Demonstration: Mindy Woods will be in Shepparton on Sunday. Photo: AAP/Network Ten
Masterchef royalty will be in town on Sunday.
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Two-time contestant on the reality TV cooking show, chef, restaurateur and proud Bundjalung woman of the Widjabul Wia-bul clan, Mindy Woods, will be hosting a native cooking demonstration at the McIntosh Centre in Shepparton.
The demonstration, from 10.45am to 11.15am, is part of the wider Greater Shepparton Health and Wellbeing Event being staged from 8am on Sunday.
This year’s theme, “Move Forward”, encourages building a healthy, active and mindful lifestyle.
The day has something for everyone, no matter where they are on their health and wellness journey.
“What a great opportunity to come down and visit and be invited down to be part of this beautiful festival. I’m actually really excited,” Mrs Woods said.
“I think you know, what we’re saying to realise is being healthy it’s not just about our physical health and wellbeing, isn’t it? It’s like, there’s so many more layers to it, it’s, you know, that that feeling of connectedness to community is that spiritual wellbeing, it’s that mental health component, as well, and psychological well being.”
Mrs Woods is the owner of Karkalla restaurant in Byron Bay. Featuring locally-sourced seasonal produce and native ingredients, Karkalla is a nod to Mindy’s Indigenous heritage and allows her to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to connect with Aboriginal culture, art and stories through food.
“I'm really excited because we'll be showcasing some beautiful First Nations ingredients, you know, that are local to the area,” she said.
“And just showing people how accessible they are, how easy they are to integrate into everyday cooking, and the importance of these ingredients.
“For First Nations people, these aren’t just foods. These ingredients are preventative in terms of like medicine or health.
“They’re also healing foods, and the way that nature intended them, you know, they still wild-grown and wild harvested, which means they’re exactly the way the nature intended them.
“They grow in our in our country in our region for a really important reason, when they’re ripe and when they know, they’re ready to be eaten and consumed.
“That can be nature telling you that they’re there ripe at that right time.”
Mrs Woods is also excited to be getting out to Victoria’s food bowl, the Goulburn Valley region.
“I’m really looking forward to actually showcasing what’s regional to Victoria and how to integrate those ingredients into everyday cooking because it’s so versatile,” she said.
“People just don't realise how versatile First Nations ingredients are. They're going to be able to substitute them in and out the everyday cooking, of course, they’re so unique in their flavour.
“They’re gonna get take your home cooking to the next level, which is such a beautiful way to kind of you know, change up what you’re doing at home.
“Food and connection to country is a really important thing to me, as a First Nations woman feeling like I’ve got some kind of connection to the country or environment and making sure that we’re moving within the seasons as well, you know, like, we’ve kind of forgotten what living in rhythm with nature is all about when it comes to the change of seasons and variations of seasons.”
Registration on Sunday opens at 8am, and the event is set to finish at 5pm.
Health and Wellbeing Event: Mikaela Egan, Liz Connick, Christy Bull, Daniel Cleave, Cheryl Mcilroy, Hannah Ryan, Ingrid Fraser and Tess Nicholson are among those excited for Sunday’s event.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
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