By Hollie Harris
NOOSA played host to Dan Churchill and Hayden Quinn for an episode of the newly released and highly acclaimed series of Surfing The Menu.
Surfing the Menu is one of ABC Commercial’s most successful cooking formats.
Originally, launching the international careers of chefs Ben O’Donohue and Curtis Stone, the series has enjoyed global success, selling in over 70 countries.
Now rebooted and re-energised, the new TV series stars good mates Dan Churchill and Hayden Quinn, and will be available on DVD from 17 August 2016.
Dan and Hayden share a love of cooking, surfing, fresh food, travel and adventure, and that’s exactly what Surfing the Menu: Next Generation is all about.
The pair stop through Noosa on their adventures and between scouring our farmers’ markets for fresh produce, filming in the hinterland and learning how to roast coffee. Hayden said they did manage to squeeze in a quick surf at Sunshine Beach.
“It’s such a beautiful place. The surf is amazing and we came across some really incredible produce which is being grown locally.
“Noosa Reds have some fantastic produce. We really wanted to source the best local ingredients for a Chorizo Salad, which is a bit of a brekky salad and the farmers’ markets at Noosa are just unreal for doing that,” he said.
In this new 13-part TV series, Dan and Hayden head off on an adventure around Australia in their trusty, rusty 50-year-old VW Bug, nicknamed GiGi.
On the journey they four-wheel drive in the desert, head to an outback cattle station, share a Tongan feast, learn to sail, snorkel on the Ningaloo and Great Barrier Reefs, catch mud crabs, swim with mantra rays and of course stop through our beautiful Noosa.
Little Cove coffee roasters spent some time with the boys and taught Dan how to roast while they were in town.
“Dan really loves his coffee – he’s a freak for it,” Hayden said.
Travelling together on the road for such a long time has been easy for Dan and Hayden.
“It’s a close-knit relationship, but we were already good mates to begin with,” he said.
They share experiences with Indigenous communities such as searching underground for native bee nests and for bush foods and medicines.
They also surf and go horse-riding in some remarkable locations.
Along the way they meet passionate food producers of everything from heritage tomatoes, cheeses, beef, goats, mangoes and herbs, to exotic mushroom, shrimp, rum and salt.
The boys turn these fresh ingredients into simple, healthy and delightfully delicious recipes that will inspire you.
