Spotlight on chef Peter Gordon and New Zealand wines

Nuria Stylianou talks to the 'Godfather of Fusion'  about the dishes and wines he’s been enjoying this week
Peter Gordon cooking - press image
Nuria Stylianou30 June 2016

"Fusion food takes, as its starting point, the belief that any ingredient, from any part of the world, has the potential to be cooked and eaten. Who is there to say, for example, that we must never use a Malaysian ingredient in a traditional Yorkshire dish?”

So says chef Peter Gordon. Originally from Whanganui in New Zealand, the “Godfather of Fusion” is renowned for his ability to take ingredients from around the world, distinctive Asian and European flavours, and allow them to sing together in perfect harmony on the plate. You may think fusion-style cooking is old hat - who doesn’t cook like this now? - but Gordon pioneered this style of cooking in Britain in 1995, as executive chef at Notting Hill and Soho outposts of New Zealand restaurant brand The Sugar Club. And he does it with an elegance and ease few others have mastered before or since.

He came up with his first cookbook when he was four years old - “really it was a scrapbook…cutting recipes from Woman’s Weekly” - and was influenced by his mother and grandmother, who instilled the importance of simply cooked meals using home-grown produce, with everyone playing a part. But it was the exploratory cuisine coming out of top Melbourne restaurants in the Eighties that saw Gordon fall in love with the melting pot of that city’s different cultures, threaded together, from Vietnamese to Ethiopian and Italian.

Gordon, who in addition to The Sugar Club restaurants in Wellington and Auckland was involved in launching Bellota bar and restaurant, also in Auckland, co-founded The Providores and Tapa Room in Marylebone High Street, with the business now in its 15th year.

Thai-style gammon hock with cucumber, papaya, toasted rice, macadamias and hot-and-sour tamarind caramel

The Tapa Room is a lower-floor all-day wine bar/café, while The Providores, with its white linen tablecloths, is the more formal restaurant upstairs. Both serve Antipodean fusion food. Typical dishes include Thai-style gammon hock with cucumber, papaya, toasted rice, macadamias and hot-and-sour tamarind caramel; and The Sugar Club classic Beef Pesto - marinated beef fillet, with warm chard, courgette and beetroot salad, with garlic dressing, pesto and Kalamata olives.

He’s also co-founder of Crosstown Doughnuts, supplying London with daily-baked sourdough doughnuts that come in deliciously decadent flavours.

Having such a creative approach gives a refreshing twist on wine and food pairings, as Gordon reveals the dishes and wines he’s been enjoying from The Providores and Tapa Room this week:

New Zealand wines

1/5

"I love the endless possibilities [of food and wine], and the variety of produce from around the world. Because I view the globe as my pantry, anything is up for grabs. If I was only cooking the food of one region in one country, I’d have less fun. Having said that, our still-wine list at The Providores only lists New Zealand wines - we have the largest selection of any restaurant in Europe, and we do this out of a sense of duty, and because we’re incredibly proud of the wines we make there.

Nuria Stylianou is our WSET-qualified wine and spirits columnist. Email her on nuria.stylianou@gmail.com and follow her on Instagram @nu_on_the_vine

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