26/05/2025
On the weekend I attended the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival held at Carriageworks.
FEAST:Family-Style returned for the second year,once again hosted by Jennifer Wong,and it was great.
Candice Chung,Richard Glover,Kate Reid,Samah Sabawi,Tony Tan and Virginia Trioli were the featured speakers.
Journalist and author Virginia Trioli spoke first,about making colourful,imperfect yet increasingly sophisticated birthday cakes for her long awaited young son, and the bond that grew between them as a result,reading from her book ‘A bit on the side : What Makes Life Delicious’.
Well known chef,teacher and author Tony Tan spoke about his Malaysian family,their influence on him and his unique and delectable dishes,due to his lifelong passion and interest in Asian cooking.
Palestinian author Samah Sabawi spoke next,delivering a heart rending,impassioned and thought provoking talk.
The sweetness in her own parents relationship - exemplified by the Cactus Pears her father carefully picked for her mother in Gaza,from their courtship through their entire life together - shifted into a moving discussion on the massive personal impact,death and displacement experienced by Samah,her family,friends and loved ones all affected by the horrific current genocide in Gaza,and a plea to the audience to get involved,as it’s not too late.
Kate Reid (a former Aerospace engineer at Williams Racing who also suffered from anorexia nervosa) and now owner of the famed : LUNE Croissanterie bakery,then gave a sweet insight into her passion for baking.
Kate described how viewing a perfectly made French Chocolate Cake in a book at her local library in Melbourne inspired her to visit the Paris Boulangerie in question a few months later, and have her own W***y Wonka styled epiphany.
Journalist and author Candice Chung followed,with stories of how her search for perfectly sliced Hong Kong char siu (bbq pork) when growing up in Australia, was much easier said than done.
Author Richard Glover finished the event, sharing how the lack of cooking skills from his upbringing affected his dating life,but mercifully he got there in the end,as his wife and two sons would attest.
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