My Sydney Trip – Bankstown Food Festival
On the glorious morning of July 26, my friend and I headed out for brunch to the suburb of Bankstown for Bankstown’s annual food festival called ‘Bankstown Bites’. This multicultural festival (or more appropriately, a ‘feastival’) had a fun and festive atmosphere with flags adorning the street lamp poles and food tents lining the street.
The food fair had many food and beverage stalls ranging from Chinese to Portuguese, shops selling their wares, mystery Behind the Scenes tours of local restaurants, and last but not least – Fast Ed, a Chef on the Better Homes and Gardens television show, giving cooking demonstrations. After browsing through the food stalls, we decided to go for a variety of cuisines.
My friend ordered a curry fish ball skewer ($2). I didn’t eat the curry fish balls, but my friend reported that despite the fact that it looked and smelled good, it tasted pretty average. She also ordered jiao zi ($5) from the same stall, which filled with meat and chives. I felt the jiao zi was pretty average, but it was probably because it was a little cold.
Seeking something a bit different, my friend ordered a Spanish Omlette – where the Staff at the stall decided to call it different things during the few minutes we were waiting. The Spanish omlette was basically just egg and chorizo (spicy Spanish sausage) in a bun.
After a while, I spotted something a bit different – Peruvian food! I don’t think that the Peruvian food stall was from a local restaurant though, as I heard locals exclaim how different it was. I ordered the Papa Rellena ($7), which is claimed to be a popular potato dish in Peru. Although I’m not sure whether they created authentic Peruvian meals, this dish comprising of a salad, white rice, and mashed potato stuffed with meat, raisins, and sliced egg was a true sweet and savoury delight. I would definitely buy this dish again if I were to go to Peru… or a Peruvian restaurant!
My friend also decided to get a can of Inca Kola from this stall. This golden-coloured soft drink tastes similar to red creaming soda, and is apparently a popular drink in Peru. And guess who manufactures Inca Kola? Coca-Cola, of course!
My friend is a bit of a sweet tooth, so she went off in search of dessert. She returned triumphantly with two enormous churros sticks ($3.50 each) that was probably the length of my forearm. Covered with cinnamon, this long Spanish doughnut was a delicious dessert fit for finishing off our meal at the Bankstown Bites Food Festival.
My personal highlight other than the food was not seeing Fast Ed’s performance, but fruit and jelly carvings found at a stall run by Thom Bui, a Cooking Teacher in Canley Vale. The carvings were absolutely beautiful. Although the displayed fruit carvings seemed like the more simple and basic, it was enough to wow a captive audience. As you can see in the pictures below, Thom Bui’s efforts are simply beautiful.
How incredibly beautiful. That’s enough to put my knife skills to shame!
I think those food carving efforts are enough to put all of our knife skills to shame!
Mrs. Bui Thom is my teacher, you don’t see all of her art works. They are master pieces and so beautiful ! and I’m still learning !
Wow, you’re very lucky to have such a talented teacher!
Such wonderful work and handicrafts
Does anyone have Ms Bui Thom’s contact details? I would love to contact her for future events. Many thanks.
Sorry Thanh, I’m not sure what Ms Bui Thom’s contact details are