Kylie Kwong-Heart and Soul (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	216:38 (Case: 210)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Simon Target
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Kylie Kwong
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$49.95	Music	Pete Lawler Tim Prince

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Kylie Kwong is relatively new to the celebrity chef scene and originally made a name for herself as a student of Neil Perry. She is similarly renowned for combining traditional Asian recipes with Western influences and shares many of them here in her series produced for the Australian broadcaster ABC.

    This DVD release contains all eight episodes of Kylie's first season, and touches on her experiences as a child through to her expertise as a chef all whilst showcasing many familiar sights from in and around Sydney. Episodes one to four are contained on disc one, while disc two holds the remaining four episodes.

Episode 1: Bamboo (26:07)

    The series opens with Kylie in action in the kitchen of her own restaurant. We are introduced to her immediate family and witness her favourite recipe from her auntie, Fried Duck Eggs.

Episode 2: Spice (27:41)

    Kylie makes some traditional Australian dishes such as Roast Chicken and Beer Battered Fish, with a spicy Chinese twist. My favourite dish of the series is here, lamb shanks cooked in a beautiful Moroccan tagine oven.

Episode 3: Rice (26:18)

    Kylie entertains a group of friends with some great dishes such as Fried Duck, Raw Kingfish Salad and a Mussel Stir Fry.

Episode 4: Shellfish (27:48)

    Kylie's mum joins her in the kitchen to cook her version of Hokkien Noodles, while her niece helps bake some Jelly Cakes. Kylie also visits the fish markets and throws together a great Mudcrab Salad, giving some great seafood tips along the way.

Episode 5: Noodles (27:57)

    We visit a busy Yum-Cha restaurant and sample the sometimes strange cuts of meat that feature in many Asian dishes, such as tripe and chicken's feet. Kylie vows to show us some meals that we can make at home using cuts of meat that Australians often avoid.

Episode 6: Mushroom (28:41)

    Kylie is catering for a friend's art exhibition and creates some beautiful dishes inspired by the artwork, featuring a gorgeous Crayfish and Duck Egg salad with Foie Gras.

Episode 7: Egg (26:00)

    Kylie has been invited to a lunch by the water with friends, but she has to cook! She manages to whip up some more great dishes, using snapper fillets and braised octopus.

Episode 8: Marinade (25:51)

    In the final episode of the series, Kylie is having ten friends over for a dinner party and prepares an elaborate Chinese Steamboat, similar to a fondue.

Video

    Thanks to digital television, we have been given a nice widescreen transfer of this series on DVD. The video transfer is presented in an aspect of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    There is a good degree of sharpness present, in fact the transfer as a whole is generally a pleasure to watch. Blacks appear solid and true, with consistent shadow detail. There are no issues with low level noise.

    The series has a contemporary art appearance, with plenty of attention paid to the look and feel of the visuals. Colours are rich and evenly saturated, with no problems concerning bleeding or the like.

    Because the series has been shot digitally, there are no problems with film artefacting. There are a couple of moments of macro blocking to be found, as well as the odd spot of grain, however these are relatively brief and only mildly distracting.

    There are no subtitles available.

    Both of the discs contained in this two disc set are single-layered, and hence do not contain layer transitions.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one audio track available, Dolby Digital 2.0. This is a good stereo stream, with no real problems to be concerned about.

    The dialogue is always easy to understand and appears to be perfectly in sync at all times.

    The soundtrack music complements the appearance of the show well, and is provided by Tim Prince and Pete Lawler. This is predominately electronic music, while successfully maintaining a great earthy feel. I was most relieved to find that the background score isn't trying to sound Chinese in any way - an attempt such as that could have been disastrous.

    The Dolby Digital 2.0 track serves the series well, with good depth and clarity. There are a few examples of left or right panning here and there, but nothing too dramatic.

    There was no surround channel usage or subwoofer reaction to speak of.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are none. Perhaps some printable recipes or DVD-ROM extras would have been nice. All of the menus are 16x9 enhanced and the main menu contains a small audio clip from the show's theme.

    This title is only available in Region 4 at the moment.

    The video transfer is as good as I would expect to see on digital television.

    The audio transfer does a good job and contains some nice depth when it comes to the soundtrack score.

    There are no extras to speak of.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall