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sallyhammond.com.au |
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Sydney-based, Australian author, food and travel writer, Sally Hammond, shares her world ... and her table |
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BREAKING NEWS! 15 January 2008This year Greekalicious will move to a new venue: The Intuitive Well Center located on the 1st Floor at 70 Bronte Road, Bondi Junction providing greater access and more space for students attending the classes. Two hours free parking at nearby Westfield Shopping Centre or cheap all-day parking at Eastgate Shopping Centre on Level 8. Bondi Junction Interchange is just a few minutes walk away for public transport. In announcing plans for the relocation, Greekalicious founder Maria Benardis revealed the move to larger premises was necessary to keep up with Sydney’s budding love for traditional Greek food and cookery methods. Part of the city’s ongoing fascination with ‘true to the source’ Mediterranean fare. “As a Greek-Australian I have been thrilled at the level of community interest in Greek cooking and culture since opening Greekalicious in February last year. I have been overwhelmed particularly by the interest in traditional Greek cookery and dishes such as homemade baklava; and cooking on the Skara – the Greek barbeque.” The first exclusively Greek school dedicated to Gastronomy: an Ancient Greek word signifying the relationship between the senses and food; Greekalicious cooking classes mix ancient Greek and modern styles with Maria Benardis’ passion for regional traditions. Maria’s legendary storytelling and lively music bring to life the colourful stories, histories and journeys of Greece. Classes run for around three hours, and all include authentic Greek dishes cooked with certified organic ingredients from Australia and Greece and a full sit down meal with plenty of quality Australian wine. Classes cost $120 and can be booked online at www.greekalicious.com.au or by calling 9331 0734. |
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GREEKALICIOUS
T I am booked into the class for February 24, on aphrodisiac foods. It promises ‘sumptuous recipes’ to cook for my loved ones using figs (yum!), pomegranate, saffron, asparagus and exotic spices. Can’t wait! Saturdays, 10.30am, E.J. Ward Center,189 Underwood Street Paddington. More details: PO Box 660, Paddington, Sydney NSW 2021. Ph: 02 9331 0734 |
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GREEKALICIOUS - more
About a dozen of us eager students almost fill the small hall in a back street of Paddington. In front of us, a table displays various Greek specialties, and Maria herself, in her navy Greekalicious apron, and jaunty cap (‘my father was a fisherman in Greece,’ she explains), is there too, ready to take us on a journey to the land she knows and loves so much. Tantalisingly the scent of some dishes already prepared escape from the kitchen behind her. For no particular reason (that I’m admitting anyway) I have booked in with a friend for the Aphrodisiac food session. Maria loses no time in explaining how appropriate this is for Greek cookery (think honey, figs, asparagus, seafood…. Oh, and of course Aphrodite). The dishes – which become our meal later, served at a long table already set at the back of the room – include baked asparagus, scattered with fetta, prawns wrapped in shredded kataifa pastry and fried in mastic-infused oil for a subtle flavour, filo-wrapped seafood, and a magnificent leafy, herby salad scattered with pomegranate seeds.
Maria passes around the more unusual ingredients. Mastic, for instance, is a gum that drips pearl-like from a tree in only one certain location. She travels annually to Greece and returns with her suitcases laden with this as well as wild herbs she has dried herself on the roof of a relative’s house and other goodies that are only found in Greece. Auustralian Quarantine officers must recognise her by now – ‘I declare everything,’ she assure us – and no doubt make memos to themselves to attend one of her classes too.
Understandably, our group is more than ready to be seated for lunch, despite tasting the prawns as an appetiser during the demonstration. Bottles of Greek rosé appear to complement our meal and we are served from heaping platters. If we were outside shaded from the Greek sun under a fig tree we couldn’t be happier. |
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GREEKA-MANTALICIOUS
You may want to plan to keep your Saturdays as free as you can this year because a fantastic new series of cookery classes has just opened in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs. 
he dream of vibrant Greek-Australian Maria Bendardis, herself an enthusiastic and talented cook, the school will put a modern spin on traditional Greek dishes and also share the mystique of this country’s cuisine with those of us whose heritage is from elsewhere.
As I’d planned, on a recent Saturday morning I attended one of Maria’s classes. What an experience!
It is all so healthy, as Maria tells us she attempts wherever possible to source organic wholesome produce. It shows too. Everything smells so good, looks so luscious.
When we are drooling in anticipation as the morning draws close to ending, there is one last treat: baked fresh figs with honey yoghurt, prepared for dessert.© All contents of this website are Copyright © 2005--2007 Sally and Gordon Hammond and www.sallyhammond.com.au , unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this website for noncommercial, personal use only. Any other use of the materials in this website without prior written permission is prohibited.