MAD Monday

What is a Good Life?

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

For British architect, Carolyn Steel, the question of how we want to eat in the future is really a question of how we want to live. Food has become invisible in our cities, but it hasn’t always been and doesn’t have to remain this way. Using food as a lens, she takes us on a journey to understand the myriad ways in which food has shaped the cities and societies we live in, and how, in accepting the true value of food, we do away with the illusion of “cheap food” and play an active role in the food system.

Restore the Soil and Feed Tomorrow

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

We’ve lost a third of the world’s fertile soil and are slated to lose another third in the next century–this is an optimistic story about the environment. Geologist David Montgomery shares his life’s research and insights into soil, from its role in the foundation of our civilizations down to the microbes that live in it and how regenerative agriculture can save the food world of tomorrow.

Get On Your Knees (and Bring Gastronomy with You)

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

As chef Christian Puglisi’s restaurant community, Relæ, in Copenhagen expanded, he realized he should not be growing out, but growing deeper. So he started the Farm of Ideas to grow his own produce. At this MAD Monday, he recounts how his experience starting the farm led him to face the high cost of producing food and impacted how he values it.

It's up to restaurants, up to chefs, he believes, to get down on their knees and understand their produce because they have a unique responsibility to help people understand the true value of food and redefine what gastronomy is in the process.

Leaders are the Glue, Not the Light

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Clarence Slockee and Christian Hampson run Yerrabingin (We Walk Together), Australia’s first Indigenous rooftop farm that interweaves indigenous knowledge and collaborative design thinking in South Eveleigh, Sydney.

Here they share their insights on how Indigenous values of collective wisdom, kinship (relationships to each other), and custodianship (responsibility to our mother earth) inform the matriarchal model of leadership in Indigenous cultures, and are key for transformational change. Placing this in stark contrast to patriarchal, top-down, forms of leadership, they suggest that “Leadership must be a voice, but also give a voice.”

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Leadership, 4 November 2019. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD, and Kylie Kwong that brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on what leadership looks like in our changing world. MAD Mondays are open to the public and held throughout the year and around the globe.

Get Out of Your Own Way

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Propelled into her role as the first female Zen Buddhist and Insight Meditation teacher, Subhana Barzaghi didn’t have other women role models to help lead her way. She reflects on how she grew into the Zen Roshi role and her inner journey of facing her anxieties to find her authentic voice.

How to Lead in a No-Ego Kitchen

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Chef Alanna Sapwell has journeyed through kitchens around the world, experiencing different leadership styles in each. Now as head chef, it’s her turn to set a new standard.

At ARC Dining, she and her team have established a series of tenets for running their restaurant that include: make thoughtful, delicious and confident food; provide an environment that creates a better-rounded chef; foster focused creativity; no ego; and, always make staff meal a highlight. In a no-ego kitchen, natural leaders emerge, creativity thrives, and no one is above washing the dishes.

Resilient Restaurants

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Josh Niland, Chef and Owner of Saint Peter restaurant and Fish Butchery, shares the stories of resilience behind his restaurant’s success at Sydney MAD Monday.

The philosophy behind his restaurants is the respect for the product and the fishermen that work hard to provide the most sustainable produce to work with. At Fish Butchery they have developed a recipe for nearly every part of the fish, which helps them to cut costs. With this lesson, Josh stresses the importance of educating the new wave of chefs at working without loss and food waste. Moreover, he points out that the life of a chef is filled with ups and downs and resilience is the only way to reach your goals.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Resilience, July 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Rediscovering Food Through Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Indira Naidoo, journalist, broadcaster, author and food activist, tells the story of her journey from news reading to finding meaning through growing vegetables and turning her balcony into an edible pantry.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Resilience, July 16, 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Love and Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Reverend Graham Long, Pastor and CEO Emeritus of the Wayside Chapel in Sydney, is someone whose life is woven into the community fabric of Sydney. Reverend Long shares the story of his path to understanding resilience, from a personal tragedy to the enduring support he found in the vulnerable, homeless and lost people who come to the Wayside. He underlines that love is everywhere to be found and that resilience is not deposited in you but is for you if you want it.

