Narooma Oyster Festival cooking demonstrations pair producers with chefs

Executive chefs Sean Connolly, Jordan Toft, Mark Glenn and Simon Evans will be paired with an oyster farmer, fisherman, abalone diver and sea urchin roe diver.

Festival chair Cath Peachey said the match of renowned visiting chefs and the region's producers would educate people about the quality of South Coast produce.

"Most of us don't realise just how much NSW South Coast produce is being plated in the fine dining restaurants in Sydney and Canberra," Ms Peachey said.

"This year's cooking demonstrations will be a very visual way to show the connection between place, producer, chef and consumer."

Tomakin's Sea Urchin Harvest were matched with Simon Evans from Bangalay Dining in the cooking program.

"Working with Simon to produce recipes for our amazing customers has been a personal high for us at Sea Urchin Harvest," a spokesperson said.

"We were introduced to Simon through Stef, co host of The Food Fight Podcast and have now worked with Simon for a number of years and continue to grow our list of delicious recipes for a true reef to plate experience."

Merivale executive chef Jordan Toft was paired with Bermagui fisherman Jason Moyce for the demonstration and said he tried to capture experiences behind his menus, like eating seafood straight from the ocean, and recreate that in his restaurants.

"Seeing beautiful local South Coast ingredients like king fish, moon fish, strawberry clams, and oysters really inspires me to cook that way and bring it back to Coogee Middle Floor," Mr Toft said.

The ethos of 'behind the menu' will be on display when Mr Toft cooks on stage with lobsters caught by Mr Moyce, known online by his 80,000 strong following as 'The Trapman'.

The cooking demonstrations will run from 10.30am to 2.30pm on Saturday, May 1 on the Narooma Betta Home Living Cooking Stage.

Tickets to the festival are $25 and need to be pre-purchased from www.naroomaoysterfestival.com.