There are certain challenges when trying to introduce a cuisine into a country especially one largely unsampled and unheard of. And for years native Peruvian chef Alejandro Saravia has toiled trying to introduce his country’s cuisine to Australia through his Taste of Peru dinners and cooking classes. There is the struggle against using ingredients like guinea pig which many people associate with Peruvian cuisine, lest it become a gimmicky cuisine. There is also the wider misconception that Peruvian food is just like Mexican food or Spanish food.

Fast forward to a few years later and after working in kitchens across Sydney (Pier, Sails and El Bulli) and biding his time, Alejandro has finally stepped out into the spotlight with a restaurant of his own making the food that he wants to, with Morena serving modern Latin American cuisine.

Chef Alejandro Saravia

What does Morena mean? Alejandro explains that Morena is a Latin American woman, brunette specifically, and a woman that can fill up a room with her presence. She is sexy, fun but  elegant. And this is the sensibility that he is trying to impress upon us-it’s Peruvian fine dining but with a Latin American warmth to it. Part of the St Margaret’s development it sits where Guru and The Battery used to.

The front entrance is an eye catching verdant scene glowing with hydroponic lights. The scene is a joint venture between Morena and Queensland’s Kendall Farms. They grow them the very important “Aji Amarillo” or the Peruvian yellow chile pepper which up until now, they had to use dried or in a paste form. It took the farm just two crops to get it just right.

Morena has Australia’s first pisco bar, pisco being that eminently drinkable grape brandy that lends itself to sour flavours without being too mouth puckeringly sour. Here they experiment with many different cocktails including Pisco infused with coca leaves (the leaves that are used to make cocaine but have actually been part of the Inca and Andean diet for many years-and no the end result bears no resemblance to cocaine! ).

Pisco Sour $17

The Pisco sour is a frothy foamy drink made with Santiago Queirolo Pisco, lime juice, sugar syrup and egg white shaken vigorously and served in a wine taster with a couple of dashes of bitters and has a distinct aniseedy taste to it. It is finished off with some finely grated kaffir lime zest. Limes are sweeter in Peru while they are more acidic here so to compensate they also use some lemon juice.

Morena Chilcano $18

The Morena Chilcano is Alejandro’s favourite. He predicts that when the Summer weather hits and they open up to the courtyard outside in February this refreshing cocktail with Pisco infused cucumber, lime juice and ginger ale will be the hit.

The bread is baked on the premises daily and is a lovely, warm round roll with quinoa and it comes to life when paired with the coriander seed and black pepper infused Italian olive oil. Service is sweet and they explain things to us. However as we’re dining early (way too early for the Surry Hills crowd) and are the only customers, we feel a little claustrophobic as two wait staff hover over us.

Peruvian ceviche with kingfish, cancha and caramelised sweet potato and seaweed $20

There’s a degustation menu with 6 courses for $105 or with matching wines for $135 but we went a la carte as we wanted to try some other dishes. We start with what has to be the signature dish, a Peruvian ceviche. Although ceviche is a dish that spans many countries, the difference between others and Peruvian ceviche is the use of aji amarillo and it is not considered a Peruvian ceviche without it. The waiter tells us that the fish today is kingfish instead of the pink snapper on the menu and it comes in even sized cubes dressed with lime and lemon juice, balls of sweet, caramelised sweet potato and cancha which are crunchy, dry roasted Andean corn-corn being another item that is used extensively.

The flavours are tart, moreish and the texture of the kingfish is sublime. There was some brown seaweed at the bottom which was quite strong in flavour and I didn’t really go for this as I preferred the fresh flavour of the kingfish and I felt that the seaweed detracted from the fish. They key to good ceviche apart from fresh fish is using freshly squeezed juice as storing lemon and lime juices overnight can turn them bitter.

Causas 3 $18

Causas 3 is actually based on the historical dish of causa. When Peru was fighting for independence they used to feed the troops on what they could get their hands on which was potatoes. It is a dish based on mashed potato and historically they mixed with aji and lime and as named Causa as it would sustain the troops to fight for the “cause”. The causa here consists of three quennelles of mashed potato and each is flavoured with a different ingredient.

The top one is flavoured with parsley and other herbs and is topped with a creamy avocado and tiny, crunchy cubes of fish (and is my favourite of the causas). The yellow causa is the original causa and is desiree potato mixed with aji amarillo to give it a more golden colour and topped with large kernels of Andean corn. The third orange causa is given blush with roasted capsicum and topped with tender, braised octopus. And all of these dishes are plated very prettily and as per my resolution after the photography class last year I love playing around with the manual settings on the camera and using  my favourite Sigma lenses to try and capture these.

