Thigh-deep in the freezing shallows off South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, Matt Preston is gathering pipis at dawn with Ngarrindjeri fishermen for his new series, Matt Preston’s Plating Locally. In the grey early hours of the morning he will cook the shellfish with pasta on the beach, signature cravat snug against the wind, with a skeleton film crew capturing the simple recipe.

Such working conditions are a far cry from the lavish kitchen set where he made his name, and the shiny floor studios where he dipped his toe in light entertainment (three years on he still salsas with his Dancing with the Stars partner Jessica Raffa, while The Masked Singer gifted him a thing for karaoke). But since appearing in March on SBS’ The Hospital: In the Deep End, this original MasterChef Australia judge is seeking profound connections.

Of course, the work of frontline medical staff that so affected him is very different to that of food producers, but Preston is determined to “choose stuff that will challenge people … it’s all passion projects from now on”.

“Plating Locally has a purpose, in that these stories need to be told,” he says. “Whether you’re spending an hour in chilly, shark-infested waters off Kangaroo Island on your oyster lease, or raking pipis, or diving for abalone, or getting up at five to tend your flock – it’s not easy. It’s not glamorous. And it doesn’t necessarily pay that well.”

On Kangaroo Island he meets oyster farmers affected by the South Australian algal bloom. “When they couldn’t work, they couldn’t sell,” he says. “There was that sense of them feeling abandoned, forgotten and unsupported.”

Across six episodes Preston visits producers and growers from Margaret River and the Barossa Valley to the Limestone Coast, the Tamar and Yarra valleys, and Marlborough in New Zealand. Along with indulging his senses at wineries, a garlic farm, an artisan buttery and a cheese festival, he fly-fishes for trout and dives into a hidden farm sinkhole.

“I’m not Bear Grylls,” he says, laughing. “You’ve got to be mindful that you’re not in your natural environment.”

Following to the source the produce he has written about for his newspaper columns for decades proves a great joy, and an eye-opener. “Oh my gosh, the hazelnuts that came out of the Tamar Valley were big and juicy! And to go and look at the king salmon farms in [New Zealand’s] Milford Sound and work out why they don’t have the same negative connotations as we have with salmon farming, that was fascinating. That product is unbelievable. We did it raw, and just the belly flap on the barbecue. It was delicious.”

Preston is adamant every morsel featured on the series really is as good as he says it is. “We picked up some King George whiting [from a market] to shoot in King Island,” he recalls. “It didn’t look stunning. At the place we were staying the son said, ‘I’ll go and catch you some’. He caught us three whiting. When it’s that fresh, it’s magical.”

Drawing the best out of those who are camera-shy is a skill Preston honed on his 11 seasons as a judge on MasterChef Australia. “Put them in an environment where they’re comfortable and then they’ll tell you stuff. The story can be massive or it can be really small, but equally powerful and touching.”

There was one precious moment that was not captured on camera. “We flew out to one of the islands and the pilot’s mum baked scones for us. Having a cup of tea and a warm scone on an island, those are the moments when you pinch yourself,” he says.

“Hopefully, that sense of calm is what you’re going to get when you watch the show … I hope people think, ‘Gee, aren’t we lucky, with this amazing landscape and seascape and the produce that comes from it?’ But also how hard it is to turn a buck because everything is compared on a crazy global scale and often in an uneven playing field.”

Matt Preston’s Plating Locally premieres at 8.30pm on Wednesday, August 12, on SBS Food.

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