Alice springs into Lara festival role

MASTERCHEF Australia favourite Alice Zaslavsky admits she has a big cravat to fill in taking over from Matt Preston at this weekend’s Lara Food and Wine Festival.

The quirky contestant with the big glasses from last year’s MasterChef series will judge the festival’s flagship event, the Ultimate Chef Challenge on Sunday.

‘‘I got a message from Matt Preston, he said: ‘I can’t do Lara this year, so I told them to call you’,’’ Zaslavsky said.

‘‘Of all the people to give me a reference.’’

The flamboyant judge is a fan of the annual festival at Lara’s Pirra Homestead and was special guest at last year’s event, but didn’t hesitate to recommend the effervescent Zaslavsky, who was a humanities and English teacher before igniting her love of food.

It’s not at all uncommon for Preston and his MasterChef colleagues to continue their guidance of the program’s contestants long after t h e cameras s t o p filming.

‘‘There’s nothing like MasterChef, because of the expertise of the judges and they are so committed to us staying involved in food,’’ Zaslavsky said.

Since leaving MasterChef just before finals week last year, she has been kept busy with appearances at food events and cooking demonstrations.

She is getting to know the Bellarine Peninsula and its wide variety of niche products through her association with chef Andy Pye and Terindah Estate Winery.

‘‘I feel like this is my spiritual home,’’ she said.

Appearances aside, Zaslavsky is also half way through writing a children’s book about real food, an A to Z guide on teaching kids to have f un i n the kitchen and follow their hearts.

‘‘When you start looking at why kids are eati ng j unk f ood, it’s because they’re familiar with it,’’ she said.

‘‘The more we make real f ood an every day thing, the more likely kids will want to eat it.’’

More than 14,000 people are expected to attend the Lara Food and Wine Festival, which showcases the diversity of the region’s food, wine and produce.

The day also features live music, children’s activities and celebrity cooking demonstrations.