For the last day or so we have been in Gunnedah, an agricultural service centre about 200 km (125 miles - a 2 hour drive) from our home in Armidale. We went there to look after Max while his parents attended the wedding of a good friend of theirs. By chance, the wedding was scheduled on the same as the town's annual Porchetta festival, which for some reason celebrates most things Italian, except of course for Berlusconi's politics. Quite a few towns in Australia are home to numerous Italian migrants, for example Griffith in southern NSW, but I've never associated Gunnedah with Italians.
The festival, which is hugely popular despite this being only the fifth such event, is a culinary extravaganza - with nearly all the food mirroring the flavours of Italy. I immediately sought out porchetta on panini but the result was a little disappointing with the meat (roast pork) being too fatty for someone with a cardiac condition. So I passed that on to one of our party and made do with tasty gnocchi instead. I should add that the variety of food was enormous and wolfed down by hundreds of excited participants. By the way, the gnocchi cost only 4000 lire, which I thought very reasonable. Yes, I know that Italy now uses the Euro, but we used fake currency to add authenticity to the event.
The festival was open-air, and nature provided us with a brilliant day - about 22 C, a gentle breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Participants sat at tables and chairs or on bales of hay thoughtfully strewn around. There was a lively band playing Italian popular music rather than Verdi arias. The food-stalls each sold different dishes and were housed in little tent-like structures dotted around. Half the fun was cruising around to see what was on offer.
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The balloons on display are, of course, in Italy's colours. The band was not attracting much of an audience when I took this photo, but the crowd soon built up as diners looked for a place to devour their meals!
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This was an attractive event and both Dot and I want to go again next year.
AS
The festival, which is hugely popular despite this being only the fifth such event, is a culinary extravaganza - with nearly all the food mirroring the flavours of Italy. I immediately sought out porchetta on panini but the result was a little disappointing with the meat (roast pork) being too fatty for someone with a cardiac condition. So I passed that on to one of our party and made do with tasty gnocchi instead. I should add that the variety of food was enormous and wolfed down by hundreds of excited participants. By the way, the gnocchi cost only 4000 lire, which I thought very reasonable. Yes, I know that Italy now uses the Euro, but we used fake currency to add authenticity to the event.
The festival was open-air, and nature provided us with a brilliant day - about 22 C, a gentle breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Participants sat at tables and chairs or on bales of hay thoughtfully strewn around. There was a lively band playing Italian popular music rather than Verdi arias. The food-stalls each sold different dishes and were housed in little tent-like structures dotted around. Half the fun was cruising around to see what was on offer.
.jpg)
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The balloons on display are, of course, in Italy's colours. The band was not attracting much of an audience when I took this photo, but the crowd soon built up as diners looked for a place to devour their meals!
.jpg)
This was an attractive event and both Dot and I want to go again next year.
AS
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