Good Food & Wine Show
Convention Centre
Darling Harbour
Sydney NSW 2000

3-5 July 2009


Not having been to the Good Food & Wine Show for a number of years, largely due to an anathema re: navigating through crowds intent on freebie maximisation, I hadn’t planned on going this year, but the post of thelonefoodie proved my undoing. With many thanks to chocolatesuze (aka The Biscuit Tree), I found myself one of the many recipients of her generous twitter GF&W Show ticket giveaways.

Staggering my way to Darling Harbour, hidden behind sunglasses, I almost missed chocolatesuze. Handing over my energy drink offering, as per the advice of thelonefoodie, we parted ways as she headed back to man her stall, and I headed inwards.

Wishing to do the logical thing of going down each row systematically, I had only made it to the first row, where I was given a discount brochure by Singapore Airlines (I find it slightly hilarious that their stand, which looked spartan at best, had decided to illustrate Singaporean’s rich food culture by means of instant noodles and packaged food), when chocolatesuze called, asking me if I wanted to see Tobie Puttock.

Huh? I thought, WHO??? There is a wee hole in my education with regards to knowing as many chefs and restaurants as I probably should....I suppose that I am just kind of go where I go according to my own ever changing non-existent guidelines type of person; some chefs and restaurants I find out about, others I don't. Without doubt there are chefs and restaurants I would like to visit, but I’m just not really that au fait with all major chefs, so feel horror if you must....!

Back to Tobie Puttock. I thought that she should give the ticket to someone else, given that she’d already given me a free entry ticket, but as she was going, and I hadn’t actually ever been to one of the GF&W chef related shows, I thought okay, why not?

Giving the other extra ticket to a startled woman queuing for a ticket, we entered to a perhaps two-thirds full mini stadium.

Naturally, I took advantage of the pre-show so-called comedy routine to take a photo of the watch I had chosen to wear for the day....

I’d decided that there was no watch more suited to “battling the crowds” than my most indestructible watch, the Sinn U1. An American collector once relayed to myself and the other Tarts the story of how had once given some folks a heart attack when, to illustrate to some sceptics how hard tegimented steel actually is, he repeatedly and forcibly hit his U1 against a block of concrete, with not a mark to this monster of a watch.

The Sinn U1 is constructed from the same (tegimented) steel that is used on the outer hull of submarines, and purchased by by Sinn from a steel supplier to Emden GmbH, a German North Sea shipbuilding yard which constructs submarines. This steel is not only extraordinarily sea water resistant but it also possesses a very high anti-magnetic quality. Standard steel used by most watch companies has a hardness of between 200 and 300 Vickers. Sinn’s tegimented steel is up to 1,500 Vickers, which gives it an incredibly high level of protection against case damage from salt water and corrosion. It is also water resistant up to 1000m.

Sinn's (trademarked) tegiment surface hardening process derives from food technology. Food processing machines are made from stainless steel but they must be extremely resistant to corrosion. If their surfaces are soft, their molecular structure is as such that rust appears easily. By surface hardening these machines, their molecular structure is sealed and they are made extremely resistant to corrosion. The process is performed below 300 degrees and uses a special mixture of air and gas. This creates a chemical reaction that closes the molecular structure of the metal.

Helmut Sinn, the founder of the eponymous Sinn Spezialuhren Zu Frankfurt Am Main, though no longer affiliated with it but with GUINAND-UHREN Helmut Sinn GmbH , is an interesting and to some, divisive man, and I will do a short separate post about him as well.

So back to Tobie Puttock of “Fifteen” in Melbourne. Well it was interesting, and I found my first experience of what the audience is like at these events amusing. Assuming that it was a typical audience of course. There were 3 courses and approximately two dozen people walked out during the show – is that normal or was it something about the sidekick’s comedy routine?

After making sure that there would be enough Biscuit Tree biscotti and shortbread left for when I eventually made it over to Stand F8, off my U1 and I went to battle through the hungry hordes.

This woman from Luvaduck appeared to be enjoying herself but cracking really bad puns and the like about ducks. I don’t know how many ducks she helped sell but she deserves a gold star for her effort.

At the Lifestyle Food Channel’s stand, you could enter a competition to win a Kitchenaid and various and sundry bits and pieces, including the pasta rack.

I really liked the bags at Batlow. So much so that I almost spent $2 on half a doz apples to get the bag, but eventually dragged myself away by reminding myself that I could go and get some perfectly decent apples for far less at the nearby Paddy’s Markets.

One thing that had me marginally perplexed was the large number of people interested in the various instant noodle exhibitors. Now I love my instant noodles as much as the next person, but seriously, what were they doing at a Good Food & Wine Show anyway?

Tender Value Meats were cooking up a veritable storm of Thai Chicken, Basil and Coconut Cream sausages.




Seeing the pies at Mick's Bakehouse

I decided to get some. 2 Beef Burgundy pies for $5 was the deal at this point.

These were really pretty ordinary. They are award winning pie makers but I found the pastry bland, the filling “gluggy”, for want of a better expression with almost glue like consistency, and there was no tomato sauce!

That was the only food I paid to eat (though I purchased some items to take with me) so here are some of the other things that passed my way.

Adora Handmade Chocolates

Market Pride

Barossa Fine Foods

Pacific Coast Eco Bananas

Movenpick Ice Cream

Stracciatella

Manu Fidel of L'Etoile at the Campbell's booth :

Unlike when thelonefoodie visited, the National Food stand was somewhat lacking in the acitivity department. I went past a few times, but they remained doggedly cooked-pizza-free.

To my complete surprise, I bumped into my favourite watchmaker Max.

Last but not least, chocolatesuze, who had a list of about two dozen "stalkers" by this point...LOL.

And my purchases from the day –

From The Biscuit Tree - shortbread for myself, Pistachio Biscotti for TheChap, and the Coffee & Ginger Biscotti for AnonymousChocolateSuzeFan.

Tender Value Meats

The Poacher's Pantry

Carmans's Fine Foods

[AP]