Five Wellington chefs used donated food to create a gourmet three-course meal at this year's Everybody Eats Cook-Off.

Conor McDonald is a sous chef at the Wellington restaurant Atlas.

He served up a root vegetable salad entree, a choice of braised lamb or falafel with a winter spiced orange gastrique for the main and an apple & pear crumble for dessert.

Originally from Ireland, Conor has been in Wellington for three years.

He says it was a little bit nerve-wracking not knowing what ingredients he'd be given to work with on the day, we're gonna get but he's happy to support Everybody Eats.

"There's waste food out there and there's people that are hungry so it's great that they're putting the two together and making meals for people."

Everybody Eats is a New Zealand organisation that runs pay-as-you-feel community restaurants in Wellington and Auckland. 

The Everybody Eats Next Gen Cook-Off was held at Wellington's LT. event space as part of the Visa Wellington On a Plate festival.

Recipe: Winter Spiced Orange Gastrique by Conor McDonald

Chef Conor McDonald slicing an orange Photo: RNZ

This is a very versatile sauce with sweetness and acidity which can liven up many dishes. I used it during the Everybody Eats event to dress the turnips and beetroots which I served as an appetiser sized salad alongside whipped, herby cream cheese and candied nuts and seeds. It could also work very well to dress hot roasted veggies such as carrots or squash as they come out of the oven. It could be mixed with olive oil at a 2:1 ratio of oil to gastrique and used as a salad dressing for leafy greens. It would also work very well warmed and drizzled over grilled fish or roast duck.

Ingredients

• 500ml freshly squeezed orange juice

• 50g brown sugar

• 50g apple cider vinegar

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 star anise

• 3 cloves

• 1 cardamom pod

Method

• Add orange juice and spices to a pot, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half (250ml remaining), stirring occasionally.

• Strain out spices and reserve orange reduction.

• In another pot, bring brown sugar and cider vinegar to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until the liquid becomes slightly thicker and syrupy, coating the back of a spoon.

• Mix both reductions together, allow to cool and season with salt to taste.