Beyond the Table

Naples, NY is famous for its grape pies, made from tangy concord grapes. I adore them! So when I visited in autumn, I talked to the region's biggest seller: Monica Schenk, owner of Monica's Pies. Monica shares how she went from stay-at-home mom selling pies at an unmanned roadside stand to national baking sensation. These days Monica's Pies is open year round selling some 60,000 pies each year, but she's as down-to-earth as ever.

Meet Monica, owner of Monica's Pies in Naples, New York.

Rosabelle grapes in the background, Monica's pie with a floating crust top in the foreground.

That's Monica's mom in the centre

A Naples vineyard!

Me hanging out in Naples

My hometown of Rochester, NY is most famous for inventing The Garbage Plate, a calorie packed, meat-heavy monstrosity that gets all the culinary glory (and publicity)! I finally tried it when I visited this autumn, so I'll give you my unbiased verdict. But Rochester has much more to offer food lovers., and if you want a taste of the city's culinary diversity, the Rochester Public Market is the perfect place to start. In this episode we'll take a mini tour. You'll meet Mark, the spicy pickle meister (and take a quick look at the health claims around pickle juice), talk purple cauliflower, apple personality types and much more. Founded in 1905, the market is the place to go for eclectic buskers, quirky politicians and super fresh produce.Listen to the end to hear the occupational hazards of being an arachnophobic podcaster in Australia.

Meet Cassandra, winner of the 2017 JollofWars event in Sydney. Jollof rice is a quintessential West African dish, and Cassandra has perfected the Nigerian version--super spicey and bright red in colour. And delicious, of course. Growing up in Nigeria she'd cook a giant pot for her brothers and uncles-- but it was quite the endeavor since power outages are so frequent there.She has lots of tips if you're keen to create this dish yourself. And she laughs a ton:)

Music in this episode was recorded at JollofWars and is by Malin Sylla of Afro Nomad.

The Africultures Festival is coming on 10 March in Lidcombe (western Sydney)-- I've never been but it sounds awesome!

Cassandra (left) and Tope (right) from Nigeria cooked the winning jollof at the 2017 JollofWars held in Auburn.

Monique is the irreverent and opinionated co-owner of The Rooster, a traditional French Restaurant in Katoomba. She's a storyteller with an adventurous spirit who is on a mission to bring fine food to Australia.

Ahshanul Shourav came to Australia to study accounting, and discovered a love for cooking while he was here. With the help of his Mum he learned all the Bangladeshi staples from afar, and honed his skills on his flatmates. A year and a half ago he opened Bottola restaurant in Lakemba. He learned on the job, and these days Bottola is bustling and busy-- serving up all the classics from Bangladesh.

Eddie Zanbaka, owner of Belmore Lebanese Bakery, on the art and science of baking, growing up catholic in Lebanon, adjusting to life Down Under, the investment that changed his career and finding happiness in simplicity.

Belmore Lebanese Bakery specialises in made-to-order flatbreads and fatayars that Eddie has perfected from years of experience--with some help from a master Lebanese baker.

Special thanks to James Mcgowan of jamesmcgowanaudio.com for his help on this episode-- I had significant problems with the recording quality on this and thought it was going to be completely unusable, but he worked his magic and made the episode 1000 times better.

Eddie Zanbaka prepping one of his famous oregano rolls, with a marinated lamb flatbread in the foreground.

Freshly baked, flakey and perfectly browned, and stuffed with a blend of halloumi and feta--not pictured is the perfect flat white that I drank with it. I recommend both!

Too hungry to worry about pretty pictures.

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Not Just Curries quickly earned the number one spot on Trip Advisor in Harris Park-- a neighbourhood known for its top Indian food. Vivek Gulati is the head chef and one of the three co-owners. Vivek owned three successful restaurants before a series of health problems led him to change his plans. Listen to his story-- and the fascinating stories behind Not Just Curries.

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After years of working in retail and focusing on being a Mum, Lay Lay Naing fulfilled a life long dream when she opened The Burman Kitchen last year. She shares her stories and love of Burmese cuisine here.Check the Burman Kitchen out on Facebook herefor some tantalizing pictures of their food!The Burman Kitchen is at 44 Railway Parade in Granville, New South Wales (02 8677 0152).

The Burman Kitchen team: Tin Tin Khine, Cassandra Naing and Lay Lay Naing

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