Chef’s Table with Gary Mehigan and Billie McKay at Good Food & Wine Show 2015, Sydney (9 Aug 2015)

http://goodfoodshow.com.au
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#citibankdine #citivip #goodfoodie

A rewarding experience

Brought to you by Citi Australia

"Our new and exciting Citi Rewards experience is here. Browsing and redeeming from our huge range of reward options has never been easier. Go to citibank.com.au/myrewards"

Thanks to Citi Australia for inviting me to experience the Chef’s Table ($55 VIP ticket) at the Good Food & Wine Show ($32 general admission) with Gary Mehigan. Upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised to also see MasterChef 2015 winner Billie McKay helping out on the Good Food Theatre stage. She was one of my favourites while watching MasterChef and I was very happy to see her win. As a VIP ticket holder I liked how you got to watch the cooking demonstration in the comfort of a table setting while trying the dishes with their matching wines.

To start the Chicken Larb matched with Villa Maria Private Bin Chardonnay was a light and tasty dish with fresh flavours. Next was the Prawn and Fish Coconut Curry with Okra and Cashews matched with Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc. Enjoyable flavours combined with a tasty prawn and nicely cooked piece of fish. I would have been fine if the chilli kick factor was turned up a notch to challenge my taste buds. For dessert the Papaya and Coconut Ice Cream, Sago and Sesame Caramel matched with Private Bin Pinto Gris was a crowd pleaser — more please sir. I think the crowd of free audience seats were a bit jealous when we got to try this yummy Asian inspired dish.

After the event the 50 Chef’s Table VIP ticket holders had the chance to get their photo taken with Gary and Billie which was a great opportunity and experience. Everyone also received a generously filled goodie bag that included Gary's Comfort food cookbook which they could get signed. It was lovely to meet Gary and Billie and be part of the Chef’s Table. A truly rewarding experience thanks to Citi Australia.

MasterChef Blogger Experience in Melbourne: Sneak peek at ‘The Passion Flower’ dessert challenge by Pastry Chef Darren Purchese and a quick Q&A with MasterChef judge George Calombaris

http://tenplay.com.au/masterchef
#MasterChefAU

The passion for perfection

“Believe in your dream, always be true to yourself, and always cook with honesty” — George Calombaris

Brought to you by Nuffnang and MasterChef

So I’ve been watching most of the MasterChef episodes and it looks like the competition is ramping up and the best contestants are starting to shine through as favourites and potential finalists. The standard of many of the contestants at this stage of the competition seems very high compared to previous years, so it’s only fitting the challenges are getting pretty tough too.

‘The Passion Flower’ by Darren Purchese

Here’s a sneak peek at one of the hardest dessert challenges that’s been on MasterChef. Having the opportunity to try this dessert was great as I’d never try and attempt to make something like this myself. There are so many processes and elements to get right. But I’m sure there’ll be techniques that many home cooks will love the challenge of trying out themselves once they watch how it all comes together on MasterChef.

During my visit to the Burch and Purchese sweet studio, Darren was kind enough to share his thoughts about MasterChef:
“I was honoured to be asked back into the MasterChef kitchen to set a pressure test for this season. In my opinion the contestants this year are the highest standard of any other, because of this it is getting harder every year to come up with a new challenging dish. With this in mind I set to work on a dish that would challenge most chefs, a dish so tricky to master that even me and my team were nervous that it might not work! In all, the dish has 12 elements with 31 steps but the biggest challenge is that it has moving parts! I hope you’ll love watching the episode as much as I did to be a part of it.”

Q&A

Here’s a few of my own questions I had the opportunity to ask MasterChef judge, George Calombaris that I was curious to know.

Q. What's your favourite thing about MasterChef?
A. Integrity, simple people, amazing food, dream big. IT’S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL

Q. Is there anything you wouldn't want to eat on MasterChef?
A. Bad food but we rarely get that.

Q. What advice would you give MasterChef contestants?
A. Believe in your dream, always be true to yourself, and always cook with honesty

Q. What do you think of social media?
A. Love it as long as it’s used with respect and positivity

Q. What do you think of food bloggers?
A. Love them.

Thanks again to Nuffnang and MasterChef for this unique opportunity. It’s not long now before we see who has the skills and passion to be our next MasterChef Australia.

So who’s you’re favourite to win?

Check out my previous blog post of my MasterChef Blogger Experience in Melbourne here: 
http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/masterchef-blogger-experience-in.html

MasterChef Blogger Experience in Melbourne: Chef Shannon Bennett at Vue de Monde, Gazi restaurant, Pastry Chef Darren Purchese at Burch & Purchese, MasterChef kitchen and MasterChef judges (15 April 2015)

http://tenplay.com.au/masterchef

#MasterChefAU

‘Ordinary People. 

Extraordinary Food’

“MasterChef Judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston are back as the 2015 season of MasterChef returns bigger and better than ever in its 7th season! This year the best home cooks in Australia will be serving up the most amazing food the competition has ever seen. They’re ordinary people, but they cook extraordinary food.”

