Hungry Mondays

Hungry Mondays

www.hungrymondays.com.au

As I write this I am a little fearful for the consequences... I've stumbled upon a gem and I don’t really know what will happen if I promote it. My fear is that it will become too popular to sustain- then I remember, that no one is really reading my blog, so the select few that do, well- I don’t mind sharing this delight with you guys.

I love to cook- I cook many different dishes using many different methods, but the one thing I haven’t been able to do is slow cook. I don’t own a slow cooker, and I don’t trust my unreliable oven to be on all day whilst I am at work. It’s a tragedy because I adore slow cooked food- it’s always so rich and comforting.

Recently I decided to check out a restaurant I had been to earlier on in the year, El Capo in Surry Hills-  owned and run by a young chef with amazing talent and an even better sense of humour, seriously good food at reasonable prices- this place was right up my alley. It was described as Mexican street food, ‘good food for bad people’- that was their tag line. ANYWAY- I was thinking of hitting it up again in the next few weeks. I went to their website only to discover that they had closed. Nooooo- why do all the good ones die so young. After getting over the initial shock I read their message past the first line- I thought it best to highlight my emotions in brackets “Dearest customers, El Capo will close from Monday 10 September (upset/dismay/why? WHY?!) We will be turning our attention to a new venture (A new venture? Feelings of hope begin to brew) Hungry Mondays- slow cooked fast food (shut-up! Slow cooked fast food… why are you guys so damn cool all the time, what is this Hungry Mondays… I need more information ASAP). You will now find us at www.hungrymondays.com.au (oh thank god, a link) At this stage I exit the rest of the message and open up the Hungry Mondays homepage. Unsure of what to expect, it blew me away. You'll notice the food porn scattered about… (go to their Facebook page for more)

So this is the brilliant concept- you go to restaurants during the day and evening, but by 11pm it’s all over. Shop shut, go home. What happens overnight whilst we sleep? For most kitchens, nothing much- they get a good scrub down and stillness ensues, it’s a lonely existence. However for some lucky kitchens they get hijacked by the Hungry Mondays team who spend all night slow cooking the most incredible dishes, ready to pack up and distribute all over Sydney. Two dishes a week are released on their website on Thursday- come Monday you can pick up these pre-packed bad boys at a few select venues in the city, or you can order a bulk delivery of 10 or more and have them come to you. How much you say? $9 a pop- extremely reasonable considering the love that goes into this cooking. Are you drooling over the photos yet? I know you are…

Last week I was devo to miss out on the slow cooked beef brisket- it had sold out before I even had a chance. This week, I took no chances- I’ve ordered bulk- on the menu is a slow cooked pork with a 20 hour mole sauce and oregano rice and a 7 hour chicken masala with jasmine rice. Yes please. Whilst writing this I receive a phone call- my delivery has arrived. Cannot WAIT to sink my teeth into these babies! If you don’t hear from me- I’ve died and gone to heaven… Who ever thought that anyone could look forward to a Monday so much!

X Alana