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tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine
tawâw [pronounced ta-WOW]:
Come in, you’re welcome, there’s room.
Acclaimed chef Shane M. Chartrand’s debut cookbook explores the reawakening of Indigenous cuisine and what it means to cook, eat, and share food in our homes and communities.
Born to Cree parents and raised by a Métis father and Mi’kmaw-Irish mother, Shane M. Chartrand has spent the past ten years learning about his history, visiting with other First Nations peoples, gathering and sharing knowledge and stories, and creating dishes that combine his interests and express his personality. The result is tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine, a book that traces Chartrand’s culinary journey from his childhood in Central Alberta, where he learned to raise livestock, hunt, and fish on his family’s acreage, to his current position as executive chef at the acclaimed SC Restaurant in the River Cree Resort &Casino in Enoch, Alberta, on Treaty 6 Territory.
Containing over seventy-five recipes — including Chartrand’s award-winning dish “War Paint” — along with personal stories, culinary influences, and interviews with family members, tawâw is part cookbook, part exploration of ingredients and techniques, and part chef’s personal journal.
Come in, you’re welcome, there’s room.
Acclaimed chef Shane M. Chartrand’s debut cookbook explores the reawakening of Indigenous cuisine and what it means to cook, eat, and share food in our homes and communities.
Born to Cree parents and raised by a Métis father and Mi’kmaw-Irish mother, Shane M. Chartrand has spent the past ten years learning about his history, visiting with other First Nations peoples, gathering and sharing knowledge and stories, and creating dishes that combine his interests and express his personality. The result is tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine, a book that traces Chartrand’s culinary journey from his childhood in Central Alberta, where he learned to raise livestock, hunt, and fish on his family’s acreage, to his current position as executive chef at the acclaimed SC Restaurant in the River Cree Resort &Casino in Enoch, Alberta, on Treaty 6 Territory.
Containing over seventy-five recipes — including Chartrand’s award-winning dish “War Paint” — along with personal stories, culinary influences, and interviews with family members, tawâw is part cookbook, part exploration of ingredients and techniques, and part chef’s personal journal.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2019
12 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 8, 2019
Loved this book.
There is so much thought and passion that went into it.
Many of ingredients would be difficult to get in Toronto (for me, within my budget) but if I were home in northern Alberta I would be able to go wild with many of these recipes.
Makes me miss home and further appreciate the breadth and width of the wilds of this great country. It has also fostered an even greater appreciation for the peoples who were here long before my ancestors.
Food is a very effective way of bringing people together and the stories that are told through what we eat and as we sit together at the table are invaluable.
There is so much thought and passion that went into it.
Many of ingredients would be difficult to get in Toronto (for me, within my budget) but if I were home in northern Alberta I would be able to go wild with many of these recipes.
Makes me miss home and further appreciate the breadth and width of the wilds of this great country. It has also fostered an even greater appreciation for the peoples who were here long before my ancestors.
Food is a very effective way of bringing people together and the stories that are told through what we eat and as we sit together at the table are invaluable.
January 5, 2020
I have not cooked from this book yet, but I plan on it. I read the whole thing cover to cover, admiring the beautiful food, learning about indigenous Canadian ingredients, and feeling lots of emotions at reading Shane's journey and his vision of the role of food.
Get thee to the library and check this one out!
Get thee to the library and check this one out!
November 30, 2021
This is the best cookbook I’ve ever read. Definitely wasn’t expecting to cry in it and I felt so inspired to continue on my cooking journey because of this book.
October 4, 2022
Continuing my Native American reading, decided to research cuisine.
This is a lovely look at various dishes that anyone could make, providing you have access to the ingredients needed, and are willing to go outside your comfort level on some main meat dishes.
Beautifully photographed.
This is a lovely look at various dishes that anyone could make, providing you have access to the ingredients needed, and are willing to go outside your comfort level on some main meat dishes.
Beautifully photographed.
November 23, 2019
Beautiful cookbook. Skills far beyond my own but unique recipes. Giving this the local tag because there is some MB content in here.
November 7, 2020
To be honest, I don't think I've ever read through an entire cookbook before, and that's kind of what intrigued me about this challenge for Book Riot's Read Harder 2020. It took me a long time to decide on what to read, and I think this was a perfect choice in the end.
