Well, it feels like the end of an era. The restrictions are lifting and to commemorate we finally decided to dispose of the growing pile of take away bags and boxes growing by the back door. Part of me felt like I should be embarrassed and a larger part felt nostalgic already for the quality time and food that the bags represented. This was the last week to grab a free meal from Rosella’s as they were reopening their doors. Though I did mourn slightly for that loss, I will be excited to have a real life drink in a real life bar. I’ll be excited to eat of proper plates and not worry if the food has gotten cold in transit. So I’ll remember the days of the takeaway bags and happily press on to the days of silver cutlery.

 

Rosella’s

Sweet Rosella’s, oh how I will miss the way you feed me every Monday. Only these guys can take ‘I hate Mondays’ to ‘Thank God it’s Monday’. TGIM! This final week I grabbed a fish pie. Such a delicious end to a wonderful era!

Cuisine: Free food

Dish/es: Fish pie

Company: Just me

 

Italy

This week we made our own pizza for house mate night with the help of Pepe Italia. I ordered this starter kit for $19 and used the left over ingredients from Spain and Peru last week as toppings. The result, three decent pizzas that we got the satisfaction of rolling, topping, watching and eating. My favourite part (apart from the eating) was watching the pizza dance as it bubbled away in the oven. I like that we could top it how we desired and be very liberal with the best ingredients. As you may know from last week, I am indeed a pizza snob, and as such I must report that there is very much a difference between being cooked in a conventional oven and wood fired. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience all the same.

Great value… three pizzas for $19.

Cuisine: Italian

Dish/es: Pizza: Haloumi, Pumpkin and Jamon, Chorizo, Capsicum and olive, Margarita

Company: House mate

 

Thai

I feel like most Australians are adventurous enough to have sampled Thai cuisine. It’s always been an easy takeaway option and I know what I like. I’ve made plenty of green and red curries in my time and eaten too much Massaman lamb at Thai buffets. The challenge for me was to try something new. Dad was the inspiration for me to order Laab (pork mince salad) this time round. He has always raved about the flavours of a good Laab so I thought I better check it out. I wouldn’t usually go for salad when getting Thai at the risk of missing out on the curry.

To be completely honest I don’t know that you should actually call Laab a salad. What I got on my Friday night in more resembled a bowl of mince. Yes, there were exactly three lettuce leaves and a whopping one slice of each tomato and cucumber, but I don’t know if that cuts it for me. The flavour was there, the heat that it left in my mouth made sure it didn’t go unnoticed. I guess I would have just liked a bit more, well, salad. I’m sure there may be some Laab genius out there, but unless I was promised more than a bowl of mince, I’ll be ordering the Red Duck Curry thanks.

Cuisine: Thai

Dish/es: Laab Moo (apparently Pork Larb… the moo is quite ironic)

Company: Just me

 

Netherlands

This week I raided the international section at Woolworths and realised that I could go to the Netherlands. Apparently good old woolies can make all your dutchy dreams come true. First off I purchased some Stroopwaffles. These are delicious caramel-ly waffers of goodness. They sit perfectly on top of your takeaway coffee cup and heat up just nicely. If you wanted to, I’m sure you’d have no problems sneaking them into a cafe. I didn’t have to worry about that because we are still on the take to go wagon… for now.

Secondly, I purchased some pumpernickel bread which I was most tickled to discover translates to ‘devil’s fart’. Not really sure why. It’s basically the most dense bread you can find made of rye and some how slightly sweet. I saw a lot of open faced sandwiches made in the Northern European countries made on bread like this. I went for a smoked salmon edition with ricotta, cucumber and tomato.

Cuisine: Dutch

Dish/es: Stroopwaffles and Pumpernickel bread

Company: Take away coffee catch ups

 

Argentina

This Saturday I made the most of the fact that Labart is still doing takeaway meals. They offered a South American Asado that sounded too good to not take advantage of. After doing my research I discovered that Asado is Argentina’s answer to BBQ. Turns out they are pretty serious about their meat. Asados are quite the event, they can last for hours as many gather to enjoy each other’s company. Apparently one person is to be in charge of the grill, they are the asador. They are expected to be experts in timing and ensuring guests are fed well. I could go on but it’s a school night… just know it’s quite the ordeal.

Dad was my asador, being the meat smoking expert and all. He cooked up our chorizo, pork ribs and flank steak to perfection. There definitely was plenty of food to eat and my meal for ‘two’ fed three plus leftovers. Perhaps it helps to eat over a couple of hours like the Argentinians. The winner for me was the flank steak with the chimicurri, but to be fair it was all very good.

The asador tending to his meat.  

Cuisine: Argentinian

Dish/es: Asado: Pork ribs, flank steak, chorizo, chimichurri, potato salad and coleslaw

Company: Mum and dad

 

Cape Verde

In true African style I cooked up enough Cachupa to feed a small tribe. That was not the original intention when I decided to go to Cape Verde. It kinda just happened. Cape Verde is a group of Islands off the West Coast of Africa. Cachupa is a kind of all in stew that can be rica/rich (with meat) or pobre/poor (without). There is a Portuguese influence throughout the cuisine as they had a presence in the region until 1975. This stew started with soaking three different types of beans and only grew larger and more intense from there. I added corn (as I couldn’t find traditionally used hominy), two types of sweet potato, cabbage, tinned tomatos and chorizo. Let’s just say lunches and dinners are sorted for the next week or two.

Cuisine: Cape Verdean

Dish/es: Cachupa Rica

Company: Many a lunch break