The Rocks Aroma Festival: The buzz is back

The Rocks Aroma Festival was back to its packed best this year, with the completion of renovations at the Park Hyatt at Campbells Cove and mostly at the Museum of Contemporary Art returning usable space to the festival.

The Rocks Aroma Festival 2012

Fortunately, the rain held off on the wintry Sunday afternoon and indeed, most of the day. The chilly weather meant there was nothing better than a hot beverage, like coffee or tea, in hand.

George Street for The Rocks Aroma Festival

However, the lack of rain meant that the infamous queues for $2 cups of coffee from a range of roasters were in action, equating to 30-minute waits at some stalls. For coffee - at a coffee festival.

Circular Quay for The Rocks Aroma Festival

Damien Heads, head chef of Pony Lounge and Dining

The wait for food wasn't quite as bad, although the extended line for deep-fried spiralled and skewered potatoes was slightly insane.

I made a beeline for the Pony Lounge and Dining stall, which every year has produced some very fine festival fare.

Steak panini with rocket, mayonnaise and salsa from Pony Lounge and Dining

Two separate queues after, we landed a soft panini filled with medium-to-medium-rare steaks, straight off the grill and juicily so. At least half of the meat was lovely and tender, while the tomato salsa kept it all together and interesting.

Haloumi panini with rocket, mayonnaise and salsa from Pony Lounge and Dining

Surprisingly, I preferred the vegetarian option of the haloumi panini as it was an easier festival eat. Not only that, it was some of the best haloumi cheese I've had in some time - not too salty nor rubbery but just right even when cold.

Camel rides in The Oasis

The festival was again split into global region sections, with The Oasis proving to be the most exotic by a nose. Or snout. Or whatever part of the camel's head that should be called.

Coffee cup readings in The Orient

The coffee cup readings seemed pretty serious so I steered clear of it, instead turning my attention to the stage where various dancers performed, including a belly dancer who was probably much colder than she let on.

Dancers on The Oasis stage

Belly dancer on The Oasis stage

Bird's nest baklava from The Baklava Stall

It was difficult to choose from all the varieties of sweet, sticky baklava at the stall but I decided on the round Bird's Nest version because honestly, it looked at least twice the size of the regular finger or rectangular ones.

But for it to be one of the best, flake-everywhere, honey-all-over baklava I've had the pleasure of tasting, it was sugar-high happiness all round, washed down with a sweetened black Turkish coffee that certainly woke me up in a few sips.

Turkish coffee stall at The Oasis

Camel rides and the Sydney Harbour Bridge

I'm infinitely amused by the thought, and sight, of camels on the harbour as it probably doesn't get much farther from home, presumably the desert, than Sydney Harbour.

Camel rides and the Sydney Opera House

These camels were also larger than I expected; indeed, bigger than a horse in most cases, but comically cute and lovable.

Camel rides on Campbells Cove

Filling Dragon Beard candies in The Orient

We detoured through The Orient section of the festival on the way back and stumbled upon the queue for hand-made Chinese Dragon Beard candies, featuring a crushed peanut, sesame, coconut and sugar filling.

Stretching sugar

It was quite mesmerising to watch a stretchy but solid sugar concoction made of corn syrup get pulled and shaped almost like noodles.

At first it's a small, thick hoop that's eventually looped over and stretched again, then looped over and stretched again to form thinner and thinner noodles and eventually, fine, white, hair-like strands.

Dragon Beard candies

Sections of the fine sugar strands were then doubled over, filled with the nut filling and closed up looking very much like a cocoon.

When eaten fresh, these candies need a delicate touch to pick up although the strands go back to a chewy toffee state in the mouth. Leave them a little longer and the strands tend to solidify and toffee up a little more for a truly stunning, mind-blowing sweet.

Dancers in The Orient

With a packed layout and schedule throughout all the global regions, it looks like The Rocks Aroma Festival has its buzz back: coffees, queues and all. See more photos on my Facebook page.

Wake up and smell the coffee

The annual Rocks Aroma Festival seems to be getting bigger and bigger, and is becoming one of my favourite yearly events. This past Sunday’s event was somehow miraculously rain free, although the trip home wasn’t quite as lucky. The view from the train at Circular Quay at 1pm confirmed the massive crowds and the long straight lines at the coffee stands, plus people milling about by the water and all the way down George Street.

The Rocks Aroma Festival, George Street, Sydney

My first objective of the day was to get a coffee in my hands, and while this wasn’t difficult, it did require a good wait (though nothing compared to the wait for the ATM at Overseas Passenger Terminal). We decide on Danieli in The Continent region of the festival; not that their queues were any shorter than the others. They did, however, have freshly filled cannoli on sale, and while a bit pricey in my opinion at $4.50, it was well worth it.

