Local macadamias star at Australia's Noosa Food festival
Ian Curley, Brad Web, Shane Bailey, Peter Kuravita, Clayton Donovan and Matt Golinski are just some of the many acclaimed chefs featuring locally grown macadamias in their inspired dishes at the premier event.
Sunshine Coast-based Golinski grew up on a macadamia farm, and his appetite for the precious native nut is well known. At this year’s ‘Sunday Lunch in the Groves’ event Matt is spoiling guests with a long lunch at “Maravista Farm”, a picturesque 250-hectare working macadamia farm in the Noosa hinterland, featuring lots of the Sunshine Coast’s abundant local produce, including local macadamias.
Over at the popular ‘The Woods’ event - a pop-up food and wine village situated at the end of Hastings Street overlooking the Noosa river - local macadamia growers Jodie and Michael Cameron will showcase their locally grown and made ‘Barenuts’ macadamia products ‘The Woods’ will showcase Australia’s local wine and produce and provide a chance for visitors to meet growers first hand and share their love of food.
“We love the chilled-out vibe of Noosa Food and Wine and the festival attracts real foodies who not only love their fresh produce, but also have a genuine interest in where their food comes from and the local producers who grow it,” says Jodie.
“We produce all of our products at the farm and the ‘Barenuts’ philosophy is simple – we like to keep our ingredients as totally bare as possible. For example, we grow our own kaffir lime and lemon myrtle which I bake and then grind to flavour the ‘Barenuts’ Bush Tucker Blends.”
As the sun goes down over the river in the evening, ‘The Woods’ is the place to be. Festival goers can sample fine wine and snack on Noosa Boathouse chef Shane Bailey’s corn topped with butter and macadamia pieces while enjoying the tunes of some of Australian DJs.
Australian macadamia growers are sponsoring Noosa Food & Wine by suppling local macadamia nuts, oil, paste and milk for chefs to use throughout the event. The promotion is part of the Australian macadamia industry’s marketing program, funded by Aussie macadamia growers via an industry levy.
Australian Macadamia Society Market Development Manager, Lynne Ziehlke, is delighted to see such a strong macadamia representation at the festival.
“The Glass House Mountain - Gympie region is the third-largest macadamia producing region in Australia, producing around 10% of Australia’s macadamias. This region is the macadamia’s ancestral home, so it is fitting that it is so highly featured in such a signature event,” said Ms. Ziehlke.
“There are over half a million macadamia trees in the region, 150 macadamia growers and the industry is proud to be one of the major horticultural contributors to the local villages and towns.”
For more information:
Nyree Epplett
Australian Macadamia Society
Tel: +61 2 6622 4933
Mob: +61 0434 261 070
office@macadamias.org