Saturday 4 June 2011

Hunter Valley Gardens FlavourFest 2011

Prepare your taste buds for this Flavour extravaganza FlavourFest at Hunter Valley Gardens. The venue hosts a number of high profile events throughout the year and the inaugural FlavourFest in 2010 was an overwhelming success, attracting over 6000 visitors to the region.

The Festival features fine food, exquisite wines, exotic tastes, deluxe merchandise and inspiring music - showcasing the flavours, luxuries and sounds of the Hunter and beyond....

Also featuring Celebrity Guests, cooking demonstrations, seminar sessions, entertainment, wineries and restaurants, cocktail flaring showcases, Kids in the Kitchen and exhibits packed with tasty offerings, fresh produce and specialty merchandise. Come ready for a weekend of culinary, wine, taste and music delights, all set inside Australia's Largest Display Garden.

Each day of the festival some of our talented and recognise national chefs and presenters will take to the stage to provide cooking demonstrations, share their stories and entertain the crowds. Celebrities include:

Peter Everett will be the Main Stage Host on Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th and Monday 13th. Although Peter Everett counts cooking as a major hobby (he makes a great Thai salad), he is not a chef. As host of Ready Steady Cook, he therefore "de-jargons the chef-speak", asks lots of questions, and generally acts as a link between the audience and the professional chefs – he will fullfill the same role at FlavourFest, and host our Main stage throughout the festival.Peter Everett loves food and he loves an audience, so will bring our Main Stage to life with his fun-loving and lovable personality.

Alvin Quah, 2010 Masterchef Competitor, will be at the FlavourFest on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th. Alvin Quah was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1974. In the melting pot of food culture that Malaysia is, his cooking education started young. At four years old, he remembers learning, under his Mothers watchful eye, how to shape and roll glutinous rice dumplings that would later be boiled in a ginger syrup. A love of the English language and a close proximity to home, meant at 20 Alvin chose Melbourne as the place to study for his PhD in Science. Whilst his fellow students lived on baked beans and two minute noodles, Alvin spent his university years experimenting with mixing the flavours instilled in him by his Mother's Nyonya heritage and his newfound appreciation for Western Cuisine. And in 2010, encouraged by his partner he auditioned for the second series of Masterchef. Alvin will join fellow Masterchef contestant Callum at Flavourfest 2011 and provide demonstrations of his unique mix of flavours.

Callum Hann, 2010 Masterchef Competitor, will be at FlavourFest on Sunday 12th and Monday 13th. Callum, the youngest contestant and runner up, put aside his engineering degree to compete in the second series of the Ch10 ratings juggernaut MasterChef Australia. Determined to soak up as much culinary knowledge as he could, his ultimate goal was to peruse a career as chef whether he won or not.
Callum proved that being young and having less experience doesn't have to hold you back, time and time again throughout the 13 week competition he delivered up dishes to the Judges that left them speechless with admiration. His ability to learn, flair for sweets and of course his boyish charm made him a favourite on the 2010 competition.

Jake Bujayer,  2010 Masterchef, will be at FlavourFest on Monday 13th. A cement renderer by trade, Jake has had his own business for the past few years, but despite his passion being food, he never would have thought to apply for MasterChef without the encouragement of his Girlfriend. With modest tastes, and totally settled in his life on NSW's Central Coast, cooking was a hobby that developed handin-hand with his love of fishing. Jake will stay true to his love of 'seafood' and present some delicious recipes from the 'sea' for us at Flavourfest. Jake is an absolute expert with in his field. FlavourFest 2011.

Janelle Bloom, from Ready Steady Cook, will be at FlavourFest on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th. Janelle is one of this country's most-loved food writers and authors. She believes good cooking begins with confidence and a little patience – it does not have to be complicated. Janelle is one of the original chefs who inspire viewers every day on the high-rating Network 10/Southern Star production of READY STEADY COOK, now in its fifth year on air. Janelle also has a food editor role at Family Circle Magazine and presents on 2UE radio Sunday afternoons.
.
Mix, shake, rattle and roll… Cocktail Flairing and Mixology is a true art form and the team from Twisted Liquid will inspire, amaze and entertain you with bottles twisting through the air, the ice clinking together in the martini glasses, all set to music and performed by not only bartenders but true showmen.

The Celebrity Cafe will be located in the 'Eat Street' area (formal garden). All the celebrities featured at the event will design a 2 course menu matched with a wine. Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase one of these lunch specials and enjoy discovering the tastes designed by our celebrities.

The Seminar Stage, Hosted by Bar-Be-School is located close to the Formal Garden, this is where you'll learn all sorts of interesting facts and figures from the masters, as well as get to taste lots of free samples from cheese providers, wineries, Bar-be-school and breweries.

The 'Kids in the kitchen' will be found in the Kidspace area. Kids you can get their hands dirty (wearing gloves of course), decorating yummy cookies. A small additional fee will apply, and they'll get to take their yummy culinary creations home to share with the whole family.

Hunter Valley Gardens will hold FlavourFest from Saturday 11th to Monday 13th of June.  For more information go to http://www.hvg.com.au/

No comments:

Post a Comment