Is Jamie coming to town?

It’s the question on everyone’s lips following the announcement celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s mobile food kitchen will be based in Mossman next month.

Douglas Shire foodies are on tenterhooks to find out if the English superstar will make a trip to our beautiful region during his Jamie’s Ministry of Food program.

Newsport can reveal that ‘at this stage’ the man once dubbed the naked chef has no plans on visiting Mossman Gorge during his vans five-week stay.

But can he be persuaded?

“We would love Jamie to visit the mobile kitchen while it’s in Mossman Gorge,” said Camilla Speirs, Public Relations Manager of Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia.

“However as he lives in the UK and as his diary is booked in advance, he will be travelling for other commitments during the time the mobile kitchen is in Mossman.”

Oliver once surprised staff at one of his Perth restaurants with a secret visit in 2014, which coincided with a proposed pop-up mobile kitchen in WA.

He was also determined to visit his Ministry of Food truck in Cherbourg last year, the very first location for his indigenous program, before his busy schedule intervened.

As a consolation, he had staff create a video to show him the work his program was doing in the small Queensland community and the response it was having with locals (PLAY VIDEO BELOW).

“We’re looking to do the same in Mossman Gorge,” Speirs said.

Mossman was chosen as a location after consultation with Queensland Government, the Apunipima Cape York Health Council, based at Mossman Gorge, and the Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunka.

Following the success of the Cherbourg program, Spiers said it would help develop better basic cooking skills not just for indigenous residents in Mossman Gorge, but interested people across the Douglas Shire in an effort to tackle obesity.

A study funded by Queensland Health and conducted by Deakin University and the University of Melbourne found participants who completed Jamie’s program spent less on take away foods, ate more vegetables and were more confident cooking meals from scratch.

“The program also has some flow on benefits in bringing families together to the share a meal around the table,” Spiers said.

“The research showed these behaviour changes were sustained six months after completing the course.

“The program is a community driven initiative so also fosters a sense of connectedness and teaches people that food and cooking from scratch can be fun when approached in the right way.”

The mobile food kitchen will begin its stay on Mossman Gorge Road from June 13, and will include the all the master chefs hints, tips and shortcuts for preparing food from scratch using fresh food.

In the meantime, let’s think of a way we can get Jamie to our region. 

After all, who doesn’t want to visit the Great Barrier Reef?

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