Culture Vulture – Part two

Friday 26 March 2010, 10:02 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events

It is commonly known that Melbourne is the biggest Greek city in the world outside of Athens, but did you also know that the Antipodes Festival is one of the largest Greek celebrations outside of Greece?

Antipodes Festival
27 – 28 March

This weekend the Greeks will take over the city (minus the Trojan horse) and around 100,000 people will enjoy a ‘glendi’ (party in Greek).

Dance to Greek folk, blues or techno. Direct from Greece, the Apodimi Compania will be playing their special form of the Greek urban blues, Rebetiki. Aggelos Dionysiou, the Barry Manilow of Greek crooners with have the yayas flinging off their headscarves in excitement. While Melbourne’s own DJ Dean Paps, as well as international turntablist, DJ Bestseller will take over the night with his techno/house beats.

If you have any energy left, compete in the ‘Zorba till you drop’ to win a flight to Greece. For the more foodie-minded, see how many souvlakis you can consume in seven minutes or if you have a sweet tooth, gorge yourself on baklava to win some great prizes.
Register here to get involved.

For the less competitive, there will be lots of food stalls on offer to sample traditional Greek treats, carnival rides and children’s entertainment to keep the kids amused.

In the meantime, try this authentic and easy recipe in preparations for this weekend’s celebration of all things Greek.

Irini’s tzatziki dip

Ingredients
1kg Greek yoghurt
1 large cucumber or four small Lebanese cucumbers
3 cloves of garlic (can have more or less depending on your garlic tolerance)
Virgin olive oil, salt, white pepper (no measurement here, just ‘to taste’)
One kalamata olive

Preparation
1. Strain yoghurt in a muslin cloth overnight (minimum four hours).
2. Peel and grate cucumber (on thicker side of grater). Strain cucumber but keep the juice, you may need it later.
3. Crush garlic and then combine all ingredients (yoghurt, cucumber, garlic, oil, salt and white pepper). If dip seems too thick, pour in a little of the cucumber juice. If it’s still a little bland just add oil and don’t be stingy. Keep tasting and adding and mixing until satisfied.

Presentation tip: Once you’ve transferred the dip in a bowl, place a kalamata olive in the centre of the dip to really impress your friends.

The Do-Good Cookbook

Tuesday 19 January 2010, 3:34 PM
By The Team | Posted in Things

Shona Stark and Lily Tidhar are the smarts behind Wolfgang and Shlomo, a Melbourne-based graphic design studio with a philanthropic bent. They’ve just released their inaugural letterpress printed publication COOKBOOK, with all proceeds going to The Australian AIDS Fund Inc. We asked them how the project unfurled.

The book combines our love of typography, traditional design and social initiatives. Raising money for charity was our initial inspiration but then it grew into a beautiful example of Melbourne’s style and talent.

Truly some of Melbourne’s best, most acclaimed chefs jumped on board. COOKBOOK features amazing recipes by Neil
Perry, Dallas Cuddy and Andrew McConnell, just to name a few. Jon Campbell, Ned Culic, and Tin&Ed graciously collaborated with us to provide the beautiful lino prints which feature prominently in COOKBOOK. We think they make for an eclectic mix, as they each have a strong and unique voice within the Australian art and design community.

We love that people in Melbourne are relaxed and comfortable in their own skin – whoever they may be. There is a great design community in Melbourne and always an exhibition or discussion to attend to inspire and enlighten. We found that everyone we came in contact with while making

COOKBOOK, whether they came from a design background or not, were really open and enthusiastic about what we were doing.

The next frontier for Wolfgang & Shlomo will be our second COOKBOOK! We are currently discussing new ideas and possible directions as we are going to be a bit more adventurous with this one and take a different approach. Keep an eye and ear out for it later this year.

There are only a few COOKBOOKs left, so head down to Metropolis or The Thousands Shop in Curtin House (225 Swanston Street), or the Narrows Gallery on Flinders Lane to get your grubby hands on one stat!