Ricotta cannoli from Cafe Danieli

I chose a ricotta filling (supposedly with cherries and chocolate chips, though I might beg to differ) which was beautifully but not overly sweet; the highlight being the bubbled pastry case which was shatteringly crunchy and also fragrant with a sweet spice (nutmeg perhaps). Scoffed while waiting for our (quite good) $2 coffees, I can only hope that Café Danieli in The Rocks do these regularly and hunt them down next time.

Caffeine and sugar fuelled, we started our traipse around the harbour coffee world starting at the Grinders Coffee installation. Last year, it was the Mona Lisa – a perfect subject for the coffee colours and sepia tones of long blacks, flat whites and other milky coffees. Half way up the stairs looking down to the installation, the answer arises like the smell of coffee in the morning: it’s Marilyn Monroe – beauty spot and all.

Grinders Coffee Installation of Marilyn Monroe

From the top I can see that the detail and texture of the waves in her hair have been intricately coloured (poured?), and it’s an enchanting piece of art that makes the huff-and-puff up and down the stairs quite worthwhile.

Italian gingerbread

There was a great, large selection of stalls; many the same as last year but with a few newbies thrown in. One I was excited to see again was the Italian gingerbread and nougat stand, with their thick, golden, chewy gingerbread shapes. Electing a plain slice I can bite into the bread without the guilt of murdering a gingerbread man and enjoy the syrupy, semi-sweet, mildly spiced gingerbread a little at a time and have plenty left for morning tea the next day.

Yum cha by the Harbour Bridge

Heading into The Orient region, there’s an array of teas and chais but as for food, we headed straight for the dim sum station where a host of young Asians (entrepreneurial students?) were steaming a variety of dumplings and buns in woks and bamboo steamers. Again, an impressive selection including prawn, pork, chives, mushroom and chicken in the steamed section; BBQ pork and red bean buns, and deep fried spring rolls. We get the pork and the prawn, unceremoniously doused in vinegar sauce and chilli sauce and sit by the waterside. Yum cha on the harbour – works well except for the freezing wind – I don’t know how the outdoor diners at Doyles are doing it.

Pork and prawn dumplings from Dim Sum Station

The pork dumpling was a light mixture of minced pork and cabbage in a wheat flour pastry, delightful with the sweet vinegar, while the not-so-fresh prawns and bamboo shoots were encased in a gluggy and mushy glutinous rice flour pastry, thankfully somewhat concealed by lots of chilli sauce.

Camel rides at The Oasis

I spy the camels across the water on the southern end of Campbells Cove. This year, there are two sets of operators each with four of the comically-faced, single-humped beasts in a line. They’re always bigger than I think camels to be – bigger than a horse – and have the oddest jaw movement as they chew cud. They’d be great spokesmodels for a chewing gum brand. A deodorant brand might like to get in on the action too.

Chewing camel

The camels, and passengers, take a leisurely stroll past the diners at Park Hyatt on the wooden-planked walkway, with the rest of the crowds. The camels don’t seem perturbed by all the people nor the water, and they’re not much interested in the Opera House in the distance. They look like peaceful creatures but I wouldn’t get too close to those big chompers of theirs.

The Oasis area

There’s a great vibe in The Oasis region, as if we’ve just stumbled into a private party around the Campbells Cover corner. There’s a tented stage where music and dancing take place, although vantage points are few and far between. Plenty more stalls of sweets, food, Turkish coffee and tea including an impressive if not unusual range from iTea (think apple pie, whiskey drop and ginseng yoghurt teas). And more camels – of course.

Baklava galore

We make George Street the homeward stretch with a momentary detour to The Rocks markets. There was loads more food and ingredients down George Street although by late afternoon, many of them are low on or emptied of inventory. Freshly made crepes and waffles were drawing a crowd, while we find joy at Gelatissimo with coffee ice cream, and lemon and strawberry sorbets.

Large cupcakes from Cupcake Bakery - what an unnatural hue...

Fruit baskets by naked berry

It’s at this point of the festival, dark clouds looming over and the sun on its setting way, that I realise the beauty of the Rocks Aroma Festival: it has the best of festivals in the great outdoors, food, like-minded souls, connoisseurs even; but none of the very worst of festivals – drunken endings and general trashiness.

There was even a lingering feel, as if some people didn’t want to leave, while everyone leaving seemed pretty satisfied. Congrats to the organisers on another successful event, and I can’t wait till next year when I can wake up and smell the coffee – again.

Smells like festival spirit

A stunning winter's day on the harbour is the backdrop for The Rocks Aroma Festival this year - a traipse through coffee, tea, chai, chocolate and spices of the world. The smells lure today's traveller through South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East on an olfactory journey; ending, unsurprisingly, on a really full belly.

