Kurma

I guess if we changed our diet every time a new scientific report came out, we'd go mad, or at least become a little demented. Here's the latest news from the BBC, as reported yesterday.

Tofu 'may raise risk of dementia'

"Tofu is a widely eaten soy product. Eating high levels of some soy products - including tofu - may raise the risk of memory loss, research suggests.

The study focused on 719 elderly Indonesians living in urban and rural regions of Java. The researchers found high tofu consumption - at least once a day - was associated with worse memory, particularly among the over-68s.

The Loughborough University-led study features in the journal Dementias and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders." Read the whole article....

I'm back in Sydney after an intense weekend of cookery travel to Melbourne and Bendigo.

On Thursday I rested in one of the very comfortable guest rooms of the famous Melbourne branch of the Hare Krishna Movement in Albert Park (one of the most beautiful temples in the southern hemisphere). I awoke at 3.00am refreshed and ready to seize the day.

What better way to equip myself for a busy weekend than a dose of early-morning kirtan (chanting) in the beautiful marble inner sanctum of the temple, starting with the first inspirational mangala-arati at 4.30am.

This daily six-part festival schedule has been going on uninterrupted, every single day since the temple was inaugurated on 18 May 1975. That's 33 years non-stop.

Uddhava, Adam and Glenn are coming to the grand-finale of a very ecstatic kirtan. Adam is jumping up and down so fast he's just a blur.

At lunchtime on Friday, myself and Srikant, my designated driver (seen below, far right) drove to Bendigo, a painless two-hour affair on the highway.

We shopped in the evening and set up the venue for the Saturday morning. That's our crew, above, standing in the very picturesque country setting for La Trobe University student accomodation. Many of them are staff members on campus.

Manoj, second from the left, has every reason to be smiling. He had spent months arranging this event, and everyone was very thankful for his dogged determination, precision management skills and his personable demeanour.

We've just making yet another batch of wonderful, juicy panir cheese. Above I'm twisting the cheesecloth with the fresh hot cheese inside before pressing. This fresh batch was produced on the spot from 8 litres of unhomogenised organic cows' milk.

Fifteen minutes later.... After explaining about just how versatile it is, I cut the still-warm round into quarters. That's Ouahiba from North Africa looking on.

We sliced the cheese further, garnished some squeaky, succulent chunks with generous drizzles of extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt flakes, freshly cracked peppercorns and parsley, ready for an impromptu tasting.

Our enthusiastic team dove into their tasks with great enthusiasm. Here's a trio of ladies, including mother-and-daughter team Wendy and Hayley (in matching aprons, no less) grating fresh coconut for our classic South Indian Lemon Rice.

What a weekend! I am often asked, usually around the dinner table, 'Do you ever get tired of this, Kurma?' I certainly get tired, but not tired of cooking and teaching. I've been sharing my cookery skills since 1979. I'm fast-approaching my three-thousandth class; I calculated that I've personally taught over 40,000 students. I never take for granted how blessed I am, and I don't regret a moment of the last 30 years.