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
-
Angel – Reach Out
-
Dave – Reach Out
-
Australian Taxation Office
-
Melissa Leong – Learning more about my cultural heritage
-
William Ross
-
Arq Group
-
A workplace champion for harmony – Department of Human Services
-
Dominique Rizzo: What I learnt about my cultural heritage
-
ASF Audit’s first A Taste of Harmony celebration
-
What is Australian cuisine?
-
Caring about cultural diversity – AutoCare Services
-
Petra – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
What’s in your pantry?
-
Neha – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Fast Ed’s A Taste of Harmony Photo Series
-
Sally – Blackbird PR
-
Maxine – Reach Out
-
Matthew – Yoghurt Digital
-
Joe – Yoghurt Digital
-
How does your heritage affect what you eat?
-
Cristina – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Why cultural diversity is an important workplace conversation
-
Who makes the best desserts?
-
How many cuisines have you eaten in your life?
-
Why your workplace should celebrate A Taste of Harmony
-
Tammy – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
How a garden in a Brighton backyard is connecting cultures
-
Metro South Health
-
Multiculturalism a key ingredient of Melbourne’s ‘happy cafe’
-
What’s your favourite food?
-
Mckenzie – Yoghurt Digital
-
Sukaina – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Phoebe – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
What does food mean to you?
-
Carly Day: Learning more about my cultural background
-
What did you eat today?
-
Mitchell – Reach Out
-
Junnan – Yoghurt Digital
-
Gilad – Yoghurt Digital
-
City of Whittlesea
-
Ayca – Yoghurt Digital
-
Centre for Multicultural Youth
-
Kristin – Playfair Visa and Migration Services
-
Newmont
-
Chung Jae Lee: My Korean heritage
-
Krisztina – Reach Out
-
What makes Australian food culture so diverse?
-
Australia Post – 10 year participant and major supporter
-
4 reasons to introduce A Taste of Harmony to your workplace
-
Emma – Blackbird PR
-
Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs, QLD
-
Pride in Diversity for Major Hotel Group – Accor Hotels
-
A Taste of Harmony at Harding Martin
-
How entrepreneurship enables economic independence for migrant women
-
Flourish Australia leads by example, and wins a visit by Celebrity Chef, Fast Ed!
-
A Taste of Harmony brings ‘Besties’ together – Best and Less
-
Cultural cuisines you may never have tried (and should!)
-
Samantha – Playfair Visa and Migration Services