Chef of Chef Works – Chef Jenni Lessard

by Chef Works Canada,

Each month we feature a Chef of Chef Works®. If you’re a fan of Chef Works gear and are interested in being featured, email marketing@chefworks.ca. This month, we had a chance to feature Chef Jenni Lessard, the Secretary of ICAN (Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations). Chef Jenni currently lives on Treaty Four Territory and the Homeland of the Métis, in the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan. She is also the owner of Inspired By Nature Culinary Consulting. Picture above is Chef Jenni in Gramercy Chef Jacket. 

 

Chef Works: Give us your “a-ha” moment when you wanted to be a chef?

Jenni Lessard: When I was 4 years old, my uncle, who owned and operated a restaurant, gave me one of his old chef coats. I wore it trick or treating and felt so proud as I flipped a little pancake in a tiny cast iron pan at each door. It felt like I was in uniform, not in a costume!!!! There were many more moments along my path that solidified my decision to cook for a living but putting on that coat was the most memorable.

 

Chef Works: What’s the most rewarding part about your job?

Jenni Lessard: The most rewarding part of my job is making food that nourishes, excites and satisfies. Tied with that is the chance to inspire youth to pursue cooking as a career by sharing my story.

 

Chef Works: What did you bring to Devour Food Film Festival last October and what is your message to the community through this festival?

Jenni Lessard: I harvested, dried and processed foraged ingredients throughout the summer to bring to Devour Food Film Festival. I wanted attendees to experience the authentic flavours and textures of Saskatchewan through plants and berries Indigenous people have been eating and cooking with for thousands of years. From the umami flavour of nettle to the lemony, almost tropical taste of tamarack paired with bison to create a taste of our Plains terroir.

 

Three Sisters Salad by Chef Jenni
Three Sisters Salad by Chef Jenni

 

Chef Works: If you could cook for one person – alive, dead, historical or fictional – who would it be and what would you make for them?

Jenni Lessard: If I could cook for one person it would be my late Grandmother. Her home and her table, with its blue and white checkered tablecloth, were the setting for so many warm family meals. I would start with a simple garden salad with a chokecherry vinaigrette and a slice of fresh bread with rose-hip butter. The main course would be slow cooked bison stew. For dessert a berry crisp with brown butter sage ice cream. She taught me so much about how cooking isn’t just about the food. It’s also about how you make people feel, from those who help you in the kitchen to your guests.

 

Chef Works: What’s something about you that would surprise people?

Jenni Lessard: People might be surprised to know that I live in chronic pain from tumour surgery on my spine when I was 13 years old. After long days in the kitchen, it’s sometimes almost unbearable but I’m so happy to be alive. I even cater meetings in the wing of the hospital where I recovered as a teen! Dealing with pain is part of life and, I hope, makes me a more compassionate person.

 

Chef Works: How does your culinary uniform make you feel?

Jenni Lessard: My culinary uniform makes me feel put together, confident and proud of who I am and all I’ve accomplished. When I wear the coat with our ICAN (Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations) logo on it, as well as my name and “Métis Nation Saskatchewan” I also feel humbled and grateful to be part of a team working to advance Indigenous Culinary in Canada and beyond.

 

Chef Works: What’s on your plate for the coming year 2022?

Jenni Lessard: I have so many interesting things on my plate for 2022,  from continuing the Han Wi outdoor dinner series at Wanuskewin Heritage Park this summer to a Chef in Residence at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in September with a plethora of diverse projects in between. I love to travel and learn from other chef and cooks around the world and my bags are packed (actually) for when I can start doing that again!

 

To learn more about Chef Jenni Lessard, visit her profile online:

Website: www.jennilessard.com

LinkedIn: Jennifer Lessard

Instagram: @chefjenni

 

Meet other Chefs of Chef Works:

Year 2021

Year 2020

Year 2019

Year 2018

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *