The cooking, eating and travel blog of a hungry blogger from Sydney, Australia featuring original recipes, interviews and articles on all things food @ Not Quite Nigella

Category Archives: Other European

Macanese Week At The Four Seasons, Circular Quay

macanese food sydney

My friends and I were talking about cuisines that aren’t represented in Sydney. It was hard to pick one as Sydney is so diverse it seems that we have a restaurant for just about every cuisine.

“How about Kazakhstani?” I ventured as I recalled trying to brainstorm for a Kazakhstani dinner party and being at a loss to find the ingredients.

One cuisine that is a little more accessible taste wise and that isn’t represented in Sydney is Macanese cuisine from Macau near Hong Kong. The intriguing thing about this cuisine is that it was borne from Macau being a Portuguese colony and is influenced by the various foods in the areas that the Portuguese visited on their spice routes creating a unique cuisine. So Macanese cuisine is actually a blend of Portuguese, Cantonese as well as some African and Indian flavours. You can get bacalhau-the Portuguese dried and salted cod alongside coconut laced curries and African chicken. Their egg tarts are a cross between the classic Portuguese tart (pastéis de nata) and Chinese egg tarts. And for just one week ending this coming Friday the Four Seasons hotel has brought over two chefs from the Four Seasons Macau to cook traditional Macanese food for diners at Kables restaurant. And that is where we find ourselves one spring lunchtime.

macanese food sydney

Cod fish fritters with marinated olives, tartare sauce

Macanese food is traditionally served share style, similar to Chinese food. The cod fish fritters are up first and they’re small dark golden crumbed fritters with a thin, lightly crunchy coating with a salty kick from the salted cod. They remind me of the oven baked croquettes that I made recently rather than my image of a fritter and they’re combined with a thick tartare sauce and sharp, firm green and black olives.

macanese food sydney

Caldo verde – Portugeuse style potato and kale soup, extra virgin olive oil $16

I must admit that I wasn’t really won over by this soup which was a bit grainy. I did like the smoked pork pieces which didn’t get a mention on the menu (and fellow diner Heather doesn’t eat pork so that was a surprise). It is served with a basket of grilled bread.

macanese food sydney

Macanese prawns with chilli and garlic

The prawns are served with the shell on and the smaller ones are the easiest to eat as I ate them shell and all. And if you’ve never eaten a prawn head, eating a dish like this is the time to do so as much of the flavoursome chilli, ginger and garlic sauce and flavour is concentrated in the head and the smaller ones pack a lot of flavour whilst being soft too.

macanese food sydney

African chicken -curry roasted chicken, potato wedges and salad

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34 comments | October 16th, 2011 by Not Quite Nigella

Food Society, Darlinghurst

food society darlinghurst

I look up and there is a piano suspended from on the wall above. A red chair and a wooden desk greets me to the right. I walk in and down the stairs past the displays of fruit, spices, teapots and vintage couches and spy a couple of old fashioned rotary whisks adorning the walls. Two of my travelling companions Tina and Mariam from my recent trip to Canada sit against the banquette on this quiet Monday night. We’re early granted for this neighbourhood, and there is one other table quietly dining near the window.

food society darlinghurst

The somewhat mysteriously named Food Society is not actually a food society or club that requires membership to pass under the piano above but instead it is a restaurant that serves Eastern European food, a sector of European food not particularly common in inner city Sydney. At the bar are two gentlemen in checked shirts and bow ties and there are pots of mulled wine well…mulling including one spiced apple pie drink (curses, I’m driving and can’t drink!) as well as Svarak which is a mulled red wine.

food society darlinghurst

A faux fireplace glows and we quickly shed our layers. We’re dining mid September and Spring is definitely in the air but it’s still a bit of Winter here with the fireplace and a Winter menu (said to change soon). We take the waiter’s recommendation for entrees and mains and it’s the mains we have the most trouble deciding on as there are four must try sounding ones. Orders are taken via iPad and the waiter proudly shows the system where the kitchen can feed back to him how many portions of a dish remain. Dishes are designed to be shared and many of the mains are smaller than normal but the prices reflect this with most mains under $25.

food society darlinghurst

Pierogi with organic pork, roasted shallots $10.50

The pierogis come out first on a long plate as four pierogi dumplings that have been filled with organic pork meat and then boiled and then pan fried with a roasted shallot and speck butter sauce. The pierogi are a sturdier dumpling with some bite back and are good stomach fillers for cold nights.

food society darlinghurst

Beetroot and vodka cured ocean trout blini, dill cream $16

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44 comments | September 28th, 2011 by Not Quite Nigella

Mulligan’s, Chippendale & Psychic Thursdays

mulligans chippendale

For many years now there has been a restaurant that I have passed on the way home. It is sometimes lit up and at other times pitch dark depending on the evening, There are also broad banners proclaiming “Restaurant Of The Year”. And every time we say to ourselves “We must check it out”. And then one night we drove past and saw the magic words “Psychic reading”. Now I know this may be a red flag to some of you but to people like us it is like a curled finger beckoning at us to come in.

mulligans chippendale

Now Queen Viv being a bit of a bossy boots proclaimed that she didn’t want to eat there until Winter. Turns out she was right, for this freezing cold evening we enter Mulligan’s and rubbing our cold hands together we make our way to a table by the crackling fireplace. And trust me that a place in front of a fireplace in the current Sydney cold is the place to be. This evening is so cold it seems that Jack Frost has truly arrived and lined our coats with ice.

mulligans chippendale

Eilleen the hostess is instantly welcoming and speaks with you like you are a long lost family member. She is gentle but firm when people have to be turned away without a booking, and there are several that we witness having to take the long, cold route back home. She tells us that they’re booked up for weeks to come and every Thursday night they have psychics upstairs telling people about their futures. Tonight there are four upstairs including some well known ones that have written books and featured on television.

