Subha Aluth Avuruddhak Wewa

Did you make any new year's resolutions this year? Planned to reduce your macaron intake? Wean yourself off Gossip Girl? Combat the Tight Pants Fairy's evil work? And did your good plans disappear as quickly as that box of macarons and the sight of your toes?

Well fear not, because the new year has only just begun! The Sri Lankan New Year begins on either 13th or 14th of April each year, with the exact time and date dependent on the time when the sun moves from Meena (Pisces) into Mesha (Aries). The recent new year began on the 14th of April (at 6:58am to be precise), and I was lucky enough to join in the Sri Lankan Cultural Society of Western Australia new year celebrations on Sunday the 18th of April.

It was held at Centenary Park in Wilson on a beautiful sunny Autumn day. I was enjoying the warmth of the sun in a singlet (and shorts, I might add) which turned out to be a clever idea as friends were able to find our group by spotting my blindingly white skin amongst the more melanin blessed crowd.

I was barely there for two seconds before food was being thrust upon me. I got the feeling I was going to enjoy celebrating the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year.

We decided to load up on foods and find some grass to relax on so there would be no injuries should we go into simultaneous food comas. The foods on sale were written up on a whiteboard, and I was glad to have my own personal translator, my friend Lil deVious, to explain the dishes. Fish Roti and Buriyani were fairly obvious to someone who is familiar with Indian food, but I was a little confused by the Cutlets, Chinese Rolls and Wadai under the Shorties part of the menu (though not quite as confused as I was by the chips, fish & chips and hot dogs on offer).

While we were lining up, I was a little alarmed by the apparent popularity of the chips and hot dogs, but I guess if you make your own yellow rice and curries at home every day, it might be nice to treat yourself with a bucket of chips on a Sunday. 

Chinese Roll (2 for $3.50) and Cutlet (3 for $2.50) - thanks to lovely hand model Lil deVious for giving some added authenticity to my photos

The Chinese Roll and Cutlet are somewhat similar, both containing a spicy fishy filling which tasted like a spicy, aromatic version of my Mum's tuna patties. I love my Mum's tuna patties and I loved these. The Cutlets are round crumb-coated balls of the fish mixture, while the Chinese Rolls are like a spring roll that has been crumbed before frying.

Wadai (3 for $2.50)

The next tasty fried shorties were wadai, spicy fried lentil patties. The outer layer was perfectly crispy and I loved the amount of heat contained within each naughty morsel. These would be perfect with a cold beer.

Rice and curry ($7.50); yellow rice ($8)

The "rice and curry" came with "fish, potato, beans, dhal", while the yellow rice came with "chicken, potato, eggplant", and both had a dollop of spicy spicy chilli. Both were aromatic, well spiced, filling meals. I would have liked a bit more of a kick to it, but was able to achieve this easily by adding the chilli to my forkfuls. I can understand that they couldn't exactly have every component knocking your socks off with the heat, as they were cooking for a large crowd and even with a mostly Sri Lankan crowd you sadly cannot assume everyone is a chilli fiend. 

Hot chips ($3)

One of the other non-Sri Lankans in our group got these chips. He's a Kiwi. I like to think he got them purely to entertain us with his pronunciation of "chips". They looked nice and crunchy but I was not willing to spare a single chip worth of stomach space.

The Hopper Man, working his magic

This was my first Sri Lankan hopper experience and it will not be my last. Oh no, as the magical Hopper Man is my witness, I will never go hopper hungry again! Hoppers are basically thin pancakes made in quite concave pans. There are many varieties of hoppers, but on this day we had a stack of plain hoppers finished off with an egg hopper on top. The egg was perfectly cooked such that there was no "snot" on the white (thanks Dad for giving me such a classy vocabulary) but the yolk was gooey and begging to be dipped into with pieces of hopper. The accompanying chicken drumstick was tender and spicy and the coconut sambol was heaven in a hopper scoop.

A plate of hopper joy

Goopy goopy googy egg

In addition to the good eating, there were a number of games being played throughout the day. I'm not sure what they are called in Sinhalese or Tamil, but I would call them hitting a claypot piñata, pillow fighting, and of course a good old game of cricket.

Watching a talented piñata smasher bust open the clay pot was amazing. All of the children that had been impatiently waiting around the sidelines rushed in faster than I could capture with my camera, eagerly grabbing at the freed treats while the triumphant stick-wielder pumped his fists in the air. I felt a little sorry for him - to pause for your success to be captured on film, or to make sure some of those liberated lollies make it into your pockets? A tough choice.

The pillow fighting went on for hours, with many heats leading up to the finals. Watching the men's finals was something else, these guys really meant business. I think they had been training in their backyards. The ultimately triumphant pillowman had a winning technique of absorbing all the force of his opponent's whacks in the side of his head before making his move with one or two hits to throw his opponent off balance and send him tumbling off the log.

