Two years ago, had you asked me if I liked quinoa (pronounced “kee-nwah”), I would have said “no” on the assumption that it was a rare and dangerous martial art. Funny then, that this is my second blog post in a row featuring the increasingly popular edible seed.

This quinoa, tuna and chickpea salad represents my first foray into the world of quinoa recipes. And I like it.

These three ingredients: quinoa, tuna and chickpeas are really quite substantial – much more so than the little bubbles of quinoa would lead you to believe. The other ingredients, baby spinach, tomato, spring onion, mint and cilantro (coriander) give the salad its color, freshness and flavor.

The dressing is simple: extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.

This recipe ticks all the boxes: it’s easy to prepare, delicious and covers pretty much all your food groups. It’s also filling enough to be an entire meal in itself.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc

With over several hundred exhibitors, the Sydney Good Food & Wine Show was a cornucopia of all things food.

I spent many hours weaving in and out of stands and sampling hundreds of delicious products. Being surrounded by that amount of food was quite overwhelming. After a few hours of concerted eating, flavors blend into one and your taste buds fail you. It takes a really special product then to revive one’s weary senses.

And that's when I came across Deeks Bakery & Cafe's stand. Named after its co-founder, World Marathon Champion and Olympian Robert “Deeks” De Castella, Deeks Bakery & Café is leading Australia with absolutely divine gluten-free and grain-free bakery products -- coeliacs rejoice!

I tried the pumpkin and pepita loaf made with freshly grated pumpkin and quinoa. I was instantly impressed. The breads, which are all quinoa based, have an interesting texture -- a cross between that of an English crumpet and sourdough bread.

My favorite, however, was the chocolate quinoa log peppered with dark Belgium chocolate.

I’ve just returned from the 2009 Sydney Good Food & Wine Show. The event featured hundreds of exhibitors showcasing specialty foods, wines and the latest cooking gadgets.

The biggest draw was undoubtedly the infamous Gordon Ramsay who performed live cooking demonstrations over the three-day event. The 2,500 seat theater was electric with excitement and curiosity about the notoriously bad tempered chef. And given his recent antics at the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show, people weren’t sure what to expect. I braced myself for bad language and obscenities.

To my utter surprise Ramsay turned out to be charming and very amusing. He treated the audience to stories about his family, his English bulldog ‘Rumpole’ and told several very funny and self-deprecating stories including one about a high profile charity dinner at which he was honored guest.

Ramsay has been working for almost 48 hours straight and was utterly exhausted by the time he’d arrived at the event. Half way trough the meal he ducked into the washroom to freshen up and promptly fell asleep in a cubicle. Twenty minutes later he was roused by the event organizers who were shocked to see strange markings on his face. He’d fallen asleep with his cheek against a wicker basket and ended up with red welts over the whole side of his face. Two minutes later, he and his welts were on stage giving a speech!

At the Sydney Good Food & Wine Show Ramsay prepared three dishes in 30 minutes – a blue eye cod minestrone, followed by marinated Tasmanian salmon served on a bed of lightly sautéed baby spinach and radish and a gorgeous dessert of poached pears with flaked almonds and caramelized figs.

Stay tuned for more from the Sydney Good Food & Wine Show including a rising trend in the use of native Australian herbs and spices and my newly discovered obsession -- chocolate quinoa bread.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc

Fiji Water’s popularity is set to grow even further after US President Barack Obama was photographed drinking the artesian water.

The pristine water is drawn from a 40m-deep groundwater well, known as an aquifer, in the highlands North of Suva.

Despite its pure image, Fiji Water’s environmental footprint has come under scrutiny resulting in the company launching a “Fiji Green” Campaign.

In the US, Fiji Water is the second most imported bottled water after Evian.

Photo: © S. Wongkaew (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc