Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Siamese Bananas
Check out the Awesome Siamese Banana! Almost did not have the heart to consume the guy. :) Its fate? Key ingredient for a pretty good banana milk shake.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Great Burger Con | Bull and burgers: mincing their words
Amazing stuff. This intrigues the intrinsic marketing communications training I've had thus far - it's really all in perception. The mind is such an easy thing to toy with sometimes. But the truth about the Macdonald's Angus Burger is, it is bloody tasty. It could be relative to the standard of the rest of their burgers of course, which have significantly decreased in size and taste over the years. Smart.
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Bull and burgers: mincing their words
Source - The Age, 30 December 2009
Image Source - http://www.sydneytable.com/angus/
Hats off to the year’s most spectacular marketing success, or con job, depending which way you care to look at it: the rise and rise of the Angus beef brand via the lowly means of fast food hamburger mince.
McDonald's and now Hungry Jack's have pushed beyond the marketing aphorism, “sell the sizzle, not the steak”, by flogging a vague and arguably uninformed concept of the sizzle.
The Land newspaper reported in September that the launch of the two “premium” Angus burgers had resulted in McDonald's beef sales soaring by as much as 20 per cent.
The greatest confirmation of that success has been rival chain Hungry Jack's jumping on the Angus bandwagon. Ah, the power of branding.
But also big winners are Angus cattle breeders – to the chagrin of other breeders - as the massive advertising campaigns print on the brains of the great unwashed that Angus is the superior breed of moo cow. Chances are the vast majority of fast food customers seeking something “a little bit fancy” only know the names of two or three breeds anyway and a great deal less about the meat itself.
It’s a dangerous thing to criticise any cattle man or woman’s breed of choice - you’re much safer criticising their religion or even brand of ute – so I’ll play safe and just say that Angus is a very fine breed, as are several others.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show steer and carcase competition is by no means a definitive indication of beef superiority, but for what it’s worth, the Stanhill Trophy this year was taken out by the Limousins with the silver going to Charolais, followed by Shorthorn, Square Meaters (yes, there is such a breed), Poll Hereford, then Angus, Murray Grey, Galloway and Santa Gertrudis. Properly prepared and slaughtered, they are all very fine eating.
Beef taste testing becomes very subjective, as several other competitions can show. What’s more, the breed of the beast is well down the list of what makes a particularly tasty steak. What the animal had been eating, its age and condition and how little stress it experienced in the lead up to slaughter all count a great deal more.
And as for what goes into hamburger chain patties, well, despite the advertising, it’s not actually the prime cuts of prime beef. That sticker on the McDonald’s ads, “Prime Australian Beef“, doesn’t seem to be actually defined as anything by Meat and Livestock Australia.
It doesn’t necessarily mean cattle in their prime, just good Australian hamburger mince which, depending on the season and what’s being turned off, can mean a whole pile of old cows as well as the usual offcuts and less-marketable bits from trade steers.
So there’s actually nothing particularly special about McDonald’s or Hungry Jack's hamburger mince that happens to be made from cattle that are at least three-quarter Angus (the definition allowed McDonald’s by Certified Angus Beef Pty Ltd).
There might have been a hint of what the marketing success was about in this paragraph from The Land:
“Bronwyn Stubbs, corporate communications manager for McDonald's Australia, said Angus beef had come up trumps in its extensive research with local customers to identify what they perceived as a good quality, great tasting beef.”
Perception is a wonderful thing. It was probably helped by the availability of plenty of cattle of that breed with a well-organised breeders’ lobby group promoting them. That Angus burgers were first launched by McDonald’s in the US three years ago no doubt has absolutely nothing to do with it.
So congratulations to McDonald’s, Hungry Jack's and Angus breeders on a well-copied marketing format that has more Australians eating beef.
For what it’s worth, taste being such a personal thing, the best beef has to be grass fed – all that grain-fed nonsense just ads weight, fat and maybe some tenderness to a beast while taking out taste.
The animal has to be prepared well for slaughter – no stress. And then, if you really want something a bit fancy, it will have lived on desert grasses.
Without doubt the best steak I’ve ever had was in Birdsville while doing a story on the Channel Country’s OBE organic beef. I’ve tasted nothing like it before or since. And the breed didn’t really matter.
Michael Pascoe is a BusinessDay contributing editor, now in hiding from feedlot operators and Angus breeders.
---
Bull and burgers: mincing their words
Source - The Age, 30 December 2009
Image Source - http://www.sydneytable.com/angus/
McDonald's and now Hungry Jack's have pushed beyond the marketing aphorism, “sell the sizzle, not the steak”, by flogging a vague and arguably uninformed concept of the sizzle.
The Land newspaper reported in September that the launch of the two “premium” Angus burgers had resulted in McDonald's beef sales soaring by as much as 20 per cent.
The greatest confirmation of that success has been rival chain Hungry Jack's jumping on the Angus bandwagon. Ah, the power of branding.
But also big winners are Angus cattle breeders – to the chagrin of other breeders - as the massive advertising campaigns print on the brains of the great unwashed that Angus is the superior breed of moo cow. Chances are the vast majority of fast food customers seeking something “a little bit fancy” only know the names of two or three breeds anyway and a great deal less about the meat itself.
