NAPOLEON SPILLS BEANS ON SHOW AND TRAVELLING THE WORLD
Now in its third season, Moosemeat & Marmalade asks the question: What happens when a First Nations Canadian cook gets together with a British-born chef?
The APTN show features Art Napoleon and Dan Hayes as they travel, share cooking tips and eat. We talked to Napoleon about the show’s longevity, how he learned to cook and hearing his voice dubbed in French:
Q: When you started, did you think the show would last this long?
A: When we were starting, we didn’t know if it was going to be approved. We put together a promo and pitched it to some different networks, including Food Network. It generated some interest. APTN were the ones willing to cough up the money.
Q: For the third season, where do you go?
A: We never go to the same places twice. We try to never repeat any animals or sea creatures. We try to avoid duplication. If we do end up hunting an animal we’ve hunted before, we’ll put a whole different spin on it.
We’re a real hybrid. There’s a little bit of hunting and fishing, a little bit of outdoor cookery, a little bit of indoor cookery, a little bit of reality, a little bit of comedy. It’s actually a tough thing to produce. We have to be really on our game. When we’re on the road we basically have three hours to get an animal.
Q : Before the show, would you have considered yourself a traditional or adventurous cook?
A: My grandparents raised me. We lived off the land, in a remote area. Our out-of-winter season was spent preparing for the winter. We were always hunting, curing meat, smoking it, making our jerky. We had all these different seasons which I had to learn. I had to learn the best times for picking things and for hunting and trapping things. Part of that meant outdoor cookery. When you’re on the trail you have to cook on the trail. Even when you’re at home on the rez, every family has a smokehouse. All your evening meals in the summer are done out there, so I had to learn that way of cooking. I also had aunts and other relatives on the rez who were camp cooks, so I had to learn to cook indoors as well. Then I ended up on a fire camp. There was an old cook there, I had to take over for him. I kind of got stuck as a cook. So when I’m cooking outdoors, I do outdoors style. Indoors, I like to shake it up a little. But no training at all except for traditional training.
Q: What has the response been like to Moosemeat & Marmalade, especially among First Nations viewers?
A: Our viewership seems about equally native and non-native. In the early years of APTN I think it was mostly for a native audience and maybe some hardcore academics who were learning about native ways. Now it’s becoming more mainstream. The show gets around. Dan and I, when we’re shooting in a new place in Canada, like Toronto, someone will recognize us. It even happened in Alabama once. It’s now in eight or nine countries. And it’s dubbed in French for Quebec, so it’s also in France, and some other French-speaking European countries. We just got picked up by Maori TV in New Zealand.
Q: Have you seen the French-dubbed version?
A: Yeah, but I want to sit down with a francophone speaker to find out what’s really being said. I remember they had trouble coming up with the title. “Moosemeat” doesn’t translate directly. So in French it’s Moose & Marmalade.
FIRESIDE CLAMBAKE Ingredients:
Equivalent to 6 cups fresh clams well rinsed 1 side or large filet of salmon 1 small packet smoked or candied salmon 5 medium potatoes cubed 3 ears fresh corn cut into 2-inch sections 1 medium white or red onion 1/2 cup (120 mL) shallots, green onions or chives 2 litres vegetable stock 1/2 cup (120 mL) white wine 1/2 package butter 2 bulbs garlic Handful dried seaweed Handful fresh parsley or oregano Salt and pepper to taste
This is a one-pot dish designed to be cooked on an outdoor fire in a Dutch oven, but will also work in an indoor oven using heavy-duty oven-wear.
1. Heat up Dutch oven against the flames of your fire and add 3 tbsp of the butter, stock, onions, garlic and potatoes, cover with lid and allow to steam until potatoes are half cooked (about 10 minutes depending on heat).
2. When spuds are ready, add corn, place lid back on Dutch oven and cook ingredients for five minutes. Add more stock if liquid is running low, as the vegetables have to steam.
3. Then add the clams, raw salmon filet, wine, salt and seaweed and allow to cook until clams begin to open and salmon starts to turn pink.
4. Remove from heat, add the smoked or candied salmon as a topping, place lid back on and keep the clambake warm at the fire’s edge.
5. Just before serving, strain the liquid from the pot into a saucepan and add 1 cup of butter, the fresh herbs and whisk over medium heat.
6. Pour the sauce into small serving bowls and use as a dipping sauce for the clambake. Serve hot.