Week 20: Russia

Week 20:  Russia....so much more than Vladimir and Vodka.

What better way to end the week than to start the evening with flaming cocktails and  24 carat gold vodka shots?  If we were the same people who sailed the Turkish coast in1992 (see blog week 11) we may very well still be trying the over 20 different types of vodka on the shelf and grooving to the jazz band playing in the corner. However, given our remarkable sense of maturity, we managed to limit the shots and find a table furthest away from the brass section so we could actually have an audible conversation.  What has become of us?

So we went to Russia! Within our geographical confines (see rules week 1) we decided to visit Torba on Little Stanley Street. Torba is the brainchild of Anastasiya Sukhinina, a professional jazz singer who arrived here 2 years ago and now calls Brisbane home. Most of the 67,055 people of Russian descent in Australia live in Sydney and Melbourne, with some 10,000 settling in Brisbane. The successive waves of Russian immigration over the past 124 years were all for the same reasons: war and changes in socio-economic and political structures. It is estimated that roughly 170 Russians move to Australia every year and they positively contribute both professionally and culturally to the colourful Australian fabric.

The interior of Torba Restaurant and Bar is opulently designed with crystal chandeliers, copper wallpaper, gilded mirrors and plush velvet sofas. Purple and gold dominate the colour palette:  purple representing royalty and spiritual fulfilment, and gold symbolising prosperity, wisdom and luxury. With an impressive neon lit bar running along the back wall, the all female, young, blonde Russian waiting staff and the jazz band, the mood is far more nightclub than restaurant. Very modern Muscovite.

An ipad was placed on the corner of the our table which automatically scrolled through a pictorial representation of the menu. Prijatnovo appetite! It's all there: caviar and sourdough bread, Borscht, Blini's, Pelmeni's,  Ukrainian Pirogi's with pickles (and a beer), Moldavian Lamb Pilaf with pomegranate molasses, Golubci, Goulash,  Georgian Shashlik, and Belarussian Quail with buckwheat. We all enjoyed our meals, and even had room for dessert: Russian Cream Cake and Sour Cherry Roulette. A truly Russian affair.

There were seven of us last night: the usual 6 plus Heather, a visitor from London, who arrived fully prepared with two facts in hand (see rules week 1). There is so much to cover when discussing Russia. Being a nation famous for drink, food, friendship, music, literature and art, the topics varied from Faberge Eggs, The Bolshoi Ballet and Tolstoy to astronauts, war, law, extreme climate, The Two-Headed Eagle and left-handed polar bears. Free facts were flowing, and fun facts dominated the conversation ....like the Bubble Baba Challenge (an annual sex doll boat race on the Vouska River), to homeless dogs using the metro system to get around Moscow (and knowing when to get off because they recognise the station announcements).

Russia is a vast country, with its border longer than the distance from London to New York...and that is where we are heading next. The US of A! With the festive season upon us, and social commitments ramping up, we shall continue week 21 in January. Until then - Nostrovia!

Flaming cocktail

 and 24 carat gold Vodka

Blini's

Pilaf

Shashlik

Quail with Buckwheat

 Sour Cherry Roulette

Week 19: Morocco

Week 19: Morocco

Like an epaulette on the shoulder of Africa, Morocco proudly graces the north western corner of the continent.  It is a country with a rich history, a varied landscape and a refined cuisine. From the capital Rabat, to enchanting Marrakesh, and of course the famous Casablanca, Morocco is a destination on every traveller's bucket list. The Moroccan diaspora in Australia totals about 15,000. Our host last night, Ben, hails from Casablanca, Morocco's largest city.  He was a professional football player (a bit of a celebrity, in fact) before life through love brought him to Australia three years ago. And it is here, in his restaurant on George street, that we were charmed by both our host and the beguiling flavours of Moroccan cuisine.

This end of George Street is the legal precinct of Brisbane. Here the legal eagles and big wigs traverse the intersections from chamber to court. The architecturally impressive new Brisbane Supreme Court and Brisbane Magistrate Court bookend a beautiful grassed public square, with the Federal court just a block away. The appropriately named Ben's Alibi Restaurant is located right outside the steps to the Magistrate Court. The usual suspects were all there last night: Full House of Browns and Phil and Martina. After vigorous interrogation of the menu, we decided to start proceedings with a platter of dips and some hot Moroccan flatbread. No mediation was required, as four of us agreed to settle for two huge platters: The Moroccan Lamb and The Vegetarian Taste Plates. Boetie ordered a Moroccan Lamb Bocadillo with three dipping sauces, and Nielen had the Roast Moroccan Lamb pizza.  Prima facie, it was an impressive display of traditional Moroccan fare. Bismillah!

