Home Cooking - Balgownie, NSW

 

 

Brewing, slow cooking or just getting the flavours from different ingredients to mix and match. The unmistakable aroma of soups is pleasant to wake up to in the early mornings, when the work is already done overnight. Above, groundnuts, dried red dates and wolf berry are used to enhance a soup. 

 

 

 

I fancy the combination of cut asparagus, fresh prawns, chicken strips and vermicelli - stir fry them in a wok and you get an easy snack which can be eaten anytime, anywhere, at home or for outdoor picnics.  Recently I have fallen in obsession with Kipfler potatoes, first encountered on a  trip to Orange, NSW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's rewarding to emphasise on healthy and carefully chosen produce, cuts and variety. Above, the scene before the cooking at home - from upper left, clockwise, ocean prawns on the shell; chicken drum sticks; USA cherries; chicken strips; and lamb cubes.  Below, pluck able garnishing from growing pots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curries come in so many combinations, flavours and styles. I love a mid-strong curry, with not too much overwhelming coconut cream and with fluffy textured braised potato cuts. Colour is important and so is the texture of the gravy.  It is also important to carefully choose the right type of steamed rice.

 

 

 

 

 

Mado Cafe - Auburn, NSW

Turkish coffee is intense and aromatic, a manifestation of how the coffee beans were transformed  in the so called Old World. Those who are first initiated into this ritual expect something unknown.  There is not much interference by sugar nor dilution by milk.  One goes embracing the purity and integrity of what coffee drinking is actually like, and how it all began. The Ottoman Empire transversed both East and West, embraced cosmopolitan practices, was enriched by many demographics but had food traditions that are still unique.

To enter such a world, and sample a variety of the special cooking that was centred in the Middle East, my cousin Lin and her hubby Joe organised for a group of us to try the Mado Cafe. The cafe has a visible location along Auburn Road and was recommended by her close friend from Iran. So each of us had expectations, but also missing gaps in what we were going to experience.  We wanted more authenticity, less modification and true atmosphere. I have tried Lebanese cuisine but not totally Turkish. My stereotyping perspective of grains, beans, nuts and spices set my tone and mindset.  It was a bright Saturday in early spring (picture above) but I was also concerned how the pastes and ingredients in unique Anatolian cooking could agree with my stomach.

True to my expectations, Momma breads, pide and dips , along with flavourful steamed pilav rice, first welcomed us at our table.  Indian rotis and Turkish breads, they seem logically connected, via geography, trading routes and historical connections.  I find the dips lively and standing up in taste, with the colours reflecting the freshness of the ingredients. Baba ghanush has eggplants, cacik has dried cucumber and the rather well known humous provdes chickpea and tahini as its main inspiration.  Tahini paste is made from ground and hulled sesame seeds.

I am one who checks the dessert offerings at a restaurant before the mains, often furtively.  It may be a bad habit, or a strategic one, to help me choose just the right serving of the  main dish and allow room for the stuff to sweeten up the meal.  I saw the pomegranate seed laden with other stewed fruit concoction above on my way to the booked table. However, I was also captivated by the efforts of Mado to place representatives of their cultural heritage in various corners, like in the image below.  Fereidoun Hassan Zadeh directs the running of this rather spacious restaurant, with the help of attentive and eager staff.  For our lunchtime visit, we sat at the front, but there were several dimly lit corners of seating far back, with my imagination running wild and suggesting sessions of enjoying the Turkish water pipe, and more.

Yes, I did mention desserts earlier and there is a very good reason.  If you do not take anything else, you must try the Mado cafe for its signature ice cream - the dondurma.  At this stage, I realise that there is  well known Mado Cafe in Istanbul itself.  (186 Istiklal Caddesi, Istanbul Beyoğlu, Turkey).  Pistacchio and mastik flavours are worth a sampling. I enjoyed a special experience in Mado in Auburn with the Maras inspired ice cream slice serving seen above - I had to use a knife and fork to cut through the hard texture, beautifully welcoming with yogurt and sahlep orchird tuber aromas.  I am told that the dondurma is sold by the metre back in Turkey!  The Mado chain back in its homeland is very popular, and there are many overseas outlets, including those in Malaysia, South Korea, Cyprus and Hong Kong.  Picture below provides a display of burnt rice pudding or the Kazandibi.

