Prahran Market Say Cheese Festival

Get ready to get cheesy! Prahran Market’s annual Say Cheese Festival for the eighth year between 15th – 17th October. This year, there are four amazing virtual events to enjoy from the comfort of your own home featuring some of Australia’s favourite foodies.

Cheese lovers will rejoice with the program of deliciously cheesy events including a cheese tasting, two cookalongs – both milk and vegan cheeses are covered - and the renowned Grilled Cheese Invitational.

You can register to join each event for free or purchase packs for the full experience and to taste along.

Friday 15th October, 7pm: Tasting Victoria with Anthony Femia of Maker & Monger & Diana Chan
Embark on a taste of Victorian cheese as Anthony Femia of Maker & Monger and Diana Chan take you on a tour of local cheeses from Prahran Market Traders. Ticketholders can register for free to learn about the different varieties of cheese, their producers, tastes, textures and uses. A tasting box will be available for purchase by those who want to try each cheese.

Saturday 16th October, 6pm: Cookalong with Karen Martini
Get involved and create a delicious baked cheese tart at home with Karen Martini. One of Melbourne’s favourite chefs, Karen will guide you through the dish to enjoy during lockdown. A cookalong pack is available to order so you can make it at the same time, or you can register free just to watch!

Saturday 16th October, 7pm: Vegan Cookalong with Simon Toohey
Vegans are not forgotten this year with a cheesy cookalong of their very own of their own. Simon Toohey will take you on a tasty journey on how to make the most amazing vegan mac’n’cheese. It’s free to watch or, better still, buy the produce pack to make it at home.

Sunday 17th October, 3pm: Grilled Cheese Invitational with Jessi Singh, Zacchary Bird, Dani Valent, Jerry Mai, Anthony Femia, Kara Monssen and Darren Purchese
In its fourth year, the Grilled Cheese Invitational will once again pit some of Australia’s favourite foodies against each other to create the event’s best cheese toastie! The Invitational will see participants Jessie Singh (Daughter in Law, Mrs Singh, Mr Brownie, Horn Please), vegan chef Zacchary Bird and food writer Dani Valent preparing their toastie before the judges score on name, appearance and taste. Past winners have been Jerry Mai from Phở Nom and Bai Hoi, Darren Purchese of Burch & Purchese and Kay-Lene Tan from Tonka.

As last year’s winner, Jerry Mai will return as a judge, joining Herald Sun food writer Kara Monssen and Anthony Femia of Maker & Monger to decide the winning toastie. The event will be MC’d by Darren Purchese.

For the first time, Melburnians can buy the toasties to judge for themselves. The chef creation toasties will be made up by Maker & Monger and delivered to grill at home. Only 50 packs are available!

In addition to the official program events, a number of Prahran Market Traders will be selling special cheese dishes over the weekend.

Registration and pack orders are open now via the Prahran Market website. Orders for the packs close at 5pm Monday 11th October (unless sold out prior).

Everything is better with cheese!