No hands sat idle during a cooking from held in Air Ronge on Friday. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

indigenous cooking

Chef leads immersive Métis culinary experience in Air Ronge

Aug 23, 2024 | 5:00 PM

A dozen individuals with a passion for cooking came together Friday at Air Ronge’s Heritage Park for an immersive experience with Métis chef Jenni Lessard.

It was an entirely hands on experience, with participants doing everything from preparing vegetables to frying fish to enjoying the product of their hard work. Many of the ingredients were local to Northern Saskatchewan with others coming from Lessard’s garden in Lumsden in the Qu’Appelle Valley.

On the menu was fried pickerel, juniper ranch coleslaw, coffee baked lentils, wild rice, berry compote, sautéed potatoes with bannock crumble, and iced muskeg tea.

“I think it went really well, everybody pitched right in. Everybody did something. There were no hands that stayed idle during this,” Lessard explained.

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“The way I like to teach is I probably learn as much as I teach, so I like to have a lot of input from participants when we decide which way we want our fish cooked or should we add this vegetable or that. I find it makes the meal better when everybody has a voice in what’s happening. In that way I think it went well.”

Lessard, who has no formal culinary education, grew up near La Ronge at Lamp Lake. She began her culinary career at 14 with a food stand at the airport. She later cooked at a restaurant in Birch Hills, did catering in Saskatoon for eight years, and she also worked at Wanuskewin Heritage Park.

Lessard currently operates Inspired by Nature Culinary Consulting, where she develops recipes and menus. Earlier this week, she was in Missinipe offering a cooking program called Field to Shield. Cooking with fresh, local and native ingredients is becoming more popular these days, Lessard noted.

A participants assist Jenni Lessard in making coffee baked lentils. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

Participants sauté potatoes and onions with a bannock crumble. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

A plate with all the foods prepared on Friday with the exception of iced muskeg tea. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“I do a lot of work with the Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations,” she added.

“I am part of their board and a lot of times people say they don’t have access to a lot of Indigenous ingredients, but the seasonings like alder pepper, juniper and chanterelle powder, a lot of these things are coming out of the North and I would say … they are a really flavourful way of adding some of those seasonings into the diet.”

Lessard wants to inspire people to join the culinary arts. She mentioned those would are interested don’t need to learn entirely hands on like she did as there are many culinary programs available in Saskatchewan to suit everyone’s needs. Lessard also encourages people to incorporate local ingredients into their diets.

“I grew up picking berries and mint from down by the lake, watching people cook and being in the kitchen whenever people were cooking,” she said.

“It’s always been part of my life and I really believe that youth and children, if they are passionate about something when they are young, it’s probably what they are meant to do and they could be doing for the rest of their life.”

Coffee Baked Lentils – serves 24 as a side dish

Ingredients:

4 cups green lentils

rinsed 6 cups brewed coffee hot or cold

2 cups cold water

1 796 ml can tomatoes, diced, with juices

2 carrots, small diced

2 celery stalks, small diced

1 medium onion, minced

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp olive or canola oil

1/4th cup molasses

1/8th cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

To Make:

1) Place rinsed lentils in large roaster with tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, molasses, coffee, water, brown sugar, cumin, ginger, salt, pepper and bay leaves.

2) Heat oil in large fry pan. Add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until garlic starts to brown, and onions have softened. Add to lentils in roaster.

3) Bake at 350F, covered with roaster lid, in gas oven, for 1 hr. then remove from oven and check to make sure most of the liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are soft. Taste for seasoning and add more sugar, salt, pepper, or vinegar as needed. Cook longer if needed or keep warm for service.

Can be served hot or cold and freezes well.

To make: Sauté chopped veg and minced garlic in oil till onions start to brown. Add to lentils, seasonings and coffee in a large roaster. Bake an hour at 350, covered. Check and add more liquid if needed. Adjust seasonings as desired.

NOTE: This yields 6-8 servings as a side dish. Since we’re just sprinkling it on the salad or using it as a puree’ base, I think we would only need to double or triple the recipe.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com