Andean Garden $18

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I am lucky enough to be given a lot of restaurant recommendations which I am very thankful for and I usually listen to them or at least research them more comprehensively by computer. I was recommended Nourishing Quarter by a journalist that I travelled with. She also told everyone that she couldn’t tell the difference between any of the wines or honeys that we had tasted which I met with a little surprise.

I then researched Nourishing Quarter and found some very good reviews for it. I was wrong of course to judge and realised that I had briefly become what I really didn’t ever want to be, a food snob judging other’s palates. The rave reviews convinced me that I needed to try it and I decided to ask Mr NQN’s family along. After all they are a mix of vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters so we would get a) a firm appreciation for what the food was like from both an omnivore and vegetarian perspective and b) have a meal that didn’t involve a bit of a kerfuffle about eggs, dairy and meat in dishes.

When I rang to book a table (and Dear Readers do book on a Friday or Saturday night as we saw people politely turned away) they were sweet and friendly and asked whether anyone had any allergies and enquired as to how we had heard about them. Nourishing Quarter is on Cleveland Street and sits diagonally opposite meat lover heaven Porteno and has been open for five months now. An enquiry about whether taking photos are ok is met with a welcoming smile and an “Of course!”. The room itself is unusual. Imagine Eastern philosophy crossed with Mother England and shabby chic. In the window sits a figure of handbag toting, waving Queen Elizabeth II, teapots and a book on Australian history. Then on another display lies a bronze Buddha and a shabby chic cake stand.

Tables are set with mismatched vintage plates and there is a display stand of health food cookbooks on one wall.  And did I mention that the menu is a mix of South American and Asian? Wheat and dairy free items are marked and there is another portion of the menu that says “wholesome” or “first encounter” but they explain that they are working on the menu and not to worry about that.

Mr NQN and I are starving and it’s way past our dinner time. The Elliotts are late. As usual. Mr NQN grabs his mother’s phone and naughtily texts his brother and sister “Where the hell are you?” which brings cries of protest from his never swearing, I-love-everyone hippie mum. Still it does the trick and brother and sister and husband turn up puffing moments later. Mr NQN’s sister Amaya says pouting “I knew it wasn’t you mum!”

Three sisters combination rice paper rolls $13.50

As there were six of us, we ordered two lots of the mixed rice paper rolls. There are three different fillings to the rice paper rolls, one which goes with a nuoc cham sauce and two that go with a peanut and carrot sauce. Now the descriptions for each of these rolls is comprehensive. I try the Bi Rolls which have marinated Crème de Tofu Strips interwoven with royal quinoa grains and sweet kumera noodles, Omega-3 chia Seeds, crispy julienne pickled carrots and Vietnamese mustard mint (rao Rram), and cucumber wrapped in Vietnamese rice paper, served with “nuoc cham” sauce. Out of the three, and they were all pretty good I have to say, this was my absolute favourite. The rolls are freshly made, so much so that we think they might even be made to order with the rice paper texture and have a good mix of flavours.

The second type of roll is the Latasia Nourishing Roll with South American royal quinoa grains, Omega-3 chia Seeds, light stir-fried crispy julienned vegetables, Textured Vegetable Protein (tofu based), rolled in Vietnamese rice paper, served with NQ special Peanut & Bean Dipping Sauce. The third roll, the sweet angel wraps have another jumble of ingredients and are served with NQ special Peanut & Bean Dipping Sauce but I still pine for the Bi rolls. The peanut and bean sauce for these second two rolls is similar to a hoi sin sauce.

Sacred Khot 6 for $15 (should be 7 for $15)

These little rice cakes are one of my favourite Vietnamese items and an always order item. Here they use quinoa and amaranth flour together with the rice flour, and top it with a mung bean mix, spring onions. It sits on a single lettuce leaf with fresh herbs and their “nuoc cham” sauce. Just a note, as there were six of us they asked us if we wanted six pieces instead of seven which we said yes to but we still paid the regular price for 7-I’d imagine that was a mistake though as they have made sure that we have had six of everything.

Pretty Dumplings $15

The Pretty Dumplings are Asian dumplings filled with Royal quinoa grains,  diced tofu, chopped vegetables and served alongside some fresh watercress with the NQ dumpling sauce poured over it. The dumplings are good and the slightly sweet sauce is filled with lemongrass and other wonderful Asian flavours-so much so that Laporello scoops up the sauce and we wish we had some more rice paper rolls to mop it up with.

