Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Recommended Posts

Posted

Anybody who has been to Winnipeg in the middle of summer knows that it means traveling around the world in two weeks without ever going beyond the Perimeter. That's right folks, this Sunday, July 31st starts the yearly culture-fest known simply as Folklorama.

Everybody knows (especially members of eGullet) that many cultures celebrate their uniqueness through food. Peggers and many visitors will spend the two weeks visiting Pavillions across the city - we'll look through cultural displays, enjoy performances and best of all - eat amazing ethnic foods!

This year will have 44 countries opening their cultural centers to the rest of us. They include:

Pavilion Line Up for 2005

Week 1

Africa Pavilion

Argentina “Tango” Pavilion

Belgian Pavilion

Caribbean Pavilion

Celtic Ireland Pavilion

Chile Lindo Pavilion

German Pavilion

Greek Pavilion

Heart of Europe – Czech & Slovak Pavilion

Hungary-Pannonia Pavilion

India Pavilion

Indochina Chinese Pavilion

Israel Pavilion-Shalom Square

Korean Pavilion

Krakow-Poland Pavilion

Métis People Pavilion

Nicaraguan Pavilion

Pabellón de España – Spain Pavilion

Pavilion of Portugal

Pavilion of Scotland

Pearl of the Orient Philippine Pavilion

Romanian Pavilion

Ukraine-Lviv Pavilion

Week 2

Africa/Caribbean Pavilion

Alpine Pavilion

Casa do Minho Portuguese Pavilion

Chilean Pavilion

Croatian Pavilion “Zagreb”

Dutch Pavilion

Greek Islands Pavilion

Hungaria Pavilion

Indo Tropical Paradise Pavilion

Ireland-Irish Pavilion

Italian Pavilion

Japanese Pavilion

Pabellón El Salvador Pavilion

Philippine Pavilion Nayong Pilipino

Russian Pavilion

Scandinavian Pavilion

Serbian Pavilion “Beograd”

Slovenija Pavilion

Tamil Pavilion

Ukraine-Kyiv Pavilion

Warsaw-Poland Pavilion

I hope anybody who may be visiting the city checks out some of the foods offered up at one or many of the Pavillians.

I had planned on getting to many of them myself, but moving a business this month has thrown up some hurdles. I still plan on getting to as many as I can.

Anybody else planning on going? Please share your experiences here. (rona? :wink: )

Posted

Fond but fuzzy memories of the one and only time I attended Folklorama, way back in 1982! I was visiting a friend for the weekend in Winnipeg, and we headed out from his parent's house on Saturday night. I'd never been to one of these festivals, and I was skeptical of my friend's insistence that we would have a good time. Hit one pavilion, don't remember which one, it was a little dead (still early), so we moved on to the Greek pavilion. Holy shit! :shock: The place was rocking! Learned about ouzo and Opa!, stayed there all night, had an absolute blast, and I think I may have been carried out. :blink:

This is a reason to visit Winnipeg!

I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself. - Johnny Carson
Posted (edited)

Well, it looks like my fellow Winnipegers are slacking off with regards to Folklorama, so it's up to me to pick up the slack! :laugh::raz:

So far, I've only really been to one pavilion. We went to the African Pavilion with out of towners. The African Pavilion has a comparatively limited menu. I didn't take note of names, but I know they had boiled peanuts, samosa, something called chin chin, kebabs, and a chicken dish. They don't note on the menu which countries each food was from, though I know a number of countries are represented at that pavilion (we saw dances from Liberia, Eritrea, Ghana, etc.). We got samosa, of which I forgot to take a picture. Their samosa are vegetarian--filled with lentils, not potato. As for the chicken, it was moist, but not very flavourful. The rice was cooked in tomato sauce, from what I could tell. It also came with plantains, which were the best part of the meal. But I'm a sucker for plantains...

gallery_11355_1512_3759.jpg

Tonight I stopped by the Hungarian Pavilion for take-out. I got my usual--a cabbage roll, sausage, langos, and dobos torte.

Hungarian cabbage rolls are my favourite of all cabbage rolls. They use a lot more meat than rice, and the sauce does not overwhelm the roll. The Ukrainian ones, for example, are almost all rice and all you can taste is the tomato sauce. These were fabulous! The sausage is also very good. Very dense, and slightly spicy.

gallery_11355_1512_9928.jpggallery_11355_1512_21250.jpg

By the time I got home, my langos was a bit tough. I think these are best eaten hot.

gallery_11355_1512_26789.jpg

I love their dobos torte because the cake, itself, is quite moist. Even the dobos torte I had in Hungary was not, to my taste buds, as good. Unfortunately, it has been quite hot and humid recently, so the caramel became a bit wet and grainy.

gallery_11355_1512_33670.jpg

It should be mentioned that at most pavilions, the foods are all prepared by volunteers of the various ethnic communities. At the Hungarian Pavilion, for example, you could see little old grandmothers in the kitchen, preparing the foods and washing the dishes.

