spring edition 2013
free/gratis
Death, Skulls & Festivals
The Musical Heights of Venezuela
Latin Dances For All
The Ingredient with Heart
www.latinflavours.com.au
Spring Edition
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Australian Latin Flavours Magazine is published by Insubstantial Pageant Media. Editor David James Sub Editor Lorraine James Creative Director Leonardo Carbonara Sales & Marketing Director Carlos Sanz Layout Design Mattia Scaranto Photography Ines Colombo, Leonardo Carbonara Contributors Eduardo Gomez, Peter Farmer, Cecilia Baubeta Enquiries 03 9563 0134 enquiries@latinflavours.com.au Mailing Address 2/29 Darling Street Hughesdale, Vic, 3166 Advertising / Sales 0415 72 50 83 sales@latinflavours.com.au Editorial david@latinflavours.com.au
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Contents Features 7
Mexican Festival The Federation Square event attracts thousands
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Latin Dance The richness of the many dance traditions are available in Melbourne
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Venezuelan Music Venezuela’s classical and folk traditions are coming to Australia
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The Tarantino café La Cantina has a distinctive style
Lifestyle 5
La Movida Local It is festival season in Melbourne
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La Movida International Latin festivals from around the world
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Eating out Reviews of restaurants Los Amates and Buenos Aires
News
LFM-Creative leonardo@latinflavours.com.au
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Business expansion How a famous store is growing
Production / Printing Colombo Studios
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What’s Selling A guide to the most popular products on the Latin scene
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What to eat when viewing Salvador Dali
facebook.com/latinflavours All articles are the property of the publisher. The views and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, publisher or other agents. All the contents of Latin Flavours are only for general information and/or use. Such contents do not constitute advice and should not be relied upon in making (or refraining from making) any decision. No representations, warranties or guarantees whatsoever are made as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, suitability or applicability of the information to a particular situation. The Editor, Publisher or their agents will not accept any responsibility and cannot be held liable for damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of any kind) errors or omissions, or for any consequences arising from any reliance on the information published in the Australian Latin Flavours Magazine.
Food 26
Heart of Palm An extremely versatile ingredient
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Recipe Booklet - Ensalada de palmito - Tongue vinagreta - Pumpkin in brown sugar - Chicken in garlic sauce - Tomates y pimientos - Flan de piña - Rompope
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“I think they are an excellent accompaniment for cheeses.� Will Studd, Australian cheese master and creator of the internationally renowned series Cheese Slices. Mandarin Brandy, Quince Port, Fig & Walnut, Tomato Cointreau, Orange Oporto, Strawberry, Mango Citrus, Passionfruit.
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La movida
La movida local It is spring in Melbourne, and time for Latin festivals. Consider three: the Spanish festival in Johnston Street Fitzroy, the Day of the Dead Festival in several locations including an art gallery, and the Mexican Festival in Federation Square in the city. Festivals are an effective way to draw attention to a cuisine, to providers of the food – restaurants and delis -- and to the accompanying culture. Ricardo Amare, director of the Day of the Dead Festival, says the festival last year was focused more on the food and wine, but this year he wants to give it more of a cultural and community focus. The festival will go for five days with workshops, art installations and processions. Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival is being globalised; it is now occurring in Hollywood and other parts of North America and London. “This is the first time it has happened in Australia,” says Ricardo. “It is a little bit of paying tribute to our ancestors. This year we are going to integrate it more into the community. We will have a procession with candles and try to imitate the sacred days.” Ricardo is hoping to have a thousand people in the procession. He says non-Latins are quickly impressed by the colours and vibrancy of the celebrations. “Now we have come to the Western world we are amazed at the reaction.” The festival will include up to 60 art works made by Latin American artists which will be auctioned. Kristina Diaz, events organiser for the Spanish Festival, says the festival has been going for 35 years – and last year it had 35,000 people go through it over the two days. She is Argentinean by birth; her father was a guitarist and her mother was a chef. She says when the festival began, it meant a lot to migrants because it gave them a sense of community. “It started as a small community festival and it gradually grew into this monster,” she says.
“You have Latin bands and Latin American dance studios and all kinds of food from central and South America.” Running festivals is a complex activity. Sponsors have to be found: City of Yarra in the case of the Spanish festival and Mission Foods in the case of the Mexican festival. Then there is logistics, management of all the people involved, including volunteer workers, publicity and general coordination. Event managers must identify the audience and determine if they want a festival, avoid duplication and make sure anyone affected has “bought in”. Programming should be varied, which requires some skilled investigation of the possibility, and it is important to make sure that the space can accommodate the crowds and vendors can handle the volume. Then there is the requirement to create a budget and to find contractors. “You have to be multi-talented; you have to juggle a lot of things,” says Kristina. Having a board is important. Ricardo says the board for the Day of the Dead festival is a way to make sure that people with the right backgrounds can be included. “It is a way to make sure it is what we want it to be,” he says. Music bands add a crucial dimension to festivals. Dance is also critical. The Mexican festival has traditional dancing, with non-Latin Australians being the main participants.
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La Movida International
La movida
Argentina One of the Spring highlights in Argentina is Oktoberfest, when thousands descend on Cordoba province to explore the limits of inebriation in the annual Beer Festival, which last five days. Those who survive are sure to have some decent headaches. In November there is the Gay Pride celebrations: Buenos Aires is regarded as a ‘gay Mecca’ by many Latin Americans.
Spain Tourists who like their art to be bizarre may find the Riotous Baroque exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao of interest in October. It juxtaposes contemporary art with 17th-century painting, dissociating the traditional perception of the Baroque concept. For those of a more musical bent there is the International “Julián Arcas” Classical Guitar Competition in Almería. Open to all classical guitarists, the aim is to promote the study and appreciation of this instrument. From late October though to the end of November there is the Barcelona International Jazz Festival. For those interested in the less well known areas of Spain, there is Consuegra, in the province of Toledo, which celebrates the Saffron Rose Fiesta at the end of October. The festival aims to promote the cultural essence of Castile-La Mancha through its gastronomy, crafts, history and traditions.
Guatemala Guatemalan festivals tend to be either traditional local gatherings, cultural events, religious affairs or massive national celebrations. In November, Guatemala hosts the Day of the Dead Kite Festival in Santiago Sacatepéquez, when the local population uses kites to communicate with the spirits of the deceased. Locals build extravagant kites and fly them high above the cemeteries as a symbolic link between the living and the dead. It is a time for feasting on a traditional food known as fiambre.
Mexico Mexico in October has a lot to offer. The Festival de Sol (Festival of the Sun) has concerts, parades, and mechanical rides in celebration of the founding of Mexicali. Internacional Cervantino is one of the biggest cultural festivals of the year, drawing performers and spectators from around the world and featuring opera, classical and contemporary music concerts, dance and theatre performances, and visual arts exhibits. The Day of the Dead kicks off at the end of October when deceased relatives are remembered and honored in cemeteries and family homes. Celebrations are most colorful in Patzcuaro, Oaxaca, Chiapas and San Andres Mixquic. There is also the Festival de las Calaveras (Festival of the Skulls) when skulls of different sizes and materials are on display along with traditional food and seasonal fruit.
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Feature
A Very Mexican Party The Mexican festival at Federation Square attracts tens of thousands of fans The number of Mexicans in Australia is small. According to the most recent census, in 2011 there were only 3,255 Mexican-born persons resident in Australia. So it is a certainty that when 25,000 people flocked to Federation Square last September to celebrate the Mexican Festival, the great majority were not Mexican. “The Mexican community is not large in this part of the world, so the response was tremendous; it was amazing how well received it was and how they embraced it,” says Victoria Pedregal-Greensmith, who does publicity for the Festival. “The majority of the interest is in food. They understand that Mexican food is not all about tacos. They have learned about the ingredients involved in Mexican gastronomy.”
