Matt Golinski in Rockhampton for Capricorn Food and Wine Festival

Preparations are well underway for the iconic Rockhampton event, now in its 10th year, which will kick off on Friday night on the Victoria Parade riverbank.

Celebrity chef Matt Golinski has been busy cooking up a storm in the Headricks Lane kitchen as he gets ready for the Capricorn Food and Wine Festival.

Guests of the sold-out RACQ CapRescue Degustation presented by QMAG will have the chance to enjoy a curated six-course menu from the star chef.

The dishes are inspired by homegrown food from around the regions.

“It’s a zigzag getting here with ingredients with picking stuff up, driving up from Sunny Coast, along the way I will get in contact with people, like at Bundy we will pick up figs,” Golinksi said.

“We got here yesterday, I got some fresh mackerel from Rosslyn Bay Fish Market.

“Having come up here for such a long time, I have contacts with a lot of different people, I can ring Peter Boodle (a Rockhampton butcher) and ask him what he has … The sirloin tonight (Royal) won best in show at the Ekka recently.

“I feel like it’s a second home for me now because I have been coming up for a long time

“To me that’s what this is all about, it’s not just coming here and doing six courses of just random food or trying to make it explode on the plate, it’s about the ingredients and pairing it together, so it’s a food experience and speaks of South-East Queensland and Central Queensland combined.”

Golinksi will also host a masterclass on Saturday and a Long Lunch with chef Glenn Barratt.

Spatchcock will be one of the main attractions of the Stockland Chef’s Table, Golinski explained.

“It will be a deboning a chicken class, if you can do a spatchcock you can do a chicken, a duck, a turkey. They are all the same anatomy, it’s just different sizing,” Golinski said.

“Then we will grill those, making a chermoula, so it’s a very kind of Middle Eastern, Moroccan type feel to the dish, a pickled type of eggplant, shaved fennel and some preserved lemons; I will show people how to preserve lemons.”

Halley Phung, Matt Golinski and Glen Barratt prepping the Headricks Lane kitchen.

Speaking on the eve of the festival, Golinski said cooking demonstrations were 80 per cent entertainment and 20 per cent knowledge.

“You want it to be fun and you want to be able to tell stories … no one wants to see you standing there stirring a sauce or whatever,” Golinski said.

“When you come into something like this you want it to tell a story but also give people tips, they might not go home and make that dish but they will go away and say ‘oh that’s how you preserve lemons’ or ‘that’s how you make chermoula’.”

Matt Golinski with a tray of fresh mackerel from Rosslyn Bay Seafoods for the degustation dinner as part of Capricorn Food and Wine Festival.

The event marks 10 years this year, check out our photo galleries from over the years, and Golinski has been involved since the inaugural event in 2012.

“It’s nice to see how it’s evolved, it’s amazing how it’s been able to continue and grow, considering everything,” he said.

Golinski credited Tim and Callan Buchholz and the whole Capricorn Food and Wine Festival team.

“They put it out there, they take the risk,” he said.

“Most food festivals you go to all over the country are put on by the council or a big corporation, this is just them, a small family business and they take the risk every year.”

More tickets to signature events are available online, along with festival passes to just head along and enjoy the food and drink vendors and the timetable of music acts.

Friday night will kick off with homegrown duo, Busby Marou, with their first hometown show in three years.

The iconic local duo will be opened by Rockhampton band MATH (Maddi and the Hoopers), featuring Maddi McDonald and brothers Clay, Dylan and Sam Hooper.

On Friday, MATH is releasing their self titled debut EP which will feature previously released tracks, “Control” and ”Break My Heart” as well as two more so far unreleased songs.

The EP was recorded across various studios, including Qsound and the home studios of Ian Peres and Luke Palmer, all on the Gold Coast.

Palmer also did most of the mixing, mastering and production for the EP.

To buy tickets, visit www.capricornfoodandwinefestival.com.au.