I didn't watch much of the cricket, but I did manage to capture a little mini Muttiah Muralitharan deliver a killer doosra all of about 2 metres, forcing the batsman to run forward more than half the length of the pitch to reach the ball.

I didn't want the celebrations to end, and luckily they continued the following night when Lil deVious invited me around to her place for dinner. The place smelled so good when I arrived I could have just walked around chomping the air and almost have been satisfied. Almost. Fortunately for my bundy (stomach) we got to eat the source of the smells, and the kiribath (milk rice), chicken curry and seeni sambol were right on the rupee. Bohoma sthuthi, Lil deVious, your cooking is truly rasai. I'm worried my bundy is going it pack its bags and migrate to Sri Lanka without me.  

Seeni sambol, chicken curry and kiribath (milk rice)

Rasai dins, round 1

Gently rapping at the pantry door

 Can you spot the teddies discussing which one of them is going to make a dash for the almond croissants?

Playing host to the annual Vincent Cappucino Festival since 2008, Angove Street has turned into quite the bustling cafe strip over the past few years. Its still has a lot to offer if your house is overrun with giant pests, your Swedish car has broken down or you're in need of a cold beer and some local music, but it now also offers quite a few good food choices should the giant pest fighting have stirred your appetite. It was a friend's birthday last week and so we battled the bustle, considering milkd or Il Circolo before deciding to visit The Pantry Door for the first time.

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John Street Cafe

I generally like to have a bit of fun with the titles of my posts. They might be a little groan-worthy at times but I figure it's best to start off how you aim to continue. For this review though, I aimed to spend as much time coming up with a post title as the owners of the restaurant did coming up with their business name.

John Street Cafe is located on John Street, in Cottesloe. It is a cafe.

Although it is not located on the water (it is about 400m up the street from the beach), it certainly has a beachy vibe with the blue exterior, alfresco tables, inside dining that is quite open to the elements, and of course the Norfolk Island Pine Trees which are quintessentially Cottesloe (though perhaps not so much as they are quintessentially Norfolk Island).

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It's nobody's business but the Turks

Unfortunately my knowledge is not in fact boundless, and Turkish food is one of the many things I am quite ignorant about (like rugby, and imperial units). In my defence there isn't exactly an overabundance of Turkish restaurants in Perth beyond the usual takeaway döner kebab and gözleme places, and these days I'm not the late night kebab consumer that I once was. I was pretty happy therefore to learn about a new Turkish restaurant located quite conveniently in Subiaco, called Alaturka.

According to their website Alaturka is pronounced "a la too ka". Does this mean I have been pronouncing "Turkey" wrong? Should it be "too kee"? Mind you, Turkey probably isn't even called Turkey in Turkish (nope, is called Türkiye apparently). I've had an issue with this for a while. If a place is called Torino or Göteborg or Nihon then I think everyone should call it that. It shouldn't be changed to Turin or Gothenburg or Japan just so us Angophones can get our tongues around it. This would also do away with the English word "Dutch", which is "Nederlands" in Dutch (erm, in Nederlands, I mean), and prevent that confusing period when you first learn about this Deutschland place when you're young and assume it means Dutchland, until you make some remark showing your ignorance and someone mockingly corrects you.

Before I can rule the world and bring about such changes however, I must first gather my strength and what better way to do it than with food. Türkçe food.

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Something's cooking in the kitsch'n

When asked by the West Australian in July last year about the new small bar he was planning to open in Leederville, Iain Lawless said it was going to be a bit more bohemian and interesting than what was currently on offer to Perth eaters and drinkers, saying

"Unfortunately, most of the bars and restaurants here look as though Jamie Durie did the fit-out. You look at it and go, 'Oh that's nice - for me house!' People can do what they like but for me I don't want that, I want people to either love it or hate it, not just think it's all right."

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Is that a fig in your pocket?

While I've been busy at home eating my bowls of porridge in front of my computer screen, my list of breakfast places I want to try has been growing longer and longer. On top of the list was Greenhouse, which I managed to tick off in fine fishy fashion on my birthday, and next on the list was The Naked Fig Cafe in Swanbourne.

Since it opened fairly recently, I have heard quite mixed reviews on this place. The real issue seems to lie in the service, with many people reporting it to be inattentive with very lengthy waits, and this is reflected in the Urbanspoon rating which is currently sitting at "50% like it". I was hoping that this was just a teething problem, and would be sorted by the time I eventually made it down to Swanbourne to sample their wares.

