Flavour of Brazil, Leichhardt

I'm sure I could become a vegetarian, if only I didn't like meat so much.

And so we find ourselves at Flavour of Brazil, a temple for carnivores in inner-west Leichhardt. The all-you-can-eat Brazilian Churrasco Banquet is gluttonous protein consumption at its finest. Normally priced at $35 per person, we take advantage of the $26 off-peak discount, available all-day Sunday and Monday and Tuesday nights.


Lime caipirinha

We start our evening with caipirinha, the national Brazilian cocktail with cachaca, a fermented and distilled sugarcane liquor that is muddled with sugar and lime. One should never drink on an empty stomach of course, but we're ready for the meat-fest that includes:

Garlic bread (Pao de Alho)
Brazilian Sausage (Linguiga)
Chicken Thigh Fillet (Sobre Coxa de Frango)
Chicken Wings (Asas de Frango)
Lamb (Cordeiro)
Rump Cup (Picanha)
Beef Sirloin (Contra Filet)
Scotch Fillet (Faixa Escocesa)
Pork Ribs (Costela de Porco)
Rump Steak (Alcatra)
Brazilian rice (Carreteiro)
Tomato Salsa (Vinagrete)
Garden Salad (Salada Mista)
Grilled Pineapple (Abacaxi Grelhado)


Garden salad

The sides arrive first. Garlic bread, garden salad, rice and salsa tempt even the strongest-willed among us, our appetites succumbing to the lure of instant gratification, even though we know the "good stuff" is yet to come.


Tomato and onion salsa


Brazilian rice with tomato and parmesan cheese



And finally the meat! And yes, I'm talking about the chicken wings (!!). Brandishing a giant stainless steel skewer propped over a wooden "juice-catcher", our server moves from person to person down our 12-strong table, dispensing portions as instructed.


Chicken wings

When the real hunks of meat arrive, it's crowd participation time. First you make your selection of preferred doneness (rare, medium or well), the server finds an area of meat that best suits your preference and begins the delicate task of slicing the meat. Your job is to use to small set of tongs provided to grab hold of the meat as it comes away, transferring it to your plate if all goes well, or watching it fall to the floor as you fail Tongs 101 (our table had about three casualties).


Lamb (Carneiro)


Rump cup (Picanha)


Rare, medium or well

It's about this point that we start to regret eating all those sides at the start. The best of them all comes last of course. The rump cup, or picanha, is so tender, soft and delicious, I'm opening all emergency stomachs to no avail. Once we complete the entire range of meats, the servers start to repeat the ones from before. The restaurant is also happy to take special requests, a few of the blokes make a request for more picanha which is quickly accommodated.


Grilled pineapple (Abacaxi Grelhado)

Dessert is a large slab of caramelised fresh pineapple. It's not super-sweet but the clean acidity provides a counter-balance to the abundance of meats.

We have worshipped, we are satiated, and I doubt that any of us are turning vegetarian anytime soon.

Flavour of Brazil
Italian Forum
Ground floor (walkway entrance)
Shop 20-23 Norton Street, Leichhardt, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9572 9479

Open 7 days for lunch and dinner
Brazilian Churrasco Banquet $35 per person all-you-can-eat
$26 special available everyday for lunch and dinner except Friday and Saturday nights

A la carte also available
Brazilian samba show in carnival costumes on Friday and Saturday nights

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Brazilian - Boteco, Surry Hills
Brazilian - Churrasco, Coogee
Peruvian--La Parrillada, Petersham

Albion Place Hotel, Sydney

Battered flathead and chips, tandoori chicken burger,
and grilled snapper fillet

I remember when the strip along George Street cinemas used to have a Timezone, a Galaxy World, a cafe called New York at the Movies and a seemingly permanent walkway of scaffolding.

Today there's a new generation of hotels, cafes, cake shops and clothing stores.

In amongst them is the Albion Place Hotel, modern, light and airy, and an instant hit with local officeworkers.

Leather banquettes and square low-set stools follow the latest trends in seating. The bistro and extended seating is upstairs but we stay on the ground floor and make the dash up the stairs to pick up our meals when our buzzers vibrate.

The tandori chicken burger ($14) is crammed with tomato, lettuce and cucumber raita on toasted Turkish bread. The grilled snapper fillet ($18) is a fancier affair with triangles of crisp polenta, green beans and a shallow pot of eggplant and tomato salsa.

I can't resist the fish and chips, two large flathead fillets in a pale ale batter ($16) served with shoestring fries and salad. The fish is so fresh it still has bones in it. It's a little slow-going with the golden batter distraction, but the effort is worth every mouthful and the portion is more than generous.

