Recently, I have come to realise that I quite enjoy food. Like…A lot… but I prefer to cook more than I choose to eat out because its fun skill to learn and introduces you to a world full of experimentation, recipes and kitchenware. While I really love to cook, the end state of the kitchen is often left in a questionable state, but this is not what this post is all about! What is often experienced with my food is a sense of proud and joy along with gratitude and acceptance. This can be at times hard to come by in the hospitality industry! I could be super proud of cooking eggs that look dark brown because I ended up substituting a bunch of ingredients to make up for what I didn’t have and it tasted interesting.
A downside to cooking is that more often than not, I am less impressed with fine dining experiences because I’ve come to realise that I can make most dishes and after enough exposure to the food, it starts to taste the same with variances to the five basic flavours of taste. This is partly due to the fact that I have made things like Butter Chicken, Kimchi, Pork Katsu, Pho and Laksa using recipes, seeking advice from my mother and learning from the internet. Because of my fascination with cooking, I am often asking what should be the next dish that I create? But with this, I require inspiration and to try out food that I enjoy before attempting to make it.
As a result, I shifted the experience of pursuing fine dining experience towards the diversity of food cuisines and attempt to try out all the food that Sydney has to offer including the ethnic specific supermarkets. So far, this has been a very rewarding experience and it is journey that I am excited to continue. This helps me review places that I otherwise would have never tried, meet locals that can give me recommendations on what they enjoy, cooking tips when I’ve come across something I’ve once created and even find the hidden gems which is what I love most to share with Google Maps!
While there are so many popular eateries that have countless people reviewing, I am more attracted to local businesses in which you can sense their passion to share with the rest of the community their authenticity, food and culture. I am eager and interested to hear more about their experiences and how over time, they refined their craft and hone their dishes. For most small businesses, they usually start with one dish that they have cultivated to stand the test of time which differs from the culture of rotating menus, increasingly becoming the norm for the hospitality industry. This experience also opens up a new world of order, different perspective and realisation that things you thought were impossible possible. But let me explain this with an example of shopping.
I am quite adventurous and like to go to shopping centres that I have never been to. One day I decided to bring my mom along with me for this particular journey. We decided to visit Eastlakes Shopping Centre which turned our world upside down and challenged our views. As we arrived at the car park, we were greeted with old architecture and a very communal atmosphere. My mom mentioned that this is what a shopping centre looked like when she first arrived (30 years ago!) so I finally got the chance to see the world through my mother’s eyes! Now this shopping centre also has many grocery stores including the main supermarket chain, Woolworths, smaller and diverse shops that catered to the Asian community, Indian community, Bangladeshi community and the Russian community! Now I would be lying if I wasn’t attracted to the display of food out the front in which I happily proceeded to thoroughly enjoy and devour. Visting Stolichniy Minimart, I then became exposed to the Eastern European food and slowly began making my way through the things that they had to offer. From Salmon Caviar, to Sunflower Bread and even Pirozhki (puff pastry with various fillings), there has been nothing that I have not enjoyed trying. I have returned so frequently, the owner has kindly taught me some Russian with words like Спасибо (thank you) and Привет (hello).
So from this example, I was able to see the world from my mom’s perspective, had my perceptions of Russians change and was able to taste the rich diversity that Sydney has to offer. This was all thanks to my desire to go for the horizon and pursue other cuisines. I have yet to try Argentian food, Ethiopian cuisine and be exposed to Middle Eastern spices, but I can assure you that I look forward to each and every one of those adventures!
Overall, fine dining is great and is definitely worth trying. I’ve come across the best dessert because of it (though this is something you would have to find out from my reviews (: ) and have gained some valuable insights to the realm of fine dining industry. However, there is a lot of value to be attained from cooking and seeking out the diverse food cuisines that exist within Sydney. It’s with this that I love to share this with you guys reviews for Google Maps. Now I can give you recommendations on Portuguese, Lebanese, Indonesian and Peruvian food, but that would be spoiling the fun for adventure and a good time that you yourself could pursue. But enough about me, tell me what you guys have come across!