“I was still a bit homesick and working as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant,” she says. “It was nice to see that so many came. They were not Mexican, but they came, and they celebrated like Mexicans. They just came to enjoy the fiesta. You would see Australians, and even Chinese people dancing the salsa: they didn’t know what they were doing but they didn’t care.” The Festival focuses especially on Australian and Mexican entrepreneurs, and people importing Mexican food and culture into Australia. Juan Caraza, one of the organisers, says Mexican beverages are popular: the beer Corona, Tequila and Mescal, which is derived from the agave plant. He says there is also intense interest in Mexican food.
Victoria says Australians are moving away from Asian food and looking for something else. There is also heightened interest because of increasing tourism to Mexico. This is confirmed by the 2011 Census, which found that 11,000 Australians travelled to Mexico and 6,000 Mexican nationals visited here.
“Those things are typical things. There are many entrepreneurs we are trying to support. That is the vision. The greatest thing about Australia is that it embraces different cultures. You have an amazing multiculturalism and I think Latin Americans are starting to influence the culture.”
The Festival features many stalls exhibiting Mexican food in Melbourne, whose influence is increasing fast. A recent study by BRW magazine named three Mexican franchises in their list of the top 10 fastest growing franchises in Australia. Victoria says a number of restaurants will be having stalls at the festival. The festival’s main sponsor is the food company Mission.
Juan says Latin food is the next wave in Australia. “The Latin influence is not very important at the moment but it will continue to grow. Little by little we are changing Australian culture. We are very passionate about Mexico and we just wanted to give Australia a taste of what it is all about.”
Maggie Caranza, project manager for the festival, says when she went to the festival two years ago, the attendance was low. She and her partners, including Victoria and Juan Caraza, came up with the idea of a celebration in Federation Square.
One of the more intriguing of the entrepreneurs is the Chicza Organic Mayan Rainforest Chewing Gum. Victoria says the product was devised by locals. “A couple of Australian girls were in the south of Mexico where Mayan civilisation used to be and they saw some people chewing the bark of trees.
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Business
Margarita and Bradley met in Monterrey They did a bit of research and found out that the indigenous groups use it as chewing gum, from natural resources. So they decided to bring organic chewing gum to the market. You now see it in many organic food shops.” Other highlights of the festival will be the Spanish-Australian comedian Simon Palomares and the Mexican rock band Los Mas Altos. There will be Latin dance, Zumba, Mariachi and a wide range of activities for children. The economic links between Australia and Mexico are surprisingly strong. The growing interest in Mexican food and culture is part of a wider trend of greater engagement between the two countries. Mexico is Australia’s largest merchandise trading partner in Latin America, with twoway trade worth about $3 billion. There is also a high level of educational interaction. In 2011, nearly 1,600 Mexican student enrolments were received by Australian educational institutions. Australian food and wine brands are increasingly on sale in Mexico. The stock of Australian investment in Mexico increased by 46 per cent between 2008 and 2011 to over $3 billion. “We are not only tacos and tequila, we have a lot more,” says Maggie. “We really want to be the best community festival in Australia,” says Victoria. “We would like to expand to Sydney and Perth and grow bigger. I think it is really here to stay.”
Escaping With The Circus Life can take surprising turns. When Margarita Carranza went to the pub with her friends in her home town of Monterrey, Mexico, she could scarcely have imagined what would eventually transpire. She met the man who would eventually become her husband, the Australian physiotherapist Bradley Fernihough. “He came with all his friends and that was it,” she says. 8
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Bradley was in Mexico working as a physiotherapist for Cirque de Soleil, the classy international circus. He had formerly had a stint with the Royal Ballet in London. Margarita had a background in graphic design and events management and had worked as a designer in the Spanish language section of the New York Times. When she met Bradley she was working as a marketing director for an advertising agency. After five months the couple started dating. Then Margarita was faced with a decision. “He said: ‘I am going to Chile, do you want to come with me?’ He was this random Aussie and I didn’t know where we would end up. But I had the opportunity to teach Spanish to kids in the circus. So I sold my car, left my house and went. In the first year it was more a matter of I could relax and teach a few lessons to the artists.” Margarita’s role expanded from there. She began doing graphic design for the circus, and toured throughout South America. She returned for a short time to Mexico, then toured Canada and the United States for four years. “The touring life is great. It was different (for me) because I didn’t grow up in the circus. But it is very interesting, especially in South America, because I had the opportunity to experience different cultures – you find yourself in places like Argentina and Brazil. In South America we stayed in hotels all the time. We lived a privileged life – someone cleans for you, you don’t pay rent, you don’t pay for food.” Margarita went on to manage back stage. At one point she cooked Mexican Mole for 130 people, for a celebration of Cinco de Mayo. ”I had the opportunity to experience each part of it; you get to see the real life of the artist and how everything works.” Eventually, the circus life came to an end. The next tour was to Japan and there was no job for Margarita. She did not like the idea of staying at home doing nothing. “I was a bit emotional leaving the show.” The couple had married in Toronto, but they had their “real wedding” in Sayvalita, a village in Mexico. The celebrations included people from the circus and people from Australia. Having resolved that it was time to settle down, they decided that Australia would be safer. Physiotherapy is not a career yet in Mexico, so Australia offered better opportunities. “It was more a security issue, especially in the north,” says Margarita. “I like it here (in Australia). I can walk without watching my back and I love that it is really multicultural. Somehow it is like the circus – a lot of people coming from everywhere. Of course you miss your own family and friends, but you have to start building your own home. It is nice to have your own house and not live in a suitcase.”
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Cover Story
A Fiesta of Dance Options The range of dance styles from Latin countries is very wide
Perhaps the greatest strength of Latin culture is its dance. The styles are an extraordinary array of indigenous and hybrid forms. Consider some of the variants: Colombian Cumbia, Brazilian Samba de Gafiera, French Caribbean Zouk, Dominican Republic Bachata, Argentinean Tango, Afro-Cuban Salsa, Dominican Merengue, Cuban Cha Cha, Uruguayan Candombe, the curious mix of Cuban and Caribbean, Reggaeton and another hybrid Pachanga. Many of these styles are being taught in Melbourne, and for anyone wanting to learn there are usually teachers available. One of the pioneers is the school Melbourne Salsa. Director Gabby Torrisi has been running the company for 13 years. Italian by background, she started dancing salsa “at the ripe old age of 26”. She said when they started there was a gap in the market in Melbourne. “We had been to Puerto Rico, we travelled there to learn,” she says. “We wanted to reproduce in Melbourne the atmosphere of the clubs there.” Gabby started some monthly events, which were well received. They then began giving classes. “We didn’t realise the classes would take over the events. We offer students a whole experience, not just salsa. We have weekly events and we are also doing a Latin dance retreat in Bali” There are many Latin dance styles, comments Gabby. The offerings are rich for those wanting to experience something new. “We have people from all walks of life. The majority are Anglo Saxon who want to have a bit of fun and meet people. Mostly they just love the music.” About 20 per cent of students become expert in the dancing styles, going on to compete. The majority, however, “do it for fun”. Gabby says the market has moved in different cycles. “At 10
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the moment there is a very elite dancer feel in Melbourne,” she says. “Ten years ago most people just wanted to have fun and have a drink. Now, they are a bit more fussy about who they dance with, how they look. We try to keep it as grounded and groovy as we can. Other dance students have students who are great dancers but they are not as flexible in a social situation.” Latin dance now enjoys global appeal. Some styles can be performed alone, while some can only be done with someone else. The dances’ vibrancy is in part due to the fact that it has flourished in countries with lower standards of living – and dancing is of course free. There are also deep cultural inheritances. Children typically learn from an early age, allowing great sophistication to be built on simple foundations. Many of the styles, such as Afro-Cuban and Samba, originate from Africa. In much the same way that blues emerged in North America, African slaves developed their styles in the cane fields, singing songs. They then went home to play and dance. The same is true of tango and candombe, its predecessor. They were developed by African slaves and tended to be regarded as a lower class pursuit. But when tango took Paris by storm in the nineteenth century, Argentineans began to take it more seriously (just as jazz was seen as a serious art form in white America only after the Europeans began celebrating it). There are a number of tango schools in Melbourne. David Backler, director of Sidewalk Tango is one of the more established figures (some others are Tango Butterfly, Tango Bajo Bill, Kristina Diaz, Robles Dance and Melbourne Practica Group). He says he first came across tango dancing in the
mid-1980s when he was working as a circus and theatre performer in Barcelona. He fell in love with it. “It has been my entire life, my entire career. I left the theatre and the circus and have been doing it ever since.” David says he was accepted in the tango community in Buenos Aires because not many Argentineans perform the dance, which is extremely difficult. “There are 15 million people in Buenos Aires and only about 5,000 dance the tango. I was welcomed as one of them. They all know it and can tell you the history and the background (but not many dance it). “Like anything that is good it takes a long time to get it, you have to craft it. But if you put your heart into it you can learn it in six to nine months. But you have to put the hours in and you have to have guts.” David says about three to four people out of a hundred become good exponents of tango. He says he also used to teach salsa, which has a different kind of appeal to tango. “You get those amazing 20 to 30 piece orchestras blasting out rhythms and it is very appealing. Tango is like the dark side; the people who do it find it more satisfying. People who do salsa might last a couple of years. With tango it takes you a couple of years to realise that you know nothing. The emotions are a lot more sophisticated; it is a more profound experience. It is richer but it takes a lot longer to get it.” David started in 1989, and says the scene “goes in two year cycles”. This year is the hundred year anniversary: tango was first danced in St Kilda in 1913, a year when the form became startlingly popular around the world (it was at that time that tango became the national dance of Finland). “I have seen it come and I have seen it go,” says David.
