"WELCOMEfest" 2015

Mr T&T and I attended "WELCOMEfest", it comes as no surprise that the international cuisine was top of my list. The cooking demonstrations proved to be popular, I loved every minute of the day.

We arrived early as everyone was still getting ready, below are some of  the wonderful food stalls. 

I am always interested in learning about flavour profiles in different cuisines. The gentleman at the Rwandan food stall told me that one of the main spices are chilli. Another ingredient that is widely used is the plantain

.

The lamb brochette was delicious, perfectly cooked.

This was a type of doughnut with a hint of sweetness, light and fluffy. All I needed was a cup of tea

Introducing the friendly ladies from Togo.

This was delicious with a hint of cumin, loved the pastry.

Cuisines represented in the cookery tent were  Iraq, Eritrean, India, Afghanistan, Amharic, Persia and Malaysia.  

Amazing vegetable and fruit carving from Chef Tony Hee. The vase is a paw paw with delicate carving. Good enough to eat ?

 The carrot flower as well as the chilli flower are both in the image below. Alas, no image of  the  onion flower that looked like the Dalia flower and a flower carved from a beetroot. 

This watermelon carving is what Chef Tony did during his demonstration. He kept saying, "This is easy!"  It was suggested that when learning, one should start with a soft fruit. The soft fruit offers little resistance when carving.( a safer option ) Sharp knives are key to carving. Care should always be taken when using knives.

We were given an insight into the Eritrean coffee ceremony. The tradition encompasses sense of belonging with friends and family. The beans are roasted and ground. Frankensence is burnt during the coffee ceremony.  Before the coffee beans are roasted they look like green lentils.  I am not a coffee drinker but who could pass up the opportunity of joining in.  The coffee had an unusual flavour and with the addition of ginger gave me a peppery mouth feel. It was delicious. I love anything that brings meaning to the process.

Other cuisines demonstrations that we saw was an Eritrean dish called Beef Zighni and Enjera bread. ( a type of flat bread ) Delicious !

Two sweet dishes from Iraq. One was Kopme a fried dough pastry, once fried the dough is soaked in a lemon syrup. The second sweet was called Znood El Sit. Semolina is cooked, about a teaspoon full is placed on  two short lengths of Filo pastry and fried. I must admit it did not sound very good, that was before I tried it.
"Oh my gosh, it was amazing!" The orange blossom water added a beautiful delicate flavour to the pastry.
Besides the food stalls and the cookery demonstrations there were activities for children. Music, song and dance performances from around the globe, including a troupe of drummers from Burundi. It was hard to decide what to see as I would have happily sat in the cookery tent all day.
At the start of the day was the Citizen ceremony, it was lovely to be part of an exciting start to the newest Australians.
We spent time walking around, taking in all the sights of seeing people in traditional dress, the sounds of music from around the world and the enticing aromas of exotic cuisine. There was beautiful bead work from the ladies from Eritrea.
While walking around we stopped at  a stall which offers assistance to those who have suffered trauma or torture. One forgets behind every smiling face that day there would have been many stories, happy or sad.
The objective of WELCOMEfest ( mdaltd.org.au ) is to bring Brisbane's diverse cultural communities together to create welcome, discover culture and celebrate everyone's contribution to multicultural Australia.
I certainly felt it that day and hope everyone else did.