#1 Living Peter Gordon in Whanganui

A joint birthday and house warming celebration for a close friend were great reasons to visit Whanganui. Referred to as the River City, it has a population of just over 43, 000 and was home to Peter Gordon, one of the chefs captured in "The New Zealand Cookbook". And it would seem that it was a lucky capture from Murray Thorn and his team that collated this book. Peter G was in town from his London based home where they quickly snapped up a photo and penned a couple of what could be surmised as comfort family recipes. Alas, there was not a Peter Gordon restaurant in Whanganui, which meant only one thing... I would have to recreate the dishes myself. This was a lot cheaper option than visiting his London based restaurant  "The Providores" and I must say the road trip was a delight. I purchased badly needed shoes at a roaring 60% of the original price in Central Hawke's Bay. Stopping by in Norsewood we were inundated with treats. This included shop owners that invited your dog to join you in the shop browsing the aisles, jackets for husband Jamie at slashed prices, and one shop that had a log fire that you could stand by sipping your complimentary filter coffee whilst considering the purchase of a wooden phallic sculpture just short of 6 foot!

After the excitement of the trip, we finally arrived in Whanganui. Our friend Peter T (name co-incidence!) has just purchased #15 on a site that had spectacular views of the river and city, and it was at #15 that I cooked the two recipes that Peter Gordon had put his name to. Unlike the fusion themed recipes that were typical of Peter G, these would have had to be the most uncomplicated recipes in the book. This was perfect, as we didn't have much time and Peter T was still in the process of setting up the kitchen. But we had all we needed for "Spaghetti and Cheese Toasts" and "Bruce Gordon's Souffle Omelette".

The hardest decision for the toasts was what brand of spaghetti should we buy. Of course "it must be Watties" won due to the renowned characteristic richness of the red tomato sauce that bathed those little worms. A muffin tin, butter and cheddar cheese were only the additional items needed, and voila a quick party snack was ready for the eating.

The souffle omelette was pretty foolproof. Jamie accepted the challenge of being a biological egg beater and whisked up the 6 egg whites to a beautiful white fluff. This was folded into the already cooked bacon, onion and tomato mix which was swimming in the egg yolk. Back on the stove for the whites to firm up, then finished off with some grated cheddar cheese melted under the grill. The omelette was shared amongst the remnants of the birthday party the night before... overlooking the spectacular Whanganui river.






#15 (photo bombed by Bailey)

Peter T and father John T sampling the
Spaghetti and Cheese Toasts

Breakfast in the making

Ready to cook the souffle omelette

Spectacular Whanganui River


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