Masterful advert for Bay
Hawke's Bay may gain a lot more than just 60 minutes of fame after featuring in an episode of MasterChef New Zealand last night.
Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas hoped the publicity would serve to shine a spotlight on the region.
"These MasterChef episodes will remind New Zealanders how great the food and wine is in Hawke's Bay and we hope it will prompt them to come and experience it for themselves," she said from a special screening at Elephant Hill Winery last night.
Production company Imagination Television worked closely with HB Tourism to find high quality produce and fine dining venues for the show.
"Obviously Hawke's Bay is the fruit bowl of New Zealand, and a lot of us had been there and knew the farmer's market was spectacular," supervising producer Cindi Lucas said.
"HB Tourism were absolutely fantastic and found some wonderful locations for filming.
"We came away with hundreds of hours of footage, which was quite a lot and made picking the best pieces difficult.
"Discovering the taste of fresh local produce made the experience.
"The fruit and vegetables were outrageous, also cheeses and olive oil were amazing.
"The contestants had a ball at the market."
Food Hawke's Bay's event organiser Vicky Rope said the episode was a "huge coup" for Hawke's Bay.
"MasterChef does not go out to many regions and they came out to ours." Ms Rope said. "It is fantastic for our foodies."
Hawke's Bay Farmers' Market committee chairman Mark Verry said being on MasterChef was a great way to promote what Hawke's Bay has to offer.
"What we try to create is a superior shopping alternative for food and wine," he said.
"The farmers market showcases the very best of what Hawke's Bay produces."
Seeing the contestants rushing to collect ingredients generated some talk amongst regular market goers.
"There was a lot of general interest, no one really knew they were coming until they were there and even when they were there it was largely a secret," Mr Verry said. "But word got out when people saw Ray McVinnie."
Judges were flown by helicopter into the market by Bay Heliworks.
All eyes were on the Bay last night as Kiwis tuned into their favourite reality cooking show which was filmed at locations across the region, during three days in September.
During the screening nine contestants were given 90 minutes to source and create a signature dish representing the essence of Hawke's Bay, using the core ingredient of spring lamb and other fresh local produce.
In a twist, they had to cook alfresco, using state-of-the-art Fisher and Paykel barbecues at Elephant Hill Winery.
Chantelle O'Brien became the eighth contestant from the Top 16 to leave MasterChef .
Dave McKinnon's barbecued lamb with spring vegetables and Zee Tana's crusted lamb loin with mushroom duxelle were named the standout dishes of the day. The pair were rewarded with a special dinner prepared by Black Barn Bistro's executive chef Terry Lowe.
At tasting Simon Gault declared that the day's standard of cooking had been the highest ever in the history of MasterChef New Zealand. A crew of 43 including nine contestants and judges Ray McVinnie, Simon Gault and Josh Emmet stayed at Black Barn Retreats. A Masterclass episode was also filmed while the crew were in Hawke's Bay and will screen on Saturday at 7.30pm on TV One.
The show was set at The River Room at Black Barn Retreats in the Tuki Tuki Valley and features Terry Lowe from Black Barn Bistro.