Kristen Kish: "If you want to make it to the finals in Italy, you're going to have to search high and low. Chefs, you're standing in our special guest playground. Please say hello to Cree knowledge keeper and owner of Mohican Trails, Brenda Holder."
Brenda Holder: "I come from a long lineage of people who have survived on this land. And the forest that you see around you is a pharmacy. It's a food store, it's a clothing store. And this is where we get our tools. So welcome."
Kristen Kish: "And next to Brenda is a local chef, master forager, Tracy Little."
Tracy Little: "My restaurant is 10 minutes down the road. We do tasting menus that are comprised of ingredients that I find out here in the wild."
Kristen Kish: "Chefs, we're going to go back to where the culinary story began. Foraging all around the world, leading chefs are really leaning into this practice more and more.. Alberta is known for the beautiful outsource, and with its 35,000 hectares of publicly forested land, they provide a ton of ingredient options that can be foraged from top to bottom, literally."
Brenda Holder: "We're in the time of year when all of the energy of the plant goes down into the root system. This is where we'll find all of the nutrients, medicine, and other beautiful things that my people have used for a long period of time."
Kristen Kish: "For your final elimination challenge in Canada, each of you must create a dish using foraged ingredients from the trees to the roots. But no matter your expertise, level, or your knowledge, Brenda and Tracy will be here to help you. After you're done hand picking your main ingredients, you'll head back to Calgary, where you'll have $200 to shop for any other remaining ingredients that you might need. Brenda and Tracy and some of your other guests will also be providing a small additional pantry a foraged ingredients to to work with. Tomorrow you'll head to Jumping Pound Ranch, where each of you will have two and a half hours to cook outside over an open flame."
We saw the chefs being taught to find: juniper berries, rose hips; dandelioni roots; mustard flowers; mustard roots; edible ants; clover flowers; yarrow flowers.
