A new cuisine contest called 'The Food Fight' has been added to this year’s Port Douglas Carnivale programme.  This fantastic new event will pitch the master chefs of Port Douglas against each other in a public arena for the first time ever.

The Carnivale Food Fight will take place on Thursday 27th May, with participating chefs from Bucci Ristorante, Hi Tide, Salsa Bar & Grill, 2Fish Seafood Restaurant, Bistro 3, Harrison's, Sakinah House from Rydges Sabaya and Bel Cibo.

The judging panel will be comprise industry-based professionals, including celebrity chef Darren Simpson from La Sala Restaurant in Sydney and Neil Hargreaves, food stylist from the Age’s Epicurean. The winner will be chosen using a number of criteria including the difficulty factor in preparation, the creative use of a 'mystery' ingredient, the skilled execution of the dish, how it relates to current cuisine trends and of course how good it tastes and looks.

Event spokesperson Monique Lehman said the Port Douglas Sugar Wharf had been chosen as the venue for the inaugural battle of the region’s master chefs, “A stage featuring eight cooking stations and a central area will be the focus of all the action. Each station will include a gas burner and a raised work bench for exclusive use by each chef. In addition to the basic equipment each chef is invited to bring with them equipment they think they might want to use in the preparation of their entry.  Each station will promote the chef's restaurant by displaying their brand,” she said.

The central cooking area will be set up to provide easy access for all the competitors to share equipment including large roll top ovens, deep fryers and Weber Q BBQs. Food supplying sponsors will provide access to the chefs of a large larder stocked with a broad variety of ingredients. This larder will be the backdrop to the stage and offer considerable opportunity to show off and promote their wares.

A large projector screen will be hung and a live feed of the action on the stage will be projected throughout the competition, which will provide opportunities for interaction Ms Lehman said.

“The doors will open at 6.30pm and give the audience an opportunity to mix and mingle with the competing chefs before the contest starts. Next, the event’s MC Tammy Barker will introduce the judges and the chefs, and reveal two 'secret ingredients'. The format of the competition gives the chefs 10 minutes to design their two dish menu and gather the produce required from the larder to prepare it. Then the real action will commence, as the chefs launch into preparing their dishes in a 30 minute time period ready for presenting to the judges,” she said.  

Throughout, the audience will be entertained with professional and informative commentary on what each chef is doing while they taste a variety of canapés provided by each participating restaurant. The audience will also need to pay attention to the cooking action and end result so as to ensure their 'Peoples Choice' vote qualifies them for the door prize draw; two tickets to join the Chef's Table at the inaugural Palates of Port dinner the following night.  

“Once the pots stop flying and the knives are put down, the judges will have 15 minutes to taste the dishes, compare notes and then present their scores to reveal this year's Carnivale Food Fight Master Chef,” said Ms Lehman. “There will then be a period where the chefs can mingle with the audience to celebrate or commiserate the results while continuing to enjoy the evening out on the deck.”