Free to Feed Summer Feasts
Melbourne-based social enterprise Free to Feed is back with a new instalment of its much-loved Summer Feast series. Celebrating the flavours of Egyptian, Eritrean, Colombian and Venezuelan cuisines over two separate events, the team will pay tribute to the recipes, culture and stories of alumni cooks and people they’ve worked with along the way. Plus, enjoy traditional live music at each feast.
Egyptian and Eritrean Feasts
Thursday January 23, 6:30pm–9:30pm
Friday January 24, 6:30pm–9:30pm
To kick off the series, enjoy an Egyptian and Eritrean feed by chefs Nada and Aziza, featuring recipes passed down through generations. There’ll be family-style plates starting with entrees such as berbere spiced popcorn; stuffed eggplant and zucchini; sambusa filled with cheese and dill; and cucumber and yoghurt dip. For mains, the duo will serve Egyptian braised beef with onions and fried potatoes; zgni (Eritrean beef stew) with okra; and saffron rice topped with crispy fried onions and carrots. Finish off with mango kunafa (known as a “hug in a cup”) and fresh fruits for dessert.
Colombian and Venezuelan Feasts
Thursday February 20, 6:30pm–9:30pm
Friday February 21, 6:30pm–9:30pm
Get a taste of the Caribbean coast with a pescatarian menu drawing from the flavours of Cartagena, a vibrant city in Colombia and Venezuela’s capital Caracas. The family-style feast honours Free to Feed cooks Daniel and Verena. For starters enjoy cassava cheese bread; pandebono (Colombian cheese bread) with guava; banana plantain with feta and cocktail dressing; and yuca fries with avocado dip. Move onto seafood marinara with season vegetables and charred lemons for mains along with mazorca desgranada (a popular Colombian street food snack with sweet corn and mozzarella); and a seasonal slaw salad. For dessert, there’ll be Venezuelan flan and tamarind sweets.