Five travelling gourmet tips



Love food, will travel.  If that's you, here are some tempting festivals and experiences for your list.

 

Time for some sweet talk

 


Warning – if you are on a sugar-free diet read no further!

Sydney’s first dessert festival in Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney’s grand ballroom for one night only on August 13.  The hotel’s Executive Pastry Chef Anna Polyviou is joining forces with dessert icons including Sydney’s Adriano Zumbo, Min Chuan Chai of N2 Nitrogen Gelato, Bernard Chu and Yen Yee of Lux Bite Melbourne, Tim Clark of Cacao Lab, and Kirsten Tibballs of Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School. Inspired by the atmosphere of a street market, Sweet Street is a tribute to Australia’s talented pastry chefs and Sydney’s eclectic dessert scene. Tickets to this sweet paradise are priced at $55 per person and include 10 tokens to use throughout the festival. .


A taste of China at 30,000 feet



Cathay Pacific passengers on Hong Kong and China flights in August can look forward to a taste of regional China, particularly the southern Guangzhou Province, with some special Chinese signature dishes offered for lunch, dinner and supper. Made following authentic Chinese recipes, Cathay Pacific’s Signature Chinese Dishes are offered seasonally for a limited time on selected flights. Premium Economy and Business Class guests travelling to and from Hong Kong will see wok-fried prawns with ginger and shallot on the menu, and steamed halibut with Tinjian preserved vegetables on flights to China. Economy Class passengers on Hong Kong flights will have a chance to taste braised pork with bean curd and steamed jasmine rice, while those who like a bit of spice can choose the Szechuan style stir-fried pork and dried bean curd with steamed jasmine rice on flights to and from China.


Travel For Free in Europe!

 




Grab yourself a Rail Europe Eurail Select or Eurail Global Passes between 1 August and 30 September and get up to five free travel days. Travellers booking six, eight or 10 days within two months Eurail Select Passes will be granted one extra travel day, while travellers purchasing the 15, 21 or one month Eurail Global Pass will be granted two, three and five extra travel days respectively. Passes must be activated within six months from the date of issue. Rail Europe offers rail tickets and passes to no less than 30 countries and 25,000 destinations on more than 11,000 different routes.  Visit Rail Europe for more information and booking.

Learn to cook for vitality

 



Would you like to know how to make real chai or find out why coconut yogurt, kefir, ghee and activated nuts are getting so much attention? Get yourself along to the Health and Vitality Cooking Weekend with Nutrition/Health Coach Simone Kopkas in the Hunter Valley  on September 26 to 28. Simone says so many people are confused these days about what to eat so her class will be full of nutritional information along with the reasons to cook dishes certain ways, to maximize their nutritional value and taste delicious. The package costs $395 per night with many inclusions. Find out more from Simone.

All about beer

 

 

The streets of Sydney will be flowing with Craft Beer as Sydney Craft Beer Week (SCBW) returns bigger, better and tastier for its fourth year from October 18-26, 2014.

Over 40 of Sydney’s leading venues will host the city’s largest celebration of Craft Beer, with more than 100 events including one-off beers, educational seminars, tap takeovers and beer high teas. There will also be a tantalising four course beergustation of the highest quality where each course is served with an accompanying beer (matched to the meal’s core ingredient!) at the Blackrock Brasserie Beergustation Experiment.

To check out the program, visit Craft Beer Week.