Eat Well Issue #31 2020

Mulled wine is spiced wine, usually red, served hot or warm. It is believed the practice of mulling wine began with the Romans around 1800 years ago as their empire expanded into the colder reaches of Europe and they needed something to warm their bodies and avoid sickness. To make your own mulled wine, put your red wine in a large saucepan and add some spices of choice (cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg and cloves are usual favourites). Be sparing with the spices or they will overpower the wine. Gently heat your spiced wine until it simmers and then, if you desire, add some citrus such as orange or lemon. Turn off the heat, sift out the spices and you have a basic, but gorgeous, mulled wine. You can make it…

This classic Italian dish originates from the Tuscan region and is essentially a hearty winter soup with a very distinctive nature. Ribollita dates back to the Middle Ages when Tuscan lords and ladies would stage grand banquets served by local peasants. When the feasting was over, the peasants doing the clean-up would grab discarded portions of bread and use them to soak up juices remaining on plates from expensive meat dishes. The peasants would take that bread home and the next day would throw it in a pot with cannellini beans, water, rosemary, garlic, olive oil and seasonal vegetables like carrots, onions and cabbage. For a modern ribollita, what you dip your bread in is up to you, but whatever your choice you are sure to be warmed by this…

COVID-19 has come upon us and it has come laden with lessons, none of which is any greater than what it has taught us about our food. It has been a shock for all of us to see supermarket shelves bare of staple food products like pasta and flour. More disturbing than the absence itself was the mentality behind it, but that’s a discussion for another space. What those empty shelves really did was make us aware of something that we typically take for granted in countries like Australia: the food supply chain. So what has COVID revealed to us about our food supplies and what do we need to do about it? On one level, the news regarding food security in Australia is good. Although globalisation has revolutionised food production and…

We want your foodback: EatWell is all about building a sharing community of people who care about the origins, quality and enjoyment of our food, so we want to hear from you. Let us know how you have found some of the recipes you have made from this issue, share the improvements you might have made or even send us one of your own favourite recipes. We will publish as many of your insights and contributions as we can. Send your foodback to Charlie at chale@umco.com.au.…

Lisa Guy Lisa Guy is a highly qualified Sydney-based naturopath, author and passionate foodie and founder of Art of Healing (artofhealing.com.au) and Bodhi Organic Tea. Lisa is a believer that good wholesome food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and the foundation of good health. Lisa encourages her clients to get back to eating what mother nature intended: good, clean, wholesome food that’s nutrient rich and free from high levels of sugars, harmful fats, artificial additives and pesticides. Lisa’s aim is to change the way people eat, cook and think about food. Lisa sees a wide range of clients in her clinic, ranging from people with severe anxiety, mums with post-natal depression and people with adrenal exhaustion to couples having difficulty conceiving and parents who need help with their little fussy…

There is evidence that oats were consumed in Egypt around 4000 years ago, but the oldest cultivated oats date to around the same time in Switzerland. Oats probably originated in Asia but today we closely associate them with Scotland and that’s because Scotland has a short, wet growing season, making oats a better staple grain than wheat. We traditionally think of oats as a food that’s made into porridge, where ground, steel-cut, crushed or rolled oats are cooked over a low heat having soaked overnight. Porridge, however, is not all there is to oats. Brose is made with uncooked oatmeal or dry, roasted oatmeal, mixed with butter or cream. Gruel is a mix of oatmeal and water usually used for infants or the unwell. There are many other culinary uses…