Lyndey Milan is one of Australia’s biggest food and wine icons. Her desire for food and wine started from a young age, as she was “brought up understanding hospitality at the table from her parents”, “the magic and conversations that were had just at dinner” is what really got her interested in food and wine. Milan is here at the Sydney Royal Easter Show doing the talk and taste show, which started many years ago.
She was one of the founders of the fine food competition which started in 1988, as she believed that the “old ways of agriculture are changing and we eat differently, and we need to have a competition to recognise that, to encourage agricultural excellence in those areas”. There are now surprisingly 9 competitions across the fine food competition. Lyndey explained that when a product wins a Sydney Royal medal, they’re given a chance to come to talk and taste, which gives them so much more recognition as there are 40 people at a time that taste their products, while the products are being talked about.
Lyndey also highlighted that when you have a championship product which is the best of the best, across the five and a half thousand, six are only chosen for the president’s medal. They are then judged at their place of work and judged on whether they are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable, which according to Lyndey “was absolutely groundbreaking just 19 years ago”. Highlighting just how important the Sydney Royal Easter Show is for agricultural products in Australia.
Talk and taste is on everyday on the hour for half an hour, from 10am until 5:30pm. Make sure to put your name down as it fills up extremely quickly, and you don’t want to miss out on the wonderful products that are on show, as well as meeting the lovely Lyndey Milan.
Ethan Wright
