About a decade ago, I had the privilege of spending time with one of Canada’s most respected First Nation’s medicine men and healers, Jake Pine. With wife Mary at his side, Jake dedicated his life to travelling for most of the year from First Nation reserve to reserve. He drove in all weather conditions and for hundreds of miles each month to hold sweat lodges and provide traditional medicine to his people. As a Metis person, I felt honoured to take part in his sweat lodges held at Curve Lake First Nation Indian Reserve and to listen to his traditional teachings. Sadly, Jake has since passed on to the spirit world. Jake once told me the importance of my eating locally grown foods and to stick to wild meats of the Kawarthas, then of Ontario and then of Canada. Eat from your own environment, he would say. Long before the farm-to-table movement became popular, Jake advocated for eating locally grown foods. Today, people know Jake’s food philosophy as the trending ‘pre-colonization diet.’ The pre-colonization diet refers to the foods eaten by indigenous peoples before Europeans arrived and settled on their lands. Every country had its own pre-colonization diet. Canada’s First Nation’s pre-colonization diet consisted of wild plants, berries, roots, foraged mushrooms, nuts and leafy greens. Hunting and fishing provided the people with low-saturated-fat meats such as deer, bison and rabbits, as well as fish and seafood. Crops included corn, beans, squash and potatoes. The First Nation people prepared their foods through drying, smoking, fermenting or over open fires. Overall, this diet was diverse, balanced and sustainable, meeting nutritional needs. Jake believed that we should still eat this way today. This diet connects our body, mind and spirit to the terroir from which we are born. He said that we are not supposed to be eating high-sugar fruits such as bananas from Central and South American countries including Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia. Nor should we eat mangos from Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil or Guatemala and various Asian countries such as India, Pakistan and the Philippines. We grow, and therefore should eat our Canadian fruits and berries. This Grilled Chicken Salad with Strawberry Drizzle uses local and Canadian ingredients. You can also substitute any of the salad ingredients with ones readily available in your refrigerator or supermarket. The recipe uses Canadian maple syrup and Canadian camelina oil. Maple syrup is a whole food. However, it’s still sugar. Combine maple syrup with proteins and healthy fats to slow down the digestion and absorption of the sugar, preventing rapid spikes in your blood sugar levels. This salad contains camelina oil (healthy fat), chicken and eggs (proteins). Produced in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec, camelina oil tastes subtle, with a hint of flax flavour. It replaces other oils, such as flax, olive and avocado. This Canadian product has more Omega-3 content than its counterparts, with a year-longer shelf life. Choose organic and cold-pressed. Camelina oil also has a high smoke point, ranging from 375°F to 475°F (190°C to 245°C), depending on its refinement. It is suitable for pan frying at medium to high temperatures. Camelina oil is available at www.threefarmers.ca and www.signecameline.com, some health food stores and through Amazon. This recipe’s Maple-Berry Vinaigrette sings with a variety of flavour sensations to create a heightened experience. Maple syrup and strawberries are sweet. Micro-greens and walnuts offer a pleasant bitterness. Walnuts and pumpkins seeds provide that delicious crunch. Goat cheese is salty and tangy and apple cider vinegar is tangy. Grilled chicken provides the roundness and depth of flavour, known as umami. With its sweet and tangy profile, this vinaigrette can act as a glaze on other dishes, too. Try the vinaigrette with grilled chicken or salmon, as a topping on roasted vegetables, as a salad dressing or serve in a bowl with a vegetable platter. Spread the vinaigrette on chicken or turkey sandwiches and wraps as well. For entertaining, include this vinaigrette inside Canadian baked brie. by Shari McIntyre For more information on wine and food, go to Ketopaleosharimac.com Terroir Tales: Harvesting Wisdom in ‘Pre-Plate Pioneering’ Food & Drink 46 | www.snowbirds.org
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