
Tessa is Australian, as are her parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Her father’s ancestors came from Scandinavia. At the time, many families with the surname ‘Andersen’ were emigrating to Australia so her family decided to change the spelling to ‘Anderssen’ (adding an ‘s’) in order to differentiate themselves and importantly, ensure their letters did not get mixed up in the mail along with all the other Andersens!
Tessa is not particularly connected to her Scandinavian history and says her red hair is perhaps her strongest link back.
She says food growing up was typically Australian including dishes like spaghetti bolognaise and fish fingers featuring regularly at the dinner table. This was in contrast to the gourmet meals her grandmother is known for. In particular, she makes summer pudding every Christmas, following an old-fashioned recipe that involves weighing the mixture down with a brick.
Tessa recently spent a year living in Cambodia where she loved trying lots of different street food with thanks to her super power of never getting food poisoning. Noodles from street vendors, avocado shakes at the markets and a fresh coconut in the tuk tuk on the way to work each day were highlights of the experience.
View more of Fast Ed’s photo series by clicking here.
Related Posts
-
A Taste of Harmony brings ‘Besties’ together – Best and Less
-
What does food mean to you?
-
What makes Australian food culture so diverse?
-
Sally – Blackbird PR
-
Mitchell – Reach Out
-
Tammy – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Kristin – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
How entrepreneurship enables economic independence for migrant women
-
Emma – Blackbird PR
-
Dominique Rizzo: What I learnt about my cultural heritage
-
Gilad – Yoghurt Digital
-
Matthew – Yoghurt Digital
-
Multiculturalism a key ingredient of Melbourne’s ‘happy cafe’
-
Petra – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Flourish Australia leads by example, and wins a visit by Celebrity Chef, Fast Ed!
-
Who makes the best desserts?
-
Maxine – Reach Out
-
City of Whittlesea
-
What’s your favourite food?
-
Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs, QLD
-
A workplace champion for harmony – Department of Human Services
-
Ayca – Yoghurt Digital
-
Cultural cuisines you may never have tried (and should!)
-
A Taste of Harmony at Harding Martin
-
Fast Ed’s A Taste of Harmony Photo Series
-
Australian Taxation Office
-
Chung Jae Lee: My Korean heritage
-
Mckenzie – Yoghurt Digital
-
Dave – Reach Out
-
William Ross
-
Metro South Health
-
Joe – Yoghurt Digital
-
Phoebe – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Newmont
-
How many cuisines have you eaten in your life?
-
Why cultural diversity is an important workplace conversation
-
Australia Post – 10 year participant and major supporter
-
Samantha – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Why your workplace should celebrate A Taste of Harmony
-
Cristina – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
4 reasons to introduce A Taste of Harmony to your workplace
-
Krisztina – Reach Out
-
Angel – Reach Out
-
How a garden in a Brighton backyard is connecting cultures
-
ASF Audit’s first A Taste of Harmony celebration
-
Arq Group
-
Neha – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
A Taste of Harmony Registration Competition 2026
-
What did you eat today?
-
How does your heritage affect what you eat?
-
What is Australian cuisine?
-
Pride in Diversity for Major Hotel Group – Accor Hotels
-
Melissa Leong – Learning more about my cultural heritage
-
What’s in your pantry?
-
Sukaina – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Caring about cultural diversity – AutoCare Services
-
Carly Day: Learning more about my cultural background
-
Junnan – Yoghurt Digital
-
Centre for Multicultural Youth



