Food is the essence of so many facets of life, love and death, a glue that brings us together into a multitude of shared experiences. From the creators of one of Sydney Festival’s standout shows in 2014, The Serpent’s Table, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance captures that experience and so much more in latest offering Double Delicious, a world premiere presented at this year’s Festival.

Heather Jeong. Photos © Victor Frankowski 

Five storytellers, Korean chef and kimchi specialist Heather Jeong, interdisciplinary performance maker Valerie Berry, choreographer and performer Raghav Handa, writer Benjamin Law and chef Elizabeth Chong take the audience on a journey through the stories of their chosen dishes, in a series of vignettes that encompass tales of family, love, change, death and life.

Overwhelmingly this is a piece that asks us and the performers to question what and how we create a legacy and how these rich cultural tapestries, which are skilfully woven together, have impacted not only the storytellers but the cultures they represent, touching also on the pressure that is perhaps unique to the immigrant experience of a desire to preserve these traditions.

The production manages to avoid clichés and the stories...