Foodies find Oamaru festival to their taste

Loan and Merc restaurant representative Tony McDermott explains how to cook a Mediterranean fish escabeche at the Oamaru Wine and Food Festival yesterday. Photo by David Bruce.

The Oamaru Wine and Food Festival yesterday kept its no-cancellations record intact, despite rain on Saturday night threatening to ruin the event.

About 1500 people attended the festival, including about 100 who came up on the Tasty Tours train from Dunedin, despite cool overcast conditions.

This year's event was in doubt after its organising committee resigned en masse late last year. However, a new committee took over to keep the event alive, taking it back to its roots with a focus on wine, food and local entertainment, rather than big-name stars.

Chairman Mark Julius said only "a few hundred" tickets were sold before this year's event, which was not unusual for Oamaru where people often waited to see what the day was like before turning up for gate sales.

The band rotunda lawn in the Oamaru Gardens was almost at capacity, with 38 stalls on site, three offering boutique beers, 14 representing wine producers from the Waitaki Valley, South Canterbury and Central Otago and the rest offering food, from the humble cheese rolls and hangi pies to gourmet dishes featuring offerings from a wide range of countries.

That was backed up with cooking demonstrations by award-winning chef Bevan Smith, of Riverstone kitchen, and Loan and Merc chef representative Tony McDermott.

Otago Daily Times wine critic Charmian Smith suggested wine choices to drink with specific varieties of Whitestone cheese.

When the festival opened at 11am, there was a steady stream of ticket sales until early afternoon, with food, drinks and entertainment available to 6pm.

There was also entertainment for the children provided by the Oscar after-school organisation, along with a bouncy castle.

This year's feature artist, Barry Saunders, from the Warratahs, was supported by local groups.

david.bruce@odt.co.nz