The rest of the menu runs the usual gamut of salt and pepper squid, steak and guinness pie, caesar salad and seafood spaghetti. Gluten-free duck and orange sausages may appeal to coeliacs but vegetarians will have to stick to nachos, bruschetta or the Greek salad.

Albion Place Hotel
531 George St Sydney 2000
Tel: +61 (02) 9993 0760

Haldon Street Festival, Lakemba

You don't often encounter a camel on the street in Sydney, but you do at the Haldon Street Festival in cultural melting pot, Lakemba.

Perhaps it's just coincedence that I always seem to make it to this annual community festival, or maybe it's because I really do enjoy wandering the stalls, weaving my way through the families, and stopping into the poky Lebanese grocery stores, aromatic Indian spice and video shops and delicious Lebanese patisseries.




Ka'ak, a Lebanese bread pretzel toasted and sandwiched with haloumi cheese


Chinese pork buns


Boukaj Lebanese baklava from Patisserie Arja

The sign for Paradise Bakery tricks me time. Expecting sweet treats, I'm always surprised when I step inside and find Continental groceries instead. Gigantic buckets of pickled cucumbers and radish line the aisles, as shelves groan with bottles of pomegranate syrup and tins of ready-made foul medamas and baba ghanoush. Up the back, the fridges are jammed with haloumi cheese, ayran yoghurt drinks and labneh Lebanese cream cheese.


Pickled turnip


Jars galore at Paradise Bakery


Hookahs (water pipes)


Belly dancing costumes


This year's Haldon Street Festival was held on Saturday 23 August 2008. This annual event is in its ninth year, and celebrates respect, unity and peace.

Patisserie Arja
129 Haldon Street Lakemba, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9740 8320

Paradise Bakery (grocery store)
117 Haldon Street Lakemba, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9759 1142

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Haldon Street Festival 2007
Haldon Street Festival 2006
Haldon Street Festival 2005: The parade
Haldon Street Festival 2005: The food
El Manara, Lakemba
Jasmin, Lakemba

Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market, Cook + Phillip Park every Friday

What's a little rain between friends?

A wet and gloomy Friday did little to deter Sydney city workers from the launch of the Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market at Cook + Phillip Park.

To be held every Friday, now there's no excuse for missing your favourite suppliers at the weekend markets. In amongst the jams, trays of plump strawberries and lemon myrtle shampoos were market regulars: La Tartine sourdough, Shepherds Bakehouse, Willowbrae chevre goats cheese and our favourite baking foodblogger Chocolatesuze with The Biscuit Tree.


Macadamia shortbread, ginger shortbread and
cranberry pistachio shortbread from The Biscuit Tree


Coffee and ginger almond biscotti and macadamia biscotti


Hunter Valley Olive Co. olive oil


Mushrooms


Kuranda natural health bars


Golden beets



Bratwurst from Eumundi Smokehouse


Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
10am - 2.30pm every Friday
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
(next to St Marys Cathedral)
College Street, Sydney

Restaurant 08

The future for Australian restaurants?

I was keen to uncover the answers at Restaurant 08, the annual industry event--now in its third year--for restaurant owners, chefs and sommeliers.

There was a happy browse amongst the 120+ exhibitors, offering everything from veal jus to cash registers, to uniforms to wagyu. We marvelled at cutlery, crockery, Japanese knives and an amazing electric vegetable slicer that converted a carrot into an intricate sheet of cut-out netting.


Daikon cutting by Michiaki Miyazaki, Fish Face

At the Culinary Skills workshop on sashimi, Michiaki Miyazaki, Fish Face sushi chef, proved to be the quiet star of the show, impressing us with awe-inspiring precise and graceful knifework. Gloriously fresh fish were gutted and filleted with ease; carrots and daikon peeled around their circumference to create delicate paperthin vegetable scrolls.


Sashimi



The Talk Business series of panel discussions included a packed-out session on Australian and International Restaurant Trends, hosted by the ever-present Joanna Savill.

According to Tony Bilson, top-end dining has become more like art, an artistic expression by the chef that is presented to diners. He thinks this makes it much harder to judge and review as the concept of food as an experience and artform depends much on personal taste.

At the same time, Bilson recognises the explosion of "bistro food", acknowledging improvements across the board for all restaurants, as the public have become more aware of what is "good food". People are less likely to encounter bad food, he said. He also noticed a shift towards food with a more regional focus as well as the use of low-temperature cooking.

Sissel Rosengren, a senior manager at BIS Shrapnel, a economic forecasting and research consultancy, thought the growth was in middle-market restaurants, pointing out that only 3-5% of the population eat at high-end restaurants. She noted the lack of skilled labour in Australia, and talked of high labour costs and restaurant rents prompting a shift toward pre-prepared food and partly prepared products.

But as Bilson says, "Australians know good food." Compared to the rest of the world, we have liberated attitudes to food and even the internet, he commented, has made food transnational.


Jamon iberico

After the Luddite-like theme to last year's session on using the internet, I was interested to see how this year's forum, "Getting Connected: Harness the Power of the Web", would unfold.

A website is crucial, Joanna Savill affirmed. Sean Byrne, general manager of Jonah's Whale Beach, talked about the spike in web-generated enquiries and the use of a customer database to send newsletters and seek feedback. Blogs didn't get a mention though, and neither was there much talk about monitoring one's web presence or reputation, something that is already happening regardless of whether a restaurant has a great website or not.


Wagyu striploin marble score 6

Restaurant 08 is an industry-only event held once per year. This year the event was held in Sydney and, for the first time, Melbourne.

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Restaurant 09
Restaurant 09: 10 marketing tips for restaurants (and what they really think of food blogs)
Restaurant 08
Restaurant 07

Upcoming events: Sydney food festivals

There's no shortage of food-related events in Sydney. This weekend's highlights include the Hawkesbury Harvest farmers market in the City on Friday and the annual Haldon Street Festival in Lakemba on Saturday.


Friday 22 August (then every Friday)
10am - 2.30pm
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
College Street, Sydney
Free

Friday 22 August
4pm - 8pm
Gluten Free Expo
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Free

Saturday 23 August
10am - 4pm
Haldon Street Festival
(GYF photos 2007, 2006 and 2005)
Haldon Street, Lakemba
Free

Saturday 23 August
9am - 5pm
Gluten Free Expo
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Free

Friday 29 August (every Friday)
10am - 2.30pm
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
College Street, Sydney
Free

Sunday 31 August
10am-5pm
Malaysia Festival (GYF photos 2006)
Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour
Free

Friday 05 September (every Friday)
10am - 2.30pm
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
College Street, Sydney
Free

Sunday 7 September
10am - 4pm
Burwood Festival
Burwood Road, Burwood
Free

Sunday 7 September
10am - 4pm
Marrickville Festival
(GYF photos 2007 and 2006)
Marrickville Road, Marrickville
Free

Saturday 20 September
10am - 4pm
Auburn Festival
(GYF photos 2006)
Auburn Road, Auburn (near Auburn station)
Free

1-31 October
Good Food Month
Full program published 23/09/08 SMH
Tickets for Ferran Adria talk on Oct 17 go on sale Sep 1 at www.ticketmaster.com.au

Sunday 26 October
11am - 4pm
Danks Street Festival
(GYF photos 2006)
Danks Street, Waterloo (free shuttle bus from Redfern)
Free

Banana Sour Cream Cake

Who can resist a tantalising slice of moist banana cake?

The secret to a tasty banana cake is a well-aged over-ripe banana. I take my banana fermentation quite seriously, allowing the bananas to ripen on the counter for at least two weeks, letting it go until the skin's about to start growing mould - seriously! I then carefully peel the bananas, plop them into a container, give them a quick mash with a fork and freeze until a banana bread urge arises. It defrosts like a dream in the microwave.

I adapted the recipe below from a Donna Hay recipe by adding walnuts - an essential crunch and contrast factor in my personal appreciation of banana cakes. This is a moist cake, almost fail-safe with the amount of sour cream involved. I found it a tad oily straight out of the oven, but the keeping time is amazing, staying moist for about five days. In fact I thought it tasted best two days later.

The cake is quite springy to the touch, and unlike banana bread, doesn't need toasting or any added butter to serve.

Banana Sour Cream Cake
(adapted from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2)

125g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup roughly mashed banana
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted

Cream the butter, caster sugar and brown sugar, using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one a time, beating well until incorporated, between each addition.

Sift in the flour and baking powder. Add the cinnamon, sour cream, banana and walnuts and combine gently with a metal spoon, taking care not to over-mix.

Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 10cm by 20cm loaf tin.

Bake for about 40 minutes at 180C (170C if using a fan-forced oven, and less another 10C if using a non-stick teflon pan) or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to rest in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Sydney events calendar: food festivals and expos

I know, I know, things have been quiet around here lately, but that shouldn't stop you having fun! Get these dates in the diary and enjoy the best of Sydney at its tastiest...

