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Chef Sarah Meconse Mierau’s project is to expand the indigenous offer in the Lower Continent.
“I need to revive indigenous culture and traditions around food and medicinal plants,” says the Mission chef and entrepreneur. “So I’m looking to incorporate medicinal plants into my dishes. “
Mierau, who holds an Advanced Diploma in Culinary Arts and Restoration from the Vancouver Institute of Art, honed his culinary career in professional kitchens in and around Vancouver.
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She remembers her time in high-stress professional kitchens, leaving her exhausted and destroyed.
“I was away for about two years,” Mierau recalls. And then I knew I had to get back to my passion. “
Reconnecting with her indigenous culture during the procedure (Mierau is a member of the Sayisi Dene First Nation), she took a deep dive into indigenous cuisine and classic plant medicine.
“For me, I didn’t just need to cook. I wanted to cook and I wanted other people to do it too,” Mierau says. “The way to do that is to help other people reconnect with their culture. “
Mierau, a firm believer in the power of connecting indigenous peoples to their food culture, is developing her business with the purpose of bringing indigenous cuisine into the mainstream.
“Honestly, I didn’t start connecting with my culture until I was 35. I’m 41 now,” says Mierau, whose mother was a victim of the 1960s scoop and died of addiction when she was just 12. Representación. La people don’t have any concepts. And many of us had no concept because we were forcibly disconnected from our communities.
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“I’m literally moving forward. I feel like I’m being guided through my ancestors. A lot of flavors come to me. I wake up and say, “Oh my God. “And then it works the first time.
Mierau introduced his line of jams two years ago after taking a business course at Native Education College. Featuring classic botanicals and berries sourced from Hazelmere Organic Farm, the variety includes: blueberry, lavender; Cherry with smoked juniper; raspberry dandelion; ripe sage; and pear chamomile.
All five plant-based jams contain organic ingredients, are sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar, and thickened with chia seeds instead of advertising pectins.
Once the recipes for her natural candy spreads were complete, Mierau took them with her for feedback.
“I’ve been to conferences,” says Mierau. I wanted to see how the network reacted to that and they enjoyed it.
Sold for $18 each, Mierau and his small team, which includes his 3 children, make the jams by hand in batches of 50. Jams can be purchased at their coffee shop and online at Tradishcanada. ca.
With his jam business up and running, Mierau sets himself another long-standing goal: a food truck. Integrating the jam line into the truck, along with freshly made bannock, the chef created herbal lemonades from her own undeniable syrups to satisfy her. The thirst for drinks of the food truck customers.
Shortly after launching The Tradish Food Truck, Mierau also expanded its culinary offerings by launching a trio of taco flavors that use bannock and classic indigenous ingredients. For cultural events and food service, Tradish offers a Bison Bannock Taco ($20); Bannock Moose Taco ($25); and a Three Sisters vegan bannock taco ($17); bison tortilla soup ($20); and Bannock with eggs and wild boar sausage ($20) to satisfy savory cravings.
And now, Mieau’s ever-expanding culinary offerings can be enjoyed in Fort Langley through The Ancestor Cafe.
“We call it The Ancestor Café because it’s a fort where indigenous and non-indigenous ancestors gathered to trade,” he says.
Located at Fort Langley National Historic Site, 23433 Mavis Avenue. — Mierau says a reduced entrance fee for visitors to the café is in the works (all indigenous people will have free admission to the fort) — The Ancestor Café is situated in the area that once housed the Lelum Arts and Culture Café.
“I met one of the women who were part of it, through my sales,” Mierau says. “And she told me I deserved to come and communicate with them, and so I did. “
Although she was interested in expanding the space of a coffee shop, Mierau says she thought about the restaurant’s location.
“It took me a year to settle into this place before I moved. He didn’t need to be a ‘symbolic Indian’. I didn’t agree with colonization and the things that were happening in places like this,” Mierau says. of the fort area, which was a trading center for settlers in the 19th century. “But the more I think about it and the more I communicate with other indigenous peoples, it’s time for us to take territory in those colonized areas. that we can be there to show our good looks and tell the truth. For ourselves, from our own mouths.
“Really, it’s a way of occupying physical space and, in a way, reclaiming the land.
The café recently added herbal lattes and cappuccinos to its menu that incorporate house-made Tradish syrups made with Spirit Bear Coffee Company’s coffee beans, as well as teas. There are also other plans in the works to expand the meal.
“I need to make physical items that are available to urban Indians and other people who don’t grow up in their community,” Mierau says. “I grew up that way and I never thought, ‘Hey, this is for me. ‘”
One facet of coffee, beyond food, is the inclusion of art and products in a “fair industry gallery” of local Indigenous artists and brands, including cree artist James Groening, known as Blue Sky, Anishinaabe artist Mike Alexander, and ribbon skirts. by Misty Moon Creations, Shining Bear Designs, and Sweetgrass Soap.
“The thing about the indigenous network is that we help each other,” Mierau says of the support, drawing on some of her mentors, including Inez Cook of Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro, Indigenous Tourism B. C. , Caroline Phelps of Canoe Cultures. and Brenda Knights of British Columbia. Indian Housing Corporation.
Despite being a busy entrepreneur and mother, Mierau urges Indigenous people who want to follow in her footsteps to come to her for advice and mentorship.
“I would love it and I would give it back,” he says. Like other people did it for me. “
Aharris@postmedia. com
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