It’s only been a couple of years that I’ve been making Chai and when I mentioned to Tiffany that I make it she seemed a little surprised but I explained how easy it is to make and how there is no one recipe for it, rather it’s an artform that is as unique as the individual, their mood at the time, the weather and the spices and tea on hand. However there are a few ingredients that are basic to all recipes.

My method is simple and easy, and I throw it together, let it brew over and hour or so to enjoy over the next couple of days. Tiffany asked for my recipe and as I wrote the email to her I thought that others may be interested in just how easy this is so here is my recipe.

Just remember there is no correct method and all and every component of this recipe can be changed to suit you but this is a good basic recipe to get you started.

All measurements are loose and dependent on how much falls into my hand on the day or my mood. It will never be wrong, although occasionally a batch will be better.

• 1 litre of water
• 6 cloves
• 5 cm of cinnamon or half teaspoon of powder
• 6 peppercorns
• 8 green cardamon pods (cracked open with the back of a knife or spoon)
• 2 cm of fresh ginger (sliced finely)
• 2 desert spoons of sugar(or to taste)
• 2 desert spoons of good black tea (I like Dilmah)

Heat all spices and let simmer for 15 to 30 minutes.
Add sugar and return to simmer to dissolve it.
Turn off heat and tea add immediately.
Allow to steep for 5 minutes(too long and it’ll go bitter).
Strain off all spices and tea, then refrigerate liquid for use as required.

I heat 2/3 cup of tea to 1/3 cup of milk in a small pan as needed.(add more milk for a chai latte).

I use Demerara sugar as I like the earthy flavour but also for a change I use Palm sugar occasionally. Not easy to get but very interesting, rich flavour. My favourite place to buy the spices in Brisbane is All India Foods, 31 Balaclava St Woolloongabba. Their range is huge, in bulk if you want and you won’t beat the pricing anywhere. Fresher and better than the supermarket.

Pretty simple really and don’t sweet the small stuff as far as ingredients go as like I said you can add different spices depending on what you want, bay leaves, chilli, nutmeg, mace whatever. It’s all up to you. Nutmeg is nice as is its cousin mace but a little scary so be careful with it as it has a lot of the psychotropic chemical in it, that is also present in nutmeg. I no longer use it as it makes me anxious and hyperactive which no longer suits me but if you want that “charged” feeling give it a go.

That’s it… Enjoy

Cliff Hawkins story is of someone who in helping his own family with food allergies discovers that he has found a mechanism to help the greater community with some of the most damaging and deadly autoimmune diseases and cancers. Only then to be financially destroyed by the greed of a large corporation when he attempted to move his discoveries to the rest of society.

My local, wonderful sour dough bakery, Sol Bread recently started using an additive within some of their range that allow people with gluten intolerance to eat their bread. I immediately wondered how is this possible and what has been created that allows the bread to function during the baking process to still be as good as normal but doesn’t have the negative effects on people with these issues.

As many of us know wheat, dairy, soy and peanut/legume allergies cripple millions of people around the world with ill health effects from irritation to full blown life threatening Anaphylactic Shock and long term health issues.

I tracked down Cliff Hawkins of Biohawk to share with us exactly what he has developed, but I had no idea how deep this rabbit hole was to go.

Cliff explains that most food allergies come from the part of the protein within the food that is designed by nature to protect it from damage so that the plant can continue to utilise it for it’s needs. This protection mechanism unfortunately for some people is the cause of food intolerance.

As with 30% of the Australian population Cliff’s family, with it’s Irish heritage has a gene that reacts to these proteins in harmful ways, creating many dangerous health issues for his children and grand children. He set out 40 years ago to find a food and the relevant enzymes that would achieve the amazing task of neutralising these proteins. Using sound scientific processes gained as a medical research scientist he searched food sources dipping into knowledge known for centuries to discover within the ginger plant, specific enzymes that had the ability to cut out these dangerous proteins rending them harmless and making available all of the protein for digestion. Cliff explained to me that, within the individuals genome there are genes that when turned on, causing an immune response to these specific proteins.

Simply through the use of a natural, whole food in this unique way, Cliff has developed a product that makes the protein easily digested, with better nutritional value, tastier and without any health issues. I have no idea how Cliff has managed to pull this off but he has not synthesised anything or stripped out just the reactive components insofar as creating a substance that could be defined as a medicine but uses the whole ginger food. He has some limited, simple processing which I have no idea of but the essence of his work is that his product is nothing but ginger, so falls into the safety of the Pharmacopoeia as an accepted, approved additive to any food or medicine.

NB. According to the University of Maryland website, ginger has been used as a medicine in Asian, Indian and Arabic herbal traditions since ancient times. In China, ginger has been used to aid digestion and treat stomach upsets, diarrhoea and nausea for more than 2000 years. Ginger is also used by natural health practitioners to treat arthritis, colic, headaches, fever, swelling, heart conditions, the common cold and nausea associated with motion sickness, morning sickness and chemotherapy.

He claims that the more serious health conditions of auto immune diseases have a basis in food allergies caused by creating a hyperimmune system that attacks various parts of the body including diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Autism, Schizophrenia, ADHD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and many others. These Autoimmune Diseases are due to the immune system sending proteins to make the B cells that make antibodies to attack the the dangerous pathogens disproportional to the threat, meaning the immune system is overreacting. These excess proteins then go on to react with the body, creating the auto immune disease. Cliffs product has the same effect on these proteins by cutting the excess proteins out, reducing them to normal levels, then allowing the body to return to normal.

That same strategy used by plants to protect their energy stores from being broken down are also used by viruses, bacterium and cancers to protect against the immune response of our bodies. These serious pathogens and cancers have a high proportion of these dangerous proteins on their surface which Cliff’s product has the effect of trimming off allowing the body to react and destroy the cells. The Ginger product simply removes their protection, so our immune system can do it’s job and destroy them and the danger.

Though there is ample evidence to show the benefits of Cliffs ginger products they are sold as Aid to Digestion only and the benefits will be dependant on individual circumstances and the conditions being treated.

To understand better how this works from Biohawk here is an explanitary PDF.

Although this is hard science it also has an element of a craft, with a passion in caring for the greater community and realising that nature, in it’s whole has many of the answers for what we need.

Not only are these human health but also animal husbandry issues and like us, many farmed animals are grain fed and have many of these same health problems.  Cliff has discovered that the same health effects can be gained with animal health particularly with race horses, cattle and poultry. With animal health there are direct financial benefits to the owner of the stock justifying the use of the Animal Health range.

Having received his initial training at the prestigious John Curtin School of Medical Research, Cliff  is the former Professor of Chemistry, Dean of Science and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at University of Queensland  (Biological Sciences). This is his Linedkin Profile.

Cliff’s products are available online and through agents and pharmacies. His main products are DigestEasy sold as a solution and Relief both sold as an aid to digestion and Bake Aid.

His website is biohawk.com.au
email is info@biohawk.com.au

To help you understand a little better Christopher’s condition, these are the PET scans mentioned that had been done at the time of our discussion.

Additional Content

I recorded much more detail with Cliff than I was unable to include in this episode. If you would like to go deeper into this story listen here to Cliff with the full recording.

In this episode we also chat with Ant and Natalie about how they dealt with discovering that their 16 year old son Christopher had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and how they used a treatment including Cliff’s product to return him to health. If you like to, listen to the Full Story of Christopher.

In my discussion with Ant & Natalie, they mentioned that they would be happy to assist anyone with additional information by being first contacting me. If you would like to contact them, in the first instance send me an email to chat@YourStoryPodcast.com and I’ll happily pass on your contact  to them so they can contact you in return.

Twelve Common Medicinal Herbs

Mayo Clinic – Ginger

Ginger – Overview

University of Maryland – Ginger

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Mmmmm well.

As we know Argentina has a long history within the beef industry being one of the largest exporters in the world. The main reason for such an extensive industry is due to the Pampas, a huge treeless area of South America, much of which is in Argentina cover in rich grasslands perfect for grazing and fattening beef cattle.

I learnt most of what I know about the Argentine beef industry from the show episode that I did with Mike where he explained the difference in the methodologies of raising cattle between Argentina and the US. He wrote an interesting article on how the industry is changing in Argentina and the compromises that he is being forced to make. Suffice to say, what I learnt and tasted of the beef in Argentina is that it is different to what I’m familiar with, particularly in flavour.

I’m not a substantial meat eater, I’m not vegetarian but I eat a primarily vegetarian diet and add meat protein from time to time. My favourite these days is kangaroo for the health and environmental reasons but I do eat beef occasionally. Going to Buenos Aires I ate beef more than I had in many long years which was a bit of a shock on my system but as they say “when in Rome…”

I observed some interesting differences with the way beef is used in the Argentine culture. The retail of it is everywhere. It’s possible to walk into a small corner store and out the back someone is breaking down a side of beef placing chunks of it in the refrigerated display cabinets. At the markets huge quantities of it are just hanging in different stages of butchering as you walk past, next to the cheese and vegetables. It’s everywhere, raw and real, rather than in plastic wrapped Styrofoam trays, just like the old days.

