*WARNING – BIG ENTRY WITH A LOT OF FOOD PHOTOS!

Fridley organised a get-together which included a few food bloggers (not quite nigella / raspberri cupcakes / citrus and candy / the hungry girl / tummy rumble / foraging otaku / betty-bites / spicy icecream) It was another night filled with lots of good food and of course the craziness of our cameras going wild ^_^.

The food fiesta was held by David Tsirekas (Owner of Perama) who cooked up a storm of 30 or more beautiful dishes! Honestly, i’ve never been presented with so much good food! There were stacks of dishes, we all didn’t know where and when to start, or when and what photo to take as plates were being passed along for sharing.

Its been a long time since I saw my stomach balloon like a pregnant lady haha.. That’s how full my stomach was LOL *rubs her happy fully belly*!!!! This was a feast well done and thoroughly enjoyed *thumbs up David!

EXPERIENCE
Modern Greek (all greek food) cuisine is a foreign world to me (minus the usual souvlaki and mousaka). I must say, I really enjoyed it! I had no idea what I was in for when I first sat down and boy was I amazed when the dishes began rolling out and I started stuffing my face.

BEHIND IT ALL..
This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Fridley (James) and David for hosting us! we all wouldn’t be able to share such beautiful GOOD food with a bunch of great people.

THE FOOD PHOTOS
Not sure if I’ve correctly labeled the photos (please let me know if its incorrect). Unfortunately I ate a lot that night and i can’t seem to remember a lot of the dishes. Some of the dishes I didn’t get to try as it never made it past my face =(

Mixed Dips
Tzatziki, tarama , split pea, olive paste and smoked eggplant served with paximadia seasoned with white sesame seeds and oregano

Started the night with mixed dips and crunch bread with sesame seeds ^_^. If i had known there was going to be a billion more other dishes I wouldn’t have eaten so much bread LOL.

Greek Salad
Premium quality fetta! This is GOLD! It was creamy, wasn’t too salty.. I believe there is a cheese heaven and this fetta is going there!

BBQ Marinated Artichokes
A very rare vegetable I eat! GOod lordddddd it was good! Bring on the Artichokes!

Graviera Crumbed Haloumi
Precious golden nuggets! Anything with Haloumi is gold! I could have eaten this whole dish to myself haha

Pickled Cabbage

Pickled Mushrooms
My first thought was “this mushroom tastes familiar” It reminded me of asian mushrooms in a hot-pot ohh yeh!!! but greek style marinated in goodness! Mushroom = LOVE!!!

Pickled Octopus
Greek feast aint greek without marinated octopus. Octopus was beautiful and tender. It wasn’t rubbery or hard to chew. Thoroughly enjoyed ^_^

Hand rolled Macedonian Spinach Pie
Anything with pastry gets the best of me. These went soo quickly which showed how good these were. I had the center piece of the pie which was soft and creamy.

Zucchini Fritters
Fritters were amazing, I could eat these all to myself! It was soft and cheesy with smokey eggplant! Great combination

Vine Dolmathes
Dolmathes were good! I think the left-overs were doggy bagged would have loved to take these home.

Sheftalies (Cypriot Sausage)
I’m not sure if this is the correct dish name, but @eece and I thoroughly enjoyed these sausages! From memory it was lamb with a herbs which had an awesome flavour to it.

Pork Belly Baklava
Layers of flaky filo pastry, pork belly meat, date and pistachios, topped with crispy crackling and served with a date and mastic sauce.

If you have a super sweet tooth like I do then you would love this savory dish turned sweet. It was like i was eating candy with crispy caramalised pastry! Down side was the sweetness was overpowering that it took away the taste of pork. But still one of my favourites!

Chilli Black Mussels
Spring Bay mussels cooked in a white wine, tomato sauce with coriander. Served with a currant and pistachio pilaf

Mixed Filo Pastries
Danish white and ricotta cheese, shredded lamb and white bean, rabbit stifatho and scallop and prawn

Love right here! Unsure which one had rabbit in it but both of these were awesome. Lamb was soft and tender which melted in my mouth. The prawn and scallops were a really good combination.

BBQ Haloumi Cheese
Char grilled Cypriot haloumi cheese served with freshly chopped tomato & shallot, olive paste and honey peppered figs

See you in heaven BBQ Haloumi!

BBQ Lamb Liver
Char grilled & served with straw string beans & split pea dip.

