Peter Gordon

Peter Gordon is perhaps New Zealand’s most internationally recognised chef. Born in Wanganui Peter started collecting recipes from the age of four and began cooking not long after. After completing a chef’s apprenticeship in Melbourne in 1985 he travelled throughout South East Asia, India and Nepal for a year before setting up the kitchen at The Sugar Club in Wellington in 1986. Peter moved to London in 1989 and worked at various restaurants until he established his name as executive chef at Mayfair’s Green Street Restaurant then at the Notting Hill and Soho branches of The Sugar Club. Peter opened his current restaurant The Providores and Tapa Room with his partners in August 2001.

www.peter-gordon.net
www.theprovidores.co.uk

Slice of Life

By Peter Gordon - September 2008

Waitaki Braids Pinot Gris, Providence Vineyard and The Food Show

July ended, and August started, with two cooking demonstrations at The Food Show – Auckland’s premier foodie event. I opened the show’s cooking theatre with two of my junior chefs from dine by Peter Gordon restaurant helping me. We had 45 minutes in which to impress the crowded auditorium, and we pulled it off – if you can believe all the hungry faces at the end of the show.

First up we made a kina panna cotta with dashi jelly. For many in the audience it was the first time they’d eaten kina (sea urchin) but most enjoyed the tasters afterwards, which was great. For the main course, we poached some gorgeous Firstlight Wagyu rump and served it on broccoli cous cous with bone marrow sauce. The rump was first browned alongside ginger, garlic and herbs, then red wine and jus (reduced stock) was added and we left it to poach very briefly and rest for 15 minutes while we made the rest of the components. One handy hint I managed to pass on was that you must never pour boiling water or stock over your cous cous when soaking it (contrary to what the packaging says) as it becomes sticky and dense. Always add cold or tepid water or stock and you’ll have lovely loose grains – you can always heat it up once it’s made. The bone marrow sauce is one of those things that sounds rather frightening, but is absolutely delicious. The fact it contains bone marrow, butter, bread-crumbs, parmesan and jus will give an idea of just how rich this is. Dessert was a lovely chocolate passionfruit delice (a rich dense mousse) that we served with poached pears and quince. Two days later we cooked the same recipes and again the crowds ate up all the food. At the food show there were many fantastic ingredients and producers. It’s great to see so many producers in New Zealand, from small independents through to large companies, producing truly world class foods, wine and primary produce.

In between both shows I headed up to Matakana and had a wonderful evening wining and dining with the team from Kemp Rare Wines (www.kemprarewines.co.nz) at Providence vineyard – which is owned and run by James and Jane Vuletic. It was a truly memorable evening – we drank vintages from their first bottling back in the early ‘90’s through to a 2005 vintage. Jim’s favourite claret is Cheval Blanc and this is the benchmark for his production. If you feel like drinking one of the Southern Hemisphere’s finest Bordeaux style wines – then splash out on a bottle – ask the team at Kemp Rare Wines for their help! Apart from the wines, the food was brilliant, right from the crayfish that a few of us ate leaning over the sink, through to the gorgeous barbecued lamb cooked on a portable barbecue (resembling a trailer) by friends of the family, Jane’s faro and vegetables, and the cookies made by one of their two lovely daughters served with ice cream made by another family friend. Amazing wines, delectable food, and one of the nicest and most generous families I have met in a long time (www.providence.co.nz)

The other wonderful wine experience on this visit was tasting the first vintage of our own Waitaki Braids Pinot Gris. (www.waitakibraids.co.nz). The vineyard has produced Pinot Noir and Riesling over the past few years, but this was our first Pinot Gris and it was spectacular. Steve Cozens, the man behind it all, Michelle Richardson (one of the four partners and our lauded and lovely winemaker) and myself tasted the wine alongside New Zealand House and Garden’s wine writer Yvonne Lorkin. It was rather nerve wracking tasting it for the first time in front of a journalist – but it passed with flying colours. Now to get it bottled and settled and get some to London.

Back in London and I was straight into the next round of writing and shooting recipes for my new book. Luckily I had my sister Tracey in town to help as she was over working on two other books for an Australian author. The shoot went really well, although by the end of it the fridge was full of octopus, smoked mackerel, marrow bones and crabs. We’re off to Paris this weekend to celebrate her birthday and no doubt eat and drink ourselves into a larger pair of trousers, but it’ll be great to wander the streets looking out for the cosiest café and flashest bakery – how unusual.

This month's photograph is of the London Eye.