In preparation for his guest cooking appearance at the Good Food and Wine Show, Matt Golinski shared some of his go-to recipes for Spring, what produce he currently loves to cook with and the benefits of sharing plates with friends.

In terms of cooking, Matt Golinski lives for the season of Spring. Residing in the beautiful Sunshine Coast region, he believes it’s the perfect time of year for produce to thrive – not too hot or too cold.

“I really hang out for this time of year because Spring really is the best time for produce,” he said.

“Things like cheeses for example, the milk is good at this time of year so you get really good cheese, I also hang out for peaches and stone fruits in Spring.”

Working for Peppers’ Noosa Resort & Villas View Restaurant as the hotel’s Food Ambassador and Advisory Executive Chef, Golinski revealed some of the dishes going on his first ever menu with the restaurant.

“An example of a dish that is going onto the menu at Peppers is spatchcock with a ricotta stuffing made by us, served with kipfler potatoes, broad beans, asparagus and I think I’m doing all of that with a pickled fennel vinaigrette,” he said.

“A lovely dessert on the menu is grilled peaches with goats yoghurt sorbet and a lavender honey, sourced from the Sunshine Coast region.”

Cooking on stage at this year’s Good Food & Wine Show, Golinski said the theme throughout the show is cooking with loved ones. So naturally, he has chosen Irish-born chef and good friend Alistair McLeod to cook alongside on stage.

“Alistair and I will be cooking the type of dishes we would make if we had each other over for lunch,” Golinski said.

“They’re share dishes. It’s all about that style of cooking.. cooking with friends and adapting a sharing concept.”

Golinski and McLeod, who share a friendly rivalry as food ambassadors for the Gympie region and Lockyer region respectively, will be using some of their favourite produce from their areas.

For a unique twist, they’ll also be incorporating another shared passion of theirs – music.
“We’ll be incorporating music while cooking into our stage show.. well attempting to, anyway,” Golinski joked.

As for other big names you can expect to see at GFWS 2018, think Australian legends like Matt Moran, Magdalena Roze, Miguel and Carlos Maestre and of course Maggie Beer – who is a great inspiration to Golinski.

“Maggie embodies what cooking is all about,” he said.

“Using beautiful ingredients, respecting them and respecting the produce.

“She cooks in a way that lets the flavours and ingredients speak for themselves rather than getting too complicated.”

For now, Golinski is happy doing various food shows across the country, cooking for View Restaurant and spending time with his fiancee Erin Yarwood and baby Aluna. Whether he graces our televisions again or not “is entirely up to the producers”, the celebrity chef joked while reminiscing on his time on Ready Steady Cook.

“I really do miss doing Ready Steady Cook,” he admitted.

“I’m still really good friends with the other chefs that were on the show.

“However if anyone came to me and asked me to do a TV show, I’d jump at it!”

The Good Food & Wine Show will be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre between the 26th and 28th of October. To snatch up the last available tickets, visit goodfoodshow.com.au/brisbane/.

Happy eating!