It is a show that will be sure to delight, with its colourful characters and spotlight on traditional Haudenosaunee foods, but viewers will have to wait until at least 2023 to see the episode.
Six Nations will be the focus of an upcoming episode of APTN’s long-running cooking documentary “Moosemeat and Marmalade.”
The unique documentary-style cooking show features bush cook Art Napoleon and British Chef Dan Hayes bringing cultures together as they travel the country and cook local foods in their own culinary style.
And on Six Nations — corn, strawberries, wild game and fish play a large part in the traditional Haudenosaunee diet. Maple and honey are also going to be featured.
On Moosemeat and Marmalade, Napoleon and Hayes spiced up those staples with a modern flair during filming at various locations including two local successful culinary hotspots: Yawekon, owned by Chef Tawnya Brant, and Dixieland Grill, owned by Nick “Nitro” Wyman.
Hayes was enchanted by the community and the people.
“We’re learning about the importance of corn,” he said during a break in filming last Thursday. “And the importance of freshwater fish, the importance of beans and learning about some of the structure of Six Nations. It’s been fabulous. The people here have been so hospitable. We’ve been looked after so well wherever we go. It’s just been an adventure. Everyone I’ve met has been absolutely charming.”
During each episode of Moosemeat and Marmalade, the two chefs go into a different First Nation community to showcase their culinary delights, culture and traditional foods.
The two chefs from two different worlds bring cultures together through food and of course, incredible humour.
There was no shortage of good-natured ribbing and gallows humour among the chefs and cast as they cooked a meal in the kitchen at the Dixieland Grill. Afterward, each chef was individually interviewed to talk about their experience in the kitchen.
Napoleon, who is described as a bush cook for his penchant for cooking over an open fire and love of wild game, kept the crew in stitches with his raucous and good-natured humour.
Hayes also shares a love of wild game with his co-star, saying that he even eats wild game every day of his life.
“In the UK, deer is a big part of life. We have six species of deer, two of them are native. Unlike in North America, wild game can be bought and sold in the UK.”
Every year, he said, 300,000 carcasses of venison go into the country’s food chain.
“I don’t eat domestic animals at all,” he said. “For me it’s a big part of life.”
Napoleon has loved cooking since he was a kid, watching his grandmother and aunts.
“I loved food and I loved the land so just put the two together and that’s how I started this normal homestyle cooking. I grew up in the moose hunting culture.”
He hails from a small reserve on the border between British Columbia and Alberta, with Cree and Dene influences.
They would ride right into the bush on horses, hunt moose and cook it there on the fire.
When he was 14, he skinned and gutted a moose on his own for the first time.
He loves making comfort foods, and mixing cultures together in his creations. For instance, he’ll make a jambalaya using bison meat for the sausage. When making paella, he’ll use rabbit.
Last week, fish was the central component of the dish he cooked at Dixieland Grill during filming.
“Wherever we go, we try to honour the food of that territory. Here it’s all about the corn and the beans so we made dishes using various kinds of corn.”
Viewers will also get to see how he made a corn, quinoa and bean medley salad in this episode.
“There’s so many things I didn’t know about corn, the diversity of corn, the variety of corn. I learned the many different ways corn is turned into different dishes.”
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