Eating at Folklorama can also be a little expensive. My Hungarian visit totalled $12.25. Many people visit two or three pavilions a night, sampling foods at every pavilion. It adds up. But in my opinion, it's well worth it!

Edited by prasantrin (log)
Posted (edited)

I finally made it last night. I tried to get to a Pavillion earlier, but it didn't work out. So for the last night of week 1, I visited these countries:

#1 Argentina

gallery_25849_641_14189.jpg

Vegetable (spinach) and beef empanadas - tried both, liked both. Flan on the right - very good. Beef sandwich - didn't try. But I was told it was like a beef schnitzel and it got a thumbs up.

#2 Next we visited Romania

gallery_25849_641_46012.jpg

On the left is some mamalegah served with sour cream and feta (polenta) and a desserts that had some cookies... and alcohol... and I don't really know what - didn't look like much, but tasted great.

#3 Israel (I used to volunteer at this one)

gallery_25849_641_90205.jpg

This tray was shared by 5 of us - we had a couple of falafal, potato and onion burekas, hummus and pita, Sabra liqueur :wub: - chocolate and orange liqueur, and though none us understood what they had to do with Israel, we shared a candy apple and a caramel apple...

Hopefully I'll get to a few more this week.

Edited by Pam R (log)
Posted

Oh my God!!! Foklarama! THE BEST! I still have my blue passport!

I used to go in the early eighties. The food is incredible. OK, I remeber the Greek pavillion, the Italian, the French Canadian (big scene), the Canadian Indian (ate a buffalo burger), the Russian, the Ukranian, the Polish, the Hungarian, the Lithuanian, the Irish, the English and on and on...The food really was superb and the music was great. I would go back just for the Ukranian dancing!

I'm surprised none of the food mags have ever written this up. I can't think of another event like this that places such emphasis on difeerent ethnic foods and culture.

Posted
Oh my God!!! Foklarama! THE BEST! I still have my blue passport!

They don't give you the passport anymore :angry:

For those who have never been, I'd like to explain one thing. Most of the foods prepared for each pavillion are being prepared by people from the specific communities - many of them immigrant. So the recipes and cooking is pretty authentic.

It's really a great way to experience different cultures and foods right in your own backyard.

Posted (edited)

The Greek Pavilion (not Greek Islands) has always been one of my favourite pavilions for food. They have the best spanakopita I've ever had. There's also something about their bread--it's not anything special, but it's very good bread. This time we also had pork souvlaki--moist, but not as flavourful as I would have liked. I bought their recipe book...again (I can't find the one I bought a few years ago)...so I can try to duplicate their spanakopita when I go back to Japan. We also had the galactaboureko for dessert, as usual.

gallery_11355_1512_13239.jpggallery_11355_1512_873.jpg

Then the African Caribbean Pavilion, not to be confused with the African Pavilion, the Caribbean Pavilion, or the Indo Tropical Paradise Pavilion. I had chicken roti and a patty, while my mother had ackee and saltfish. I forgot to take a picture of my roti and my mother's ackee and saltfish. She liked her meal a lot, but then she likes salted cod. I liked the ackee, but the salted cod was very very fishy tasting. My mother let three ladies (strangers) try her dinner. That may seem odd, but this is friendly Manitoba, after all :cool: .

gallery_11355_1512_11319.jpg

Today we went to the Scandinavian Pavilion. It was our first time there, as well as our last time. It was, without qualification, the worst Folklorama pavilion I've ever been to. And I've been going to Folklorama for as long as it has been going on (my mother was one of the first co-ordinators of the Filipino Pavilion). We did not have one of the meals, as they were limited to a rather dry looking roast pork dinner, a sickly looking Swedish meatball dinner, and several types of tiny open-faced sandwiches (shrimp. salmon, havarti, etc.). We had some stale-tasting lefse (rolled with margarine and brown sugar), and a slice of vinaterta that tasted overwhelmingly of artificial almond flavouring, and very little of cardamom. Then we sat through a torturous show which could only be compared to a pre-school talent show. We would have left, but the tables were so close together that it was impossible to stand up without forcing everyone else in our row to stand up, as well. Never again...

