Bairro Portugues - Petersham Food and Wine Fair
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It was a dazzlingly warm and sunny day and Audley Street was closed off to traffic and jam packed with stalls and wandering foodies.
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Hey we recognise this stall...
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Street mural by Portuguese-born Australian artist Luis Geraldes.
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Smile!
Portuguese chicken gets a basting with plenty of piri-piri sauce. And yes, the air was thick with charcoal smoke!
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Chorizo, kebabs and ribs sizzle enticingly.
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Hungry punters
The sights and smells of yummy food were making us hungry! As usual, most stalls were family run and a little chaotic and many couldn't keep up with demand. After spending 15 minutes in a queue, we eventually had success with some delicious booty...
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Lunch!
[Clockwise from back left]: Feijoada (red bean casserole) $9.00;
Rossoes de camarao (prawn rissoles) and bolinhos de bacalhau (cod fish cake) $2.50 each;
and sardinhas assadas com pimentos (grilled sardines with capsicum) $10.00.
To start, an entree of Portuguese dim sum :-P
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Bolinhos de bacalhau (cod fish cake) $2.50 and
Rossoes de camarao (prawn rissoles) $2.50
Inside the crescent-shaped prawn rissole was a thick prawn paste with (I suspect) mashed potato. Nice, but it didn't really knock my socks off. I've had these a few times in the past and I always seem to forget what a letdown they are for me.
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Inside the prawn rissole
The bolinhos de bacalhau was much more exciting though. Bacalhau served whole is mega-thirst inducing with its heavy saltedness. Shredded and moulded into a little fish cake though, the cod is delightfully tasty with a pork-floss like stringy but tender texture.
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Inside the cod fish cake
I've never had feijoada before and was delighted to find it a kind of peasant-like hotpot of red kidney beans, carrots, vegetables and pigs trotters. I haven't had pigs trotters too often in the past, but these were wonderful. Lots of bones, lots of skin and plenty of fatty goodness. Yes I am a chicken feet fan!
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Feijoada (red bean casserole) $9.00
The sardines, of course, were tasty too. Barbecued to a smokey tastiness even if we did have a little trouble forking away the flesh from the fine bones. I wasn't sure what the bread was (some kind of soda bread?) but we didn't much care for it in any case. A little too heavy, dry and sour but maybe that was just because it had been sitting out in the sun.
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Orange soft drinks (non-carbonated) imported from Portugal washed down our meals.
There were plenty of sweets available...
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Bolo de mel rico (madeira honey cake).
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Chocolate-iced shortbread men.
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Bolo de feijao or almond and hazelnut pies
And lots of entertainment too...
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The Bairro Portugues or Portuguese Food and Wine Fair runs every year in about February/March.
The 2005 Festival was held on Sunday 13 March.
Check the Marrickville Council events website for confirmation of dates.
Related GrabYourFork posts:
Petersham Portuguese Food Festival 2006
posted by Anonymous on 3/26/2005 06:00:00 pm
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1 Comments:
At 3/29/2005 5:36 pm,
Veruca Salt said…
The sardines look so yummy. Must try them properly some time. Scabbing off R's plate that one time just did not give me enough of a feel.
Where are the dessert photos. Need more sweets please.
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