Na Zdrowie, Glebe

Pierogi boiled $15.90
Traditional Polish dumplings in creamy tomato and roasted capsicum sauce

Polish food is made for winter. This stodgy hearty fare is heavy with pork, pickles and potatoes.

My second encounter with Polish cuisine saw me head to Na Zdrowie (pronounced na-zdro-vee-ah) in Glebe, a cosy restaurant in a converted terrace that seats 35 at a pinch. Stained pine furnishings abound, one wall dominated by two massive arched doors, the kind that make me think knights on horseback could arrive any moment during dinner.


Pierogi fried $16.90

There are ten of us tonight, and together we've managed to cover much of the menu.


Zurek (white borsch) $9.90
Sour rye broth with potato and polish smoked sausage


Borsch $9.90
Clear beetroot broth


Smalec $6.50
A mixture of apples and onions fried in lard, served with rye bread

Pierogi are smooth and slippery, the pan-fried ones bringing me personal greater favour. The Polish ex-pat is a little disappointed with the borscht, but who can ever compete with Mum's real Polish cooking.

There was no way I could ever go past the smalec, the descriptive "apples and onions fried in lard" impossible to resist. It's indeed a rich and fatty spread, resplendent with the goodness of dripping, the type of indulgence one could imagine being justified in a depths of a bitter Polish winter.


Kaczka $27.90
Duck roasted in apples and served with carrot salad
and crispy baked potatoes

The roast duck is gushed over, the recipient of the prune-stuffed pork lamenting its dryness and wishing he'd ordered the duck instead.

My placki potato pancakes are deliciously crisp if a little oily, and the mushroom sauce does remind me more of cream of mushroom soup from a tin.

There are big expectations from the bigos, the national dish of Poland. The ex-pat is again disappointed, citing its muted flavours. Meantime, I'm too busy giggling at the plate-up of the Kielbasa which looks more like a tribute to all things phallic.


Kielbasa $18.90
Smoked Polish sausage char-grilled and
served with mashed potatoes and pickles


Bigos $19.60
A national Polish dish of smoked meat and hunters sauerkraut stew
served with mashed potatoes


Placki $17.90
Potato pancakes with wild mushroom sauce


Schab za Sliwkami $24.90
Pork loin stuffed with prunes
served with baked potatoes and cwikla

The hearty theme continues with our desserts. Homemade gingerbread cake is dense and gingery, although there's a strange faint aftertaste that we think is bicarbonate of soda. Berries abound on the vanilla ice cream sundae (which was set alight as promised and is faintly visible if you look carefully). There are also plenty of berries in the sweet pierogi.

My serve of Chopin cake is an impressive tower of white drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with silver dragees. The white is not frozen ice cream but cream, its richness offset with the crunch of roast almonds.

Lard, fried potatoes and frozen cream. What more could a three-course meal ask for?


Kosciuszko's ice cream $9.50
Vanilla ice cream served with polish savories
and topped with a flaming dressing


Cake of the day: homemade gingerbread cake $9.50


Warm sweet pierogi filled with season fruits $12.60
served with vanilla ice cream and forest berry sauce


Chopin cake $9.50
Frozen dessert with oven-roasted almonds
topped with dark chocolate sauce


Na Zdrowie
161 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9660 1242
Open 7 days 6pm - 10pm

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Polish - Restaurant Nadwislanska at Ashfield Polish Club

Glebe - Fair Trade Coffee Company
Glebe - Forest Lodge
Glebe - Osteria dei Poeti
Glebe - San Churro
Glebe - Toxteth Hotel
Glebe - Uni Thai

Good Food & Wine Show 2008

Did someone say #$@*&!

It's been Gordon Ramsay mania all week it seems. If he wasn't being interviewed on telly, one of his shows would be scheduled. There was talk of his possible Australian venture, his defence of his tendency to use profanities in the kitchen, him dropping a giant swear jar, promoting his new book and an absolute riot of fans desperate to see him at the Good Food Show.


Friday crowds

We headed over to the annual Good Food Show on the Friday, looking forward to a less chaotic experience than the usual weekend crowds. Alas, the Gordon Ramsay factor, and perhaps an overall increase in public interest for gustatory pleasures, seemed to have brought the masses anyway. We found ourselves standing shoulder and shoulder in some places, caught in a human traffic jam that unrelentingly congregated around all the free sample stalls (guilty as charged, Your Honour).


