Playing with fire: Behind the scenes of Good Food magazine's fiery cover shoot

• Burning man: Firedoor chef Lennox Hastie on harnessing fear through fire

Lennox Hastie is usually in his element surrounded by flames, but the cover shoot for Good Food Magazine's launch issue proved to be a hotter experience than the chef is accustomed to.

"I'm pretty good with fire, but there's only so long you can stand a foot away from it and maintain a pose," said Hastie, named Citi Chef of the Year in the Good Food Guide 2020 for his tight control of flames at Sydney's Firedoor where every dish is cooked over woodfire. The Surry Hills restaurant has no gas, no electricity - Hastie even has to light a fire to boil a pot of water.

"When someone is literally adding fuel to the fire in front of your face, it's like 'oh my god'," said Hastie. "What is this? There was even a kids' wading pool filled with water next to me, just in case I caught on fire and needed extinguishing."

Award-winning photographer Nic Walker was commissioned by Good Food editor Ardyn Bernoth to shoot the cover for Good Food's new monthly magazine, free with today's Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. They agreed the cover image needed to feature real flames - no digital fakery.

"Launching a new magazine is such an exciting opportunity, and this one had to be as high octane as they come," said Bernoth.

Walker and his studio assistants spent a full day prior to the shoot burning reams of kerosene-drenched butcher's paper to ensure they could achieve the desired amount of fire and keep Hastie safe.

"I have a Melbourne-based artist friend, James McCready, who literally sets himself on fire for his video works, so I went to him for advice," said Walker.

"He said using kerosene was one of the safest ways to create flames, but also noted kerosene-based fire doesn't photograph that well," said Walker. "You need alcohol if you want sexy red flames."

Walker discovered that by cutting lines in the paper and painting them with kerosene, and spraying the resulting flames with a high-alcohol solution, he had better control over the fire's height and direction.

Walker said Hastie was a great sport about the cover shoot in spite of the heat. "It's a good thing he's around fire all the time. I don't think I could have done this with just anyone."

Good Food Magazine launches today, featuring all-new features, recipes and interviews with Australia's top chefs. The Good Food Guide's third annual national edition is on sale now in newsagencies and bookstores, and available to order at thestore.com.au/gfg20 for $29.99 with free shipping.