Don’s : The lunch, the relaunch and Matt Preston
Is don, is good. It’s a saying which single handedly defines the Dons brand. It’s up there with “gogo mobile” as one of a handful of long serving catch phrases in Australian language culture, used in all sorts of conversations and contexts. Apart from this catch phrase, Don is known for it’s salami and other small goods. This afternoon I am at an intimate media lunch which celebrates the relaunching of the Don brand, with a few other food bloggers courtesy of Nuffnang Australia.
The purpose of the lunch was to hear about how George Western Foods is relaunching the Dons brand, with the helping hand of Gerhard Feiner and someone called Matt Preston. For our international readers (which is probably about 3 of you), Matt Preston is an Internationally acclaimed food critic and judge of Masterchef Australia.
Dons has been around since 1947, so they know a thing or two about small goods. So when it’s time for a rebrand and relaunch, it better be for a good reason right ?
We know what Dons do well, it’s all about salami and a variety of other small goods. Everything from hungarian salami to chorizo, Dons has had it covered since 1947. But what is the difference this time around ?
It’s the Fleischmesiter.
The Fleischmeister, the what ?
Pronounced as fly-sh-my-ster, he’s the bloke up there in the white next to Matt Preston. He knows his stuff, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that he is very passionate about his salami. His job is to oversee the entire meat curing process, from slaughter to supermarket. What Dons want to do with the relaunch is to emphasise the key role the Fleischmesiter plays in the product. He is someone who has spent 5-7 years mastering his art, to obtain a qualification of the highest degree. Dons should no longer be seen as a mass produced and pre-packaged product with little emphases on tradition or quality, but consumers are going to be hard to convince if they keep seeing Dons at Coles or Woolies. Hopefully the Fleischmesiter will reintroduce a sense of history and tradition with the products.
A few interesting points which I took away from Gerhard Feiner was that :
- Meat is all local Australian produce, cannot use raw meat imported due to health safety standards
- For every 100kg of salami during initial curing, it must be around 70kg before it is fit for consumption and ready to be sold
- The Chinese were the first people to flirt with the idea of creating food out of raw meat, the result is the Chinese sausage also known as Lap Cheong
- When Gerhard walks into a room full of salami, he can tell by the smell of the air whether it is ready to be eaten or not
The Lunch with Dons products
Apart from hearing Gerhard and Matt talk about their love of salami all afternoon, we were served an awesome lunch inspired by some of the Dons range. The food was quite amazing, everything paired up very well. I won’t talk too much about it because it seemed like a one off menu for the event, but perhaps the recipes might go on the new Dons website which is due to launch soon. I’d be interested in the duck confit recipe, that was the highlight for me. Adam Moore who is the Dons corporate Chef was responsible for the menu, he did a mighty fine job I must say.
Canapes
Coffin Bay Oysters with crisp DON Chorizo and caramelized balsamic
Fresh Figs with Gorgonzola and DON Prosciutto
Entree
Antipasto featuring DON White Hungarian , DON Hot Hungarian, DON Danish and DON Pepperoni
My favourite is probably the hot Hungarian salami, I just wish it was hotter.
A moneybag of cheese
Mains
Roasted lamb rack with warm salad of rocket, goat cheese, peppers, DON White Hungarian Salami and garlic chips
Twice cooked confit of duck with orange, pistachio and DON Pepperoni Salami on a beetroot relish
The duck confit was superb, so tender with the flesh falling off the bone. The highlight was also the orange and pistachio salad. If you are reading this Mr Adam Moore, please post the recipe on the Dons website.
Dessert
I was hoping that Adam would incorporate some salami or bacon into the desserts, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Lemon bread and butter pudding with maple infused cream
Leona from pigged-out poking away at her cake
Sour cream cheese cake with coffee roasted apples
“Bad salami smells like a teenage boy” - Matt Preston
Matt Preston has been chosen to help promote the new salamis of the world Dons range. He spoke a bit about his experience with making salami whilst happily mingling with everyone at the lunch. He is a great guy, very down to earth and open to chat about all things food. I spoke to him briefly about his large shoe collection and he gave me a little tip. For an extra $30 you can get custom made RM Williams boots made, which he wears. Now you too, can be like Matt Preston.
One of my favourite lines of his was when he was trying to describe what a bad salami smelt like, and came up with ” it smells a teenage boy ” . Having been a teenage boy myself at one stage, he probably isn’t far off.
