Celebrity teams have taken to the stage for PorkStar Live, a cooking battle at annual culinary destination Noosa Eat & Drink. Three teams battled for top spot: Chin Chin Executive Chef Benjamin Cooper joined forces with Olympic swimmer Michael Klim; chef and TV host Warren Mendes teamed up with Masterchef alumna Rose Adam; and private chef and writer Sergio Perera paired with kiwi chef and Onswlo co-owner Josh Emett.
PorkStar Live is a new extension of the PorkStar program, giving chefs the challenge to compete in a live environment all while sharing knowledge and igniting passion for pork.
PorkStar Live was launched over two days at Noosa Eat & Drink. Each day the chefs and celebrities were delivered a mystery box on stage and given the task of creating a meal in 20 minutes. Each box contained a pork loin and tenderloin from SunPork as well as a range of dry and fresh goods.
Chef Hayden Quinn hosted the high-energy battles. Day one saw Cooper and Klim verse Mendes and Adam. The teams created mouth-watering sweet and sour pork steak and a spicy pork larb, with the Cooper and Klim’s larb coming out on top as the winning dish.
Day two saw defending champions Cooper and Klim return to the stage against Perera and Emett. The excitement amongst the crowd was palpable. Perera and Emett delivered the winning dish on Sunday in the form of a pork fillet glazed in garlic honey with a finger lime salad.
Both days the teams had the crowd in roars of laughter as they eagerly awaited their finished dishes, with the crowd deciding the winning team.
The dishes created on stage were not only delicious, but also demonstrated the versatility of pork and the talent of the teams. Pork was ultimately the winner with the PorkStar chefs sharing their passion for the produce with the highly engaged crowd on the ground and across socials for the wider foodservice audience.
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