Georgina Rogers at
El Choto at Hindmarsh

Grace Vari at Vari’s, Norwood

Domenica Forza at Underdale’s Forza Continental

Joanna Prokopowicz at Mama’s Pierogi, Beverly

COUNTER CULTURE

FROM PRESERVED MEATS TO CHOCOLATE, CONTINENTAL DELIS ARE THE SOURCE OF SOME OF THE WORLD’S BEST FLAVOURS AND AROMAS

The weekly shopping can be less of a chore and more an adventure when exploring the exotic foods and charm of Adelaide’s continental delis.

The suburbs are home to several old-school delicatessens offering aromas of coffee beans, fridges full of traditional meats and jars of imported goodies. More often than not, the store owners are quick with a smile and happy to share their knowledge about the colourful array of foods on offer.

This all rings true at the new El Choto Fine Foods at Hindmarsh, which is Adelaide’s only Spanish deli, run by Georgina Rogers (formerly of Bottega Rotolo).

“I always wanted to have a deli, I’ve lived in the western suburbs for a few years and there’s been nothing like this here,” she says.

“If you’re cooking at home, you need to be able to pop out and get a good bottle of olive oil, or spices or fresh bread and not have to go into the Central Market.”

El  Choto has bright orange walls, timber floors and shelves lined with Spanish vinegars, Calasperra paella rice, paprika and packets of the popular sweet olive oil tortas snacks ideal with cheese, coffee or tea and Ceramica black cookware from Colombia.

Blanxart Spanish chocolates and fresh Portuguese tigelada baked custard tarts rest on the counter.

The fridge is filled with boquerones, white anchovy fillets marinated in olive oil, hojiblanca green olives (the traditional tapas olive) and Spanish cheeses including Queso Oveja Al Romero traditional manchego with solid rosemary crust. Georgina has also been able to source a great range of traditional smallgoods such as mejilla (cured pig’s cheek).   

El Choto also stocks mojama air-dried tuna fillets, ideal as a salty, textured addition to pasta, jamon iberico free-range ham and morcon sausage which has a Spanish chilli and black pepper kick.

Fresh Spanish artisan breads are delivered to El Choto Saturday and the deli also serves Peruvian organic Fair Trade coffee.

Vari’s Generi Alimentari Italiani at Norwood is a traditional Italian delicatessen with legendary status.  Owners Frank and Grace Vari have seen the social fabric of The Parade evolve over the 50-plus years they have run the deli. Their son Pat is the next-generation Vari to work at the store.

“We remember when the trams were here and the street had all little shops like this, not the big shopping centres,” Grace says.

“It is wonderful now, how much food we can get here in Adelaide…people travel a lot more these days and want and expect to be able eat everything.

“In the early days here it was very different importing some of the foods – we even had a lot of trouble selling our packet herb and vegetable seeds back then.”

Vari’s is a treasure trove full of neatly arranged foodstuffs which take up every inch of the shop. It feels authentic with Il Globo newspaper on the counter next to a basket of fresh eggs, salami and big jars of homemade panzarotti, treccia and mostaccioli biscuits and old Italian tunes playing in the background.  

Racks hold fresh panini rolls and wood oven loaves and every type of pasta imaginable while buckets of lentils, borlotto beans and white fagiolo bean rest alongside sacks of coffee beans. Floor-to-ceiling shelves contain meticulously arranged tins and jars while a display fridge is full of melanzane (pickled eggplant), wild olives and onions, homemade semi dried tomatoes and roasted peppers.  The back of the shop is jam-packed with smallgoods hung from hooks and a fridge full of  casalinga, prosciutto, pancetta, sopressa and salami and big chunks of Italian provolone and parmesan cheeses.

The western suburbs also has quite a few old-style Italian delis including the homely Barilla Continental on Grange Rd, Seaton, which is run by community-minded Joe Barilla.  Forza Continental Deli at Underdale has cheerful service and sells all the staples required to cook up an Italian-inspired lunch or dinner.

The delicatessen culture embraces other European cultures such as Poland. A popular Polish deli called Krakus at Mawson Lakes is a mecca for lovers of European foods.  The store, owned by Marian Nedza, specialises in continental meats, cheese, pickles and homemade Polish sourdough bread. Specialties are the Country Polish sausage (no fat), wedding sausage, viennas, kransky, kabanosi, kassler chops, pepperoni and liverwurst and an exhaustive grocery selection with pretzels, pasta, flavoured tea, stock and seasonings, red cabbage, mustards,  carp fillets, bream, herring, mackerel and sardines. Customers can take away homemade sauerkraut, cabbage rolls and potato salad or grab a roll for lunch filled with meats, coleslaw, onions, pickle and cheeses which can be enjoyed with an Altura coffee.   

Another Polish favourite is Mama’s Pierogi at Beverley (previously at Croydon) owned by Joanna Prokopowicz who is aiming to preserve traditional European-style pierogi (dumplings). 

The new shopfront sells savoury and sweet pierogi, tripe, zurek sour flour soup with Polish sausage, bigos (stew) , goulash and dumplings kluski (made with potato flour), kopytka (made with wheat flour) or knedle or meat and sauerkraut croquettes.
 
El Choto at 124 Port Rd, Hindmarsh
Vari’s Generi Alimentari Italiani, 210b The Parade Norwood
Barilla,  405 Grange Rd, Seaton
Forza, 133 Holbrooks Rd, Underdale
Krakus, 5 Goodall Cres, Mawson Lakes
Mama’s Pierogi, 644 Port Rd, Beverley