je mange, je marche. Je pense.
The prettiest breakfast at Les Rosees
What area did I go to cos Provence is rather large? Cote d’Azur…the mountains behind Nice and Cannes. The area is a wonderfully smelly place – nearby Grasse is where the book Perfume is set. Also, a psychic once told me I belonged in this mountainous area. I remembered this as I deliberated… so, Bam! That’s where I was to land.
Isn’t Cote d’Azur glitzy and bit “white chinos”? Yep, but head just an hour inland and it’s the most fabulously rustic, artistic region around (film stars, artists, poets have all converged on this area over the years).
Any tips? Hire a car so you can see different areas. And hike. Because boy are there some views! And rewarding foodie experiences on the other side.
Oh, and also… As life would have it, JUST as I set off from Spain, I was contacted by Mr and Mrs Smith*, a luxury-with-edge company that sets folk like me up with unique hotel experiences. Folk like me? Yeah, people after places that put care into their food, into providing an authentic experience with a “story”. They have a number of great properties in Provence from which to base an eating and hiking adventure.
But, now, once again, a list of highlights, should you like to follow in my hiking shoe-steps.
Mougins
I stayed at Les Rosees. Can I tell you…you should, too. And I will be again.
Not just for the authentically decorated rooms set in a 400-year-old stone homestead. Not just for the view out over the garden and lavender fields. Nor the silence. Nor the chemical-free pool.
Another Friday, another wholesome flinging out to you of some damn good food stuff! This time it’s some of my favourite little packages of goodness: chia seeds. Yes,
Chia Seed Co are giving away 6 x chia seed “runner’s packs”, each worth $162
Chia seeds are a source of many vitamins, minerals and fats, and are higher in antioxidants than blueberries. I’ve written about them here. They also provide oodles of energy. Forget energy goobs. Ancient Aztecs carried chia seeds as food when they went into battle. And modern Tarahumara Indians, who are accustomed to running for days at a time, carry ground chia seeds as sustenance for their long runs.
They are one of the key ingredients in my I Quit Sugar program and feature in a stack of recipes in my I Quit Sugar Cookbook. So I’m guessing a few of you wouldn’t mind a stash for creating some of the recipes, like the one above?!
I personally use Chia Seed Co white and black seeds, as well as the chia bran for my grain-free porridge in the winter. And, as you might recall, I carry a few chia “shots” when I’m travelling, to sprinkle on breakfast, in smoothies, on my dinner…to keep me regular and healthy.
Also, I have to say that McDougall’s Born To Run changed my life. It’s a cracking yarn and motivated me to start running in shoes without padding. Seriously, it’s the one book I’ve passed around to loved ones most (admittedly, loved ones who like running!).
To be in the running (haw, haw!) for this giveaway, simply:
This is ashamedly a very long overdue post. I’ve been an ambassador to the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation’s Wall of Hands program for two years. I’ve posed for the photos, I’ve said I’d be all hands on deck (so to speak; the campaign uses a raised hand as their motif) and I’ve failed to properly rally the troupes (that’s all you guys) to get involved and give a shit about this issue.
This issue being that way too many Aboriginal kids are missing out on a decent start. This is something you should know:
one in five children in remote Indigenous communities can’t read and write at the minimum standard
We can be all jingoistic about the Aussie ethos and our fair go heritage, blah, blah, blah….Or we can face the facts. These kind of statistics are disgraceful and reflect 100% on us. There. Said.
The ALNF, then, is working with Indigenous communities and schools around Australia to turn these statistics around. Their specialised programs are making a real difference and transforming lives in places few of us have ever visited: Tennant Creek, Mungkarta, Elliott and Ali-Curung.. For example – the ALNF recently launched
Each 