So which culture is actually the best?

So we've told you what makes each culture awesome, but which one is THE BEST?

Watch the cultures go head to head to see who really has the best culture!

Fijian Meke

Meke, more like it

When visiting Fiji one of the main reasons to visit will of course be the island traditions, one of which is as traditional as they come. It’s called the Meke. The Meke is a Fijian dance performed by either men only, or women only. The ceremonial dance that is accompanied by songs and chants and is meant to tell stories of tales past, through the battles warriors have been through as well as pass on customs and culture.

When we went to Fiji as tourists we had no intention on partaking in any traditional festivities, as a Fijian born family excluding myself, we were already accustomed to many of the Fijian traditions. Though, during our stay at the Denaru Hotels, it was hard not to miss or to even give up the opportunity of watching such an enthusiastic form of dance. As we sat by the hotel fields, Men dressed in traditional straw made skirts and women with fans woven with palm tree leaves not only entertained us the audience, but included us in what would normally only be done during traditional ceremonial events. It was an invigorating performance, one that must be seen by everyone and might even get you up on your feet!

Light up your life! Celebrating Diwali

Diwali is by far the biggest celebration in India! 

In Sikhism, Diwali (or Bandi Chhor Divas) is celebrated to honour the 6th Guru, Sri Guru Hargobind Ji, who was liberated alongside 52 Hindu kings. The Hindu's celebrate Diwali (or deepavali, that translates to 'festival of lights') in celebration of the return of lord Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Laxman from 12 years of banishment. Regardless of where in India you are, you can guarantee that on Diwali, there will be lights, fireworks and a lot of sweets!

Diwali is celebrated all over the world!

On Diwali, many people decorate their front doorsteps with a colourful powder, usually decorated in a way to signify a beautiful flower. These colourful powder designs are known as 'rangolis' and are a sacred sign of welcoming guests and families into a home on an auspicious day.

Houses and temples are decorated with 'diwas'. Diwas are small hand-made oil lamps that emit tremendous amounts of light. These diwas signify the victory of light over darkness, encouraging togetherness and harmony amongst the triumph over evil.

Religious Celebrations (Easter and Christmas)

Being Egyptian whose parents are very religious Presbyterian Christian I always grew up in the church. During religious celebrations it is always a big deal since we are Egyptian we always get to celebrate Easter and Christmas twice. Once with our own Presbyterian Church and then again with our family friends who are Coptic.
Easter always changes each year though this year the Coptic Easter fell on the same time as our Easter but this meant I got to have a big feast twice. The first one was celebrated with my own Church on Good Friday  and then the next one was even bigger since my Coptic friends were fasting from meat and milk we got much more food at 12 o clock  in the morning on Easter Sunday. As I mentioned in my previous post food= good celebration. Even every Easter Saturday we celebrate with family and friends having a big BBQ at my other friends house ever since I can remember. (below is a photo of my cousins, brother and I in front of their balcony on Easter when we were little)

Christmas in Australia usually means opening and giving presents for me it means celebrating Jesus birth. This is always done on the Sunday before the 25th of December. But on Christmas day growing up we always went to a BBQ for lunch at one persons house and since it was my other friends birthday on that day every year we would celebrate with a big party at his house at night. But this is not the end of the celebration we always celebrate with the Coptic people as well which means celebrating at 12 am on the 7th of January.

Bangali New Year (Boishakhi fair in Sydney Olympic park)

Boishakhi fair is one of the most famous and biggest cultural events for Bangladeshi community in Sydney to celebrate Bangali New Year. It’s a time when all the Bangali's unite, meet, mingle and enjoy the fun filled event in an extravagant style. People from different races and backgrounds are

joining the fair adding diversity to its food, clothing, jewellery and handicrafts stalls. Entertainment program throughout the day have now embraced performers from all backgrounds, including mainstream Australian, to give the festival a multicultural flavour and character. Mouth-watering foods, entertaining Dance, Fusion and Music shows, Fashion shows, Handicrafts and Boutique Stalls bring this celebration more exciting.

I spend this entertaining and fun filled day with my friends and family, and sometimes I meet some people, with whom i haven't met for a long time. And not to mention the mouth-watering Bangali foods makes everyone hungry and  so many people visit the fair only to have their taste buds these delicious foods prepared by very own people.

People from different races and backgrounds are also joining the fair adding diversity to its food, clothing, jewellery and handicrafts stalls. Entertainment program throughout the day have now embraced performers from all backgrounds, including mainstream Australian, to give the festival a multicultural flavour and character.

The day attracts a crowd of around 20,000. It draws crowd not only from Sydney but also from regional NSW, Canberra, and other states of Australia and even from New Zealand.

It has become the National Day of all Bangali speaking people, particularly for all Bangladeshi Australians. At the very end fair concluded with the specular fireworks to make it more memorable.

