Every February, Canadians celebrate Black History Month which consists of festivities and events to honor the legacy of Black Canadians and their communities. The theme for 2022 Black History Month is: ‘February and Forever: Celebrating Black History today and every day,’ which focuses on the daily contributions that Black Canadians make to Canada.

I am a big fan of farm-to-table or farm to fork. I believe in food security, proximity, self-reliance, and sustainability. It is important for us to have a healthy relationship with food. Food is important for us as human beings.

A family that eats together stays together. Eating together allows conversations to happen, it sets a routine, it helps with assigning tasks and allows parents to influence what their children eat. I have known Michelle Marshall for more than a quarter-century. I am proud when my friends do well. Michelle Marshall has raised 5 children, continues to work full time, and runs an amazing catering business. I want to know a little bit more about her and her philosophy. I strongly recommend her for any of your parties.

Michelle, an honor to have a chef, mother, wife, and a woman of faith on my blog. Tell my audience something important about you?

I love listening to people’s stories, especially over a great meal. I also love rainstorms.

What inspired you to become a chef?

To be honest for a long time I did not consider myself a chef. That is a title that others have given me for the work I have done. My first choice of career was to become a psychologist, but at the time my family couldn’t afford that education. Instead, I went to school for Culinary Management because I really enjoyed cooking. I cook because that is my expression of love and care for others.

Name three ingredients you consciously avoid or eliminate even when the recipe calls for it?

Margarine, all vegetable oils, and flour. These ingredients each cause inflammatory responses in the body, and there are natural health-supporting alternatives.

Name three things you have to use in most recipes?

Coconut oil, scotch bonnet pepper, and lemon zest (and juice). A heart-healthy fat; flavor and fire; and that added ingredient to brighten up the flavors in most dishes.

How important is eating meals together as a family to you?

Eating together as a family is a key to helping us stay connected. Our meal times are very loud with lots of teasing and joking. The challenge that we face is making time with all our different schedules. But we are fighting to make it happen as often as we can.

What are your favorite regional cuisines or specific foods?

Indian food certainly, followed by Hakka. The love and care that go into Indian food flavors are beautiful. Similarly, the combination of Indian and Chinese influences in Hakka is addictive.

I should also mention that I love Caribbean food – especially Jamaican food because of my roots.

Over the years, I have catered events that have required me to prepare Ukrainian, Korean, Chinese, Canadian, Trinidadian, Jamaican, Portuguese, Italian Greek, and Ecuadorean dishes for very discerning audiences.

One of my new pursuits is to learn traditional cultural dishes from various elders. This summer I had a great education in Indian cooking from a mother and daughter team. I recently blogged about that exciting experience. 

If you could have any four people, from anywhere over for dinner, who would they be and why?

Firstly, my Grandmother has passed. She was the best cook and the kindest person.

Maya Angelou, because I would love to cook with – and listen to – her.

Michelle Obama, because she is a great mother and I would love to learn from her.

Nelson Mandela, because of his humility and forgiveness of others were so inspiring.

If you could just banish any one food, from the earth, what would it be?

I would banish hydrogenated fats because they have no redeeming nutritional qualities. They mainly exist because factory-produced foods require cheap fats to extend their shelf-life.

What’s the one superpower wish you had?

The ability to heal.  Of course, that would lead to lineups around the corner and very little sleep. I have also always wanted to be able to sing well.

I have been dying to ask you this one question. How did you manage five kids in the home?

I would like to say that we are super-organized and it is easy, but the truth is that it is really hard to meet the ever-changing needs of 5 very different people. We do our best, but the pressures of raising children in the digital age (where everything is available to them on their cell phones) is challenging. We try to be vigilant, present, and open with our kids. On the practical side, they all have their responsibilities around the house, and everyone cooks and can help with meals. That helps a great deal with the daily tasks because both my husband and I work full-time. We are grateful for the 5 beautiful souls that we have gotten to grow alongside for the past 18 years.

I want you to give my audience three tips on how to be a great loving mother, an awesome humble wife, how to cook a quick meal for a family?

My new goals, because they have changed over the years, are to learn to give unconditional respect, communicate openly (even if I have to write in a journal to get my thoughts across), and seek ways to be lovely to my husband.

3 quick meal tips:

• Start with what you have
• Reinvent leftovers
• Use fresh vegetables, not meat, as the star of your meal

How did you have time for yourself?

Time for myself is best spent in the company of good friends. Whether it is a walk or a cup of tea, being with people who I love fills up my emotional cup.

