vini - surry hills

i think it’s time to brush up on my Italian food lore. true, we aussies love our spag bol, garlic bread and pizza al bbq sauce. but did you know that italy’s regional cuisine is diverse and nuanced? even our knowledge of the basics seems to have been perverted… as terry durack recently pointed out in a sydney morning herald good living review - most of us are unaware that tagliatelle is in fact traditional pasta served with ragu bolognaise. this historical hiccup is embarrassing enough (especially given the huge Italian community in sydney), but if any further incentive was needed, italiano is also the theme of this year's crave food festival (starting in june), so we'd better get cracking! 

what better way to start then by attending vini's educational and exemplary italian regional dinners. every tuesday night vini serves up 4 courses from a selected Italian region for $50. At $26 extra the wine flight (3 glasses) is a must. the experience is one that sensuously transports us - this week - to the region of puglia, the heel of italy’s boot. 

we squeeze through the tight, darkly lit space to our table, already laid with a rustic paper bag of taralli – southern Italian boiled-then-baked crisp breads, ubiquitous in puglia. they are crunchy, salty and dangerously addictive. next to the taralli is a small bowl of warm olives marinating in oil and chili. we are told that puglia claims to produce 80% of italy's olive oil. whether that's true or just italian male bravado is neither here nor there – italy seems to be a place where self-aggrandising superlatives are common place. and if that means more delicious olives, then that’s just fine! 

the puglian journey continues with a traditional peasant dish of fava e cicoria - fava bean puree with wilted wild greens. the puree is creamy and contrasts with the bitterness of the chicory strewn across the mush. i love the rustic authenticity of the dish. 

fava e cicoria

 next comes ceci e baccala - a bowl of fried chickpeas, with spinach and salt cod sauce. my dining partner spent six months in portugal where they have a different baccala (in Portuguese: bacalhau) recipe for everyday of the year. he developed a strong aversion to the ingredient. this dish subverts his prior impression of the pungent fish, with the salty fish puree complementing the tender, starchy chickpeas. 

to accompany our next dish of mussels in passata, is a monologue by chef andrew cibej! he seems awkward and quirky, but begins to paint a lyrical picture of puglia: its hills covered in blankets of silver olive groves; fishermen hauling in their daily catch; tables covered in irresistible puglian dishes. this is a region he is clearly passionate about, and this zeal shines through in the cooking. 

cavatelle, cime di rape, ricotta salata is a fine exhibition of how italians produce amazing cuisine by combining three or four simple ingredients. the cavatelle (one-inch bites of pasta curled into rough cylinders) is hand-made – the chef tells us each piece is curled around the handle of a butter knife. the pasta is chewy and salty and contrasts with the creamy scatterings of homemade ricotta and barlotti beans – it’s an embarrassing reminder of how often i overcook my own pasta! the sauce is simply the starchy stock used to cook the beans and a slick of olive oil. for me, this dish is an absolute standout, and a perfect encapsulation of puglia.  to drink we are served a fiona, sourced from campania just next to puglia. the wine has a nice weight to it, with gorgeous floral aromas. a harmonious table-mate to the pasta.

cavatelle, cime di rape, ricotta salata

the secondi (main) is capretto (goat) with polpette (meatballs) and patate (… figure it out). the goat leg and shoulder is succulent and tender, swimming in a meat juices underneath the bready lamb polpette. olive-oily roasted broccoli accompanies, though i prefer to eat it separately.  

broccoli arrosto (left) & capretto, polpette, patate 

to finish, three cheeses and caratellate. the cheeses – soft goat’s curd, mild pecorino, aged pecorino - are matched with seasonal fruit – pear, fennel, persimmon and grapes. the cheeses tend towards milder flavours, a contrast to the strong, pungent cheeses from the north of italy. the waitress brings us a glass of desert wine - torcolato soarda. it proves an excellent choice, the complex and fruity tones syncing with fruit plae. the cartellate are twisted, deep-fried pastries, snowed-under with icing sugar and dripping in sweet, thick red wine sauce. simple but decadent.

if you want to learn about Italy, then go there. failing that, vini will take you halfway; in mind, taste and smell. the vini team are committed to bringing you an authentic and enlightening experience. one which far surpasses the restricted sensations provided by tv's food safari or your local’s chicken parma.  

this concludes today’s lesson.


vini
118 devonshire street, surry hills
p: 9698 5131
http://www.vini.com.au/