Often the sidekick and not usually the hero of a dish, onions are overlooked. Peeling back the layers of the reliable and versatile pantry staple, you will find that onions are filled with nutritional and health benefits. Onions help with immunity, contain fatigue-fighting and brain-boosting vitamins, support gut, heart, and brain health and to top it off, hold antioxidants that may help with anti-ageing and chronic disease risk. Just half an onion, eaten over the course of a few meals per day, can boost the intake of multiple key ingredients.

It is essential to understand what type of onion is best for each purpose, techniques for preparation and storage, the secret to a good dice, and everyday usage ideas. And as food service professionals, you can play an important role in growing a wider understanding of how to maximise the health benefits of Australian onions.

Hosted by Straight To The Source, this masterclass will present culinary educators with a fresh perspective on using Australian onions in creative ways in a collaborative demonstration by chef Evan Pemberton.

Free to attend but tickets are limited so registration is essential to guarantee a spot.

Join an industry masterclass demonstrating the versatility of brown, white and red Australian grown onions.

From Humble To Hero: A Culinary Masterclass

This September 2022, 14 butchers from across Australia will head to Sacramento, California, to show off their skills when it comes to workmanship, technique, innovation, and presentation. Our Aussie team will go head to head with the best butchers from 16 countries (including our mates across the ditch!), in what’s fast becoming known as ‘The Olympics of Meat’.

The main event? Transforming a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb, and five chickens into a themed display of value-added products in just 3 hours and 15 minutes!

Can’t make it to Sacramento, but keen to show your support? You’re in luck! The Aussie team will be honing their skills on home turf at Vic’s Meat in Mascot on Sunday, June 26. You’re invited to grab a ticket so you can:

✔️ Watch them in action while they carve it up

✔️ Share plating inspiration/expertise

✔️ Help raise money to support the team overseas

✔️ Catchup with chef friends over a meaty roll 

Cost = $50 which includes something to eat, drink, and raise money to support our Aussie team. Tickets are strictly limited. Book now to guarantee your spot.

Join us for a fundraiser to help support our Aussie team!

Australian Butchers to compete in Sacramento, USA

Have a food product idea but don’t know where to start? The pitfalls are many, the risks are high and it can be confusing and expensive to navigate. 

We’re here to help! Concept to Consumer is an online course to provide the essential groundwork and knowledge to develop a safe food product range. Covering everything from food safety hazards through to packaging considerations, Concept to Consumer helps small-batch, large-scale, or co-manufacturing producers develop new and emerging products for commercial sale, and scale. 

This program brings together the combined industry expertise of Straight To The Source and Quantal Bioscience, each with over 20 years of hands-on experience in safe food product range development, giving you all the knowledge and tools you need in a flexible and accessible online course. 

“As a professional chef transferring my skills from restaurants to food retail, there was a lot to learn and mistakes can be expensive. The expertise and guidance of Straight To The Source and Quantal Bioscience have been instrumental in the growth of my business and have given me the knowledge, confidence, and industry support every step of my 'Naturally Sauced' journey." - Mishy Powell, Naturally Sauced

Straight To The Source is all about supporting creative and innovative food ideas and assisting in all parts of the journey from concept to consumer, so we’re excited to bring this course to market in partnership with UNOXAustralia whose innovative and cutting-edge technology is at the forefront of commercial kitchen equipment solutions.

“UnoxAustralia is very proud to be involved in the Concept to Consumer project. Unox focuses on innovation and continuous development of ideas, thus our mantra “Inventive Simplification”, so the Concept to Consumer program is perfectly aligned with our values and we are really pleased that our partnership will assist chefs and producers to bring their ideas to life.” - Wayne Viles, Managing Director, UNOXAustralia

Interested in finding out more? Click here for more details about Concept to Consumer including course dates and times. 

The essential course to develop a safe food product range presented by Straight To The Source and Quantal Bioscience, in partnership with UNOX Australia.

But as you prep a generous slather of butter and your cup of tea, have you ever wondered how the hot cross bun came to be?

Most of us would’ve grown up with hot cross buns magically appearing around Easter time, the smell of spices wafting through the kitchen as they were toasted and buttered for a reverent Good Friday treat. And while hot cross buns have long been synonymous with the Christian holiday, baked goods marked with crosses can be traced back much further.  

It’s said that the Saxons baked and ate buns marked with crosses to celebrate the spring equinox and honour Eostre – the Germanic goddess of fertility, springtime and light. Often depicted surrounded by blooming flowers and baby animals, it’s easy to see why her name is only a hop-skip away from the holiday many of us celebrate today. 

Cakes and buns marked with crosses were also baked by Druids, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans to honour Diana, goddess of the hunt and the moon. These buns were often marked with lines to resemble the horns of an ox or deer, or a cross to denote the four phases of the moon.

As for the hot cross bun we know today? There’s a few theories, the most renowned being that of St. Albans, England. It’s believed that a 14th-century monk by the name of Brother Thomas Rodcliffe baked a simple spiced bun and distributed them among the local poor on Good Friday. From there, hot cross buns became forever intertwined with Christianity and the Commonwealth. Folklore told that buns baked on Good Friday would never go mouldy (don’t try this at home!), and that keeping one from the batch for medical purposes throughout the year would protect the household from ill health. Other superstitions told of hot cross buns protecting sea voyagers from shipwreck, and protecting houses from fire if buns were hung in the kitchen. 

The mysticism around these buns was so great, that Elizabeth I of England decreed that they only be baked for burials, Good Friday and Christmas. In what will be relatable for any foodie, the deliciousness of these now-forbidden buns merely forced their baking into domestic kitchens, where they continued to be enjoyed in secret. 

The 21st-century hot cross bun has come a long way from its ‘one a penny, two a penny’ days, with the humble combination of spice and fruit constantly up for experimentation and reinterpretation. Producers like Paddy the Baker, Brasserie Bread and This Is Us offer everything from traditional Irish hot cross buns to artisan-baked buns packed with warming ginger and cinnamon. Fancy something a little more daring this long weekend? The duo behind Tokyo Lamington have dreamt up the ultimate Easter Pack, with three yuzu (yes, yuzu!) hot cross buns alongside three bespoke hot cross lamingtons. It’s a bold choice, but one that’s sure to delight.

Whether you’re baking your own or letting a local producer master the art for you, there’s nothing better than a warm, toasted hot cross bun this holiday season. 

With Easter just around the corner, there’s a good chance you’ve indulged in a hot cross bun (or two, in our case!).

Prickle Hill Produce

More info on this wonderful producer is coming soon!

Latest posts

From Humble To Hero: A Culinary Masterclass

Australian Butchers to compete in Sacramento, USA

Concept to Consumer

The History Of The Hot Cross Bun

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