Think salads are always the boring option? Not when Peter Gordon of The Providores is making them. The New Zealand-born, London-based chef pioneered modern 'fusion' food, training the likes of Anna Hansen of The Modern Pantry and Selin Kiazim of Oklava, and he's now brought his unique approach to salads with his new book, Savour. Here, he tells us about why salads aren't just for healthy eating and what he loves about the London food scene.
Why did you choose to publish a book only on salads?
My cooking style is all about bold flavours and textures. Salads are a perfect medium in which to achieve this combination as you are often mixing 5 or more ingredients to which you've done very little – where the quality of the produce is paramount and where you want the ingredients to be the heroes.
Salads' place as the 'healthy option' on a menu is under threat from the rise of health-forward food. Does your book combat this?
My book isn’t a health book at all. It’s a cookbook which uses seasonal ingredients in numerous ways to make a tasty meal. Having said that I doubt anything in there would be considered unhealthy - there are no rich desserts! Which I also love. At home I eat a balanced diet and this may well help people achieve that.
What's your favourite recipe from the book and what does it say about the way you cook?
Depending on the weather, my favourite dish changes. A simple favourite as a starter would be the burrata with tomatoes and mango dressing – simple punchy flavours highlighting summer. As a main course it would be the lamb with figs and feta as it is simply delicious and rich and fresh and juicy all at the same time.
Peter Gordon's dishes at The Providores – in pictures
What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?
Gardener, cabinet maker, potter.
Where do you eat out in London? Which chefs are doing things that inspire you?
Now that the book is out of the way I’m looking forward to eating out more. I eat weekly at Hill & Szrok, my local butcher/cook shop. Selin Kiazim, one of my protegés, cooks fabulous Turkish-inspired food at Oklava. José Pizarro makes gorgeous Spanish food at his places, and Beagle and Brawn are regular spots, too. I tend to eat locally in the east as it suits my work and home times.
London's food scene is like an ever-changing fabulous opera – and I love a good opera
Which chefs have influenced the way you cook?
This may sound odd, but very few, and none I could actually put a name to. My formative cooking years were influenced by street cooks in SE Asia and I guess they’ve had the biggest impact. I remember being inspired by various cookbooks (Time Life series, Marcella Hazan) but not one chef in particular.
What do you like best and least about the London food scene? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
The scene is an ever-changing fabulous opera in many ways – with trends coming and going, chefs in and out of favour, spats and trysts. I love a good opera. There’s little to dislike, as the variety, pricing, styles and offerings now suit everyone from a food truck to a 3-star Michelin. I’d change nothing.
What’s the oddest 'fusion' creation you've made?
The burrata and mango in the salad mentioned is a marvellous pairing, which on paper probably shouldn’t work. But it does. Fusion is as complex as any of the great Cuisines, but by its very nature it has no limits of ingredients that can be used and so it requires a good pallet and understanding of ingredients' traits to make it work.
Do you think London is particularly open to 'fusion' food, and why?
Now more than ever. There was a period where chefs and critics simply didn’t like the term 'fusion', without just shutting up and eating and then commenting. London is a city of a diverse mixing post of cultures and so the food can reflect this - hints of Morocco, Italy and Iran all in one plate. Why not!
You’ve trained many well-known chefs – Anna Hansen, Selin Kiazim – do you think you’re particularly good at spotting young talent?
It takes a certain kind of chef to 'get' my food and it's great when we click we really click. Selin came to work at The Providores and I enabled her to explore the food she had in her head. Her dishes were simply 'allowed' to come into being.
Anna Hansen and I worked together briefly at Green Street back in the early/mid '90s, while she was also working with Fergus at The French House. Then she became my head pastry chef at The Sugar Club Soho, before she became a business parter at The Providores. It was the start of her brilliant career. Again, all I did was be the conduit to Anna’s innate creativity and allowed her to create dishes that existed in her. I like to think we worked together and I simply helped answer any queries they had.
Savour, By Peter Gordon and published by Jacqui Small Publishing; theprovidores.co.uk
