tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine

2019 House of Anansi / Ambrosia

Best in the World, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2020 

Acclaimed chef Shane M. Chartrand’s debut cookbook explores the reawakening of Indigenous cuisine and what it means to cook, eat, and share food in our homes and communities.

Born to Cree parents and raised by a Métis father and Mi’kmaw-Irish mother, Shane M. Chartrand has spent the past ten years learning about his history, visiting with other First Nations peoples, gathering and sharing knowledge and stories, and creating dishes that combine his diverse interests and express his unique personality. The result is tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine, a gorgeous book that traces Chartrand’s culinary journey from his childhood where he learned to raise livestock, hunt, and fish on his family’s acreage to his life as a professional chef, living and working on Treaty 6 Territory.

Containing over seventy-five recipes — including Chartrand’s signature dish “War Paint” — along with personal stories and interviews with friends, culinary influences, and family members, tawâw is part cookbook, part exploration of ingredients and techniques, and part chef’s personal journal — a visionary book that will invite readers to leaf through its pages for ideas, education, recipes, and inspiration. Co-authored with Jennifer Cockrall-King.