Cultural Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Lydia Miller is a Kuku Yalanji woman and the Executive Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts at Australia’s national arts funding body, the Australia Council. In this talk, Lydia shares her thoughts on the importance of preserving the aboriginal culture and history that she belongs to. For many years she could not understand why she was part of a minority when her ancestors were the founders of the land. However, she quickly realized that she had the duty of preserving this heritage by developing the cultural resilience forged by the first nation's people in Australia.

Indigenous Foodways

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Aboriginal Elder, Uncle Charles Madden, officially welcomes guests of MAD, Carriageworks and Kylie Kwong's Sydney MAD Monday to Gadigal Country. MAD Program Manager Bella Napier, chef at restaurant Billy Kwong Kylie Kwong, and Director of Carriageworks Lisa Havilah introduce the evening's talks. Moderator Caroline Baum provided background to the conversation.

These introductions opened the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Migration, Family, and Farming

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Palisa Anderson, director of Sydney restaurant Chat Thai and first generation farmer of Boon Luck Farm, shared stories from her childhood, as well as her farming practices and approach to utilizing sustainable Indigenous ingredients in her cooking.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

How to Meet Demand for Australian Bushfoods

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

This discussion is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

A range of speakers reflected on the growing demand for Indigenous Australian ingredients in restaurants across the country. What role can restaurants play in shaping the ways this demand is met?

The conversation was moderated by Caroline Baum, an Australian journalist, author and broadcaster. Palisa Anderson of restaurant Chat Thai and first generation farmer of Boon Luck Farm shared stories from her childhood, as well as her farming practices and approach to utilizing sustainable Indigenous ingredients in her cooking. Gayle Quarmby of Outback Pride Project, the largest bushfood-growing organisation in Australia, shared how her company provides opportunities for remote Aboriginal communities to access an industry where their traditional knowledge is valued. Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, an initiated Yuin man and the knowledge holder and teacher of the guides at Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness shared his understandings of sacredness and the land. A member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group, novelist and scholar Nicole Watson of the University of Sydney Law School reflected on the national narratives of Australia and engaged us in telling new stories about Australia.

Indigenous Australian Bushfoods

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Gayle Quarmby of Outback Pride Project, the largest bushfood-growing organisation in Australia, shares how her company provides opportunities for remote Aboriginal communities to access an industry where their traditional knowledge is valued.

Respect For the Sacred Land

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Indigenous Australian Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, an initiated Yuin man and the knowledge holder and teacher of the guides at Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness, shares his understandings of sacredness and the land.

The Stories that Define Australia

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

A member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group, novelist and scholar Nicole Watson of the University of Sydney Law School reflects on the national narratives of Australia and engages Australians in telling new stories about Country and people.

A Future Without Waste

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Ida Auken is MP for the Danish party Radikale Venstre and the former Minister of the Enviroment. She has written extensively about sustainability, climate changes, and circular economy in the Guardian.

In this video from the MAD Monday “Trash or Treasure,” she speaks to an audience of chefs, farmers, and writers about creating a future without waste.

A Waste of Waste | Arielle Johnson, Flavor Scientist

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

MAD's former Head of Research speaks about the potentials of fermentation to turn trash into gastronomic treasure.

A Very Delicious Sheep Brain

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

“We just had to make it work,” says chef Sam Nutter of the first days of Bror, which he and Victor Wagman opened on a shoestring budget in Copenhagen about two years ago. That meant calling in friends for help in the kitchen, borrowing chairs and tables to fill the dining room, and trying to work with ingredients like penis, testicles, and whole heads.

The duo focused on the latter part of this process at the recent MAD Monday, “Trash or Treasure.” “When you are working in a busy kitchen, it’s hard to see the full extent of the waste,” says Nutter. “You see the trimmings and things like that, but what about the pieces that didn’t ever come through the restaurant’s door?”

The Full Cycle of Restaurant Amass

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

In this video from our latest MAD Monday, which had “Trash or Treasure” as its theme, the rising star chef Matt Orlando, of Copenhagen’s Amass, discusses how you can create a sustainable ecosystem to feed your restaurant, as well as find delicious flavors in items you would normally throw in the bin.

“I used to think that everything that came out of a greenhouse didn’t taste good,” says Orlando. But his opinion changed as he was figuring out what to do with the expansive plot of land his restaurant sits on. In those early months, he started discovering innovative ways to deal with compost and grow much of the menu’s products right out the front door. As Orlando explains, a clever “worm hotel” is one of the most important engineers of this ecosystem.