Peter Gilmore Alchemist Transformer of Food into Ambrosia

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After the cooking demonstration Peter signed my book and his inscription was just as artistic as his food presentation. The diversity of nature, Gilmore says, is his key inspiration in the kitchen, and it was important to him that the book reflected it.

Peter Gilmore wants to leave you with this guarantee. “If someone is going to take the time to make the Quay chocolate cake, I want it to taste like the Quay chocolate cake, even if it takes them four hours to make it.” He stops and thinks a moment. “Okay, it’ll take eight hours. But it will taste like the Quay chocolate cake.”

 “I am inspired by nature and have coined the term nature-based cuisine to describe my food. Nature offers us so much diversity – a natural elegance and beauty – and it is the organic nature of food, its textures and flavours that is at the heart of my cooking” Peter Gilmore.

Slithers of raw lobster, young green almonds, bergamot marmalade, pomelo segments frozen then smashed, ribbons of green mango, elder flowers & chamomile.

Everyone wanted to be involved with Peter's creations.

Quay named "Best Restaurant in Australasia" for the 3rd year in a row Quay beat a field of more than 400 establishments to take the top prize

Smokes and confit pig cheek cooked  in cryovac bag for 8 hours, thin strips of ribbon like shittake, shaved scallop, the tasy Jerusalem artichoke crisp, juniper berries, bay leaves, jamon, garlic chive flowers.

Nitrogen frozen, fresh pomelo, almond  ice cream, pulled almond tuile, almond cake, lemon curd, milk biscuit, Meringue, lemon jam, lemon crème fraiche; flavors that all worked marvellously really well together.  A new dessert added to the menu this week. Inspired by his visit to southern Spain, the Moorish influence of citrus and almonds. I loved the frozen pomelo giving it splendid popping texture and taste.

Production line when serving up with slight & subtle & controlled manoeuvres used to produce such masterpieces each plate looks like a work of art..

 Gilmore plates up with such delicately and sensitivity he uses tweezers for that subtle and elusive touch.

Peter was the first chief to use eat able flowers in his creations to great effect.

The world famous Snow Egg and its current version, an orb of poached meringue with a crisp toffee shell and a custard apple ice-cream nucleus sitting pretty in a glass with the blissful textural contrast of strawberry guava fool and granita, at once rich and refreshing, still probably tops our list of the country’s most swoon-worthy sweet.

I  was lucky to attend Peter Gilmore of the Quay restaurant fame cooking class last night at Accoutrement.  He is now my number one chief, I have never tasted food like this before. He created raw Lobster, young almonds, Bergamot Marmalade, pomelon, similar to a grape fruit, green Mango Elder flower and Chamomile dust for the entre.  Then Smoked  and confit pig cheek, shiitake , shaved scallop, Jerusalem Artichoke, juniper berries and fresh bay leave Followed by Almond Dessert.  All dishes had 8 to to 9 different preperations for the particular dish.  I had never seen alchemy like this the closest was Brent Savage of Bently.

 

Peter Gilmore seems like a very down-to-earth celebrity chef that still cooks in the kitchen most days of the week