Take the pork from wild side

MasterChef favourite and celebrity chef Cameron Petley will be in Hawke's Bay to offer up some tasty treats.

Hawke's Bay residents will get the chance to taste food cooked by MasterChef favourite and celebrity chef Cameron Petley.

Mr Petley will speak and offer tastings at the Flaxmere library on Tuesday, October 14 at 6pm.

The chef won New Zealand's heart during his appearances on MasterChef New Zealand in 2011 and released his first cookbook, Hunter from the Heartland, in 2012.

Mr Petley says when he's not in the bush chasing pigs, he's in the kitchen cooking awesome meals for his family.

"The Masterchef journey was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do and it was a life-changing experience for me".

Hastings district councillor Henare O'Keefe says Mr Petley has a no-nonsense approach that brings the best of ingredients from the wild to delight your tastebuds.

"This is an opportunity to reconnect with where our food really comes from and discover simple delicious ways to prepare fish, game and other good food ... and hear some good yarns."

In Hunter from the Heartland, Mr Petley gathers together about 40 of his favourite recipes for fish, seafood, pork, lamb, beef and poultry, plus some great stories about hunting, gathering and fishing trips.

The talk will take place in the recently renovated Flaxmere Library, part of the Flaxmere Community Centre. Tickets for the event cost $10 and are available from the Flaxmere, Hastings and Havelock North libraries or online at Eventfinda.