Since migrating to Australia, Carlos has sought to bring some of that Brazilian excitement, founding Australia’s first samba school in 1988. He specializes in training large Samba School “baterias” that have the authentic Rio de Janeiro feel. He teaches percussion workshop to local schools and has toured his baterias to England, Scotland and New Zealand. Spanish flamenco is another type of Latin dance popular in Melbourne, and it is one dance that has largely European, rather than African origins. The form was developed by gypsies, and features extremely complex rhythm, in cycles of three, four, six and 12 beats. Tatiana Bistrin is director of Melbourne Flamenco. She started out as a ballet dancer. “I’m not Spanish, but in my 20s I was looking around for a dance form that I could continue to do and I fell in love with flamenco. You don’t have to be thin and you don’t have to be young. And it is a very expressive dance form.” Tatiana studied flamenco in Madrid in 1994 and in Granada in 2004. She started teaching in 2005 and opened the studio a year later. Like other dance practitioners, she says the market moves in cycles. “It is not easy, but there are different levels.” She says there is the every day level where people dance at parties or special occasions. And then there is the concert level, where the dance is taken to great heights. “It keeps me fit and it keeps me sane.” Tatiana says she has students from a variety of backgrounds: Latin American, Australian, Canadian, American. “I often teach people from Chile or Argentina who understand easily because it is taught in Spanish words, the words for the steps are in Spanish.”
Some claim that Brazilian samba is not a “Latin” dance because Brazilians speak Portuguese, not Spanish. This is incorrect. Samba it is very much part of the Latin traditions, and has the same mix of African and European influences. A prominent exponent of samba is Carlos Ferreira, who runs Melsamba. This presents Brazilian dance at its most colourful -- the world famous Rio Carnival. Carlos comes from Vila Isabel, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) which he says is to samba what old New Orleans is to jazz. “I am a genuine Carioca (person from Rio),” he says. Carlos taught himself to play drums on old tins, which he and his childhood friends used to collect from the streets. He then joined some of Rio’s famous Samba Schools, including O Berço do Samba - Brazil’s first Samba School. “I am very proud to be part of this fantastic family,” he says. He is also a great soccer fan, which became part of his musical heritage. In 1965, he started playing percussion with Flamengo’s cheer squad in Maracana stadium in Rio. Spring Edition
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It is based on a basic movement of stepping forward or backward and shifting weight between feet. The Cha Cha Cha adds a quick set of three steps giving the dance its name because many dancers count out these steps as “cha cha cha.” The Mambo is another dance to originate in Cuba. It is based on a three-beat step moving forward and then backward while shifting weight from one foot to the other. One person performs the backward motion while the other moves forward. There is then a hip-swaying action because of the weight shift. Merengue is recognized as the official dance of the Dominican Republic and is regarded as easy to learn. The basic movement is to move to the front, back, and side: step onto the inside edge of the foot, roll the foot to transfer weight, then drag the other foot to meet the first foot.
She says she has men as well as women. “It is not a couples dance, like salsa or tango. It takes years to learn, you have to keep practicing. It is so rhythmic, a bit like learning a musical instrument. A lot of people don’t stick to it, it takes a reasonable amount of dedication. I would say it is about one in 20, which is not a lot. But those who stay are addicted to it and they hate it when they miss class. It doesn’t speak to everyone but to those to whom it does they stick with it. It has great, wonderful primal rhythms.” Tatiana teaches at night at her clothes shop in Gertrude Street. She sells flamenco shoes and skirts that she makes herself and also flamenco combs, roses and CDs that are not available anywhere else. She also choreographs and performs regularly. The social side of Latin dance, in an era of social atomism, is especially attractive. “Basically what happened for a long time is that our marketing reached people who would not necessarily have entered the scene, and they would then go everywhere else,” says Melbourne Salsa’s Gabby. “All the schools are benefiting from our marketing. It is now a bit more spread out, it is a much bigger market.” So what are the some of the basic types of Latin dance? Flamenco is the main Spanish dance. It has varying degrees of complexity and can be performed to extremely high level of technical excellence. Bachata comes from the Dominican Republic. It is named after Bachata guitar music. Dancers move side to side in a four-beat pattern: three steps to the side followed by a pause. The feature is the pronounced hip movements. The dance is concerned more with moving the body with style than simple back and forth steps. Cha Cha Cha, is a Cuban-born dance, similar to the Mambo. 12
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Rumba has its roots in Cuba. It consists of two quick steps and then a third slower step that takes two beats to execute. Dancers use a box-like pattern to guide their movements. Salsa also originated in the Caribbean, but it has a strong African influence. It is based on a four-beat combination of two quick steps and a slow step with a pause or tap. Partners then add turns and other flourishes to the basic footwork. Samba comes from Brazil and comes in many forms, some for couples and some for individuals. The basic footwork of the Samba includes fast, three-step weight changes with a slight knee lift, led with alternating feet. These are some of the better known dances, but the variety in South and Central America, and Spain, is extreme. There is Bambuca, the national dance of Colombia. It was formerly danced only by the natives but became a ballroom dance to be added to the gentle Pasillo, a favorite with Colombian society. Bolero, which started out in Spain being in 3/4 time was changed to 2/4 time in Cuba. There is an Argentine dance called Escondido in which the female partner hides from the male. Another Argentinean dance is Gato, which is performed by two couples. The rhythm resembles a fast Waltz in steady quarter notes. The Mexican dance Jarabes is usually done by a couple. It depicts a flirtation and conquest and is mostly known by its other name, “The Mexican Hat Dance.” Jarana, which means “merry chatter” is the folk dance of Yucatan, Mexico. The verses are often in the Mayan language. It is a cousin of La Raspa and La Bamba. Baile de Tambor is a Venezuelan folk dance of African origins. The Fandango is a modern Spanish dance, based on flamenco influences, which uses castanets and stomping. And on it goes. Migrants from Latin countries inevitably bring these traditions with them. It is not just Melbourne’s cuisine that is being enriched, it is also Melbourne’s dance.
