Matt Burgess

He could have ended up in a Maori gang and a New Zealand prison. Instead, Matt Burgess followed the path of food and flavour, becoming one of the world’s leading live-fire chefs. RUPERT BATES reports

With apologies to my father-in-law and to the late Jonah Lomu, but – and food may have been a deciding factor – I might just have found my favourite New Zealander.

One of my most memorable interviews when writing about sport was with the great Lomu, who landed on planet rugby, extra-terrestrial in strength, size and speed, terrifying opponents on the field, while humbly engaging and connecting with all around him off it.

Lomu was at the height of his fame when I first spoke to the legendary All Black, taken so young. I expected an ego the size of the five-star London hotel we were meeting in. Instead, Jonah single-handedly carried the photographer’s heavy equipment up eight flights of stairs as the lift had broken, before demolishing a whole chicken for lunch amid stories to make you laugh and cry.

Lomu would have loved Matt Burgess, especially if Matt barbecued poultry for the big man. Burgess, born and raised in the suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, now resides in east London and cooks up wondrous fire food, be it for recipe development, festivals, or in the gardens of private clients.

Weber’s Jon Finch, a leading pitmaster himself, puts Burgess right at the top of the tree when it comes to live-fire cooking in the UK today – quite some accolade from a man who himself has inspired so many to learn and elevate the art and craft of BBQ.

Burgess – known to many by his Instagram moniker of @matblak – is deeply proud of his Māori heritage, while cherishing the home cooking influences of his family, who originally emigrated to New Zealand from Manchester in England.

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