Brought to you by Nuffnang and MasterChef

As an avid MasterChef watcher since series 1, it was great to be given the opportunity to be flown down to Melbourne for the day to check out the MasterChef kitchen and meet the judges in between their busy tastings. I also met with this year’s guest mentor, Chef Shannon Bennett from Vue de Monde who had a dessert tasting prepared which will be featured in Episode 2 of MasterChef Australia. A quick pitstop lunch at George Calombaris’s restaurant Gazi was a tasty introduction to a vibrant place I’d love to revisit. I also came face-to-face with an impressive and very complex dessert by Pastry Chef Darren Purchese from Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio, which will challenge the contestants at one point in the MasterChef kitchen. A sneak peek will be revealed closer to the episode. All I can say is it takes a long time to prepare, looked amazing and tasted great — and I will definitely not be attempting to make it myself, ever.

Chef Shannon Bennett, Vue de Monde

It's amazing what you can do in one day even with a one-hour flight delay from Sydney due to weather. In hindsight the proposed two day visit would have been better to take into account traffic delays, chefs’ availability and working around the MasterChef kitchen schedule — maybe next time. First up was a visit to the heavenly view over Melbourne from Vue de Monde to have a casual chat with Chef Shannon Bennett about his Episode 2 dessert challenge, which will air on TEN from 7.30 Wednesday night (May 6). What's not to like about a decadent warm chocolate orange mousse with a lovely combination of flavours that anyone can enjoy at his Bistro Vue restaurant. Straight to my thighs but no regrets.

This season, Chef Shannon Bennett will be the guest mentor to help guide the contestants through testing times when they’re up against an established chef for an immunity challenge. I’m pretty confident they’ll be in good hands as Shannon’s reputation is on the line as well — and just quietly he doesn’t mind fighting for a win when given the opportunity. During our chat, he says to make it in this industry it comes down to work ethic, passion and knowledge. A combination of all three will give you the necessary drive to hopefully make it as a chef. From the sounds of it there’s a few contestants who discover these qualities so it’ll be interesting to see who they’ll be throughout the competition. Shannon is a down-to-earth and likeable guy who sees the glass half full rather than half empty. Thanks for the catch up and tasting.

Gazi, CBD Melbourne

Due to working around the availability of chefs and the MasterChef kitchen, a quick lunch stop at Gazi followed. So glad I chose to try the ‘Garida’ Crispy kataifi pastry, tiger prawn, aleppo mayo, honey, smoked almond ($6.50 ea). I’d happily order this one again. A decent sized prawn wrapped in crispiness. More please. ‘Cheese’ Saganaki, balsamic honey, figs ($14.50) had some serious stretchy cheese porn going for it when you picked it up. Yummy flavour combination with the figs. I could have happily taken the Soft shell crab souvlakakia ($12) to go and wander around the streets of Melbourne. I’m hoping I can find something similar in Sydney. ‘Blue Cup’ ($10) cocktail of the week was Gazi’s take on the classic Grasshopper. Equal parts of Metaxa 7 Star Greek Brandy, Creme de Menthe and Creme de Cacao topped with ice cream, crushed ice, grated nutmeg and garnished with a sprig of mint. An easy one to drink although maybe best suited to enjoy with a dessert as it was like a chocolate mint flavoured milkshake but alcoholic. For a blue light disco experience be sure to check out the toilets.

Pastry Chef Darren Purchese, Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio, South Yarra

The famous Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio awaited after lunch where I felt I had gained 10 kg just by walking into the place. If you don't know about Darren Purchese then he's the one that can make you seriously fat with his gorgeous looking desserts on display if you don't have any self-control. Dessert heaven awaits those who love a quality sugar hit. He'll be responsible for putting contestants through dessert hell in completing a very special dessert challenge. I can’t reveal too much at this stage but I’ve been told it’s one of the most difficult dessert challenges to date on MasterChef Australia, with so many pressure points that I feel contestants with a degree in acupuncture might have a slight advantage. Thanks so much for the dessert tasting and yummy gift samples of your salted soft caramel chocolates. The Mrs loved them and thankfully was happy to share them with me when I brought them home.

MasterChef kitchen, Melbourne Showgrounds, Ascot Vale

Like arriving on a Hollywood movie set, the MasterChef kitchen is the place to visit for any MasterChef fan. Everything is quickly recognisable, I reckon they could make money in the off season by running tours through the place and maybe doing team building challenges for companies. MasterChef judges Matt Preston and George Calombaris were on hand for photos and a quick chat about the show. Unfortunately it was Gary Mehigan’s turn to be taken down by the man flu that was going around. Perhaps they should have made one of the cooking challenges chicken noodle soup. The MasterChef pantry is huge and stocks a broad range of ingredients to cover just anything the contestants might dream up. There’s an impressive display of cooking utensils, pots, pans and appliances, which I’m glad I’m not the person who needs to clean them after each challenge. 

Thanks again to MasterChef for making this experience possible. I look forward to watching the ‘journey’ of the new contestants as they’re being put through their paces and I hope to be inspired yet again by some cracking dishes. May the best cook win and the drinking games begin. I wonder who will be the first to cry? I’ll be tuning in from 7.30 Sunday to Thursday nights, on TEN.