The taste profile of the food transports you to exotic places. Images of crowded souks and lonely deserts flash through your mind, aided by the atmosphere in the restaurant with its photographic murals and floating lanterns from the ceiling. The aromatics of saffron, mint, cinnamon, sumac, cumin, turmeric,  honey, sesame and pine nuts fill the air and translate into a combination of refined flavours on the platter. Moroccan cuisine is a product of its history: the diet of the original Berber people, the invasion of the Moors, the proximity of Spain and Portugal and the French occupation. Bordering both the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans, seafood is an obvious feature. Preserving olives and pickling lemons (a technique introduced by the Jewish Moors), the use of dates and figs and the essence of scented waters (especially rosewater) all add to the seductive appeal of this cuisine. We adjourned without even contemplating dessert.

Considering all the evidence before us, the only judgement that could possibly be passed was that we be found guilty of the crime of over-indulging, and sentenced to three days of fasting.

And while channelling the legal aura that surrounded us last night, a new rule relating to The Sharing of Facts was introduced ad hoc (see rules  blog week 1): Rule #7 : Should anyone present a False Fact , they will receive punishment yet to be finalised, without appeal. Please note that a False Fact ( a fact not researched properly and therefore incorrect and misleading) is indeed very different to a Fake Fact (deliberately made up...see Phil's fact  week 12), which is totally acceptable. Free Facts (any additional facts after the mandatory two facts have been delivered) are always welcomed and encouraged.

Having clarified the rules, Keith quoted Graham Nash in song with The Road to Marrakesh, Boetie fulfilled our expectation with an analysis of the flag and the national animal (the Barbary Lion, sadly now extinct); Phil made us aware that in Morocco, the path to true romance is through the liver, not the heart; Nielen informed us that the oldest university in the world is in Fes; I had to mention that not a single scene from the movie Casablanca was filmed in Morocco; and Martina....well, she is indeed guilty of providing a False Fact, which cannot be published.

Ben's Alibi is well worth a visit. Don't expect couscous and slow-cooked tagines, but rather food that can easily be eaten by hand, showcasing all the spices of this delectable cuisine.

Next week we are going to play it all again in Russia.

 mural inside Ben's Alibi

plates and bowls in kitchen

display of tagines

 Share Platter

 Our host Ben

Week 18: Japan

Week 18:  Nippon..... the Land of the Rising Sun


When one considers the options for Japanese cuisine, one could opt for the obvious..... like sushi, sashimi, tempura and teppanyaki . These styles of Japanese food are predictable and available in just about every suburb of Brisbane - from a quick and healthy sushi take-away for lunch, to the more elaborate, high-end representations at Sake or Sono in the city. And once you have witnessed the impressive knife skills and tricks of a Teppanyaki chef, it all becomes a bit more-of-the-same.

.....or you can have ramen. After extensive research, I managed to convince the family (and Phil) to take a 15 minutes trip south of the city to Sunnybank. It has taken nearly one hundred years, but Sunnybank has finally overtaken downtown Chinatown as home to Brisbane's largest Asian community. It is for good reason that it is referred to as Little Asia: nearly 40% of people living in Sunnybank do not speak English at home, and nearly 60% were not born in Australia.

Our destination was Market Square, the original site for the trading of poultry and fruit produced in this fertile parish in the mid 1800's. By 1950, it had given way to sprawling suburbia and local industry. Brisbane is home to 3,300 of the 40,968 Japanese resident in Australia (most migrated from Japan to work on the sugar cane farms in North-Queensland and the pearl industry in Broome (WA), and their cuisine has seamlessly integrated into modern Australian life.

Nagahama Ramen Hakataya is hidden in amongst a melee of Asian restaurants lining the Square. In fact, if you decide to go to Market Square for an authentic Asian meal, you would most likely not choose Hakataya Ramen, as you would walk straight past without knowing it's even there. The entrance is obscured by a yellow banner (I have no idea what was written on it), and to the right of the door are pictures of the fours dishes (yes, only 4!) served inside. The restaurant is no wider than a supermarket aisle, with wooden dining counters and stools on either side and an open view to the kitchen, with multiple gas burners and gigantic stock pots.

So what is ramen? Essentially, it is a Japanese noodle soup (ramen means "hand-pulled noodles"), built around a pork stock (tonkotsu), simmered for 38 hours, skimming off all impurities. The result is a clear, mildly flavoured, collagen rich base, which is then seasoned with soy, miso, nori (seaweed), kamaboku, sesame and green onions. This is topped with Char Siu (prime pork belly, slow cooked in a special sauce at a low temperature for nearly three hours and then chilled for 2 days to seal in the juices). The noodles are made from wheat (not rice flour), and can be thick, thin, straight or wrinkled. So one could easily be forgiven for calling  Hakataya Ramen a soup kitchen.  There were only four of us last night (me, Keith, Boetie and Phil....Nielen again missing in action somewhere), so ordering was easy: one of each please! Douzo meshiagare!  (please enjoy your meal!)

