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P A C I F I C / P R A I R I E December 2015 | Vol. 21 | No. 6
N AT I O N A L
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OPA! EXPLORES NEW TERRITORY
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C O V E R A G E
CHEFS COMPETE AT CONNECT EXPO
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R E G I O N A L
F O C U S
RUSSELL REGROUPS AFTER ACQUISITION
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FEATURE: THE BUYER’S GUIDE ANNUAL LISTING OF SUPPLIERS
The Shaping of a
Culinary Frontier Cook it Raw: 14 Alberta chefs look to First Nations traditions and the province’s quintessential ingredients. By Kristen Smith Managing Editor
Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152
LAC LA BICHE, Alta. — Cook it Raw, a gathering of international and local chefs, landed in Alberta earlier this year with the goal of taking an introspective look at the province’s culinary community. The eighth annual edition of the program, The Shaping of a Culinary Frontier, was led by founder Alessandro Porcelli, who urged the 14 local chefs to look to First Nations traditions and quintessential Alberta ingredients. Cook it Raw launched in Copenhagen in 2009 bringing together 11 influential chefs, such as David Chang, Albert Adria, Rene Redzepi and Massimo Bottura, to explore a cuisine in tune with nature. In the years that followed, Cook it Raw visited a number of communities with a program rooted in tradition, sustainability, collaboration and creativity. “Now what is evolving is more
of a mentorship, collaboration program,” said Porcelli. In partnership with a Yucatan foundation, Porcelli is planning residencies for chefs next year with the goal of creating holistic and mature future leaders. “What I feel, is the restaurant trade has a great potential to create those changes that are needed in society. To understand better where the food is coming from, how important food is to culture and vice versa,” he said. Porcelli characterized Alberta’s culinary community as young, great people with access to amazing products. “The thing that really struck me was there was not so much connection with the First Nations,” said Porcelli, who made this a large focus of the group’s trip to Lac La Biche, Alta., in May. He said it was important for the chefs to keep in mind the number of centuries First Nations have been stewards of the land. “I wanted to have this bonding ex-
From left: chefs Paul Rogalski, Jamie Harling and Jessica Pelland. Photo by Mark Mahaney. perience, I wanted to bring them out of their comfort zone,” he said. The chefs experienced a traditional sweat lodge and visited a bison ranch on a Cree reservation. A bison was killed and taken to a sacred part of the property in a birch forest. “We all had a chance to take apart the carcass, which sounds kind of grisly, but it wasn’t. It was very respectful and very honourable. I don’t think there was a person there who didn’t appreciate the life that was given for our nourishment,” said Paul Rogalski, chef and co-owner of Rouge in Calgary.
Chefs Blair Lebsack (RGE RD, Edmonton) and Brayden Kozak (Three Boars Eatery, Edmonton) were asked to help create a chef ’s playground on Cucumber Island, where the chefs set up camp. “It was really raw, we were hauling mud, packing stones, figuring out a way to cook off of the land,” said Lebsack. In October, the Alberta chefs met with visiting international chefs for a retreat at Mount Engadine Lodge in the Kananaskis area. Arranged in teams, the chefs had specific ingredients to create dishes around: beef,
bison, canola oil, root vegetables, honey, red fife and Saskatoon berries. Liana Robberecht, executive chef at WinSport, was tasked with making canola oil the star of the plate. She and her team prepared canola oil squash curd with Brussels sprout leaves, compressed turnip, pickled sprouted canola seeds and kale ash. Robberecht noted people sometimes get more excited about other places than where they live. “We actually have a lot of really sexy things right here in Alberta,” she said. Continued on page 13
A bicycle built for food security
Chef Jason Leizert.
KELOWNA, B.C. — On Monday mornings, before customers begin to fill the seats at Salted Brick, chef Jason Leizert and his staff prepare meals for the restaurant’s other clientele. About a year ago, Salted Brick, a charcuterie restaurant on Bernard Avenue, started a small outreach program distributing bagged lunches to Kelowna’s homeless in the downtown core. “We were just sitting around one night talking about the different things we could do to make an impact in Kelowna,” Leizert said. “Since I’ve
been here, it seems like there are more people living on the street. This summer it seemed like a lot more have come to Kelowna.” So far, the program has distributed about 2,000 bags containing a sandwich, juice box, fruit and baked good. The Salted Brick and Kelowna’s Sandrine French Pastry and Chocolate provide the ingredients. “We really try to use good ingredients. There’s no point in giving them something bad,” Leizert said. “Every Monday, (lunches) go like hotcakes. People are always expecting us to come. That’s nice to see.”
Although they consider the program a success, Leizert and his team are now working to grow it with the assistance of the community. Leizert has launched a $15,000 GoFundMe campaign to purchase a food bike and supplies to expand the program. The locally-designed bike is equipped with propane, a water tank, two cooking elements and refrigerated storage and will allow Salted Brick to sell sandwiches outside of the restaurant to raise funds for its lunch program. Continued on page 6