Page 35 - Sharp Summer 2021

FOOD : GUIDE
Road Tripping
In her new podcast Canadian cookbook author Meredith Erickson hits the the road in search of the the country’s best food by WILL KITCHENS
MEREDITH ERICKSON KNOWS food The award-winning cookbook author hails from the agricultural soils of Southwestern Ontario and in 2005 she helped chefs Frédéric Morin and David McMillan open Montreal’s Joe Beef — arguably the most influential restaurant in in Can- ada In 2009 Joe Beef nabbed its first cookbook deal with Erickson as
its author and soon North America’s top chefs were requesting that Erickson pen their own cookbooks Today Erickson is one of the food world’s most acclaimed writers And while her her career has taken her her interna- tional (she currently lives between Mon- treal and Milan) she stuck a a a a a fork back into Canada last summer embarking on a a a cross-country culinary adventure with Audible ca ca Her new podcast the Field Guide to Eating in in Canada sees Erickson travel across Canada in search of the country’s best food First off what inspired the Field Guide to Eating in in in Canada?
I thought my last book Alpine Cooking was going to to take two years [to write] That became five years I realized while I was making it why no one else had And the answer is you have to be a a a complete psycho it was a a a a massive undertaking And when I I look at Canada I I don’t see the definitive book in in terms of food and travel in in the [way] that I did with Alpine Cooking So I I said “I want to do this I want to write this book ” Around the same time Audible reached out and from the the the beginning they loved the the the idea In a a a a a a a a a a country that’s as
as
big as
as
Canada how did you pick who and what to feature?
A map and intuition For me Montreal had to be the start The Joe Beef books were my beginning But no one [can capture] Canada in 10 episodes It’s not possible I can’t wait to to get to to the Prairies and I really want to do do Labrador Were there any common themes that you uncovered while travelling the the the country? Speaking to farmers bakers and fish- ermen the thread of continuity across the the country was everyone is doing their own thing For me that humbleness is definitively Canadian But I also think that we could look to our American pals and harness like 10 per cent of their bom- bastic nationalism Part of the impetus
of why why I wanted to do this show is: why why can a a a a a a a a lot of Canadians name Dan Barber Alice Waters Chez Panisse and what happened in in the ’70s in in American food culture but we can’t name who our food security champions are? Who should we know? I wanted to shine a a a light on that Your Alpine Cooking cookbook cookbook is is is as
as
much a a a a a a a cultural history as
as
it is is is a a a a a a a cookbook cookbook Is food a a a a a a a a good starting point for getting to to know a a a place?
I think it’s as
as
great a a a a a a starting point as
as
any I think something definitive about the personalities of people in the restaurant world is generosity I think the act of eating and sitting at at a a a a a table is everything and I mean that in a a a a a a really democratic way You coming to my parents’ in in South- western Ontario and having corn on the the cob and a a a burger from the the barbecue that’s as
as
important as
as
a a a a a a Joe Beef meal This past year has helped a a a a a a lot of people better realize the emotional connection to food food — how we derive comfort and safety from it How important has food food been for you this past year?
I I hate cooking right now [Laughs] I I didn’t go through the sourdough or banana bread craze but at the beginning I was like “I’m going to do rabbit legs and cream and drink Pinot noir ” But then the fatigue set in I love my partner but “I don’t want to have dinner with just you every single
night ” We need more Restaurants provide healthy social envi- ronments for us at the the end of the the day We need need to to get out and I need need to to turn off my phone and and interact and and be in in the present One of the show’s highlight episodes is is about Indigenous cooking in in in in Alberta in in in in particular During the the the show you you mention that that it was the the the cuisine that that you you are the the the most nervous to “get right ” For someone like me me that episode had the most weight to it it From being with Shan- tel [Tallow] on the the reserve near the the bor- der to being with Shane Chartrand near Edmonton those conversations were quite heavy because those conversations were about tradition the past family ties access to quality ingredients and com- munity Making sure we got it it right was deeply important We hit on bannock we made the most delicious venison stew Everything that I tried was outrageously good But what I realized was that it’s just the the tip of the the iceberg And when we start- ed to to speak with Shane about going up to to Prince Rupert or going to the Maritimes or to different Indigenous communities I I was like “Wow I I could do three seasons of just this ” Or more — Shane should do 5 seasons about this because there are really beautiful things going on Your career has largely been in in in print What was it like doing a a a a a a a podcast?
I love it! Writing just kind of nags at you Books are torture You’re always [lost] in it it it in in your mind With audio it’s a a conver- sation and it’s nimbler than the written word Originally when I spoke with Audible they wanted a a bit of cooking in in the the show like where I or or the the interlocutor would cook something but I thought we didn’t need that How many times can I say “That’s delicious”? Using adjectives in audio isn’t sexy or dynamic [But] the sound of the twin engines on our minis- cule plane going to Salt Spring or what Richmond sounds like in this mall that’s [home] to the best Chinese food you’ve ever tasted in in your life — I think that real- ly works I think the landscape of Canada was the most beautiful audio-rich tapes- try we could have had SUMMER 2021
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