Previous Masterchef Winner Mat Follas to appear at Queenie Festival

Masterchef 2009 winner Mat Follas will be appearing at Port St Mary on Saturday 30 and Sunday 1 July as part of the Isle of Man Queenie Festival this year.  Over the weekend Mat will be cooking up a number of Queenie dishes in the festival’s food theatre which is hosted by the Isle of Man’s very own Kathryn Sentence of Relish Cookery School.

Mat was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where his father had been posted with the New Zealand Navy. Although he grew-up in New Zealand, Mat has spent most of his adult life in England and has made the UK his home. Mat’s background is in engineering. Beginning with an apprenticeship at the Naval Dockyards in Auckland, NZ, his career took him to Melbourne, Australia and then to London, before returning to New Zealand to gain a degree in Electronics & Computer Science as a mature student. He has been living in the UK and has built a very successful career in IT over the last 12 years. Outside of his career, Mat loves to travel widely, spending time in Central Europe, North America and South East Asia, including a period living in Thailand teaching people to scuba dive. This wide exposure to different cultures and food is reflected in his cooking influences.

Cooking at a high level came late to Mat. After moving to West Dorset with his family in 2002, Mat discovered that British waters offer great scuba diving opportunities, and with that came lots of fresh seafood. A day’s cooking course at Rick Stein’s Seafood School was the start of a journey that included winning the popular TV series Masterchef in 2009 and opening and running his own restaurant The Wild Garlic to considerable acclaim. The Wild Garlic was given some of the highest scores ever by The Guardian 9½/10 and The Telegraph 9/10 it has also been listed or recommended in the AA Restaurant guide, The Good Food Guide and The Michelin guide since the first year of opening.

Tim Croft, Queenie Festival organiser commented on Mat’s appearance, “We are delighted to welcome Mat to the Queenie Festival this year. He has been an advocate of Manx Queenies since tasting them at the BBC Good Food Show back in 2009. Since then Mat always hoped to attend the Queenie festival and this year we have been lucky enough to secure his appearance in what is a very busy time of year for him. Once again it shows the appeal that the Queenie Festival has and I can’t wait to try some of his dishes.”

2012 sees Mat working in partnership with the Dorset Wildlife Trust at their new centre on Chesil beach at Ferry Bridge, Portland. His new venture, The Chesil Beach Cafe, is a family friendly beach cafe where he will aim to cater for the regular beach customers with a range of cheerful and delicious takeaway meals and bacon rolls as well as sit down lunch and dinner for the family using, amongst more traditional kitchen equipment, the Chesil Beach Cafe’s own indoor BBQ for the best burgers and mackerel baps around.

To see Mat and the many other attractions taking place as part of The Isle of Man Queenie Festival Marine Weekend be sure to head to Port St Mary on Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July between 11am and 5pm.

Top Seafood Chef Pascal Proyart to attend Queenie Festival 2012

Pascal Proyart, head chef of one of the most highly acclaimed fish restaurants in London ‘One-o-one’ will be attending this year’s Isle of Man Queenie Festival.

Pascal will be cooking up a whole host of seafood delights including some superb French classics with a Manx twist during the Saturday and Sunday of the festival held on the quay in Port St Mary as part of the Relish cookery theater.

Pascal was born and raised in a similar size fishing village to Port St Mary, on the Brittany coast, where his family have been restaurateurs for three generations. His formal chef training began at "Les Sorbets" Hotel School in Noirmoutier where he remained for two years, before his military service in Africa.

Pascal then spent a decade working in a number of hotels and restaurants throughout Europe, with Yves Mattagnes and Jacques le Divellec at the two-star Michelin Sea Grill in Brussels and the two-star Michelin Le Divellec in Paris.

Amongst many of his accolades Pascal has won a number of catering industry awards including a "Trophée Lauffer Delta d'Or, and a Silver Plate from "Chaîne des Rôtisseurs" in 1996. He has also made a number of TV appearances on the BBC’S Celebrity Master Chef and The Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen.

Pascal’s philosophy on cooking has always been to use the freshest fish and he shares a strong belief in sustainability.

Tim Croft, festival organiser commented, “It is fantastic that the Isle of Man Queenies festival now draws some of the world’s best chefs. When I spoke to Pascal and explained to him what the key messages of the festival were, including sustainability and conservation he couldn’t wait to put Queenies on his restaurant menu and also take part in the festival.”

Could You Cook up a Seafood Storm?

Budding chefs invited to show their skills in Queenie Festival cooking competition

Are you passionate about seafood? Do you have a flair for experimenting and creating your own dishes? If so, then you could take top honours at a Masterchef-style cook-off at the 2011 Queenie Festival (1st – 3rd July).

The festival organisers, together with the Isle of Man Seafood Development Partnership, are running a competition to find the best recipe featuring Manx Queenies, and are now encouraging the Island’s hidden culinary genuises to come forward!

With their subtle taste and succulent texture, Queenies (Queen Scallops) are a strong favourite with discerning chefs and seafood lovers far and wide. What’s more, as Manx Queenies are sustainably sourced, they leave a good taste in the mouth ethically, too.

So, to help celebrate its success, the festival wants to know your winning ways with the small but mighty scallop. From amongst the entries received, two finalists will be chosen to go head to head in a live cook-off at 4pm on Sunday, the closing day of the festival.

The judging panel consists of the renowned UK chefs and food experts who, as the festival’s very special guests, will also be giving talks and demonstrations over the weekend: Simon Wadham and Richard Kirkwood, Head Chefs at London’s Rivington and J. Sheekey respectively, and food writer/broadcaster Henrietta Green. Alastair Hamilton, head of the Seafood Development Partnership, will also be on the panel.

The judges’ final decision will be followed by a prize presentation, when the victor will claim a personalised trophy and £100 worth of Paddy’s seafood.

Sounds tempting? Entry forms are downloadable from the festival website here; alternatively, you can pick one up from Paddy’s The Quay in Port St Mary or Paddy’s at the Victoria Road, Douglas Shoprite.

The competition is open to people of all ages and abilities – the only essential is enthusiasm! In your entry, you must include: the name of your dish, full details of your methods and ingredients, and a photo of the finished dish. The recipe should take no more than thirty minutes to prepare. The closing date for entries is 20th June, at 3pm, so get cracking!

Chef Quirke’s Quick Queenies

We were getting into the festival spirit early so put together this short video of two of our favourite Queenie recipes to get your mouths watering. So get inspired and send us your favourite Queen Scallop recipe to our Queenie Recipe Competition.