A Message from the Chefs’ Market Manager

Flaming weeds, non-chemically
(photo: Edmund Rek)

As a chef in a former life, loyal and dedicated to the long hours, often stoked at the miracles one can achieve by getting out of the “weeds” (a term used to describe being buried with orders/tickets, or behind in kitchen prep). I recently found myself on my hands and knees in another type of weeds, organically grown, in an onion field near Grand Bend, Ontario.

I was in awe in the efforts undertaken to grow 250 acres of onions and soybeans weeded by hand and non-chemically, much by trial and error, guided simply by the dedication to the purity of the process. I hadn’t realized the disconnect between the efforts of to grow our food, on any scale, and even a bigger gap of what it takes to grow organically and sustainably. Cooking professionally never taught me this—ten minutes on a farm did.

Many of the difficult steps a chef chooses to take are not easy to explain either. Why do they make a consommé when any soup will do? Does it really matter? Or does the person ordering the risotto care if you sweat, or caramelize the onions? Chances are they won't. But for the chef, as I imagine the farmer, it does make a difference. When our sometimes fanatical efforts fall in line with the best-case-scenario we do get closer to the perfect harvest, or the finest consommé, risotto, or just about anything. And to be able to share in the recognition by passing the spoon, or the fruit from the vine, and say, “Taste this!” can be golden.

Many chefs and farmers experience this Zen moment all the time and whether they realize it or not, are of the same breed. The ones that do, oftentimes the bonds are so close that the farmers want to have restaurants and the chefs want to grow their own food.

Last year, there was a partnering between the Greenbelt Foundation and Evergreen to support local farms; and working with the vision of Toronto chefs to have their own farmers market and the Chefs’ Market was born. The Chefs’ Market is as much about commerce as it is about building committed ties between local farmers and a network of local food buyers. Being involved with the Chefs’ Market has shown me that there isn't a harder working, more passionate, group of people how have so much in common. For those interested in forming more relationships to better understand of how important the roles each one plays, this is your market. No weeds attached.

— Edmund Rek, Chef’s Market Manager