I could  not help pointing out the shoes hanging on the wall to my fellow lunchers Al and Lucy. (photo above) I enjoyed the simple but light salad mix of tasty tomato cuts and cucumber slices  mixed with Mado's special sauce. (picture below)  Two main dishes caught my eye - the Ali Nazik, lamb mince bathing in a a gravy of eggplant strips and yogurt, all garnished by parsley; and the Maras kebab, with sauteed Turkish bread cubes, more minced lamb with vegetables and yogurt. The province of Maras is located inland in south-eastern Turkey.  Oh yes, my stomach was most agreeable with what we had at the Mado.

LeVendi's - Wollongong Harbour, NSW

It is only a pavilion with an outdoor seating area. The queues are there, especially in the warmer months, whether by choice or just coming out from the woodwork at Belmore Basin at Wollongong Harbour. On first impressions, this could be the scene at any major surf beach in Australia, the need to have chips and seafood on paper. The customers at LeVendi's can be beach goers, tourists, families and locals. The harbour is not big but just right. You can see the lighthouses.  You can see Port Kembla with its steel works in the distance to the right.  Oh yes, and then there are the hills, or rather escarpment, looking down on the coastal plains where Wollongong has anchored in. And not to forget, those ever present container ships that park themselves on the ocean's horizon , apparently forever, but actually queuing to enter the Harbour at nearby Port Kembla. The sandy beaches of North Gong, Towradgi and Corrimal beckon as your eyes look towards Sydney side, but Sydney is far away, at least 90 minutes by car away to the north.  The Tasman Sea is blue, but so is the sky.

The seafood deep fried in batter is the main draw here, but served and eaten fresh, it becomes the experience. Squid, fish fillets, prawn, calamari, crab meat, you name it.   Beer batter. Barramundi pack. The wedges or chips. It is the quality of the takeaway, bristling warm as you hold your delivery in your hands.  Burgers if you prefer chicken.  If you have no time for anything else, just try the calamari, and you can have it with your own beer. Sauces are generously provided in little plastic containers.  Value food when you relate it to the prices asked.  I have not tried the gelatos or coffee at this stage.

The wind blows into my face and the sweat glistens on that of a mate. Sunshades are recommended.  We can smell the salty air. There are few tables, all outdoor, and these are quickly snapped up. Many customers just grab and run.  LeVendi is located at the ocean side end of Cliff Road, perhaps the street that has the most expensive properties in the CBD.  The clients at this lifestyle takeaway are down to earth, relishing some moments away from regime and responsibility, savouring in what matters after all in life - being with Nature, chatting with friends and family, having a hiatus and enjoying what they will remember best of all that day.  Mums with kiddos, teenager groups, Grand Dads with the grandkids, blue collar workers, students and singles.   The crunchiness of the crust makes me salivate. Then it is the bite into the tender fillings inside.  Then I acknowledge the freshness of the ingredients.

When the queues are long, the staff focus on their work. Some say to allow for some time after ordering to expect your food. I reckon that can be unavoidable, as the food is made to your order. Staff can still smile when they know more than just several people are waiting.  The domesticated sea gulls add to the colour and ambiance, but they could be after your open food. Chugging fishermen boats come into the relative safety of Wollongong Harbour  a stone's throw away.  There are cycling, walking and running trails.  I can see Bombara, another good grilled seafood place, not far away.  The Brit "chipper" has come far in time and geographical distance from Tommyfield in the UK. It is not so cold, the air is balmy and the waves much bigger.  Wollongong is  a working class city, and no fitter a tribute can LeVendi's pay to its residents than to do the right thing with fish and chips.