The Naked Fig is run by the same team behind The Wild Fig Cafe which has been a popular Perth breakfast spot for some time, although I am yet to make it up there (too busy eating porridge, apparently). The "fig" part of the name thus is accounted for, and I can only assume the "naked" is in reference to Swanbourne Beach being home to Perth's unofficial nudist beach. Interestingly, there is also a live rifle range behind the dunes at Swanbourne Beach. Sorry to disappoint any Girls and Guns subscribers, but neither of these aspects can be experienced from the cafe. You can rest assured however that should you eat too much, you can go and work off the calories dodging bullets or simply lie and digest unencumbered by a pesky waistband.

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Are we Amusé?

I'm a lucky girl. My eatathon of a birthday last week started off with a fantastic breakfast with friends at Greenhouse, morning tea was a Greenhouse donut and Lindt Chilli Chocolate, lunch was another fantastic meal at West End Deli in West Perth, the afternoon offered me a massage and coconut bubble tea, and then I was whisked off to a mystery location for dinner. I was told to dress nicely and was assured I didn't need to bring my hard hat or steel caps, so I was looking forward to a civilised evening.

 West End Deli lunch: "smoked salmon, eggplant and date chutney, coriander, brioche, poached egg" ($21) and "squid, cucumber, tomato, butter beans, oregano vinaigrette" ($19) 

(Before I continue, I have to get something off my chest... the menu at West End Deli actually said "vinaigarette", and not "vinaigrette"... not quite as bad as a misplaced apostrophe, but still irritating, particularly as it makes me think of Shane Delia pronouncing it "vinegarette" on Ready Steady Cook and Peter Everett blithely parroting him. Why don't menu writers use spell checkers? Why do I watch Ready Steady Cook?)

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People in green houses...

...shouldn't umm.. waste carbon?

When people asked me how I was going to spend my birthday last week, I'm sure it surprised noone that my plans included going out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After recovering from my pirate party, I put a little more thought into this and decided to try the breakfast menu at Greenhouse in the CBD after hearing good things about it, and falling for one of the items after looking at the menu on their website.

I love being able to look at restaurant menus ahead of time and weigh up your options, but this is sometimes fraught with danger. Some restaurants fail to keep their websites properly updated, and you can find that the dish you've been swooning over all day is no longer on the menu, or they may have sold out of it by the time you arrive. Better to have loved and lost though, I say, so I throw caution to the wind and remain an online menu peruser.

I had been to Greenhouse a few times already since it opened in December 2009 to sample their booze and nibblies, and was quite taken by their approach to using the space. I won't go through all of the environmentally sound aspects of the building, as you can read all about this in detail on their website, but essentially they have sought to minimise their ecological footprint.

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The Dread Cap'n Conor turns One Score and Eight

Gather round lads and lasses
   with tankards of rum
   and I'll tell ye a tale tall and true,
Of a great ship that set out
   to pillage and burn,
   with the dread Cap'n Conor and crew.

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Degolicious Dining at Jackson's Restaurant

A few years ago I spent a weekend down south with three friends, which we spent eating Miami Bakehouse pies for almost every single meal, washing them down with copious amounts of wine, supplementing our diet with Cheezels, cheese and crackers, watching 80s movies and thinking the house we were staying in was going to blow into the ocean from the gale force winds battering the coast at the time. We had grand plans of walking down to the beach and getting some exercise in during our girly weekend, but the wind and the pies kept us safely inside.

(To go off on a bubbly tangent, this was also the weekend that I tried Golden Crumpet Toast for the first and last time. Don't be fooled by their website's claims of it being "a fun, convenient way to enjoy that Golden™ crumpet taste". If you think traditional crumpets are boring and inconvenient then you don't deserve to eat them).

On another weekend, I enjoyed my very first degustation experience with these same three girls, and with bellies full to bursting and spirits high (due largely to great company and only somewhat due to the paired wines) we declared that we would henceforth enjoy such an evening together on a semi-regular basis, when our schedules and bank balances could allow it. This fateful evening was so long ago that I can't even give you a ballpark estimate of when it was, and we didn't follow through on this declaration until last month.

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The Cabin

One of the new small bars to open up in the Perth area this year, The Cabin Winebar and Bistro was recently awarded the best contemporary bar at the Australian Hotels Association Awards For Excellence (sharing the prize with The George in the city). I was meant to have dinner at The Cabin a few months ago with a group of friends, but that was during my period of perpetual illness and I didn't quite make it. I did however finally find some time to get there a couple of weeks ago for a relaxing long lunch with a friend on a very warm summer's day.

The Cabin is located on Scarborough Beach Road in Mount Hawthorn, and after parking my car at the nearby Mezz shopping centre I discovered that they have a carpark out the back. This is good to know, as I really don't need the temptation of parking anywhere near Liquorice Gourmet Foods (located within the Mezz, and also at Claremont Quarter). It is IMPOSSIBLE to walk within 100 metres of that shop and not somehow find yourself carrying a shopping bag filled with all manner of chocolate coated things.