Feature
Venezuelan Melodies Venezuela has rich folk and classical traditions Multiculturalism does not just create surprises for Australians. It can also lead to unexpected results for immigrants. That is what has happened to Cristina Alford, manager of the Venezuelan band Cambur Pinton, which plays traditional strong, drum and vocal based music.
Another percussion instrument, the charrasca, a cylindrical instrument with grooves on the surface that is rubbed by a metal bar, is also used.
“This is my dream,” says Cristina. “I can’t believe, even on the other side of the world, that I can still play the music.”
“It is a combination of European, African and indigenous music,” says Cristina. “That is why the drums; and why the music is so happy. The reason is religious. It was played by the slaves to sing to their saints, whether they were happy or sad.”
Cristina says she was born into a musical family. That is something of an understatement. Her great grandmother was Maria Luisa Escobar, one of Venezuela’s most important composers and pianists. Her list of compositions is long, spanning chamber music and opera. After studying in Paris she founded the Ateneo de Caracas, an institution that spread classical music in the capital city. She also founded the Venezuelan Association of Authors and Composers, which fought for copyright. In 1984, a year before she died, she was awarded the National Music Award. A theatre in Valencia is named after her.
Cambur Pinton has an Australian member Andrew Normand, who plays guitar and bandola, an instrument that sounds like the harp but has only four strings. He developed such a strong love of Venezuelan music he went to Caracas to study it. “My first exposure to Venezuelan music was via the suggestion of a Chilean friend,” says Andrew. “I bought a CD and couldn’t believe what I was listening to. The first thing that really struck me was the happiness of the music. Then there was the rhythm. A mixture of African, Flamenco, Caribbean and classical music, but played with a unique style that was hard to define.
That musical history continues in the family and it indirectly led to the formation of Cambur Pinton. “In 2011 my mother and mother-in-law were here,” says Cristina, who has been in Australia for four years. “My Mum sings and plays the guitar. I asked them, I said: ‘I need help to get this project going.’ They started to sing with me and it got started.”
“The next week I went in to a travel agent and bought a ticket. To be honest I didn’t even really know where Venezuela was. They had to show me on a world map. Verbally, I couldn’t really communicate. But I had my guitar with me and that was my primary means of communication.
The music features the cuatro, a type of small guitar that has four strings. “In Venezuela most kids learn it,” says Cristina. Getting the drums made in Australia proved to be a problem. A local African drum maker Djembe, managed to make them despite their construction being different to African drums.
“Luckily for me, Venezuelans love the guitar and people really took me in. In Guanare they took me into the local radio station and five minutes later I was playing live on air. The hospitality was a bit overwhelming.” Andrew describes Venezuelan music as “like meeting Spring Edition
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someone and knowing straight away that they will be a friend for life”. He believes it is one of the unacknowledged gems of world music. “It is a whole world of music in itself. There are Valses, Joropos, Merengues, Parandas, Aguinaldos, Gaitas, Calypsos, just to name a few. At the same time, the music hasn’t stood still. Rock, rap, and other popular music styles are all part of the mix.” Andrew says musically and socially he has had little problem adapting, but the language remains a barrier. “I feel like they are part of my family, even though I struggle to communicate properly. Sometimes I arrive at performances wearing a red shirt, when everyone else is in white. But then again Venezuelans like to play tricks on each other, so I am never quite sure who is at fault.” Andrew is now in Spain trying to improve his Spanish and learn flamenco, another area of interest. He says he recently
met up with a sister of one of the choir members in Sevilla. “Hearing her laugh and poke fun at me, like we had known each other for years, really made me feel relaxed and at home. In that respect Venezuelans and Australians are very similar.” Cristina says playing her music is an important way of keeping in touch with her culture. “We like to sing this type of music because it reminds us of our origins. It is community. We are not doing this for business, we are doing this for the music.” Cambur means “banana” and Pinton means “spots”. The reason behind the name is that a popular way to remember the tuning of the cuatro is to play each string individually from top to bottom, while singing the words “Cam-bur pin-tón”. Cristina says the project has expanded more than expected. Many members are still learning, but they get a lot of help from Andrew. The band prefers to play festivals. “No restaurants, no bars,” she says. “For us the most important thing is to show our tradition and our folklore.”
El Sistema In Australia One of the most effective classical music programs in the world was devised by a Venezuelan, Jose Antonio Abreu. It has since spread around the world, including in Australia where it is being use to help the lives of school children. Abreu was an economist, pianist, violinist and conductor. When he first started with the programme Venezuela was poorly served with orchestras and classical music. In an effort to change this he, in 1975, formed a youth orchestra to play in Mexico. It was such a success he decided to take it further. “Basically they roped in kids off the street,” says Christopher Nicholls, director of El Sistema Australia. “They rehearsed day and night for weeks to put it together. They learned how to play in only a few months. Some were good already, but very few.” Christopher says Abreu realized that the program was having a highly beneficial effect on poor children from the barrios (slums), “places of great violence and drug and alcohol abuse.” 14
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He invited children in with the only proviso that they were willing to work at acquiring the skills. It was done after school hours, and the children were “looked after and fed”. The better children quickly became teachers, due to a shortage of adult teachers. El Sistema has continued for 35 years, through ten different government administrations. Abreu is careful to keep it separate from party politics. It was supported by UNESCO and in 2008 received a substantial loan from the Inter America Development Bank. One of the world’s most famous conductors Gustavo Dudamel, was trained at El Sistema. Abreu views the orchestra as a representation of the ideal society, believing the sooner a child is nurtured in that environment, the better for all. He describes his vision thus: “Music has to be recognized as an agent of social development, in the highest sense because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And
He has initiated a program in Laverton in Melbourne, and is looking to start programs in Bairnsdale in Victoria and Canberra. He says he is particularly targeting refugees, especially those who have both parents working. “Thirteen per cent of children in Australia live in households in a state of poverty,” says Christopher. He says Laverton was interested in having a program as long as it was after hours. There is no particular focus on poor children; it is on any children irrespective of their backgrounds. “There are 25 languages spoken at this school. It tended to be very sectioned off but what happened when they split up into various instrumental groups is that they all got mixed up. That stayed. We take that gang mentality away and change it into an orchestra.” Christopher says he plans to make the local program into a much bigger organisation, although he is hampered by a lack of funds. He says children in Australia are too socialised by television. “Music is the only way I know to get children playing with each other. It also helps them do better at school. It is not just about disadvantaged kids, it is about all kids.”
it has the ability to unite an entire community, and to express sublime feelings”.
El Sistema is one of the most remarkable community programs ever created and an extraordinary exercise in bringing music to the community. Abreu was awarded the Glenn Gould Prize in 2008, and praised for “demonstrating conclusively that music education is the gateway to lifelong learning and a better future.” The Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts was awarded to El Sistema in 2008, the TED Prize was awarded to in 2009. In the same year the Polar Music Prize from Sweden was awarded to El Sistema and Abreu. “It gives the child a capacity to be brilliant,” says Christopher.
It is an inspirational vision that certainly affected Christopher Nicholls. His son experienced learning difficulties in primary school, which was subsequently diagnosed as a vision problem. He then went away on a music program and returned with a cello, which he started practicing six hours a day. “It changed his whole persona and his academic skills went up,” says Christopher. He has since had scholarships to conservatoriums and is pursuing a career in music. Christopher then saw a documentary on El Sistema, which greatly influenced him. His father had been a trade commissioner and Christopher spent several years living in Caracas. He says that with his son he “saw what Abreu saw”: the transforming effect that learning music can have. He resolved to start up the Australian version of El Sistema, which is in over 25 countries. Christopher says that although Australia is considered a rich country, there is considerable inequity. So inspired by Abreu’s example, he set out to do something similar.
