Throng

Entries are now open for the New Zealand Gourmet Oil Competition, with New Zealand’s first ever MasterChef winner Brett McGregor joining the judging panel. Organised by the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association and held in conjunction with the Canterbury A&P Show, the competition celebrates the success, quality and variety of New Zealand’s gourmet oils,

The New Zealand Gourmet Oil Competition, now in its seventh year, is open to New Zealand produced Olive Oil including classes for Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Delicate, Medium and Intense plus classes for Walnut Oil, Hazelnut Oil and Avocado Oil.

There are only a few more weeks left for anyone wanting to apply to be on the second season of Masterchef New Zealand.  If you or someone you know is quite handy with a spatula, fill out this application form today!

New Zealand’s first MasterChef Brett McGregor has thrown in the towel on his teaching job in the hopes of forging a career in food.

The Christchurch amateur chef, who edged out Auckland’s Kelly Young in this year’s MasterChef finale, has resigned from his deputy principal position at Branston Intermediate in order to chase his food dream.

Following his win on the TVNZ show, McGregor has gone on to make several public appearances at both food and non-food-related events as well as shoot several yet-to-be-screened advertisements and of course put in the hard yards on his cookbook which was part of the prize for the win.

McGregor says he has had little time to relax since the show’s finale screened and that he is enjoying the spare time since handing in his resignation.

"It's nice kicking back, it's not something I get to do very often,” McGregor said. “But yes, I've done it ... and now I'm freaking out.

"Someone texted me the other day and said if I wanted a career in food then I have to be prepared to be poor."

Legendary Kiwi chef Josh Emett will be joining Simon Gault and Ray McVinnie for series two of the local version of the worldwide hit format screening early next year on TV ONE.

Emett is no stranger to pressure in the kitchen having successfully run restaurants for Gordon Ramsay in London, New York, Los Angeles and now Melbourne where he has opened Ramsay’s first two restaurants in Australia – maze and maze Grill.

Emett has conquered kitchens across the globe, picking up four prized Michelin stars along the way. He is guaranteed to fire up the temperature in the MasterChef kitchen.

Lawless to reprise role

Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless will reprise her role in the upcoming sequel series to Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The American swords and sandals series, which films in New Zealand, will shoot a six-part second series with Aussie actor Dustin Clare (Underbelly, Satisfaction) in the lead role.

Outrageous adaptation struggles

The American adaptation of treasured Kiwi drama series Outrageous Fortune is slipping in the ratings during its first season run in the US. Scoundrels, which follows a family similar to the Wests, is struggling in its summer slot and was down a further 13% this week.

MasterChef begins cookbook

New Zealand’s first MasterChef Brett McGregor has taken a leave of absence from his day job teaching at Christchurch’s Branston Intermediate in order to complete his cookbook. The aspiring chef, who won the cookbook deal when he took out the TV One show last month, has said his book will show “how travelling can influence your culinary world at home.”

Trump wants Ferguson for Apprentice

Donald Trump reportedly wants the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson to appear on the next season of The Apprentice. The billionaire businessman has said he would like to find a role for the embattled royal after the mess she got herself into last week.

Underbelly star lands hosting role

Fair Go returns to air tonight on TV One now that Masterchef is over and will have a completely new look.  However, it could be an unfinished look.

TVNZ spokesperson Andi Brotherston tweeted earlier saying

The new Fair Go debutes tonight at 7:30pm. Editor is panicked, the new set's desk hasn't arrived, it's still being painted... ahhhhhhhh!

Nothing like a bit of drama to get the adrenaline running.  Should be a good watch tonight!

Tonight the show features an investigative story by reporter, Ruwani Perera revealing that some Cadbury chocolate bars continue to contain palm oil.

So Brett McGregor won and he's over the moon about it.

It's been a wicked morning mate, I'm telling ya.  I was on breakfast, just seeing how everything works, mate, this is awesome.

And it wasn't Kelly Young!  Despite certain people saying she did. She landed the job at Simon's restaurant Euro so what about Brett?

There were a lot of rumors floating around. Simon offered me the same kind of deal at Euro, but obviously I live in Christchurch so I couldn't take him up on it. There are some decent restaurants down in Christchurch so I'm kinda hoping I can go and work for free and kinda learn in the evenings or weekends so we'll see what happens.

So is Brett looking to leave teaching to take up cooking or does he still want to be a Principal?