Source : the age
As the host nations geared up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Adam Liaw was there, dodging drug cartel-related unrest in Mexico and impressing his 13-year-old son by landing a ball in the very net where Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda scored the opening goal in the Group D match with Turkiye. Oh, and he also did some cooking: nachos on a Beverly Hills rooftop, clam chowder in San Francisco, vegan spring-roll hot dogs in LA and prawn poutine in a Vancouver food truck. All the sights, flavours and soccer fever are captured in SBS Food’s six-part series Adam Liaw’s North American Fan Feast.
“There was a lot of excitement, particularly in Mexico and in Canada, as well through California,” says Liaw. “There was definitely a World Cup vibe all across North America.”
Having explored gastronomy around Australia and the world through his Destination Flavour series, Liaw was keen to check out new cuisines. “The idea that food brings people together is not unique but it was interesting to explore that connection of how sport – something that I love almost as much as food – does it as well.”
The Sydney FC fan has fond memories of his grandmother’s go-to footy snack. “This was before lamb ribs were cool, when you could buy them for $2 a kilo. My grandma would roast lamb ribs and we would eat them watching the footy.”
Liaw religiously begins his culinary tours at local markets – the best places, he says, to gain a sense not just of how people eat but of who they are.
“The Mercado Jamaica market in Mexico City is the real deal,” he says. “There are often markets that become a pastiche of what a market should be. But that is very much a real market. You know that people go down there to buy their flowers and their pinatas and their ingredients. It was really exciting.”
It was in Mexico that the crew encountered “a SNAFU”, in the aftermath of the killing of drug cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes.
“We weren’t able to go to [World Cup location] Guadalajara but there was plenty to do in Mexico City,” says Liaw. “If we’d been in Guadalajara I’m sure it would have been very scary but Mexico is such a warm place, and the people that we met were so welcoming and lovely.”
In the US he noticed “a bit of anxiety from anyone travelling to the World Cup, whether with a film crew or just as fans … We were well-prepared and had our visas in order.” But he found the food culture “fantastic”.
“We tend to be a bit down on American food … possibly because it’s almost too familiar,” he says. “But the one thing America does fantastically well is it celebrates ordinary things. They love sandwiches; they love burgers; they love hot dogs and pizza – and there’s amazing food on top of that. And they don’t shy away from making it their own.
“In Australia we have this cultural cringe: if pizza is going to be good it has to be made just the way it is in Napoli. I love Napoli-style pizza but you go to every city in America and they’ve got their own style of pizza. To me that’s interesting.”
Throughout his travels Liaw never met a dish he didn’t like. “Food is much more about the story than it is about taste. People have their individual tastes and if you don’t like something it doesn’t mean that that is inherently bad. I’ve never held myself out to be a food critic.”
There can, however, be too much of good thing.
“The Nanaimo bar is Canada’s answer to a caramel slice,” he says. “It’s a layer of a cheesecake base with custard in the middle and chocolate ganache on top. They have a [walking] trail where you can stop at 32 places in the town of Nanaimo to try different versions. As someone who doesn’t eat a huge amount of sugar, I think my blood sugar spiked!”
Adam Liaw’s North American Fan Feast premieres at 8.30pm on Monday, July 6, on SBS Food.
Want more TV? We’ve got you.
- Video: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on the shows she recommends watching right now (below).
Bridget McManus is a television writer and critic for Green Guide. She was deputy editor of Green Guide from 2006 to 2010 and now also writes features and interviews for Life & Style in The Saturday Age and M magazine in The Sunday Age.