From the moment you enter, you feel welcome, with staff chorusing irashaimase  (come on in!) as you walk through the door. Service is swift and friendly, and aprons to protect your clothing from potential splatter are available on request. Noodles and toppings are eaten with chopsticks, and it is perfectly acceptable to raise your bowl to your mouth to drink the soup (however, spoons are available).

I had the Miso Spicy-Men, and dare I say, this was my favourite meal on our 17 week journey so far. The stock had a layered complexity of flavours unfamiliar to my palate, the seasoning was beautifully fused with the subtlety of the soup, the pork belly literally melted in my mouth, the noodles were perfectly cooked, and the crispy nori topping added a textural balance. I simply loved eating this meal. It was truly delicious. Afterwards we wandered through the square, watching hundreds of locals dining in the packed restaurants and toasting the end of another working week. We concluded the evening with an ice cream cone (flavour options included Black Sesame, Jackfruit, Green tea and Durian) and a shot of espresso which we bought from a 10 year old boy at a local vendor.

We had some great facts last night: from koi to kamikaze, and samurai warriors to sumo wrestlers......all fascinating stuff.  However, Phil's fact on "Paris Syndrome" (which I researched and is absolutely accurate...not like his fake fact on China - see blog week 12) was the most fascinating of all: Each year, dozens of Japanese contract "Paris Syndrome" while visiting the French Capital. Apparently the contrast between the rude reality and the romantic expectation is such a cultural shock to the polite, soft-spoken and helpful Japanese, that they suffer a psychiatric breakdown, and have to be repatriated to their homeland by the local embassy.

If you wish to visit Hakataya Ramen, be advised that they do not take bookings, and due to its popularity, you may have to queue for a short while...but trust me, it is well worth the wait.

Next week, our journey continues from the Land of the Rising Sun, to the Land of the Rolling Dunes. See you in Morocco.

The impressive stock pots

entrance

Behind the banner

the four ramen

Absolutely delicious

Week 17: Brazil

Week 17: Brazil


There is something irresistible about the aroma and flavours of char-grilled meat, cooked over an open fire. The barbecue takes on many forms: The South Africans love their Braaivleis, here in Australia everyone enjoys a Barbie, and in Brazil, they celebrate all things meat with the 300 year old Churrasco tradition. With churrasco (pronounce shoo-has-co), large cuts of seasoned meat are cooked on slow rotating skewers over hot charcoal. This allows the meat to gain an even smoky seal on the outside, while trapping all the natural juices inside and keeping the meat tender. Once cooked, the waiters walk through the restaurant and carve the simmering meat at the table onto the diner's plate (a service style referred to as rodizio).

The churrasco method is still the most popular way to cook meat in Brazil. We did not need a passport to experience this tradition. We merely travelled 6 km to the west of the city to Bardon, a quiet and leafy suburb on the foothills of  Mt Coot-tha. Residents of Bardon generally have a healthy bank balance, are professional, own a bicycle and a bit of lycra. It is here that we discovered Mundo Churrasco, Brisbane's own little bit of Brazil.  There are 7490 Brazilians in Australia, with 670 living in Brisbane, most of them students seeking to improve their English.

Our friends Phil, Martina, Steve and Persephone arrived, and we kicked off the evening with a round of the traditional cocktail Caipirinha, which has Brazil's national spirit cachaqa (fermented sugar cane juice) as the base. At the same time, we received a bowl of fried bananas dusted with cinnamon sugar and some cheese bread. The friendly waitress (clearly here to improve her English) explained the service and suggested a variety of sauces to accompany the meat. And then it began......beef rump, chicken thighs, pork belly, leg of lamb - name a part of the anatomy and it was served...even chicken hearts were available on request. Bom apetite! (yes...it is bom)

We ordered a bottle of  Bodega Zapata Alamos Malbec from Argentina, which perfectly complemented the meal. It was full and rich (big enough to cope with the rock salt on the rump, the peri-peri on the chicken, the honey-lime-mint on  the lamb and the paw-paw sauce on the pork belly) yet a hint of chocolate and the sweet spiciness of the American oak were evident. Also on the table were bowls of potato salad, tomato and onion vinagrete and a green salad with kiss peppers. There were sausages, grilled vegetables, caramelised pineapple and more, which we eventually had to turn away. This was achieved by turning the little wooden block placed in front of each diner upside down to expose the red side. If the green side stays on top, the food will simply keep on coming! Our protein quota for the year has well and truly been exhausted. We did leave room for dessert this time:  Passionfruit and salted caramel mousse with tropical fruit and burnt marshmallows, and Churros (South-American donuts served with cream and chocolate dipping sauce). In summary, the meats were all truly delicious, the accompaniments adequate and the dessert completely unnecessary. Dining at Mundo Churrasco is an experience well worth having.

