first word the world we eat
first word the world we eat
There’ s something special about Winnipeg when it comes to culture. We take pride in being a multicultural city, and with good reason. Walk through our neighbourhoods, visit our restaurants and markets, or spend a summer moving from one festival to the next and the diversity of this city is impossible to miss. Our food scene, in particular, tells the story in some delicious ways.
By the time you’ re reading this, we’ ve come through another busy summer of festivals. The music, theatre, dance and cultural celebrations that fill the city through July and August are a reminder of how many communities call Winnipeg home. Folklorama, of course, gives us one of the most concentrated expressions of that diversity, offering the chance to experience food, music and traditions from around the world without leaving the city.
But the multicultural character of Winnipeg doesn’ t end when festival season does. It has become part of how we live— and especially how we eat.
Think about the foods we can pick up on an ordinary day. Shawarma, tacos, naan filled with all kinds of ingredients, phyllo pies and countless other globally influenced quick meals have become familiar parts of the local food landscape. We don’ t necessarily think of these foods as an“ ethnic” food experience anymore. They’ re simply good things to eat, available around the corner when we’ re hungry.
At the same time, the city’ s chefs are bringing global flavours into more contemporary and fine-dining kitchens. Calamansi and passion fruit might turn up in a sauce or cocktail. Gochujang, matcha, miso and harissa can be folded into dishes in ways that have little connection to a traditional definition of their origins. The ingredients travel, chefs experiment, and diners are increasingly willing to follow along.
That willingness is one of the things that makes Winnipeg’ s food culture distinctive. People who have immigrated here bring the food they know, and there is an audience ready to try it. Over time, those flavours become familiar, then popular, and eventually just part of Winnipeg’ s food scene.
Food sources offers a great example in A Fresh Arrival, featuring a Brazilian cheesemaker who began producing the cheese she missed from home right here in Manitoba. The result has found an audience far beyond her own community, earning recognition while introducing more Winnipeggers to a traditional
Brazilian cheese. In top tables, we visit four locally owned restaurants serving homestyle dishes based on recipes from their owners’ countries of origin. There is a real confidence in these kitchens. The food is presented as it was meant to be, and diners are seeking out those authentic flavours. Our inthekitchen feature takes us to
Flavour Comes First, where Gather at Assiniboine Park is making use of ingredients grown right outside its kitchen door. Greens, herbs and vegetables from The Leaf and the surrounding gardens make their way onto the menu. The dolmades featured on our cover offer another example: a Greek preparation using swiss chard in place of traditional grape leaves, bringing a distinctly local ingredient into a familiar global dish.
This kind of exchange isn’ t new here, either. Winnipeg chefs have been incorporating international flavours into Western cooking for decades, including in some of the city’ s more traditional hotel and dining-room kitchens. What has changed is the range of ingredients available, the speed at which ideas travel and the appetite diners have for trying something different.
Last course introduces us to Floral Reverie, featuring an Australian-born artist who has called Winnipeg home for decades. Her work reflects the landscapes and influences of both Australia and Manitoba, adding another perspective to the cultural mix that makes this city what it is.
Perhaps that is what makes Winnipeg’ s multiculturalism so rewarding. People arrive with their own traditions, recipes, experiences and ideas. We make room for them, try what they bring, and eventually some of those things become our own.
That exchange has shaped Winnipeg for generations. And judging by what’ s happening in our kitchens, it’ s still evolving.
Laurie Hughes, Publisher
ciao! / aug / sep / two thousand twenty-six 3