It's not really a food story, but today we'll take a step away from the culinary to take our hats off to packaging.

A certain 'pop' culture icon has just turned 50, with Bubble Wrap celebrating its golden anniversary on January 26.

Trying to convince someone to love food they hate is like trying to convince someone that black is blue, or that one plus one is three. It's hard. ...

It's not what you eat, it's why you eat. Trying everything from meditation to Christianity, more and more women are facing up to the real reasons behind their unhappy relationships with food.

Alexithymia is a nerdy word for an inability to express feelings in words; it's a scientific way of describing a person who lacks emotional insight.

There's more to Mexican cuisine than tacos, tortillas and tequila and Lori Horton has just the pedigree to introduce the clean flavours to the Australian palette.

Horton is the daughter of Brent Horton who, with his friend Bill Chicolte, opened the firdt licenced restaurant in St Kilda, Melbourne.

While Australians are very familiar with their world sporting heroes, not many know that we also have a world class baking team.

In fact, last year the Australian Baking Team came second only to the Italians at the Sigep Bread Cup, a world class event open to only 10 international teams which the Australian Baking Team's captain, Brett Noy, says is the toughest in the world.

As Australia Day approaches, many Australians will start to stock up their fridges with sausages, steaks, chicken and plenty of beer.

On January 26, friends and family gather in backyards across Australia,listen to Triple J's top 100 hits and drinking lots of beer, eyes hungrily on the centrepiece - the BBQ.

Imagine walls draped with strawberries, ceilings created from bales of hay and furniture crafted from retired road signs.

You'd think you were on a farm, right? Wrong.

Welcome to Perth's enex100's innovative new bar, the Greenhouse - made entirely from recycled and recyclable materials.

When I think of markets I think of the open-air sort that spring up in every Asian and European town. Wander through any unfamiliar mid-sized town of, say, 5000 people or more and anyone can tell you exactly where the markets will be and when. Twice a week, every night after 6pm, Saturday mornings, early evenings during summer – the locals will know not only when but where.

My Kitchen Rules judge Manu Feildel knows his new cooking program will draw comparisons to hit show MasterChef.

But with teams of two cooking in their own kitchens in different states around the country, the latest amateur cooking contest has a very different feel, says the French chef.

How do you teach a budding barista the skill of making the definitive, perfect espresso? Can such a pinnacle of attainment be demonstrated in the classroom, or is it a dark intuitive art honed after years of experience?