When I say chunks that’s what I mean. It’s as if they don’t seem to have the elegant butchering style that I’m familiar with. It’s more like a cow has been forced through a course tree chipper and the chunks that come out are what you get. Random pieces of meat, fat and bone all to be thrown on the Asodo and cooked over the smoking coals adding more flavour.

I found the taste quite strong for my palate which could be for the dietary reasons I mentioned above but also as Mike mentioned the cattle in Argentina are grass feed, older and free ranged(exercised) so the meat is stronger both in flavour and in texture. I enjoyed the beef that I had while there but I must admit that after four weeks I was getting a bit over it and searching out alternatives. It was good to return home to a lower meat consumption but a great opportunity to embrace the culinary culture of Argentina.

Yes the Argentines love their beef, they have a lot of it, it’s a distintive style and it’s prime quality. I hope that they don’t go the way of the feed lots and maintain this resource in the style that is theirs alone. As for me, by time I return hopefully in two years I’ll be over the quantity I’ve recently been through and I’ll be ready to tuck in again.

Frank Almeida migrated from Chicago USA to Buenos Aires with his wife in 1999, where after a couple of business ventures left the corporate world and in time established a gourmet cookie manufacturing company Sugar and Spice.

Sugar and Spice is the first and only serious Gourmet cookie manufacturer in Argentina using the best of ingredients to make the biscuits that our mother would make at home. That’s the philosophy that is still carried out in his model manufacturing facility.

Frank showed me around and although a large quantity of product is produced there were people hand cutting chocolate, sifting ingredients and hand filling packaging, just like you would do at home. It’s just the quanties and machinery are larger but it’s basically an overgrown home kitchen.

He currently supplies nationally, including to major corporations and is credited with starting the trend towards gourmet cookies within Argentina.

Frank arrived before the financial crisis in 2001 and had to deal with the shutdown of the banking system followed by the slow recovery and improvement of the economy. It’s fascinating to think just how we would get on if the banks refused to allow us to access our money or it was suddenly devalued, this is what frank had to deal with. Frank shares what is good about the Argentine culture and how having a low standard of living and high quality of life means that he is happy to stay, to grow his business and family in Buenos Aires.

Frank gave me a huge bag of goodies which I relished on the flight back home a few days later. Thanks

His website is sugarandspice.com.ar
Email is pedidos@sugarandspice.com.ar

Frank is another person introduced to me by Fred from Silver Star Transport in Buenos Aires that I mentioned on the last episode

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Since then I’ve been on a mailing list, receiving irregular updates as to how the development of the OTTO was going, only to be constantly left wondering if it would ever finally be available. The little bit of information I’ve been able to glean by reading between the lines is that there must have been some design and manufacturing issues which delayed the release of the production model. This doesn’t surprise me as this is one of the harder design challengers out there to manufacture and a credit to the originator of the concept as developed in the Atomic Stove Top Cappuccino Maker.

I’ve had an Atomic for a few years now that I was fortunate enough to pick up second hand in an Op Shop. Even so I still paid $350 for it and I know that the value of Atomics can get pretty silly at times due to the lack of availability, that was up until recently.

When I saw the OTTO I thought that this was simply a copy probably brought about by the lack of availability of Atomics but the OTTO is significantly different in several features. Significant enough to win an Australian International Design Award and is currently a finalist in the International Design Excellence Awards.

Poking around and comparing the manufacturing approach shows that significant design changes would have had to have been incorporated by design firm Tiller Design. Whereas the Atomic is sand cast aluminium coming in at 1.8 kilograms the OTTO is 4 kilograms of pressure die cast stainless steel. Tiller Design have faithfully reproduced the style and elegance of the original Atomic so much so that many people who know no better, I’m sure will think that the OTTO is an Atomic. It’s only in seeing the differences that you can see that a timeless design has been upgraded.

