Gourmet Farmer-Series 2 (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio Deleted Scenes Interviews-Cast
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	250:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Max Bourke Matthew Evans
Studio Distributor	SBS Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	Kyls Burtland David Cole Brad Hayward

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

     In the early 2000s, Matthew Evans was a name well known amongst foodies as the restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald. He famously said that most restaurants in Australia serve 'crap' food and was sued for defamation by a Sydney restaurant. In 2008 he decided to pack it in and move to a small farm in Tasmania to get up close and personal with where food comes from and the hard work that goes into it. His life, successes and failures included, are being chronicled in the television series which is the subject of this review, Gourmet Farmer. The show has now concluded its second season, and this DVD set includes all of that second season. In this second season, he is now a family man and lives on the farm with his partner Sadie and their son Hedley.

     The show is part travelogue, part cooking show, part investigation of organic and artisan food manufacturing, part real-life drama. We see Matthew as he learns the ways of the farm including tending animals, slaughtering, cooking his own produce, trying his hand at home brew and also preparing food for markets and retail. In this season, his farm has developed quite significantly and he now breeds pigs in a more serious manner and is now running two market stalls for his pork products and is also partnering with two mates (both ex-chefs) to put on 'paddock lunches' in different parts of Tasmania. These involve serving many course meals of local produce to large gatherings of people. He also visits many other farmers in Tasmania and around the world learning how they go about their sustainable farming techniques and food manufacturing. In the last two episodes he visits France & Italy.

     This two disc set contains all 10 episodes of the second season, each of approximately 25 minutes.

     This is an enjoyable series which was shown on SBS and would certainly appeal to foodies and those interested in artisan food making.

Video

     The video quality is decent but has a problem with aliasing. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was good. The colour is very good for DVD.

     There were a few minor MPEG compression artefacts and loads of aliasing especially on fences, cars and similar things.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired. They are clear and easy to read.

     There were no obvious layer changes.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good. These discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

     Dialogue was easy to understand throughout.

     The music sounds good and adds to the show.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     Large selection of extra scenes.

Menu

     The menus featured music and a nice chicken and egg cursor motif.

Extra Scenes

     The second disc contains over an hour of extra scenes which were obviously cut from the show. They are mostly cooking and preserving scenes with Evans cooking for the camera. There is also a short interview with Evans talking about his views on food and eating. They are well worth watching and there are some interesting recipes on show.

    This set only seems to be available in Region 4 at the moment.

     A quality television documentary series for foodies. The video quality is decent but afflicted by aliasing. The audio quality is good.

     Lots of extra scenes.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall