I realise the title of this story sounds like one of those wonderfully magical children’s tales (and there is a little bit of a tale of a small child for you here too). The Ugly Cake that I speak of from Buppa’s Bakehouse in Newtown is not very ugly at all, despite the name. Buppa, a childhood nickname that stuck, contacted me a couple of weeks ago asking me if I would like to come in and taste her home baked goodies at her American style bakery, all made by her and her alone. I was in the throes of the flu (and no, not Swine Flu) and despite wanting to try them straight away, I begged off until my taste buds were back. They came back shortly after and I was looking forward to my visit.

Open for a mere 5 weeks, Buppa’s Bakehouse (Buppa rhymes with Papa) is on the quieter end of King Street in Newtown.  In an elegantly hued building, it has a sparkling shopfront but you’d have to know it was there to find it amongst the jumble of shops. Buppa shows me her range of items and they’re certainly American in theme with peanut butter, chocolate and cream cheese featuring in many, cookies in many forms, all manner of American cakes and of course real boiled bagels - the New York way.

“My baking philosophy is that things should contain real ingredients, look delicious and be highly edible rather than just decorative. I am hoping that my ‘homemade’ style catches on and people start to remember what real cheesecake tastes like rather than the ones you can get that came out of a box, shipped from a warehouse etc.” she says. She’s more West Coast low key (actually San Franciscan) rather than the forward driven East Coast type.

Her story is interesting too – as the story goes she grew up very poor and to supplement the family’s income, her mum would enter baking contests but as there was a limit to the number of entries she could make, she entered under her children’s names. Buppa however was one of the 9 children that could cook so she entered her own goodies and ended up winning many prizes. The $5 for the children’s division and $10 for the adult’s division would prove a windfall for the family and set off a baking obsession for decades on and would urge her to quit her teaching job at an international school to open the bakehouse.

Blueberry bagel with cream cheese $4

I started with a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. She brings it out toasted and it’s generously spread with cream cheese. “It’s American style!” she says. “You’ve been to America right so you know that everything there is over the top and very generous in size” she says. The bagel is indeed a real boiled bagel with real blueberries (and her trick is to use dried blueberries which are costly but fresh ones are too soft). The cream cheese is thickly spread and some falls out as I bite in but it’s delicious. And yes it’s a bit more home made looking than bagels you may see which are made on a machine but that’s the point.

Pear & Plum Cheesecake $6

The baked cheesecake has small chunks of stewed cinnamon pears and plum and is topped with Beurre Bosc pears and cinnamon sugar. The filling is beautifully creamy and yet light. The buttery, crunchy crust is fantastic – possibly my favourite cheesecake crust ever and never discount the power of cheesecake crust. Get the wrong biscuit and it won’t be nearly as good.

Ugly Cake $7

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**Please note South has now closed**

One of the disadvantages to foodblogging is the complete inability to go back to a place. No matter how much you’ve enjoyed your meal, there’s always somewhere else to go being that this is Sydney and there are more restaurants than you can poke a fork at. However after our first meal at South I had a craving for the ribs. An intense craving. I’d managed to procure one from Gina’s plate only to lust for more, not helped by South’s proximity to where we live. Every time we’d drive past it, I’d think of the ribs. So a return visit was scheduled, indeed it was scheduled with the same group of friends we originally went with as they were also hankering for a repeat. And I had my ribs, yes I did.

Leo, the chef and owner

The day we visit is also the day that South received a huge almost full page very positive review by Helen Grreenwood in the Sydney Morning Herald. So we’re lucky we’ve booked. Indeed many people show up without bookings to be told nicely that the tables are booked.

There are some must trys, obviously the finger licking, lip smackingly good ribs are to be ordered. In fact everyone bar Phillippe (who doesn’t share) and Hot Dog (who in a friendship-stretching gesture has taken up Phillippe’s non sharing cause with a difference-he won’t share his meal but he will partake in our meals) wants to share so that we can try as much as possible.

Hot Wings $16

We start with the Hot Wings, those vinegary deliciously sauce wings from last time. It’s something Hot Dog can’t go past and he reluctantly offers us some.

Crawfish Pie $15

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**Please note South has now closed**

Please allow me to do a bit of housekeeping. Not Quite Nigella has been nominated in two categories for Well Fed Network’s awards! Thankyou so much for the wonderful people that nominated me And if you would like to vote you can do so on:

Best Food Blog – Post (for my Freeganism story)

Best Food Blog – City

Lots of love and happiness,

Lorraine aka NQN

xxx

And now onto the story…

I’ve always wanted to visit the South in America. There’s something about the lilting accents, the heat, the fabulous array of delicious and richly historical food imbued with legend that sparks my interest. I also do a mean Southern accent on occasion but so far I’ve only visited via restaurant or via the ingestion of cake. My friend Teena sent me the link to South on eatability knowing that we all love Southern food, particularly my friend Gina, whose birthday we were celebrating. I was a little suspicious given the rave reviews with particular mention for Leo, the owner,  from people who had only written one review but hey it’s in a neighbouring suburb so I was willing to give it a try and aid in Gina’s quest for Chicken Wings and Pumpkin Pie from back home.

Bread and melted butter

On busy Military Road, South is a small restaurant with red and white checkered tablecloths, a (faux) possum sitting on top of the inside awning, a dessert case full of home made desserts and a bright, eyecatching mural. We are seated and the owner Leo comes over and introduces himself. Ah ok, this is why everyone mentions him by name. It’s also slated to be featured in next week’s episode of Food Safari on SBS.

Lemonade $4

We order Lemonades (very sweet and not fizzy but quite refreshing nevertheless). The menu is a mix of all things Southern, Cajun and Creole and features items such as crab cakes, BBQ Ribs, okra, Gumbo, catfish, Crawfish Etouffe, country fried steak, Jambalaya and of course the desserts (my favourite part of Southern cuisine-I am after all the person that had a Red Velvet Wedding cake).

Photos of our Red Velvet Wedding cake (photography by ViL Photography)

Hot Wings $16

Now as I mentioned, the reason why we’ve chosen this place is for Gina, as she’s Canadian and many a time she would cross the border in search of good chicken wings and pumpkin pie. Having tried chicken wings everywhere, she is always trying to find ones like back home (well technically back home and a bit south) so she and her fellow chicken wing loving husband Hot Dog hone in on these. She notes that they’re a bit pricier than your average wings so there’s a lot riding on them and we all wait to see their reaction. Hot Dog is too busy eating but gives it a big thumbs up as does Gina. The wings are spicy, with a vinegary tang and are juicy and delicious and served with celery sticks and a blue cheese sauce.

Crab Cakes $31

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