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Ian Johnson
Background
Ian was born in Wales and moved to Canada with his family when he was
young. Starting out in eastern Canada, Ian has a degree in European
History and International Relations from the University of New Brunswick.
He started as a bartender and waiter in various locations out east until
1994 when he moved Stratford.
Trained
Ian is an honours graduate of Stratford's Culinary School.
Worked
Ian started his working career at the Westover Inn where he cooked
in the kitchen. "I started out doing desserts and salads and
worked my way up the ladder."
How he got into cooking
"My degree wasn't going to pan out, and I still wanted to work with
people in a team. My mom was a great cook and taught me a lot. She
really shoved me into the profession. When other kids were
getting skates and hockey sticks for Christmas I was getting
cookbooks."
First thing he ever cooked
The first really big thing Ian had to prepare was a full dinner
menu. "It was two appetizers, two main dishes, and two desserts.
I did everything myself. Some of the dishes included rack of lamb and stuffed
peppers."
Favorite Place to eat
A tiny restaurant in Tuscany. "It was a great place in
the middle of nowhere. They really looked after us, bought us drinks, gave
us pens."
Recipe Tip
Taste the food before you serve it. Usually people never taste their
food to see if it was seasoned properly. You spend so much time and effort
preparing it, you should feel proud."
What he'd be if he weren't a chef
"I would have been a police officer. I really like to
help people, I have a very nurturing personality."
Favorite Kitchen Tool
"My tongs. I use them everyday, they are an extension of
my hand."
Menu Bomb
"Peanut Butter Pasta with Chicken that I made for the staff.
I thought that I could use peanut butter instead of peanut sauce. It
didn't turn out that great. People still bring it up!"
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