Sunderland chef Stacie Stewart joins Michelin-starred Jean-Christophe Novelli and Saturday Kitchen's Matt Tebbutt on Seaham Food Festival bill

She joined Michelin-starred Jean-Christophe Novelli and Saturday Kitchen presenter Matt Tebbutt to entertain the hundreds of families who visited the second day of the event on Sunday, August 7.

It was a bumper crowd as hungry customers of all ages visited vendors for a tasty treat and tuned into the live cooking demonstrations for some take-home tips.

Roker lass Stacie, who was a finalist on BBC’s Masterchef in 2009 and has since released cookbooks and opened her own deli, entertained the crowd on home turf with a range of delicious dishes.

She told the Echo: "It’s a great crowd, it’s my home crowd, I’ve done some really diverse recipes showing people how to use leftovers, make cakes, do something a bit different.”

Stacie’s emonstrations included a gluten-free orange and almond cake, a chocolate and Guinness cake and a refreshing watermelon and feta salad – perfect for a summer barbecue.

She also showed the crowd how to put together a Chinese chicken noodle salad; a dish “fantastic for using up leftovers”.

Stacie added: "If you’re on a budget and if you can cook, you’re never going to go hungry. It’s the stuff you find in the bottom of your fridge.

“A couple of spring onions, a couple of bits of pak choi and the leftover chicken from your roast dinner.”

Jean-Christophe Novelli MBE, who has four Michelin Stars to his name, and Saturday Kitchen presenter Matt Tebbutt were also there showcasing their cookery skills in eye-catching live sessions on Sunday.

Speaking of cooking as his “ biggest passion”, Jean-Christophe told the Echo he enjoyed meeting people while doing cookery demonstrations across the country and that it was wonderful to see such a variety of dishes on offer from vendors across the festival; some using local produce.

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He added: “I have been doing this for probably over 20 years and year-on-year things are getting better. There are always new things which are popping up, it’s fantastic.

"You can see they really work hard to achieve results.”

Meanwhile Matt, who cooked salmon and Kapsalon – a loaded fries-style dish from the Netherlands – said: “It's fantastic to be out and cooking in front of people again. People are much more excited about life now, it's noticeable.”

Speaking on the cost-of-living crisis, Matt also touched on the importance of cookery skills as well as learning how to “shop well” and prepare meals.

"Leftovers are the biggest thing,” he said.

"When there’s bits and pieces in the fridge, to be able to look at a few bits and say ‘you know I’m going to make this, I'm going to do this, I have got a couple of eggs’ you can make a meal out of that and having those skills is really, really important.”

Also appearing at Seaham Food Festival over the weekend were Life Kitchen founder Ryan Riley, from Sunderland, and Masterchef 2022 finalist Pookie Tredell.