Photo by Lisa Linder
Savour: Salads For All Seasons by Peter Gordon
Photography by Lisa Linder
Published by Jacqui Small, 2016.
I’ve been eating Peter Gordon’s food for 20 years, since the early days of that 90s hotspot, the Sugar Club, and since in Auckland and back here at Providores in Marylebone. He was the chef who gave fusion a good name — and believe me, it’s not easy to do. His food is always full of flavour, vibrant and — this is the hardest trick to pull off — headily but convincingly original. His cooking always conveys his exuberance and enthusiasm and his palate has perfect pitch. I know to trust him, even when the commingling of flavours he plays with seems forbiddingly unfamiliar. His new book, Savour, exemplifies this. While it is a book about salads, it is not in any sense a single-focus cookbook: it encompasses meals for different seasons, different occasions and even when I don’t have access to a particular ingredient he suggests for a dish, there’s not a recipe that doesn’t inspire me. As with all books I love, it’s very hard to choose just one, but the Chickpeas, grilled broccoli and asparagus (now just coming into season) with popped chilli grapes and bagel croutons jumped off the page. I couldn’t resist those popped chilli grapes — and am finding all manner of use for them, a sign, always, of a cookbook that’s easily earned its place in my kitchen.
Photo by Lisa Linder
