Week 8 – September 6th to September 12th

FOOD. The food scene in Sydney has been astounding so far, with so many delicious, scrumptious, and overwhelmingly numerous options to choose from. Seriously. Trying to decide where to go out to on any given day becomes quite the undertaking. With the possibility of every type of food available within walking and short busing distance, after narrowing down what kind of food you want, the question then becomes, “well which of the thirty options available should I choose from?”

This past week in particular seemed to be particularly food-filled. Which consequently meant a filled-Steph. There were tasty treats and cooking escapades everyday. Literally. Every. Day. Don’t believe me? Let’s go through “Steph’s week of culinary adventures” and see if I can change your mind.

MONDAY

With Sunday over and feeling rested up after that weekend of bush walking, bush walking, bush walking (three days to be exact), the concept of “school” for the next four days was a daunting one. No one really ever wants the weekend to end. However, Elle, Emi, Lily and I had planned to check out Elle’s work, “Milkbar” for some tasty brunch options. Because who doesn’t love brunch? (Answer: NO ONE. Everyone loves brunch).

We walked down and sat down at a huge, wooden round table and some cushion-covered milk crates. I pretty much knew what I was going to get before we had even entered the restaurant – a strawberry-rhubarb compote, topped with vanilla yogurt, muesli and  dash of honey. Oh boy, I will say, it did NOT disappoint. Sweet, crunchy, warm and quite obviously made with lots of love, I was extremely satisfied with breakfast. And based on the smiles on the faces of my fellow-brunchers, they seemed more than satisfied with the meal too.

TUESDAY

When on exchange, it’s comforting to know you have some friends around. For me, I have been extraordinarily lucky to have my dad’s cousin living in Liverpool, just a quick hour train ride away. However, it’s also nice to have a familiar face of someone who is going through the same things as you.

Tuesday morning I met up with Sofy, a fellow UBC-er currently studying at the UNSW for a semester abroad as well. We met up at the Paramount Coffee Project in a suburb called Surry Hills known for its coffee and café scene – having heard that it was a good one and approximately half way between USYD and UNSW, it seemed like a reasonable place for our outing.

All in all, it was a great morning – delicious coffee (lemon-grass infused espresso anyone?), chocolate-topped cronuts, and conversation with someone who knows what a touque and pencil crayons are (eh) it felt like a little-bit of Vancouver in this un-Canada country.

That evening also meant a night of gourmet cooking. For four weeks, QMB offered a cooking class for the residents free of charge by professional chefs in our communal kitchen. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love cooking – I love grocery shopping, meal-planning, prepping and making meals (YES MUM. YES GRAMMA). But currently living on a student budget, I was not about the miss the opportunity for some free food.

This past week was the third class in our series of four with a company called “Victor’s Food“. Based out of Australia, they are a group of chefs who put on workshops on how to cook healthy and quick meals at in small and large groups alike. This week, cooking with Jason, our chef-extraordinaire crew made cumin-rubbed lamb on a basil quinoa salad. YUM amirite?! Not only have these classes been educational, but they expanded my repertoire to include new and healthy meals that I probably never would have even attempted to make if I had continued to find and create recipes on my own. All I can say is, thanks Victor and crew!

WEDNESDAY

Alright, you got me. Wednesday was not a particularly exciting food day. Smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch and homemade chicken, veggie, sweet potato shepherd’s pie for dinner (which I will admit was pretty great). I did make a Pie Tin run in the evening with Emi, Elle and Max however. Pie Tin, you ask? Traditional pastry-and-meat Australian hand pies, filled with meat, sauce, vegetables and looooots of love. They also do 2-for-1 pies during the last 15 minutes before the shop closes for the evening, so again thinking about cost-efficiency #studentlyfe we popped over to the shop for some cheap but tasty, tasty pies. A truly Australian staple that has found a place in my belly AND my heart <3

