JOSEPH SHAWANA
CHEF | EDUCATOR
Acclaimed Chef Joseph Shawana is Odawa, part of the Three Fires Confederacy. Born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, north of Toronto, Joseph was brought up knowing that food is life. Having 6 brothers and 6 sisters, and being the oldest male, he paid a lot of attention to his mother while she was cooking, who she learned from his grandmother and great grandmother. Starting in the kitchen at the early age of 13, Joseph quickly fell in love with the chef life. At a young age he experienced the power that food has to bring people together, and began his culinary journey with the strict philosophy of utilizing the entirety an ingredient to bring its full range of flavours to the palette.
Trained in classical French combined with his Aboriginal background, his cooking infuses Classical French techniques with Native American cuisine; full of flavour and never compromising quality over quantity.
Currently a professor and the Indigenous culinary advisor at Ontario’s Centennial College, Joseph is committed to furthering the education of culinary to all communities. He has also developed a program to assist Indigenous youth to come into his kitchens and work alongside chefs and provide them valuable industry applications for sustained development.
Chef Joseph Shawana, was also the force behind the high-end Indigenous restaurant Kūkŭm Kitchen which won the ‘Best World Cuisine” award in 2019 besting over 33,000 restaurants. There, he was acclaimed for his unique experiments with traditional Indigenous ingredients, many of them wild, including fir tips, sweet-grass and seal.
Chef Joseph is currently the chair of ICAN, the Indigenous Culinary of Association Nations. Under his leadership and guidance, Chef Joseph and ICAN is dedicated to breaking barriers dedicated to sharing Indigenous food, culinary and cultural experiences from across Canada with the world.
He was named on the list of Top Ten Chefs of Ontario and has received rave reviews in the New York Times, Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and Food & Wine to name a few. He is also in great company on Air Canada’s top 20 restaurants in Canada for 2019 and is a sought after voice on the emergence of Indigenous culinary around the globe.
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"It's my job to preserve our heritage through food. I feel that I have a duty and obligation to preserve as much culinary knowledge in Indigenous foods as possible."
Chef and educator Joseph Shawana cooks a wild ramp and maple pesto chicken with wild garlic spring Vegetables, inspired by his Indigenous heritage. "A truly drool-worthy dish."
We gathered on the shore of Lennox Island for a sacred smudging ceremony and were welcomed by your Miꞌkmaq hosts, including Guest Chef Joseph Shawana. We soaked in the culture and history as Traditional Knowledge Keepers enchanted us with stories of their people’s longstanding ties to the region. Tucked into a traditional feast of lobster, mussels, salmon and quail, cooked over open fires and bannock baked in the sand, sipped on foraged tea and basked in the warm sun.
Chef Joseph Shawana is our guest for June's episode of #DeepDishDialogues. We’ll learn about Indigenous cuisine and food history while Joseph prepares a baked chicken with pesto made from wild ramps and maple syrup. Join Joseph and Arrell Scholars Regan Zink and Margarita Fontecha for this special lunchtime event. Deep Dish Dialogues is an online monthly event series that showcases chefs and food experts and dives into impactful subjects. Each episode features new guests and a recipe connected to the topic. The audience has the chance to learn how to make new dishes while learning more about food, sustainability and our communities. This series is brought to you by the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute and the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics.
Chef Joseph Shawana is Odawa. Born and raised in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve. He is the force behind the wonderful Indigenous restaurant, Kūkŭm Kitchen, which won the ‘Best World Cuisine” award in 2019. In this video, Chef Joseph uses Canadian chicken to create a traditional Sugarbush dish with wild ramp and maple pesto baked chicken. Enjoy!
Chef Joseph Shawana, professor and Indigenous culinary advisor at Ontario’s Centennial College as well as chair of Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations, is interviewed by NAC’s Michael Gauthier on Indigenous cuisine, the origin story of Kūkŭm Kitchen, as well as his future plans. Chef Shawana was the Resident Chef at the National Arts Centre in the fall of 2021.
#GivingTuesday
Chef Michael Bonacini met up with Chef Joseph Shawana at Centennial College and the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe to discuss the program Joseph has developed for the college. Together they explore the importance of passing knowledge on to youth, promoting indigenous careers in hospitality and making progress in the indigenous cuisine industry. This 'ORIGINS' episode is supported by Indigenous Tourism Ontario. #FeastIndigenous
chef Joseph and Michael Hunter share the flavours of Ontario’s outdoors.
Joseph shares his love of authentic Indigenous cuisine at Devour! The Food Film Fest
Chef Joseph Shawana prepares pan-seared elk, presented by ITO and Burnbrae Farms, at the Royal Agricultural Virtual Experience 2020.
Chef Joseph creates a rainbow trout dish on the shores of Wikwemikong over an open fire coupling it with local wild ingredients for the Manitoulin Ice Showdown fishing derby.
Centennial College School is invested in its student's learning and the acknowledgement of Indigenous wisdom and values through foraging projects.
Chef Joseph Shawana, the force behind a new high-end Indigenous restaurant in Toronto, brings CBC News into his kitchen to sample his cooking.
Chef Joseph Shawana grew up watching his mom and grandmother cook over open-pit fires for his family and even large crowds.
Chef Joseph Shawana joins us to make one of his favourite dishes for the winter combining Indigenous and French cuisine.
Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations - Joseph and Bill are excited to let you learn about culture and Indigenous cuisine!