Pravda vodka, extra smooth and with extra bling

Having missed the Good Food Show last year, we did notice there seemed to have been a slight shift in the types of stall holders represented. Sure there were plenty more alcholic suppliers nestled in amongst the food stalls, but we also noted that the big multinationals, like Herbert Adams, Nanna's, Masterfoods and Latina were no longer present. Instead there seemed to be a slight shift to smaller companies and local suppliers; now there was less of a push for express microwave rice and instant meals, and more of an emphasis on gourmet treats, organics, natural products and fair trade.


Waterthins baguette crisps


Onggi Kimchi pickled cabbage, radish and kimchi pancake


Radish kimchee


Sunflower seed butter spread
- tastes surprisingly similar to peanut butter!


Nando's marinades and sauces


Bionade drinks


Natural Nut bars


Abe's bagel crisps

Such was the demand for tickets to Gordon Ramsay that we missed out on the initial seating offer - and having already had the pleasure of seeing him two-feet away up-close and personal, I wasn't prepared to fork out $15 just to be at the back of a giant hall to see him on a projector screen. We saw the seafood demonstration by Peter Evans instead, but the highlight of the day was not Gordon but...


Chocolatesuze! At The Biscuit Tree

Tucked away near the entrance to the Celebrity Theatre, Suze was full of cheer and smiles. Duly provided with free tastings, I can vouch that her Traditional Scottish Shortbread is indeed buttery and delicious.


Chocolatesuze after her wacky gameshow gig


Wine survey at the Charles Sturt University stall

The most productive ten minutes we spent at the show was undertaking the wine tasting survey for a PhD student at Charles Sturt University. Not only did we score chocolate but a $10 gift voucher too. Noice.

Noice too were the eyecatching displays at Edible Blooms. An edible Christmas tree? Now that's what I call utter genius!


Chocolate Christmas tree from Edible Blooms


The Good Food & Wine Show visited Sydney from June 20 to 22, 2008. It takes place in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane every year.

The Show visits Perth July 11-13, 2008 and Brisbane 7-9 November 2008. It has already visited Melbourne (May 30 - June 1, 2008).


Related GrabYourFork posts:
Gordon Ramsay at David Jones Food Hall, Oct 06
Good Food & Wine Show 2006
Good Food & Wine Show 2005
Good Food & Wine Show 2004

Blue Eye Dragon, Pyrmont

Prawn dumplings with water chestnuts, shallots and Chinese celery $12

Blue Eye Dragon is not your average Taiwanese restaurant. More used to the no-nonsense brusqueness of Mother Chu's, Blue Eye Dragon provides an impressive welcome of mood lighting, crisp tablecloths, real napkins and polished wine glasses waiting on every table.

All these niceties are reflected in the price, of course. Twelve dollars for four prawn dumplings sounds steep at first, but with that first mouthful of sweet juicy plump prawn, singing with shallots and the crunch of water chestnuts, we're wondering whether we should order more.


Salt and pepper soft shell crab $14

Salt and pepper soft shell crab is pleasantly spicy if a little overwhelmed by green onions.


Pork belly slow cooked in soy, aniseed, garlic and light chilli $20

Slow-cooked pork belly is not as sweet as I'd expected, me having immediate visions of a red-braised caramelised pork belly. The dish, I'm told by my Vietnamese colleagues, is very similar to a traditional Vietnamese dish often cooked at home for its long-keeping qualities. The pork is so salty it's almost cured, best eaten in small mouthfuls with plenty of rice.


Queensland scallops in house XO sauce and vegetables $36

The Queensland scallops, on the other hand, are a hit with the entire table. Thick hearty discs of sweetest scallop are seared to a melting tenderness, bathed in the spicy heartiness of XO sauce.


Sticky rice with Chinese wolfberries and sultana $8
finished with sweet peanut powder and coriander

The sticky rice with Chinese wolfberries has a reputation that precedes itself. A gentle mound of sweet sticky rice is crowned with glistening jewels of ruby red wolfberries and shiny sultanas. Surrounded by a moat of peanut powder, a trail of micro coriander leaves look like waterlily fronds.

