Kiwi celebrity chef 'dishes up' Kangaroo Island's culinary delights

Kiwi chef Al Brown hosts the new show Dishing up Australia with Al Brown, which takes New Zealand viewers on a culinary journey across Australia.

Al begins his adventure on Kangaroo Island fishing for yabbies in the muddy waters of the South West River, tasting honey straight from the rare Italian Ligurian bee's honeycomb with local Dave Clifford at Clifford's Honey Farm and trying an aperitif at the Kangaroo Island Spirits family run distillery.

The crystal clear waters of Kangaroo Island and a stay at the luxurious Southern Ocean Lodge leaves a lasting impression on the Kiwi chef, believing Kangaroo Island is "treasure island, full of little jewels and a place where luxury blends seamlessly with the simple life."

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said using well known and respected Kiwis to help tell Australia's stories was a strategy which worked well.

"South Australia is often regarded as foodie heaven and it's fantastic to have celebrated chef Al Brown experience the great natural and hand-made local produce of Kangaroo Island and share his journey with New Zealand viewers.

"Tourism Australia has been working to tell the story of Australia beyond the East coast gateways, and 'Dishing up Australia with Al Brown' allows Kiwi viewers to see the incredible landscape and products which South Australia is becoming increasingly famous for," McEvoy said.

Al also discovers Adelaide's best kept secret – its street eats – in the episode before heading to picturesque McLaren Vale to visit the vineyards and pick up a local bottle of red.

The ten-part series features a diverse range of culinary experiences in stunning settings across the length and breadth of Australia and has been produced by leading New Zealand production company, Imagination Television (makers of Masterchef New Zealand and New Zealand's Got Talent). 

The series received strong support from Tourism and Events Queensland along with Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand as partner airlines. 

New Zealand is Australia's largest inbound market for visitor arrivals, and continues to grow. 1.2 million Kiwis visited Australia during 2012, spending more than A$2 billion. Tourism Australia believes that the market has the potential to grow to between A$3.4 billion and A$4.2 billion in total expenditure by 2020.

Source: Tourism Australia