Sweet As Festival 2012

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Sun 21 Oct 2012

I hear the word "sweet", I hear the word "festival", you will then hear me squealing with glee. A spread of some of the best sweets around will be on show for you to drool over and devour at the Casula Sweet As Festival on Sunday the 21st of October.


Casula Powerhouse will become a haven of international fare of the sugary variety. With no shortage of sweets, treats, cakes, cookies and everything in between from this exotic marketplace of mouth-watering morsels.

You will have the opportunity and great pleasure to travel a figurative Silk Road of samplings, from China, India, Spain, The Netherlands, Lebanon, Greece, Italy, Australia and many more far off destinations.

An offering from ancient Chinese culture, is the delicately constructed Dragon Beard Candy . A unique and utterly delicious treat made of corn syrup which is stretched into thousands of sugary, silky white threads. Then the filling of shredded coconut, sesame seeds and peanuts is enrobed by the fine threads, to create the dainty Dragon Beard Candy. I first tried this as I was quite fascinated by the process of how it was made, watching the master at his work then seeing the delicious end product was very intriguing. Not to mention how happy I was after actually eating it, this crunchy, chewy, sweet item was very satisfying.


To get a taste of Spain, The Churro Girl stand will be pumping out the addictive pastry snack, Churros. A crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside pastry stick, often rolled in cinnamon sugar, filled with tasty custards or served with luscious chocolate dipping sauce. I find these perfect for sharing and snacking on when I'm wandering around festivals, a very convenient treat indeed.


For a feast from India, The Cinnamon Club , a restaurant specialising in modern Indian cuisine, will be presenting an array of tantalising goodies. You'll have to decide between white chocolate and mango mousse, banana and coconut tarts and mini Rasmalai, which is a sweet ball of paneer soaked in malai, flavoured with the aromatic spice, cardamom. If that wasn't enough, there will also be Rose Falooda, a cold, sweet beverage traditionally made with rose syrup, tapioca pearls and jelly pieces, among other things. A rice and rhubarb pudding and Shahi Tukra, a rich bread pudding with wild berries and double cream. I don't know how I'd choose between all of those exotic eats, but I suppose will-power will have to be exercised at some point.

An afternoon pick me up from the Djebena Coffees stand will cure what ails you. These Arabica coffee beans from this boutique roastery are direct from the source, Ethiopia. Best of all, it is completely fair-trade, so you can sip soundly on your coffee, knowing it was produced in a fair and supportive fashion.


To accompany your coffee a sneaky little French macaron would go down very nicely. You can find yourself one...or five of these, from the Sweet Luya Patisserie stand. Luya is Tagalog for "ginger" and the name came about from one half of the partnership being Filipino and the other a flame-haired Australian. Quite sweet a way (no pun intended) to incorporate both sides of the team I thought. Clearly macarons are quite the phenomenon, blowing the event that was the cupcake explosion, out of the water. It's quite clear why macarons have the following they do, with the crispy outer shell delicately encasing the soft, chewing inner, then sandwiching between it a smooth, rich ganache filling. Add to that a variety of flavours to peak your interest, including classic chocolate, mango, passionfruit, raspberry and mocha, you best just be sure not to indulge yourself into a sugar crash stupor by the end of the day. If you want a weighty ball of wonderment instead, you're in luck, as Sweet Luya will also be providing one of my favourite sweets, profiteroles filled with coffee cream or creme patissiere.

These are just a few of the decadent desserts you will be able to sample and savour at Sweet As, making sure to relish every single bite. A grand way to immerse yourself in a wide range of cultures by reveling in their countries edible specialities, as food really does unite all our little or more rotund bellies, no matter where we come from.

#casula
#cultural_events
#family
#festivals
#food_wine
#free
#south_west
#october
!date 21/10/2012 -- 21/10/2012
%wnsydney