Louise Perzigian
Chef Alesha Bilbrough-Collins in one of the tunnel gardens on her Upper Moutere property.
Rough cut with a “punch” of spice is one way to describe Upper Moutere chef Alesha Bilbrough-Collins. It’s also the way she likes to prepare her vegetables, which take a prominent place in her cooking.
Three years ago Bilbrough-Collins moved to Upper Moutere from Christchurch, where she ran a bustling deli and catering business for seven years.
Her BearLion Foods catering business travelled with her, and she is now setting up a once-a-month open day where people come and buy her takeaway meals and condiments.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Bilbrough-Collins also caters at local events, cooks for families, and has just released a cookbook Food for Thought.
READ MORE:
* Nicola Galloway shares wallet friendly recipes that don’t skimp on flavour
* Three recipes to try from Emma Galloway’s My Darling Lemon Thyme, Every Day
* Superstar chef Yotam Ottolenghi to appear live in Wellington and Auckland
In Upper Moutere, Bilbrough-Collins lives on a rural and picturesque half acre with her husband and is establishing a vegetable garden and tunnel house to supply BearLion Foods. “I love the beauty and variety of vegetables, how versatile they are. With cauliflower I can have a purée, roast or raw.”
When she eats meat, it is usually a small amount on the side.
Part of the secret to loving vegetables is using lots of herbs and spices for flavour, she says.
“Try everything. Kumara is great with ground coriander, or smoked paprika, or basil. I love cauliflower with sage.” Just don’t forget some quality salt, she adds.
She likes to throw big bunches of fresh herbs such as coriander into her dishes. “Everybody can be timid. They are not used to a lot of flavour. I use mint, basil, thyme, oregano, wild fennel.” When cooking legumes, she will always add rosemary sprigs, thyme, bay leaf, or sage.
She says one change New Zealanders can make to reduce carbon emissions is to shift to locally grown grains, such as quinoa and beans.
Bilbrough-Collins remembers walking by a London restaurant in 2008 and stopping short at the sight of plates filled with vegetables. “It was how I imagined food should be presented. Big chunky vegetables. I thought, what is this place?”
The next day she wrote to the restaurant and submitted her resume, and after an interview with Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi she started work as a sous chef. She quickly became head chef at the Ottolenghi named after its culinary star.
Her cookbook can be found at her website www.bearlionfoods.co.nz.