For want of far better English than I am currently capable, The Cabin is decked out in a decidedly cabinny manner - rustic wooden tables, taxidermy-filled exposed brick walls - but the overall finish is very polished. Although we admired the interior, they were absolutely blasting the air conditioning so we quickly escaped outside and looked for a spot in the shade. Shady spots were actually few and far between, as the black umbrellas you can see in the photograph can't actually be used due to the wind, but luckily some girls were finishing up at the one shady table so we pounced on that and set up shop for a couple of hours.


The first menu perusal was of the drinks, and there is an excellent selection on offer. I was particularly smitten by a few of the cocktails but decided to have a non boozy lunch, whilst my friend went for a rosé, if my memory is not mistaken. Sadly my memory doesn't stretch to actually recall which wine it was, but apparently it was nice enough to have a second glass!

Next task was to try and decide on what to eat. The menu is split into two sections - "Small to share" and "Big to share" - although I am sure you could happily eat one of the big dishes, possibly accompanied by the side of a small dish, as a meal for one.

It's always a little awkward when you go out for a meal with a group you're not entirely familiar with, and there is that moment of trying to figure out if it will be a sharing meal or not. This is second only to the then-inevitable moments if you do decide to share, when there is only one or two of some things left on plates or if there is not enough for everyone in the first place. My Dad, he whom I inherit my impressive buffet consumption skills from, always brought me and my siblings up to not ever be foolish enough to ask if someone wants the last piece of something if you actually want it. Whilst this tactic works well in my family I tend not to employ it while out with others for fear of my gluttony being all too apparent. I'm sure I'm not kidding anyone however, particularly those who know me well, which is obvious when I eat out with C for instance when she defers all extra food to me.

This day my friend and I were in immediate agreement that it would be a sharing occasion, and we finally settled on two of the small dishes - "Broad bean, garden pears, goats curd" ($14.00), "Amelia Park lamb cutlets, spicy roast pumpkin" ($16.00), and one of the big dishes - "Whole baked Pemberton trout, celery, horseradish, cider" ($30.00).

Broad bean, garden peas, goats curd ($14)

The beans and peas were obviously fresh, and popped deliciously in your mouth. The goats curd was just sharp enough, and so creamy, and I was happy to discover a surprise addition of some slow roasted onion in there as well. A delicious, fresh dish.

Amelia Park lamb cutlets, spicy roast pumpkin ($16.00)

This was one of those dishes that made me sound like an idiot as I kept exclaiming how tasty it was. The lamb was juicy and tender, with a nicely seared finish. The pumpkin was so incredibly rich with flavour I wish I could have just eaten a bowl of it. I also wish my palate were more intelligent so that I could figure out just exactly what the spices were, but I just kept eating it and exclaiming again how tasty it was and not being able to figure anything out except that I liked it and wished I would shut up.

Whole baked Pemberton trout, celery, horseradish, cider ($30.00)

The trout dish was a great mixture of textures. The salad was fresh and crunchy, with an interesting edge provided by the horseradish, whilst the fish was a combination of juicy and soft flesh with a beautifully crunchy skin. We picked out the little tiny cheeks, having one each, before splitting the rest of the fish between us. Mr Trout kept looking at me with his little eyes, but I told myself he had gone to a better place.

After digesting for a while and finishing our drinks, we decided to have another look at the menu. We were momentarily tempted by the "warm chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream" ($14.00), then decided not to get anything else, and then somehow found ourselves ordering more of the small dishes - "Green asparagus, egg chutney, salmon roe" ($12.00) and "Tin of Ortiz anchovies, toast" ($19.00). This friend and I are a terrible influence on each other... one time we went out for a light dinner and ended up doing a three hour degustation. I'm surprised we didn't end up trying every dish on this menu.

Green asparagus, egg chutney, salmon roe ($12)

Egg chutney, salmon roe

I was intrigued by the thought of egg chutney, and found to my pleasure that I really liked it although I'm not really sure it could be called a chutney as such. It was a soft mixture of chopped egg white in a yellow liquid that I assume was some combination of yolk and vinegar, with finely chopped chives and bright orange roe. A great accompaniment to the asparagus, which was perhaps ever so slightly overcooked but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

Tin of Ortiz anchovies, toast ($19.00)

I'm a sucker for salty fishy goodness, and these anchovies hit the spot with the fresh, crisp bread, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of dried chilli. Simple and delicious. Also very expensive, which I somehow didn't realise at the time but I suspect I may still have ordered it.

I clearly really enjoyed my meal at The Cabin, finding all of the dishes hit the mark in terms of taste, texture and freshness. The only downside that was apparent were the prices, which are a little steep, so if for some reason you have a horde of hungry men to feed I'd recommend first taking them down the road to the Paddo to fill up on beer and wedges before bringing them here.

