Melbourne Food and Wine comes back to earth

In 2013, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (1- 17 March 2013) theme will focus around ‘Earth’ and will showcase Earth MasterClass following on from the success of Fire MasterClass earlier this year.

Enrique Olvera (Pujol, Mexico City) is one of many international chefs making their way to Australia for the 2013 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

Earth MasterClass will be an outdoor, roaming event with interactive workshops exploring the elements and focusing on all things earth: from the centuries-old art of laying a hangi demonstrated by Ben Shewry and baking in clay with Massimo Spigaroli (Antica Corte Pallavicina, Parma, Italy) to cooking straight from the veggie patch, grown especially for the day by Matt Wilkinson (Pope Joan & Bishop of Ostia, Melbourne).

Also sharing their take on cooking with and from the earth is Hawaiian locavore Ed Kenney (TOWN restaurant, Honolulu) and culinary activist Michael Stadtländer (Eigensinn Farm, Ontario, Canada).

A bevy of international chefs will present at Langham Melbourne MasterClass during the festival, and these include - Sean Brock (Husk, Charleston, SC), Dan Lepard (London, UK), Enrique Olvera (Pujol, Mexico City),  Bertrand Grébaut (Septime, Paris), Virgilio Martinez (Central Restaurant, Lima, Peru), and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken Magasinet, Jämtland, Sweden).

These global stars will present alongside some of Australia’s top chefs, including Andrew McConnell (Cutler & Co., Cumulus Inc., Golden Fields and Moon Under Water), Aaron Turner (Loam), Martin Boetz (Longrain, Melbourne & Sydney) and Karen Martini (mr wolf, Melbourne) as they explore their connection with earth through food.

Meanwhile the talkfest Theatre of Ideas will gather three inspirational minds of the culinary world Michael Stadtländer, Magnus Nilsson and Matthew Evans to draw on their experiences of living off their own farms as well as tackle questions such as how are we going to feed ourselves in the decades to come and why the chef/farmer relationship is so important.

For more information on Melbourne Food and Wine Festival click here.

Source: Foodservice, 22 October 2012