My Family Feast

Episode 1

Congolese

24 mins

Congo culture comes to Sydney in the first episode! Sean Connolly partners with the Nyadi family to host a fun-filled Congolese party.

Episode 2

Italian

25 mins

Sean Connolly meets Antonio Pacialeo, a proud father with a love of Italian culture. Antonio's family celebration includes cooking some delicious Italian Tomato Sauce and playing the Italian card game Briscola.

Episode 3

Chinese

25 mins

The 5th of April 2009 is Ching Ming, the time of year when Chinese families gather at the cemetery to pay respect to their ancestors. After visiting the cemetery every year, the Yip family, gather at Eileen & Newman's home for a feast of traditional Chinese food. Yip Lum & Sons is a wholesale produce warehouse in the iconic Flemington markets in Sydney, where Allen and Newman Yip run a business selling a large variety of wholesale fruits and vegetables to shops and restaurants in and around Sydney. Celebrity chef, Sean Connolly, meets the Yip men at their store and collects a basket of traditional Chinese ingredients, including lotus root, dried mushrooms, garlic chives and snake-beans. He then joins Eileen, her daughter Leanne and her sister-in-law Pat, at the family home in Strathfield and preparation for the annual Ching Ming feast begins. First on the menu are Fried Wontons served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Next, slow roasted Pork Spare Ribs and potatoes, in red bean curd sauce. Also on the menu is lotus root peeled and sliced into a dish of chicken and assorted dried vegetables - an exotic combination including dried lily flower, dried bean curd and black moss. When Newman and Allen return from work, they enjoy a beer with Sean and show him old photographs that document the family's history. Allen is a meticulous record keeper and has traced his family back 27 generations to early 16th Century China. The family migrated to Australia in the late 19th Century and there have now been 7 generations of Yips born in Australia. The next day is Ching Ming. Sean joins the family at a local cemetery as they celebrate the life of their ancestors by offering food, burning incense and paper money at the grave sites. On the way back to Newman's home, Allen and Sean stop by the local fishmonger and select a live Barramundi for Allen to cook with ginger, shallots and soy. The fish is supplemented with a jelly fish salad prepared by Eileen, and for dessert a mouth-watering watermelon and lychee basket with ginger sauce. When the food is finally ready, the Yip family say a quiet prayer at the table and their annual Ching Ming feast begins.

Episode 4

Mandaean Iraqi

Sean Connolly meets the loving and playful Abboud Al-Suhairy family: Fawzya and her husband Kabil, their outgoing 18 year old daughter Shahad, her older sister Hamsa and brothers Rashad, Ziad and Ayad. Fawzya married Kabil when she was 16, and she has been cooking traditional Mandaean dishes ever since. Mandaeans are a small religious group often overlooked in history books. There were approximately 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq before Saddam Hussein's regime, but numbers fell to about 30,000 when the Mandaeans were forced to flee during the war. In 2007 it was estimated that only about 7000 Mandaeans were left in Iraq. Sean witnesses his first masbuta ¬or baptism, of eldest son Rashad, on the banks of the Nepean River and afterwards Fawzya, Shahad and Kabil prepare an elaborate dinner to celebrate the occasion. The centrepiece of the meal is a SPICED DUCK stuffed with sultanas, onions and Mandaean spices and a flavoursome broth made from the duck stock accompanies the meal. Kabil cooks a freash water carp on an open fire with Rashad's help. The fish is often considered a pest in Australia, but the Abboud Al-Suhairys believe it's perfectly suited to cooking over coals because of its firm white flesh. While the fish cooks, Kabil, Rashad and family friend Amad Mtashar tell Sean the moving story of their immigration to Australia and their persecution in Iraq because of their religion. Kabil escaped through Jordan with two of the children only to arrive in Australia and be detained in Woomera Detention Centre for 9 months. Fawzya, and the remaining children were detained in Indonesia while waiting for their Australian visas. The couple were separated for more than four years without any contact before they were finally released and reunited in Australia: all reasons why the Abboud Al-Suhairys cherish family feasts and, more importantly, each others' company.