The facts (see blog week 1), again, were fascinating. As Boetie was absent, Keith gave us a run-down on the flag (quite a long story...) and the three national animals ( the Jaguar, Macau and Rufous-bellied Thrush).
When Nielen thinks of Brazil, he thinks of their five time World Cup Winning football team.
When Keith thinks of Brazil, he thinks coffee (Brazil supplies 25% of the world's coffee).
When Phil thinks of Brazil, he longs for the congestion free 16 lane highway in the capital Brasilia.  When Persephone thinks of Brazil, she recalls her gap year travelling through South-America and the powerful image of the Christ The Redeemer statue on Mt Corcovado in Rio. When Steve thinks of Brazil, he thinks 200 million heads of cattle (one for every person in the country). When Martina thinks of Brazil, it's the Amazon Rainforest, home to one third of all forms of life on earth and the destruction thereof through deforestation.

And when I think of Brazil, I think PARTYYYYY! The Rio Carnival started in 1641 with masquerade balls. In the 1800's the elite started to parade the streets in their amazing masquerade ball gowns, accompanied by military bands, and from there it evolved into a full blown festival, with the focus on dance. Today it is essentially a Samba Dance-Off  between the over 200 different Samba Dance Schools (4000 people per entry).....a Parade Extravaganza like nowhere in the world! The traditional masquerade balls are still held at the Copacabana Palace and the more exclusive Banda de Ipanema.

But for now, the party is over and we have to grind away another week before we can celebrate all things Japanese.  

 

The churrasquiera

 Picanha

 Linguica

 

 

 Mundo Summer Plate

Week 16: Sudan

Week 16: Sudan

I am not going to mention poverty, drought and starvation. Nor unemployment, high inflation and corruption. I shall not discuss disease, malnutrition and infection.  And forget about genocide in Dafur and the fact that Sudan is considered to have "The most repressive regime in the world". Let's put all of that aside, and for now, focus on some of the warmest and most hospitable people in Africa. Where it is common to be invited into someone's home to share a meal, or have a glass (or 5) of tea.

Last night, it felt exactly that way. Essentially, we were welcomed into Hamar's dining room, and overwhelmed by his hospitality and joy in serving us food from his native Sudan. Hamar arrived in Australia 18 years ago, taught himself how to cook, and opened Umdorman Cafe in Moorooka (see week 3 blog: Ethiopia for suburb profile). Through the Australian Humanitarian Programme and the UNHCR,  Australia has given 19,050 people from war-torn Sudan a new home and a second chance. Moorooka is often called "Little Africa", or "Africa Town" and evolved to reflect the profile of its demographic, with most of Brisbane's 1,805 Sudanese residents settling in this suburb.

Being the hub of African refugee re-settlement, it was not surprising to be the only Caucasians in the restaurant. Umdorman is clearly popular with the local Sudanese community, many gathering there after work to watch the ABC World News on the wall mounted television, and enjoying a hearty, familiar meal. Our arrival must have disrupted their usual Friday night routine, as the regulars inconspicuously left the room, one by one, and continued their gathering outside on the pavement. Soon we were the only people in the restaurant, and had our own private banquet!

Bil-hana' wa ash-shifa! (enjoy your meal)

 At Umdorman, one would usually order from the array of dishes in the bain marie  at the kitchen counter. Hamar would have none of that, and insisted on serving us at the table. He arrived with two dishes: Gewerma (a traditional diced lamb dish with onions) and Kebab Tawa (a local favourite lamb dish with beans) and two huge plates of rice. The flavours were subtle, and the lamb cooked beautifully tender. Halfway through, he arrived with two more dishes: Bamia (an okra stew) and Molokhia (similar to spinach, but with a slippery consistency) and more rice. By now the table was laden with food, but that did not stop our host from bringing three more dishes: Kebab Hallah (lamb curry), a delicious eggplant braise, with onions and capsicums accompanied by some flat bread (kisra) and a lentil stew. Noticing the Gewerma bowl was empty, he quickly replaced it with a full one. The evening reminds me of  Sunday lunch at my parent's place, where the food just keeps on coming, and the end is never in sight. We thoroughly enjoyed being there, yet again in an environment far removed from the glam of the designer dining in the city. The food is honest and simple, tasty and healthy. Umdorman is a Halal establishment, which implies that serving alcohol is forbidden. I was therefore reluctant to take a bottle of wine and being served 40 lashes (the penalty for consuming alcohol under Sharia Law) instead of a meal, but fortunately this is Australia, where Sharia Law does not apply, and Hamar was more than happy for us to have wine and beer at his table.

