The slow advance of Portuguese pastries
Jul. 7th, 2008 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
todayiamadaisyLast time I went to Sydney was, let's see, in January 2004. One day, I went into a shop to buy my lunch: a toasted focaccia or some such for lunch and perhaps a little something sweet to finish. Perhaps... "What are those things?" I pointed to a collection of tiny custard-tarts-yet-not-custard-tarts in the display case. The shopgirl told me they were "Portuguese custard tarts" in a tone that suggested "you ignorant yokel" was silently attached to the end.
Well, such a thing as these tarts had never been seen in the City by the Sea, but I'm not one to be cowed by snooty teenaged lunch-sellers, so I bought one and most tasty it was too. When I returned to the City by the Sea, I googled "Portuguese custard tarts" and made some for myself. And yesterday, I went to my local bakery and saw a plate of now-familiar tarts and a hand-written sign that said "NEW! PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS". So now I know it takes at least four-and-a-half years for food trends to move south.
Bakery products purchased, I went for a ramble to the river mouth. The river: for much of the year, it flows so far only to peter out ten metres before it reaches the sea. But recent winter rains have given it the final boost it needed to etch a channel to the ocean. So that's good.
On the way back, I passed the "Dam Busters" house. This house has a long fence, on which someone has painted a silhouette of an old plane dropping a bomb on a damn, with "DAM BUSTERS" painted along the top. The latest addition, I noticed, is a a model plane sticking out above the doorway. I also noticed that the house next door to it has several plaques of the Qantas kangaroo logo stuck to the outside walls. Obviously a neighbourhood of aviation enthusiasts.
Well, such a thing as these tarts had never been seen in the City by the Sea, but I'm not one to be cowed by snooty teenaged lunch-sellers, so I bought one and most tasty it was too. When I returned to the City by the Sea, I googled "Portuguese custard tarts" and made some for myself. And yesterday, I went to my local bakery and saw a plate of now-familiar tarts and a hand-written sign that said "NEW! PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS". So now I know it takes at least four-and-a-half years for food trends to move south.
Bakery products purchased, I went for a ramble to the river mouth. The river: for much of the year, it flows so far only to peter out ten metres before it reaches the sea. But recent winter rains have given it the final boost it needed to etch a channel to the ocean. So that's good.
On the way back, I passed the "Dam Busters" house. This house has a long fence, on which someone has painted a silhouette of an old plane dropping a bomb on a damn, with "DAM BUSTERS" painted along the top. The latest addition, I noticed, is a a model plane sticking out above the doorway. I also noticed that the house next door to it has several plaques of the Qantas kangaroo logo stuck to the outside walls. Obviously a neighbourhood of aviation enthusiasts.