Passage to India (via Saigon from the Min Dynasty) $23 large

This is an enormous dish and a two parter. The curry is sweet, slightly creamy and mild with Indian spiced aromatics and is filled with vegetables (sweetest pumpkin, chickpeas, peas and amaranth) and soft, spongey tofu strips which even the meat loving Laporello swoons over. It comes with a plate of quinoa ama-noa grains and a lovely sweet dressed green leaf and sliced fruit salad.

Spicy lemongrass in textured tofu with seasonal vegetables $23 large

I overhear the owner telling another table that the tofu that they have here is different from supermarket tofu and they buy theirs from a Vietnamese store. The tofu is packed full of flavour as is the crunchy stir fried salad. We agree that if all vegetarian food was this full of flavour then perhaps people would eat more of it. And it is nice that they included six pieces of the Ama-noa grains so that we could all have some (usually three pieces).

Quinoa noodle salad $23 large

The salad is made up of a quinoa amaranth with a mung bean glass noodles flavoured with Vietnamese mint, coriander, live sprouts and an abundance of toasted sesame seeds which give it a nutty flavour. The dressing is made up of sesame oil, lime and chilli which give it a zesty punch and the piece de resistance? The crinkly tofu strips which takes like chicken or duck!

Raspberry and lemon cheesecake $5.50

We were quite pleasantly full but you know me, I can’t resist dessert. They buy in the desserts here and there are two cakes on offer so we choose the raspberry and lemon cheesecake. The cheesecake has a crushed almond crust and the filling is very smooth and silky and doesn’t have a cloying texture that stays on the tongue. It is flavoured with raspberries and we can taste coconut too although the lemon isn’t very apparent. It is so good that we order a slice of the other cake.

Apple cake $5.50

This slice is full of apple chunks and has a slightly unusual texture, like an eggless cake. I’m not quite as smitten with this as I am with the cheesecake which I could eat another entire piece of.

And apart from the surprise of Laporello loving tofu as an entity, the bill is a nice surprise-less than $25 per person!

So tell me Dear Reader, when you go out to dinner, are you always the first to arrive? Or the last?

Nourishing Quarter

315 Cleveland Street, Redfern NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 8399 0888
Open: Lunch Thursday-Sunday 11:30-2:30pm
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5:30-9:30/10pm
Closed Mondays

http://bnourished.com.au/

“I’m pretty sure I’m sitting just where I slipped the money into the stripper’s g-string” I whisper to Mr NQN quietly. He looks around. “Yep it sure is” he says.

Allow me to explain. We’re sitting at a table at The Lincoln which is a lovely, stylish restaurant and bar in Kings Cross. What it used to be a few years ago was a strip club called Dancers where my friends Teena, Gina and I were taken to one evening (don’t ask, although I should clarify that we were there as patrons, not as strippers!). Now, years later, we’re stepping into a different sort of establishment and I am greeted by Coral who is the lovely marketing manager of A Taste of Peru and partner to Chef Alejandro Saravia. Every Thursday in October, they hold a special South American themed dinner where diners get to try a 10 course piqueos (like tapas) menu for $65. And unlike their previous events, this menu is more South American than specifically Peruvian.

Santiago Queirolo Pisco Sour

We start with a pisco sour drink made with egg whites and Santiago Queirolo Pisco which is liquor distilled from grapes. It has a slightly sour taste and has three drops of orange bitters but it is actually quite refreshing, like a lemon drink.

Choritos a la chalaca and Ostras a la vinegreata de rocoto

Our first course is two fresh Sydney rock oysters with a spicy Peruvian pepper and jora vinaigrette which again has the slightly sour and peppery flavour. There are also two mussels per person that are topped with a tomato, onion and chilli topping which is fresh, flavoursome and spicy.

Conchias a la Pamesan

Our next course is scallops on the shell grilled with a simple parmesan gratin which contrasts nicely with the clean flavours of the previous dish. It is simple and the scallops are juicy.

Tiraditos de kingfish, tuna y salmon

I know Mr NQN will get excited about this as he loves sashimi as much as I do. There are three types of raw fish here: kingfish cured in pisco and aromatic herbs dressed in lemon oil and aji amarillo (a type of chilli) drops which Alejandro tells us he deliberately served without the herbs on top of it so that their aroma would be a surprise. This is both of our favourite as the unexpected herbs  and lemon lend so much to the flavour of the kingfish.  Then there are the slices of tuna with little pieces of silver cripsy skin (yum!), corinader and lemon salt and then salmon slices dressed with a tangy smooth garlic and dill sauce.

Croquetas de yuoca y Manchego

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