Haldon Street Festival 2006, Lakemba

It was the annual Haldon Street Festival in Lakemba yesterday. Once again I joined the family-strong crowds to stroll Haldon Street which was closed off to traffic and set up with stalls.

Lakemba is a real multicultural melting pot in the south west of Sydney. Greek and Italian migrants settled here in the 1960s, in the 1970s it received an influx of migrants from Lebanon. The Lebanese have a majority presence these days, but there are also communities from Fiji, Tonga, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

The name Lakemba comes from Lakeba island, pronounced Lakemba, in Fiji.


Lakemba train station


Brass teapots


Lebanese pastries from Patisserie Arja


Indonesian samosas and dumplings


Naan waiting to be cooked in the Indian tandoor oven


Stall servers making takoyaki, Japanese octopus balls


Skewers of fish balls, fish paste and dim sim


Hontou Japanese pancakes filled with red bean and green tea


BBQ meat skewers


Gozleme stall


Ka'ak, a Lebanese bread pretzel with cheese

Last year I'd been amazed by the popularity of ka'ak, a Lebanese bread pretzel filled with cheese. The locals, it seems, couldn't get enough of them. I didn't bother trying it, and had regretted it since, so this time I had to find out what all the fuss was about.


Sandwiching ka'ak with slices of haloumi cheese

The sesame-covered bread, in a shape somewhat resembling a pretzel, was cut in half and then sandwiched with haloumi, a white cheese originally from Cyprus, made from goat and sheep milk.


Toasting ka'ak over hot coals

The sandwich was toasted over hot coals, as on the left, then compressed between a wire cage (see right) and placed back over the coals on both sides.


Hot ka'ak with melted cheesy innards $3.00
[only half a portion pictured]

The cheese had a pleasing stretchy consistency and the sesame seeds were nicely toasted. Veruca Salt and I both thought it was a little underwhelming in flavour though, wishing we had a shaker of salt nearby.

The locals were again flocking though, and many purchased bags of the plain sesame bread itself.


Winnie the Pooh with Poppy's Honey


Street performers


Homemade lemonade


Girl in pink with matching fairy floss

Who doesn't love fairy floss?


Fairy floss machine

There were plenty of rides for the kids, including a giant slide with potato sacks. As far as I could work out, the rides were all free as well. The queues were steady but patient though, and the kids were all having a ball.


Jumping castle


Kids in cars


Balloon animals

We skipped the crowds for lunch, electing instead to feast on grilled chicken, lamb kebabs, crunchy felafel, tabbouleh, foule and lashings of toum at Jasmin, a Lakemba favouite.


Cuchinta, a Filipino dessert $3.60

Browsing the shops on my way home, I picked up a tray of cuchinta from a Filipino Asian grocery store, swayed by the golden caramel colour of these steamed puddings. These were consumed with shavings of fresh coconut on top (supplied with purchase) although somewhat surprisingly these were almost savoury in flavour and tasting of not much at all.

I had somehow envisaged these to be sweetened with palm sugar, even though the ingredients only list lye water, flour, sugar, water and food colouring.


Palms Pacific Supermarket

I also spent some time browsing the Palms Pacific Supermarket in the shopping village that houses the local IGA grocer. Amidst the tins of mackerel, coconut cream and grated chestnut, I found this giant beast of a cupcake.


Fiji pudding $4.00

I was told that this pudding wasn't very sweet. "Eat it with butter or ice cream or custard," I was told. "Ohhh yes, I love eating it with custard," the shopkeeper declared. "It's sooo delicious."

So into my bag it went, and since then it has been sampled intensively. It is indeed like a dense spongey cake with minimal sugar. It has the springy texture that one gets from steamed puddings, and it reminded me a little of an English Soreen malt loaf without the sweetness.

I've sampled it hot with custard, cold with custard, and cold with ice cream too. So far cold custard wins, although I could easily see it standing up to dollops of King Island double cream too. Curiosity on its ingredients let me to find a recipe, reprinted below:

FIJI PUDDING
from NiuLife Coconut Oil

2 coconuts
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup of warm water
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Mix 2 grated coconuts with a cup of warm water and squeeze out two cups of cream.

Melt sugar in a heavy pot. Stir constantly until a medium brown caramel colour with no lumps forms.

Slowly add coconut cream, stirring until smooth, then add remaining coconut cream and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool for ten minutes.

Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg. Rub in butter with fingertips. Slowly stir the liquid into the dry ingredients.

Wet a piece of 60cm square of cloth. Place in a bowl and fill it with pudding mixture.

Holding up the edges, tie securely 5 cm [2 inches] above the batter. Remove from the bowl, place in boiling water in a large pot and cover.

Cook for 1-2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean. Make sure to keep the water level up during boiling otherwise the pudding might crack.

Peel back cloth and place on a plate to dry.

Serve with custard sauce or serve cold, sliced with butter.

VARIATION: Add 1 cup sultanas. Wash and then bring to the boil with coconut cream.



Back at the Festival there were performances by African drumming groups, Greek dancers, salsa dancers, Hulanesian dancers, breakdancers and a teenage mob of fans over local talent Blak Genius.

This year's Haldon Street Festival was held on Saturday 26 August 2006. This annual event is in its seventh year, and celebrates respect, unity and peace.

Jasmin
30B Haldon Street, Lakemba, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9740 3589

Palms Pacific Supermarket and Delicatessen
Shop 7, 10 Haldon St Lakemba, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9750 5148

Patisserie Arja
129 Haldon Street Lakemba, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9740 8320

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Haldon Street Festival 2005: The parade
Haldon Street Festival 2005: The food
Jasmin, Lakemba