Nielen formulated a new rule a couple of weeks ago (for rules see week 1 blog): Rule 6 - The sharing of facts can only commence once food is served. As he himself broke the "obligatory attendance" rule last night, we disregarded his new rule, and pretty much started babbling about Sudan the moment we sat down. Phil and Martina, our ever faithful accomplices, contributed with ardent enthusiasm. Man has lived in Sudan for at least 30,000 years, and the valley of the Nile is often referred to as the "Cradle of Civilisation". Situated in Northeast Africa, Sudan is the largest country on the African continent (if you include the recently independent republic of South-Sudan), with a vast flat desert and vicious sandstorms to the north, and a mountainous sub-tropical region to the south. Umdorman is one of three sister-cities located at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers.  Home to the largest market in Sudan (The Soug...a vibrant and lively destination for shoppers) Umdorman is the youngest city of the three, built on the northwest bank across the White Nile, with the capital Khartoum situated on the south bank of the Blue Nile. The centre of Khartoum is a clear remnant of the British Empire, with the street plan laid out in the shape of the Union Jack, resulting in terrible gridlock all day long.

Being a remnant of the British Empire is about the only thing we have in common with Sudan. It is difficult to find a country where the British did not leave their mark...which leads us to our next stop...untainted by interference from The Empire: Brazil!

Local resident outside Umdorman

 Every day fare

 and that's not all of it yet...!

 we did well.

Week 15: Vietnam

Week 15: Viet Nam

When discussing Viet Nam, the conversation either starts with or will inevitably lead to the war. In 1965 Australia committed their first combat troops to South Vietnam, to help stem the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. Over 60 000 Australian soldiers did battle, and 521 died during the eventual 13 year conflict. Nearly 50% of the Vietnamese population was internally displaced, and millions were killed. As a result, there were over 800 000 orphans, and after the fall of Saigon, Australia adopted hundreds of orphans and started to accept refugees. This was the first group of Asian immigrants to settle in Australia since the White Australia Policy was abolished in 1973. Today there are 221,114 Vietnamese resident in Australia, of which 21,416 live in Brisbane.

We are fortunate to have the full spectrum of Vietnamese Cuisine in Brisbane: from upscale French-fusion to really basic take-aways. Last night, our adventure led us to Darra, a suburb 14 km west of the CBD. Darra, one of the older suburbs in Brisbane, is the epicentre of the Vietnamese community (18% of the residents in Darra are Vietnamese). I thought it might be prudent to do a recce before dragging family and friends into the unknown. This vibrant little retail precinct could well be somewhere in Hanoi with all the shopfronts signed in Vietnamese: the Vietnamese bakery, Vietnamese seafood market, Vietnamese laundry, newsagents and cafes. After inspecting several eateries down the main strip, I noticed a restaurant hidden at the back of a laneway opposite the train station. With one-way mirrored windows, I had no idea what to expect on the other side. To the left of the restaurant was a room filled with elderly men playing cards, sitting on inverted milk crates, cigarette smoke billowing through the open door, and to the right is Salon Kim, next door to Trang Video. It was about noon on a Tuesday morning. I pushed the door open, and was surprised to find a packed restaurant, humming with the sound of chatter and chopsticks. Scanning the meals on the tables, and sneakily observing the activity in the kitchen, I considered my reconnaissance mission successfully completed.

Vietnamese cuisine is light, refreshing, and deliciously satisfying - ideal for the warmer months. The fundamental features of the cuisine include an abundance of aromatic herbs, fresh seafood and vegetables, rice noodles and rice paper wraps, soup-based dishes and the long-standing French influence. It is considered to be one of the healthiest cuisines in the world, as the emphasis is on freshness, and nothing is cooked in animal fat. The objective of a meal's composition is to create a balance that is beneficial to the body. It centres around five elements: wood (sour) , fire (bitter), earth (sweet), metal (spicy) and water (salty).  And they all came into perfect alignment on Friday night at Nha Hang Thanh Quyen. Here we go: an ngon nhe!

