Mowing Down on the Sunday Chow

From the title you might think that the Sunday chow is some slow-cooked home style feast like pot roast or Sunday gravy. But really it's just some tasty stuff I had today that I want to share with you, my readers. (Do I have readers?)

Anyways, first up is a simple, easy and tasty sandwich that I made myself for lunch.

It's a super-tasty grilled cheese with Havarti, tomato, and basil. I made it by grilling a sandwich of cheese, tomato, and basil and mustard in a pan with a little olive oil. I adore the crunchy bread, gooey cheese and moist tomatoes. It was excellent from start to finish. There are few things as easy and tasty as a good grilled cheese.

I got my dinner at the Cariwest Caribbean Arts Festival in Churchill Square after an appetite-building afternoon of shopping. The festival had lots of Caribbean flavour in the entertainment. I heard steel drums, saw dancers, and heard other festive music as well. But, the main thing on my mind was getting some food 'cause I was hungry. There was a bit of a mish-mash of food on offer from Italian sausage to ginger beef to enchiladas. But, I only had eyes for the Caribbean food because isn't that what the festival is all about.

I lined up at the tent set up by the Sit and Chat Caribbean Restaurant. I wanted to get the oxtail but it was not available (at least for me). So, I went with the choice of the Caribbean guy in front of me in line and went with the colossal curried goat roti for $10. Here it is in its entirety:

I was also a bit thirsty and curious what an authentic Jamaican ginger beer would taste like, so I got one for $3:

First, what's in a roti? What is a roti? I'd say it's like a Caribbean burrito with a flaky wrapper and a filling of curried potato, chickpea, and goat. Here are the insides because you know you wanted to see them:This was a rib sticking tasty concoction. The potatoes and chickpeas offered up their tender starchy goodness and the goat was flavourful and on the bone. I ate it mainly with a fork. I don't see how you could really pick it up without it falling apart. Especially since you have to gnaw meat off the bone, an activity that I increasingly enjoy. The curry flavour was tasty but not overly spicy. Overall, I enjoyed eating my roti while soaking up the sights and sounds of the festival.

The ginger beer was much sweeter than I would have thought with over 40 grams of sugar in 300mL. But I drank it all because of the intriguing strength of the ginger flavour that was sort of in the background. So, those are the highlights of my tasty Sunday chow.

Heritage (Foods) Festival

On Sunday afternoon, Ryan and I went to the festival that I have the fondest memories of from last summer. The Heritage Festival takes place over the Heritage Day long weekend in Hawrelak Park. It's highlight is the over 40 tents from different ethnic groups serving the foods of their culture.

That's a lot of food, obviously, which is bought with a ticket system. Especially later in the day, there were long lines for both food tickets and much of the food. The array of foods was staggering and we were only able to sample a tiny fraction of what was on offer. Of course there a some foods I'd rather avoid at the festival like Chinese ginger beef or Italian penne with tomato sauce as these either lack authenticity and/or are boring dishes. Their availability makes me wonder a little about the authenticity and quality of some of the food, but it's a seriously fun time.

Here's a rundown of what we ate:

-Ryan got a Kyikyinga spicy marinated beef skewer from the Ghana Site. We didn't deem it photogenic but he seemed to think it was tasty although one bit may have been too tough to chew.

-My first pick of the day was Maatjes Haring, a salted herring and onion sandwich from the Dutch Site. The fish was very salty, tender, and cool in temperature. It went well with the onions, but I opted not to eat the entire hot dog bun it was served on. It did not disappoint and is pretty exotic looking, more so than the Patat Frites (French fries) they were also serving. -Ryan looked forward all year to the Meat Pie from the Turkey Site. From this shot right down the hole it seems to contain ground beef, onions, parsley, and spices in a tortilla. I tried a little last year and it was good. Take a good look right in it's cavity:

-Next we hit up the Korea Site, which was a bit of a mistake at least in my opinion. I'd heard so much about Korean style pancakes, especially the seafood ones. The vegetable pancake I got was not so good though. I ate it, but it seemed like an ordinary pancake with green onion and bean sprouts mixed in. It was served with soy sauce and seemed a touch undercooked in the centre. Overall, this is the one think I kind of wish I didn't get. Ryan got the bean sprout salad, which looks like the one you get at any Korean restaurant with your kimchi. He ate it but didn't say much.
-We then headed to the Caribbean Site, which seemed to be mainly Jamaican. I had been unable to obtain Curried Goat last year because they ran out. So, this is what I'd been waiting for all year:It wasn't quite as I expected, since curries are usually saucy. But it was really good with tender chunks of mildly to moderately spicy curry flavoured goat on the bone. It came with white rice. I enjoyed the goat but found it to lack any distinct or gamy goat flavour. Last year the highlight of the Caribbean Site for me was the Jerk Pork, which I encouraged Ryan to try. This is it:It's better than Jerk Chicken because it's meatier and the chicken has too much skin. (Last year I was actually served a chicken back, which had very little meat.) Last year I found the Jerk Pork insanely spicy, but Ryan didn't comment about intense spicing although he got a snow cone afterwards.

-The Eritrea Site was next and Ryan got the Alicha, which is mixed vegetables with injera. Injera is the distinctive flat bread with kind of a sourdough flavour used as a utensil in Ethiopian and evidently Eritrean cuisine. The bread was okay, but the vegetables were disappointing. It's yellowish so I thought it might be curry flavoured. But, really it's just bland, mild vegetables like carrot and cabbage tasting mainly of cooked cabbage. Ryan got this and we both didn't want to finish it. Perhaps a spicy or meaty dish would have been better.
-I have been curious about green papaya salad for a while now, so we went to the Lao Site so I could get some. I have to admit it wasn't quite as I expected, not that I really knew what to expect. It consisted of slender strips of green papaya, carrot, and tomato in a sauce. The dominant flavour of the sauce was insanely spicy. It started a fire in my mouth, which I did not expect. Despite that I ate the whole bowl 'cause I'm all for the endorphin rush of spicy food pain. I think it was also a bit salty and probably contained fish sauce.
-Ryan wanted a giant mango on at stick or "Mango Loco" so we went to the Guatemala Site and he waited about half an hour for it. I wandered around a bit, while he waited. The mango was sprinkled with lime juice and "spicy" spices, perhaps chili powder. It was very juicy and made a mess. I assume it was pleasantly sweet as well.
-With my last ticket, I elected to grab Bara Brith at the Welsh site because it was one ticket and there wasn't a line up like there was for the Pakistan Site's Jaleeb. The Bara Brith was a buttery cake with dried and candied fruits. It was tasty as all buttery cakes are, although I think if you don't like dried and candied fruits it would be something to avoid. For me, it was a good dessert to end the festival.
Heritage festival also includes cultural performances and souvenir type sales. This year, I got chopsticks at the Hong Kong tent. I'm so glad I have some now. Is it really pathetic that I didn't before?