District’s teaching chefs learn from B.C.’s first Indigenous Red Seal chef

Chef Andrew George led a Pro-D session for Surrey teaching chefs, putting together several Indigenous dishes. (Photo by Stephen Schram)

Teaching chefs from across the district were recently treated to a professional development session with Chef Andrew George, a Hereditary wing Chief for the Bear Clan in the traditional system of the Wet’suwet’en people and the first Indigenous Red Seal chef in B.C.

Seven teaching chefs and a few culinary assistants attended George’s session, organized by the district’s Career Education department. George, who currently serves as the Director of Indigenous Initiatives for the Industry Training Authority (ITA), brought with him more than 30 years of cooking knowledge and experience, with his resumé including work with Expo 86, the Chateau Whistler, the Four Seasons and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Enver Creek Secondary teaching chef Mike Doyle. “We made bannock, clam fritters, a grilled salmon, bison burgers.

“I brought along one of my Indigenous students – he’s interested in becoming a chef and is going to take my program next year. I thought, how great is that to introduce him to the culinary scene?”

Doyle said George was very approachable and knowledgeable in the kitchen, and offered opportunities for the chefs and his student to actively participate throughout the session.

“He got the student involved with slicing, dicing, chopping and everything we were doing that day – it was a really hands-on experience,” he said. “For a young person, especially with an Aboriginal background, hearing from Chef George was really powerful.”

With this being the first Indigenous culinary professional development opportunity of its kind in the district, Doyle said it was exciting to see new ways to connect Indigenous culture to the curriculum and share what they learned from the session with their cooking classes. One of the takeaways was to make use of foods that are local to B.C. and stick to more of a 100-mile diet, in keeping with Indigenous traditions.

“We’re pretty lucky in this province to capitalize on the natural resources here and some of the great product that we have,” said Doyle. “I think it’s so important nowadays to shop local and sustainably and use what you have here at home… it’s kind of the First Nations way of cooking and managing food.”

Doyle said he had a great time learning under George and hopes his student found the session to be as inspirational as he did.

“I think it’s important to hear others’ stories,” said Doyle. “You might think you can’t do it or don’t know how to go about it, but by hearing someone else’s story, it can be that inspiration and guidance for these students. I would love to have more workshops like this.”