MasterChef contestant, Mindy Woods has been hired by Celebrity Cruises to source the best produce from Australian growers to serve guests.
The line will use her expertise to ensure passengers from all over the world can taste the best of what Australia has to offer.
“I’ve worked with lots of different Australia growers and producers and what I am doing with Celebrity is advising them about where to source the best seafood, the best meats, the best breads, all locally grown at home,” said Mindy.
“I’ve met the team of chefs at Celebrity and I’ve shown them what they can do with Australian ingredients.
“So some of my favourite things that I have showed the chefs is beautiful artisan breads, butter from a man in Sydney, banana prawns and succulent Australian lamb. These kinds of ingredients show overseas visitors how amazing our food is.”
Cruise Passenger spoke to Mindy at the Taste of Sydney festival where she hosted masterclasses and showcased some of the food Celebrity serves when its ships are in France, Spain, Italy and Greece.
The team at Cruise Passenger was lucky enough to try some of the dishes during the masterclass. The flavours of France included pork belly with apple brandy, paired with a red wine from Bordeux, seabass with French chilies and oysters with a Chardonnay.
And from Greece, Saganaki prawns with Greek feta paired with a red wine, grilled eggplant with a fritter, washed down with some ouzo.
Mindy had just finished a cruise onboard Celebrity Solstice where she provided her direction and flavourful flair in designing some of the Aussie inspired dishes.
“What’s amazing about Celebrity is that they put such a focus on food and using regional produce from wherever the ships call. For example, if you’re in France, the chefs use fabulous cheeses and wine or if you’re in Greece guests can try the local meats.
“Serving seasonal produce brings people back to the food and gives them a better understanding of a country’s culture. It was the first cruise I had ever been on and I was absolutely blown away.
“When I previously thought of cruise ships, I thought food was all mass-produced. But on Celebrity, everything was made to order and I tasted the best lobster bisque I’ve ever had in my entire life. There is so much attention to detail.”
The local produce program has already started and is proving a big hit.