Episode 57: Wild Foraging with Nicholas Stark

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 2 (00:08):
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Speaker 5 (00:55):
How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to
build one of Canada's mosticonic fishing lodges?
I'm your host, Steve Nitzwicky,and you'll find out about that
and a whole lot more on theOutdoor Journal Radio Network's
newest podcast, Diaries of aLodge Owner.
But this podcast will be morethan that.
Every week on Diaries of aLodge Owner, I'm going to

(01:18):
introduce you to a ton of greatpeople, share their stories of
our trials, tribulations andinspirations, Learn and have
plenty of laughs along the way.

Speaker 6 (01:29):
Meanwhile we're sitting there bobbing along
trying to figure out how tocatch a bass and we both decided
one day we were going to be ontelevision doing a fishing show.

Speaker 5 (01:39):
My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in
all those bass in the summertime, but that's might be for more
fishing than it was.

Speaker 7 (01:45):
Punching you so confidently, you said hey.

Speaker 5 (01:48):
Pat, have you ever eaten a drum?
Find Diaries of a Lodge Ownernow on Spotify, apple Podcasts
or wherever the Eating Wildpodcast.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
I am your host, antonio Smash Malecka.
I am joined with my co-hosttoday.
We got the one, the only cue,the tune Showtime Jansen,
showtime, christopher Jansen,how you doing today, brother.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
I'm doing excellent bud.
You know summer's here, thewarm weather is here.
The rain stopped.
I'm glad to see you, as always.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah, I'm glad to see you too, man, we got some news.
We Top Dog has landed inPortugal.
He talked to him this morning.
The family went up, I thinkyesterday, and got some breaking
news.
It looks like we might have TopDog on as a guest, believe it
or not, from lisbon in the nextfew weeks.

(03:07):
He's gonna get his feet, uh,settled when he lands in
portugal.
And he said he's going clamfishing.
So he's gonna go fish for someclams and we're gonna talk about
it wow, I gotta see footage ofthis.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Uh, that'll be entertaining to see him out
there clam fishing.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
Oh yeah, man, we were talking and you know he hasn't
been on the last few podcasts.
He's bummed but he's been sostressed out trying to get his
shop organized and you know he'soff to Portugal, like he
usually does in the summertimeand with the family.
And I said, as long as you gotWi-Fi brother, we're going to
check in on you top dog.
And he's long as you got Wi-Fibrother, we're going to check in

(03:46):
on you, top dog.
And he's like you got it.
Man, as soon as I land I'mgoing clam fishing and we're
going to talk about it, that'samazing.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Can't wait, looking forward to that.
I don't even know what he lookslike anymore.
Him and Martins Is Martins inPortugal too, or what's he doing
?
Or is he too busy running amulti-millionaire company?
He's a busy guy, man.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Well, I got more news about Hookset Martins.
Me and him did hit the water.
We hit the water on Saturday.
It was a quick fish.
It wasn't our.
I'm going to say I have nothingto brag about, to be honest.
We went to our home watersagain.
How did?
You do the way it is right now.
Well, it was okay, it was okay.
The problem is with Hookset.

(04:26):
Right now we're so busy at workand he's just like he'll phone
me and he'll be like you want tofish Saturday?
We got a four hour window,let's go.
And he was telling you too,he's got so much new gear that
he's got to try out Like this isthe guy who's got more gear
than anybody, but fish is theleast, yeah he just needs the
time.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
He has all the mo, all the fishing lures, all the
tackle.
He just needs a free time.
I hope he has a garage salesoon because, like I mean, he
has no free time, he's got allthese beautiful combos.
I'm gonna stop by the hook, setmartin's residence and I'm just
gonna be.
You know?
Five bucks, you know everything.
Five dollars, you know fivebucks, you know everything.
Five dollars you know what wasthat little Caesar's Five bucks,

(05:08):
five bucks, five bucks.
Well, that's what I'm going todo to his fishing gear.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Well, he's got some of the best stuff.
He had a new combo.
He's into a new company I won'tmention her name because we're
going to reach out to them.
They got to sponsor us company.
I won't mention her namebecause we're going to reach out
to them.
They got to sponsor us.
I'll be honest, he's got somereally, really good gear.
I got a couple largeys andpulled them out of the scabbage.
We had a few strikes here andthere, but then the weather

(05:38):
turned.
Man, the weather's been reallyweird up in the Kawartha Lake
area.
I want to talk to you about itbecause, first of all, we have a
great episode lined up foreveryone tuning in.
We got a wonderful guest.
Oh, we do.
We've been dying to talk to you.
But before I get to the guest,the weather.
I have had the highest winds inthe past two years on Lake

(06:02):
Scugog, port Perry.
Everyone knows that.
That's where my home waters are, to a point where I've lost my
pontoon boat twice.
My neighbors have had to callme from snapping rope off the
dock from a hundred miles away.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Can you believe that man?
That's crazy man and I've seenthe ropes for our listeners.
It's not like Smash is using,you know, like generic dollar
store rope to put down hispontoon and it's really good
stuff you're using and that'sincredible man.
How was what about the Triton?

(06:39):
Is that okay?

