6 Delicious Burger Recipes for NZ House & Garden – Maite Paternain – Food Photographer, Stylist and Recipe Developer
Starting again in New Zealand
After settling in New Zealand, it still took me a few months to get back on the tools. Despite all our efforts, the container with all our belongings had a delayed departure in France and, once in New Zealand, it was stuck in Tauranga harbour for weeks. All my photography props were in it.
As a Food Photographer and Food Stylist, each plate, piece of cutlery, or table cloth curated through years of walking the second-hand shops in the south of France is a small treasure. So it was impossible to get started until I had those with me. Instead, I spent time setting up a small studio in my garden, a tiny space next to a large tree, with a big old window.
By July, I had my props, my tiny studio, and I was ready to start again. With a mixture of excitement and apprehension, I emailed a few New Zealand magazines to introduce myself and bring some attention to my work. Luckily, I got some replies, and one of them was from the editor of stunning NZ House & Garden. They loved my work and were happy to see what I could for them in the food section of the magazine.
Food Photography, Food Styling and Recipe Development for NZ House & Garden
My first editorial feature for NZ House and Garden was published in November 2021. As I do in most of my editorial projects, I developed the recipes, sourced the props, cooked the food and styled and photographed each image myself. It implies a lot of preparation and a fair amount of juggling. Still, I love the control and flexibility that I have every single step of the process.
The feature portrayed a variety of burgers, including a vegan option. It also had instructions for making your own burger buns and a couple of homemade burger sauces.
For the styling, I was inspired by American diners. I chose to style my story using black and white with vibrant red and yellow accents. Even if this was a colour palette I hadn’t used before, I was confident it would set the right mood to tell the story.
The result was the colourful, high contrast and appetizing feature shown below.
- Two Simple Homemade Burger Sauces (recipe here)
- Greek Lamb Feta Burgers with Shaved Baby Cucumber & Dill Yoghurt Sauce (recipe here)
- Barbecue Pulled Jackfruit & Pineapple Salsa Burger (recipe here)
- Beef, Roast Capsicum & Whipped Gorgonzola Burger (recipe here)
- Fail-proof Burger Buns (recipe here)
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Honey Mustard Zucchini Slaw Burger (recipe here)
