Vegetable couture will be just one of the delights in store at The Food Show, writes Lucy Corry.

Take nine leeks, three big bags of silverbeet, one red cabbage, two oranges and handfuls of red and green grapes. No, it's not a bizarre new recipe, but the ingredients for a souped-up edible dress with matching accessories.

Like all couture creations, this wearable artwork required painstaking planning and pinning.

Stylist Samantha Hannah, with assistants Tanya Sooksombatisatian and Angela McGuigan, spent all day Monday handsewing the vegetables onto a dress that will be displayed at The Food Show at Westpac Stadium in Wellington this weekend.

Hannah stripped the outer leaves off the leeks to create the dress's woven midsection, then the silky inner leaves were used to add detail, like delicate piping, tiny rosettes and a plaited belt. Sooksombatisatian created the jaunty fascinator and carved bracelets from oranges to finish the look.

The dress is just one of the attractions at the annual show, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Exhibitors will come from around the country and more than a dozen big-name chefs will be sharing tricks of their trade.

Don't miss Alison and Simon Holst, who will demonstrate how to make delicious and nutritious family food at 1.30pm on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday in the Electrolux Cooking Theatre.

Dominion Post contributor and local legend Ruth Pretty will take to the same stage at 3.30pm on Sunday to show how to make life-enhancing desserts.

But if you want a taste of Masterchef-style nerves and tension, check out the Wellington Culinary Fare, in which hospitality students will fight it out in live challenges to win titles in everything from napkin folding (yes, really) to expert patisserie and main-course creation.

The Food Show is on this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Westpac Stadium, Wellington (Fri and Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-5pm).

Adults' tickets cost $22 if bought online at ticketek.co.nz before midnight on Thursday, or $25 at the gate. Tickets for children under 12 cost $15, and those under five are free.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Comments