He has taken Lake Hayes winery restaurant Amisfield to three hats in the Good Cuisine Awards and has been named New Zealand’s top chef. Rebecca Fox asks him where his inspiration comes from.
How are you planning to spend Christmas this year?
Christmas with my son and his grandparents, my fiancee, my dogs and a Skype call with my brother in the north, my mum in the States and sister up north.
What will be on your Christmas menu?
Crayfish, whitebait, paua, scampi, wagyu. Our favourite Christmas dish? Turkey and cranberry but mostly the stuffing.
What would your perfect day off look like?
Breakfast with my fiancee and son, a hike with the dogs, a great service, kiss my son good night, another great service, late night dessert with my fiancee.
What is always in your fridge?
Butter.
What is your favourite cook book?
The French Laundry by Thomas Keller because it’s a benchmark.
Where did your passion for food come from?
Eating lots as a child.
You worked at Noma in Denmark. What impact did that have?
The pursuit of excellence through never giving up on an idea.
Where did your passion for foraged ingredients come from? Probably the Noma influence and knowing too well that distance and refrigeration do not allow for true flavour.
What does using local and foraged ingredients bring to dishes? Flavour.
Why is it important to tell a story with your food?
Because every chef must have an identity and a belief to bring to their cooking.
What do the awards you and Amisfield have received mean to you? They are for the chefs around me as a reminder to the standards we set ourselves and the obligation to our customer to meet their expectations.
What is the recipe to keeping on winning these awards?
Never allow ourselves to become complacent.
What does an average day at work involve for you?
Tasting all components of every dish, watching over everything, lots and lots of time with my chefs.
What is your favourite dish that you have created?
Every season comes with a favourite. Currently it is the green lip mussel taco on our lunch menu.
Your new a la carte lunch menu includes cooking over coals. Why?
We have added this to incorporate another technique and flavour profile into our food. Cooking over coals allows for us to achieve unique flavours that only smoke and flame can impart on meat, fish and vegetables. The customer interaction with our courtyard firepit has been unbelievable.
How has the Covid environment changed what you do?
It has given us a moment in time where we have the ability to truly reflect on what we do and how we can make it better. Those opportunities are rare in this industry.
How did you find going from being a busy chef to stuck at home?
Loved it. One of the best vacations of my life, possibly one of the only ones. I finally had some real time moments with my son and partner.
How did you fill your time?
A huge amount of cooking and time in the wine cellar. Life lessons spent with my son who now knows the difference between birch boletes and poison Amanitas. A huge amount of rabbit extermination with my dogs.
You live in a log cabin near Moke Lake. What do you like about living there?
Not having to speak anyone. The only people I see are invited which is pretty nice, be it that I spend so much time with my team and guests. Freedom and space.
What do you like about hunting and fishing?
It’s my time, time spent with my dogs, hunting something that I can take home and cook for my family. I love being a provider.
You come from the North Island. What has kept you here?
I love distinctive seasons. My job has kept me here.
Amisfield elderflower souffle
Serves 4
Elderflower syrup
156g caster sugar
93g tap water
1 peel of lemon skin
5g citric acid
15g fresh elderflowers
Method
Place the sugar and water in a pan with the lemon skin, bring to the boil making sure all the sugar is dissolved. Add the citric acid.
Check the elderflowers for bugs and clean them. Place the elderflowers in a heatproof jar.
Pour the hot syrup into the jar with the elderflowers and leave to steep for approximately 8 hours.
Strain the syrup into a clean jar and keep in the fridge.
Prepare ramekins:
Soften butter and using a pastry brush coat the entire inside 4 (125ml) ramekins evenly.
Then pour 1 tbsp of sugar into each and shake the sugar all around the edges of the ramekin to leave a coating on the butter. Discard any excess sugar. Place in the fridge until the souffle mix is ready.
Elderflower souffle base - makes 4
100g full fat milk
18g whole egg
18g egg yolk
13g corn flour
Pinch of sea salt
Half a lemon zested
20g elderflower syrup
2 heads of fresh elderflowers
Method
Heat the milk and pick the elderflowers from the stalks and add to the milk.
Mix the egg, yolks, cornflour, salt, lemon zest in a bowl and ensure there are no lumps of cornflour.
Pour the hot milk into the bowl of egg while whisking, then return it to the pan.
Cook on a low heat until the mixture has thickened — it can bubble but should not boil hard — add the syrup and cook for 1 more minute.
Strain through a fine sieve to remove the flowers and zest.
Cover directly on top with baking paper or cling film and place over a bowl of iced water to cool down.
For the meringue – makes 4:
150g egg white
80g sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180degC.
Whisk the egg whites until frothy and starting to thicken, gradually add the sugar and whisk until it is all combined and the meringue looks glossy but light.
Assembly
Give the souffle base a good mix with a whisk to loosen it. Mix a quarter of the meringue into the souffle base and mix well making sure there are no lumps. Then fold in the rest of the meringue. Spoon into the prepared ramekins all the way to the top.
Decorate the top of the souffle with a few fresh elderflowers.
Bake for 8 minutes at 180degC with fan assisted oven.
They should be risen and golden on top.
Serve immediately.
Serve with ice cream or fresh cream.