A Big Fat Greek Wedding

Family celebrations and events are significant in every culture and each has their own defining elements. In particular, weddings are probably the biggest, craziest and loudest spectacles in all cultures. Greek weddings clearly fit this category – so much so that Hollywood decided to explore the concept and create the cult classic My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I was recently fortunate enough to be the best man at a cousin’s wedding which I decided to take the opportunity to bust or confirm some of the crazy antics which made the film so hilarious. Similar to the film, my cousin’s fiance was also not Greek Orthodox. Unlike the film though, she did not have to be baptized to get married in a Greek church. Another difference to the movie was there was no spitting at the bride and groom as they walked through the church, although I do know from firsthand experience that this ritual is legitimate and practiced at traditional weddings.

Being the best man in a Greek Orthodox wedding also comes with significant responsibilities. Part of the traditional role includes helping the bride and groom to pay for certain parts of the wedding including the bonbonniere (small gifts to guests), the church and the bux party.  Also, throughout the wedding ceremony the best man has several responsibilities.  This includes crowning the bride and groom with the stefana (wedding crowns) and follow the priest in a circle to symbolize their lifetime commitment.

                                        

The reception is also a large part of a Greek wedding. After the delicious food is served and gone, speeches are said and drinks are drunk, it becomes time for the Greek dancing. These dances are communal and most involve people linking arms and forming a circle and dancing in unison, such as the Zorba. Another famous Greek dance is the Zembikiko (drunk man’s dance), which involves random, unsteady movements and clapping around a glass of alcohol and ends with the person sculling the drink. It is typically the last dance of the night.

Food, the Earthy way

Fundamentals of Fijian food

Fiji has mostly a mix of Fijian and Indian people, and with that the people share each other’s cultural traditions and paradigms to the point where we start talking in each other’s languages and cooking each other’s food! This post could show you some of the fantastic food that Fiji has to offer, through drinking coconuts and eating fresh fish that was caught that very morning, however I’m going to show you some of the traditional styles of cooking that is shared through both cultures when it comes to big family feasts.

During my visits to Fiji, we always have a day where we get the family together to cook a large meal. This day starts off by going into the markets to get some fresh produce. And there isn’t much to it, when it comes to the ingredients, just meat and vegetables. One of the local ingredients that is considered a staple on a local’s diet, would be dalo. Dalo is one of the vegetables that are known to increase one’s bulk as shown via picture! But the beauty isn’t on the intricacy of the ingredients, more or less on how it’s cooked.

What the strongest of the strong eat, so I'm told!

Digging the hole for the Lovo

A fire constructed over the food

We take home what we’ve bought from the markets to cook in traditional lovo style of cooking. Lovo consists of cooking all the food underground to give it a lovely smokey and earthy flavour, hopefully a little less of the earth actually. Firstly we wrap all the ingredients that are lightly seasoned in foil and weave of banana leaves so as to keep in the heat and keep out the dirt during cooking. After that we find a spot to a dig a large hole and bury all the wrapped food there, gently covering it with a layer of dirt. 

The next step is to build a fire over the place we cook the food, and let it burn for a long while, then cover the fire with soil. In essence, it traps all the heat within the hole and the food will be slow cooked over a long period of time. Of course a major flaw of this type of cooking is that I don’t have any pictures of the actual food because we have to wait so long for it to be cooked and it’s just too tasty for it to sit there and to be looked at.

After the meal, a traditional custom the men commence is to drink grog. Grog or otherwise known as cava is a drink that is made from water and the roots of a medicinal plant that leaves the tongue numb after consumption. After consuming a lot of this drink, it leaves pretty much everything numb. You could say it’s just a traditional substitute for alcohol, but something that is loved by the locals.

Ah, another Earthy meal. Grog

Fancy some curry? The best Indian dishes!

Admit it, when you hear the words 'Indian food' you instantly think curry. Curry with rice, curry with naan-bread and in essence, curry with almost everything! Well, you're slightly on the right track. India is known for its amazing different curry dishes. Whichever curry it is you decide you want, you can guarantee the secret ingredient will be in it - GHEE! Ghee is a clarified butter which we North-Indians use in just about everything - it's yum too!

A traditional North-Indian dinner

Not a fan of curry? No problem, Indian cuisine has a variety of different types of foods. Foods like Aloo Tikki (an Indian variation of bubble n squeaks), Papri Chaat, Samosa and Idli are popular non-curry based dishes. If ever in India, do not hesitate to have some street vendor Aloo Tikki's. If you're lucky, you might find heart shaped ones. 

Now that we've had something savoury, how about something sweet to even it out. Indian sweets are undoubtedly the sweetest things you will ever eat. Jallebi, Gulab Jamun, Barfi, Raasmalai, Rasgulla, Kheer, Ladoo, Kulfi...oh excuse me, my mouth is beginning to water. Indian sweets are ridiculously sweet, but nonetheless delicious! 

Oh and of course, don't forget the chocolate.

Did someone say chocolate Taj Mahal?

