If you didn’t know already, you can have Sudbury food lover Chris Mask share his cooking tips and tricks with you every month from the courtesy of your own home.
Mask, who has appeared on MasterChef Canada and won the battle of Wall of Chefs in 2020, has been commissioned to make YouTube videos for the Greater Sudbury Public Library.
Mask eagerly took up the challenge to share his love of all things edible in its effort to branch out and appeal to library audiences.
The self-taught chef, who is a paramedic by trade and grew up in Timmins, is producing videos that run anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes in length.
They allow Mask to share the history of a food, its country of origin and then cook recipes that you can make at home.
“I try to dig deep and research the dishes. I believe these family dinners mean so much more to people when they know how far back these dishes go,” he said. “My kitchen is not set up to do a live demo, so I segment everything after doing a ton of research and then cook and chat with library users.”
Mask said these features were inspired by the show Good Eats, which starred chef and TV personality Alton Brown, who would discover the science and history behind foods and different ingredients.
Mask’s recent feature on pasta uncovered a lot of interesting material that required him to take out a few books from the circulation desk.
While it’s often believed Italians created pasta, he was unaware of the ties to Africa, China and the Middle East.
“The intricate research really sends me down a rabbit hole at times,” he said.
Over the last 11 or so months, he’s tackled wild game, soup, burgers, fish and chips, eggs, lamb and the list continues.
Usually the features are pre-recorded in Mask’s kitchen, but the fish and chip segment brought him to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was working at the time.
Mask visited a fish market, and created a delicious meal using a mild fish along with Yukon Gold thick cut home fries. He also prepared a spiced malt vinegar and homemade tartar sauce prepared with anchovies, capers and salty pickles.
Mask is a firm believer that anything edible and flavourful is created from a combination of acid, fat, salt and heat. It’s something he will refer to over and over in each segment because he truly believes it all comes down to these four elements.
Mask relies on ideas from library subscribers for future episodes. He said the boxed pasta, mashed potatoes and soup features came from client feedback.
Upon my personal request, the May 24 feature will get behind the history of ice cream and look at making the sweet and creamy favourite at home.
In addition to Chris’ work with the Greater Sudbury Public Library, he is about to start his eighth season as the host of Off the Chip Wagon, which features chipstands and airs on community television.
Mask also plans to visit and compete in a few BBQ competitions this summer in his spare time.
Mask’s features can be found on his YouTube channel.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
