camwyn:

In Canada, true Indigenous cuisine is
relatively unknown. Ask almost any Canadian to name an Indigenous dish,
and their answer will almost certainly be “bannock,” a kind of dry
skillet bread. Chef Rich Francis, based in Six Nations of the Grand
River, Ontario, refuses to serve it. “Bannock isn’t even Indigenous, in
the truest sense,” he says. “It was what we made when our land was
taken, our movement limited, and our provisions reduced to a sack of
flour. It was taught to us—it’s Scottish traditionally—it’s colonization
food.”

Chef Francis, who is Gwich’in and
Haudenosaunee, has been in the spotlight over the last few years, often
for challenging beliefs such as those about bannock. In 2014, he was the
first-ever Indigenous contestant on Top Chef Canada, where he took
third place despite being a favorite to win. His incorporation of
Indigenous medicine flavors (sweetgrass, tobacco, sage, and cedar)
throughout the season won him praise, but the judges were unforgiving
about his offering featuring muskox. Some undercooked quail in the dish
didn’t help, either.

Francis is working to help change the
narrative around Indigenous cuisine not exactly by recreating it, but by
bringing some of its ingredients and techniques to modern tables and
palates. Over the past few years, Francis has hosted dinners around the
theme of reconciliation, to explore what modern Indigenous cuisine is,
and could be. To do so, he’s looking within himself, to nature, and to
elders across the country—but there are few who can fully recall the
flavors of a pre-colonial palate.

How an Indigenous Chef Is Decolonizing Canadian Cuisine