Cooking up a storm at the Ellerslie Flower Show

Cooking up a storm at the Ellerslie International Flower Show

Morton Bay bugs with tomatoes, apple, celery & daikon salad, grilled poussin with middle eastern spices & kumara, and chocolate sponge tiramisu with balsamic strawberries are just some of the mouth-watering dishes visitors to the Ellerslie International Flower Show can learn how to cook.

Guest chefs Paul Jobin and Chris Harris are providing entertaining, interactive demonstrations outside the Foodtown Woolworths Lifestyle Marquee, showing visitors that creating a restaurant-quality dish doesn’t have to be intimidating.

"We are showing how food bought in a supermarket can be used in an innovative way, without being scary," says Jobin, executive chef of Pure Tastes restaurant in Paihia. Harris is a chef tutor from Tauranga.

In the first two days, between 100 and 120 people have been attracted to each one-hour kitchen demonstration, during which Jobin and Harris not only prepare the food, but also explain how to adapt each dish and what substitutions can be made.

Jobin spent three days designing the recipes especially for the Ellerslie International Flower Show. Recipe sheets are available for each dish.

With an emphasis on fresh herbs and vegetables, and readily available supermarket produce, Jobin and Harris are aiming to inspire people to use everyday ingredients to create something special.

"If we can send each person home with one thing they have learned, we are accomplishing what we want to do," says Jobin.

To make cooking up a storm even easier, most the ingredients in the recipes can be bought in the Foodtown Woolworths Lifestyle Marquee.

Five demonstrations will be held on Friday and Saturday, with four on Sunday. The first demonstration begins at 10.15am. Each day’s timetable is available outside the Foodtown Woolworths Lifestyle Marquee.

The 2006 Ellerslie International Flower Show continues over the next three days at Auckland Botanic Gardens. Opening hours are 10am-6pm Friday, 10am-8.30pm Saturday and 10am-6pm Sunday

ENDS

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