The sticky rice is sweet and creamy, providing a textural contrast with the crunch of pulverised peanuts and sugar.


Movenpick ice cream $14

A trio of Movenpick ice cream is an instant hit with Mr Two-Year-Old. It's also sneakily demolished by the adults too. Silky smooth in texture, the rich scoop of chocolate is probably my favourite.


Sticky rice cakes in ginger syrup and sweet peanut powder $8

Sticky rice cakes are the last dish to arrive. Four squat balls of dough are covered with more of that sweet peanut powder, a puddle of ginger syrup ringed with thin shavings of candied fresh ginger.

Whilst I'm a keen fan of anything starchy, these rice cakes are so glutinous they threaten to, and do, stick in the throat. More used to sweet rice balls that have a filling inside, these stretchy splodges of glutinous rice dough seems to resist any attempts to bite it in two. The ginger syrup is deliciously sweet and even the candied ginger slices feel medicinally good.

We depart satiated and satisfied, resisting the chance to take home a bag of thirty frozen prawn dumplings ($35 or $25 for 30 pork dumplings).


View Larger Map

Blue Eye Dragon
Shop 2, 42 Harris Street, Pyrmont, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9518 9955

Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday,
dinner Tuesday to Saturday

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Taiwanese--Mother Chu's (Apr 07)
Taiwanese--Mother Chu's (Nov 05)

Hazelnut Macaroons

I had the pleasure of encountering my first ever hazelnut macaroon from a tiny family-run bakery in Istanbul, Turkey. A giant swirl wrapped tightly in clingfilm, I took one nibble and swooned at the crusty nutty edge.

It got even better. A few more bites and I had reached its moist inner core, a soft chewy heart rich with the goodness of hazelnut. Have you ever eaten something so good, you're dreading the moment when you reach the end? I remember eating half and longingly setting it aside for the next morning. The fact it was about the size of a small orange also helped.

The next day I had the rest of the macaroon for breakfast (it had gone a little soft at the edges but it was still so very good). I left our hotel and headed straight back to the bakery for more.

My search for hazelnut macaroons since then has been somewhat futile. Admittedly Turkey is flush with cheap hazelnuts, producing almost 70% of the world's hazelnut crop. Whilst I've found plenty of amazing almond macaroons around Sydney, the few hazelnut versions I've discovered were either too dry or mixed with almonds.

Luckily, making your own isn't that difficult at all. My usual nut shop was out of hazelnut meal so a little patience was required to blitz whole hazelnuts into meal using a spice grinder and very small batches.

The unusually high temperature for cooking this meringue is essential to ensure the meringues are golden outside but not cooked till dry. The greatest delight about these macaroons is the contrast between the crusty sugary surface and the chewy meringue within.


Hazelnut macaroons

2 egg whites
50g caster sugar
100g ground hazelnuts (hazelnut meal)
24-36 whole hazelnuts, skins intact

Beat the egg white with an electric mixer until the egg whites are thick and foamy. Gradually incorporate the caster sugar, beating well between each addition.

Gently fold in the ground hazelnuts.

Use a piping bag to create rosetta swirls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. If you do not have a piping bag, drop equal spoonfuls onto the baking paper. Top each swirl with a whole hazelnut.

Bake at 200C (180C for fan-forced ovens) for about 15-20 minutes or until the meringues are a golden brown. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes then gently remove the meringues from the tray and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

It is important to store the meringues in an air-tight container on their own otherwise the meringues may harden.

Chocolate workshop at Kimberley Chocolates, Leichhardt

Mmm.... chocolate.

It's no coincidence that Homer Simpson's chocolate reverie is my current mobile ring tone. There are few pleasures greater than the clean snap of good dark chocolate, feeling it melt on the tongue in an instant, and being rewarded with a velvety smooth mouthfeel that leaves only a memory of lingering happiness on the palate.

And so I found myself surrounded by a dozen like-minded chocaholics at the chocolate workshop hosted by Kimberley Chocolates, a four-hour journey that included truffle making, filled chocolates and enrobing.


