Chef hopes to spark interest in cannabis cooking on cross-Canada tour stop in Victoria
A chef on a cross-Canada tour is trying to help pioneer a new culinary frontier, despite restrictions on serving cannabis.
Travis Petersen has partnered with Russell Hendrix Restaurant Equipment and Supplies to teach an introduction to culinary cannabis.
The course, open to culinary professionals, teaches its students about the different parts of the plant, safety practices and methods for creating extractions.
Five students attended the class Thursday night in Victoria, the first stop in the tour of 10 Canadian cities.
“It’s a food for healing,” says attendee Nelles Shackleton.
"I thought it would be brownie cookies and stuff like that with ground-up cannabis in it, but it was not that at all,” says Erik Andersen, a former head of Camosun College’s culinary department. “It was extractions made from cannabis into oils, into sugars, into salts, infused into the food.”
Strict regulations around edible cannabis prohibit restaurants from introducing it to Canadian menus.
One of the rules is that licensed cannabis processors can’t make cannabis products in the same building as non-cannabis foods.
“This control measure is designed to help minimize the risks of cross-contamination and reassure Canadians and Canada’s international trade partners of the safety and quality of food produced in Canada,” Health Canada said in a statement to CTV News.
Petersen is frustrated by the restrictions and has chosen to run his course anyway.
“This is the next frontier within the culinary world,” he says. “If you were ever going to trust anyone with cannabis, it should be the chef.”
Restaurants Canada, a voice for the food service industry, says there is interest to grow this side of culinary market and it wants a seat at the table.
“We’d love to see a level playing field where we can get involved and where these creative chefs that we have in the industry can do a little bit more than what’s currently allowed under the federal regulations,” says vice-president Mark von Schellwitz.
Shackleton likens the addition of cannabis on menus to a glass of wine.
Health Canada did not say whether it is considering changes to its rules for cannabis in restaurants.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.