Nasi Lemak - Home Gathering

 

 

When I hear of  "nasi lemak", the suggestion of whiffs of aroma from pandanus leaves, fresh coconut milk, banana leaf wraps and steaming rice comes to mind.  To the neighbouring countries of  both Indonesia and Malaysia, this is a national icon, comfort food and a community treasure.  This dish was born around the equator, where coconut palms, useful and sweet smelling herbs and padi fields gave rise to a concoction that has been exported world wide by emigrants.  There are various versions of this dish, those made in Malay kampungs, Straits Chinese kitchens, Chinese commercial outlets and by transplanted families in Canada, the USA and Australia.  And not to forget by adventurous Caucasians who recall this particular snack or breakfast item with fondness on their back packing trips in South-east Asia.

 

What are the essentials of this dish?  Deep fried crunchy anchovies. Fresh slices of Lebanese cucumbers. The condiment that accompanies many dishes in a hot climate, the sambal.  Curry chicken in some instances, roast soya sauced flavoured chicken in others.   Eating with your hands, where the second and third digits become fascinating and natural excavators of food.  Having rose syrup drinks or the cinnamon laced latte, teh tarik.  Cuttlefish, spinach and pickled vegetables. Hard boiled eggs coated with an interesting chili based gravy (picture below) are appreciated - the telur sambal. Most Caucasians love the beef rendang to accompany the nasi lemak.  On occasion, you may get deep fried groundnuts or even an omelette.  Seafood is popular in Straits Chinese renditions of this dish, including my favourite tamarind flavoured prawns on the shell and fish fillets. (photo above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cousins of this dish include the nasi dagang from the north-eastern states of Peninsular Malaysia (Kelantan and Trengganu); the nasi uduk from the Indonesian islands; and the nasi lemak kukus, a steamed variant.  The quality of the coconut milk used is most critical and how the rice is steamed to produce a fluffy result, not hard in texture nor overwhelming in coconut cream flavours.

 

Traditionally, nasi lemak is served in banana leaf packages, the bungkus. In the Sydney area, for commercial outlets, try this dish at Temasek Singapore Restaurant in Parramatta; the Kaki Lima Cafe in Kingsford (kaki lima literally meaning a "five foot way"; and Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine in Concord.  In Melbourne, Nasi Lemak House is a well known chain bearing the name of this dish.

 

Recently I had the pleasure of enjoying the nasi lemak made at home by Susan and Boo Ann Yap in Carlingford, NSW, where the accompanying pictures were captured.  Their version is more from my home island of Penang in Malaysia and I thoroughly enjoyed the seafood, roast pork and telur sambal that they came up with.

 

I reproduce, with copyright acknowledgement, the Rasa Malaysia Recipe of Nasi Lemak

Ingredients:
Coconut Milk Steamed Rice
2 cups of rice
3 screw pine leaves (tie them into a knot as shown above)
Salt to taste
1 small can of coconut milk (5.6 oz size)
Some water
Tamarind Juice
1 cup of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball)
Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies sambal)
1/2 red onion
1 cup ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
1 clove garlic
4 shallots
10 dried chillies
1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
Other ingredients
2 hard boiled eggs (cut into half)
3 small fish (sardines or smelt fish)
1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered)

Method:

1. Just like making steamed rice, rinse your rice and drain. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water. Add the pandanus leaves into the rice and cook your rice.
2. Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.
3. Pound the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, and de-seeded dried chilies with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a food processor.
4. Slice the red onion into rings.
5. Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.
6. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste until fragrant.
7. Add in the onion rings.
8. Add in the ikan bilis and stir well.
9. Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar.
10. Simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside.
11. Clean the small fish, cut them into half and season with salt. Deep fry.
12. Cut the cucumber into slices and then quartered into four small pieces.
13. Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice and pour some sambal ikan bilis on top of the rice.
14. Serve with fried fish, cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs.'s recipe for their nasi lemak.

