Martin Bosley MasterChef New Zealand Episode Interview

Martin Bosley MasterChef New Zealand Episode Interview

Martin Bosley is one of New Zealand finest chefs, and his eponymous, award-winning restaurant on the waterfront at Oriental Bay in Wellington is a must-visit for all who appreciate the work of chefs at the peak of their powers and creativity.

Martin owns Martin Bosley's restaurant - which is the result of a vision to create a truly special seafood restaurant, where guests could have a unique dining experience.

Martin Bosley's Crayfish and Asparagus Rolls with Basil Mayonnaise

Makes 4

Ingredients
4 bread rolls
unsalted butter, softened
400g cooked crayfish meat, diced
8-12 Asparagus spears
Method
Cut the bread rolls in half and spread lightly with the butter. Grill the cut sides until golden brown, then remove from the heat.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Carefully slide the asparagus into the water and cook for only a few minutes. Drain and leave to cool. Place the chopped crayfish meat into a bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of dressing, and gently toss together. Pile the crayfish on top of the bottom halves of the bread rolls and top with the asparagus spears. Top with the second half of bread and serve.

For the Basil Mayonnaise:
Ingredients
A handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves
A small bunch of mint
A small bunch of basil
2 anchovy fillets
1 egg yolk
2 Tsp Dijon mustard
4 Tsbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon

Method
Put the parsley leaves into a food processor. Pull the mint leaves from their stalks and add along with the basil leaves to the parsley. Process until roughly chopped then add the anchovy fillets, egg yolk and mustard. Process again and slowly pour on the olive oil. Squeeze in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Tip into a small bowl.

Interview with Martin Bosley

Question: Can you talk about what part you played in the New Zealand MasterChef episode?

Martin Bosley: I took two of the MasterChef contestants along with Justin North through a MasterClass in a restaurant. I took them through a couple of basics and one of the dishes that is currently on the dessert menu of the restaurant, An Upside Down Feijoa and Ginger Cake. Feijoa is a fruit that grows in New Zealand and I wanted to showcase the Feijoa and I used some Manuka Honey too.


Question: How did you like working on MasterChef Australia?

Martin Bosley: It was extraordinary and nerve-racking! It's amazing the talent that MasterChef has.


Question: Did you always want to become a chef?

Martin Bosley: Yes, I never wanted to do anything else.


Question: What inspires you to become a chef?

Martin Bosley: I have always genuinely loved food and I have always enjoyed handling produce and cooking with it. Cooking has a charm and attraction and I have always enjoyed taking an ingredient and enhancing or showcasing the ingredient. I began cooking at the age of nine. If you love something it become quite easy; I think I am a lazy person. Honestly I even enjoy a really bad day in the kitchen. I have had great experiences with being a chef.


Question: Why is cooking with local, fresh produce important to you?

Martin Bosley: Fresh produce is a fundamental foundation of food philosophy. Currently it seems to be a 'catch phrase' or a trendy term but we have always used fresh produce because we want to celebrate local ingredients and the local produce of the region.

It is hard to determine what the 'New Zealand cuisine' is because what defines the cuisine is the quality of the produce. We take influences from all over the world; cooking locally and seasonally was never without question, it is the most sensible thing to be doing.


Question: What inspires the menu at Martin Bosleys's Yacht Club restaurant?

Martin Bosley: Many things. Environment plays a role, the taste primarily influences all the dishes that we develop, it doesn't matter how clever, creative and technical a dish may be if it doesn't taste good, fundamentally it is a fail. The way we plate our food is driven slightly by the environment and how we cook our food is also driven by the environment and we have looked at that over the years. Martin Bosleys's Yacht Club is right on the water and we are predominantly a seafood restaurant and we examined the role that salt and pepper has with our food to the point that we have pretty much eliminated pepper from the kitchen, entirely and we only ever season our fish with salt. Pepper has a really minor role in our kitchen because we have developed our dishes with the environment in mind. Some people may describe what we do as avant garde but we tend not to put crazy things together, the food is combinations that work really well in regards to texture and flavour.


Question: How does New Zealand and Australia's fresh produce differ?

Martin Bosley: I don't believe they do differ too much because I lived and worked in Port Douglas for many years as well and some of the produce we got delivered to Port Douglas was some of the best produce I have ever worked with, it was beautiful but again what we have in New Zealand is an ambient climate, there are so many similarities between New Zealand and Australia's fresh produce - we have people in both countries that are genuinely dedicated to growing great produce. The Farmers Market movement is endeavored to both countries. I don't believe there are too many differences. In saying that, I would love to have some of the Australian seafood, I am always very envious of that.


Question: Overall, what is your favourite dish to cook?

Martin Bosley: I don't have a signature dish as such but a signature idea and that would be our tartares and that is ever changing. One of the reasons why I love that is that if you're are a seafood restaurant and you are going to do raw fish, you absolutely have to be able to stand behind the quality of the fish because if your fish is anything less than fresh you can't do it tartare or carpaccio. Putting a raw fish dish on our menu is a bold statement from our chefs because we are so confident that this is fresh fish we have three raw dishes on our menu.


Interview by Brooke Hunter and Morgan Sutherland.