British food critic, performer and writer Jay Rayner is not sure how Australian audiences will take one particular part of his show, The Ten (Food) Commandments.
"One commandment that weirdly is going to be more controversial in Australia than home: Thou shalt not mistake food for pharmaceuticals," he said.
"Blueberries will not prevent cancer, they'll just make your breakfast taste better."
Better known recently for his scathing review of Michelin-starred French restaurant Le Cinq, Rayner's show is less about restaurants and more about how we treat food today.
"I get very irritated by the goody food Taliban; the people that tell you eat seasonal, eat local, don't eat processed foods," he said.
"I thought the only way to take them on was to take it to the logical end, being a biblical prophet with my food commandments.
"Secret is I'm not really a biblical prophet, but I can have some fun investigating those subjects."
Rayner will be performing his latest show on May 21 at the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of their inaugural Writers + Ideas International Series, before heading to Melbourne's Wheeler Centre for a performance on May 24.
He is the first of five international writers appearing at the Brisbane Powerhouse for Writers + Ideas, including American journalist Susan Faludi and Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin.
While the other writers are appearing in conversation, Rayner is performing a one-man production complete with "audio-visual stuff" and "juvenile gags".
The acclaimed author said he came up with the idea of performing comedy shows to accompany his book tours as a way of avoiding painful panel discussions.
"I hate discussion panels, I think they're dull and reductive and I don't think you get anywhere, had to come up with a way to avoid discussion panels," he said.
Rayner said his show was created alongside his book of the same name, and is a "jolly romp through how we live and eat now."
"It kicks off with 'Thou shalt eat with thy hands', which is partially about personality type of someone who lifts a knife and fork to eat a spare rib with," Rayner said.
Next, "Thou shalt choose thou dining companions bloody carefully," Rayner said.
The worst people to dine with, poor choice of dinner conversation topics aside?
"The slow eaters, the slow orderers," he said.
It's Rayner's first time in Australia, and while he's remaining tight-lipped over where he'll be dining he knows he won't be eating Vegemite.
"I'm not desperate to eat it again."
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