Masterchef Live 2012 Food Festival, Moore Park [PHOTO POST]

Firstly Happy New Year and secondly, sorry for the much delayed post on this event. The last few months have been so busy for me and a lot of my photos have been jumbled up. Have only got things organised recently.

Just want to say thanks to the team at Inception Digital for giving me the opportunity to attend Masterchef Live held at Hordern Pavillion in Moore Park. I managed to arrive on the last day of the 3-day festival where you can check out cooking presentations and seminars, get to know your favourite chefs, test some new delicacies and even attend a cooking class or two. Try fitting all of that in one day!

TASTINGS

There was so much action in one day that I did not have as much time as I would have liked to make for the tastings. Plus it was a struggle waking up and I ended up getting there around 1pm instead of earlier. Both Noggi and Moochi made an appearance as well as Zumbo Patissier and a decent handful of wine sellers, cheese and salumi makers and olive oil companies to name a few.

CHEFS AND CONTESTANTS

When it's Masterchef Live, there will be appearances from contestants and chefs who have made their mark on the show. Unlike previous years, I initially had a bit of trouble identify the contestants since I was overseas for the majority time it was on air this year but I managed to figure it out throughout the day. On the day I went, there was no Matt Preston, George or Gary but there were contestants and chefs appearing on a variety of stages including the Blanco Contestant's Theatre and the Mystery Box Theatre.

Julia Taylor (S4 Contestant) at the Blanco Contestants Theatre

Justine Schofield (S1 contestant & host of the Mystery Box Theatre) with Kylie Millar (S4 contestant)

Justine Schofield and Adriano Zumbo at The Mystery Box Theatre

Zumbo taking pics of his food :P

Friendly competition between Zumbo and Three Blue Ducks' chef, Darren Robertson

Alvin Quah (S2 contestant) at the AYAM Street Cooking in Style Demo

Andy Allen (S4 Winner) at The Contestants Theatre

Amina Elshafei (S4 Contestant) at the Invention Test Theatre

Ben Milbourne (S4 Contestant)

Andy Allen (S4 Contestant and Winner)

COOKING CLASSES

There were a handful of cooking classes throughout the day including the Artisan Bakery Class with Laucke Flour (which sold out very fast), Casa Barilla's Italian Cooking School, Easy Cake Decorating with Queen Fine Foods and Junior Masterchef with Kids Pantry to name a few! The first class I experienced was the Italian Cooking School where everyone attempted a pasta dish, the Spaghetti di Frutti di Mare (Spaghetti with Seafood - the 'Fruits of the Sea'. The instructions were really quick so I had a bit of trouble trying to make it and read the instructions at the same time but it was so much fun. The cooking assistants at the station were extremely helpful. Worked up quite a treat at the end as it is a favourite pasta dish of mine.

Spaghetti di Frutti di Mare

I also checked out The Art of Patisse run by pastry chef Vincent Gadan. And I have to tell you this, the session was gruelling! It was set up in the style of a pressure test where the participants have to recreate the Parfum de Femme from scratch. It certainly an interesting learning experience and you can feel the actual pressure that the Masterchef contestants would have experienced on the show with a good dose of cheekiness from Gadan himsel.

FOOD

When there is Masterchef, there has to be food. And I was starving! There were a few stands like Miss Chu and Three Blue Ducks serving their restaurant food as well as the usual favourites like the paella and gozleme. But the real stars were the food trucks. Four of Sydney's Food Trucks were serving at Masterchef Live for the hungry attendees. A favourite of mine was the Tsuru Pork Belly buns which is so light and flavoursome from the meat to the bun. I have not been able to see it on the street as much lately compared to the other trucks but I can't wait to have it again very soon.

Cannot recall this dish but it is a nice, tangy refreshing dish to try if you ever check out Three Blue Ducks

Tsuru Food Truck

Veggie Patch Van

Agave Organice Food Truck

Eat Art Truck

Pork Belly Buns!

Overall it was an extremely fun, interactive and busy day. I eagerly await for the next installment to happen in 2013 since Masterchef: The Professionals will be on the screens soon. Hope to see more surprises coming up at the festival this year.


The Random Foodie attended Masterchef Live courtesy of Inception Digital.

Masterchef LIVE
Hordern Pavillion
1 Driver Avenue, Moore Park NSW 2021
http://www.mastercheflive.com.au/