It’s a dangerous thing to criticise any cattle man or woman’s breed of choice - you’re much safer criticising their religion or even brand of ute – so I’ll play safe and just say that Angus is a very fine breed, as are several others.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show steer and carcase competition is by no means a definitive indication of beef superiority, but for what it’s worth, the Stanhill Trophy this year was taken out by the Limousins with the silver going to Charolais, followed by Shorthorn, Square Meaters (yes, there is such a breed), Poll Hereford, then Angus, Murray Grey, Galloway and Santa Gertrudis. Properly prepared and slaughtered, they are all very fine eating.
Beef taste testing becomes very subjective, as several other competitions can show. What’s more, the breed of the beast is well down the list of what makes a particularly tasty steak. What the animal had been eating, its age and condition and how little stress it experienced in the lead up to slaughter all count a great deal more.
And as for what goes into hamburger chain patties, well, despite the advertising, it’s not actually the prime cuts of prime beef. That sticker on the McDonald’s ads, “Prime Australian Beef“, doesn’t seem to be actually defined as anything by Meat and Livestock Australia.
It doesn’t necessarily mean cattle in their prime, just good Australian hamburger mince which, depending on the season and what’s being turned off, can mean a whole pile of old cows as well as the usual offcuts and less-marketable bits from trade steers.
So there’s actually nothing particularly special about McDonald’s or Hungry Jack's hamburger mince that happens to be made from cattle that are at least three-quarter Angus (the definition allowed McDonald’s by Certified Angus Beef Pty Ltd).
There might have been a hint of what the marketing success was about in this paragraph from The Land:
“Bronwyn Stubbs, corporate communications manager for McDonald's Australia, said Angus beef had come up trumps in its extensive research with local customers to identify what they perceived as a good quality, great tasting beef.”
Perception is a wonderful thing. It was probably helped by the availability of plenty of cattle of that breed with a well-organised breeders’ lobby group promoting them. That Angus burgers were first launched by McDonald’s in the US three years ago no doubt has absolutely nothing to do with it.
So congratulations to McDonald’s, Hungry Jack's and Angus breeders on a well-copied marketing format that has more Australians eating beef.
For what it’s worth, taste being such a personal thing, the best beef has to be grass fed – all that grain-fed nonsense just ads weight, fat and maybe some tenderness to a beast while taking out taste.
The animal has to be prepared well for slaughter – no stress. And then, if you really want something a bit fancy, it will have lived on desert grasses.
Without doubt the best steak I’ve ever had was in Birdsville while doing a story on the Channel Country’s OBE organic beef. I’ve tasted nothing like it before or since. And the breed didn’t really matter.
Michael Pascoe is a BusinessDay contributing editor, now in hiding from feedlot operators and Angus breeders.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Food glorious food
One more week till the rhythm guitarist returns to Melbourne. :) And then the band's reformation here will be complete.
And random thought of the day - good friends are those you can say no to, and that's the end of it. No questions asked as it's all good.
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Yes, some of you are wondering if Bob has Blobbed with all the food photos I've been posting up. This was lunch after my regular Saturday soccer game. Place is called Kotaraya on Blackburn road off the Princes Highway. Good authenic Hainanese Chicken Rice with dark sauce and power chilli action. Rice was fab and full of flavour though the soup wasn't quite up to scratch.
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Been having a sashimi of the salmon kind craving for eons. Finally got it satisfied at dinner. Met Shoe and what a recommendation at what a place with such a name. Samurai Sushi. Located on Glenferrie Road it offers excellent gourmet grub at student prices. $8 for sashimi platter, $2.50 for tempura vegetables, and $7.50 for mains. All in all, spent just $31.50 for a tummy destroying meal. Also ordered a strange concoction of beef with rice - some beef pate action with teriyaki sauce. Interesting but not worth a second order. And oh yes, their green tea milk shake is quite fab too. Must try.
I don't look like I have blobbed - or have I. Hmm.
And random thought of the day - good friends are those you can say no to, and that's the end of it. No questions asked as it's all good.
---
Yes, some of you are wondering if Bob has Blobbed with all the food photos I've been posting up. This was lunch after my regular Saturday soccer game. Place is called Kotaraya on Blackburn road off the Princes Highway. Good authenic Hainanese Chicken Rice with dark sauce and power chilli action. Rice was fab and full of flavour though the soup wasn't quite up to scratch.
---
Been having a sashimi of the salmon kind craving for eons. Finally got it satisfied at dinner. Met Shoe and what a recommendation at what a place with such a name. Samurai Sushi. Located on Glenferrie Road it offers excellent gourmet grub at student prices. $8 for sashimi platter, $2.50 for tempura vegetables, and $7.50 for mains. All in all, spent just $31.50 for a tummy destroying meal. Also ordered a strange concoction of beef with rice - some beef pate action with teriyaki sauce. Interesting but not worth a second order. And oh yes, their green tea milk shake is quite fab too. Must try.
I don't look like I have blobbed - or have I. Hmm.
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