• Removing the water filler plug from the base with the group handle is an inspired idea and enables filling while still warm easy. A major issue with the aluminium atomics was the filler plug seizing if it wasn’t used for a prolonged period requiring many a good Atomic being damaged in order to get it going again. With the use of stainless steel on the OTTO that will never be an issue.
• Two coffee baskets for coarse and fine grind coffee. Now there is an option of grind size.
• Adjustable steam wand enables easier entry into a milk jug.
• Silicon mat prevents over heating and boiling off the coffee in the jug.
• Large solid handles for manoeuvring while hot and it gets very hot. I think hotter than the Atomic.
• The machining, finishing, carry case and extras like jug, tamper, glasses and DVD/manual are all top quality in every respect and again reading between the lines I’m sure some perfectionistic personality of the individuals involved is evident and probably due to some of the productions delays. It is truly a piece of Industrial Design Art and one of the reasons for me investing in an OTTO.

The OTTO like the Atomic are not the standard stove top coffee makers as they build up significant pressure to espress through the coffee. It’s been quoted that the OTTO generates about 3 bar of pressure compared to a commercial 9 to 12 bar so it isn’t the same as a commercial machine but it’s an improvement on the normal stove tops and significantly more than the cheap home espressos at a bit over 1 bar.

I’ve made this short video of the unpacking and the first coffee that I made on the OTTO to give you a feel for what it’s like. Does the OTTO make a better coffee than the Atomic? At this point I don’t know. It makes a great coffee all the same but I don’t know if it’s better than the Atomic. It doesn’t really matter which is better as this is about great design as well as great coffee and the coffee from these machines, with some practice to learn the idiosyncrasies of them, offers the chance for someone to feel like they are creating something rather than just pressing a button. The pleasure of creation has returned. I hope to make another video at some stage when I get the feel of the OTTO and do a direct comparison side by side with the Atomic but that’s for later.

On an aside, on the instructional DVD Craig takes One for the team by removing the group handle while the OTTO is hot showing what happens if it’s attempted. It’s worth watching just to see the trepidation on Craig’s face and surprising that he didn’t get scalded in the process. It gets the message over perfectly.

If you purchase an OTTO due to this review please let the good folks at OTTO know, this has been reviewed without any involvement with OTTO other than the purchase.

Rita is one of these indomitable mature women who you know will go on forever and has a friendly chatty nature. I asked if I could buy the Atomic in the window but unfortunately she told me that it was for display purposes only as they were waiting on stock. However she was expecting an order probably before Christmas and she could put me on the waiting list.

My Atomic

WoooHooo, I thought I’ve always wanted an Atomic and if all goes well I should have one in a few months.

Well I didn’t hear from them that year or the next or the several few years after that. Often when I was in Sydney working on a film I would drop in and see Rita and ask when the shipment was due and she assured me that if all goes well they should arrive in the next six or maybe twelve months…

Over the years I have seen them occasionally in second hand shops in Sydney but no one in Melbourne seems to know of them and only occasionally would I meet someone in Brisbane who understood what they were. Eventually I got the word that the high quality Lifeline store in Brisbane had one in stock. That was a target for me.

I walked in and there it was in all it’s polished glory. In as new condition as a secound hand Atomic could be. The price $350 was reasonable for Brisbane. In Sydney it would have been more like $500 – $700. Well I wanted one, so this was the one and here it is now these 3 years making me my daily coffees. It’s taken a while to get to know how to use it but I now make brilliant coffees with my Atomic.

Then out of the blue I get this call today from Ray at Bon Trading saying that they now have stock in and would I still be interested in getting an Atomic. Seven years after putting my name on that slip of paper, thinking that I had been long forgotten I get the call.

Bon Trading now has Atomic Coffee Makers in stock.

So if you’ve ever wanted the original 1947 designed Atomic they are now available. I’m okay I have mine but if you want to contact them say hello to Rita and mention that you read this.

Bon Trading www.bontradingco.com.au

sales@bontradingco.com.au

12-14 Oxford Street

Woollahra 2025

02 93312007

Your Story.

Today we talk with Marty Richards who recently set up yet another coffee shop in my local area of West End, but with a twist. I asked him how he could enable himself to stand out in an area with a multitude of coffee shops and what makes him different.

To my surprise I discovered that not only does he roast and take a great deal of care with the craft of the barista.

With his Blackstar Coffee there is a mission to use fair trade coffee with his own particular blends. Also he has an underlying social consciousness not only with where the coffee is sourced but also the integration of the local West End community in ways that surprised me.