Discovering Nha Hang Thanh Quyen was like winning the Lotto. The food was everything the theory promised. It was fresh and delicious and satisfying and incredibly reasonable. There were nine of us last night (if this was an Arlo Guthrie song, we would have classified as a movement!). This family owned restaurant was full, and there must have been at least two table rotations while we were there. We had a fabulous meal. Thank goodness the menu had English subtitles, but we nevertheless ordered by number. Everyone had a different number, and everyone was happy: Noodles with prawns and pork; vermicelli with spring rolls and sugar cane prawn cakes; rice vermicelli with duck and young bamboo; a delicious starch broth with pork hock and fish cakes;  noodle and mussels soup with coriander and sprouts; chilli and lemongrass chicken with rice;  and roll-your -own rice paper rolls with prawn, mint, bean sprouts, cucumber, crisp lettuce and grilled pork. It's BYO, cash only and closes at 9pm. We were the last patrons to leave, with Mr Quyen waiting at the door to lock up. This humble eatery must be one of Brisbane's best kept secrets.  

Tonight, the Gold Lotto has rolled over to $22 million. I have marked six of the nine numbers from the dishes we ordered last night as my Lotto entry: 35, 40, 41, 38, 39 and 44.......you never know your luck!

Again, we shared many interesting facts......the flag (red with one big golden star, of which the 5 points represent the 5 groups of people: the intellectuals, the military, farmers, businessman and the workers)  the national animal (water buffalo), the geography (Vietnam will fit between Brisbane and Melbourne).....and of course The War.
Homework for week 16: Find Facts on Sudan.

 

61

 

 

38

35

71

39

Week 14: Lebanon

Week 14: Lebanon.....the place of lavish hospitality and fine food

If you were a student of wine, you would know that it all started in Lebanon.  The oldest vineyards in the world were planted in the land of Canaan, the coastal strip of today's Lebanon. It was the Phoenicians who introduced the Mediterranean to wine and viticulture; it was the wines of Byblos that graced the tables of the ancient Pharaohs of Egypt in 2686 BC; and it was here in Lebanon that Jesus performed his first miracle, of turning water into wine.

Today there are 35 wineries in the hauntingly beautiful Bekaa Valley. My favourite winery from this region is Chateau Musar, 20km north of Beirut. The vineyards are high up on the slopes of Mount Lebanon, beyond the opium fields. During the 1989 civil war, the winery's underground wine cellar doubled-up as a bomb shelter. The owner, Serge Hochar, recalled staring at heavily armed Hezbollah fighters, and ducking bullets and rockets to harvest his Cabernet Sauvignon at optimum ripeness. Serge famously said: "Good wine should be dangerously attractive. What I want, is a wine that troubles me". Oz Clarke, top wine author, renowned for his wine tasting ability wrote: "Every time I taste Chateau Musar, one flavour consistently outweighs all the others put together. Courage."
I couldn't agree more.

Our friend Phil's fact for the night (see blog week 1 regarding Friday Night Out rules) - more of an insight than a fact, really - reflects our collective summary of Lebanon: It is a complicated place......

And at the heart of this complication, lies passion. Passion for life, for family, for food, wine and tradition. And this passion translates into the cuisine. This part of the world is known as The Levant, or Eastern Mediterranean. The Levantine cuisine was shaped by the Ottoman Empire, and all the countries between Turkey and Egypt share the distinctive culinary aspect of mezze. These include an array of small dishes of different colours, textures and aromas, like stuffed vine leaves, tabouleh, fattoush, humus, baba ghanoush and kebbeh (Lebanon's national dish). Lebanese flatbread is a staple, and often replaces the fork. Eating is considered a social event, and sharing food with family and friends is central to Lebanese culture, so last night we visited Rouj (red)  for an authentic Lebanese experience.

You will find Rouj  3km west of the city in Brisbane's smallest suburb, Rosalie. In fact, Rosalie is so small, that Council decided it no longer qualifies as a suburb, and re-classified it as a locality. In 1864, this distinctive little village was known as Oxford Estate, but residents started to call it Rosalie, after a name painted on the side of a local bus that passed through daily. Who Rosalie was is a mystery, and her identity may be lost, but her name lives on in this boutique suburb.

Rosalie was one of the worst affected areas during Brisbane's devastating floods of January 2011. Newspaper headlines read: Rosalie going Under, and  Inner City Suburb Rosalie fast disappearing. Rouj was one of the many restaurants in Rosalie that was completely wrecked by the floods. But owner Sodith Aoude, who moved to Australia in 1988, rebuilt Rouj, and today it is a vibrant establishment that celebrates classic Lebanese recipes. She cooks traditional dishes, staying true to the rich flavours of this Mediterranean cuisine, using lots of lemon juice, garlic and fresh herbs.

Without further ado: Sahtein!

We were treated to an assortment of mezze to start with, of which my favourite was the cooked green almonds with fresh coriander, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. The mains included a Shwarma Platter, Mansaf ( slow cooked lamb with rice, tabouleh, fragrant rice, nuts and caramelised onions), Moghrabieh ( lamb spiced with cumin, caraway and cinnamon, served with chickpeas and Lebanese couscous), lamb shish and haloumi kafta with tahini sauce and labneh, and a vegetarian dish of pumpkin kebbeh and ftayer served with mjadra, tzaziki and Lebanese bread. We ended the meal with Lebanese coffee accompanied by baklava and Turkish delight.  Everything was delightful!

So, the trivia: Boetie, our flag-and-national-animal man, managed to give us a run-down on the flag, but came up short with the national animal......Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Ask.com.....no-one can tell us what the national animal of Lebanon is. If you have the answer, please let us know. Nielen, our resident uni-student, informed us that the first Law School in the world was built in Beirut and that Lebanon has no less than 42 universities. Martina had facts on the age of Lebanon (oldest nation in the world at 4000 yrs), and its biblical connections (mentioned 75 times in the Bible). Keith took us into a maze of caves to see the world's longest stalactite (8.2m). And Phil was still pondering on the complications of the place.......

There are roughly 200,000 Lebanese living in Australia. The majority are Maronite Christians, congregating in the western suburbs of Sydney, and engaging in their rich cultural heritage of lavish hospitality and fine food.

Next week we shall travel further east, and test the hospitality of Vietnam.

Mansaf

 Vegetarian platter

Moghrabieh

shish and kafta

Lebanese Coffee

Week 13: Belgium

Week  13: Belgium....the quality of  France and the quantity of Germany

It rained yesterday! A huge downpour. For the first time in about three months, the heavens smiled upon our dying gardens. But heavy rain is usually accompanied by traffic chaos. Driving back into the CBD on a Friday night in absolute gridlock was a frustrating exercise and I cursed our decision to reserve a table for the 6pm sitting at The Belgian Beer Café.

My patience was rewarded with a parking spot right outside the entrance. The Belgian Beer Café is located in a heritage listed building on the corner of Edward and Mary Street, constructed in 1887. During that time, this end of town became a warehouse district, conveniently close to the wharves on the Brisbane River, and this beautiful building was then filled from floor to ceiling with handmade boots.  Today, this magnificently restored storage facility is filled with the smell of beer and the sound of laughter. The bar section was buzzing with suited businessmen discussing the US debt debacle and the Google share price whilst savouring their favourite beer on tap.  The beer menu is extensive: from Artisan and Trappiste, to Blonde and Brune....something for every taste. The beer is served in chilled traditional beer glasses, quite different to the German shapes, as most of them have stems.

However, The Belgian Beer Cafe is not just about the theatre of beer. The Belgian national dish is Moules-frites (the fried potato chip is actually a 17th century Belgian invention, and they eat it with mayonnaise not ketchup). The mussels are served in traditional steaming pots, and there are four options : Provencale (with olives, tomato, chilli and basil), Mariniere (white wine, bay leaves and persillade), Roquefort ( with blue cheese, chardonnay, cream and baby spinach) and Norwegian (creamy veloute, smoked salmon, white wine and mushrooms). Keith, Lani and Boetie tried a variation each. It is difficult to describe the taste of mussels: sweet, fluffy, sea-salty but never fishy is the best I can offer. If you are not a fan of this delectable bivalve (often referred to as the poor man's shellfish)  there are many other dishes on the menu. I had the duck, Nielen ordered risotto with spring peas, cavola nero, mint and shaved parmesan, Vanessa had a fillet of perfectly grilled snapper with mashed potatoes, a Mediterranean salsa (similar to pesto, but without the pine nuts) and apple cider beurre blanc, and Sophie chose the organic beef eye fillet with frites, béarnaise and red wine jus. I have to admit, the food far exceeded our expectations. It was well presented and deliciously prepared.

After beer, the second most important food group in Belgium must be chocolates. The history of chocolate begins in the South American Jungle, and huge gratitude should be bestowed on the Spanish explorers for introducing the cacao bean to Belgium during their rule in the 17th century. When the Belgians colonised the Congo in 1885, they stumbled across an unlimited supply of  stronger, more assertive cacao beans, which led to an annual production of over 220,000 tons of Belgian chocolate today. So, needless to say, we ended the meal with traditional Belgian waffles and dark chocolate sauce with hazelnut, pistachio and caramel ice cream.

Dark chocolate has many health benefits.  It lowers blood pressure, lowers LDL cholesterol, improves memory and acts as a natural anti-depressant as it stimulates the release of endorphins to produce a feeling of happiness and pleasure. I can testify that this is true, as the stress of driving to the city centre in mangled traffic on a Friday night was replaced with a feeling of happiness and pleasure, after indulging in a jug of silky smooth dark chocolate sauce.