Episode 5

Vietnamese

25 mins

Sean Connolly joins Tam and her husband Nam Le for the annual Vietnamese Moon Festival - a day of cooking, feasting and prayer. When he arrives at the Le's house, their daughter Mai is playing her zither in the peaceful surroundings of the backyard. Mai sets down the zither, as it is time to make the moon cakes with Sean so that they will be ready to take to the temple. Once the moon cakes are ready, Sean sits with the family to have a cup of Vietnamese-grown tea as he learns about the significance of the Moon Festival. Then it's time to go shopping. Tam and her daughter-in-law, Yen, take Sean to the high street of Canley Vale, a place bustling with Asian grocers and local Vietnamese residents. They pick up fresh crab, pork and chicken along with rice flour, bunches of fresh herbs and freshly made tofu. Back at the house, Tam shows Sean how to make bun rieu, a soup with pork, crab and noodles. He then helps her daughter Lan, make a rich Vietnamese chicken curry, to be served with vermicelli noodles. When the first dishes are complete, Sean and the family visit the temple, to pray and make an offering of the moon cakes. Once they return from the temple, Yen and her daughter prepare the sliced pork, prawns and fresh herbs for the rice paper rolls. Then it's time for Nam to show off his pride and joy - an elaborate garden oasis that has taken 10 years to complete. The centerpiece of his sanctuary is a large fishpond seething with giant goldfish. Lan accompanies them to translate and the story of their journey from South Vietnam to Australia unfolds. The lanterns are hung, guests begin to arrive and the tables are being set with food as Mai and Sean make Vietnamese pancakes. Sean shows the family how a professional chef flips a pancake, Mai adds the fresh ingredients and they are served immediately to the guests: fresh and hot! Mai and Sean join the table of family and friends. The feast begins, amidst laughter and conversation. After the wonderful meal, Mai serenades the family with her Zither under the full moon.

Episode 6

Cuban

25 mins

Sean spends an unforgettable evening with the Cubanadas, a group of strong, cuisine-loving Cuban women celebrating their friend's s 70th birthday.

Episode 7

Burmese Kachin

25 mins

A close-knit community of Burmese Kachin immigrants invite Sean Connolly to witness a traditional ceremony and to take part in the feast that follows. Jack-Saw-Win Nyein, a member of the Burmese Karen tribe, recently married Mary Saing Marip, a member of the Burmese Kachin. Following tradition, Jack must receive a new Kachin name and be officially welcomed into the Kachin tribe. Sean begins his day at the Sydney Flemington Markets with Mr Lamung, Sengmon and Akhai Lahpai buying Barramundi for Jack and Mary's naming ceremony. The fish is prepared at Mr. Lamung's home where Sean is taken on a tour of his back garden to pick herbs and vegetables used in Burmese cooking. The pennywort, shalap leaves, saw leaf and chillies are then rubbed into the fish to marinate before it's delicately wrapped in banana leaves. While the women prepare the Pennywort Salad, Sean leaves to meet up with Jack and Mary to find out more about their ceremony. Later, the ritual takes place in front of family and friends and when Jack and Mary arrive they present a traditional gift basket - containing sticky rice, dried beef, eggs, ginger, rice wine and a live chicken - to their elders. When the formal part of the afternoon is complete, Sidney Lazum and his wife Sengmon Maran take Sean into the kitchen to prepare the final dishes, Shan Hkak (finely minced beef with shalap leaves and herbs), Shatjam (Kachin-style risotto with shredded chicken and ginger served in banana leaf packages) and barbecued ox tongue served with a dipping sauce of lime juice, soya bean and herbs. Guests take their places and Mr. Lamang's barbecued fish is brought to the table. The rice wine begins to flow freely and the afternoon passes in a flurry of colourful costumes, laughter, music and song.