Al Brown, star chef, author of Go Fish and Stoked and genius behind Depot and Logan Brown, serves up a loving portrait of regional New Zealand and its best produce. As well as delicious recipes from all over NZ, this beautifully designed book includes a special extra – a CD of songs from local bands to play as you read the book and cook the recipes – to get you into the regional mood.

Al's delight in the landscape, food and people of ten stunning areas of New Zealand is plainly evident in this gem of a book. He explores the main farmers' market of each region and visits their key producers, works out a menu that epitomises that region and serves up iconic, delicious recipes. Including Northland, Coromandel, South Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Canterbury, Central Otago, Dunedin and Riverton, Al covers the country from north to south. Written in Al's characteristic jaunty style, there's about 60,000 words describing the delights of these places plus 30 wonderful recipes.

SAMPLE RECIPE (pictured left)

Crispy-skin Snapper with Tomatillo Salsa and Spiced marrow
Serves 6

Step 1. Tomatillo Salsa
2½ cups tomatillo, cut into 1cm dice
2 red capsicums, roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into 1cm dice
¹⁄³ cup finely diced red onion
½ cup roughly chopped fresh coriander (leaves only)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh red chilli
1 teaspoon Spanish smoked sweet paprika
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan and ground
1 teaspoon sugar
¼– ¹⁄³ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice if needed. Refrigerate until required.

Step 2. Spiced Marrow
18 pieces rampicante marrow (or similar), cut into 1cm thick rounds
18 pieces zucchini, cut into 1cm thick rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Spanish smoked sweet paprika
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan
and ground
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the rampicante marrow and zucchini in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Coat with the oil
and spices and season with salt and pepper.
Heat a skillet over a medium heat. Sauté the vegetable rounds on both sides until coloured. Transfer to an oven tray and set aside.

Step 3. To Cook and Serve
6 × 150g snapper fillets, skin on
cooking oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spiced Marrow
Tomatillo Salsa
2 lemons, cut into wedges

Preheat the oven to 150ºC.
Take a skillet or sauté pan and place over a medium heat. Take a sharp knife and score each snapper portion a couple of times just through the skin — this will help the fish stay flat in the pan, ensuring even cooking. Season the snapper fillets.
Add a little cooking oil to the pan then cook the snapper fillets in batches, skin side down, until golden and crisp. Turn and continue to cook the fillets until just done. Remove and keep warm while you finish cooking the other fillets.
Place the spiced marrow in the oven to reheat for 2 minutes.
Lay the cooked vegetables in the centre of your heated plates, top with your snapper, crispy-skin side up. Generously spoon the tomatillo salsa over the fish and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Author Biography

Al Brown, celebrity chef and genius behind Depot, 2012 Metro Supreme Restaurant of the Year, in Auckland and co-owner of Logan Brown in Wellington, is also the star of TV series Get Fresh, Coasters and Hunger for the Wild. He's the author of Stoked and Go Fish, which won People's Choice and Best Illustrated Book in the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards and Best Single Subject at the highly regarded International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards in the USA.