Gawain Barker
Kitchen Napalm
To be confronted by a roaring demon of heat and flames in the work place is an unwelcome jolt. Radiant heat and weird shadows fill the...
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Gawain Barker
Aug 14, 20205 min read
New People of the Pemmican
With rivers frozen over, fruit and grains buried under snow and most edible animals vanished from the landscape - how in hell would you...
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Gawain Barker
Jul 31, 20204 min read
Welcome to the Machine
Approaching the row of hissing bench-top steamer ovens, I remembered what Lloyd the Sous Chef had said about opening them - be bloody...
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Gawain Barker
May 31, 20205 min read
Submarine Cook
I've worked in some sweat boxes - kitchens as moist and stinky as a wrestler's jock strap, but for true hard-core cooking action there...
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Gawain Barker
Feb 1, 20205 min read
Chefs of Tommorrow
Apprentices are generally young, hung-over and over-sexed. I should know. So over the years, working with these budding chefs of...
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Gawain Barker
Jan 8, 20201 min read
Amuse-bouche
Amuse-bouche are complimentary bite-sized serves of finger food to amuse the mouth before starting on the menu. Here are some tasty...
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Gawain Barker
Dec 12, 20193 min read
The Q Word
It’s a new café in your manor; you feel like supporting it with your custom and you order something simple - a slice of ham and cheese...
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Gawain Barker
Nov 14, 20194 min read
Customers
It’s the biggest horse-race of the year and we’re cooking in a track-side marquee. Well-dressed, drunken men barge in and start cutting...
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Gawain Barker
Oct 17, 20195 min read
Mercenary Story
It didn’t get more mercenary than this. On the horizon - 3 billion dollars worth of marine hardware; behind me - a gargantuan industrial...
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Gawain Barker
Sep 10, 20196 min read
Bucket of Blood
From beneath my feet, in the public bar below, came a sudden roar and shriek of voices, then floor-shaking bangs and the sound of...
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Gawain Barker
Aug 21, 20195 min read
Salties
While setting up the BBQ station on the restaurant’s deck, I had the feeling of being watched. Around me the visitors to the Crocodile...
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Gawain Barker
Jul 27, 20194 min read
Sal & Liz
Sal and his wife owned and ran a trendy inner-city cafe. All shiny surfaces and modern-as-heck furniture, it was the new kid on the...
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Gawain Barker
Jul 10, 20195 min read
Trickster Gourmet
Grimod de La Reynière was one of life’s true characters. With his artificial hands, culinary curiosity, great wit and ability to write,...
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Gawain Barker
Jun 23, 20194 min read
I Shall be Late!
Darkness. Freezing cold. Warm bed and thick eiderdown. A minute passes. Another one. Peek at bedside clock. Shock! Horror! I’m going to...
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Gawain Barker
Jun 3, 20195 min read
Hardcore
“The greatest joy is to vanquish your enemies, chase them before you, rob them of their wealth, see those dear to them bathed in tears...
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Gawain Barker
Apr 27, 20194 min read
Big No No
This is about what not to do. This is about rules, writ stark and clear; ancient rules handed down through the centuries and known to us...
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Gawain Barker
Apr 11, 20194 min read
Black Money
When I started out, the restaurant industry drank from a stream of black money. Hospitality was, as the Japanese call it, a water trade...
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Gawain Barker
Mar 26, 20194 min read
A Perfect Movie Morsel
Tampopo, a perfect movie morsel from 1985, is a uniquely Japanese take on food, cooking and eating. An endlessly inventive comedy, the...
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Gawain Barker
Mar 11, 20194 min read
Keep Cool
I had a problem. The power was out, unlikely to be fixed for days, and I didn't just have a whole cold room full of food, but three...
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Gawain Barker
Mar 9, 20194 min read
Tools of Pleasure
Knives all have a handle and a blade, and at one end of the blade is the tip; at the other end is the heel. Unlike their hunting and...
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