Ester: Australian Cooking

Mat Lindsay grew up on the central coast of New South Wales and had never been to a fancy restaurant until he walked into Rockpool, the fanciest restaurant in Sydney in its day, looking for a job to pay the bills while he was studying graphic design. Working for Neil Perry and then Kylie Kwong, two of Australia's most celebrated chefs, at Wokpool, Rockpool and at Billy Kwong, he learnt about produce and technique, about how to taste and how to build and balance flavour, and how to work beyond the idea of Western and Eastern cuisines. Ester, the restaurant he opened in Sydney's Chippendale in 2013, has become a standard-bearer for contemporary Australian dining, and Poly, the wine bar he opened in 2018, and A.P Bakery, which he opened in 2021, continue that tradition.A restaurant critic and travel writer with more than two decades' experience to his name, Pat Nourse is the creative director of Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. A former editor at Gourmet Traveller, he has been published internationally in the likes of Condé Nast Traveller, Travel + Leisure, Saveur, Gourmet, Lucky Peach, Lonely Planet, Fool, The Robb Report and Afar, as well as in the books Signature Dishes That Matter and the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. Pat strongly disagrees with Mat's inflammatory views on avocado and mezcal.

"Never question anything Mat Lindsay does. Ever. He's a true genius, although the word is used so often it's become meaningless. But his particular mixture of sensibility, talent and devotional concentration is rare." - Nigella Lawson"Wow, what a book! Mat is a thoughtful, talented, humble chef and Ester is his laser-like thinking on food that just says, 'eat me'." - Neil Perry, Margaret, Sydney"Mat is a trailblazer, no question. Ester, with its open kitchen and grounding, earthy, nurturing wood fire, perfectly reflects his humility, warmth and originality." - Kylie Kwong, Lucky Kwong, Sydney"An insight into the much-loved restaurant Ester - an inspiration to chefs far and wide. Mat's unique ability to distill and coax flavour is presented beautifully and simply for anyone who loves to cook." - Andrew McConnell, Trader House restaurants, Melbourne"Mat has an uncanny ability to strike directly at the heart of what makes food so special. A seemingly simple approach that can only be obtained through the obsession with our craft and decades of dedication. A master of flavour and fire. Ester has always been the type of place that you just don't want to leave, and I'm so glad that I can take a bit of it home with this beautiful book." - René Redzepi, Noma, Copenhagen"Mat's a genius - Ester is the dream restaurant I wished I'd opened. This book is stunning, clever, approachable and smartly written. He's pulled that rare trick of creating a book based on a restaurant that's actually accessible to everyone and will inspire people to cook. He explains what the building blocks of dishes are and how to build confidence. I've no doubt this book will become as iconic as Ester is." - James Lowe, Lyle's, London

• IntroductionBread and doughA toastEat with your handsSalads and vegetablesBuilding blocksSeafoodMeat and birdsThe long Sunday lunchThe great outdoorsSweet and not so sweetBreakfastAcknowledgementsConversions guideIndex