February 11, 2016
A crew from Channel 10’s lifestyle program “The Living Room” has been visiting the South Burnett over the past few days.
On Wednesday, they took a guided tour of the Peanut Company Of Australia’s factory in Kingaroy to see how peanuts are processed.
And on Thursday, they travelled out to a Booie peanut field to see how they are grown.
The site was Rob and Chris Patch’s farm which is located in the crater of a long-extinct volcano.
Millions of years ago the volcano exploded but in its wake it left rich, deep red soils and a sheltering crater rim that has eroded to what looks to untrained eyes like a low mountain range … a perfect spot to grow peanuts.
After taking a close look at Rob and Chris’ 28ha crop, celebrity chef Miguel Maestre enthusiastically cooked up a batch of satay beef with peanut rice on an open fire in the middle of the field, using The Peanut Van’s freshly made peanut paste as one of the key ingredients.
Producer Leisa Pratt said the crew were aiming to film an “informative, educational and fun” segment showing the important role peanuts played in the South Burnett’s economy.
The piece will air during the show’s upcoming fifth season, which will begin screening on Channel 10 on Friday (February 12) at 7:30pm.
Last year “The Living Room” won a Gold Logie for Most Popular Lifestyle Program, beating Channel 7’s “Better Homes and Gardens” which had held the title for the previous seven years.
Film crew members told southburnett.com.au they had no real idea how peanuts were grown and processed until they embarked on the assignment, and felt sure a lot of the TV audience would be in the same boat.
The segments the crew filmed will be screened later this year.
