Mouthful

What in the world are you eating?

100 glorious years of MSG

25 September 2008 | 10:39 - By Phil Lees

What began as a highbrow discussion of Chinese food in Australia a few days ago ended with the most lowbrow of gastronomic outcomes: me cooking the Australian version of chow mein that absolutely requires a whole packet of the cheapest, home-brand powdered chicken noodle soup available. Apart from that, cabbage, minced meat, curry powder and rice is required. Mix with water and boil.


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Semi-vegetarian

22 September 2008 | 9:16 - By Phil Lees

I'm semi-vegetarian or at least I am according to this research. It sets the bar excessively low for what is classed as semi: consuming meat with "fewer than half" of meals.


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A brewing disaster

11 September 2008 | 10:04 - By Phil Lees

There is a disaster brewing for beer drinkers that is an ugly lesson in global interdependence.


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Rarely a week goes by where we are not subjected to another article about a superfood that will make you smarter. This week alone (in my most scant of research), I've come across claims that the following foods will boost your brainpower because of the related substance:fish (Omega-3 fatty acids), broccoli (vitamin K), nuts (vitamin E), chicken and lean red meat (L-Carnosine), whole grains (folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6), sage (wive's tale, no particular reason), tomatoes (lycopene), blackcurrants (vitamin C).


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About this Blog

A blog about what the world eats, when and where it eats it, and why it matters to us all. Only much less ambitious than that sounds and with more excruciating puns.

Phil Lees grew up in rural Victoria, the first generation in his family to not have lived on the farm and thereby not slaughter their own meat.

In 2005 he moved to Cambodia and started the nation’s first food blog, Phnomenon.com, named after the best pun that he has ever made. It turns out that Cambodian food is delicious and unlike the warnings in most guidebooks, is not likely to kill you with any immediacy. Gridskipper called him a “national treasure”. Lonely Planet’s Greater Mekong guide called him “the unofficial pimp of Cambodian cuisine”. The New York Times laughed at a funny hotdog he saw.

Phil makes a mean sausage, a hoppy pale ale, a modest laksa. He owns three barbecues and is in the market for a fourth.

 
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