His website is BlackStarCoffee.com.au
email is marty@blackstarcoffee.com.au
44 Thomas Street, West End, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
Phone +61732172323

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Music is ‘Blackstar’ taken from Peter B & The Homeless Souls’ debut album, ‘Far From Home’ recorded in London and Brisbane. It is available at Blackstar Espresso Bar, or by contacting Peter at peterb@gmail.com
The site is http://itspeterb.wordpress.com
On Facebook – the group is called SECONDHANDRECORDS, and there are free tracks to download through the My Band
Peter B & The Homeless Souls
www.myspace.com/2ndhandrecords
Lesson MC
http://www.myspace.com/lessonmc

Here is another of my personal raves recorded while walking home through Potsdamer Platz about what I’ve seen and been doing but this time with a spin.

The first is the cafe that I had the wonderful meeting and conversation in.

As I walked in off the stark street-scape into the styled aura of what could have been Berlin in it’s heyday of the 1920′s I gasped in surprise because of the contrast to outside. An extraordinary cool and groovy place is the Joseph Roth Diele and a delight to spend some time in.

Inside while waiting and afterwards I drank fine beer from stoneware mugs and ate good wholesome home cooked food all for a price a third of what I would have paid back home.

Shortly I meet the gaze and had the opportunity to connect with two wonderful women, Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries, who publish a very different travel magazine in Hidden Europe about the not so common but wonderful secreted away areas of Europe.

I initially hoped that I would be able to record a proper episode of Your Story with them but they prefer to remain private but they have allowed me to record my own thoughts about our discussion.

As I thought so many times during the chat I wish I had the recorder on as I feel that I didn’t even come close to expressing the salient points that they shared so well.

However you can always go to their site and see what they are publishing.

Nicky inquired with me about my heritage and the trip a few days ago to Swidwin and sent to me this insight to the area that my family originated from. This is a small excerpt of some generous research she gave me and which I know my greater family will be fascinated by. The way she writes and shares the information is more insightful than anything that I can say and is in a similar style to give you a feel for the writing style of Hidden Europe.

Świdwin had an interesting mix of Catholics and Lutherans. Members of the Kath family were baptised in the Lutheran church during the mid-nineteenth century. Being Lutheran did not mean having land. Many Pomeranian agricultural workers became Lutheran as a expedient to maintain good relations with their Prussian landlords. Improvements in agriculture led to a large amount of emigration from Świdwin from about 1855 onwards, and particularly post 1868. Some peasants, no longer finding work on the land, moved to the US, particularly to Michigan and Wisconsin where farmland was available in landscapes that recalled the spirit of Pomorze. Others went to Chicago, electing according to inclination to integrate there into the German or Polish communities in the rapidly growing city.

So to define Świdwin as Prussian is a stab at the town’s and region’s history. A reasonable one. But it masks the fact that Pomorze (or Pomerania if you prefer) had, and still has, its own particular identity and cultural mix. It had a measure of Prussian authority imposed upon it. Taking a long view, over the last 1000 years, that Prussia ‘overlay’ was quite brief.  But it is hard for us to be certain, at the time your forbears left some 120 years ago, quite how those individuals would have constructed their own identity. German? Polish? Prussian? Pomeranian? It’s very difficult to say. Very much the sort of issue we ponder in our writing for hidden Europe magazine.

Their website is hiddeneurope.co.uk

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I’ve always loved cooking, experimenting with flavours and styles and some people say that I’m okay at it. I particularly enjoy what people would refer to as healthy food. I’ve been accused many times of being a bit of a health nut

That’s not the case, it must first taste good. Good nutritious food is not only good for my body it also tastes great. With that attitude a few years back while learning about different food styles I discovered Macrobiotics and learnt about some amazing food styles that most people have no idea about.

That being the case several years ago I was given a cookbook as a gift and discovered some of the most simple and incredible flavours that I’ve had the good fortune to learn how to create.

This cookbook is Nourish by Holly Davis and today we have the opportunity to explore the food, the philosophy and the passion of Holly, how she got here and the Sydney restaurant iku that she had for many years.

The book and her cooking style is based on the philosophy of macrobiotics and the relationship of food within it. Holly gives us one of the best descriptions of macro I’ve heard and helps to explain that it’s not as people think of. That is of being a restrictive diet but rather an all encompassing way of both living life and eating. That all things are available to be eaten so long as there is balance within the whole of a persons life.

Her website is foodbyhollydavis.com
email is holly@foodbyhollydavis.com

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Johnny Nocturne Band
“Lee Allen” (mp3)
from “Blues Volume”
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