MEDIA RELEASE – 1 June 2010
The Capital Region Farmers Market will this weekend launch its brand new Market Kitchen where the Market’s new resident chefs, ‘The Four Chefs’, and their apprentices, will showcase their culinary expertise.
“We are so excited to be able to unveil the new Market Kitchen to the public and to have chefs of such high calibre and their apprentices cooking with our fresh market produce every month,” said Farmers Market Spokesperson, Tony Howard.
“It’s a great way for the public to come along and see what our local chefs are capable of and at the same time learn some skills and recipes that they can take away and recreate for themselves at home,” he continued.
The Four Chefs, Tom Moore from Grazing and Knead Patisserie, Ross O’Reilly from Knead Patisserie, Andy Hollands from Ellacure and Chris Whitlock from Lambert Vineyards, who currently have 10 apprentices between them, initially got together to run an apprentice development program. They teamed up with the Capital Region Farmers Market as the Market has a very similar philosophy about food and where it comes from.
“Through the training program and cooking at the new Market Kitchen we aim to educate our apprentices and trainees from farm to plate, focusing on crucial areas like working with local and regional produce and making linkages with local growers,” said The Four Chefs’ Tom Moore.
“At each Market Kitchen our apprentices will have to talk to the growers, select fresh produce from the Market, design a menu then create the dishes in front of the public at the market. In this way the Market helps facilitate a link between apprentices and the farmers/growers,” Mr Moore continued.
At the end of the year the Market will give one apprentice from The Four Chefs project a scholarship to work overseas, giving them invaluable international cooking experience. This is funded by Rotary which has community education high on its list of projects to support.
The first ever Market Kitchen will take place this Saturday 5 June at 8.30am at the Capital Region Farmers Markets at Exhibition Park. The Market Kitchen will then take place on the first Saturday of every month.