Sitting within the confines of my work cubicle one day, I was suffering extreme bouts of hunger that couldn’t be satisfied. It was actually brought on after looking at photos of deliciousness from my trip to Philippines! As I humbly hunkered down on a boring sandwich for lunch whilst watching my colleagues eat pretty much the same damn thing, a light bulb moment had struck me. I thought why not have an International Feast Party at work homeboy! I mean, who wouldn’t love having piles of food at an arms reach from your desk. You feel me?
So I drummed up an enticing email containing pictures of Willi Wonka’s Chocolate factory and sent it to the whole department. Of course, everyone was in 🙂 . The only challenge I had was coordinating the Sydney and Melbourne office concurrently on the day.
Thank you to my happy helpers in the Sydney office – Ash who helped coordinate the team, organised the room and music as well as Jax who was my remote photographer – amazing food porn shots buddy!
Zee Menu.
Mains
Tender Roast Lemon & Herb chicken drumsticks
Chef: Simon
Beef Madras Curry
Chef: Matt
Savoury Crepes with Mauritian chutney
Chef: Sabina
Slow Cooked Penne Bolognese with Fresh Parmesan
Chef: Donna Talbot
Empanadas
Chef: Fred
Freshly baked Burek
Chef: Vanya
‘A Summer Fruit Salad’
Prepared by Penny & Bernie
‘A Kiwi Selection of Savouries’
Chef: Rowan
Ross il-Forn (tasted like a Lasagne but with rice)
Chef: Nathan
Filo Wraps….Spinach and Cheese wrapped in pastry
Chef: Andrew
Dessert
Banofee Pie!
Chef: Celine
Scones
Chef: Anthony
Cassava Drop Flan with Young Coconut
Chef: Adrian
Aussie Chocolate Crackles
Chef: Kristie
Homemade Butter Cupcakes with sprinkles
Chef: Dave
Chocolate Devil Cupcakes
Chef: Adrian
The above Savoury Crepes were my favourite. The crepes were still warm and delicate. I found myself combining the chutney with the Madras Curry which seemed to work quite well.
The Ross il-forn was a traditional recipe from Nathan’s grandma. It tasted like a cross between a lasagne and a moussaka but with rice. I loved the crunchy bits reminding me of those burnt rice bits you get in a claypot dish.
And the amazing desserts…
The talented Celine made this gem and was definitely the overall winner as voted by the department. Gaaawd…the cream, the cream!
It was such an enjoyable day where the whole team sat around eating all day whilst swapping recipes and talking about each others heritage. Why couldn’t everyday be like this! Fortunately, there is such a diverse range of nationalities within the team so the day was very much like taking a round trip around the world!
I would encourage you all to do this at your workplace. And don’t worry, I’m well prepared to cop some blame regarding possible weight gains! This party actually took place a few months back so I have no excuse not to do it again…and again.
I’m planning another one soon to raise funds for Japan. Join me?!
If you’re not already signed up for updates from Food Rehab, get on the list and I’ll do my best to keep us learning about none-other than glorious, GLORIOUS food!
Keep eating,
Adrian
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Can I please come and work with you? 😉
Only if you bring cake!
omGGG. The food! The food!
So much foooood and takeaway
Well, now I’m starving and feeling cranky because dinner is hours away! 😛 Definitely going to have to get up for some chocolate after commenting here. I’m absolutely swooning over the banoffee pie – as someone who has just come around to bananas but has always loved thick, rich caramel, it looks amazing!
haha, chocolate- of course! The banoffee pie was the real winner
Wow! Great initiative! Way to increase team morale!
You guys should do a Taste of Harmony lunch too, lots of fun!
xox Sarah
Team morale was certainly high that day!
Lovely… seems like you have a bunch of food loving colleagues!
Food really does bring people together. Twas such a great day
Woah, great job! I’m inspired to do this at work now. We already have cake every Friday, so it’s not like anyone’s going to be worried about weight gain 😉
Go for it! Everyone will appreciate it. Cake day is the best
What sort of workplace has such amazing cooks? Not mine, that’s for sure. Great idea, Adrian, and best of luck for your next venture.
I didn’t realize that either until the day. I was afraid people were gonna cheat and bring something from the supermarket!
Are you hiring right now? 🙂
haha, maybe! Do you have cake?
Yay, we did this at our work too! We have such a diverse background that I thought it would be a great idea so for my 30th last year they did it for me! It was also a great success.
Very nice! What a great team you have, all that food for your birthday
My bf has had similar food parties at work and I’ve been making some Finnish, German and Japanese dishes for him to bring with him 😀
Man, his workplace would’ve loved that!
Such a brilliant idea! It’s so heartwarming seeing fellow work compatriots coming together and preparing a dish that means something to them. Especially in such a multicultural country like Australia! 🙂 Totally rocks! You should do it more often. 🙂
The fact that we are so multicultural, it makes a better feast!
What a great, great idea…..you’re tempting me on the road to boldness!!!!!! who knows, I might attempt something similar in my office – seriously!
Do it! Your workmates would love it
Haha, yes, why can’t every workday be like this! I’m sure you can all vouch for the team-building and morale-raising effects, yes?
I wish… morale was certainly high LOL
It seems I can’t see anybody looks like Asian from the photo, but the Beef Madras Curry Chef Matt is originally from Asia.Anyway, lovely delicious foods!!
I wasn’t in any of the photos. 🙂
Great job rounding up the workmates!
Where’s yours? 🙂
I wanted my workmates to claim so glory! LOL I made the cassava flan with coconut.
I wanted my workmates to claim some glory! LOL I made the cassava flan with coconut.
Oh happy day! Was anybody able to take some home? 🙂 You and your colleagues rock! Thanks for sharing.
Of course, there was so much leftover! hehe. My pleasure
I LOVE these types of meals! We had a fantastic international one in my corridor when I was living in Sweden. So much fun.
We also had one in my department at work last year – so many different cultures in our building – but I was sick and missed it, boo! Well done on doing this, it looks so awesome. Bet everyone was high fiving you.
There were so many choices, I didn’t know where to start. Damn, you missed it. Do it again!
Nice post!
I’d love to take a bite on each dessert. They’re absolutely mouth-watering. It’s funny because we just celebrated the birthday of our colleagues yesterday and I must say that the chocolate muffins look exactly the same with what was served. We had a blast!
Thanks for sharing!
I did! I had a toothache and still had a dinner to attend to that night! Choc muffins were really good and moist.
Wow, It looks so Yummy and I am already starting to feel hungry.
Me too!
I want to work at your work…..
I’m planning on doing one for xmas!
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Leticia Avierkiieva and I am a contributor at http://www.mycitycuisine.org, a wiki project. I am currently working on an article about Ross il-Forn for the project, and am in need of a photo for the article.
I wanted to inquire in regards to your photo:
http://foodrehab.com.au/2011/04/03/international-feast-party/
The photo would be perfect for the article. Would you be willing to give mycitycuisine.org permission to use your photo for the project?
If you agree to let mycitycuisine.org to use the photo, please specify the terms of permission in your reply so I can upload this photo with the correct license terms.
1.) I certify that I am the owner of this photo. I grant mycitycuisine.org and its owner to use this photo for any purpose with attribution to me as the photo owner.
OR
2.) I certify that I am the owner of this photo. I release all rights of this photo and place this photo in the public domain.
I thank you in advance and look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Leticia Avierkiieva (gourmand86@yahoo.com)
PS: mycitycuisine.org is a wiki project so you are encouraged to contribute to it by sharing your knowledge of your local cuisine. Thank you.
Well cooked, i’m loving these foods.