Venezuelan composer Maria Luisa Escobar Spring Edition
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Review
Rich, complex and balanced Authentic Mexican food uses a very different philosophy The cliché is that Mexican food is hot, with chiles and blazing sauces. But to think that this is all it is about is partially to miss the point. The philosophy of Mexican food differs from much European cuisine. Instead of starting with a small range of flavours that are expanded out, the method is to begin with a startlingly wide span of tastes and to combine them in such a way that they become a balanced offering. The Melbourne restaurant Los Amates applies this distinctive approach to food. The first offering is an example of the Mexican method of controlled excess: a glass of Ponche de Fritas, a hot, tea-like drink that has now fewer than 12 fruits and flavours: hibiscus flower, cinnamon, solid sugar, apple, peach plum, pear. All topped with a dash of rum. The taste is, to say the least, complex. This is followed by dusky beef cheeks, chicken with chipotle chili and cochinita pork. These are eaten, necessarily somewhat clumsily, with tortilla (corn pancakes) and guacamolle. The effect is delayed. The first taste is the plain taste of tortilla, but this is followed by an explosion of peppery excitement, counterpointed by different shades of citrus and avocado. The culinary technique mixes fire and earth: the heat of the chilis with the earthiness of the corn, beans, and avocado. Owner Arturo Morales says when he started nine years ago there were only some American Mexican chains. “We have been accused of being pioneers of all this,” he says. “I would say that people (in Melbourne) are conscious rather than knowledgeable about Mexican food.” 16
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Los Amates has been recognised in Mexico as one of the best eight Mexican restaurants outside the country (there were winners in Barcelona, New York, Washington and London). The chef is Adrian Gonzalez, who says when he sets out the food he tries to follow the colours of the Mexican “flag”, red, white and green. The meal continued with three enchiladas, again featuring bright tastes combined with skill and precision. The green tomatillo (similar to a tomato) had delicious citrus shades, while the mole combined cinnamon, chocolate, almonds and chiles in a dark and arresting mix. The earthiness is provided by the corn chips. Arturo says the mole takes many hours to prepare, with the flavour changing at different points. Once again, the flavours are so strong that effort has to be made to bring them into balance. “There are eighteen different types of mole,” says Arturo. The atmosphere of the restaurant is infused with the Mexican aesthetic: a self portrait by the famous painter Frida Kahlo on a jungle background, papel picado (brightly coloured stencils hanging from the roof ), coloured skulls, paintings and iconography of skeletons and the long dead. When Arturo says that: “we are all so close to death that it is walking next to me all the time” it occurs that this subject is not necessarily a usual topic of conversation for restaurateur. “Nobody ever regarded Mexican as a cuisine,” says Arturo. “When I opened there was no other Mexican restaurant.”
Review
Tradition, tango, taste Buenos Aires restaurant is doing the right things well, producing a compelling result Restaurants typically navigate a course between the familiar and the novel. Many variants are possible. Some use the familiar traditions of the home, others try to create new taste combinations that surprise and delight. Buenos Aires restaurant in Lygon Street Carlton very much adopts the traditional approach. The opening fare is bruchetta: beef vinagreta on sour dough bread with diced tomatoes and fresh basil. This is followed by deliciously chewy empanadas (small pasties with egg, beef and an olive). The accompanying chimichurri (a meat sauce with olive oil and parsley or coriander) is fresh and delicate. Strength and delicacy are the keys to the Buenos Aires fare. Part owner Juan Termine plied us with a Mendoza wine Tapiz Bonarda, which was an excellent counterpoint to the Matambre (rolled meat with carrot). As the strains of tango played on the accordion over the sound system, the sense of being in Argentina intensified. The appetisers were light. This was just as well because the main course, a mixed grill, was the quintessential substantial offering. Perfectly suited to those who like a hearty meal, followed by a top up, followed by a bit more and then a few afters.
Yet before we get on to that, let’s take a quick glance at the side dishes. They had an Italian flavour: capsicum, olives and mashed potato. And there was a clever way to reprise a well known dish: Matambre a la pizza. Brawn beef rolled meat masquerading as a bread base and the rest of the “pizza” consisted of tomato paste, mozzarella provolone cheese, grilled peppers and black olives. All very diverting, but the real point of this meal is the mixed grill, which had the familiar charcoal smokiness. The cuts are diverse. Chorizo (a hot sausage), asado (ribs, done with delicious crispiness), morcilla (black pudding or blood sausage served in relatively small portions because it is so rich), entraña (skirt steak) and vacio (flank steak). If there was any doubt that this cow had been well and truly consumed, they quickly faded. Again, strength and delicacy are the keys. The delicacy is in the texture. The cooking is skilful and the meat tender (except when it is meant to be chewy). The strength is in the flavours, which come from the charcoal – the wood used is Mallee root – and the innate taste of the fresh meat. The sweets were traditional and skilfully cooked. Churros (stick like pastry), which were divertingly chewy, as they should be, and rarely are. A rich and syrupy white chocolate flan cremo with dulce de leche (caramel) and alfajores, a sweet crumbly cake. Although one was sated, one was not in a state of excess. And there was always the Santa Irene organic Malbec wine to aid the digestion. Daniel Termine, Juan’s uncle was born in Buenos Aires. “When I lived in Argentina I didn’t know anyone who wasn’t Italian,” he says. “That is why Lygon Street is a great place.”
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what’s selling? Delis Latin hot sauces are legendary for their strength, and Australian palettes are adjusting. Marcus Koehne, store manager for Cleo’s Deli at Prahran says the Latin sauces “have really taken off” over the last year. The popular brands include El Yutaceto habanero sauce. The red version is made from peppers and tomatoes, and the green version, which is made from green peppers. Chipotle sauce, made from jalapeno pepper is also popular. “We have a chimichurri sauce, Dorina, which is a beautiful product,” says Marcus. “Paprika and black beans are also popular, of course. It is evolving quite quickly for us, compared with a year or two ago.” Marcus says some of the interest in Latin foods is attributable to the increasing number of food shows on television and magazines. “Plus there are a lot of South Americans coming to Australia. And a lot of mainstream restaurants are putting on Latin American dishes. We have sourced products for chefs and the retail products have followed on.” Marcus says there is also interest in Latin soft drinks such as Paso de los Toros, which has a grapefruit base. “Jarritos has a wide range of Mexican drinks and Inca Cola was one of the first brands to come to Australia. You have to follow the trends.”
Fruits South and Central America have unusual fruits that are largely unknown to Australian palettes. Ricardo Mendoza, managing director of the on line wholesaler and retailer www.cheekyfoods.com.au, says one of the most popular fruits is a type of banana called a plantain, which is considered a vegetable in Latin America. Ricardo says it is thicker than the conventional banana and can be used when green and bitter, or ripe and sweeter. Plantain is not eaten raw so it is usually deep fried. “When it is ripe it is not yellow, it is more like an orangey colour,” says Ricardo. “It is a savoury dish when green. In El Salvador they eat plantain for breakfast. In Colombia, they have it either green or sweet depending on the region and usually have it for lunch or dinner with beans or meat. In Venezuela they have fried green plantain for dinner. In Colombia they call them patacones, and in Venezuela they call it tostones. I think it is a fruit, but it is not a normal banana.” Ricardo says another popular fruit is sour sop, or guanabana. This is a large green, spiky fruit that is like an oversized apple. Ricardo says the casa apples, to which sour sop is related, is reasonably well known. But he says the sour sop is a lot sweeter and has more flavour. Ricardo has mainly been wholesaling to restaurants and delis but, with his new web site, he will be making his products available at the retail level (his first web site was www.cheekyfruits.com). Another popular fruit, he says, is the lulo, a citrus that is like a mix of orange and Kiwi fruit. He says this is only known in Colombia. “It is the favourite fruit of Colombians. It is what they miss the most.” 18
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Ingredients There are few ingredients more famous than saffron -- or more precious. Its price is comparable with many precious metals. “Our web site specialises in saffron, but obviously a natural extension of that is paella,” says Adam Parker, partner of Saffrondust.com.au. Adam says the Antonio Sotos Paella kit sells well, which includes special short grain rice that absorbs up to three times its weight in liquid when cooked. Adam says the pans are of a high quality and can be used to feed four to six people. “It is a little bit different from the normal pan,” he says. There is also an Antonio Soto Deluxe Saffron and Paprika gift set. Saffrondust has been going for about eight months. Adam says many Australians have grown up with saffron because of their experience with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures. “It is hard to find good saffron at a competitive price in Australia,” he says, adding that in major supermarkets they are selling at exuberant prices. “That does not encourage anyone to experiment and try new recipes.” Adam says there are also quality issues. He says the Antonio Sotos saffron is packaged in Spain rather than brought into Australia in bulk and repackaged locally to reduce cost. “The quality in Australia is not high and it is ridiculously expensive. So we saw the opportunity to import high quality saffron from around the world. We have found that the saffron market is very vibrant. It is a niche, but paella is very popular.”