*UPDATED*
Sunday 17 August
10am - 4pm
Live Green
With a kitchen marquee featuring Kylie Kwong, Jared Ingersoll, Joanna Savill and John Newton
Victoria Park, Camperdown
Free

Sunday 17 August
10am - 4pm
Ferragosto '08 (GYF photos 2007)
Celebrating Italian food and the Five Dock community
Great North Road, Five Dock
Free


*UPDATED*
Friday 22 August (then every Friday)
10am - 2.30pm
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
College Street, Sydney
Free

Friday 22 August
4pm - 8pm
Gluten Free Expo
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Free

Saturday 23 August
9am - 5pm
Gluten Free Expo
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Free

Friday 29 August (every Friday)
10am - 2.30pm
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
College Street, Sydney
Free

Sunday 31 August
10am-5pm
Malaysia Festival (GYF photos 2006)
Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour
Free

Friday 05 September (every Friday)
10am - 2.30pm
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers and Fine Food Market
The square at Cook + Phillip Park
College Street, Sydney
Free

Sunday 7 September
10am - 4pm
Burwood Festival
Burwood Road, Burwood
Free

Sunday 7 September
10am - 4pm
Marrickville Festival
(GYF photos 2007 and 2006)
Marrickville Road, Marrickville
Free

Good Living Growers' Markets, Pyrmont

Manna from Heaven cupcakes

Golden rays of early morning sunshine warmed our cheeks on Saturday as we browsed the monthly Good Living Growers' Markets. Is there much more to say after 19 posts on this outdoor celebration of tasty treats?

We sure do miss the butter lady though. I have a major craving for that hearty spoon-worthy slab of Gympie cultured butter. Is she nary to be seen?


Cakes from Manna from Heaven


Marshmallows from Sweetness the Patisserie

Our favourite stall is still Sweetness the Patisserie, of course. The plethora of samples has much to do with it.


Marshmallow samples

And whilst the sun warmed our faces, the hot chilli wine sample warmed our bellies. At 12% proof and fermented purely from chillies, the grape-free wine from Disaster Bay Chillies did an temperature-raising salsa across our tongue.

It was the smoky chipotle sauce that made it into my shopping bag though. Made by wood-smoking their organically grown Jalapeno chillies, I've got a T-bone steak in the fridge just waiting to be annointed!


Cheeses from Simon Johnson


Golden beetroots


Shiitake mushrooms $5.50/100grams


Radishes

Good Living Growers' Market
7.00am - 11.00am on the first Saturday of every month
Pyrmont Bay Park, Pyrmont (opposite Star City Casino), Sydney

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Good Living Growers' Market 2008: February ¦ July
Good Living Growers' Market 2006: November ¦ October ¦ September ¦ July ¦ June ¦ May ¦ April ¦ March ¦ February
Good Living Growers' Market 2005: November ¦ October ¦ September ¦ August ¦ July ¦ April ¦ March ¦ February

Irish soda bread

Baking with yeast can be a daunting prospect, which is why Irish soda bread--which uses baking powder, bicarb and buttermilk to rise--is a easy task for baking beginners to tackle.

I love the chewy wholesomeness of Irish soda bread. My Irish friend tells me a traditional way to eat it is with butter and honey, but I much prefer it slathered only in butter, or otherwise sandwiched around a thick wedge of vintage cheddar and a pickle or two.

The caraway seeds in the recipe add a faint flavour of licorice. If you enjoy the taste, feel free to add more. If licorice isn't your thing, then reduce or omit at your pleasure.



Irish soda bread
(originally printed in Notebook Magazine, 2007)

2 cups (320g) wholemeal plain flour
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
3/4 cup (185ml) buttermilk, plus a little extra for brushing
2 tsp honey
sea salt flakes to dust

Preheat oven to 200C

Mix together the milk, buttermilk and honey in a jug.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, bicarb, cream of tartar, baking powder and caraway seeds.

Make a well in the centre and then slowly pour in the milk mixture, gradually pulling in the flours from the sides to combine. Mix with a wooden spoon until it just comes together in a ball.

Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface and gently knead, using the heel of your hand, until smooth.

Shape the dough into a round shape, then place onto a lightly floured oven tray. Cut a small 1cm-deep cross into the top of the dough. Brush the surface with the extra buttermilk and then dust with the sea salt flakes.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a golden-brown crust has formed and the bread is cooked through (tap the crust and it should sound hollow, otherwise risk sacrilege and test with a skewer).

Enjoy warm with butter, butter and honey, or as part of a ploughman's lunch with vintage cheddar, pickles, pickled onions and hearty slices of ham.

This also freezes well, wrapped tightly. Freeze whole, or in slices for gradual consumption.