On Saturday, Coach House Books and Vepo Studios got together to film recipes from Coach House’s latest uTOpia series book, The Edible City. Rea McNamara, Kathryn Borel and Katarina Gligorijevic were the willing chefs in this book-to-film experiment.
“This idea really came together on a whim,” Coach House’s publicist, Evan Munday admits. “Rea suggested that it would be fun for us to film some of the recipes. We got talking, partnered with Open Book Toronto and Vepo, now here we are.”
The original plan was to get down home and dirty by filming the segments in someone’s kitchen, but that didn’t pan out. “Finding a kitchen that fit everyone’s filming needs that we could have access to for a day was difficult,” Evan said. “Thankfully, Dish Studios stepped up and allowed us to use their space for the day.” This change in plans was for the best. Dish Studios is a beautiful, well-equipped space that would make any foodie jealous. Their cutting board collection alone is drool-inducing.
Rea McNamara, whose essay “Never see come see: Toronto’s Trini Roti” explores the history of roti in Toronto, cooked her aunt Althea’s roti recipe with her cousin Kiel Braithwaite. “I brought him along because it’s his mother’s recipe,” Rea said. “And, well, two cooks are better than one!” Rea and Kiel were the first chefs of the day and as competent in the kitchen this pair was, cooking in front a camera is a skill set unto its own. Trying to not chop off your fingers while maintaining a flattering camera angle is surprisingly difficult. Fortunately, no blood was shed and Rea and Kiel mastered this highly technical skill, whipping up a beef roti with ease.
The process of filming in the kitchen was new to the film crew as well. “It’s an interesting process,” director Ian Daffern said. “We haven’t done much filming like this before, so we’re learning as we go.”
Kathryn Borel, author of Corked, made her Apple-Sausage-Cornbread Stuffing Extravaganza. The recipe accompanies her essay “The Chicken and the Egg,” about a hook-up with a chef that turned sour once the conversation turned to trussing a chicken. Kathryn, who proved to be a master at onion chopping and joke telling, was a natural in front of the camera. Stuffing, sausages, cored….the Apple-Sausage-Cornbread Stuffing was a perfect match for Kathryn’s essay. (Insider info: the finished stuffing in the video is fake. Shhh!)
Katarina skipped the meal and went straight for the nightcap by making Toronto’s namesake drink, a spirit that makes use of the Italian bitter Fernet Branca. Her segment was relatively easy to film, as the drink itself takes mere minutes to make. “How many people know Toronto has a namesake drink?” Katarina asked. “Not many. I stumbled upon it by accident myself. It’s fascinating. I’ve tried and tried to research the origins of it and the meaning behind it, but there’s little information about it.” The Toronto’s companion essay, “A Town So Great They Named a Drink After It,” explores the drink’s history and culture in detail.
This shoot taught this Books@Torontoist editor many things about food, film and fornicating. Toronto has it’s own (delicious) cocktail. Sometimes it takes two hours to get three minutes of footage. A publicist makes a great production assistant. Rea’s aunt Althea makes a mean roti. The best way to pick up a chef is to talk about chopped egg salad. Industrial dishwashers are an amazing invention. And, most importantly, Toronto has a lot of great food tales to tell.
The videos should appear on Coach House’s website and Open Book Toronto in the next few weeks.
