The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) were awarded eight medals at the Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards, including a gold medal for their house made mandarin and passionfruit sorbet.
MCEC’s home made and locally sourced Ice-cream with fresh field strawberries
Entering the awards for the first time and drawing on Victorian ingredients from suppliers Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh Milk, Green Eggs and Sunny Ridge Strawberries, MCEC were recognised with one gold, two silver and five bronze medals for a host of itshome-produced menu items.
“I’m really pleased with our efforts and it is great that the work of our chefs, and some of our local suppliers, are recognised through these awards which acknowledge some of the best producers around the country” said MCEC’s executive chef Shaun Bowles.
“Congratulations to everyone involved at MCEC in achieving such great results in the Fine Food Awards; their entries werevery creative and we’re proud to provide a quality milk to complement their work” said Rhonda and Wayne Somerville of Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh
Coming up against some tough competition and brands from around Australia, including Bulla Dairy Foods, Serendipity Ice Cream and King Island Dairy, MCEC exhibited a range of homemade ice cream and sorbet flavours, yoghurt and labna cheese and were awarded:
• Gold – mandarin and passionfruit sorbet
• Silver – natural labna in Salute Olive Oil; Campbells Rutherglen Muscat Sabayon ice cream
• Bronze – MCEC vanilla yoghurt; MCEC natural yoghurt; quince and spiced vanilla ice cream; rum and raisin with caramelised almond ice cream; and yoghurt strawberry ripple sorbet
MCEC’s director of food and wine Frank BUrger and executive chef Shaun Bowles
MCEC’s acting chief executive Leighton Wood said: “The MCEC kitchen team should be congratulated on the quality of products they continue to create in our kitchens, showcasing to visitors from around the world the unconventional approach we take to our food and wine offerings.”
Conducted annually by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria, the 2011 Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards received more than 1000 entries from 213 exhibitors across Australia, ranging from largercommercial brands tosmaller farmers and producers.
MCEC’s gold medal winning mandarin and passionfruit sorbet featured on the Royal Melbourne Find Food Awards lunch menu at the Showgrounds yesterday where trophy winners for each category were announced.
Continuing to challenge traditional venue catering by producing in-house menus using the freshest seasonal and local produce, matched with hand-selected regional wines, MCEC’s food and wine experiences offer a refreshing take on large scale catering.
Follow MCEC’s kitchen team on their food and wine blog www.fromfarmtofork.net.au as they share stories straight from the farm to the MCEC fork.
