Flavours of the West: A Spice Journey at Highpoint
Highpoint Shopping Centre has once again partnered with not-for-profit social enterprise Free to Feed to deliver the second instalment of its food event series, Flavours of the West: A Spice Journey.
A celebration of diverse community and food culture, the event series will take place at Highpoint on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 April 2018 where shoppers will experience Middle Eastern and South East Asian-inspired cooking workshops held by chefs from Free to Feed. The social enterprise helps asylum seekers secure employment by cooking food and sharing their stories. Flavours of the West: A Spice Journey is an immersive event series that will celebrate the history, delicacies and traditions of Middle Eastern and South East Asian food through four different cooking classes at Highpoint. Participants in the classes will have the opportunity to learn how to create contemporary dishes from four passionate Free to Feed chefs: Nayran, who came to Australia from Syria, Charu from Sri Lanka, Rawan from Iraq and Hamed from Tehran.
Each workshop will offer participants sampling the dish they have made. Highpoint’s Fresh Food retailers, including Rainbow Meats, Fish Pier, Highpoint Fruit & Vegetable Market, Bakers Delight and Gourmet Deli House will provide all ingredients used. In addition to the events, a complimentary grazing table of traditional dishes celebrating Sri Lankan and South East Asian-inspired food including relishes, roti, samosas and sweets. Melbourne’s West is rich in cultural diversity, with Middle Eastern and South East Asian two of the many ethnicities growing in the area.
Highpoint’s ongoing partnership with Free to Feed will focus on food that interests shoppers and nearby residents, and continue to pave the way for other ethnic-inspired food events at Highpoint in the future. “Highpoint is excited to have Free to Feed host its second food event series in the centre, after such a well-received first series in August last year. Flavours of the West: A Spice Journey brings our fresh food retailers together to be part of a meaningful event series that embraces the diversity of the wider community. At Highpoint we are committed to offering experiences that provide people with a chance to enjoy the cultural richness of the West,” says Ryan Ling, Centre Manager of Highpoint Shopping Centre.
Melbourne-based Free to Feed recognises the entrepreneurial characteristics and existing cooking skills of refugees and new migrants, as well as the many challenges they endure in gaining substantial employment or support in founding enterprises in Australia. Since 2016, Co-Founders Loretta and Daniel Bolotin have aimed to foster these skills by providing refugees and migrants with further skills, training, mentoring, career guidance, connections and the hands-on paid work experience necessary to support them in the competitive Australian food industry. “The work we do is so important to the livelihood of refugees and new migrants in Melbourne, and with ongoing support from Highpoint, we are able to create more awareness of the Free to Feed program – and what better way to do that than over delicious food”, says Loretta Bolotin, Co-Founder of Free to Feed.
For further information on Highpoint’s Flavours of the West: A Spice Journey, visit www.highpoint.com.au. To learn more about Free to Feed, visit www.freetomelbourne.org.
HIGHPOINT’S FLAVOURS OF THE WEST: A SPICE JOURNEY
WHAT: Cooking workshops held by Free to Feed
WHERE: Highpoint Shopping Centre, Level 2 outside David Jones
200 Rosamond Road, Maribyrnong 3032
DATE/TIME: Day 1: Saturday 28 April 2018
11am – Masterclass 1: Weeknight Sri Lankan Eggplant & Chickpea Curry
1pm – Masterclass 2: Middle Eastern Breakfast (Shakshuka)
Day 2: Sunday 29 April 2018
11am – Masterclass 3: Delicious Middle Eastern Dips
1pm – Masterclass 4: Persian Desserts
COST: $20 per cooking workshop, with $10 redeemable at Highpoint’s Fresh
Food retailers. Tickets can be purchased via www.highpoint.com.au
WHAT: Grazing Table
WHERE: Highpoint Shopping Centre, Level 2 Fresh Food Precinct
200 Rosamond Road, Maribyrnong 3032
DATE/TIME: Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 April 2018, 10am – 2pm
COST: Grazing table is complimentary
Facebook: /highpointshoppingcentre /freetofeedmelbourne
Twitter: @Highpoint_ Instagram: @highpointofficial @freetofeedmelbourne
Hashtags: #flavoursofthewest #freetofeed