This was a cookbook, but also partly Shane M. Chartrand's memoir. Also, because it always happens to me, Chartrand also talks often about his feelings about being adopted as a child and not having a connection to his people. It wasn't intentional, but I'm reading a lot of Canadian books about indigenous history and culture this month, and the horror and pain experienced in the "scoop era" and residential schools are important to learn about.
Overall, I was pretty enthralled by this book. Although I don't think I'll ever try to make anything from it, I learned quite a bit about the author as well as Indigenous cooking today.
"So much knowledge has been destroyed — that's why I'm working so hard to learn all I can, not just about my Plains Cree culture but also Indigenous cooking and ingredients across Canada. I lost a lot of time early in life not knowing where I came from when I could have spent it learning. I have a lot to catch up on." p. 157
This was a cookbook, but also partly Shane M. Chartrand's memoir. Also, because it always happens to me, Chartrand also talks often about his feelings about being adopted as a child and not having a connection to his people. It wasn't intentional, but I'm reading a lot of Canadian books about indigenous history and culture this month, and the horror and pain experienced in the "scoop era" and residential schools are important to learn about.
Overall, I was pretty enthralled by this book. Although I don't think I'll ever try to make anything from it, I learned quite a bit about the author as well as Indigenous cooking today.
"So much knowledge has been destroyed — that's why I'm working so hard to learn all I can, not just about my Plains Cree culture but also Indigenous cooking and ingredients across Canada. I lost a lot of time early in life not knowing where I came from when I could have spent it learning. I have a lot to catch up on." p. 157
April 14, 2022
Would I make any of these recipes? No.
But the essays were quite nice even if some of the choices were a little unusual.
Things that made me pause in this book:
* the salt beet thing in the back --just why???
* bison skewers --there's nothing wrong with them, but they look like Debbie next to the Addams family with every other recipe in this book
* raw oysters on salt as a dish . . . I. . . ??? You just shuck them. We don't need instructions on that. (Do we?)
*meat glue
I like the passion about fish and supporting traditional Indigenous foodways. Just the care given to the berries and fish is something worthy of praise even if the cultural essays and discussions weren't as good as they are.
And, on the off chance the writers see this, Muscadine wine is the native wine you've been looking for all your lives; it's made from grapes native to North America (muscadines aka scuppernongs). Also muscadine raisins would have been a fun touch (we've had colonial records of their presence in Southeastern diets going back to the days of Bulbancha) so maybe for the next book!
But the essays were quite nice even if some of the choices were a little unusual.
Things that made me pause in this book:
* the salt beet thing in the back --just why???
* bison skewers --there's nothing wrong with them, but they look like Debbie next to the Addams family with every other recipe in this book
* raw oysters on salt as a dish . . . I. . . ??? You just shuck them. We don't need instructions on that. (Do we?)
*meat glue
I like the passion about fish and supporting traditional Indigenous foodways. Just the care given to the berries and fish is something worthy of praise even if the cultural essays and discussions weren't as good as they are.
And, on the off chance the writers see this, Muscadine wine is the native wine you've been looking for all your lives; it's made from grapes native to North America (muscadines aka scuppernongs). Also muscadine raisins would have been a fun touch (we've had colonial records of their presence in Southeastern diets going back to the days of Bulbancha) so maybe for the next book!
August 6, 2021
I loved everything about this book. It included biographical information, awesome photos, and very original recipes.
I'm not a big fun of oysters and seafood. I also don't have access to the venison. Many of those recipes I might adjust. I have already tried kale salad, and it was exquisite. Cucumber tomato tartare was missing sour cream in the recipe, but still was great (especially with alcohol, or during hot summer days). Because I am not a patient person, I cannot see myself cooking an egg for 60 minutes in order to spill its running yolk onto my meat (might sub it with poached egg).
I recommend this cookbook to anybody who is looking for exotic taste.
I'm not a big fun of oysters and seafood. I also don't have access to the venison. Many of those recipes I might adjust. I have already tried kale salad, and it was exquisite. Cucumber tomato tartare was missing sour cream in the recipe, but still was great (especially with alcohol, or during hot summer days). Because I am not a patient person, I cannot see myself cooking an egg for 60 minutes in order to spill its running yolk onto my meat (might sub it with poached egg).