Matt’s take on food blogs
Matt spoke a bit about Food Blogs and it turns out that he reads Helen’s Grabyourfork (woo hoo go Helen!). He said he turns to food blogs when he is looking for those hidden gems, the hard to find places which normal every day people go to. He also spoke about what he thought the future of food reviewing/blogging might look like, in terms of video reviews. Imagine dining in a restaurant and recording the dining experience and uploading it immediately in the form of a video review. Anthony Bourdain does something similar but in the form of a TV show. I guess it’s only a matter of time when someone creates a video compression format which is HD quality yet has a file size small enough to upload over a 3G data connection via an iPhone or other mobile phone device.
We received a goody pack at the end of the lunch, hopefully I can cook up something unusual with it this weekend and post it here on the blog!
eatshowandtell attended the Dons Media Lunch courtesy of Nuffnang and Mango.
The Dons Media Lunch was held in the Victoria Room Bar Restaurant
235 Victoria St
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
(02) 9357 4488
w : http://www.thevictoriaroom.com
Author
By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
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This article was written on 01 Oct 2009, and is filed under Events.
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mmm meats and oh baby the don white hungarian is my fav.
wow you did a great job on the pics! and yes how funny that matt reads Grab Your Fork!
Thanks Howie. Who would have thought salami was inspired by the Chinese! You’ve just sent Dave off on a rant about how the Chinese have created everything! Oh boy… Great photos too!
Cheers
Kruppy (Nuffnang)
Lovely photos you’ve got there. And Matt Preston is interesting, isn’t he, especially his views of foodblogging and video capture, etc. Thanks for getting it all down. (PS: Go, Helen!)
nice gig. the victoria room is such a nice place isn’t it http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com/2009/09/victoria-room-bar-restaurant.html
that’s great you got to meet matt preston!
LOL to the salami dessert. It would be a challenge to come up with one!
Howie a fantastic review well done I can do desserts with smallgoods but we did not wont to over do it for the day but would be happy to send you some great recipes that i have played with and can send you some examples to talk about like chocolate Bacon or White Chocolate , Pepper and bacon Fudge ……………Let me know adam
I second you on that. Hot Hungarian all the way!!!!!!! WOuld love it if there was a super hot version that would burn the mouth! it solve my constant craving for chilli.
Brilliant. more pressure for me now. will have to finish my blog this weekend. I love the food shots dude!
@chocolatesuze : I defo had my fair share of meat that day.
@Helen : I think I was more excited than you were when he said he read your blog!
@David Krupp : lol I’d hate to be in that office right now.
@Belle : He is interesting, a totally different viewpoint on Blogs compared to George.
@Simon : It’s great, nice ambience in there!
@Arwen : I’m going to give it a go, will blog about it soon
@Adam Moore : Thank you! I will definitely hit you up on the dessert recipes.
@Leona : I am also craving for the super hot version, we should start a petition!
@Penny : Thanks! It was super dark in there but they turned out ok. Yes get that post going I am waiting
Hi Howard, great blog re the Don function at Victoria Room. I think the chef at the Victoria Room did a great job with the incorporation of Don products into his menu – especially with the canape, entre and mains. If you loved the food – especially the Duck you should ask the Head Chef at the Victoria room as these are all his dishes. Fantastic you enjoyed it!
Adam Moore planned that menu!
Yes- Adam Moore planned the original menu of which only the desserts remained (on the final menu). Also the Twice cooked duck confit is currently and has been on the Victoria Room menu for the past 3-4 months (winter menu). Please have credit due where it is owed.
Chrystalla please take this off line as this is not the place to discuss this. The Lamb was mine as well and the product placement was a collabration for the event Joe Gambatcorta is a fantastic Chef This menu was designed and discussed at lenngth for The Don Corporate Media Launch held at The Victoria Room and this event was about our products. Howard has wriiten a fantastic review and lets leave it at that. Joe Gambatcorta and the whole Kitchen team at the Victoria room delivered a fantastic result for the launch. Any further discussions please contact me at The Don corparate office.
It was great to finally meet you for the first time. It was a great event and good food.
Hehe I can only imagine what the dessert would be like if they added some salami in it! Apparently there was talk of bacon or salami chocolate at that lunch! I think Richard/Ffichiban tried that once and it sounds like an interesting idea!