Our latest data shows Australians simply can’t get enough of the cob. The number of people looking at cob recipes in 2019 is up by almost a third from last year and every month, a cob loaf is taking our Facebook page by storm.
The rise (and rise) of the cob
Believe it or not, cob loaf has been a party pleaser for over 100 years! It’s consistently the most popular entertaining recipe in Australia, year in year out. But it’s evolved. Once filled simply with spinach, cheese and French onion soup packet mix at an 80s Christmas bash, it’s now been blasted into iconic status.
Our editor-in-chief Brodee Myers-Cooke says: “Around 2017, the cob jumped the fence. Overnight, they moved from classic dips to wondrous creations.”
Things escalated quickly. First, a new wave of cobs were inspired by different cuisines (Asian, Mexican) and varieties of cheeses (like brie and fetta). By 2018, dinners were being “cob-ified”, with lasagne and butter chicken-filled loaves becoming some of our most popular dishes of the year. Three of our top 5 Facebook posts for the whole year were… you guessed it, cobs.
2019: the year of the crazy cob
But it’s this year when the cob has officially gone crazy. Our volcano cob, our meat pie cob and the daring-yet-delicious hot chocolate mousse cob dip have erupted across social media. The number of people who have viewed cob recipes in 2019 across taste.com.au is up by almost a third from 2018. And each and every month, we’ve seen some form of cob go viral on Facebook: from our retro garlic bread rendition to our Mexican-inspired chilli con queso version.
Matt Preston’s cob love
Food legend Matt Preston told us: “Few things are as tacky and dated as a filled cob loaf. No wonder then that so many of us love them.
“Whether it’s loaded with chowder San Francisco style, filled with a mass of grilled baby snags or a dodgy spinach dip, filled cobs have been swept to a new wave of popularity as retro dishes became cool again.”
The craziest cob in the world?
The real game changer in the cob world was recently released on taste magazine’s July cover: slow-cooked sticky maple pork with pork crackling dippers and a bacon waffle (served in a cob, obvs).
Brodee Myers-Cooke says of this dish: “We set ourselves a challenge. We wanted something that would go off its (pork) chops so we put with Aussie pork at the centre. It had to be more than dinner. We wanted this to be the ultimate showstopper – a family feast.”
If you want to give the slow-cooked sticky maple pork a crack, find it in the July issue of taste magazine – you could even win $5,000 if you enter our Cook the Cover competition! So now, cobs can make you rich as well as very happy.
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