Measuring out the tempered chocolate

Owner and chocolatier Joseph Atallah took us through a Dummy's Guide to Chocolate (history, production and chemical properties) before we split into pairs to make our fresh cream chocolate ganache.


Demonstrating how to beat the chocolate ganache

We measured 220 grams of tempered dark chocolate into our metal mixing bowls, then added 150 mls of single cream. This was then flavoured with our choice of orange paste, peppermint oil, coffee grounds, rum or brandy, and beaten with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.

The majority of the class chose orange (me included) and we learnt the secret trick of adding ascorbic acid (also known as Vitamin C) near the end to exaggerate the punchy zing associated with citrus flavour (a useful tip for all citrus-flavoured cooking).

Our bowls of ganache were placed in the cool room for about fifteen minutes to allow the mixture to cool and thicken. Joseph pointed out that for milk chocolate truffles, he used a ratio of 220 grams milk chocolate to 100 mls of single cream. The amount of cream could be increased slightly for both variants if one had time to cool the ganache for longer (I've noticed that some recipes recommend cooling the mixture at room temperature for at least four hours).

Once cool, we rolled the cooled ganache into 16 medium-sized balls for truffles, and the remainder into smaller balls which would be enrobed later. Rolling ganache into balls is harder than it looks; whilst Joseph had no problem rolling his ease, the rest of us struggled as the chocolate melted all over our hands. No matter. Rolling the balls in the coating of our choice (crushed coffee beans, cocoa powder, crushed peanuts, dessicated coconut or hundreds and thousands) helped disguise a multitude of imperfections.


Finished truffles

We moved onto filled chocolates next, watching a chocolate mould tray being doused by a waterfall of tempered chocolate, flipped upside down to remove the excess, then filled with a selection of our ganache balls. More melted chocolate was added, the top smoothed level with a palate knife, and the entire tray placed into the cool room to chill.


Placing the ganache balls onto the conveyor belt

Whilst the filled chocolates were chilling in the cool room, we began enrobing our remaining ganache balls, our chance to finally get up close and personal with the magical chocolate enrober belt. Watching the chocolates trundle through the liquid curtain of molten chocolate was joyous indeed. Emerging like chocolate-covered sultanas, we were reassured that the second enrobing would result in the professional look we were all secretly hoping for.


Unmoulding the filled chocolates
(the single enrobed chocolates are in the foreground)

Whilst our enrobed chocolates slowly solidified at room temperature (tempered chocolate will only take about ten minutes to set), the filled chocolates were unmoulded, solid hearts with perfect glossy surfaces.


Second chocolate enrobing

Back to the enrobing belt, our enrobed chocolates cavorted beneath the chocolate waterfall once again. Once the chocolates moved off the conveyor belt, we were tasked with creating decorative embellishments, using the tip or our finger or the prongs of a fork - artistic pressure in a deadline of about three seconds!


Completed enrobed chocolates

Four hours flew past, and by home-time we each had a box to take home containing close to a kilo of handmade chocolates.

The fresh cream truffles were a marvel - the fillings so light and airy and delicious. The filled heart-shaped chocolates were decadent with their thick armour of shiny chocolate, but it was the enrobed chocolates that were my favourite: the double enrobing providing a stark contrast between the thick wall of dark chocolate and the delicate melting ganache centre within. My personalised flourishes to each chocolate were the highlight of course.

And whilst we may be no closer to becoming professional chocolatiers, we undoubtedly became even bigger fans of chocolate and all its sensory pleasures.



Kimberley Chocolates runs its chocolate workshops through Sydney Community College. The workshop runs for four hours and costs $130. Upcoming dates can be found here.

Next dates: Sat 14 June 1pm-5pm and Sat 21 June 2pm-6pm.


Kimberley Chocolates
209 Lilyfield Rd, Leichhardt, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9555 7900

Chocolate sales:
Monday to Friday 9.00am - 5.30pm
Saturday 9.00am - 12.00pm

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Chocolate - Haigh's, Sydney
Chocolate - Lindt Concept Store, Martin Place
Chocolate - Max Brenner, Paddington
Chocolate - Schoc Chocolates, Wellington, New Zealand
Recipes - Chocolate truffle mud cake