The 12th annual Surrey Fusion Festival, Western Canada’s largest multicultural event, is taking place this weekend from July 20 – 21.
Featuring 55 cultural pavilions, 200 performers, and 7 stages, this event is one of the festival highlights of the summer. In previous years, it has welcomed over 100,000 attendees.
“Something Sweet” Theme
This year’s theme is “Something Sweet” so expect to see many dessert dishes presented by the food pavilions.
There are 6 pavilion rows which are all named after a dessert: Row 1 – Alfajores; Row 2 – Cassave Pone; Row 3 – Kulfi Falooda; Row 4 – Nanaimo Bars; Row 5 – Puff Puffs; and Row 6 – Sweet Bannock.
Tickets for Food, Drinks and Rides
All food, drink, ride and alcoholic beverage purchased can be made with paper tickets provided on-site. One ticket = $1. Food items usually range from 2 to 10 tickets.
Tickets can be purchased from one of six ticket booths on-site with cash, credit, or debit. ATMs will be located on-site beside each ticket booth for attendee usage
I attended the event as media today and here’s a look at some of the deliciousness that I tried.
Sweet Food Items
Cassave Pone | Jamaica (Row 1)
Cassava Pone is a popular dessert in the Carribean. It is a rich, dense pudding made with sweet cassava root, pumpkin, sweet potato, coconut sugar, nutmeg, butter and milk. Cassava is a nutty flavoured, starchy root vegetable native to South America.
The cassava pone recipe is said to be originated from Trinidad and Tobago, where settlers learned to make this dish from local tribes.
Cocadas (Coconut Smoothie) in a Coconut Shell | Venezula (Row 2)
Kulfi Falooda | India (Row 3)
Kulfi Falooda is a cold dessert with origins from the Indian Subcontinent. Traditionally it is made from mixing rose syrup, vermicelli, sweet basil seeds with milk and often served with ice cream.
Deep-Fried Nanaimo Bars | Canada (Row 3)
Named after the city of Nanaimo, BC on Vancouver Island, the Nanaimo Bar consists of three layers: a wafter and coconut crumb base, custard flavoured butter icing in the middle and a layer of chocolate ganache on top. Enjoy a deep fried version at Surrey Fusion Festival 2019.
Puff Puffs | Nigeria (Row 5)
Puff puffs are a dough-based snack that originated in West Africa. It is popular in Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana. Puff puffs are made of dough containing flour, yeast, sugar, butter, salt, water and eggs, and deep-fried in vegetable oil until golden brown. They are then coated with sugar for sweetness.
Alfajores | Uruguay (Row 5)
Aljafores is a sweet sandwich cookie featuring a layer of dulce de leche or milk jam in the middle of two sweet biscuits and coated with chocolate or sprinkled with powder sugar.
Alfajores is popular in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru, although they can be found in South America.
Deep-Fried Plantains | El Salvador (Row 5)
Taiwanese Wheel Cakes | Taiwan (Row 5)
Sweet Bannock | Bannock Queen (Indigenous Village)
Bannock is a type of fry bread which originated from Scotland but was adopted by the Indigenous people of Canada, particularly the Metis of Western Canada.
Classic bannock has a smoky, nutty flavour blended with a buttery taste while sweet bannock has a taste similar to a donut.
Served by Bannock Queen, the Sweet Bannock features a classic bannock lightly glazed and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Savouries
Jamaican Beef Patty | Jamaica (Row 1)
Tandoori Chicken | Pakistan (Row 3)
Samosas & Chana | India (Row 4)
Vegetarian samosas served with traditionally cooked chickpeas in spices.