Julie Jacobson
Gordon McEwen could be forgiven for wanting to cry into his kilt at times. The veteran chef, who has cooked for some of the diplomatic community's most powerful members, is acutely allergic to fish.
But the former Wellington restaurateur hasn't let what many would consider to be a major handicap get in the way of a stellar 40-year career in the kitchen.
Now at the Tauranga Club in the Bay of Plenty, McEwen spent the past 19 years as chef to five US ambassadors. During that time he catered for several world leaders and dozens of visiting dignitaries.
It was while working at the ambassador's Lower Hutt residence he had his first reaction to seafood.
"I'd been cooking fish for 25 years. I'd just had a meal when my eyes started falling out of my head and my lips began swelling up. It was not very pleasant."
Since then, he has used gloves to prepare the fish and shellfish meals for which he has become renowned.
At the same time, he "cooks" in his head - "I imagine the dish and the taste in my mind".
McEwen's wife, Elizabeth, and other kitchen staff are called on to check seasoning and taste any new dish he develops.
He says the allergy has had unexpected results - he believes his kitchen has some of the highest hygiene standards in the business.
"I take huge care in the kitchen not to cross-contaminate anything. I've had to become very aware of the implements I use, which means everyone else in the kitchen picks up on that."
While it doesn't hamper what goes on the menu - calamari in a soy-lime dressing; chilli, garlic and ginger prawns; and fresh fish with an Asian mustard sauce and balsamic vinegar drizzle are some of his dishes - it has occasionally put a dampener on McEwen's social life.
He has learned not to kiss his wife immediately after she has eaten seafood, and there have been several times when he's especially chosen steak at a restaurant only to suffer a reaction. "I've known straight away that whoever cooked that steak had been handling fish."
Despite that, McEwen still loves fish. He waxes lyrical when describing the preparation that goes into his dishes, and says he remembers distinctly what fish tastes like; "the texture on my tongue, Akaroa smoked salmon ... it sometimes drives me insane that I can't taste it".
He admits to being so tempted by a nice piece of fresh fish that he ate several small pieces "just in case I'd got over it.
"Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I hadn't."
Ironically, Thai fish sauce, tinned salmon and tuna, and marinated mussels, are four things that don't trigger a reaction.
Nor does smelling seafood. "Like any- one else, I can tell what's fresh and what isn't," he laughs.
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