News

Stefano on board for MDAS My Camp Oven Rules!

Tue, 16 Jun 2015 13:26:00

The Mallee Koori community’s best camp oven cooks will have their creations critiqued by Mildura celebrity cook Stefano de Pieri in this year’s “My Camp Oven Rules” cook-off next week.

Renowned for Italian-style fine dining, Stefano may appear somewhat out of his comfort zone as chief judge of a camp-oven cooking contest – but he said basic culinary principles were universal.
“It’s certainly not my usual kitchen, but good food is good food!” Stefano said. “Whether it’s at a restaurant, a camp oven or cooking at home, the philosophies are the same – quality ingredients, good preparation, perhaps a secret ingredient or two, and, most importantly, good company!
“A good slow-cooked camp oven is one of the most flavoursome ways to prepare food, so I’m looking forward to doing the taste-testing as part of the judging panel for this year,” he said.
The Mallee District Aboriginal Services Diabetes Week My Camp Oven Rules competition will be held at Mildura’s Apex Park beach on June 15.  The co-ordinator, MDAS Diabetes Educator, Michelle Gray said it was a Diabetes Week event aimed to promoting the simplicity of preparing healthy and tasty food.
“It’s the third year we’ve run the competition and it creates plenty of rivalry between teams cooking up their favourite secret camp oven recipes,” she said.
“All of the teams need to follow healthy eating guidelines, with the aim of demonstrating it’s really not that hard to cook tasty, healthy meals with everyday ingredients if you put your mind to it,” Michelle said.
Entries close on Friday (June 19), with the cook-off to be held on Thursday week (June 25).