What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from that?

My greatest failure has always been trying to be what people want me to be, instead of being who I really am. No one wins in those situations. People deserve the choice to love me for who I am, rather than the person I think they want me to be.

Walk me through something challenging you have been through in life and what did you do to overcome it and thrive on the other side of the tunnel?

18 months ago, my father-in-law had a life-altering stroke. During his recovery, I felt helpless to do anything to support both him and my mother-in-law. Calling to check in on them, or suggesting snow removal services wasn’t enough.

At that time, I started to explore the healing properties of food. That began my journey into the field of culinary nutrition. With the support and encouragement of my husband I researched and signed up for an intensive culinary nutrition course. In the 18 months since my father-in-law’s stroke, we have moved them into a condo from their home of 35 years, and I have gone back to (and finished) school. We then renovated our home and moved 3 times in 6 weeks. That renovation was to allow me to teach culinary nutrition cooking classes. I will also be doing catering from the new space with a focus on using whole foods to promote better health.

The learning curve to begin this new endeavor is huge, but it has been worth it. What once was a situation that felt hopeless is now filled with possibilities. I can now help people to find food solutions for their health challenges.

Although I have been in the food industry for decades, coming through this challenging period is the story behind Michelle Marshall’s Food Solutions.

If I want you to cater to 20 guests who are vegans, have allergies, and are on the Atkins diet, can you pull it off for me?

[Laughs] Admittedly, you might want to have them over on separate nights! Yes, I can pull it off, but that dinner party would be a tough one. The vegans might be offended by all the meat the Atkins guests are eating, and nuts would be out of the question if some guests are allergic.

Personally, I would start by excluding everything that causes an allergic reaction, and then find out what foods people love. It would probably be a vegan menu, but it certainly can be done.

We have covered food; the family now let’s talk about faith. I believe we need more unconditional love in this world and less judgment. Do we have something in common?

Unconditional love in practice is a beautiful thing. We all need it, but it is hard to give. It is the one thing that is able to cross every boundary and bring peace both to the giver and the receiver.

Forgiveness and gratitude go a long way in this life and being joyful. Please comment?

Forgiveness frees us from the bondage that is always threatening to enslave us. Around every corner, hate is trying to grab a hold of us, but forgiveness is freedom.

At the heart of every truly joyful soul is gratitude. The amazing thing is that gratitude goes beyond our circumstances and sees the beauty in even the smallest kindnesses and gestures.

Peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, compassion…. universal qualities. What does your faith say about these things?

My faith says that peace, patience, kindness, gentleness are all attributes of love. Not a feeling, but actions that we take into our daily lives to protect our hearts – and the hearts of those we encounter. Love is a choice we make to treat others as we would desire to be treated.

The post Michelle Marshall: Chef listening to People’s Stories appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Shagun Mehra was named as one of the top 5 craftspeople in India in the luxury edition of Fortune Magazine. Shagun is a fifth-generation hotelier, a game-changer female chef, and a trailblazer.  A graduate of Switzerland’s renowned Ecole Les Roches, she fine-tuned her culinary skills at Paris’ Le Cordon Bleu.

Shagun recently cooked with Xavier Pellicer in Spain at his Restaurant Xavier Pellicer, which was named the Best Vegetable Restaurant in the World.

Shagun is presently a full-time director at Surya Palace Hotel Vadodara – the flagship property of the Jindal Group of Hotels – having taken the baton from her father. She is also Director of Cuisine at the luxury award-winning resort Coco Shambhala.

Shagun, I consider it an honor and privilege to have you on my blog.  Help me understand your love for food, wine and joie de vivre. How did it all start?

I’m a hotelier’s daughter. I’m a 5th generation in the business of food. So, I guess it runs in my veins. I’m naturally drawn to it and I feel like ingredients and wine speak to me. The complexity intrigues me in the most natural ways. So, I studied Hotel Management at Ecole Les Roches, Switzerland, and then polished my culinary skills at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris.

I have traveled to more than 30 countries and people always link Indian food to a Balti curry or Butter Chicken. Please elaborate that Indian food is a lot more than that?

Indian food is one of the most diverse cuisines on this planet. Every 100 kilometers is a new cuisine. Hence its complexity lies in the many regional dishes that span across India. So, I think it’s greatly unfair to just narrow it down to a few dishes like Butter Chicken & Balti Curry.

Let’s talk about organic food. What is your take on it and do you use it in your kitchen?

