TORONTO -- Indigenous chefs are skipping the grocery store lines and opting for a more traditional approach to food.
Instead of pre-packaged meats and commercially grown foods, Indigenous chefs are returning to their territories to hunt and gather.
“I’m going back to the bush, back to where I came from,” said Indigenous chef Cezin Nottaway. “Eating what I’m supposed to and what I have to, because it’s who I am as an Anishnawbe.”
Indigenous chefs are bringing traditional food items, like corn, maple and wild rice back to the table.
“They actually taught settlers how to make sugar out of maple,” said food researcher and author Lenore Newman.
She said that a long-persistent myth would have people believe that Indigenous people weren’t farming in B.C. until after settlers arrived.
“Of course they did,” said Newman.
When people ask what Indigenous cuisine is, culinary teacher David Wolman has the answer.
“It’s foods that were here pre-contact,” he said.
Putting a new spin on traditional dishes is Wolman’s forte, and bringing contemporary flavours to traditional dishes is bringing a lot of attention to these chefs.
“Curried caribou, where I’m taking our caribou and making a curry out of it, it’s quite nice,” said Wolman.
Nottaway served her Indigenous food to thousands on Parliament Hill for Canada’s 150th birthday.
Now, Indigenous chefs say they are using traditional dishes and ingredients to tackle racism and colonialism, and to connect with their roots.
