What’s a Smörgåstårta I hear you ask? I first heard of it from my husband’s aunt who is Finnish. We were having a Swedish themed Worldwide Food Night and I only knew of Gravlax, Pickled Herring and Swedish Meatballs. The fact that it loosely translates to “Sandwich Cake” immediately pricked up my ears. Here’s a brief description from Wikipedia:

“Smörgåstårta (”sandwich cake”) is a Swedish dish. It is a kind of sandwich with so much filling that it more resembles a cake than a sandwich.

The smörgåstårta is normally made up of several layers of buttered bread with creamy fillings in between. The kind of fillings and toppings varies, but egg and mayonnaise are normally the base, and typically accompanied by any combination of liver paté, olives, prawns, caviar, and smoked salmon.

Smörgåstårta is normally served cold and sliced like a dessert cake, usually with white wine or beer.”

I had an issue as one of my guests doesn’t eat fish. There goes the traditional recipe so I improvised and used cold meats.

Smörgåstårta

• 12 slices of crustless bread buttered on both sides (white and 9 grain)
• Olive Mortadella-6 slices
• Swiss cheese-6 slices
• Grilled eggplant-3 thick large slices
• Sun dried tomato-6 large chopped
• Spanish salami-9 slices
• Olive dip-150g (Josephine’s or Yumi’s)
• Cajun beef-250g each piece folded to make the swirly pattern
• Gherkin spread-250g
• 1 cucumber sliced thinly

1. Place 3 pieces of bread on the bottom layer. You will make 4 layers with 3 slices on each layer.
2. On the bottom layer place cheese and olive mortadella.
3. Place 3 more pieces of bread then on the next layer place grilled eggplant and sun dried tomato.
4. On the next layer place 3 more pieces of bread and then spanish salami and olive dip.
5. Place last 3 pieces of bread on the top layer and spread with gherkin spread and then artistically arrange the cajun beef.
6. Lastly place cucumber slices around it adhered with gherkin dip. And voila! A Swedish sensation beyond ABBA or Roxette!

I leave you with a hall of fame of other gorgeous Smörgåstårta’s that I found on the internet. Mine looks rather plain and inglorious in comparison but you’ve got to start somewhere.

From http://web.comhem.se/greatone/

From http://tavaratalot.stockmann.fi

From www.restaurangbalder.se

From www.wikipedia.org

From www.kfgota.se

From www.acatinthekitchen.com

P.S. Will the lady in the purple batwinged ABBA-esque jumpsuit please audition for Australian Idol.

Nestled in a small side street of the Rocks is a small Japanese restaurant which is so popular that if you come between 12.30-2pm without a booking, you will most likely be turned away. I can see why its popular, its a gorgeous, private setting where you can sit either indoors or outdoors and populated with suits, mums and tourists alike.

As I’m meeting friends, one of whom only has an hour until she needs to be back in the office, we take to the task of ordering quickly. We choose from the Lunch box specials menu (there is also an a la carte regular menu) as the lacquered boxes that adorn other tables look delicious.

We order some Eel lunch boxes (Grilled eel) and the Super Combi (grilled salmon, tempura, calamari ring, boiled egg, sushi). Both lunch boxes come with sashimi, hosomaki salad, harumaki rice, prawn parcel, spring roll and miso soup. There are contented murmurs and everyone is happy with their lacquered boxes full of colourful goodies. The salmon sashimi is square in shape and deliciosuly moreish, the sushi is a little heavy handed on the wasabi but I am not a big Wasabi fan at all so this should probably please most other people who slather it on.

The grilled salmon has a lovely crisp skin which is perfect with the harumaki rice and the tempura is an interesting range of vegetables (green capsicum, zucchini, sweet potato, green bean and eggplant) with a King Prawn thrown in for good measure. The King Prawn and capsicum are my favourites. The salad is a little light on the dressing for me, as I don’t really like a lot of raw undressed cabbage but I am nicely full from everything else that I don’t give it another thought. Its not an overwhelming amount of food but just right for a lunch that doesn’t leave one feeling that they need a lie down.

The regular a la carte menu offers items such as Gyoza (pork or vegetable) 5 pieces for $7.40, 9 pieces of Tempura (combination of prawns and vegetables) for $13.50, Sashimi 15 pieces $14.90, Sushi 14 pieces $14.90, Nabeyaki Udon (noodle hot pot with vegetables, seafood chicken and prawn tempura) for $13.50.

And if you eat between 6pm and 7.30pm your first drink is free (Sake, Soft drink or House wine)!

Nakashima Japanese Restaurant

7 Cambridge St The Rocks NSW 2000
Tel: +61 (02) 9241 1364
Monday to Friday Noon - 2.30pm, 6 - 9.30pm
Licensed and BYO
10% of all takeaway orders over $10 except for lunch boxes

La Renaissance is the kind of place that, even if you’re in a hurry, you stop and pause to savour the sight of delicious cakes in the display. This time my friend and I weren’t in a hurry so we join the rest of the eager purchasers.

Choosing a cake is extremely hard; does one go with a tried-and-true chocolate favourite like Tiramisu or a French classic like Creme Brulee or do I try their more unusual cakes. There are also eclairs, handmade chocolates, macarons (I’ll be back for these!), creme caramels, palmiers and a selection of fruit tarts. Each has its own appeal but in the end I am won by the paisley shaped mousse confections in either Mango (Matisse), Berry (Larme de Gaugin) or Passionfruit (Passion de Pierre). Most of the individual cakes are approximately $6 for eat in or $5 for takeaway. Larger cakes are about $29-$32 for the smaller sized ones that serve 6. Since I am a firm berry fan I choose the Berry (Larme de Gaugin $6) and a coffee ($3.50) and my friend chooses the Mango version (Matisse $6) and a pot of tea ($3). There’s also a selection of hot savouries that smell incredibly enticing but we resist.

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