Wellington chef Martin Bosley's new book is a work of art. He explains to Kerri Jackson why he couldn't have done it five years ago.
Capers in the Kitchen, or perhaps Martin Bosley's Kitchen Capers - either of these could be the title of the star Wellington chef's third cook book, should he decide to do one.
It was in the two-year production process of his stunning second book, Martin Bosley, just released, that Bosley discovered he had an obsession with capers. "This book involved looking back through 10 years of recipes. We had them laid out all over the bench and pinned on the kitchen wall to figure out what to include. Looking at them I suddenly realised I use capers with everything.
"I'd never realised it before - certainly never said 'god I love capers I must have them with everything'. But I do."
Caper obsession aside, Martin Bosley, the book is something of a love letter to Bosley's career and his Wellington restaurants - Brasserie Flipp, something of a capital legend, now closed, and Martin Bosley, the fine dining, multi-award winning seafood restaurant which opened in Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in 2001.
Where Bosley's first book, Martin Bosley Cooks, was essentially a collection of his Listener food columns, the new book is a celebration of fine dining.
"I've always had a foot in both camps - aspirational home cooking and fine dining. And I wanted this book to make a point. It's a record of where we've been, but also where we're going."
With it's crisp white hardcover, high-spec production, stunning photography by Jane Ussher, and high-end recipe focus it is something of a watershed moment for New Zealand food culture.
"I couldn't have done this book for five years ago." Bosley agrees. "We are so lucky now we have a dining culture that is very aware of the food they eat, and the importance of quality. We are also in the glorious position of having a dining culture that isn't stifled by 300 years of food traditions. That is very liberating."
And finally Kiwis are getting over the culinary cultural cringe and embracing our own chefs. "We have world class chefs here, making world class food with the best produce in the world.
"The public now realise that and seem to have a new respect for our own chefs and take what they do much more seriously."
Where now he's in constant demand for events, it wasn't so long ago Bosley says that he'd be pestered by PR companies wanting the names of only overseas chefs who may be available, not realising just how "hugely offensive that was to me and about 30 of my mates".
He is reluctant to admit it but he says shows like Masterchef NZ have helped. "As much as I despise them, it has helped people realise that things which may seem simple in the kitchen may be much more difficult. They create an awareness of what we do, and an audience for the industry as a whole."
That audience is particularly loyal and well-informed in Wellington, Bosley insists, adding that he's in no hurry to move on from the capital, which has become something of a New Zealand dining destination. "Wellingtonians eat out a lot.
"They're tremendously supportive and they're tremendously vocal. They'll bark like a dog if you've done something wrong. Or if they think you're ripping them off."
But he is also adamant it's not just Wellington's gourmets or fellow chefs who will cook the recipes in Martin Bosley, despite it's high-end focus.
"People will find things in it they will cook at home. Even if they don't make all the elements of a dish they might look at something and think 'that's an interesting way of cooking a bit of fish, I'm going to give that a go'. You can lift things out."
It was an epic book to produce, taking two years from the idea to the finished product, partly because of the seasonal nature of some dishes and partly because Bosley and Ussher wanted the book to be design-led. "For a typical Listener food shoot we might photograph 18 dishes in a day. For this we were struggling to get through three or four.
"It was really intense. Jane had to play around a lot with light and angles to get it right, but we knew what we wanted this book to be right from the start.
"We wanted it to set a new benchmark.
"In the restaurant, we strive to be the very best we can be and the book is an extension of that. It couldn't be an apology for the book we wanted it tobe."
* Recipes and images extracted from Martin Bosley by Martin Bosley, photographs by Jane Ussher, Godwit, $90. Available now.