Discussing all things Belgian, it would be remiss of me not to mention Tintin (the heroic reporter who together with his four-legged companion Snowy, get involved in dangerous situations and eventually save the day) or the Smurfs ( the tiny blue-skinned humanoids, who live in mushrooms, eat sarsaparilla leaves and wear Phrygian caps, which represent freedom), both created by Belgian comic book artists. My childhood would have been so much poorer without these characters to escape with.

Listening to Gotye (our very own Grammy winning Belgian-born Australian.....one of 5,762 living here) on the way home completed a most enjoyable Belgian experience.

Next week, we travel to Lebanon.



The heritage listed building, home to the Belgian Beer Café, Mary Street Brisbane

 

Mussels

 Grilled Snapper

 Confit Duck

 Steak and frites

 Risotto

 Best frites ever!

 

 Belgian Waffles and chocolate sauce.

Week 12: The People's Republic of China

Week 12:  China..... it's all about the Yin and the Yang


Chinese cuisine has an incredibly long history of development and diversity. Each  Dynasty contributed to the evolution of food preparation, until the art of culinary excellence
peaked during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). Intertwined with the love of food, is the basic philosophy of harmony, balance and duality of existence. Essentially, this can be translated into the blending of contrasts, or Yin and Yang.

Contrasts in taste and texture, colour and cooking method, hot and cold, plain and spicy all contribute to a balanced meal - a triumph of philosophical theory. To gather more insight into this cuisine - one that strives for the perfection of all senses - I referred to some of my long forgotten Chinese recipe books, covered in dust amongst all the modern day "celebrity chef "cookbooks in my library. It did make me re-think the significance of sweet and sour, fried versus steamed and the contrasting flavours of ginger and spring onions, the foundation of most stirfries. 

Brisbane has it's own Chinatown. This is a significant landmark and recognisable precinct for Chinese cultural activities. The street names are all signed in Chinese and the roads are flanked by  Chinese supermarkets, yum cha palaces and traditional herbalists. There are 69,343 Chinese living in Brisbane ( 866,205 in Australia....excluding all the international students studying on temporary visas), and today mainland China is the largest source of migrants to Australia, overtaking the United Kingdom.

We decided not to go to downtown Chinatown, but rather visit a popular Chinese restaurant on Grey Street in South Brisbane. I am glad we had a reservation, as it was packed, and the queue outside was about forty deep. The kitchen is a central glass cube, through which one can witness the numerous chefs hand-tearing noodles, steaming the dim sims and displaying their impressive knife skills.

There are many ways of saying bon appetite in Chinese. Take your pick: Zhu Nihao Wei! Ge Bao! Ging Man Yong! or Sihk Faahn!

Unlike any of the previous weeks, I approached China with unprecedented philosophical expectation.
And sadly, I was hugely disappointed. Not even the intervention of the Blue Dragon, the Red Phoenix, the White Tiger of the Dark Turtle could bring back the Friday night Feng Shui. 

It could have been a case of overpromising and under- delivering, or that we were just too tired after a very busy week, or (most likely) that Martina's depressing facts about the air pollution, water degradation and waste generation simply dampened our spirits. But my meal was more yang than yin, which led to a night of interrupted sleep, as I frequently reached for the glass of water on my bedside table. Where my soup was too salty, Keith's stirfry was too bland. Boetie enjoyed his crispy duck, Nielen and Phil both had Sweet and Sour Pork, and Martina is still questioning her vegetatrian choice.  The service was over efficient, and I ( a slow, measured eater) ended up being the only one with food in front of me, as the others' plates were cleared away the moment the chopsticks hit the table. Speaking of chopsticks (another depressing fact): 45 billion pairs of wooden chopsticks are produced in China annually. This equates to the loss of 25 million fully grown trees every year.  Chopsticks were only introduced as an eating utensil during the Ming Dynasty, when it was the imperial fashion to have food prepared in bite-size portions.  It is also rumoured that Confucius, in his wisdom, declared that there should never be a knife on a dining table.

True to "Friday Night Out" tradition the trivia is always a highlight: Boetie enlightened us on the    interpretation of the Chinese flag and the national animal (the giant panda);  Nielen pointed out that one in every 5 people on the planet is Chinese; Keith (again with visual device in hand) scrolled back  4000 years on a histomap, and Phil had the most entertaining fact about all Chinese jumping simultaneously and causing a tsunami to devastate the west coast of America, but later confessed that he made it up! He redeemed himself by quoting from his databank of Chinese Wisdoms.

Hopefully we can regain the balance between  yin and yang next week, as we take a trip to Belgium!