Wiikwemkoong chef participates in culinary event in Kingston furthering reconciliation

By Sam Laskaris

KINGSTON – Joseph Shawana already has a rather hectic work schedule.

But Shawana, a member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, jumped at the opportunity to take part in a special culinary event held on Mar. 18 in Kingston, Ont.

Shawana was one of four Indigenous chefs from across the province that were invited to take part in an event dubbed Call to Action 83: What does reconciliation taste like?

The event, held at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University, featured an Indigenous chef partnered up with a non-Indigenous chef. The duos teamed up to create various dishes that were sampled by members of the public.

The event was inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 83, which urges Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to undertake collaborative projects and produce works that contribute to reconciliation.

Shawana, the Indigenous culinary advisor and a professor at Toronto’s Centennial College, said he had been invited to take part in the event about two months earlier.

“I really try to bridge communities together through food,” said Shawana, who operated his successful Kukum Kitchen restaurant in Toronto prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think that’s our role as chefs and as educators is to try to bridge other communities together so we can all incorporate Canada as a whole and what it truly means to be Canadian.”

Shawana’s Toronto restaurant has since closed but is planning to reopen in 2024.

Shawana was paired up with Cassandra Mercier for the Kingston event. Mercier has served as the head chef at Atomica, a Kingston restaurant, for the past five years.

Shawana said it was rather important that organizers had non-Indigenous chefs work alongside Indigenous ones at the event.

Shawana and Mercier prepared a wild rice quail pappardelle with foraged mushrooms, thyme, brown butter, confit garlic, pecorino, and pea shoots.

“Being paired up with chef Cassandra to prepare this dish has been eye-opening for myself,” Shawana said. “We were talking in the kitchen and she went to culinary school in North Bay so she knows the importance of living off the land and what the land can provide to you. Having that common ground really helps create that bond between chefs to come up with another dish that is both pre-colonial and colonial food.”

Mercier was delighted to discover who her cooking partner would be.

“I actually follow Joseph on Instagram and I was paired with him so I was really excited about it,” she said. “He’s great. He’s very laid back. He’s knowledgeable and he cares a lot.”

Shawana said he doesn’t preach to anybody about his cooking styles.

“I don’t push anything on anybody,” he said. “If they want to learn, they’ll talk to me. Usually pushing a conversation gets you the answers you don’t want, but when you let something naturally happen in a conversation, the conversation will take its own way wherever you go. I love great conversations with people across the country.”

Mercier added she loved the idea of pairing up Indigenous and non-Indigenous chefs.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “It’s not something that we have a lot of experience with and understanding. I think it’s great Tourism Kingston brought in people we can learn from.”

Mercier added she believes even those who did not attend the event could still end up benefiting.

“Hopefully we can pass on what we learn to the other chefs in the community to help bring awareness,” she said.