Hopscotch Productions
My Family Feast
In 2009, Hopscotch Productions took on the world of cooking shows, with the weekly half hour television show My Family Feast. Hosted by award-winning chef Sean Connolly (Sean's Kitchen, Astral) and broadcast on SBS, My Family Feast took Australian audiences into the lives and cooking traditions of Australian immigrants and their families.
Part cultural profile and part cooking show, each week a different family invited Sean into their home, introduced him to their families and way of life, and taught Sean and the audience how to cook an authentic family feast. As a new recipe was taught and learnt, stories and traditions were evoked and nostalgia and laughter shared.
Shot entirely on location in the families' homes, My Family Feast is a unique show, rich with warmth and gastronomic delights.
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The DVD of both series is also avaiable to buy here. So you can watch how the pro's do it, just as your crying over your crap keftedes and you're picking your vietnamese pancakes of the ceiling. And the book is also out now and available to buy at all good book stores.
See Sean learn how to make rice with shredded chicken and ginger from the Burmese family here.
SERIES ONE Episode Guide
Episode 1: The Congolese
The Congo is alive in Sydney! After a fruitful visit to Mbuyi's African vegetable garden, Sean Connolly and the Ndayi family host a colourful Congolese party in the backyard of their home.
Episode 2: The Italians
Sean joins four generations of the Pacialeo family and learns how they create their annual stockpile of delicious home-made tomato sauce. The ritual ends with an incredible Italian feast.
Episode 3: The Chinese
Eileen and Newman Yip invite Sean Connolly to spend a sumptuous weekend with their family while they celebrate Ching Ming - an annual Chinese gathering when families pay respect to their late ancestors.
Episode 4: The Mandeaen Iraqis
Sean meets the Abboud Al-Suhairy family who fled persecution in Iraq to live in Australia. Largely overlooked in history books, Mandeaens are a pre-Christian minority religion of ancient Baptists who hold in respect John the Baptist as their principal teacher.
Episode 5: The Vietnamese
The Le family honour the annual Vietnamese Moon Festival, with a banquet of traditional dishes and Sean Connolly is there to learn how it's done. Sean joins Tam and her husband Nam Le for the Vietnamese Moon Festival Tet Trung Thu - a day of cooking, feasting and prayer.
Episode 6: The Cubans
Sean meets "The Cubanadas"; a women's group of extended family and friends who left Cuba as a rejection of its political ideology, or through marriage. They now live in Australia and have formed a support network and sisterhood: creating a familial environment so their children can grow up with aunts, grandmothers and cousins.
Episode 7: The Burmese Kachin
A close-knit community of Burmese Kachin immigrants invite Sean to witness a traditional ceremony and the feast that follows. Jack-Saw-Win Nyein, a member of the Burmese Karen, recently married Mary Saing Marip, a member of the Burmese Kachin. Following tradition, Jack must receive a new name and be officially welcomed into the Kachin tribe.
The EPISODE GUIDE to SERIES TWO is:
Episode One: The Indians.
The wedding between Bengali bride Shrabastee and her Punjabi groom Ankit represent the coming together of two traditional Indian families.
Episode Two: The Argentineans.
Graciela Yoia has run a flamenco dance school for 27 years and every Sunday the Yoia family invite friends around for a famous Argentinean barbeque known as an Asado.
Episode Three: The Greeks.
It's St. George's Day and George Gavalas is celebrating his name day with family and friends, Greek style. George and his wife Angela are part of an extended family of Greek Australians. Their parents are from Kalimnos and Lesbos - two very different islands in the Agean Sea - and the dishes prepared for the occasion will reflect their respective backgrounds. Sean Connolly joins the men in the morning to catch seafood for the feast and their catch is taken home and prepared for the evening festivities while George visits his local Orthodox Church. Then it's back to cooking the feast of traditional Greek delicacies, including the piece de resistance, MOURI - a delicious stuffed lamb.
Episode Four: The Serbians.
Stana and Micho Kolundzija are Serbians who moved to Australia on a whim over 40 years ago and they have raised their family of daughters in the Sydney suburb of Mascot. Sean Connolly joins them to celebrate Stana's 66th birthday. For special occasions the family buy a WHOLE PIG and roast it on a spit. To accompany the pork, they make STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS, CUFTE, SERBIAN RISSOLES and LJEVACA (a zucchini and polenta bread). A well-loved Balkan band, Marsala, provides the music for the birthday celebrations.
Episode Five: The Balinese.
Every year the Balinese Community of NSW get together to celebrate Galungan - a cultural and religious holiday that marks the beginning of the most important religious ceremony in Bali. Galungan occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. Sean Connolly joins the recently elected president of the community, Ode Srijaya and his wife Putu, for the festivities that involve preparation of a feast, weaving of banten (baskets upon which food offerings are presented) and an offering to the ancestors at a temporary outdoor shrine. One of the highlights of the holiday is an impressive gamelan performance
Episode Six: The Afghans.
Dr. Rahman Shinwari and his wife Dr. Arian are Pashtuns who moved to Australia during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Sean Connolly joins them as they prepare for Eid al-Adha, an annual Islamic festival of feasting to honour the sacrifices of the prophet Abraham. After a visit to the mosque with Dr. Rahman, they drop by an Afghan bakery where Sean is shown the process of making TANDOORI OVEN BREAD. Back at the house, Dr. Arian demonstrates how to make KABULI PILAU and her daughter Diva introduces Sean to MANTOO (delicious Afghan dumplings) and pan fried stuffed BULANI. Dr. Rahman shows Sean the secret to his special marinade for the BARBEQUED LAMB and CHICKEN SKEWERS and they sit on traditional Afghani rugs and enjoy the feast surrounded by lights and musicians.
