Budding chefs and wild food enthusiasts planning to enter the Ōhope Local Wild food Challenge can look forward to an impressive array of prizes up for grabs.
The overall challenge winner, judged the best dish on the day, will take home a 4-rack $1000 Bradley Smoker sponsored by EastPack. And Whakatāne District Council Events Coordinator Kim Fort says that’s just a taste of the total prize pool worth $4500.
“We’ve got $600 worth of flights from Air Chathams, a $500 gardening pack from Tūī Garden Products, The Warehouse has donated a brazier for all those summer outdoor parties, and so much more from Paper Plus, New World, Julian’s Berry Farm, 1XX, Salt Air Surf, Seastriker Fishing, Moutohorā Olive Oil, La Vita Magazine, Fresh Market, KarMa Cuisine, Antipodes, Whakatāne Sunday Markets and Mata Beer,” Ms Fort says. “The support we’ve received from our sponsors this year has been phenomenal. We are immensely grateful, especially as it has been a challenging year for many businesses.”
Taking place on Saturday 31 October, the event centres around a cooking challenge where entrants must prepare a dish with at least one wild ingredient. Full kitchen facilities are available on the day, or entrants can bring their dish ready to serve to the judges. Ms Fort says if you love cooking, you’ve got nothing to lose.
“We want to make it easy for anyone to enter. Entries don’t need to include hunted or fished ingredients, it can be as simple as something you’ve picked, grown or pickled, or snatched from your neighbour’s front garden,” she explains. “Or, if you’ve got some venison or whitebait in the freezer, pull it out and create something special.”
There’s also an esteemed panel of judges this year. Led by Whakatāne local Rosemary Sloman, she’s joined by Hangi Master Joe McCloud, Tūī Kennan from Māori TV’s Hunting with Tūī, Hughie Blues from NZ Chefs Association, Kiwi Kids Can Cook competition and Laurissa Cooney, Chair of Tourism Bay of Plenty and former judge at the Raetihi Wild Food Festival.
Ms Sloman suggests trying out a dish on friends and family first. “Family usually prove to be fairly honest critics so try your dish out a few times and fine-tune following their feedback. As judges we’ll be looking at a number of things - taste, presentation, creativity and the story behind your dish and chosen wild ingredient,” she says.
Entry is free to this year’s event and the festival atmosphere will be supported by live music from Jinan Dodd, the Porch Rockers and Lyford Sisters. There will be plenty of tasty food on offer too, with local food trucks preparing wild food dishes and some more conventional options for those without wild taste buds.
Previous winner Tracey Anderson from Rangitāiki Home Kills says entering the competition was a great experience.
“The Local Wild Food Challenge inspired me to think creatively to match my passion of hunting to a dish I could present at the event. I came up with a pork and watercress sausage, and this is now one of my best-selling sausages at our butchery.”
Event details are available at www.ohopewildfood.nz and competition entries made before 25 October receive a free goodie bag.