My favourite Bangladeshi Food “Fakruddin Biriyani” and some Delicious desserts

Fakruddin Biriyani 

Fakruddin Biriyani house is the famous Biriyani restaurant in Sydney. They have many branches all over the world but the main origin in Bangladesh. Biryani is my most favourite food, and it is something that has many variations. If you want the authentic taste of Biriyani you should go to Fakruddin Biriyani house in Rockedale Sydney. One of the best Biriyani I've ever had, so many type of Birany in south East Asia but this is one of the best. This food is made by Mutton meat, Basmati rice and various kinds of spices. This is very traditional food in Bangladesh specially cooks in special occasion such as wedding, birthday party or any kind of traditional event . For the Bangladeshi community here in Sydney, there is nothing to say about Fakruddin Biriyani that hasn't been said before it is so much popular among the Bangladeshi community. It is in a class of its own and quite affordable. Fakruddin Biriyani house serves the most distinctive and delicious mutton biryani in the whole world in my own experience. There is nothing like it and if you try once, you will remember for a long.

Some Delicious Desserts

To finish with we have some mouth watering dessert in our food menu, they mostly milk based sweet desserts. It's a tradition in my country that if any one carring any good new, we would celebrate with something sweet.  

                                                                                                               Md Sadiqur Rahaman (ISYS100)

Bringing the community together - Egyptian/ Arab food

The one thing which brings all my family and friends together at an event is through the mention of Food. Any Arab event you attend there will always be a ton of food at the beginning of the night but by the end of the night there will be little to none left over. 

We Egyptians love our food, We love to have BBQs. I have probably been to many BBQs in my life time.

The get together usually happens before the BBQ even starts the Arab men stand around the BBQ cooking koufta, chicken and meat and the Arab ladies usually in the kitchen bringing out the already prepared food. If the BBQ is happening at your house EVERYONE in the family/ household needs to be prepared to help out up to a week ahead: through preparation of food and cleaning the house before, during and after the event  

Even at parties the Egyptians unlike some Australians we love to serve prober food such as macaroni with bashamel, rice with meat, chicken, along with some finger foods such as koufta, my personal favourite vine leafs and pastries with cheese or meat in it. The host of the party most of time I have noticed allows you to serve yourself but on some occassions they serve you and if they do they inisist on you taking more food even if your plate is overflowing "here take one piece of chicken." which is followed by "no thank you Auntie" in which they usually shoove it on your plate anyway 

serving of the food

Not only do we Egyptians LOVE our BBQs but we love the desert that comes at these BBQs. This is usually set up after the mains are done because not only do the mains take up the whole space usually set up but so do the deserts. 

basbousa

Though some of my favourite foods is always included at these parties there are a few which are hard to serve here such as moloukhiya (green soup), and lentil soup which is always really nice in winter. 

In the end the best memories I have of food is always the ones which have brought all my family and friends together 

Mangia Mangia - Food of the Mediterranean

Growing up in a family that is of Greek and Italian heritage has been extremely fortuitous. I believe that both my Nonna (Italian grandmother) and Yiayia (Greek grandmother) are the best chefs in the world and trying to decide who is better is near impossible. For Nonna and Yiayia, cooking traditional dishes has been a key part of their lives and has helped them preserve their connection with their homeland since moving to Australia half a century ago. I have simply been a beneficiary of their art.

Whether it is a significant event such as Christmas, a birthday or just a regular weeknight dinner, any opportunity for the family to be together would be an excuse for a big dinner. Yiayia's dinners would typically include a traditional Greek dish such as Moussaka (eggplant and potato dish), Pasticho (baked pasta dish) or my personal favorite, Avgolomeno (chicken and lemon soup). Another necessity was drowning it all (no matter was it was) with Tzatziki (garlic dip). I am a firm believer that any and all food should be accompanied with Tzatziki and I am now used to the strange looks I get from friends when they see me adding it to anything.
 

Seafood and meat, particularly lamb, are also major elements of Greek cuisine and it was at Easter where I have my best memories of these dishes. Just like in Western culture where cooking a barbecue was typically the man's domain, so to is cooking a lamb on the spit. On Easter Sunday it would be my uncle's duty to take control of the spit, which would often involve beginning the process at 5am and then slowly cooking the beautiful meat for 6 hours. The best part of this process was cutting thin strips off the spit while it was still turning and enjoying the lamb fresh and hot.

As good as Greek food is, it is very hard to rank it above the beautiful and traditional Italian food I have experienced from  Nonna's kitchen. Margarita pizza, all her varieties of pasta, lasagna and veal parmigiana were all specialties of my grandmother and often were all cooked for one meal! Making her own sauces, pasta and dough were also hallmarks of Nonna's repertoire and as a result led to beautiful and tasty dishes which I believe outdo all equivalents I have tried at Italian restaurants. My Nonna also loved cooking with seafood, however this was one taste I could never acquire. Likewise, I have never been able to appreciate the humble olive much to the dismay of both grandmothers. Nonna was also the queen of deserts, especially Crostoli (Italian biscuits) and Canoli.

Thus, it is clear that food and cooking is a large factor of Mediterranean culture.The recipes of both my grandmothers have been passed down to the next generation and I am sure they will continue to be. I for one hope they do :)