News bites: food, love and a little music

12th February 2021 | Eativity editors

This week in food news you might have missed but really shouldn’t: an Aussie tennis star is urging fans to make some noise and help raise funds for food relief, Italian pasta masters have hit upon the perfect method to guarantee you get al dente spaghetti every single time, a group of restaurants have cooked up a rather “suite” dessert, and some clever NSW food producers have found a way to combine the two things we love best – chocolate and pizza – into one amazing Valentine’s creation. It’s certainly won our hearts.

Make dessert even more special with a surprise garnish. Each restaurant has a different offering.

Is this Australia’s most expensive dessert?

The reason why dessert is always served last? Why, it’s the best part of any good meal, of course. Designer hotel collection Ovolo Hotels is now making that sweet experience last a liiiiittle bit longer with the new Suite Dessert.

Quite possibly Australia’s most expensive afters, Ovolo’s Suite Dessert will be available across the hotel’s restaurant and bars from Valentine’s Day, joining the menu permanently. Guests can order a Suite Dessert at the table, which comes garnished with a room key, so you can savour your dessert and then enjoy an overnight stay. Quite the suite surprise.

Available at Alibi Bar & Kitchen for $269 (Sydney), Mister Percy for $199 (Sydney), Monster Kitchen & Bar for $199 (Canberra) and ZA ZA TA Bar & Kitchen for $150 (Brisbane), there are limited desserts available each night and must be made to order.

Food court: make a racquet to help provide meals for vulnerable Australians.

Nick Kyrgios rallies to provide meal kits to those in need

Tennis pro Nick Kyrgios has joined forces with Old El Paso to unite fans of all Aussie pro tennis players ahead of their home major and help donate Mexican meal kits to vulnerable families through Foodbank Australia, calling on local fans to #MakeSomeNoiseForAustralia like never before over the 2021 Australian summer of tennis.

With limited crowd numbers permitted at Melbourne Park this year, Old El Paso and Kyrgios have found a new way to create a meaningful connection away from the stands. Through the #MakeSomeNoiseForAustralia initiative, every time an Aussie player plays a match in Melbourne, Old El Paso and the NK Foundation will donate 100 meal kits to support vulnerable Australians via Foodbank Australia. If an Australian player wins, not only will they inspire and unite the collective hearts and minds of the nation, but the number of donations will be tripled to 300 meal kits.

What an ace idea: Lleyton Hewitt is serving up support.

Kyrgios has recruited a constellation of Aussie tennis champs such as current men’s number one Alex DeMinaur, evergreen legends Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur and fan favourites Matt Ebden and Daria Gavrilova to help spread the message and launch the #MakeSomeNoiseForAustralia campaign on their Instagram and Twitter accounts. The players will be aiming to connect fans and help increase their Foodbank meal kit donation tally by asking them to share the #MakeSomeNoiseForAustralia video on Instagram, with one share by a fan equating to one extra meal kit being donated.

To #MakeSomeNoiseForAustralia throughout the Australian summer of tennis, follow Old El Paso on Facebook and Instagram.

Love means never having to say you’re sorry (for eating this whole thing).

A wheely sweet way to say “I love you”

Nothing says love like chocolate. Unless you say it with chocolate AND pizza. That’ll win any heart, hands down. Well, certainly ours, anyway. Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory in the NSW southern Riverina region has combined both into one delicious creation – Valentine’s Day Pizza Wheels weighing more than half a kilo each.

The pizza wheelbase comes in a choice of milk, dark, white or caramel chocolate, and the treats on top can be from a mixture of delights, including marshmallow rocky road, pink “yummies” – like organic Smarties – and white chocolate roasted almond love hearts with a raspberry-infused white powdered dusting. The dividers are made from black liquorice.

Available on-site and online, the Valentine’s Day Pizza Wheels are 28cm in diameter and cost $40. For more info, head to juneelicoriceandchocolate.com. To order online click here.

Pasta la vista, baby. Next time, set your spaghetti to music.

Barilla transforms Spotify into a pasta cooking timer

The art of cooking pasta lies in knowing when it’s time to drain it. To help you become a pasta master, Barilla has launched a Spotify Playlist Timer: eight music playlists with the same duration of the cooking time of the brand’s best-loved pasta shapes.

The playlists, ranging in length from nine to 11 minutes, have been created by combining the four most listened-to musical genres in Italy (pop, hip hop, indie and the great classics of the past) with some of the most appreciated pasta shapes (spaghetti, linguine, fusilli and penne rigate). The music tracks in each playlist will also be regularly updated.

The branded playlists are a tribute from Barilla to all the people who believe in cooking as a form of art and entertainment. So take advantage of your pasta-cooking time to listen to good music, do a little dance around the kitchen and not worry about watching the clock – when the playlist comes to an end, it’s time to drain the pasta and serve it “al dente”.

To get cooking, just search Barilla Playlist Timer on Spotify.