View a selection of the videos that showcase the Scenic Rim Region.
A GROUP of Australia’s top chefs, waiters and restaurateurs visited Scenic Rim producers this week as part of the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence competition.
The group of under 30s are finalists in the national competition which seeks to discover and support the country’s rising food stars.
The group visited the Kalfresh Fresh Vegetables farming company at Kalbar and the Witches Chase Cheese Co at Tamborine Mountain.
The five-day regional produce tour around Queensland enabled the finalists to meet and learn from passionate farmers, growers, producers and harvesters of dairy, horticulture, meat, seafood and emerging industries.
On Friday night the young chefs will take produce sourced during their tour and use it to prepare a Hunt & Gather dinner at Aria Restaurant in Brisbane.
The finalists say knowing about the origin of the food served in their restaurants, and having a relationship with the produces was becoming increasingly important.
“Chefs need to be aware of where the produce is coming from, we need to have a relationship with the producer,” says finalist Todd Moses, who is sous chef at Circa, the Prince in Victoria.
“It’s been great to see first-hand how producers go about their daily work; it gives us an insight into how we end up with our produce.
“There’s definitely been a change in how we buy our produce, we try to buy locally … to ensure the produce is fresh and of great quality.
“We also like to know that the produce we’re buying is going to provide income to our local community, which ensures production is kept local and is sustainable.”
Simone Spicer is a waitress with The European in Victoria. She has noticed that diners are growing more interested in where the food they are being served comes from.
“This tour helps us to understand about the quality of produce that we’re getting and it gives us more information to be able to share with our customers,” she says.
“We get questions from customers and until yesterday I had no idea about sugarcane, now I’ve learned a lot about it.
“Knowing about produce is becoming more important to us … due to Twitter, Facebook and Masterchef people are more aware of where their produce comes from.
“From a front of house point of view it’s really good to see what we’re getting, a lot of customers want to know.”
Kalfresh owner Robert Hinrichsen says it was great to meet a group of people who are passionate about sourcing fresh Australian food of a very high quality.
“I think as far as chefs go they embody the same passion for the food industry that growers have,” he says.
“ To me we see a reflection of that same passion in those people. As a chef you sacrifice a lot of things to be a chef, you work at all the wrong times and I think growing food is similar. It’s a big effort and takes a lot of drive to do it and enjoy it. I saw a real mirror image the way I see people in my business and was extremely happy with the interaction.
“We got into the paddock and were stomping in the mud and they wanted to know a lot of technical stuff, a lot of agronomic stuff – they were into it and really wanted to know everything.
“In our industry one thing we do very poorly is education and being able to educate those guys about just a small portion what we do and how we do it, what our issues are and the effort that goes into bringing those products to the table everyday gave them a real window into our world.”
The Electrolux Appetite for Excellence winner will be announced in Sydney on August 8. The national restaurant awards program is judged by some of Australia’s most successful chefs, restaurateurs, and industry leaders.
It was founded in 2005 by Luke Mangan and Lucy Allon as they recognised that the hospitality industry needed to support the next generation. The awards program has evolved to now include young chef, young waiter in 2007, and young restaurateur in 2009, creating a holistic awards program that rewards all aspects of the industry.
The program’s mission is to inspire, educate and nurture the emerging talent who are the future of our industry by providing money can’t buy education, opportunities, and experiences. These young people will ultimately be responsible for sustaining and hopefully improving upon Australia’s reputation as one of the world’s leading food and wine destinations.
Tags: Aria, Electrolux Appetite for Excellence, Kalfresh, Witches Chase Cheese Co