PICTOU
There is a strong sense of familiarity when Alain Bossé describes his new cookbook, The Acadian Kitchen.
It might be the Acadian Chicken Fricot bubbling on the stove in his Braeshore home with the smell of summer savoury that floods a person’s senses of childhood memories, but when the Kilted Chef describes his book, one can soon tell it is more than just a book of recipes.
“It comes from my background of Acadian culture,” he said. “Basically, I grew up eating all this type of food while my friends were eating pizza and whatever else. I always thought in my mind that my mother couldn’t cook because I thought she cooked what was left over from this and that.”
However, he learned later in life he was luckier than most for having his mother’s cooking on the table each night.
“In reality, she was a great cook and you just discovered it later in life. When my mom passed away, in her cupboard, were all the handwritten recipes that we grew up on and there was all my grandmother’s handwritten recipes from both sides and their mothers. All handwritten. It was really cool. I had to spend time and research with what is what but that is how I came up with this book.”
Bossé said it took two years to finish the book and some recipes in it were cooked multiple times because of adaptations that had to be made with today’s ingredients compared to those used years ago.
It features appetizers such as spring lettuce salad, deviled eggs and pickled herring as well as main courses like rabbit fricot, salt cod cakes, spring hodge podge, meatloaf and chicken pot pie.
There are recipes for jams, jellies and preserves as well as side dishes such as yellow and green bean stew.
No Acadian meal is complete without desserts and Bossé includes traditional favourites such as date squares, rice pudding and his grandmother’s jam jam cookies.
“It is all about very basic cooking. I did it in a way of making sure anybody could do it,” he said.
Each recipe also gives the reader a glimpse of the Acadian culture with stories from his own childhood or a history of how the dish came to be.
“Fresh seafood has always been in abundance since the Acadians arrived in eastern Canada, and creamed lobster is a dish that is synonymous with the South Shore of Nova Scotia,” he writes about the recipe for haddock with creamed lobster sauce. “Often the fishermen would prepare and eat the dish on the lobster boats; it is typically served on toast and can still be found in restaurants all over the region.”
He hopes the easy read, interesting facts, and personal touches put the reader at ease as they prepare to cook.
“We are pretty proud of this one. I think it’s because it has some meaning to me. It is what I grew up eating. It is not pretentious. I challenge anybody to look at this book and not find something they can relate to from their childhood.“
The Acadian Kitchen, Recipes from Then and Now is available at Coles in the Highland Square Mall, Ahead of Hair, Seaside Treasure Trove and Mrs. MacGregor’s Tea Room.
“They can show up with the book here and we will gladly sign it if we are home,” he said jokingly.
Considering Bossé travels the world offering consulting and corporate services as well as cooking experiences, it might be a little difficult to get that autograph.
He and his wife Joanne admit life is busy right now as they promote the Kilted Chef brand and his books along with new projects that he isn’t ready to speak about just yet.
Anyone wanting to keep up can follow him on Instagram and Facebook where he has 25,000 followers but, surprisingly, the majority of them are from outside of Pictou County.
“I go to Edmunston and I am just Al. I walk around here I am just Al. I can go to the farmers market here and talk to people and it is great. I love it.”
The couple said life is getting so busy that their house is starting to feel like a cottage where they visit, but Pictou County is always a place they call home.