Here we will pro­file peo­ple in this province who help shape the way we eat, cook and think about food.

photo by Jo-Ann McCarthur

Doug McNish, chef

This young chef used to weigh 250 lbs. before chang­ing his diet and going vegan. Now he heads up the kitchen at Raw Aura where his entire menu is com­pletely raw.

Where did you start out in the food world?

My first job was at a British pub when I was 16 years  old.  I really learned how to move fast and  cook basic foods like curry, gravy and sand­wiches.  It was here that I fell in love with the kitchen, the team­work involved to make sure things run prop­erly and the utter and com­plete con­trolled crazi­ness of a pro­fes­sional cook­ing environment.

What changes have you seen over the years in how the peo­ple you meet feel about local farm­ers and food?

This is such an impor­tant issue.  Now more than ever I am find­ing peo­ple want to learn and under­stand where their food comes from.  They are see­ing that spinach in a big plas­tic bag from California with a Frito Lay label on the back is not nec­es­sar­ily the best thing to put in their bod­ies. Documentaries like “Food Inc.” and oth­ers com­ing out now are show­ing the world that our food sup­ply is in ter­ri­ble shape and we need to do some­thing about it now!  We tend to for­get that farm­ers have fed peo­ple for cen­turies. Becasue of the advent of big cor­po­ra­tions want­ing to make more money we have sac­ri­ficed not only nutri­tion but fam­i­lies that rely on us to pur­chase their crops to survive.

what is your favourite vegetable?

This is a two parter.  In the win­ter it would have to be cel­ery root.  It is rich, aro­matic and can be made into any­thing from a soup, salad, puree etc.  In the warmer months I would have to say black kale.  It is loaded with the good stuff we need and can be made to taste deli­cious with var­i­ous sea­son­ings or just steamed with a lit­tle sea salt.

grain?

Hands down quinoa.  Being vegan and lift­ing weights I am always look­ing for healthy forms of pro­tein.  Quinoa is a com­plete pro­tein, it cooks eas­ily and quickly and can be sub­sti­tuted for rice in almost any recipe.

fruit?

I love apples. Being a Canadian boy its one of the only fruits that I can always find locally grown.  They are ver­sa­tile in the kitchen and have great flavour and texture.

sea­son?

Being a chef I find the most abun­dance in local pro­duce would have to be September and October for veg­eta­bles like squash, turnip, cel­ery root and radishes.

where are some of your favourite places in Ontario for food and drink?

For a cold beer in the sum­mer noth­ing beats the Black Bull for its peo­ple watch­ing patio on Queen street.  I also love C’est What on front street.  I used to work at Jump and we would fre­quent that bar for its local micro brew­eries and the occa­sional Absinthe.  For food there is a lit­tle cafe in Kensington Market called Hibiscus.  They serve home­made, dairy free ice creams, gluten free crepes and the best quinoa salad in the city.  You can always find me there on my day off sip­ping green tea and work­ing on recipes.

the vegan chef’s before shot