So it's not surprising that the recipes are traditional, although they are her interpretations of recipes she learned from Mamma Fenisia Vittori. Seagar takes a group to Umbria annually where Mamma teaches them to cook traditional dishes. But anyone who's been to Italy (or wishes they could go) will be hit by a wave of nostalgia browsing through the evocative photographs and recipes.
All the usual suspects that New Zealanders like are here - risottos, pastas of various types (including a bolognese sauce), tomato, mozzarella and basil salad with a caper twist, grisini, ciabatta, tiramisu, pannacotta and much more. A gorgeously produced coffee table book that is also useful in the kitchen.
Author of the award-winning Go Fish, the chef continues his fascination with the outdoors and wild food, and indulges his love of cooking over an open fire, whether on the beach, a charcoal barbecue, a wood-fired oven or a hangi (or if needed, gas or a domestic oven).
It's definitely not a book for vegetarians. Apart from a brief section on wild mushrooms, a few tips on foraging for seaweed and a handful of side salads and baking, it concentrates on meat - wild meat and fish, with photos of butchering the prey, bloody knives, carcasses and well-chewed bones, as well as the cooked product - those who prefer not to think of the origins of their steak or chop or fillet may find it disturbing.
This food is a long way from the carefully arranged plates and meltingly tender meat found in restaurants such as his acclaimed Wellington restaurant Logan Brown. In this book he talks about the importance of flavour over tenderness - you need to chew to release the flavour, but what flavour a piece of meat cooked over an open fire has!
They range from cupcakes to bigger cakes and desserts, finger food, parcels and mini-pizzas to things for picnics and lunch boxes. With photographs by Shaun Cato-Symonds it's a tempting treat for girls.
