KOH LAY CHIN: A labour of love, Udine's wine and food fest
When my Italian friend told me it would be an unforgettable experience to head out to his hometown of Udine in northeast Italy for this food and wine fest, he wasn't kidding. Completely satiated, we practically had to roll ourselves out to the airport post-festival.
The starry Italian hotspots like Rome, Tuscany and Venice are known for their ancient ruins, idyllic landscapes or gondolas, but the delightful city of Udine, with a population of just about 98,000, can't really boast of streaming tourists. For four days in September though, the sleepy town bursts into life with food and wine lovers coming in from all over to sample the best the Friuli region has to offer.
With hundreds of stalls offering fare such as the mouthwatering San Daniele prosciutto, the cheesy delight that is Frico, and not to mention the high-quality Friuli white wines, it was no surprise that the event is the highlight and pride of Udine.
For such a small town, the festival attracted a million visitors in 2004, and the number keeps increasing. "Welcome to Udine!", a silver-haired local bellowed at me with his arms stretched wide the first day I walked through the festival's main square.
"Thank you very much!" I hollered back.
The stalls were everywhere around the main square and beyond. Queues for food formed quickly but moved along quickly, too. Locals and their guests mingled everywhere, with children carrying colourful balloons. It was a big family affair, and musicians entertained the crowds in different areas.
Udine clearly has much experience running the festival -- tables were cleaned very quickly, people could return their wine glasses for money back, and the overall cleanliness of the area was remarkable considering the human traffic.
Even though the crowds would party until 5am, the streets the next day were impressively clean. The portable toilets (and I have seen some in the sorriest state at festivals) were amazingly spotless even after midnight.
But the thing I most admired about this festival was that it was entirely a labour of love by the city for its own citizens. That other curious visitors such as myself shared in our friends' special time was a bonus.
There are plenty of international food festivals around the world that boast loyal fans, and more countries, regions and towns are realising what an asset a good food fete is for tourism and the food trade. There are many to choose from, depending on what you like, whether it be oysters at the Fete de L'Huitre et du Pineau (in France's Marennes-Oleron region); a festival dedicated to the Mexican chilli-flecked chocolate sauce called the mole (Mexico's San Pedro Atocpan city); or a "Garlic and Beef" festival hosted by the small town of Takko in Japan.
And while people joke about the English as having bad or boring cuisine, they certainly have been making up for it with tons of effort, quality and diversity. The successful four-day Taste of London festival in June displayed a wide variety of delectables from the city's restaurants.
You may be asking why Malaysia, home of the always-hungry, taste-discerning and palate-passionate food-hunter, does not have its own gastronomic festivals renowned worldwide. It's not from a want of trying; we've had food festivals for years.
To their credit, Tourism Malaysia has also been taking the Taste of Malaysia festival to showcase our delicious cuisine in cities like New York and Vancouver. (Although there's no Taste of Malaysia locally.) There have also been gourmet feasts and the Malaysia Food Festival, which made its debut last year in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year celebrations.
Comparatively, though, our scrumptious food still remains a local pride and an international secret of sorts.
Perhaps good intentions could go further if organisers did not aim quite so high. The bigger the festival, the less homely and charming it is. Indeed, eating culinary delights in a cold shopping mall or a large exhibition hall rather defeats the purpose of appealing to tourists.
Tourists would rather experience eating in a local village eatery or feasting with locals beside a smoky grill, even if the outing proves a little sweatier with our weather.
Certainly, one thing is apparent to me from the Friuli Doc fest. Even for its comparatively humble size, it was huge in spirit. I guess the recipe for a truly successful food festival is to keep it small, simple and genuinely local. My friends from Udine told me repeatedly and proudly that this was the highlight of the town.
"This is my 11th Friuli Doc," said one. "A few years ago I was away in another country and flew back just to catch it."
Said another: "It is crazy. Everyone just waits for the next Friuli Doc to come around. It is always great fun and better food!"
It was impossible not to get swept up in their love for the event. In their dedication and pride for their little local festival, a visitor from the outside like me became equally enamoured.