The Cabin was very quiet when we were there, with only two other tables being occupied, but I've been told by friends that it can get incredibly loud inside when it is full of people, so perhaps it's not the place to go for intimate conversation on a busy night unless your dining partner is a bore and you are in need of distraction. Probably a good place to go if your dining partner is a boar too, they might find a long lost relative hanging on the wall.

Make sure to say goodbye to Mr Owl on the way out..


(I discovered later in the day that I was not actually sitting entirely in the shade during this meal, and ended up with a lovely red patch on my thigh that must have been in the sun while the rest of me wasn't. I clearly haven't developed my summer skin yet, but luckily the patch has now disappeared. I need to get my white arse to the beach.)


The Cabin Winebar and Bistro
Upstairs, 174 Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn
Phone: 08 9444 6214
Website: The Cabin
Email: info@darkhorsedevelopments.com.au

To Market, To Market (to get a big belly)

I had legitimate reasons to head to Subi Farmers Market again this Saturday morning other than wanting to eat pizza for breakfast, really I did. My sister and I are catering for our Mum's 60th birthday party this coming weekend, and one of the guests can't tolerate gluten or lactose, so I wanted to see what Sophistibakes Gluten-Free Bakery had to offer. I also needed some fruit and veges, and wanted to check out the stalls I didn't have time to visit last week. If I happened to eat some pizza for breakfast while I was there, it was entirely coincidental.

I also wanted to meet with Market Manager Sally Lewis, who got in touch with me after coming across my recent review of Subi Farmers Market. She was easily found at the information stall when I arrived nice and early at the opening hour of 8am, and we had a really nice chat. Sally is a nutritionist by trade, which explains her enthusiasm for natural, seasonal produce, and it really seems like the overall plan for the markets is positive and practical. She is keen for it to develop at a reasonable pace, not bringing in too many stalls from the get-go, and to ensure quality over quantity. For instance, a new stone fruit stall was due be added this week, but they've held off as they fruit wasn't quite at its peak yet.

There are also plans to bring in buskers, chef demonstrations and also gardening and health experts to round out the whole natural living theme. I must say though that I'm particularly looking forward to a promised stall selling egg & bacon rolls with homemade relish. I think it will be making its maiden appearance this coming weekend when I will be up in Gero busily preparing to feed 80 people at my Mum's party, but I guess this means they can iron out any teething issues before I next get down there to taste their wares. Their bacony wares. Mmmm.

It was also interesting to hear that many of the stallholders, and/or their children attended Subiaco Primary School where the market is held, which must add to the community feel of the place. It does have a pretty happy vibe to it, with the stallholders all happy to have a joke and a chat and tell their story.

The market in a way reminds me of one of my favourite restaurants in Montreal, a vegan restaurant and juice bar called aux vivres. Given my enthusiasm for the upcoming egg & bacon roll stall, it's pretty obvious I'm not vegan but I loved this restaurant. Really affordable, filling, delicious meals that in no way made you feel like you were missing out on anything. Quite a diverse menu too, which I'm sure would be surprising for most non-vegans, and I often found it difficult to choose between quite a few things that took my fancy. One of the most striking things about this restaurant though were the people that worked and ate there. These people were in the upper percentiles of attractiveness when compared to the general population, let alone when compared to those frequenting your average shopping centre food court. Not really the best place to go when you were having a particularly fat or ugly day as I'm sure being surrounded by such people would leave you wallowing in your tempeh and drowning your sorrows in agave-sweetened smoothies.

After chatting with Sally and enjoying a long black from Luke & Pat's Coffee Shack, my tummy was telling me breakfast was required and I somehow found myself standing in front of Diablo's Oven. There were three calzones on offer this week, all rocking out 80s themed names. Rocket Man consisted of free range ham, organic tomato, rocket, bocconcini and pesto ($10), Funghi Town had organic tomato, mushroom, pesto, rocket and feta ($10) and there was a kids option with an organic tomato base, real pineapple, free range ham and mozzerella called Agadoo ($6). Disappointing there was no dessert Bananarama or Papa Don't Peach, or a nice gamey Echo & the Bunnymen, but I decided to take a ride on Rocket Man.

After ordering the calzone, we wandered down to Simplee Yummy that I noticed last week had some interesting dishes on offer but I had not the tummy space to enjoy. I wanted to try some "pohpia" which the sign described as consisting of "stir fried turnip with beansprouts, egg and mock meat floss" ($3). After asking for it, the stallholder asked if I had been to Singapore before, as I had pronounced it correctly (poh-pee-a). In fact I've never been outside the airport in Singapore, and have never heard of pohpia before so I felt quite clever for my pronunciation skills. I do wonder though how other people have been pronouncing it, as I can't really see any other way that makes sense except for possibly "poh-pie-a"?

