A most welcome addition to Frenchs Forest Market and judging by the interest in your products, a much needed one! Can you give us a little bit of history behind the beginnings of Alexandra's Table
My family has been on the Paleo diet for more than 4 years now. When we started, there weren't many good recipes, so I did lots of experimenting. I've made ice creams as well, but dairy free ice creams are quite different than the "real" ones. If they are made with soy milk, you can taste soy. If they are made with coconut milk, you can taste coconut.
Once I had an idea which I tried and it seemed to work. I worked on the recipe a lot to find the right ratio of ingredients.
As a food blogger, my first impulse was to post my new ice cream recipe on the net, but then I thought that it was too good to give away...so instead we started a company called Alexandra's Table.
These ice creams don't have soy milk, coconut milk or any disturbing flavours. They don't have additives, colours or preservatives. They are creamy and scoopable straight from the freezer. People describe them as being "moussey".
Since we introduced Alexandra's ice creams, I've still been working on the basic recipe to make my customers more satisfied. I make these ice creams sweeter now than at the very beginning. I've added new ingredients to stabilise the texture so they won't drop in volume while you take them home, they stay fresh longer, they melt slower and are colder on the tongue and they are a little bit less moussey.
The Paleo movement has gained an incredible momentum. From your personal stance, why do you think that is
You can be on a Paleo diet long term without side effects, which is very important. You can keep your weight down, you don't feel bloated after meals etc. Paleo is not only a diet, but a lifestyle which is pretty easy to keep on in our Australian climate.
There are so many people who have cured their so-called "life time sickness" with Paleo, so it doesn't surprise me that this movement is gaining more and more people widely around the world, and is becoming increasingly well known in Australia as well.
I am originally from Hungary where there are heaps of followers of Paleo. There are Paleo cafes, patisseries and shops in almost every city and big town in the country. You can buy Paleo ingredients which are not yet available in Australia.
I personally thought I was healthy even before Paleo. However I quickly realised that some problems I had (and never thought about them as sicknesses) just disappeared due to my new diet.
I think that given time, people's personal experiences provides the proof that being on Paleo is healthy. it is hard to find anything wrong when you eat organic vegetables, organic fruits and your meat comes not only from an organic source but from animals that have been fed what they are meant to eat.
The flavour combinations you come up with for your ice cream peaked with the Bacon & Egg! Where or what inspires these delightful moments of madness
On the very first day of our market appearance, I realised that people don't want to by ice creams early in the morning. I truly understand that, so I thought I should make a breakfast ice cream.
As we eat bacon & egg almost every morning it was an obvious choice. I always thought that a savoury ice cream would be interesting. The somebody reminded me that Hetson Blumenthal has already made an Bacon & Egg ice cream and it's on the menu of his restaurant, The Fat Duck.
I don't know how I forgot about it as I've learned a lot from his shows and books! My Bacon & Egg ice cream is different from his one though....but keep tuned...I'll come out with other crazy things! I have to keep up with Heston!!!!
What is it about market life that keeps it real for you
The main thing is that I can meet my customers directly. Their feedback is very important to me because I can change my products to their satisfaction. If they are happy, I am happy.
I know what it means when you kids are not allowed to eat dairy ice creams. I know what it means when you cannot try new flavours. It's really thrilling when I see those little children eating my chocolate ice creams and they like them just as my kids do and they come back the following Sunday for another one.
We have a special flavour every Sunday which is not available anywhere else. We have Bacon & Egg (savoury ice cream), Apricot, Sweet Basil and Olive Oil with Iron Bark Honey. If you want to know ahead, I usually post the news on my facebook page a day or two before market day (you can see Alexandra's Table facebook page "here")
not ice cream but seriously Alexandra's Table's moreish yumminess
How would you sum up the world of Alexandra's Table in 5 words
Free of everything bad, full of flavour!
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So you heard it hear first peoples! Find this amazingingly happy face of the lady who makes the delightfully crazy sounding ice creams and while you're there a) let her know you read all about her, b) sample some of her yummies and c) BUY up big cause she's one in a million and she's all ours!
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