 

 

 

 

Mike's Grill, Sylvania, NSW - Greek Night

What can I expect on a themed evening, and one that is attractively Greek? I have watched enough Hollywood made movies with the hype of breaking plates and all that at such functions.  Realistically, I knew it was going to be a meat night.  The air was still nippy and my group could not literally find parking  along the busy stretch of Princes Highway leading north and just before Tom Ugly's Bridge, a key landmark that separates Sutherland Shire ( 'the Shire") from the rest of greater Sydney.  And then we found a better spot for the car towards the water, that of the King Georges River, the main arterial waterway in Sydney's south.  We followed the rules and had to cross the overhead pedestrian bridge over the Highway.

Once we survived all that, plus the increasingly nippy air for the first week of September in the southern hemisphere, we were welcomed with already grilled bite sized lamb pieces from an experienced barbecue looking guy manning the front grill. Oh yes, the expected lamb on a spit.  It was already getting relaxed noisy inside Mike's Grill & Bar, with easy to read menus on the large wall and with more women diners than guys. We figured out there could be more than just one birthday party. There were easily a hundred diners in the restaurant.  The last time we were there we did not feel the sense of being in Mykonos or Santorini - tonight we were transported there, although I also thought we must have been in Slyvania.  The staff were quick to organise things, get us seated, commence the train of snacks and kindly allowed us the reds that we thought was okay to bring in. There was a mobile DJ, a small dance floor and tightly packed tables so close beside each other that you could easily start a conversation with strangers.

I enjoyed the fresh salads most of all.  The breads, whether in Turkish, olive-flavoured or unleavened pita traditions, got us going - but hey, we were already having our lamb first!  I did find the calamari fritti rather on the damp side, but they were more than made up by the slow roasted chicken pieces in a gravy of spices, red wine and tomato.  Tasted more Italian, I reckoned. Of course, black and green olives were everywhere.  The spanakopita, a baked pastry with spinach fillings and fetta cheese inside, were easy to cuddle up to.  I did not warm up to the baked pastitsio, a baked pasta dish utilising ground beef and bechamel sauce.    Grilled hulloumi cheese with a slice of lemon was the iconic Greek that evening in the sumptous course.  Hulloumi has origins in Cyprus and is unripened but brined cheese similar to the mozarella, utilising both the milk of goats and sheep.

This was the kind of meal  that one sits with family, mates and the special one, but mind you, they are all there at the same table.   And the souvlaki with tzatziki (cucumber and  yogurt dips) had to make an appearance, at the end, when I was getting full and Franco had to get some clear hard liquor. 
Souvlaki hails from the days of the philosopher Aristotle, offering bite-sized cuts instead of steak portions.

Next it got more merry and groggy. The Greek necked bowl lute, the bouzouki, made an appearance and  started some very cultural tunes and it finally led to a parade of fifty or more ladies dancing happily not just in the restaurant, but out along the streets of Slyvania. What a sight, passing motorists should be lucky to see all this and not endure the eleven hour air flight to Athens. I then further realised dining in a Greek setting was more than eating, it was a communal get together, letting go of one's hair and re-affirming the bonds of friendships and relationships.  The diners at Mike's Grill that evening clapped easily, spontaneously and with a musical flair.

Mike's runs three separate restaurants, at the Royal Hotel in Sutherland, NSW; this joint I went to; and across the Princes Highway, all with their own unique menus.  If it was not Greek night, the north bound outlet just before Tom Ugly's offers a variety of seafood, Italian pastas and wood fired pizzas.  Think of the pork set of ribs, five spiced king prawns and Portuguese styled chicken skewers as stand outs.  Greek Night is held on the first Friday evening of each month at the north bound restaurant.

Would I return?  A definite yes. Thanks , Andy, for driving us back that night, you were our Plan B, so in Australian Motor Registry speak.  We each felt like waking up on some beach the next day, like Wollongong, to recover from an eye opening experience.  Maybe it is more necessary to cycle or have a run, for the women have had their dance at Mike's Grill, whilst most of the men just sat around. Good to catch up with Tez, good to discover an innovative eating and social experience.  It was better than Greek yumcha!