Recipes that are sure to please
BRIDGET DAVIS is not joking in the subtitle of her new recipe book, ‘‘recipes that saved my life’’.
The Sydneybased New Zealand chef has pulled together her mostloved recipes that have appeared on restaurant menus and on kitchen tables to the delight of paying customers and family members in her book 128
Recipes that saved my life . . . or at least my dinner.
‘‘You could say these recipes are my secret sauce. The ones I know will work and will make diners exquisitely happy.’’
A Kiwi at heart, Davis is proudly Ngati Manu (hapu), studied at Manukau Institute of Technology and spent most of her early career working in Auckland restaurants, such as Pavarotti, Number 5
Restaurant, Merlot Restaurant, Pearl Restaurant and as executive chef of Orange Productions Catering.
At just 21, she owned her first catering business and in her 30 years as a chef has cooked for the Sultan of Brunei and the King of Tonga.
She moved to Sydney in 2008 and was given the opportunity to work as head chef for Bill Granger at his Bills restaurant in Darlinghurst.
She has now settled in Sydney, working in many areas of hospitality, including as a restaurant consultant for new businesses, owning and simultaneously operating two gastro pub kitchens, working as a culinary demonstrator, cooking on cruise ships as a chef entertainer and a boutique caterer for Google.
Her book is divided into breakfast and brunchy ‘‘things’’, baked goods, salads and soups and sections on meat, seafood, vegetables, party food, condiments and sweets.
‘‘Those recipes have seen me through dire times, rendered a table of guests speechless, had people fight over the last offerings and challenged people’s thoughts and ideas.’’
In a twist at the end of the book, she has even included some recipes for ‘‘beauty food’’.