The Art of Cooking

This past January, Chef Selwyn Richards was joined virtually by AGO Executive Chef Renée Bellefeuille as part of Foodways, the new AGO series bringing together top chefs to explore the intersection of food, memory and art. For nearly three decades, Richards has been carving out his career as a renowned chef and culinary expert in Jamaica, Canada and abroad, while maintaining close ties to the GTA’s Caribbean community. Author of the best-selling cookbook, The Art of Cooking: Soul of the Caribbean, and current CEO of his catering company The Art of Catering, Richards has worked at the Skyline Hotel, The Island Yacht Club, the CN Tower (as a sous chef), and The Earl Of Whitchurch-Stouffville. He also played a crucial role in the opening of SkyDome, where he managed his own department as head chef. 

Richards and Bellefeuille spoke candidly about how he got his start as a chef and the intricacies of Caribbean cooking, using the AGO exhibition Fragments of Epic Memory as the conversation starting point. We asked him some questions to learn more. 

AGOinsider: How would you describe the role food plays in Jamaican and Caribbean culture?

Richards: Ever since the invention of fire, people have made food one of the focal points of all celebrations. Caribbean culture is no different; there is nothing like good food that draws people together, to socialize, comfort and hug your soul. It’s a language of its own.

AGOinsider: There are many seafood dishes in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Aside from your Ackee and Smoked Salmon Vol-au-Vent dish [Richards’ take on Jamaica’s national dish, Ackee and saltfish], which are your favourites to make and why?

Richards: One of my favourite seafood dishes is red snapper. I like it fried, escoveitch, brown stew and yes, even jerked. I love using the filets like a roulade of stuffed red snapper filet or a pan-fried red snapper filet in cornmeal, flour or panko. I also love to make peppered shrimp and jumbo tiger shrimp seasoned with a dry spicy rub and flambé with Jamaican white rum. To die for! 

AGOinsider: Caribbean cuisine has become increasingly popular over the years, like with the beef patty which you mentioned in your Foodways conversation. What are some of the differences (if any) one might find between Jamaican cuisine (made in Jamaica) and Jamaican-Canadian cuisine?

Richards: In Jamaica, you have a lot of fresh local ingredients readily available -- a freshly picked ripe mango can be on your table in an hour. In Toronto, your mango was picked green, forced to ripen and might be on your table in ten days. For the most part, the supply chain works very well, and in the hands of a good cook or skilled Chef, your meal should be amazing. That said, the pandemic has disrupted the hospitality industry in so many ways with staff shortages, high prices and the supply chain which can affect the kinds of exotic ingredients we can purchase and cook with.

Toronto has many independent Caribbean grocers in Kensington Market, Scarborough and elsewhere in the GTA that are an important part of Caribbean communities. Do you have any favourite grocers that you like to shop at? What has been like to see more and more traditionally Jamaican ingredients sold in major grocery stores over the years?

Richards: Grace Kennedy Canada has done a lot to push Jamaican products into major retail and grocery stores, not only in the GTA but across the country. With the comfort of online shopping, companies like Yaahdy now have an online presence, which gives everyone a chance to order Jamaican spices and products wherever they may be.

In case you missed it, Chef Roger Mooking also chatted with us about his Foodways conversation and his thoughts about Caribbean cuisine. For more Fragments-related content, read our list of top stories about the exhibition. Stay tuned for more Foodways events and more art-focused programming from the AGO Food & Beverage department.