A B.C. seafood chef is being recognized by a Manitoba commodity group for contributions toward the canola sector.
Why? Because in chef Ned Bell’s kitchen, canola oil is always right at hand.
“It’s an ingredient I couldn’t cook without,” said Bell, who has cooked in high-end restaurants across Canada, appeared on “Iron Chef Canada,” and hosted a Food Network TV show in the early 2000s.
The Manitoba Canola Growers recognized Bell with its Canola Award of Excellence for his work as an ambassador for canola through Canola Eat Well and other efforts it announced this February.
Read Also
Protecting the farm from crime
From better lighting to cameras to reporting to police, here are some things farmers can do to reduce their crime risk.
“Canola farmers, and those of us who support them, are so grateful for advocates like Ned,” said Delaney Ross Burtnack, MCGA’s executive director, in the news release.
“His commitment to sharing the real story of farming in Canada, and particularly coming to the aid of canola farmers when their biggest market was threatened in recent years, demonstrates his selfless commitment to building a better network of understanding and support for Canadian farmers,” she added.
Bell co-owns the Naramata Inn in Naramata, B.C. — right on the banks of Okanagan Lake. When the Co-operator caught up to him he was in Tofino on Vancouver Island, preparing to cook for a sustainable seafood event.
When you have a bit of a voice, you’re able to talk about what’s important, Bell said.
For many years, protecting oceans, lakes and rivers has been part of his mission.
“I grew up on the ocean,” Bell said. “Literally half a block away from the ocean.”
Bell’s dad often took him fishing, an activity he still cherishes. In a way, he grew up with the knowledge that protecting the ocean and the forest that made up his ‘backyard’ was important.
He was in his early teens when he started cooking, Bell said. From an early age, cooking was about connection.
Bell told the Co-operator that his parents divorced when he was 12, and he and his two younger siblings lived with his mom. A busy professional, his mom often couldn’t be home for dinners. Eventually, young Ned got tired of Costco lasagna.
Bell said he mastered stir-fry. Around the table, he and his younger siblings would eat and talk.
“Food just connected us.”
At 14, Bell got his first job in a restaurant, washing dishes. He went to culinary school and “just found my calling.”
Of the kitchens he grew up in, most were rooted in French and European culinary traditions, Bell said. That means butter and cream — but pan-searing they did with canola oil because it can reach a high temperature before it begins to smoke, and it has a neutral taste.
He builds dozens of vinaigrettes and emulsions on canola oil, Bell added.
What makes ingredients even better is a connection with those who grow them.
He described taking the long drive from Naramata to Tofino, stopping at several of the 60 farms he does business with to get ingredients, including overwintered carrots harvested that morning.
“You value it more,” he said of buying food from farmers you know. “You cherish those ingredients.”
Bell said he was thrilled, maybe slightly embarrassed to be recognized by the Manitoba Canola Growers.
“Just a huge thank you to the farmers who recognized me,” Bell said. “It’s going to make me work harder to champion them.”