THURSDAY

Thursday mornings are my earliest during the week. I mean, 10am start is nothing compared to what I have experienced at home (let’s hear it for those 8am’s heeey) but when that 10am is a somewhat-dry two hour lecture, one finds themself struggling to focus by about 11:05. So, on the recommendation of Wyn, Dianna’s (my dad’s cousin’s) husband, we decided to pop into a place called Campos (link). I was skeptical when Wyn first told me that it was the best coffee he had ever had – it is a tiny whole-in-the-wall shop behind a somewhat sketchy looking bar. However, the inside was packed and the baristas were working like mad to keep up with the incoming orders. I ordered my Columbian flavours-infused latte (skim milk) and took a sip, and, wow. I mean, seriously, WOW. It was absolutely the BEST coffee I’ve had in Sydney so far, and as Sydney seems to be the café/coffee capital of the world (I swear), that is saying a lot. Fruity flavours lingered on my tongue and trying to drink up every last drop. It is definitely a place I would like to get back to, and would recommend for any coffee-connoisseurs making their way to Sydney anytime soon.

As I have mentioned before, Thursday evenings are reserved for baking and GBBO, and this week was not any different. The baking team took on a delicious recipe this week, thanks to our beloved Pinterest (what would we do without it?) we found a recipes for a dark-chocolate pomegranate tart. I actually found it to be a bit sweet in the end despite my baking-compadres declarations of baked love – but with some tweaking I think next time it could be a masterpiece (I suggest unsweetened chocolate). If you’re interested in the recipe click here for rich, buttery, cacao flavours. And as fancy as it looks, incredibly easy to make!

FRIDAY

After a long day of bush walking with the Bombin’ Bush walkers in the Royal National Park  and a cold-dip in the Figure Eight Pools, we headed back home for some good-ol’ roof top BBQ. In honour of Scott’s recent bill-of-good-health, some meat on the barby and a night out were just what the doctor ordered (alright, maaaybe not…). At home, as my mum can’t eat beef, we’re constantly looking for beef-substitute hamburgers. What has become one of my favourites for sitting on the back deck having BBQ family dinner, is turkey burgers. But, not just any, turkey burgers – onion, parsley, green apple turkey burgers. With a dash of cumin, these made for the perfect post 13km bush walk dinner. So tasty in fact, that I gobbled up two without pause.

WOOD-FAMILY TURKEY BURGERS

makes approx. 6 burgers

Ingredients:

• 500g mince turkey
• 1/2 onion
• 1/4 granny smith apple
• 1 egg
• some parsley (as much as you want)
• 2 tbsp. (about) cumin

Method:

Mix everything together in bowl. Flattened into approx. 6 burger shaped patties. Throw onto BBQ and grill until done. Devour those burgers because they’re so dang delicious!

A sunset BBQ made for the perfect pre-Friday night outing, followed by hours of dancing, friends, and an all around pretty awesome time.

SATURDAY

And finally, Saturday – the most food-filled day of the week by far. We started off by making our way to the Smooth Festival of Chocolate, located at Sydney’s Circular Quay. You name it, that festival had it – chocolates, milk shakes, pastries, biscuits, cakes, ice cream; the list goes on and on. We couldn’t head to a chocolate festival without trying something – so Elle and I ended up sharing a Nutella-banana scrollie (like a cinnamon bun) and a mango tapioca pudding in a jar. The three of us also shared a golzeme, which is a type of Turkish flat bread filled with feta, spinach and chicken. We had seen it at a number of markets and festivals, so it only seemed right to finally give it a taste at this incredibly food-filled event.

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, I was stuffed. However, there was one more food event before I could give my poor stomach a much needed break. The resident of floor 8 in the Queen Mary Building, also know as the “QM8s” (HAH clever right?) decided to hold our very first potluck-style floor meal. I tried food from China, Taiwan, Palestine, Denmark, etc, I have never eaten so much food in my life. I don’t think I stopped over the three hour span of the meal, as everything so darn delicious! S, I finished off the week with an extremely full belly and a 9pm bedtime. I couldn’t have been happier.

My love of food and growing love for the Sydney foodie culture was thoroughly satisfied this week – I could not have been happier with the delightful dishes I was able to experience this week. Until next time, folks,

Much love,

Steph