I recommend this cookbook to anybody who is looking for exotic taste.
March 9, 2020
This is the first cookbook I've ever read all the way through and to be honest, I don't think it's something I'll make a habit of. I liked the parts where the author talks about his background and vision for reviving indigenous cooking and local sourcing, but actually reading recipes makes me sleepy. Most if not all of these recipes are way too complicated for me to ever attempt, but they look delicious. One issue I had was that the ebook formatting was not good. The words were all scrunched together, which made it very difficult to read.
September 8, 2020
As a former Edmontonian, I spent most of the book wondering how I have ever missed out on trying Shane Chartrand's food. I'm intrigued by him and very much appreciate his perspective on indigenous cuisine. I enjoyed reading his bio and the contributions of others in this book.
I am not sure I'll make these recipes - I would love to take a class with Chartrand in which he took a group foraging or butchering and creating together, though. And I have friends I'd love to buy this book for.
Definitely worth checking out.
I am not sure I'll make these recipes - I would love to take a class with Chartrand in which he took a group foraging or butchering and creating together, though. And I have friends I'd love to buy this book for.
Definitely worth checking out.
October 10, 2024
I enjoyed reading Shane's story, his passion for food and his roots; and his determination to create enjoyable food that not only tastes great but is healing. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a meat-eater so I did not try his recipes but I was impressed with his message:
"I want everyone to be able to experience the beauty of the land and people around us, and the food that we can create with it. Dream with me."
"I want everyone to be able to experience the beauty of the land and people around us, and the food that we can create with it. Dream with me."
August 3, 2021
Absolutely gorgeous book. Beautiful recipes, lots of cultural background and information. Great stories.
The recipes are very fancy, so I enjoyed looking at them but didn't imagine myself eating them, but I enjoyed looking at them. The photography is beautiful and the pages are matte.
This would be a beautiful cookbook to have in one's collection.
The recipes are very fancy, so I enjoyed looking at them but didn't imagine myself eating them, but I enjoyed looking at them. The photography is beautiful and the pages are matte.
This would be a beautiful cookbook to have in one's collection.
December 9, 2023
I enjoyed the way the book revealed some of the author's past.
Even though I won't be eager to source all the ingredients or master the techniques, the connection to the land that I currently live and an introduction to the plants native to it, brought a sense of immersion into nature and reality that the dominant society does not attain.
Even though I won't be eager to source all the ingredients or master the techniques, the connection to the land that I currently live and an introduction to the plants native to it, brought a sense of immersion into nature and reality that the dominant society does not attain.
February 6, 2020
This was a wonderful book. Good, traditional indigenous recipes mixed with history and cultural lessons. I loved the sharing of Mr. Chartrand’s personal history and values of keeping indigenous cooking and arts at the forefront of all Canadians’ minds.
January 16, 2022
Take classical chef training and pair it with indigenous ingredients and you get this book. The shortfall, is that it has almost no vegetarian offerings. But in terms of salmon, bison, seafood it is excellent.
April 24, 2020
Not what I would make as a lazy home chef but good browsing
May 15, 2020
Loved the recipes! Loved how it was written and spoke of the author's journey! Great photography !
August 25, 2020
This cookbook is beautiful. It takes into account the seasons, which I love. I will enjoy this over and over again.
September 22, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this one cover to cover. Great insights from an indigenous perspective. The bannock recipe is top notch.
December 6, 2021
The recipes are not designed for the general home cook. Some of the ingredients are very difficult to find.
December 13, 2021
This is a beautiful cookbook - and so much more more a cookbook! This will be my go to purchase for friends who enjoy cooking AND beautiful books going forward.
April 11, 2023
A wonderful collection of recipes and stories. For anyone interested in Indigenous (Canada) culture and food, this is a worth picking up. Recommend.
April 14, 2023
De belles idées de recettes. De belles images.
Beaucoup plus de recettes de poissons / fruits de mer que je pensais.
Beaucoup plus de recettes de poissons / fruits de mer que je pensais.
August 14, 2023
This is a beautifully written book, and this is also a book about the author's journey of finding his Indigenous root, which was cruelly stripped when he was not yet 3 years old.
October 24, 2023
A beautiful volume.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews