Food Fighters At the Sydney Writers festival

Sold out show, Food Fighters was a foodie highlight at Sydney Writers Festival. A battle of the eater, the diners, the chefs and of course the writers!

The panel discussion was between A.A Gill (Adrian), a renowned food journalist and travel writer who refers to himself as a professional ‘gurgetator’, Anthony Bourdain, food writer and world renowned chef, and Tony Bilson, the ultimate father of Australian gastronomy.

I would call it a de-romanticizing of food, a conversation of current food issues and future ones, all combining in a less then formal discussion. It was a delight, I only wish it could have been longer.

Tony Bilson started the night with the idea of ‘Eating being Neccessity’ as opposed to dining, which is a 'Formality'. Sparks were thrown, Adrian saying that there is “just eating”. He was of the idea that food should not be about prestidigitation, not about techniques or being clever or fancy. That it should be about the essence of why food is great and so it is just about eating. Anthony, defending the works of Ferran Adrià who has built a career on the idea of food being an experience, referred to his dishes as Landscapes on a plate. Adrian’s rebuttal as he stared down into his glass of water: “And what this is a river in a glass?”

He makes a good point.

The two were asked what food fashions they would like to discourage. And here’s what they had to say.
o Waiters now coming to the table and saying “Can I explain our concept”
o Square plates, and weirdly shaped ones
o Working from right to left on a plate when you eat. Why cant we just eat it!
o Dry soup, with Adrian saying “a waiter comes out with a jug of hot water and pours it onto my dried soup… Couldn’t he have done that out the back?”
o Fine dining

They wanted to encourage,
o Welfare for people working in kitchens
o Letting the chefs have the control sitting down to a pre arranged menu- a new trend in Paris
o Local produce markets
o Taking food back to a simple primitive time using primary flavours.
o Eating together, Adrian making the point that where the only animal that can eat and look at each other at the same time
o Organic purchasing and showing some interest in where your food actually came from

The two where also asked of their icons. Anthony deeming Marco Pierre as his, reading his book was a changing point in Anthony’s life. Adrian said he hated the term icon and so didn’t give an answer(his stubbornness was entertaining)

The best thing to come from the night would have to have been what Adrian said,
“There is nothing in life that isn’t encompassed in food. It is in everything. So you can never get to the end of what food means. It is the purest form of expression and identity.”

This talk reaffirmed my passion behind food, it was a fantastic discussion I wouldn’t trade for the world… but maybe for a nice piece of duck.

By Samantha Coutts
Photo:http://www.swf.org.au/