George Street (north view), The Rocks, Sydney

On what I like to call a perfect Sydney's winter day, I found myself mixing among coffee connoisseurs and tourists alike - people in every inch of walking space milling about and tasting the goods on offer. And what goodies!

Strawberries for chocolate dunking at Charlie's Chocolate Fountains

A shelf filled with cups of lovely red, sweetly ripe strawberries awaiting their drenching in liquid milk chocolate. Alas the chocolate-drowned strawberries were less photogenic but one of the taste sensations of the day. A definite pick-up from the pleasant but weak cappuccino from the Sacred Grounds Organic and Fairtrade stall. Strangely, the overall festival didn't seem to have much of a focus on sustainability or the like - a little surprising for this day and age, I thought.

BuzzMe energy drink (what a great name!) from Clayridge Honey

Biscuits galore from Delicious Hand Made Biscuits and Pastries

More biscuits from Whisk & Pin

Ever-replinished fridge at Traditional Pavlova

Passionfruit pavlova

Fruit and cream dressed pavlovas were in constant motion at the Traditional Pavlova stall - into the fridge, then into a pair of eager hands within moments. The stunningly smooth meringue was oddly without its crust; creamy even without the cream and almost painfully sweet. We were reaching a point of sugar hyperactivity, and we'd only been through one section - 'The Continent'.

George Street (south view), The Rocks, Sydney

Argyle Street, The Rocks, Sydney

Heading to 'The Orient' it was apparent that while coffee and sweets go hand-in-hand, the "real food" stalls were getting their fair share of attention, with the queues for Turkish gozleme - food of festivals - stretching for more than 20 metres down Argyle Street and corn cob eaters popping up all over.

Campbells Cove, The Rocks, Sydney

Campbell's Cove was home to 'The Orient' and hundreds of smart cookies who found seating in the glorious sunshine. Sunshine, and not to mention the plethora of tea outlets (just the one coffee stall, however) and even more sweetness.

Chocolatey cupcakes from Cakes Online Australia

Organic teas from Toby's Estate

Chocolate-covered strawberries from Flower Fruits

Bouquet of chocolate-covered strawberries

Giant cupcake from The Cupcake Bakery

Spice mixes from Chai

Goods from Italian Gingerbread and Sweets

Gingerbread man

Off with his head!

It would seem the gingerbread world is not immune to the obesity epidemic, presenting the fattest gingerbread men I've ever seen. The gingerbread was unlike any other I've tried: chewy and honeyed with only a subtle hint of ginger.

Campbells Cove, The Rocks, Sydney

The final unchartered territory of the festival was 'The Oasis', reaching down the far end of The Rocks precinct. We're not quite in a desert environment but the vibe is there.

Camel on the harbour

Cupcakes from Ghermez Cupcakes

Baklava from The Baklava Stall

It was impossible for me not to pick up a plate full of baklava. The crispy pastry and nuts cast a spell much like the musical entertainment in the background that just added to the chilled and open spirit of the festival.

I was yet to have "real food", despite filling up on sweets and chocolates. We follow our senses away from the (to put politely) stench of the surprisingly large and comical-looking camels and head back towards 'The Continent' section where we're momentarily distracted by a rectangular formation of coffee cups. Following the drift and instructions we head upwards to get the bird's eye view.

Mona Lisa coffee installation by Grinders Coffee

In a stunning collection of long blacks, flat whites, lattes and straight milk, Da Vinci's masterpiece stares out and up into the blue skies. I, and the many others who trekked up the stairs for a better view, am suitably impressed.

North view at Circular Quay west

It's time to follow our noses and stomachs, and crowds for that matter, migrating towards the smoke and its charred promises. It brings us to the Pony stall where an army of chefs, including celebrity chef Damian Heads and his doppelganger (younger brother, perhaps?), grill up a smoke signal for yet another 20+ metre queue.

Chefs at the Pony Lounge and Dining stall

Pony menu

Woodfire grilled 50-day grain-fed sirloin with chips from Pony Lounge and Dining

The smells emanating from Pony has the queue salivating and eyeing off departing customers. And it's worth the wait. A perfectly medium-rare, sliced-by-Damian-Heads-for-my-eating-convenience sirloin steak sits atop some soggy, some crispy French fries with a dollop of Dijon mustard. We scramble to find seating - any seating - so we can dig into the meal.

Perched rather precariously on the edge of the water must be the strangest place I've ever eaten a steak. The steak is meltingly juicy and packed with charred, meaty flavour that's so easy and fulfilling to eat that we're barely worried about falling backwards into the harbour.

Lunch view

And with that, the slightly backward menu of eating concludes. There's still plenty of entertainment and coffee to be had in the afternoon rays of sunshine, which we certainly take into our advantage. Having journeyed through and through The Rocks, and consequently a few regions around the globe, the nose has had a great day out, knowing a good festival day when it smells one.