Masterchef winner to open Falmouth Oyster Festival

Viewers of the BBC television series - MasterChef will immediately recognise the name of Mat Follas, winner of the 2009 amateur competition. Mat will be the Celebrity Chef at this year’s Falmouth Oyster Festival, commencing the proceedings at the Opening Ceremony on Thursday 15th October, with a demonstration of his culinary expertise and passion for cooking with local, wild ingredients.

The festival, sponsored by St Michael’s Hotel and Spa, will take place from 15th to 18th October 2009 at its waterfront venue at Events Square in Falmouth.

Mat joins a long list of celebrity chefs who have appeared at the festival including Rick Stein, Hugh Fernley Whittingstall, Aldo Zilly, John Burton Race and Clarissa Dickson Wright.

Now in its 13th year, the event has steadily grown both in size and popularity, regularly receiving in excess of 25,000 visitors, and is now considered to be one of the top food festivals in Cornwall. Falmouth Oyster Festival celebrates the start of the oyster dredging season and the diversity and quality of Cornish seafood and in particular, one of the last remaining traditional oyster fisheries, dredging by sail and oar. Ancient laws dictate that no engines may be used to dredge the oysters to conserve the stocks and protect the natural ecology of the oyster fishery. using the characteristic Falmouth Working Boats or oyster rowing punts.

“I am really looking forward to visiting Falmouth Oyster Festival – the ethos of celebrating a sustainable method of fishing is extremely important these days, and I am a great supporter of harvesting nature’s bounty and preserving traditions” commented Mat Follas “I have always been passionate about cooking with local, wild ingredients, as well as learning about the fantastic bounty of sea vegetables and hedgerow produce that can be found all around us. I will be using these naturally delicious ingredients to demonstrate simple dishes that are full of flavour and a delight to eat.”

Mat Follas spent his childhood in New Zealand, with his interest in cooking starting after he moved to West Dorset with his family in 2002. He discovered that the British waters offer great scuba diving opportunities, and with that came lots of fresh seafood. A day cookery course at Rick Stein's Seafood School was the beginning of a journey that culminated in Mat being crowned MasterChef winner for 2009.

Mat is a cook who has created a highly personal repertoire of dishes with ingredients that are naturally delicious, and using traditional methods, from pickling to smoking, his philosophy being a common sense approach creating real food with vibrant combinations of flavours – a perfect combination for the festival!

The cookery theme is an integral part of the festival, packed with demonstrations by leading local chefs. Visitors can take in the festival atmosphere as they enjoy the local oysters, seafood, champagne, wine or the specially brewed oyster ale, as they listen to the shanty singing and live music on offer. Children’s shell painting, town parade and marquees brimming with Cornish produce and crafts make this event ever popular with festival goers.

Festival sponsor St Michael’s Hotel and Spa, generally regarded as one of the finest hotels in the South West, has recently been awarded four star status, and will be hosting the Oyster Ball, with a number of special events linked to the festival, including an Oyster Festival gourmet night and a jazz brunch.

With food and drink becoming one of the key attractions to the County, the festival has seen an increasing number of food companies promoting their quality produce at the festival alongside Cornish craft producers, and have tempted visitors to savour the expanding range of mouth watering Cornish food and drink on offer. The event has broad appeal and is a must for all oyster, seafood and marine heritage enthusiasts - what better reason to plan a long weekend in Falmouth.

“We look forward to welcoming Mat to the festival, and taking time out of his extremely busy schedule, having just opened his new restaurant in Beaminster in Dorset” said Events Officer for VisitCornwall, Sian Robbins “he will feel at home cooking with oysters caught within sight of the festival marquee, the freshest fish landed from around our coast and local seasonal produce”

For details of the festival programme and further information, visit falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk.