The Indigenous Way
At Mādahòkì Farm in Nepean, a new chef and a herd of Ojibwe Spirit Horses anchor a growing cultural hub.
If it’s game meat you crave, a visit to the kitchens of chef Billy Alexander at Mādahòkì Farm is in order. Alexander loves elk, bison, venison, rabbit, duck, partridge, wild boar and goose, among many other Indigenous specialities such as wild herbs, traditional teas, bannock and fry bread, will certainly be on the menu.
Alexander, who spent his first 14 years growing up on a farm near Quyon in the Pontiac region to the west of Ottawa, was inspired by the central place that food claimed in his community. “As a child I grew up in a house that had huge gardens and [we] hunted and shared food often as a community. Food always has had a special spot in my heart,” he recalls.
Billed as a “world-renowned and globally trained Indigenous chef” by the Culinary Tourism Alliance, Alexander, who hails from Indigenous Mohawk (mother’s side) and Scottish (father’s side) heritage, got his start in a commercial kitchen in a Kelsey’s in Ottawa, aged 16. “It lit a fire in me, and I never really looked back. I worked at various restaurants, hotels, convention and banquet centres,” he says, “before finding my way through food and travel. I learned and trained with many cultures around the world including, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Australian, to name a few, ” he says. “I have been fortunate enough to learn that food is its own universal language that the whole world speaks fluently.”
The culinary world eventually took him to Calgary, where he racked up a roster of impressive accomplishments: He became the first Indigenous culinary development chef for WestJet Airlines, earning the Restaurants Canada Canadian Culinary Excellence Award, and was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40. He has served on the advisory board for Not 9 to 5 (a non-profit to improve workplace mental health for the hospitality industry), founded the Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations and contributed to the Culinary Tourism Alliance. He also makes regular appearances on national television. But it’s the fusion of culinary cultures that really excites him, rooted firmly in his family heritage.
“I grew up cooking, with many of the things I learned coming from my mother, things that had been passed on to her. It’s fair to say that a great deal of my training came before I ever even knew that you could be paid to do these things.”
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