I am heading off to Istanbul tomorrow to speak at a conference and also for some media obligations.

I will be out of Spain for a week but during my trip I will write of the discoveries I make in Turkey and any new products I find.

Ciao!

After months of phantom problems in my website I finally realized what the problem was……………………

Well I am kind of misleading you when I say I realized as that makes it sound like I caught the problem. The truth is I realized when I woke up one morning to a full email box of people telling me my website had a problem! I tried to open it up and a red screen appeared telling me it was an attack site!

This was the start of a very frustrating few weeks of no information and very poor service from my host network “Network Solutions”. Their server was hacked and attacked by a series of very malicious viruses trying to redirect people to other sites in Ukraine. I am not the most advanced computer user around apart from writing and posting stories. So I heavily relied on those around me to get me through this troubling time, for this I am very thankful!

The site is back now and totally safe to use!

I look forward to getting back into the rhythm  of posting stories as I have a huge backlog of adventures to tell about.

Thanks for your patience and staying with me!

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Originally uploaded by manhattanlab

How many people actually really know where their dinner came from? How many people really care?

In this day and age we seem to be becoming more and more insulated from the realities of where our food comes from and how it got into the neat little packages which you load into your trolley’s and take home. Our hunter and gatherer instincts seemed to of changed into one of selection when we are choosing which cut from which animal.

One thing I did notice since living in Spain is how we do not generally call the meat we eat by the same name as that which is living. Take for example Pork, the animal is called a pig yet we call the meat Pork. When you think about pork or beef you do not conjure up a picture of an animal but instead a food product, so it makes it easier for some people to eat. With something like Chicken no one really bothered to think up another name as it is a small animal which not even many vegetarians have a problem with eating. But here in Spain the animals and the meat have the same name as they are not as sensitive as other cultures, you will also find there are far less vegetarians here as well for this same reason.

Chefs deal with butchery everyday and yet many of us have no idea of the steps involved before it came to us, this is a shame!

Anyone who is easily offended or has a sensitive stomach should think about not reading any further (this means I do not want to get hate mail from any vegetarians or Vegans as has happened in the past).

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Originally uploaded by manhattanlab

You see how happy this man looks in the picture?

This is because he is holding the fruits of his labor in his hands and about to hand them over to be consumed by some hopefully very happy guests. This is the father of the owner of the restaurant in Croatia where I am consultant. It is an every day or every second day occurrence when he will travel from his property to deliver fresh herbs and flowers.

Yesterday he explained to me this is an eco-friendly approach to growing his crop and let’s just say I was impressed at his love for what he does and also his understanding of nature.

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I was visiting Trieste yesterday while driving to Croatia and I stopped in on a supplier on the border near Slovenia that stocks a lot of specialty products from Spain and Italy.

They had row after row of products from my friend Quico Sosa (http://www.sosa.cat/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=34&lang=en). If you are familiar with the products from Sosa you would know that they have a large range of freeze dried products, essences and also many types of food additives. With the current situation in Italy being as absurd as it is they can only sell the products that do not come with a European union approved additive number (All products that also have a code starting with “E”) as this makes them a non-restaurant approved item with these new “Laws”. So there are now countless products on their shelves which will have to remain there until someone in the “Government” over turns this ridiculous legislation.

I hope we can all look back on this and laugh one day, like the fat politician in the US who tried to have salt banned in restaurants because he couldn’t practice self control so he thought he would legislate it to make it easier……………………..

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Originally uploaded by manhattanlab

The Jerusalem artichokes at the moment are in plentiful supply and an amazing level of quality here in Europe.

Here is a photo I took in the Markets of Venice.

(This is just to test the Flickr “Blog this” Option)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49257366@N02/sets/72157623723197721/

Sorry I still can’t add photos, but I have figured out how to use Flickr to upload photos. See the above link for my latest album about the below topic.

Yesterday morning went to the Padova markets on my way from Venice to Croatia.

The hit of inspiration I got from the visit was better than a double shot of Italian espresso!

The range of products was not really anything surprising or to rave about but the quality was outstanding! Everything seemed to of been ripened the old fashioned way (on the vine or plant and in the sun) instead of the insipid under ripe and under flavored things you find in many other markets of the world.

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I am away on a consulting trip for the next 10 days in Venice, Slovenia and Croatia.

During my trip I will write about any new discoveries and local products I find along the way.

Stay Tuned!

Imagine getting out of bed in the morning just knowing you were going to do a substandard job and sail your way through the day only using 10% of your little brain until the day is finished…………………….

This is what I wonder most mornings when I go for breakfast here in Madrid.

Being an Australian I really appreciate a great breakfast made up of simply prepared high quality ingredients, and of course a coffee made with a little intelligence and a lot of LOVE! Is that so much to ask?

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On the 25th of February the site “Guia de la Buena Mesa” were the first to write about the absurd situation in Italy with the signing of new legislation banning the use of Food additives in the kitchen, this is also going to extend to the use of Liquid Nitrogen as it is a “gaseous substances” and considered dangerous even though 78% of earths atmosphere is actually Nitrogen in it’s gas form! The title of the article says more than 1000 of my words “The Italian Taliban”! The article is as below:

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Well kind of…………………

I am still having a technical difficulty on uploading pictures so you will have to bear with me until this is fixed very shortly, my apologies!

MANY things have been happening since I last wrote, this is part of the reason that I have not been able to get anything up on this site. Let me try to bring you up to speed.

• I have started consulting for a beautiful restaurant on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, this restaurant is set in a 700 year old building and has an immense amount of potential! I am working with the Chef/Owner to help develop dishes using only local products and products which have little or no environmental impact. There are some very bad fishing practices which exist in Croatia, one of my goals of this project is to help educate the Chefs, Diners and government about the alternatives and how to correct this error before it’s too late. I will bring you more up to date with this as I make some headway.
• I have finished shooting the first episode of a US TV show I have been planning for the past 12 months! The footage is now with my Producer in New York which we aim to have ready in the next 2 weeks to be able to pitch to some of the major networks who have shown interest. The concept is very new and sure to raise a few eyebrows! I cannot share the details with you at the moment, but you will be the first to know as soon as I can
• My Manhattan restaurant is still moving along nicely (contrary to media reports) but I have delayed it slightly due to some major projects I have here in Spain. I will make some more details available when I can make them public.
• I have now started my second company here in Spain which is Adam Melonas Consulting. I am now busy with projects all over Spain and I have also been asked to pitch for a project which would see my influence in 40 countries around the world, I can tell you a little more about this very soon………………………

Apart from this there are many more things happening! But I will try to space it out a little so I don’t overwhelm you.

I am out of Spain on a lot of trips in the next 2-3 months, So as always I will be posting stories from all of my trips while I am away. Also if you are in any of the countries which I will be please feel free to drop me a line so we can meet up and you can show me some good local cuisine. My calendar is as below:

• Venice (April 9 – 12)
• Slovenia (April 12)
• Croatia – Sibenik (April 13th – 18th)
• Istanbul (April 29th – May 5th)
• Australia – Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane (May 16th – June 9th)
• Denmark and Sweden (June 16th – 20th)

I now have many stories in reserve, so I will now be back to posting 4-5 stories per week. Stay Tuned!

Thanks for continuing to read!