Harrowsmith – June 2019

Harrowsmith Summer 2019 | 73

FOOD & RECIPES: FISH TAILS AND WALLEYE WINGS

working as chef, and opened the

Boathouse, on Lake of the Woods.

I thought, ‘Why do I want to have

tilapia on the menu when I’m on

Lake of the Woods?’” Barnard

recalls.

Shortly after, he learned about a

fish plant in the area, and took over

the plant in late 2016.

“It turned out there was a fish

plant here and commercial fishing

in Kenora. They raffled off seven

species, including whitefish,

yellow perch, black crappie and

more, and I thought, ‘Boy, I have a

huge opportunity here.’ The locals

thought pickerel was the only thing

that sells, and I thought we just

need to educate people so we can

use these underutilized fish, and

that was when Freshwater Cuisine

wasborn,”hesays.“Weclosedthe

purchaseoftheplantin 2018 and

processednearly600,000poundsof

fishthisyear.WesellfromBritish

ColumbiaandManitoba,alltheway

downtosouthernOntario,andwe’re

lookingintoexporting.”

Laketoplate

Togetthewordout,Barnard

developedhisownTVshow,Lake

toPlate.

“Itstarteda yearanda halfago,”

saysBarnard.“Torin[Bergagnini],

myVP,saidweshoulddoa TV

show,whereI cookfishandeducate

peopleaboutwhatwehaveinour

lakesandhowtocookit.Westarted

shootingitonouriPhone,then

wegota following,andthenShaw

approachedus.Nowitairseveryday

onlocalstations,andonYouTube.

Wetrytobankthreetosixepisodes

everyfewmonthssothere’salways

freshstuffforpeopletosee.”

ButBarnardstillhasgreater

visionsofwherehecantakehisfish.

“[Withallwe’redoing,]we’re

stillleftwiththecarcassofthefish.

Wedida three-yearstudy,working

withLakeheadUniversity,tosee

aboutcreatinganorganicfish

fertilizer,”saysBarnard.“There’sno

leachingfromtheproduct.Itcreates

healthiersoil,andthereforea

healthierproduct,withfastergrow

times.It’snotinproductionyet,

butwehaveeverythinginplaceto

start.Togivebacktotheearthisan

excitingthingbecausewe’reinneed

ofhealthysoilforfarmers.”

Thejourneysofarhasbrought

FreshwaterCuisinemany

accolades,makingthemoneofthe

leadersintheagriculturalfood

industry.“Wewononeofthefirst-

everRuralOntarioLeadersAwards

forbusinessinOntario(fromthe

provincialgovernment).Wealso

wona Premier’sAwardforAgri-

FoodInnovationExcellencefor

beinga leaderincreatingvaluefrom

waste,andtheInnovativeProjectof

theYearforourfertilizerfromthe

NorthwesternOntarioInnovation

Centre,”Barnardproudlyshares.

Sustainabilityreignsasoneof

hispriorities.“Sustainabilityis

oneofthemostimportantthings

tousintermsofwhatourfish

stocklookslike.Sustainability

isattheforefrontofhavingfish

forthefuture,”hesays.“Forme,I

alwayssawthislargeamountofraw

material.IfI’mabletoprocessitall,

that’swherethevaluecomesin.”

Zerowaste,introducingnew

speciestoourmenussowedon’t

over-harvestothers,pluslocally

sourcedfishthatcutdownonour

carbonfootprint—chefBarnardis

onallpointsleadingbyexample.

“Wereallyhavetotakea lookat

thewastethat’sintheworldtoday

andfindcreativeandinnovative

waystousethatwaste,”says

Barnard.“It’saboutnotseeingwaste

aswasteandusing 100 percentof

ournaturalresources.”H

Chef Jay Barnard brings his zero-waste philosophy to his Kenora, Ontario,

fish-processing business.

JAY BARNARD