Vegetarian Fundraiser, Vinh Nghiem Vietnamese Buddhist Temple, Cabramatta, Sydney

A major form of fundraising for the multitudinous Vietnamese Buddhist temples in the suburbs of Sydney is the big vegetarian banquet.




These are immensely popular community events, with singers, raffles and legions of bored looking husbands standing out the front of the temple, smoking.
The noise is almost deafening, and you have to shout at everyone you meet, including normally quiet monks and nuns.




These crowded, noisy events are usually not for me. I prefer the temple when it is quiet and when there are fewer people around.
But for those who have less time to visit the temple at irregular hours, these special days provide a welcome opportunity to cultivate some good karma, have some lovely traditional food and kick back with friends while listening to some old tunes.

Lien Yeomans

One of the main reasons I wrote my forthcoming book, Destination Saigon, was because of the unlikely links that have been forged over a generation between Vietnam and Australia. Vietnamese people have enriched Australia's culture since they began to arrive here in the late 1970s, bringing Buddhism, a vibrant and energetic approach to commerce which has enriched many sleepy outer suburbs in our capital cities, and, of course, delicious food.
I've just been watching one of my favourite TV shows, Food Lovers Guide to Australia, and it featured the gorgeous Lien Yeomans, one of Brisbane's premier restaurateurs and foodies. Lien is also the mother of Quan Yeomans, the impossibly handsome rock god of Regurgitator fame.
Lien, who hails from Hanoi, cooked a gorgeous Viet-Australian fusion dish of lemon myrtle prawns.