The Plating Game: Jesse Mulligan

We asked one of our favourite Kiwis to share his food loves so we could create dishes especially for him.

Jesse’s LinkedIn profile aptly describes him as a man of many jobs and children. As one of New Zealand’s most respected broadcasters, he has been across all three main forms of media: television (former presenter and writer for 7Days and The Project) radio (Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ) and print (restaurant reviewer for Viva).

He’s known for his wit and intelligence and is a popular MC where he crafts his script to suit both industry and audience.

Jesse grew up in Hamilton and originally studied law. He now lives in Ponsonby with his equally accomplished wife Victoria and four children.

Describe an early food memory that has stayed with you.
Jesse: My mum used to run a bakery in Hamilton so on special occasions she would let me get up with her at 4am and go into work – taste test the chocolate chip cookie dough and wait for the world to wake up. I’m sure it was just a small operation but I remember it was like visiting the Wonka factory.

What sort of food did you eat growing up?
Jesse: My mum and dad were grown-up hippies so they were big on vegetarian food – nut loaf! – and ingredients that took a bit of finding in Hamilton in the early 80s. At some point Dad turned from a hippy to a yuppie and started drinking filter coffee (sounds flash but he used to reuse the filters) and camembert. Do you know how exotic camembert was in New Zealand in 1986? Friends used to ask if they could come over just to take a look at it.

Do you like to cook?
Jesse: I love it. I officially became a vegetarian myself when I was 15 and, later when I went flatting as a student, I learnt that you had to work extra hard to make something delicious if you weren’t cheating and using sausages. My mum got me Alison Holst’s Meals without Meat, (a classic of the time which has probably dated a bit, though I still make her “African Beans” for the kids). I made my way through that one then Dad bought me The Enchanted Broccoli Forest which was a game changer. I’ve sought out recipes and new cuisines ever since – I find it extremely therapeutic, chopping and frying.

What’s your signature dish that you like to make?
Jesse: Tough question! I think I’ll say Indian vegetarian curry (I should say I long ago started eating meat again, but we tend towards plant-based at home just because it suits our pantry-basics style of cooking). I’m getting better and better at my curries – each one a little better than the last but still nowhere near those flavours you get from an Indian takeaway.

What are some of your favourite dishes?
Jesse: Another tough question for a food critic. I love spice, and most often crave a spicy noodle soup or power-packed Thai curry. I’ve mentioned Indian which is my desert island dish. I love being served offal because it’s so rare – I mean most people like ceviche but it’s on every menu, so it’s been diminished a little by its ubiquity. Anything low and slow! A great Italian pasta dish, like cacio e pepe or aglio e olio.

Do you have any favourite cookbooks or food writers?
Jesse: It sounds unexciting these days but I’ve learnt so much of my technique from Jamie Oliver, to whom the Western world owes a great debt in my opinion. Nigel Slater is fantastic and suits my style. Ottolenghi when I can be bothered! Locally I love Sam Parrish and Kelly Gibney.

What would be your last meal?
Jesse: How many times am I allowed to mention Indian food in this interview? It would be a steaming curry with perfect rice and bread and mango pickle. It’s a little basic to order chicken for a last meal I know, but my favourite curries are those ones you can taste the smoky tandoor on the meat.

Do you like to entertain, and do you have any tricks for entertaining at home?
Jesse: We don’t entertain much, apart from ourselves and our children. When we do we try to keep things simple – not quite Alison Roman’s trick of ordering fried chicken in a bucket when she has friends for dinner, but something (Victoria’s insistence) that won’t take me out of the conversation for long, frequent periods.

What’s always in your shopping trolley?
Jesse: Onions – brown ones for cooking, red ones for sandwiches and spring onions for salads!

Is there anything you don’t eat?
Jesse: Nothing! Though Victoria is a sworn enemy of celery – it doesn’t affect life much except for Bloody Mary garnishes and the odd incomplete mirepoix.

What’s a treat that always lifts your mood?
Jesse: A 2pm cup of tea, part way through a busy radio show. I don’t even need a biscuit! I think it’s that it signals a moment I can take a breath and relax for a second. This used to be what I used cigarettes for but I kicked the habit over twenty years ago and am now happily hooked on a small amount of mid- afternoon caffeine.

What are some go-to weeknight meals when you need something quick?
Jesse: Spaghetti aglio olio – the kids’ favourite (“daddy’s special pasta” they call it). Also, if I’m cooking rice I’ll try to make extra then whip up a fried rice later in the week with the leftovers. But probably the most frequent in our house is cauliflower – roasted in olive oil for 25 mins then tossed with whatever we have to hand.

Favourite tipple – alcoholic or non-alcoholic?
Jesse: It’s a negroni, though they really knock you round more than any other drink, so you need to know what you’re in for. Once I discovered them a few years ago my wine drinking dried up almost entirely, though I’ve relented a bit these days and sometimes a glass of Albarino is a much better choice than hard liquor.

Which city is your favourite foodie destination?
Jesse: Beyond Auckland, I love Hawkes Bay which always has something new – particularly Hastings and surrounds. If we’re outside of NZ I have to mention my love affair with Tokyo, which began last year and will continue (this time with my two girls) when we do a return visit later in 2024.

I loved Japan and the way seasons played such a big role in what they ate and how they live. I catch snapper and kahawai (and, once, a kingfish) on my kayak and am always interested in new ways to eat them!

If you could teleport to any restaurant in the world for dinner tonight, what would it be and why?
Jesse: An impossible question! It wouldn’t be somewhere flash. It’d be a little country restaurant in Southern France, probably, when the weather is warm and ricotta-stuffed courgette flowers are in season and you can sit outside eating a dish that wouldn’t taste this good anywhere else in the world.

Any favourite flavours or ingredients?
Jesse: We’ve started using fennel seeds a lot. Cauliflower as discussed! We’ve just started using gochugang and are enjoying getting to know its charms.

Is there a dish that you’ve always wanted to conquer but have never quite been able to?
Jesse: I’m terrible at frying halloumi.

Nobody believes me because “it’s so easy” they say, but it either sticks to the pan and cannot be flipped, or melts into a white puddle all over everything. It’s my Achilles Heel!

Are there any cuisines that you are keen to try / countries you’d like to visit to experience the food and culture?
Jesse: I’d love to learn more about Korean food. I’ve done Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern but would love to seriously eat around places like Syria and Iran.
I dream of going to India one day.

Has being a restaurant reviewer changed the way you cook or make food at home?
Jesse: Not really but being a cook has changed the way I review. Nowadays my biggest question when I’m eating out is “could I have done this better myself?”. It’s always sad when the answer is ‘yes’.

Click here to find one of the recipes that Sarah made for Jesse.