As she was still in the process of getting everything out and ready, we got a have a chat while she prepared the pohpia. She told us that she used to be quite a lot heavier some time ago, and credits pohpia with her significant weightloss. She ate it for lunch every day, losing weight until she was told she was starting to look haggard and then she knew she'd lost enough weight! She and her husband, who also runs the stall with her, have been living in Australia for many years now and it was only once they moved here from Singapore that they started to cook for themselves.

Making pohpia at the Simplee Yummy stall

The pohpia was made by first spreading some chilli paste over the bottom corner of a spring roll wrapper, then adding some fried turnip, beansprouts, mock meat floss and chopped coriander. I think the sauce drizzled over next was a sweet soy sauce, which was followed by some cubed boiled egg (as opposed to a boiled cube egg) and then rolled up into a spring roll and cut into bite size slices. I was too busy chatting away and had to be gently reminded by the stallholders that I hadn't paid them yet. Oops.

Back to Diablo's to pick up the now-ready calzone and then it was time to find a sunny spot to sit, hurriedly photograph the food and get eating.

Rocket Man calzone of free range ham, organic tomato, rocket, bocconcini and pesto from Diablo's Oven

Pohpia from Simplee Yummy

Another Saturday, another tasty calzone. Great combination of fresh, flavoursome ingredients and soft, fresh base (is it still referred to as a base if it's a calzone? Base and lid? Receptacle?). I think a good dough is more important with a calzone than with a regular pizza, as the dough:topping ratio is higher. In fact, I'm not normally a fan of the calzone due to this, and I must admit I did not eat all the outer folded bits of my breakfast calzone due to the importance of effective stomach-space use when doing the farmers market eating circuit.

The pohpia was a really nice surprise. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but my friend and I both enjoyed it. The turnip was warm, soft and mild, while the beansprouts and coriander added a real freshness to the flavour base rounded out with the chili and soy. I wonder if pohpia's properties still work if eaten in conjunction with a calzone?

Chocolate beetroot cake from Sophistibakes

Empty tummy crisis averted, I then went to suss out if Sophistibakes had anything to offer that was both gluten-free and lactose-free, and I was happy to discover that all their breads and also their chocolate beetroot cake cover both these bases. I decided upon a small loaf of German rye, and a slice of the cake for my Mum's friend so that she would be able to have some bread and dessert should she want to. Both are now sitting in the freezer until the weekend, and I'm hoping the cake will defrost well. I guess we'll soon find out.

After getting some more of the amazing asparagus that I bought last week, along with some other fruit & veg I also bought a cherry tomato plant. Let's hope I'll be enjoying the fruits of this purchase before too long (boom boom!).

Cambray Sheep Cheese stall

I didn't have a chance to check out the Cambray Sheep Cheese stall last week so that was next on the list. From memory, they had seven cheeses out to taste and I thought it was only fair to try them all. I was particularly taken with the Greek-style yoghurt and the hard, aged cheese (can't remember the proper name for it), but they were all excellent cheeses. My research reveals that Cambray Sheep Cheese were also involved in Terra Madre (which I mentioned in my Slow Food post) in both 2006 and 2008 and are one of only 12 sheep dairies in Australia. Makes me wonder how many sheep dairies are in New Zealand?

After eating all this cheese, luckily it was time to leave to hit my gym class.


I had a craving for some smoothie action after my workout and actually ended up heading back to the market to try one of the Raw Kitchen smoothies that I saw last week and also recently read about on Wellness WA. Four types of smoothie were on offer - Green (baby spinach, banana and water), Choc It To Me (cacao, banana, agave and fresh almond milk), King Hit: Choc Chilli (cacao, banana, agave, fresh almond milk and cayenne) and Strawberry Sip (strawberry, banana, fresh almond milk and vanilla) all for $6. You could also add a Super Booster for 50 cents, with the options of maca, coconut oil, wheatgrass, chia, acai berry, barley grass, bee pollen and spirulina. As intrigued as I was by the thought of drinking bee pollen, I passed on the boosters and chose the King Hit: Choc Chilli and my friend chose the Green smoothie with added mango ($1 extra).

Doing the smoothie salsa.. or is it the smoothie shuffle? I can never remember..

Green Smoothie with added mango from Raw Kitchen

King Hit: Choc Chilli smoothie from Raw Kitchen

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Green Smoothie, but it could best be described as a big cup of cool freshness. The banana took centre stage in the flavour stakes, followed by a muted spinach flavour that just seemed to add an overall fresh quality, with the mango following up in the rear (think I could get a job commentating the Race the Stops a Nation tomorrow?). As nice as the Green Smoothie was though, it had nothing on my King Hit Smoothie as far as I'm concerned. A big mouthful of chocolate, with an undertone of banana, followed by decent hit of chilli that lingers. The perfect degree of sweetness too, only just enough. Delicious! And totally healthy and calorie-free, right? Cos it's just fruit? Good, I'm glad we agree on that.

