The seoul of sydney

So, we went to Campsie Food Festival today "The Seoul of Sydney"...although there was surprisingly few Korean stalls.

As I sit to write, I realise my experience of food festivals (& food courts for that matter) has a very similar flavour and predictable pattern.

I start with excitment and anticipation - the smells, the chatter (and in Campsie, the multiculturalism) - it's the vibe of the thing that whets my appetite!  As we canvas the first few stalls I'm internally trying to work out what dishes I feel like, while frantically elbowing my way to the front of each stall to see what deep fried goodies lay in the bain-marie.

We laugh at how ubiquitous turkish gozleme is now at any market - 10 years ago it was the exotic rarity - and reflect on how times have changed.

As we pass Japanese takoyaki, Korean skewers, Korean takoyaki, Australian sausage sizzle, Lebanese, Indonesian, Indian, french crepes, dutch poffertjes...the familiar frustrating ritual begins.  We must look at every stall before making a decision of what to buy, and prices must be compared if a similar product is being considered.  Although the Senegali stall sounds fun and different, careful discussion reveals its basically just meat and rice.

The perception of value for money generally dictates our first purchase - which happens to be a mixed Korean plate on today's occasion.  The flavours are new and strange, although not entirely unwelcome, but the kimchi is barely touched, and as we finish the plate we realise although our physical hunger has gone, but our mental appetite for something exciting has not been satisfied.

And so the dance of the second purchase begins.

Perhaps we shouldn't get anything...but we're here and it seems fun...the Korean is basically the same as the Japanese...we can easily make pancakes at home...whatever we get had better be worth it...the little one is getting fidgety...should we get 4 or 8...

We do decide to get another dish, but in inevitable style, it was slightly disappointing - uncooked takoyaki mixture, and the reality that the octopus balls will always be better than the prawn or crab mostly because it comes with the best sauces (tonkatsu bbq sauce and mayonnaise, with bonito flakes, rather than the paltry weird seafood mayo).

As we leave, tired by all the noise and distressed by the plastic waste, I wonder if the trip has been worth it.  It comes down to expectations, and perhaps the careful reconnaissance that goes into each purchase in fact lifts the bar too high for any market stall to reach.  I have become so spoilt for choice that I expect a crazily new food experience and yet, festival food will always be heavily seasoned, mass produced and hit-and-miss with the cooking.

I think it's about setting myself some new challenges.  Enjoy the experience - savour the atmosphere.  Be spontateous with the first purchase....and if disappointed, don't buy the second one...just go home and make myself some pancakes.