gallery_11355_1512_21363.jpg

In order to soothe our tortured ears, eyes, tongues, and souls, we headed on to the Slovenijan Pavilion for take-out. The roast pork or roast chicken dinner is one of the best deals at Folklorama. Both are cooked on-site in huge smokers. The price has gone up to $11 for a plate (just two years ago it was only $8), but you get quite a lot of food, and very tasty food, it is. It comes with a slice of ordinary rye bread, and delicious sides of potato salad and coleslaw (the coleslaw is hidden under the bread). We always ask for some of the skin of the pig, and they always oblige. It's not crispy, but it's very tasty. Haven't had the chicken recently, but I remember it as being very moist and flavourful.

gallery_11355_1512_2263.jpg

We have just two more pavilions on our list for this year--the Serbian for take-out, and the Croatian one for the show and food. We leave on Thursday for MSP, but I think we can make it!

Edited to add: Czech and Slovak Pavilion. I can't believe I forgot about it! It had a very good show--great dancers--both local and semi-professional dance troupe from the Czech Republic. We had halusky (with bacon, feta cheese, and a dollop of sour cream), apple strudel, and sausage.

gallery_11355_1512_24196.jpg

Edited by prasantrin (log)
Posted
Oh my God!!! Foklarama! THE BEST! I still have my blue passport!

They don't give you the passport anymore :angry:

I loved those passports, too. But I understand why they switched...it was much more difficult for each pavilion to keep track of the people who came through, so many were not getting adequate compensation.

For those who have never been, I'd like to explain one thing.  Most of the foods prepared for each pavillion are being prepared by people from the specific communities - many of them immigrant.  So the recipes and cooking is pretty authentic. 

It's really a great way to experience different cultures and foods right in your own backyard.

It's also a great reason to visit Winnipeg, even if you're not from Canada. Folklorama used to be the number one destination of bus tours in North America. That changed when SARS hit Canada, but I've seen a lot of bus tours at the pavilions I've been to this year, and I've noticed a lot more people from abroad (Sweden, the Philippines, Mexico, etc.). Hopefully, more non-Manitobans will take advantage of Folklorama, too!

Posted (edited)

Today we hit the Croatian Pavilion. The pavilions of the former Yugoslavia (Slovenijan, Serbian, and Croatian) offer some of the best food of Folklorama, and definitely the best value for your money (foodwise--I'll post the prices for what we ate). Generally, however, the people who go to these pavilions are often members of their respective ethnic communities. It's really a shame that they don't get more visitors.

First, we started with a combo plate and some strudel. The combo consisted of potato salad, coleslaw, and your choice of two meats (there was cevapcici, some kind of kebab, smoked sausage, cabbage rolls, and a schnitzel type of meat) for only $7.50. We took the cabbage roll and sausage (made especially for them by a meat shop). They use stinky cabbage for their cabbage rolls--pickled cabbage? Like the Hungarians, they also use quite a lot of meat and very little rice. We also had the spinach and feta strudel and the apple strudel. At this pavilion, they make their phyllo from scratch. The spinach and feta was a bit flavourless, but the apple...oh my! It was wonderful! And they were only $1.50 each.

gallery_11355_1512_20635.jpggallery_11355_1512_15545.jpg

We decided since our selection was so good, we needed to try more of their foods. We got the cevapcici ($2.50 for 4 pieces), palacinka (filled with cottage cheese $1.50 or $1) and some kind of cake ($1 or maybe $0.50). Again, oh my! The cake, especially, was delicious. It was moist, and the filling (which I was told was cottage cheese) was so light it was refreshing.

gallery_11355_1512_28977.jpg

Finally, we got more dessert and a cabbage roll to take home! Four pieces of apple strudel, a walnut roll ($1), and some kind of torte ($0.50) that just looked good. I'm thinking it will all be gone by tomorrow, but my mother seems to think we can make it last so we can take some strudel on our drive to MSP. That's definitely wishful thinking on her part!

gallery_11355_1512_20215.jpg

We got a lot of food there for just $25. Much, much too cheap, especially when you consider that Folklorama is essentially a fundraising event for the different ethnic communities. I walked in on my mother talking to one of the volunteers of the pavilion, telling him that they should raise the prices of their food! She's definitely not a true Winnipeger!

