Soy Bean Stories

I'd been buying tofu from this guy for a while now. Heck, I'd even written about it in The Coast. But I never really thought about the work that went into it. Or who else ate his tofu.  

But there was one person in particular who ate a lot of that tofu. His daughter, Pay Chen. Pay wrote a piece for Munchies, Vice's sister site. Entitled, "My Dad's Half-Baked Plan To Introduce Tofu to Atlantic Canada," , Pay talks about growing up in a household where tofu was not only a meal, but a topic of discussion. 

Inspired, I contacted Pay to see if I could interview her to talk a little more about her parents, her relationship with tofu, and the relationships that people have forged with her Dad because of his tofu. 

You can stream the story here, and download the podcast of this episode via Information Morning's on iTunes. 

You can also hear previously unaired excerpts of my interview with Pay with "Have A Seat", the sister to "Assis Toi."

Update:  On July 12th, CBC New Brunswick posted about the story on their website, giving the story a little extra traction. Many thanks to them. 

Pull up a chair and take a seat.

Last summer was filled with cakes and cookies, cocktails and beer, vegan food and sea urchins, washoku-style meals that harkened back to family, and a look into how cancer can affect the appetites of those we love.  

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A little hint of what is to come this summer: (clockwise) A tale of tofu, two types of beer, and a little bit of Asia via the Annapolis Valley.

That’s what you got to hear about - and more - on “Assis Toi”, a summer series about food that airs on CBC Radio in the Maritimes. Once a week,  “Assis Toi” introduces listeners in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to people who have special relationships with food, and the stories found within.  

This year, I’ll be posting hints about upcoming stories on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #assistoicbc. There will be photos and short videos of the people you’ll soon be hear on your CBC local morning show.

For example, here’s a quick peek at the first episode of Assis Toi, with Joy Hillier, from Fudgelicious.

The first episode went to air on Thursday, July 2nd on Information Morning here in Halifax and the rest of mainland Nova Scotia. You can listen to the first episode here, or you can download the podcast via iTunes. 

A very Beard-y moment

In 2004,  someone took me to a little Vietnamese restaurant and told me, "You need to try phô." I soon became a regular customer at this restaurant. Sundays were days meant for phô. 

About a year later, that restaurant closed, due to an unfortunate fire. I was also, unfortunately, unemployed around that time.  My desire for phô, was still there.  So I went to my local library and looked up books on Vietnamese food. One of the most recent was a book by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, called Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet*.  The book didn't just look at the food of Vietnam, but also the neighbouring countries and the people who lived therein. And within those people and places, the ingredients, the traditions, the raison d'être for these various foodways.  I had never seen a cookbook like this. 

In the middle of the book was a recipe for that luscious phô. Many trips were made to asian grocers, replenishing my stock of cinnamon and star anise, along with trips to the farmers market, with plastic bags of beef bones straining between my fingers. But I didn't care. Soon my house would smell of phô. 

There were many other dishes made from that book. At one point, a very kind and patient recipe guinea pig/boyfriend would ask, "Can we have something made without fish sauce?".  Soon there were many other books, filling the small shelf in my small apartment kitchen. I started scouring second hand bookstores for more cookbooks. My kitchen cupboards started to bulge with books, appliances, ingredients. My mother once opened my fridge and asked me, "Do you really need four different kinds of soy sauce?" 

Yes. Yes I do.

I started to write about food. A story or two,  here and there for local publications, along with all kinds of other stories. My desire for writing and telling stories was as deep and involved as that thirst for phô was only a few years ago.  

I decided to go back to school, after a few years of working in the food industry as a server and bartender.  I went to journalism school, and while I was there, decided to focus on food. Not as a critic - that is an entirely different beast, and one that I do not feel I have the proper background or experience for - but as someone who wanted to tell the stories of the people who produced the food that was set on tables.  Farmers, producers, chefs, brewers, roasters, anyone and everyone who touched what was on your plate.

Since 2010, I have been doing just that. I have been able to tell those stories on local, regional, national, and international scales.  I have had the opportunity to interview people I admire in all sorts of fields. I've even had fanboy moments, interviewing authors, filmmakers, and journalists whose work I have followed for years.  

And then last summer, all this work that I have been doing became recognised by a group of people I truly admired. I got asked to be a judge for the 2015 James Beard Awards. At first I honestly thought it was a joke. Someone was playing a mean trick. But no, it was real. 

And so this week, I am on my way to New York City to attend the James Beard Awards. I will be at the same table as the people whose work I have followed, admired, and shared with so many people.  I still find myself pinching myself, saying, "Am I really doing this?"

The answer is yes.

Yes, I will be eating four meals a day while I walk the streets of Manhattan. Yes, I will be highly caffeinated.  And who knows, maybe I will be having a bowl or dish of something new that will launch me somewhere else. I will be well-nourished. 

Have some munchies

I recently was contacted by Munchies, Vice Media's sister site, to do a bit of writing for them.  Karon Liu,  Munchies editor in Canada, and I had a great chat about some possible stories for the site, and here are the first two. 

The first is a story about that most hallowed of haligonian foods, the donair. I have to admit, when Karon mentioned writing about it, I was hesitant, but he asked me to discuss the dish in a different context - how the donair is part of Halifax's culture, from high to low brow.

The second started as a conversation about fish maw, that lovely delicacy found in chinese groceries.  I mentioned to Karon that up in St. John's, chef Todd Perrin was playing with cod sounds, the very same swim bladder that is so prized. I ended up talking to Perrin about not just cod sounds, but how important it is to prize food traditions, and the knowledge - epsecially sustainability - that is found therein. 

As well as working for Munchies, I was recently asked by Atlantic Books Today to write a few reviews of cookbooks for them.  It's a tasty job, and someone has to do it.

Also on the magazine tip, I teamed up with Saltscapes for a story about Ted Hutten from Hutten Family Farm in Lakeville, here in Nova Scotia. Hutten has made himself known amongst food lovers and chefs in Halifax and much of the Annapolis Valley for his amazing produce, especially his devotion to asian greens and herbs. The story appears in the March/April issue of the magazine, and is on newsstands now. 

Talking Culinary History, in both official languages.

Over the past few weeks, I have been repeating two words, over and over: culinary heritage.

One of the reasons for this is because I recently signed a book deal with Nimbus Publishing to write a book on Acadian cookery.   The book will be an exploration of the Acadian pantry and palate, looking at recipes, traditions, methods, and the items found in Acadian kitchens throughout the Atlantic region. 

Because of this research, I was asked to speak at the Festival de Clare-té in Church Point, Nova Scotia, on March 21st. The arts and culture festival is put on by the Fédération régional des arts et du patrimoine de la Baie. This was my second time at the festival, and this year I spoke on and about some of the research I have been doing, looking into the agricultural, economic, cultural, and historical connections that make up the Acadian kitchen.

In the same vein, I was asked to speak on two separate programs on Radio-Canada.  The first was on Le Réveil, Radio-Canada's french-language morning show for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, talking about the conference, as well as my upcoming book. I also spoke on Tout Un Samedi, their Saturday morning current affairs program broadcast throughout the Atlantic Provinces. 

To top it all off, I was also recently asked to be a guest on CTV Morning Live, where host Heidi Petracek and I talked about the importance of - and interest in - older culinary traditions, methods, and recipes. You can watch the segment here. 

Joining CTV Morning Live's Heidi Petracek and talking about old kitchens and the meals that came out of them.

In the meantime, I plan on conducting more and more research, interviews, and digging around as much as I can on this topic. If you have any information or tips of any sort on this subject, please don't hesitate to contact me.