mulligans chippendale

“Nil aon tintean mar do thintean fein” or”There’s no fireside like your own fireside”

I check with Eilleen about the psychics-we have come here tonight as Queen Viv is going through a odd patch in her life and we felt that the psychic visit would do her well. Eilleen’s face lights up and tells us that there is a table at the front where there is a spirit and that she was clued onto it as she could smell perfume there. Then this afternoon when all four psychics arrived they all saw the same blonde girl sitting there. She also tells us how she and her husband Sean stay here while the restaurant is open in order to take early morning deliveries and closing and opening doors are a common occurrence and objects have been known to move and hover.

mulligans chippendale

The table with the spirit!

mulligans chippendale

Irish soda bread and butter

We ponder the menu while eating the soda bread. Two courses are $45 and desserts are an extra $15. There are specials every day and given that there is a Christmas tree up for Christmas in July we can’t help but complete the fireplace side experience by ordering the Christmas roast dinner. This Irish soda bread is moist, fresh with a delicious crunchy crust and with the texture unlike bread and more like cake-it reminds me of a pumpkin bread that I make. I realise that I haven’t seen butter curls in the longest time.

mulligans chippendale

Parcels from Carlow

The first item that arrives are the parcels from Carlow which are shortcrust pastry wrapped chicken and mushroom and they are fantastically moreish. Miss America declares “I could eat a plate full of these”. They come with a creamy red wine sauce and the buttery pastry is flakey and comforting with just the right amount of filling.

mulligans chippendale

Mrs. Mulligan’s Black & White Pudding with Bacon

Most of us are fans of black pudding except for Miss America. It comes as two slices each of black and white pudding with a generous amount of bacon and a lick of mustard sauce. The white pudding is white peppery and oatmealy and the milder version of the two whilst the black blood pudding is richer but not overtly so with just the right amount of seasoning and doesn’t taste too metallic as some can from the blood. They’re both good and pairing it with bacon and the mild mustard sauce makes them even better. “It tastes like the pudding was fried in bacon fat” Queen Viv says with approval.

mulligans chippendale

Boxty Pancakes

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59 comments | June 22nd, 2011 by Not Quite Nigella

A Private Lunch & Interview With Marcus Wareing, Four In Hand, Paddington

marcus wareing

It’s funny how life changes. Two years ago I dined at Marcus Wareing’s Petrus restaurant (back when he and Gordon Ramsay were business partners) and we had a fantastic meal where every single little course, including the amuses and in between courses sparkled. It was a meal we remembered well because there wasn’t a single jarring note. We got on the plane back to Australia thinking that it was a lovely memory. Fast forward two years and I find myself the lucky beneficiary of an invitation to a Private Lunch with Marcus Wareing from the lovely people at Visit Britain. Marcus Wareing was of course visiting here as part of the Sydney International Food Festival.

marcus wareing

Amuse Bouche: Fish and citrus soup

We take a seat in the private dining room of the Four in Hand Dining Room and we are given our first taste of the day, an amuse bouche. Looks are deceptive. Resembling a carrot or pumpkin soup this elegant little demitasse of fish soup with citrus is deliciously rewarding, given depth with the fish stock and an accent with the citrus flavour.

marcus wareing

Sashimi Bonito and tuna with pickled cucumber and snow

I have to admit that the smear wasn’t perhaps the most fetching feature on the plate but underneath the long shreds of pickled cucumber were some delectable sashimi pieces of bonito fish and tuna. I see bonito popping up more on menus nowadays and it’s a lovely, mild flavoured fish. The snow is the tangy green granita in the centre and there are also slices of raw cauliflower and slices of radish. It’s more a sashimi salad and I’m a bit perplexed by the green smear as it has a very mild taste.

I take some photos and then look up and see Marcus watching and smiling. “Are you the actual Not Quite Nigella?” Marcus asks me across the table. He tells us of how he used to ban food bloggers from taking photos until his staff convinced him otherwise. “I’m old fashioned” he says and shows us that he has a phone that is just a phone “and I may sometimes text” he says. His main objection to food blogging is people writing awful things and taking poor quality photographs.

marcus wareing

Daisy next to me is a vegetarian and Marcus says that he loves vegetarians. Pardon me? I almost have to ask. Many chefs are known (notoriously Gordon Ramsay who told people he’d like to throw them out of a plane) for disliking vegetarians but Marcus tells us that they have a special vegetarian degustation and want to give them the same quality of meal as an omnivore.

marcus wareing

Crisp pig’s ear with crab and roast corn salad nad ginger beer jelly

“Ginger beer jelly?” I say out loud. On the right is a crispy deep fried pig’s ear which is fantastic (and I know you’re going to ask, it doesn’t taste “ear-y” ). I do love corn and this roast corn and crab salad is generously portioned with sweet pieces of crab meat. As for the ginger beer jelly, I like it in small amounts but it’s tangy and sweet and quite strong and it is surrounded by a mayonnaise type of sauce.

marcus wareing

Spring Lamb: two ways with Spring Vegetables

In just what has to be the most feast like presentation, the slow cooked shoulder of lamb sits in the centre of the table to be shared between 3-4 people. It’s served with a variety of Dutch carrots in fetching shades of yellow, purple and orange and battered white anchovies. It is also served with what has to be one of the best mashed potatoes I’ve had-they’re silky smooth and creamy and covered in a blanket of herbs . Chef Colin Fassnidge is Irish and at the risk of culturally profiling someone, he definitely has a way with potatoes!

marcus wareing