Matt Preston is an award-winning food journalist, restaurant critic, recipe writer, and

television personality. He is best known as a judge and co-host on MasterChef Australia

and MasterChef The Professionals. Matt Preston currently writes a national column for
the Taste section for News Limiteds Metro newspapers and is also a senior editor for
Delicious magazine.
Source: Taste.com.au - January 2013
1

Festival food 2013

by Matt Preston

3A superband of chefs will be one of the headline acts at this year's Big Day Out. Matt Preston
4reports.
5Some of the best fun and most outrageous times I've had have been at music festivals in the
6UK, whether it was as a young pup playing up backstage at Reading Festival, in the mud and
7rain of U2 at Milton Keynes in 1985, or memorable nights with Pulp, Primal Scream or the
8Chemical Brothers at various Glastonburys.
9Here in Oz it has been no different, whether it's the dangerous proximity of the Guinness and
10the muscat tents at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, watching Kylie singing Where the Wild Roses
11Grow with Nick Cave at the Big Day Out in Melbourne in 1996 or taking the woman I love to
12stand on the side of the stage for LMFAO's set at Stereosonic.
13In 25 years of festival good times on both sides of the world, three things have remained
14constant: the vibe usually gets better the worse the weather, you'll always miss one of the acts
15you came to see no matter how many times you circle your program and, above all, the food
16on site is always pretty dreadful.
17

Cold comfort

18The issue, especially at those festivals where the majority of punters are camping, is that the
19poor people on the food concessions not only have to brave the bumpy ground and dodgy
20toilets like you but they've also got to keep working, serving and constantly prepping through
21the day. Favourite dishes like pizza end up sold by the soggy slice from a large tray, and even
22the mighty burger can be humbled by shortcuts.
23Always more reliable are the bloke selling the wonderful long thin curls of crispy deep-fried
24potato dusted with salt'n'vinegar powder and the stand selling thin pancakes made to order.
25I have fond memories of the restorative nature of a well-made, fresh cheese and spinach
26crepe. In fact my favourite method of morning regeneration comes from a rather hippy music
27festival a while back a large cup of carrot and apple juice with loads of zinging fresh ginger
28that's guaranteed to prise apart even the stubbornest of morning-after eyelids.

29

Food fans

30Things are changing, however, as even hordes of music festival fans become more discerning
31about what they put in their systems, at least when it comes to food.
32Now the Big Day Out has taken commendable steps in trying to address the issues with
33festival food by appointing the fun-lovin' lads Elvis Abrahanowicz and Ben Milgate, from
34Sydney's Porteno, to bring in chef mates at each Aussie BDO to run Chow Town a spot
35where the food aspires to be a lot more than chips and dagwood dogs.
36The BDO team has recruited local chefs and restaurants to make the food at each show into a
37headlining act, even if the only Alabama Shakes and Bloody Beetroots on offer will be
38appearing live on stage.
39

Palate pleasers

40In Adelaide you'll find Grace the Establishment doing suckling pig buns with slaw and
41barbecue sauce, while in Perth Greenhouse has green papaya salad and El Compa is serving
42its tacos filled with beef and black beans or even cactus in tomato salsa. On the Gold Coast,
43expect the guys at JR's Smokehouse Barbecue to get a rousing chorus of "yeah, yeah, yeahs"
44from the assembled music lovers for their roll loaded with slow smoked beef brisket.
45At Sydney's Big Day Out some of the local chefs of their Chow Town seem to have taken
46inspiration from headliners the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Hartsyard is serving up its famous
47fried chicken with a sizzling hot sauce. Bronte's Three Blue Ducks will woo punters with its
48chilli duck salad with fried shallots and roasted cashews.
49And while Melbourne's Big Day Out is on Flemington Racecourse, the food has more in
50common with what you might see over the fence at the new MasterChef kitchen (which is
51now on the BDO's old site of the Melbourne Showgrounds).
52

Brilliant burgers

53The dishes that are likely to be the killers in Chow Town here are likely the now-famous
54Huxtaburgers from Daniel Wilson of Huxtable fame and Andrew McConnell's decadent
55lobster roll from his St Kilda hotspot, Golden Fields. Seems like in Melbourne it's also the
56brioche roll that rocks!
57Chow Town is an excellent initiative but I just hope it doesn't spell the end of one of my other
58favourite festival feeds barbecued corn on the cob, which is the perfect hand-held adventure
59for even the most jaundiced festivalgoers' taste buds.
60

Corker corn

61To make this festival favourite at home, boil the corn in water spiked with salt and a little
62brown sugar and then toast the cobs on the barbecue. Just keep turning the corn until the
63kernels are a little scorched in places. When they are ready, brush them with melted butter
64and then roll in a mix of sweet, salty and hot coconut.

65To make this tasty mix, combine 1 packed cup of shredded coconut that you've toasted gently
66in a dry frying pan until golden brown with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoons flake salt
67and 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder. It's best to add the sugar and salt in two batches so you get
68the required sweet saltiness for your palate. You might need 25 per cent less of either
69depending on how salt tolerant you are. The mix is even better if you replace the chilli
70powder with a couple of long red hot chillies that have been finely diced. A little ground
71allspice can be another sexy addition.
72This coconut blend also works well on barbecued chicken breasts or skewers.
73Information in this article is correct as of 15 January 2013.