Larry & Yasi - Still a Feast

Published: 19th March 2011

Come hell or high water (literally), the Innisfail Feast of the Senses gets under way this weekend and what a great opportunity it will be to show your support to the good people of the Cassowary Coast.

Starting today with Taste Paradise Food Trails, you will be driven around the cyclone affected areas to taste and learn about the foods of the ‘Ultra Tropics’. On Saturday the tour travels north to take in Mungalli Dairy, Yamagishi Eggs, Mena Creek Eco Gardens and Broken Nose Vanilla. On Sunday the coach travels south to Lizzio’s Banana Plantation, Salleras Fruit Forest Farm and Spurwood Springs. If you can’t make the coach tour this weekend, a self drive tour around the region will take place this coming week.

Special guest of the festival is Peter Russell-Clarke, a very talented icon of the Australian food scene; and the ‘original’ celebrity chef. What this down-to-earth Aussie hasn’t done doesn’t matter. His CV is star studded from writing, producing and presenting over 900 television shows, documentaries and programme segments, to publishing and nationally distributing a magazine. He has been a cooking writer for all the popular food mags, has written and illustrated 25 cookbooks and has recently published an Encyclopaedia of Food. He has been a food editor of a major newspaper and guest on all the national TV and radio talk-back shows. Peter became controversial when his bloopers featured on You Tube. Known for ‘Where’s the Cheese’ is only one of the many food television commercials that Peter presented.

Peter may have cooked the Silver Jubilee Dinner in Australia for HRH Prince Charles as well as having cooked for the Duke of Edinburgh but his style these days is very simple and relaxed.

An avid artist, for many years Peter was the Melbourne Herald’s political cartoonist so you’ll find his quick witted stories will have you in stitches. Peter will be the guest speaker at the Ultra Tropics Gala Dinner on Friday 25^th March so it’s sure to be a very funny night. Craig Squire of Ochre Catering once again has created a wonderful menu for the evening in the beautiful deco shire hall.

You can catch Peter at the very popular Market Day on Sunday 27^th March where the best of the regions food produce will be on display. This is a day I really love and worth the mere one hour drive from Cairns for a good day out.

In its ninth year, the Feast of the Senses is well entrenched in our region as an event not to be missed. So help support the community and check out the website www.feastofthesenses.com.au or call Kirsty on 0413 010 625 for full details of the events that start this weekend and continue through to next Sunday.