India is a land of villages and agriculture. We grow our own grains, vegetables, and fruits. It is only the bulk supermarket-sourced stuff that is full of fertilizers and pesticides. I serve and eat what the farmer grows for himself and his family. I do my best to source my produce from the farms. I know it may not be certified organic, but India is still heading slowly towards this trend, whereas it is easiest to source fresh produce in villages of Goa and Maharashtra where I live and work.

In Indian culture, becoming a chef is not the first choice. Is that attitude changing?

What you say is true. Especially for a woman. We are expected to be domestic cooks, but the idea of a woman heading a kitchen is still rare. This is changing but still quite slow. Not many well-educated people opt for cooking as a professional chef, because in the past it was a job associated with menial labor. Today you will find a good few chefs going towards a culinary career because it is an exciting space, but there is so much more room for many more.

I want to know three ingredients you do not like to use in your kitchen and three that you love?

Ingredients I don’t like:

Broiler Chicken

Canned or Processed Foods

Free Flowing Processed Bleached Salt & Sugar

Ingredients I love:

Homegrown micro-greens

Seasonal Vegetables & Fruits, indigenous to the area

Fresh Fish & Seafood that come alive into the kitchen

What does women empowerment mean to you?

When a woman can make decisions for herself that are true to herself. When she is not obliged to cultural and social barriers. Women empowerment is when a woman can stand equal to a man in having ambition and seeing it through. When she can decide exactly what is right for her.

How have marriage and motherhood changed you?

It has made me more sensitive towards the immense inner strength I carry. I have learned to prioritize family and work simultaneously, juggling with them both while living my dream. It is quite a feat. Most men miss this opportunity because pregnancy and motherhood are great lessons on sacrifice but also stealth. This is a big gift that we women are bestowed with.

What advantage does a female chef bring into a commercial kitchen?

Women are natural cooks. We are instinctive by nature. We naturally multi-task hence we can manage better. We are better organized and systematic and because of the years of struggle before us, we are deeply self-driven and motivated to prove a point most to ourselves and then to the others. This makes women great chefs.

You were in Spain recently, cooking. Walk me through that experience what did you learn, what did they learn from you?

I realized how evolved Spanish Gastronomy and philosophy truly is. I learned the importance of respecting the simplest of ingredients and allowing their flavor to shine. I learned to not chase exotic expensive ingredients and take pride in the rich bounty of my own surroundings. I learned about respecting most the people that work for me, and how important they are to my success. I understood that social media is a platform of the future and that it will be crucial for chefs like myself to get the word out through this medium. I learned the art of using restraint in cooking when I want to overpower my food with flavor and multi ingredients. I learned the art of finesse in plating. I learned a world of important food language.

The Spanish learned the beauty of Indian Spices and ancient cooking techniques. They realized the diversity of plates we offer in one meal. They found Indian food a kaleidoscope of robust and delicate flavors marrying together. Most of all they learned how exciting vegetarian food can be!

How important is eating meals together as a family to you?

I love it when my family and friends sit around the table and share food and stories. As a child, I learned most about food by listening to my parents discuss the nuances of a perfect ‘phulka roti’ and how the cumin seeds in the ‘Jeera Aloo’ shouldn’t have been burnt. Its a time of learning, enjoyment, and bonding. It must be done, even if not daily.

Rapid Fire:

Favorite city – Barcelona

Favorite food -Indian Regional

Favorite dish- Khichdi, kadhi, homemade pickle, eggplant potato bhaji, Rajasthani papad & home-made curds

Best wine pairing with chicken curry – Palo Cortado Sherry

Best wine pairing with Indian veg food – German Riesling

Given a choice to cook for four favorite people who would you pick and why?

Chef Alain Passard – He loves Indian Regional Food and gained 3 Michelin stars mastering vegetables

Leonardo di Caprio – He is a passionate wildlife activist and through my food, I can tell him my story of my Foundation – Ear to the Wild Foundation www.eartothewild.in

Chef Andoni Luiz Aduriz – He is sensitive to serving food that is eaten with fingers. He has an innovative approach to food

Matt Preston – I love his passion for food, his eloquence, and most of all his wardrobe!

You are chosen to go to Mars and can take only 5 things what would those be?

Incense sticks to always keep things smelling good

Meditation Beads because I guess I won’t be having much company there

Binoculars to look for company!

Thepla because I love them any given day and I’m almost Gujarati!

Magic bottle of water that keeps refilling itself

The post Shagun Mehra: Trailblazer in the Kitchen appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.