The Gourmet Salt Lake Sunset Dinner

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival feast

Stars of the TV series MasterChef Australia were the hosts of a sunset dinner on the banks of the Murray River Salt harvest site at Mourquong near Mildura in north-west Victoria.

The dinner was part of the program for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and saw 120 guests seated to be served by the MasterChef reality stars. Seasonal produce was used to try and tie it back to the Mildura community and local producers.

The evening’s meal began with a starter of damper with dukkah and olive oil, then an entree of Murray cod served with herbs, creme fraiche and fermented cucumber. Main course was braised lamb shoulder cooked for nine hours in a coal oven, served with local vegetables and grain. The dessert was goat’s cheesecake paired with some incredible local grapes from a supplier, a top of an almond and olive oil pastry, both local again, and then a bit of fried saltbush on top. The twilight event featured a variety of local produce and bush tucker sourced from this food bowl region based on the Murray River near Mildura.