Why did you decide to become a chef? I’ve always been infatuated with cooking… and eating, for that matter. I remember being like nine or 10 years old and being obsessed with James Barber's Urban Peasant show on CBC. I was the kid watching Julia Child make magic in her kitchen on a Saturday morning while my friends were watching cartoons. I had always dreamt of being a chef, but never really thought that I would take it up as a career, as I was really set on becoming an archaeologist. After a few years at university, I quickly realized that the academic world wasn’t for me, so I switched gears and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of Canada.
What’s your absolute must-have kitchen tool, something everyone should have at home? A cast iron pan. Five ingredients necessary in everyone's kitchen, including yours? Good quality salt, tamari, sriracha, grainy mustard and garlic. What is the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten at? Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon.
What was your last meal? Kung Pao tofu with broccoli and soba noodles.
“I was the kid watching Julia Child make magic in her kitchen on a Saturday morning while my friends were watching cartoons.”
You’re at home, what are you making? Comfort food in bowls. I love to batch cook, so I’m usually rotating between some type of Thai, Indian or Caribbean curry over rice or quinoa. What is your favourite ingredient to cook with? Black garlic. What is the highlight of your career so far? Being able to help my clients transform their health and watching them go from timid to tearing it up in the kitchen! What is your foodie pleasure(s)? Fresh out of the oven biscuits, hot sauce and a freshly sharpened knife. What is your biggest foodie dislike? Raspberry seeds, pesticides on produce, food insecurity, raisins in places that they shouldn’t be.
What is your proudest moment? Cooking for hip hop artists KRS-One and Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan. Any big new exciting projects you’d like to share? Yes! I’ve recently launched my online program called the Plant Powered Success System where I help ambitious women transition to a plant-based diet so that they can improve their health and confidence in their body and in the kitchen!
I will also be running online group and corporate plant- based cooking classes starting in November 2021.
Who’s your biggest supporter? My 12-year-old niece, Harmony. I’m not sure that she knows that she’s my biggest supporter, but she is, in my eyes. She’s a bright young girl with many talents and she loves to cook, just like her auntie.
FALL 2021/WINTER 2022 www.pei-living.ca
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