Fine Wines Carmenere is a wine with an unusual history. It started out in France, but now only exists in Chile. Emanuele Cicero, director of the online Latin wine provider labodega.com.au, says all the wines in Chile originated in the Bordeaux region of France. But in the early 1800s French vines were decimated by a pest known as the Phylloxera insect. “They lost many grapes, and this is one they lost,” says Emanuele. “However, rich people in Chile would travel to France and bring back grapes.” Emanuele says recently as 15 years ago vintners thought the wine was a type of Merlot. But it was eventually realized that this “Merlot” was rather different from the others. So they called in the experts and discovered that it to be the lost Carmenere grape. “Chile is the only place in the world that is producing it,” says Emanuele. “It has become a flagship. It is somewhere in between a merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon.” The Carmenere wine goes well with red meat, especially lamb. It is also good with dark chocolate. Prices range from $11 a bottle to $70 a bottle. “In the wine industry it is called the lost wine because they thought it was gone for good.” La Bodega has been importing wines for five years, mainly from Chile. Emanuele says the local market is difficult, because Australia produces its own fine wines. But he says Australians are travelling more, there are now direct flights to Santiago. “It is fantastic, they go there and try the wines and the pisco sour and they come back and start searching. Chilean wines are very famous in the world.”
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A Food House Spreads Its Wings Melbourne’s most famous Latin ingredients shop is expanding
One of the great institutions in Latin food in Melbourne is Casa Iberica, which until recently was only located in Johnston Street Fitzroy. The retailer and wholesaler has been supplying Melburnians with Spanish, Portuguese and South American ingredients since 1975. But Latin food fans can now find second outlet in Alphington. It has a deli, provides smallgoods and houses wholesale supplies. Like the Fitzroy store, the premises are adorned by some arresting street art. “We buy a lot in bulk,” says manager Mericia da Silva. “We need space for our products, and this is a perfect opportunity to get the space to do wholesale. Plus we have a shop front that has been turned into a deli and we have our small goods. It is an industrial area but it is also surrounded by houses.” Mericia says they started to make small goods two years ago, saying they “have been realising the dream to produce our 20
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own small goods under our own name.” The shop has most of the traditional Latin foods: jars of dulce de leche, pickled jalapenos, packets of Mexican hot chocolate, paprika, many different sauces, Arepas (corn flatbread) and tortillas, cheese, chorizo, jamon and salami. The smallgoods are packaged mainly for self service. Mericia says the aim is to serve both restaurants and individual buyers. She is optimistic about the future of demand for Latin products. “I think it will always be there. The (demand for) Spanish ingredients is steady, and Mexican is growing.” Casa Iberica’s Alphington premises are at 154-156 Fulham Road Street art by Mikey Xxi - www.artofmikey.com.au
Health Taste Experience
San Carlos Products established 1987, largest import/wholesale/direct to public in Melbourne. Our address is 20/41 Bennet St Dandenong 3175. Authentic ingredients from all of latin america including fresh tortillas made to order, will beat any price.
As seen on MasterChef Australia.
ph: 0417 199 615
e: sancarlosproducts@hotmail.com www.sancarlosproducts.com
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Business
Of Tarantino And Spicy Flavours A restaurant in the Victoria market has an unusual approach When Christian Silva was devising the look of his restaurant in the Victoria Market, La Cantina, he went to an unusual source of inspiration. Quentin Tarantino films and Spaghetti Westerns. He says his favourite Tarantino films are True Romance and Django Unchained. “I wanted to create a feel where you come here and you feel you are in another country,” he says. Christian operates three businesses, the iconic Spanish Doughnut trailer at the market, which has been going since the 1970s and which his father took over. La Cantina, a restaurant that features foods from across the Latin world. And a catering business. He has 20 staff. “We have a little bit of everything. All the South American countries have beautiful cuisine. We have tapas from Spain, completos (hot dogs) from Chile, chorizo (sausage) with chimichurri from Argentina, arepa (flat bread) from Venezuela, tacos and burritos from Mexico and quesadilla (tortilla) from Mexico. I will produce anything that I can do in my small kitchen.”
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The theme with the La Cantina menu is geographical diversity. The breakfast menu is eggs: Huevos a la Casa (house eggs), Huevos Rancheros (Ranchers’ eggs), breakfrast burrito or Bistec a lo Pobre (poor man’s steak). Later in the day there are churrascos (BBQs): chorizo rollseiethr traditional or with greens (verde). There are Arepas (pancakes) with chicken, red meat or vegetarian. Empanadas (pastes) come with meat or cheese. The Spanish tapas feature potato, prawns, mushrooms and calamari. Then there is the all important question of what to drink. Christian has a range of Latin beers, and cocktails such as the delicious Chile’s Pisco Sour, Sangria, Bloody Maria, Cuba Libre, and Brazil’s Caipirinha. There is the Mexican tequila-based Paloma, or, for those who especially feel themselves to be in a Tarantino movie, there is tequila shots. Christian says his biggest business challenge is to get passers by to come into the restaurant. It takes time to educate people about the new flavours. Instead of having a hot dog with tomato sauce, they can “have a hot dog with tomato and avocado and lettuce”.
Christian was born in Australia but spent seven years (between 7 and 14), in Chile when his family returned to Santiago. Since he returned, he has watched interest in Latin food burgeon.
There have been challenges. “In business, you sail through a lot of stormy waters,” says Christian, noting that neighbours can become envious of success. There is the challenge of dealing with staff with different personalities, which is very different from working alongside family members.
“I think a lot of people have travelled to Latin America and they have come to realise that the culture and the music is infectious. The food is wholesome and tasty and with a lot of flavours. When people hear salsa or samba or cumbia they can’t necessarily dance to it, but they want to try anyway. It is the same with the food, they just want to try it.”
A percussionist and drummer, Christian has a clear philosophy about music. His CD selections have the same gritty authenticity as the Latin iconography. It perfectly complements his Che Guevera images, brightly coloured spirit bottles, Aztec masks, Inca Cola labels, black and white pictures of Mexican comedians.
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Come and taste the true
Spanish Churros at the Queen Victoria Market Peel St Food Van
Asado/Beef Ribs Chorizo/Chicken Vacio/Skirt Steak Empanadas/Churros A La Carte or Set Menu
South american BBQ For bookings call now Christian Silva on 0411 031 907 or email churrodonuts@hotmail.com
Catering Festivals, Weddings, Parties, anything...
The owners of Spanish Donuts from The Queen Victoria Market are also proud to represent Latin American Cuisine with their Bar & Restaurant. LA CANTINA at Shop 24F shed. La Cantina (Established since 2009) is serving food from all around the Latin America. Also look out for us at main festivals with our new product South American BBQ.