Edited to add: A couple sitting near us had a Folklorama Visa, given to them by someone. It gave them free entry to any and all pavilions, but I can't remember if it was just for one night, or if it was for the duration of Folklorama. It was just a card, indicating that the bearer was entitled to free admission. Does anyone know anything about this? I don't recall reading about it in any of the Folklorama literature. It seems like it would be a replacement for the passports, though the cards don't get stamped at all.

Edited by prasantrin (log)
Posted

Thanks for the reports. I was going to try to get to the Scandinavian, but considering I can't seem to get to any - I probably won't make the effort. I still have a few more days to get out - I'm going to try for Italy, Greece and maybe a couple of others. We'll see.

The Visa: I wonder if government people, big wigs at Pavillions, etc. get free visas. Hmm..

  • 3 years later...
Posted

No reports in 4 years? How'd that happen? Am I the only one who ever goes? (Then that means I've been slacking!)

Sunday--Colombia

Their first year running. Very disorganized and inefficient. Food wasn't bad, but I thought the prices were a little high.

We had combo 1 (should have been a piece of chorizo and cheese arepa) and one beef empanada. I think the girl who served me was confused, because the arepa was filled with some kind of pulled pork instead of cheese. The arepa gave me indigestion--it was heavy and dry, but the pulled pork was quite tender and delicious. The empanada was OK, but tiny. The chorizo could have used more flavour, and it was just on the side of dry. We also had some kind of poached fig filled with dulce de leche for dessert. I liked it, but the poaching liquid could have been more flavourful (it tasted like pure water). We paid $13 for everything.

Monday--Russia. We'd never been to the Russian Pavilion as far as I know, and we've been going to Folklorama for about as long as it has been running. After last night, we won't be going back.

We ate blini (one sweet filled with cottage cheese and a few raisins, one savoury filled with tasteless ground beef). The crepe itself was really quite tasty. Borscht I didn't try, but my mother said it was OK. And we had beliashi--deep fried doughnut-like thing stuffed with ground meat (pork?). It would have been very good had it not been cold, and had the dough been cooked through all the way (it was very uncooked in the middle). This came to $13, I think.

The Russian Pavilion was (in our opinion) even worse than the Colombian, and at least the Colombian Pavilion had the excuse of being newbies. Very inefficient, and the volunteers bordered on rude.

Tuesday--Israel

Always one of the best pavilions in terms of set up and efficiency. It's really very well run.

We had falafel--lousy dry pita, mostly lettuce, and three very small dry balls of falafel for $6! Boureka--always good but the potato filling was a bit like paste this year, spinach and feta pie--always good, and cheesecake--always good. All that cost us $16.25.

I love Folklorama, and I appreciate that the monies go to help support the different ethnic organizations putting on the pavilions, but really--for $16.25 or just a little more we could have had two dishes from a Chinese restaurant giving us enough food to eat for a week.

Still to come--both Filipino pavilions, Chilean, and I can't remember the other one we're going to see. We've got one more this week, and the rest are next week.

BTW, the passports are back but in two different forms.

A "real" passport is $135 and it gives you free pass to all the pavilions. Supposedly you can by-pass entrance lines (but not food lines), but I've not yet seen it happen.

If you're just doing individual or family-pack entries, then you can get your "guide book" stamped at each pavilion. Supposedly. I haven't seen any stamps set up anywhere, so I don't know if all the pavilions are really doing that.

Posted
No reports in 4 years?  How'd that happen?  Am I the only one who ever goes?  (Then that means I've been slacking!)

...

Wow this takes me back! Sounds much bigger than when I went in, um, early 1970s. When did it start? My family all migrated from Winnipeg so I haven't been back. :sad:

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

Posted (edited)
Wow this takes me back!  Sounds much bigger than when I went in, um, early 1970s.  When did it start?  My family all migrated from Winnipeg so I haven't been back. :sad:

It's the 40th anniversary this year!

It's too bad you haven't been back. It's still fun, but I find the more I travel around the world, the more disappointed I am in Folklorama. But I think I'll still be going every year I'm in Winnipeg. Can't mess with tradition!

ETA: I was looking at the list of participants this year, and thought there were some absences. Looking again, I realized the Japanese Pavilion was missing this year! Also missing are Chile Lindo, Czech and Slovak, Greek Isles, Argentina (but they only particpate every other year, and they did it last year), and Tamil. I thought there may have been a Sri Lankan pavilion in years past, but I might be wrong about that. I hope the above are temporary absences. I'd be pretty disappointed if they were gone forever.

Edited by prasantrin (log)
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...