He's worked in five-star restaurants in London, Devon and Florida but Tauranga celebrity chef Peter Blakeway says you can't beat fresh food from New Zealand.
Mr Blakeway and his wife Anne have spent the past year travelling the country, searching for the freshest produce.
Along the way they've discovered many culinary delights
and have brought together recipes that represent New Zealand.
They've sampled food from all over the country and have released a cookbook, Fresh!, which they say will allow anyone to produce "tasty, fresh food".
"I wanted to celebrate all the fantastic produce we have here in New Zealand and be really proud of where we live," Mr Blakeway said.
Mr and Mrs Blakeway travelled to 17 regions across New Zealand in search of interesting and unique ingredients.
Mr Blakeway said he was particularly interested in working with paua and "coming up with my kind of recipe was a lot of fun".
Mr Blakeway said the recipes inside the recipe book Fresh!, were easy to make and anyone with a standard pantry and kitchen could achieve them.
Mr and Mrs Blakeway emphasised the importance of food as a tool to bring people together. Creating the book was a family affair and often their young sons were roped in to help out.
Mr Blakeway said the book's photographer, Simon Young, produced "some of the best food pictures" he had ever seen.
Fresh! will be officially launched tonight and is on sale in all book retailers in Tauranga.
Fresh! is Mr and Mrs Blakeway's first book.
Mr Blakeway said the process was "a lot of fun" and if people enjoy it, it would be "the first of many".
