Role in I-Collective led to The Gathering Basket, a unique multimedia publication
As a young child, Quentin Glabus (Culinary Arts ’00) had already begun to notice the powerful connection between food and storytelling. He remembers how his kokum – Cree for grandmother – whipped up nourishing meals for a crowd at her home at Frog Lake First Nations, east of Edmonton.
“There’s always food, and there’s always conversation. There’s jokes and there’s laughter, there’s storytelling,” says Glabus. “My grandmother is a large part of what I do.”
Later, as he embarked on a global career as a chef, he saw how sharing meals can transcend differences and build community. That realization helped lead Glabus to view food as a gateway to teaching about history and broaching topics that may be uncomfortable to some – such as colonization, cultural appropriation and food sovereignty.
“It’s not just recipes. It’s educational. Facts. Hard conversations about issues that need to be addressed.”
Those issues have informed A Gathering Basket, a multi-media publication created by the I-Collective, a non-profit that strives to educate and reframe the narrative around Indigenous history and culture.
Launched in October of 2021, it includes chefs such as Glabus, Indigenous activists, herbalists, knowledge keepers and others from across North America. They share recipes, stories and history around food and plants through videos, art, stories and poetry, and even a webinar.
“It’s not just recipes,” says Glabus. “It’s educational. Facts. Hard conversations about issues that need to be addressed.”
And now, with its 18th and final issue underway, the project – which Glabus feels has been “a cookbook like no other” – is drawing to a close.
A global education
Glabus’s exploration of education through food began shortly after he graduated from NAIT in 2000, when recruiters from Disney World came to the polytechnic. At the age of 19, Glabus became a line chef at one of the resort’s fine-dining hotel restaurants in Orlando, Florida.
While he credits NAIT with giving him the skills and confidence to succeed, working at Disney was a global education. At potluck gatherings with other employees from around the world, he was introduced to exotic foods.
Over shared meals of curries, fish stew and spicy noodles, he and his co-workers learned about each others’ cultures.
“I literally had the world at my fingertips, before the internet,” Glabus says.
After a year-and-a-half, he returned to Edmonton and soon started cooking at Homefire Grill, one of the first Indigenous-inspired restaurants in Alberta. In the kitchen, he and other Indigenous staff traded stories about food and cultural practices.
“That sparked my drive to know more about my culture through its cuisine.”
When he was hired as executive chef with the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo in 2008, Glabus embraced the opportunity to include Indigenous recipes and ingredients.
“We’re talking wild fish, wild game, all the plants, mushrooms, fowl that were all originally here before colonization.”
While in Tokyo, he met his wife, a Canadian diplomat. That led to cooking for other officials, as well as presenting to culinary students, while accompanying his wife on postings to Taiwan, Brazil, New York and currently Tokyo.
Along the way, Glabus led the Canadian culinary team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and promoted Indigenous cuisine throughout Southeast Asia during Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
Still, while bringing his culture and cuisine to the global community, Glabus would search online, hoping to connect with other Indigenous chefs. He yearned to join a larger movement in raising awareness about the rich history of Indigenous food practices.
In late 2017, Glabus read an article that would help him merge his passion for Indigenous food with his need for cultural connection. Indigenous chefs from the I-Collective were gathering in New York to hold a “No Thanksgiving” dinner, aimed at dispelling colonial myths around the American holiday. Glabus volunteered to help cook at the event and immediately felt at home.
“I was like, ‘Oooh weee, this is so awesome – like a little kid in a candy shop. This is what I’ve been searching for. This is what I needed.’”
A lifelong journey
Today, as video curator for A Gathering Basket, Glabus has learned a lot about digital design and editing. But more than that, being part of the I-Collective has contributed to his own growth, professionally and personally.
“I didn’t know what cultural appropriation was. I didn’t know what food sovereignty was. I’ll admit that,” he says.
His experience with the I-Collective has also pushed his boundaries as a classically trained chef, he says.
Glabus has challenged himself to create dishes using only pre-colonial ingredients – no dairy, processed sugars, processed grains, pork, chicken or beef – coming up with ideas like wild-rice ice cream made with nut milk and duck eggs.
Even though The Gathering Basket is wrapping up, Glabus is continuing with his efforts to connect with others through food. There are plans for a spinoff hardcopy version of the project.
In the meantime, Glabus has also extended his educational efforts to NAIT, as a member of the Indigenous Advisory Committee for the polytechnic’s culinary programs.
The committee is working to incorporate Indigenous cuisine and food practices into the curriculum, says program chair Hong Chew (Cooking ’92). Already, some menu items at Ernest’s, NAIT’s on-campus restaurant, feature Indigenous ingredients or techniques, he says, as does the cheese, charcuterie and fermentation class.
“We have taught French classics, contemporary European, Asian, Latin American. So why not the cuisine of the First peoples?” Chew says. “It may take some time for us to get to our final destination but the journey is worth it.”
For Glabus, the journey of cultural enrichment will be lifelong.
A busy father of a five-year-old son, with another due at the end of this month, he still cooks for the occasional diplomatic event or private party, in addition to his work with the I-Collective, where he’ll continue to highlight Indigenous contributions. Glabus dreams of one day opening his own establishment, whether that’s a fine-dining restaurant, a bed and breakfast, or something else.
“All I know is I want it to be something that’s mine and from the heart, that continues to focus on Indigenous cuisine.”4