Out of Africa's Durban Curried Chillies

Also totally calorie-free: samples. If it's free, it doesn't count. Just as well, as I took my smoothie a-walkin' over to the Out of Africa stall that I didn't have time to properly peruse last week. My South African friend J was right, they are otherworldly. I particularly loved the creamy Mint & Peanut Paste, and the Chilli Coriander Jam, but I ended up getting my wallet out for the Durban Curried Chillies. They won a Gold Medal for Tastiest Chilli Product at the 2009 Perth Chilli Festival (which by the way will be held in Fremantle next year as opposed at Araluen) so I don't seem to be alone in my like of this smack-you-in-the-mouth chilli product. It's pretty hot, filling up your entire mouth with its presence, but in a really tasty way. Not just heat for the sake of it.

Post market lunch (cos I needed to eat more food): roo and vege stir-fry with curried chillies

I got home and decided to add it to some kangaroo and vegies for a tasty stir-fry lunch. I mixed some through, and plopped some extras on top, and had to keep the tissues handy during my meal. I love chilli but I wish it didn't make my nose run. Oh and if you happen to follow my lead and buy these curried chillies, watch out for stray cardamom pods. With the combination of a running nose from the chilli and watering eyes from chewing on a cardamom pod I am glad I was dining alone.

Oh and errr... I might have had some more fudge for dessert. This time, choc mint. Really nice and minty, with the aroma wafting out of the bag as I hurriedly unwrapped it. I didn't enjoy it as much as the Cherry, Chocolate and Coconut fudge, but I am such a sucker for coconut it would be difficult for any other flavour to top that one. I'm sure I'll make my way through them all by the end of the year, reaquainting myself with the Cherry, Chocolate and Coconut at regular intervals just to make sure it's still good. Like how I have to check any chocolate I'm cooking with isn't poisoned before I use it in a recipe.

Seeing as I'm going to be up in Geraldton this weekend for the big partay, I won't be doing a third Subi Farmers Market post in three weeks, don't worry. Although.... guest post anyone? I want the lowdown on those egg & bacon rolls!

Subi Farmers Market

The Subi Farmers Market opened its gates for the first time on Saturday 17 October, and I went to check it out yesterday to see if it lived up to how good its website seemed to suggest it would be. Unable to sleep in with the early spring sun glaring through my blinds, I was at the market bang on 8am with a hungry belly, hoping that this expedition would not be a repeat of last week's hungover shamozzle of unrequited crepe love.

Information Stall

The tagline for the market is "the natural way to shop" and there is a real focus on organic, biodynamic and sustainable practices. They apparently have a strict 'no plastics' policy, and sell Subi Market branded reusable bags and trolleys. I like the idea of a trolley, as my eyes are generally bigger than my arm and shoulder muscles, but I just can't bring myself to buy one. According to the useful blackboard at the Information stall, they also have 'Story Time under the Tree' at 9:30, which I assume is for children and doesn't involve farmers regaling each other with tales of how big the bugs are whose plots they managed to foil through non-pesticide means, but I had made good my escape by this time so I can't comment further. Oh and there's a "Bike Parking" sign which you might be able to see next to the bikes. I'm surprised the Subi parking inspectors haven't utilised this potential parking ticket revenue stream.

Ringwould goat cheese stall

First up in the tasting stakes was the Ringwauld goat cheese stall. They keep their goats in Redmond, near Albany in the south west of Western Australia, and I can say that these goats make a tasty, tasty cheese. We tried all four on offer, and though they were all really nice I was most taken with the Ringwauld Blanc fresh goat's curd (in the little tub). It was mild, deliciously creamy, and would make a perfect mayonnaise substitute.

Loafers stall

Next to the tasty cheeses was the Loafers organic bread stall. According to their little sign, they make their organic breads using traditional slow fermentation methods, and thus their sour dough takes one week to make. The breads really did look great, with the crust on their "Bayern Brot" looking particularly tempting. Given that I don't each much bread, and knew that I already had a loaf sitting in my freezer, I resisted the urge to buy a loaf and rip into it there with a pot of that goat curd.

Passion Ate

Diablos Oven in action, with my "Garden Gnome" breakfast calzone

By now my belly was starting to grumble and although the sweet treats on offer at Passion Ate looked quite tempting, I really needed some savoury action. Just as well the next stall was Diablos Oven. On the menu today were two types of calzone - "Porky Pig" of organic pork sausage with fresh tomato, feta and fresh herbs or "Garden Gnome" of organic portabello mushrooms, roasted pine nuts, fresh spinach and feta. We ordered a Garden Gnome and waited as patiently as we could, distracting our hungry selves by looking again at the Passion Ate products, including some giant avocados they were selling. These were massive. You could kill someone with one. Luckily for the unsuspecting public our calzone was soon ready and my mind was taken off such thoughts.

The calzone was piping hot but luckily had been cut up for us so was soon ready to get stuck into. It was a little messy to eat, as the spinach and mushrooms had released a lot of moisture out and my napkin was soon soaked through, but it tasted good and I managed not to spill anything on myself so I was happy.

Spirals Cinnamon Buns

Luke and Pat's Coffee Shack

Although my hungry tummy wasn't entirely satiated by my calzone half, I resisted the cinnamon buns at Spirals to make sure I had plenty of room for more tastings. I did however complete phase one of my breakfast with a long black made by Luke or possibly Pat at Luke & Pat's Coffee Shack, and then we continued on our merry perusal.

Spot the happy cupcake girl!

I didn't notice this girl when I was taking this photo. Man she looks chuffed with her cupcake purchase.

Sophistibakes Gluten Free Bakery goods

I like beetroot, and apparently I also like chocolate beetroot cake. Thank you Sophistibakes for enlightening me. I asked if they grated it to use in the cake, like a carrot cake, but they cook it and puree it before adding it to the mix, similar to adding pumpkin puree I guess.

Fudge Fusion, and some incriminating teeth marks

After being reminded of the great fudge I had in Niagara-on-the-Lake last year after reading a couple of fudgey posts recently on Iron Chef Shellie, I was happy and a little scared to next find myself in front of Fudge Fusion. They had sealed little samples (good for the swine flu conscious sampler) of both their soft fudge and their crumbly fudge, and I discovered I'm more of your soft fudge kind of girl. Take from that what you will. Although tempted by the Mint Chocolate fudge, I decided on the Cherry, Chocolate and Coconut fudge and after getting stuck into it at home about 5 seconds after walking through the door I was overjoyed to discover it packed a great coconut punch in the face. I tasted each layer on its own, and found the chocolate and cherry flavours to be quite subtle in comparison to the coconut layer which also contained little bits of coconut within it.

I didn't think I liked fudge until I tried it in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The fudge stores there are all open plan, so you can see the (generally older men) making the fudge and be horrified at the amount of sugar and evaporated milk that you will soon be ingesting as you fail to resist temptation after trying the little samples. I wish now that I still thought I didn't like fudge.

Necessiteas

After smelling one tea at this stall I instantly knew it had to be mine. I also bought some of it for a friend, who I'm yet to give it to, so I'll be coy and not tell you which one it is.

Deep Creek Olives

I also bought something at the Deep Creek Olives stall as s gift for someone, so my coyness will continue.

How could you resist these asparagus spears?

Awesome. I just remembered I bought some of this asparagus and it's still sitting in the fridge waiting for me.

Turban Chopsticks

I've seen the Turban Chopsticks retail store on Bulwer Street in Northbridge before and been puzzled by the identity crisis of a name. I now know it sells a range of sauces, marinades, pastes, spices etc and the name appears to be due to their coverage of Indian style and Asian style flavours. Actually, it's funny how in Australia we don't seem to mean India when we say "Asian", which I assume is due to our closer proximity to south east Asian countries. I have noticed in the UK however (which you may particularly notice if you happen to be a fan of The Bill) that when they refer to an Asian person they often mean someone of Indian descent. Interesting.

Anyway, Turban Chopsticks products look like they'd come in very handy to whip up something tasty when you're time poor or just can't be arsed doing something completely from scratch. The meal packs in the left of the photo above looked particularly good, containing all the nonperishable things you need to make a range of dishes like "Royal Festival Briyani" and "Puy Lentil Stew". I didn't take note of how much the packs cost though, so I can't comment on value for money in comparison to just buying the components yourself.

Koeksisters

I didn't try or buy anything from this stall but wanted to include the photo as it looks like the stallholder is wearing leopard print pants. He wasn't, but I think he should.

Simplee Yummy

Again, I didn't try or buy anything from these guys but I like the action shots. Chop chop chop! Scoop scoop scoop!

The Raw Kitchen

No room for a Raw Kitchen smoothie this time, but next time I'm keen. Maybe to wash down some Simplee Yummy turnip. Also, is it just me or does it look like there's a little boy up in the background doing a wee in the bushes?

Well, I didn't actually manage to check out every single stall as I ran out of time and needed to get myself to the gym in time for a class, but I was pretty impressed with what I did check out. Seems like more stalls are on their way too. Conclusion: Subi Farmers Markets are well worth a visit and I'd recommend going with an empty tummy. And possibly a trolley.