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What to Eat at Surrey Fusion Festival 2019: Something Sweet

The 12th annual Surrey Fusion Festival, Western Canada’s largest multicultural event, is taking place this weekend from July 20 – 21.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

“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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Cocadas (Coconut Smoothie) in a Coconut Shell | Venezula (Row 2)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Deep-Fried Plantains | El Salvador (Row 5)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Taiwanese Wheel Cakes | Taiwan (Row 5)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Savouries

Jamaican Beef Patty | Jamaica (Row 1)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Tandoori Chicken | Pakistan (Row 3)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Samosas & Chana | India (Row 4)

Vegetarian samosas served with traditionally cooked chickpeas in spices.

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Shai Fries with Shahi Sauce | India (Row 4)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Assorted Tapas | El Salvador (Row 5)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

Bannock Salmon Burger | Bannock Queen (Indigenous Village)

Surrey Fusion Festival 2019 Food Holland Park

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