new spaces 10 EN

42 Sights and Scenes Environment-conscious Jonny Schwass works only with local produce and dismisses haute cuisine with imported luxury products as nonsense. himself and put it on a guest’s plate — and to know how these fl owers tasted out in the meadow yesterday — than to serve delicacies that have been shrinkwrapped long before and fl own in from some distant part of the world. “People really don’t have to eat caviar,” he says. His holistic philosophy also extends to meat consumption. “People who kill an animal should always eat the whole animal,” Schwass says. He believes that killing ten cows to get 20 fi llet steaks is a senseless and unethical luxury. He therefore wants to “demystify” the duck he’s carving and preparing for the participants of a cooking event in Auckland that is being organised in the Gaggenau mobile kitchen in cooperation with the New Zealand magazine DISH. He uses the skin of the neck as a sausage casing, the head and feet will later be roasted and then reduced to stock, and the fat will be melted to use as lard. “It’s wonderful for roasts,” he says. But what about the cholesterol? The chef simply laughs: “I love butter and animal fats. They’re the best carriers of fl avours.” Despite his baroque exuberance, Schwass handles the raw meat with extreme gentleness. He poaches the duck breasts in a plastic bag just barely simmering in a double boiler. This method of cooking food at temperatures below the boiling point, which is known as “sous vide”, is once again becoming very popular. “Slow and low” is his motto. In the very last step, the meat is roasted to make the crust crispy. Without having the necessary kitchen technology, Schwass could not achieve the top quality for which he is receiving accolades — and numerous awards — from a growing number of New Zealanders and visitors from abroad. He swears by his Combisteam oven and his induction cooktop. Until just a few years ago, he still believed that cooking with gas was the opti- mal method. After all, he had grown up in the tradition of the “raging, racing, testosterone-driven chefs” who frantically manoeuvre pots and pans across open fl ames — a cooking style that is a brutal struggle with the elements and the employees. “If you wanted to shoot a reality show in my kitchen, you’d bore your viewers to death, because it’s so quiet here — there’s no cursing and no panic,” grins Schwass, who is an advocate of “slow food”. When he’s in his kitchen, he takes his time; in fact, some of his dishes take hours or even days to prepare. And he merely laughs at the complicated artworks presented by TV chefs — creations that tower over the heads of the guests and sugar spirals that could stab your eyes out. “Food is not an art,” he says. “Food is life.” Schwass has experienced this truth at fi rst hand. The fi rst time was ten years ago, when he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemotherapy, and the second time was half a year ago when his city was devastated by the earthquake. Ever since these two experiences, he has focused on the essentials — the things that really count. “If worse comes to worst,” he says, “I’d prefer to surround myself with good wine, delicious food and happy people.” He will soon be able to do just that, but hopefully without experiencing any further catastrophes: at the end of this year his new restaurant will be opening in Christchurch. This time it will be simpler, even more inviting, and less exclusive. “I want it to feel as though you’re eating in someone’s home,” he says. “Being together with other people has become more important for us.” Until his restaurant opens, Schwass is making do with the Gaggenau mobile showroom. There he can work on his new dishes and try them out right away at his private dinners.

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