Fried Calamari
Lightly floured calamari deep fried and served with an ouzo garlic mayonnaise

BBQ Octopus
Char grilled & served with a roasted spicy tomato, red capsicum, onion & cayenne pepper sauce.

Lamb Skaras
Slow braised shoulder lean lamb with oregano, olive oil, wine and garlic, then char grilled with a lemon, olive oil baste and served with baked oregano lemon potatoes and string beans.

Masters of Lamb! Super tender lamb filled with flavour of lemon and herbs! I enjoyed this very much! Beans were simple crunchy! nothing is worse than having over cooked beans. Fantastic Main! [Highly - Recommended]

Roast Duck
The Macedonians in King Phillips court enjoyed extravagant banquets, which included game birds served with roasted fruits and greens. The duck is roasted with a cumin spiced quince and served with wilted greens.

I was afraid at first the duck would have an overpowering taste and to my amazement it wasn’t. It was cooked perfectly with a light pink center and very juicy.

Lamb Kleftiko
To avoid detection during the Greek War of Independence, the guerillas used to cook their meats in earthenware in the ground. This variation is lamb cooked in a clay pot with potatoes and olives, in a spiced tomato sauce and melted kasseri cheese.

Another dish I missed out on! Boooo :( It looks soo goooodddd i can tell the lamb is soft and tender that would melt in your mouth.

Giouvetsi Goat
Apparently there’s a story behind it. I missed it! Either i drank too much wine or my head was in the sand! *slaps head like a dumb ass!*

I’m a huge fan of goat especially in curries! Unfortunately the goat got demolished before I could stab my fork into it *damn!!!!*

Hand Rolled Filo Pumpkin Pie
Baked village style hand rolled filo and pumpkin pie served with a roasted beetroot, leek and mustard puree.

How could you say no! It was staring me and speaking to me saying “eat me.. eat me… eat meee you know you want to…”

Bizelia
Casserole of peas cooked with tomatoes and herbs

Lightly Battered mixed vegies (for vegetarians)
Vegetables were seasonal and were lightly battered, not heavy and perfectly gold and crunchy.

Pears In Red wine Syrup
Pears poached in a spiced wine syrup, served with fresh strained yoghurt and pasteli (sesame honey biscuit).

Died & gone to heaven! Peach was cooked to perfection (not too soft not too crunchy) and filled with spicy flavour! The juice which surrounded the pear was soo good it was almost like quince! Steph, Reem, Lorraine were sipping the juice with our teaspoons MmMm

Kalamata Baklava
Chopped almonds with sugared kalamata olives and shredded mixed citrus peels.

Very interesting Baklava as I’ve never experienced anything so unique. This dessert is one of a kind! I doubt you can get this anywhere but Perama! Definitely another must try!

Kalamata ice cream
I loved the Kalamata olive ice cream! It was unusual at first but once u eat more of it you taste the full flavour of creamy olives. It reminded me of eating those premium asian icecream flavours like Red Bean, Rice Icecream.. same principle! Very intelligent idea of turning olives into something more.

Bougasta & Baklava Ice Cream
Mandarin flavoured milk semolina custard wrapped in filo pastries and sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream and baklava.

I ate it soo quickly it flew off my plate! Creamy custard in fresh hot pastry you cannot go wrong! The pastry was crunchy (not soggy)! The Baklava ice cream was also delicious I wish they made these in tubs.

Olive Oil Ice Cream
Two scoops of Olympia extra virgin olive oil, pistachio and dried fig ice cream.

Who would have thought Olive Oil icecream could taste soo good! The fig ice cream was amazing as well. Two very unique flavours great combination fantastic idea! You won’t see this anywhere else but Perama.

Ekmek
The Byzantine peasants of Constantinople enjoyed a simple dessert of oven fired brioche soaked in a spiced sugar syrup and served with kaymaki (clotted cream).

Deep down I wanted to eat this all to myself.. but i’m sure I would have landed into a cat fight as it was DEEEEEELICCCIOUS!!! Definitely worth a fight hehe.

Rice Pudding
Milk, vanilla and cinnamon rice pudding served with rhubarb poached in sweet brandy syrup.

If you got love for rhubarb and rice pudding you’d lurrrve this. I’ve never really understood the meaning behind rice pudding. If its one thing I know, the soggiest I would ever eat my rice would be in congee or in soup.

If your ever in the area, I suggest you give this amazing restaurant a try. I certainly enjoyed myself and I think you will all too.

Perama
88 Audley Street
Petersham, 2049
Ph: (02) 9569 7534