Known as the ‘mongrel who understands all the flavours’, Gordon hails from the coastal town of Wanganui. He proudly cooks Fusion Cuisine, which he discovered through visiting ethnic enclaves like Chinatown as an apprentice chef, trying the foods, buying the ingredients and using them with his Italian / French pantry at home. This was in the days when fusion was just picking up and his audacity of ‘confusing’ traditional European flavours shocked his teachers who declared: “Tofu is not a food.” Gordon is currently involved in five different restaurants, has self-authored five cookbooks and has co-written many more. His four recipes showcased the best of New Zealand’s catch— kina (sea urchin), baby paua (black abalone), oysters and prawns.