By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Dandenong Market’s bevy of food traders are cooking up one-off special dishes for the return of Dandenong World Fare festival.
The eye-catching options include a rarely-seen purple yam dough sensation that’s popular breakfast or snack fare in the Philippines.
Served warm, the ‘Ube Cheese Pandesal’ is filled with a sweet yam jam and melted cheese. The handmade dough is light as a donut’s.
Its creator Catherine from Si Kat Pinoy Eatscetera – known for Filipino street food – says the yam is an easy-to-grow staple used most commonly in poorer, rural areas of her homeland.
But they’re much more expensive in Australia. So she confines purple yam dishes as one-off specials such as for Dandenong Food Fare.