Chefs of the Kawarthas - Chef Andrew Orde

CHEFS OF THEKAWARTHAS

CHEF ANDREW ORDE

Meet Andrew Orde, Head Chef at Electric City Bread Co. Andrew is more than just a Chef. He’s an interesting, colourful, tattooed guy who has traveled the world learning his craft. He’s back in Peterborough, and we are lucky to have him in this culinary city.

I asked Andrew why he became a Chef. “It more or less found me. When I was 15 I got a dishwashing job. I wasn’t necessarily interested in it at that time. My first kitchen job was on an island in Lake Tomogami. It was a lot of fun and a great experience. It was for a summer camp, so I moved my way up very quickly from dishwasher up to Sous Chef. After that I moved out west for a few years. When I moved back to Peterborough I actually reconnected with the Chef from the summer camp, who was the Chef at Parkhill on Hunter at the time. He hired me right away. From there, I’ve been in Peterborough, as well as the West Coast. I spent a little time in Europe working in the French Alps at a ski resort. That was definitely one of the highlights in my career. “

Andrew came back to Peterborough because he was born and raised here. “Everyone can get out for a bit, but Peterborough seems to have a way of bringing you back. The food community in Peterborough is unlike anywhere else. There’s no competition, we all work together rather than working against each other. I think it’s a really cool thing to have that kind of community. “ says Chef Andrew.

What does he think about Culinary School? “ I do see an importance in the culinary school, but I think that you can grow outside the box a little bit more when you have that amount of freedom rather than being confined to the French old school. I think in the end, (not going to school) makes for a way more interesting Chef. I’ve been able to pick up my own style. It can build your character as a Chef,

which I think is really cool. At this point, I’m 31 and I’ve been doing this for about 16 years now.“

Where is Andrew’s favourite place to work so far? “My favourite and most challenging would be here at Electric City Bread Co. just because it has really pushed me to

evolve, and very quickly as well. Everything we bring in we do ourselves. We bring in all of our animals whole. We make our own bacon. We cure it for 7 days and smoke it ourselves. We do absolutely everything – our mustards, ketchups, relish, pickling – everything is from scratch. So it’s really tested me. You always have to be thinking at least a week ahead of time. We’re not the kind of place that would just go to the store and pick some up to make due. I’ve been here for two years now. “

Chef Andrew has a say in what gets created. “Jeremy (the owner) and I work pretty close at putting things together. At the end of the day, it’s generally my vision that comes through, and I do all the recipes for it. We change our menu every 6 to 8 weeks, and that keeps it very interesting. As soon as you have it down pat and can do it with your eyes closed, you are starting all over again. So it definitely forces you to be a better Chef, and offers the opportunity to continually evolve and out do yourself. We do a lot more seasonal menus. We get to work with the local farmers, Circle

Organics for the most part, and smaller farms like Little Leaf Farms. We go organic and local as much as possible. For our produce supplier, we use The Market in Lakefield. For example, we don’t have tomatoes unless it’s tomato season. You won’t see a BLT on the menu in January.”

Baking is new for Andrew. “We do absolutely everything from scratch here. Our sourdough is a three day process. We use a variety of specialty flours in our sourdough and our bagels. It was very stressful at first. I didn’t have any interest or experience in baking at all before I started working here. But over time, I have fallen in love with the art of baking.”

Andrew is very focused. “There’s not really a lot of off time (he laughs). I have my own personal catering business (Cast Iron Catering). I have a pretty large family of dogs, so with the early mornings and late nights here, I go home to walk the dogs and hang out with the dogs. I also host cooking and dinner parties for friends and family. That’s a pretty common pass time of mine.”

One thing that Andrew doesn’t do is sports. “No, no, no, I gave that up years ago (laughs).”

The colourful side of Andrew is his many tattoos. “It’s just something I’ve always been into. All my idols were all very heavily tattooed. It’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do. “

I suggested that Chef Andrew resembles Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe. (he laughs) “I don’t play much anymore, but I was in a band for quite a few years (May Weather). On top of wanting this kind of image, it went hand in hand with the style of music we played, the persona. I’m going to keep on collecting, and keep on growing as long as I have room. They all mean something to me. Even if it doesn’t resemble something in particular, it’s a time period and reminds me of that. “

Andrew has PUNX tattooed on his left knuckles. “Going back to my teenage days, I considered myself a bit of a punk rocker. “ On his right knuckles is P-S-P-D . “A group of friends, we all got it done, which is Peterborough Street Punks and Drunks. (he laughs) It was pretty fitting for our high school years. There is me and a handful of other people who all have that. Not necessarily what represents me anymore, but it’s sentimental. All the friends who have it are still very close friends.”

What does Andrew see for the future? “I intend on staying here at the Bakery. As it stands right now, I’m pretty happy. I get to do a lot of stuff that I know I wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else. I get to hone in my butcher skills here. I really enjoy it. I’m very proud of being able to take a pig from the local farmer, be able to break it down, do different types of charcuterie, salamis, sausages, bacon, head cheese, being able to use every bit, and see that product afterwards. It is very rewarding. I’m very humble, I’m very modest, I don’t self promote. I feel like I’ve taken my road the right way, and learned to do things a little bit more the way our grandfathers did, and that’s very rewarding.”

Watching Chef Andrew Orde work is seeing his passion and he is a great Chef.

Crafting the Spirit of Peterborough County

Robert Black was born and raised in Peterborough. He started Black’s Distillery because he has a passion for wellmade spirits. Being of Scottish decent, in 2010 he was in Islay, Scotland where they produce smoky, peaty infused Scotches. They harvest the peat from the ground, and then stop the malting process and dry the grains with peat fires. That infuses the peat flavour into the grain. Robert says, “I just thought that was the most incredible flavour you can get. They don’t do that anywhere else.”

“It’s kind of like an extension of food for me. I like good food, and things that are made from real products. I remember going to Lang Pioneer Village as a young boy and learning about the red fife wheat and how important is was for Canada and the United States for the grain industry. We are excited about having that little piece of history“, says Robert. “I’m also interested in the science side of it, taking one substance and turning it into something else. I wanted to do this for a long time. I was laid off from my toolmaking job. Barb, my partner, and I decided to do it. I had done a lot of research already, so I went out West, did a Master Distillers course and it began from there.

Reception for Black’s Distillery in the Kawarthas has been great. They use red fife wheat in their Vodka, a local grain developed in Peterborough County in 1840 by a Scottish Immigrant. Their Gin is made from their Vodka as the base spirit. They use locally grown organic grains (Douro) for their products.

Black’s opened March 14th 2018. They are at the LCBO for Gin and Vodka in 32 stores (from Ottawa to Toronto) or you can buy online at the LCBO. You can also purchase all of their products in their online store at www.blacksdistillery.com or at their Distillery at 99 Hunter Street East in Peterborough.