This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Going to meet a culinary culture is a gateway to discovering an entire culture, and a way to take your taste buds on a journey. In southwestern Ontario, at Six Nations of the Grand River, Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) Chief Tawnya Brant uses her traditions to help her community find their palace. Encounter.
On the way to Six Nations of the Grand River, Tawnya Brant texts us: “The address isn’t listed, but it’s the weird-looking house on the left. Its façade includes large, slightly slanted windows, so as to capture maximum sunlight and create a greenhouse effect in the veranda. Above the glazed wall, solar panels benefit just as much to provide electricity for the house. This is actually the Mohawk Seedkeepers Gardens of Terrylynn Brant, Tawnya’s mother, the place where she grows and preserves the ancestral seeds that the community has cultivated for many moons.
On the edge of the windows, the tomato plants are in great shape, even in autumn, at the time of our visit. In the large room, bunches of dried corn cobs hang from the ceiling beams. A bed of fresh tomatoes fills the back table and jars with all kinds of dried beans fill the shelf.
On the other side of the room, a kitchen is used to test and prepare these precious ingredients. “I started working in the kitchen at the age of 12, says Tawnya Brant, who we got to know in season 10 of the show Top Chef Canada. Every job I’ve had has taken me back to the kitchen. It wasn’t until twenty years after I started in the business that I realized that what I was cooking at home interested people. »
At the same time, his mother retired and designed the Mohawk Seedkeepers Gardens. “We could finally work together and contribute to food sovereignty,” she adds. Basically, we’re doing what we’ve always done, growing the ingredients we cook, but on a bigger scale. That way, we manage to educate, help and feed more people. »
Cultivating biodiversity
Tawnya’s mother, Terrylynn, sits at the big table to show us her beans. “You’ll never find that at the grocery store,” she proudly exclaims. But before telling you about the varieties we grow, it is important to know who we are, the Onkwehonwe people, the original people, and not a First Nation of Canada. Each Aboriginal community on the territory has its own identity. »
Her mission as a seed guardian is precisely to ensure that her cultivars can be preserved and transmitted to future generations of her community. Because beyond cultural traditions such as dance and music, agriculture is an integral part of concrete actions that keep knowledge alive.
In addition to growing plants, she also practices picking. “About 80% of the food we eat comes from the bushes,” says Terrylynn. So most of my job is to keep nature well. »
At the other end of the food chain, she firmly believes in the talent of chefs everywhere in the world to change culinary practices and protect biodiversity. “They have a gift that I don’t have,” she says. So they have the opportunity to illustrate what sustainable cooking could be, starting with cooking beans more often. »
Cooking up hope
Through her Yawékon restaurant, accessible to all and located in the Six Nations shopping center, Tawnya Brant’s goal is to feed her community first and foremost. “My community is not looking for a culinary experience,” she explains. So I adapted my recipes to bridge the gap between modern and traditional cuisines. Venison, wild rice, corn and local greens are included in familiar recipes, such as bison shepherd’s pie or salmon and wild rice chowder, to familiarize them with these flavours. This is his way of helping his community, especially the children, to find his palace.
On site, we can also get our hands on Black Duck wild rice hand-harvested by the Anishinaabe community of Curve Lake, located between Kingston and Toronto, north of Peterborough. The traditional cultivation and harvesting of wild rice is one of the many ways this First Nation protects and preserves its skills, and in turn contributes to food sovereignty.
Our journalist was the guest of Destination Ontario.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.
This special content was produced by Le Devoir’s special publications team, reporting to marketing. The editorial staff of Le Devoir did not take part.