Sunday
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Friday
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Tuesday
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Spices
An Ingredient With Few Limits
Hearts of Palm are one of the most flexible vegetables in the world In marketing, it pays to choose your words carefully. The popular ingredient Heart of Palm can also be called swamp cabbage. Unsurprisingly, that is a title rarely seen in the packaging. Much better to make it sound vaguely romantic and tropical. Other less than flattering names are “burglar’s thigh” and “lobster of vegetables”. Once again, Heart of Palm sounds very much better. Heart of Palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and bud of some palm trees, including the coconut palm. It can be wild heart of palm or there are varieties of palm that have been domesticated and farmed. In Ecuador these domesticated varieties, which are generally what is used in cans, are called chontaduro, and in Costa Rica palmito. In English they are known as the peach palm. Costa Rica, Ecuador and Brazil are the major Latin American producers of Heart of Palm. The palm hearts are harvested from the core of palm trees. A long cylinder is run through the ‘heart’ of the tree’s stem, a method that was not ecologically sustainable because it destroyed the wild trees. In Florida, where they are abundant, the trees were cut down as a food source during the Great Depression, but the sabal Palmetto tree is now the state tree of Florida and is a protected species under state law. New methods have been devised to extract the hearts of palm without killing the tree, enabling the creation of an agricultural industry. This is an ingredient that is versatile and does not dominate. It can be lightly fried, pickled or blended for use as a dip. It can be eaten as it is, marinated or julienned. It can be pureed in soups. The flavour is similar to artichoke hearts and its lack of dominance means that it can be combined easily with other vegetables, seafood and fish. Spinach, strawberries and walnuts are other combinations. Manchego cheese is sometimes used. The Heart of Palm is certainly a well tried ingredient. It has been eaten for thousands of years in Central and South 26
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America; indeed it used to be one of the most important food sources. Long before Christopher Columbus arrived from Europe, the Carib Indians were eating the hearts of palm of the sabal Palmetto tree. (The plant was useful, they also ate its nuts and used its bark and leaves as a building material). Whether they are fresh or come in cans, Hearts of Palm should be rinsed. They can also be deep fried. The stalks are generally tender enough to cut with a standard kitchen blade. If they are purchased fresh they should be consumed immediately because the shelf life is short. In Australia, however, they will come in cans and they can be stored for up to a week. Hearts of Palm are not conducive to being transported fresh. A favourite Brazilian salad, Salada de Palmito, demonstrates the ingredient’s flexibility. It is combined with black olives, frozen peas, red onions, tomatoes, parsley, vinegar, garlic and feta cheese. Indeed, a quick perusal of the available recipes demonstrates that the main limitation with this food is one’s imagination. There is Heart of Palm and Blood Orange Salad. Salad of Heart of Palm, Sand Crab, Coriander and Mint. Hearts of Palm and Avocado Salad. Spinach, Strawberry and Hearts of Palm Salad. Baked Hearts of Palm used as a side dish for a pasta. Grilled Parmesan Hearts of Palm. Shrimp and Hearts of Palm Remoulade (a sauce similar to tartar sauce). And so on. What becomes clear that the ingredient is a foil for the chef’s imagination – the cook can see in it what they want to see in it. Generally, the salads have some sort of leaf, such as lettuce, as a counterbalance, but the other flavours can come in a multitude of different forms: different meats, fruits, nuts, herbs and cheeses. Many of the Latin ingredients have powerful and highly distinctive tastes. Heart of Palm is thus useful as a balance. It is one of the most flexible ingredients available, and can be the launch pad for cooking inventiveness and experimentation.
the
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directory corner Restaurants
Buenos Aires Steak House
Authentic Argentinian Cusine Argentine Chef & Charcoal Grill 189 Lygon St, Carlton Ph: (03) 9348 0948 www.buenosairessteakhouse.com.au
Wine
Piqueos Churrasqueria y Bar 298 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North Ph: (03) 9349 2777 www.piqueos.com.au
Dance
Melbourne Salsa
Salsa/Bachata/Samba/Zouk Group Classes & Private Lessons St Kilda/Fitzroy/City Ph: (03) 9531 2023 info@melbournesalsa.com.au www.melbournesalsa.com.au
Trade/Professional
Leyton-Palma Lawyers
Hablamos Espanol - Spanish speaking lawyer
Suite 7, 9 Wilson Street, Berwick Ph: (03) 9791 8829 reception@leytonpalmalawyers.com.au www.leytonpalmlawyers.com.au
Professional
Vida Psychology 1/508-512 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne Ph: (03) 9328 8200
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Tango Argentino
Group & Private Lessons Fitzroy & Prahran dancewithkristina@gmail.com www.dancewithkristina.com.au
Butcher
Red Barrel
Importers of Fine Wines Wholesale and direct to the public sales of Argentinian Award winning wines Ph: 0407 881 188 info@redbarrelwineimports.com.au www.redbarrelwineimports.com.au
Tango Tambien
Argentine Tango Dance Studio Armadale, Caulfield South & Clifton Hill Classes, Courses & Milongas Leigh Rogan Ph: 0410 257 855 info@tangotambien.com www.tangotambien.com
Night life
Nino’s & Joe’s Meats Specialising in South American/European Cuts 317 Victoria St, Brunswick Ph: (03) 9380 2082 www.ninosandjoes.com.au
Music
B Latin Nightclub
Every Saturday Night Latino DJ’s,R&B, Reggaeton, Latin House,Merengue & Salsa... 420 Lonsdale St, CBD Melbourne Ph: 0401 661 461 www.blatinmelbourne.com
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Recipes
Ensalada de palmito Serves 4-6
Ensalada de palmito, pollo y gambas (Salad with heart of palm, chicken and prawns). This simple salad is popular in Brazil where heart of palm is extensively cultivated. It is a bright, spring dish that exploits the versatility of heart of palm.
ingredients 1 tin of heart of palm 150g of prawns, cooked and peeled 150g of chicken, cooked and cut 1 Romaine lettuce, cut into thin strips 1 cup of grated coconut, toasted
dressing
method
6 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lime or lemon 1 tsp of salt Some drops of Tabasco
1. 2. 3. 4.
Mix dressing ingredients. Slice heart of palm. Combine with dressing and leave to set for 1-2 hours. Arrange lettuce as a base, add prawns and chicken. Add dressing and heart of palm and sprinkle coconut on top.
Tongue a la vinagreta Serves 4-6
This is a classic Uruguayan dish that can be eaten at any time, but is especially popular at soccer parties. It is a simple recipe whose tenderness often surprises.
ingredients 1 tongue (cow) 3 boiled eggs 2 garlic cloves 100ml olive oil
40ml vinegar ½ cup parsley Salt and pepper
method 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 30
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Boil tongue until tender, approximately 2 hours. Let tongue cool in the same water. Peel the skin while still warm. Remove the roots (veins) at the back of the tongue. Cut tongue into thin slices and put in tray. Chop the parsley, garlic and eggs and add vinegar and oil and mix until it becomes a sauce. Pour sauce on to the tongue. Buen apetito! Goes well with red wine.
Pumpkin in brown sugar Serves 6
Pumpkin is a vegetable from the winter squash family. It is usually considered suitable mainly for winter dishes. But in Mexico a very different approach is taken. They sweeten and spice the pumpkin to make rich desserts that are easy to prepare, taste delicious and have a different look.
ingredients
1 small pumpkin, approx. 800g. 1 ½ cups soft dark brown sugar ½ cup of water 1 tbsp ground cloves 12 cinnamon sticks about 10 cm long fresh mint sprigs thick yoghurt or cream
method 1. 2. 3. 4.
Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and cut into wedges. Put in heavy pan. Fill the hollows with sugar. Pour the water into the pan, making sure not to wash all the sugar to the bottom. Ensure that some of the water goes to the bottom to prevent burning. Sprinkle the ground cloves and add two cinnamon sticks Cover pan and cook over a low heat for 30 minutes or until pumpkin is tender and the sugar and water have become a syrup. Check regularly to make sure the pumpkin has not become dry, or caught on the bottom of the pan. Put pumpkin on platter and pour on hot syrup. Decorate with mint and cinnamon sticks, serve with yoghurt or cream.
Chicken in garlic sauce
Serves 6
This is a common dish in the Iberian peninsula. The main difference with other European countries is the combining of paprika, sherry and garlic.
ingredients
1 kg of boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 tbsp sweet paprika (pimenton) 2 tbsp olive oil 8 garlic cloves, unpeeled ¼ cup of dry sherry ½ cup chicken stock 1 bay leaf 2 tbsp chopped parsley
method 1. 2. 3.
Trim excess fat and cut thighs into thirds. Combine paprika and salt and pepper into a bowl, add chicken and toss until coated. Heat oil in a frying pan at high heat and cook garlic cloves for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan.
4. 5.
Cook the chicken in batches or until brown. Return all chicken to the pan, add sherry and boil for 30 seconds. Add stock and bay leaf. Reduce heat, cover & simmer for 10 mins. Squeeze garlic pulp into a bowl. Add parsley and mix until a paste. Stir into the pan, cover and cook for 10 mins. Spring Edition
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Recipes
Tomates y pimientos rellenos Serves 4
The combination of vegetables and rice is common so the challenge is to enhance the stuffing with spices and ingredients like nuts. Baking makes these vegetables sweet and juicy. This recipe can be used as either an appetiser or a more substantial dish..
ingredients
2 large tomatoes 1 green (bell) pepper 1 yellow (bell) pepper 5 tbsp of olive oil 2 onions, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped ¾ cup of chopped almonds 1 ½ cups of cooked rice ½ cup of long grained rice, cooked and dried 2 tbsp Malaga raisins or muscatels soaked in hot water 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint 3 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, keep extra for garnish salt and ground black pepper
method 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Preheat oven to 190 °C. Slice the tomatoes in half, scrape out the pulp and seeds. Place the tomato halves, placing the cut halves down, on to kitchen paper. Drain. Chop the pulp and seeds and place into a bowl. Slice peppers in half, leaving the cores intact. Scoop out seeds. Brush with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Fry garlic and onion in 2 tbsp of oil. Add most of almonds and stir in. Combine with rice, tomato pulp, drained raisins, mint and some parsley. Season well and spoon mixture into vegetable shells. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Chop the remaining almonds and put on top. Drizzle 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Return to oven and bake for a further 20 minutes or until golden. Serve, garnished with remaining parsley.
Flan de piña (pineapple) Serves 4-6
This is a popular egg and milk dessert for Latin American children. It substitutes milk for a pineapple juice.
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ingredients
flan
Caramel 3 tbsp of white sugar 3 tsp water Juice of ½ a lemon
300 mls of pineapple juice 250g of sugar 6-8 egg yolks
Flan de piña (cont.) Method 1. Pre-heat oven to 180° C 2. To prepare caramel, stir in the ingredients with a wooden spoon in a heavy base saucepan. Bring to boil until the sugar starts to darken (but not too much). Divide into 4-6 flan containers. Allow to cool. 3. To make the flan, put the pineapple juice and the sugar in a pan and heat slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved. Increase temperature and reduce by a third. It will be ready when the mixture becomes thread- like when scooping it with a spoon. 4. Meanwhile, put the yolk in a blender. Pour in the syrup slowly while the blender is going. 5. Put the contents into the flan containers and place in a deep tray. Pour water into tray until it reaches half the height of the flan containers. Cover with foil. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the mould. 6. Allow the mould to cool. Run a knife around flan, put plate on top and invert. Que lo disfrutes!I
Rompope Makes 1.5 litres
The enormous diversity of Mexican cuisine is evident in this drink, which combines egg, vanilla and milk, rather like a Latin eggnog. It is rumoured to have been made originally in the convents of Puebla, which may have led to some slightly inappropriate inebriation amongst the nuns.
ingredients
method 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
4 cups of milk. 1 ½ cups of sugar ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 cinnamon stick, about 15 cm long 12 large egg yolks 1 ¼ cups/30 ml of rum
Pour milk into a pan and combine sugar and bicarbonate of soda. Stir. Add cinnamon stick. Placing over a moderate heat, bring to boil, continuously stirring. Pour mixture into bowl and cool to room temperature. Take out cinnamon stick, squeezing any liquid out. Put egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and place over simmering water and beat until the mixture is thick and has paled. Slowly add yolks to the milk, beating constantly to ensure it has blended. Put mixture in a clean pan and cook over a low heat until it thickens. This is tested by running a finger in mixture over the back of a spoon. If the spoon becomes visible, it has thickened. Mix in rum. Chill until ready to drink. Should be served cold. Can be kept for up to a week.
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what t o eat when viewing Salvador Dali The great Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí has long had a link with food although, like any links involving Dalí, they are a little, well, odd. He wrote some characteristically strange things in his autobiography The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí. “At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily since.” He could have been a Napoleon who cooked but that might have been a little obvious. He also wrote in his autobiography that at five years old, he encountered an almost dead bat covered with ants. He put it in his mouth and bit it, almost tearing the bat in half. Fine for a five year old, perhaps, but not the kind of thing that many people are going to order from a menu. One thing that should be included in a Dalí diet is sea food, especially freshly opened sea urchin. Dalí and his father are reported to have loved eating these. They were freshly caught in the Mediterranean Sea near their small fishing village of Cadaqués, which is in the Catalonia region. Shell fish are a key to the painter’s images. Underneath the sea urchin’s spiny exterior lies an inner exoskeleton that is a perfectly symmetrical, segmented ovoid. This symmetry fascinated Dalí, and the shell of the sea urchin, removed from its spines, appears in numbers of its paintings. Design and the senses are the key to Dalí’s immediacy – combined with his peerless draftsmanship – so it is scarcely surprising that his concentration on the sensual often involved food. One item in any Dalí menu must be bread. That much is clear from his paintings Anthropomorphic Bread and Catalonian Bread, both painted in 1932. Then there was the Average French Bread with Two Fried Eggs without the Plate, on Horseback, Trying to Sodomize a Heel of Portuguese Bread. Or the rather more prosaic The Basket of Bread. He wrote in 1945 that “bread has always been one of the oldest fetishistic and obsessive subjects in my work, the one to which I have remained the most faithful.” 34
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In his book “The Secret Life” he had this to say: “My bread was a ferociously anti-humanitarian bread. It was the bread of the revenge of imaginative luxury on the utilitarianism of the rational practical world, it was the aristocratic, aesthetic, paranoiac, sophisticated, Jesuitical, phenomenal, paralyzing, hyper-evident bread.” Hopefully, it also tasted nice. A touch of lobster might not be out of place in a Dalí cuisine (or should that be in place?). Lobster to the surrealists symbolized danger, especially the claws. One of his famous creations was the lobster telephone. Eggs are a traditional image of the female, and Dalí used them often. So here is an opening list of what the Dalían chef needs to consider when making a surrealist dish. It must have bread, preferably in unusual shapes that fall off the edge of the table, rather like his famous watches did. There must be shellfish. A lobster or two wouldn’t be out of place. The sauce must be made from eggs. A garnish of pomegranate might also suit and snails would be excellent. If you can’t see a way forward to creating some fine recipes, then I am afraid you are not a true surrealist. Dalí, after all, would have known how to turn such odd ingredients into a convincing canvas. “When you are making a dish you add a little of this and a little of that. It’s like mixing paints.”
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