Trish Naug Szollosi has only recently moved from Brisbane to Warrnambool, but is already making in-roads with her gluten-free bakery stall at local markets.[dropcap style=”color: #8f9f59;”] B [/dropcap]y the time you read this, Trish Naug Szollosi (pronounced Narg Sir-Lur-She) will have been living in Warrnambool for only three months, but already she is building a following for the culinary skills she has brought with her.
Since relocating from the steamy and busy climes of suburban Brisbane, Trish has wasted no time in establishing a small market stall that specialises in gluten-free foods “and all things tempting”, together with her own blend of chai tea.
It is downsized and mobile version of the cafe that she ran successfully in Brisbane’s Red Cliff for seven years which was “off the tourist map” and once a “hot chips, dim sims and hamburgers kind of place”, but which was ready for something a little more exotic.
Trish hopes Warrnambool will prove to be the same.
As the daughter of an Indian tea grower, Trish brings skill and taste to her own blend of organic chai tea.[dropcap style=”color: #8f9f59;”] T [/dropcap]rish’s father was a tea-grower in Assam, India, so she grew up learning the finer points of tea picking, packing and blending.
And while some older locals have been reluctant to even try her chai tea – free tastings are provided via a boiling urn – others have quickly switched on to the health benefits of the Indian tea, made the traditional, non-commercial and organic way.
Word is spreading even more quickly about her range of gluten-free cakes, savouries, slices, pasties and tarts that are created in her home kitchen.
“Being a coeliac myself, I know how hard it can be to find tasty and interesting gluten-free foods, although Warrnambool seems to have more available than some other country towns,” Trish says.
Although her “advertising” is purely word of mouth, Trish was greeting both new and returning customers when Bluestone (having heard about her through word-of-mouth) visited the Warrnambool Undercover Market at the showgrounds.
Her colourful stall, called Chai Temptations, appeared positively exotic among the more conventional line-ups of second hand books, trinkets, ornaments, model cars and vintage tools.
Trish and her husband Jozsef, who works in the coffee side of things, moved to the south-west for a seachange and have not looked back.[dropcap style=”color: #8f9f59;”] T [/dropcap]rish and her Hungarian husband, Jozsef – who sells and repairs commercial and domestic coffee machines – decided to move to Warrnambool in search of a quieter lifestyle and, wait for it, the weather.
“I grew up in Melbourne and we used to come down and camp at Jubilee Park (near Allansford), so I knew it was a very beautiful place,” Trish says.
The pair was tired of the heat and traffic of Brisbane so, having decided to visit Warrnambool to see if it could be their new home, they wound up buying a house that same weekend.
“We love it, and I really love what I am doing,” Trish says.
“It is hard work, but I would much rather be working hard for myself every day, than for someone else.”
How to resist? It may be gluten-free, but it looks (and tastes) every bit as good as more traditional chocolate and raspberry torte.[box] Trish and Chai Temptations can be found at the Warrnambool Undercover Markets each Sunday, the Port Fairy Farmer’s Market and also at the markets in Terang and Camperdown. You can visit her brand new Facebook page here.[/box]
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We have tasted Trish’s fare whilst she was operating a cafe in Redcliffe. Trish’s cooking was enjoyable, preservative-free, fresh and appetising fare. Her service was personable and relaxing. I feel she will go far with her entrepreneurial and personal skills.
Yum.
That is all.