We visited the Melbourne Vietnamese Lunar Festival on Sunday in Victoria St, Richmond - this festival also coinciding with the start Chinese New Year Festivities.
If any event should represent the heart and soul of our great city - this was it. It was an example of what the modern day Australia has become. It is something, we, as Australians should be proud of.
The day showcased a wonderful & thriving Melbourne-based Vietnamese community and the richness it's culture brings to our young country.
In 1976 - just after the Vietnam War - there were only 382 recorded Vietnamese immigrants in Victoria. These few were mostly made up of orphans from the war, Vietnamese wives of Aussie servicemen and a few tertiary students. Today over 58,000 Victorians are Vietnamese born. We love what they have brought to this country - the wonderful food and culture full of so much color & incredible flavor!
We walked Victoria street bouncing off thousands of people as well as zigzagging our way to each of the amazing Vietnamese street-food stalls. The air was full of the smells of Vietnam with fragrant BBQ'd offerings at every turn - we couldn't see the stalls through the thick crowd - we only needed to follow our noses to find the next offering.
The constants of Vietnamese food were all around us, the waft of fresh BBQ, the ever-present pungent aroma of fish sauce & shrimp paste, freshly cut & brightly colored salads used to accompany the marinated pork, prawn and chicken skewers, stuffed squid & BBQ'd quail. The Vegetarian offer was prevalent also with freshly cooked Vietnamese pancakes served with minty-leafy greens for wrapping and sweet dipping sauce. It was also hard to walk past the many stalls serving delicious bowls of Pho, quickly assembled - so clean and fresh! Fresh fruit and sugar cane thirst quenchers were also available and very enjoyable.
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| Calamari |
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| Octopus |
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| Pork & Chicken |
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| Corn. Chicken Satay |
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| Snail |
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| Snail |
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| Vegetarian Pancake |
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| Rice cakes with egg |
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| Sugar Cane |
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| Enter the year of the dragon! |
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| Enter year of the little pup - Kingston |
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| Small & Big kids enjoying snow cones and fairy floss |
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| Sweet little girl enjoying the festivities |
2 comments:
Hi K & A
Gret idea, great blog. I especially like the "how to" entries below this one - for when I have time to cook.
Thanks for your feedback Richard.
We hope you enjoy cooking some of our recipes when you have time. Be sure to let us know how you go!
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