Speaker 3 (06:41):
Triton was okay, it's up on the boat lift.
And me and Dan we said you knowwhat I got.
To be honest, it was because ofHookset that I got the boat
lift, because he was when webought the Triton.
He was like listen, man, he'slike this is not the tracker
that we used to have.
It's going to stay in the water.
You know he doesn't want itrubbing up against the dock

(07:03):
constantly because the levels onScugog are up and down.
You know they got thatcontrolled water system out in
Lindsay and there has been timeswhere the water levels are so
low that those bumpers that Iset when I leave I come back and
they're off track and nextthing, you know, the boat's just
railing up against the dock.

(07:23):
So with our new boat he waslike you know, let's invest a
bit of money.
We've got the boat lift.
I'm going to be honest, itdidn't even move an inch from
all that bad weather that we hadand there was tornado warnings
too a few weeks back and lostthe pontoon.
Thank God my neighbors calledme up, took a video of it.
They were laughing at me.
They're like oh, there's theMuleka boat again floating away

(07:46):
into the bay.
And it ends up in somebody'sbackyard.
But needless to say, did therescue Me and Dan went up there
on Saturday and boy did we evertie that sucker down.
It ain't moving.
You're going to need ahurricane to move that bastard
off the dock.
But we had a good day.
We had a.
And it ain't moving.
You're going to need ahurricane to move that bastard

(08:07):
off the dock.
But we had a good day.
We had a good day, man.
Any bad day, fishing is a goodday, you know in life in general
and especially with Dan beingso busy.
But listen, good news, he willbe on our next few episodes.
We are going to catch up withHooks at Martin's.

(08:29):
We're also going to catch upwith Top Dog Pereira as he lands
in Portugal.
But great guest today, greatguest You've been talking to
certain gentlemen.
Tell us a little bit about ourguest coming up.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
So it is Mr Nicholas Stark and he is a chef, he is a
forager, he supplies restaurantsin Toronto.
He does everything and the bestthing is he's a fantastic fit.
I'll let him tell the story,obviously, but he's a great fit
for the podcast, for ourlisteners is because he does all

(09:01):
those great things and he huntsand fish, so he's a poster boy
of the eating wild.
It's going to be a good one andhe's a gentleman and I'm so
glad he took the time.
We connected through Instagramand it just shows you, man, the
power of social media.
Like, I mean, there's manyguests that we've had through

(09:23):
Instagram and people arereaching out.
It's fantastic.
But yeah, we're in for a goodone.
I can't wait to pick this guy'sbrain and I can't wait to hear
you talk to him about kitchenstuff and the foraging and all
that stuff yeah, yeah, I'mexcited to talk to him too now.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
You got me checking out his instagram.
You know we always like to do alittle background check on our
guests, see what's happening andyou know I would say more
current affairs with our guests.
But also looking back at thehistory, when you go into
people's social media pages andyou and you're scrolling and
you're looking at man, thisguy's popped some huge fish yeah

(10:01):
, and it doesn't look like he'sfishing on a boat.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Sometimes he's no I can't wait to ask him about that
.
It doesn't seem, um, with hisstark north um instagram handle.
He does have some fishing onthere, but I think some of this
stuff he, he keeps to himselfyou know what I mean kind of
like our friend, uh, mr, uh, mr,best fisherman in the mma.

(10:24):
He, uh, kovacek, yeah, he keepshis spots and I don't blame
these guys.
You could be like Sean Dugan.
Yeah, I love the guy and he'salways wanted to show his fish
on his Instagram, but he alwaystakes the black mark in the
background, oh yeah.
I love it, the background?
Oh yeah, so he'll.
He'll draw like in black markeron his pictures, like you know,

(10:46):
photo editor, and I'll havelike trees in the back.
That's all hand drawn, so youdon't see his backdrop and I, I
get it.
You got to do that nowadays,man, you everyone.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
I mean, it's how they make a living too.
Some of these guys right siegeand I get it.
I, I think, I think, we, we can.
We can almost say that we'vebeen out with many guides this
year, which is awesome, becausewe talked about this on our last
episode.
You know, take the time andspend a bit of dough and it's
just going to make you a betterfisherman.

(11:16):
And picking these guys' brains,oh yeah, but also learning the
spots you know, yeah, yeah.
Let's be honest, like going outwith guides sometimes is is key
because you get to learn a bunchof new spots and I think I
think that's could be umtroublesome for some guides out
there.
If they're, if it's their homewaters and guys are, you know

(11:37):
they'll come out.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
You always hear the stories about guys sneaking
their little gps navionics intheir pocket marking spots,
right yeah, it's getting likelike James Bond out there on the
water because with thetechnology now like you could be
out going with these guides orwith I don't know these little
chips you have in waypoints andI don't know.
Man, just figure, find thespots out for yourself.

(11:58):
I love it.
I love fishing with guides.
I never really did it muchbefore sean and uh, but I do
love it and the best thing Iit's one thing they take you to
spots is cool, but is this topick their brain?
Why are they taking you tothese spots like what's the
reason?
What time of day?
And I know a lot of guidesdon't fish while they're um

(12:20):
chartering, and I get that right.
You want to put your customerson fish, but I like it every now
and then when they pick up arod for a half an hour, you know
, and they always never want to.
They always like, no, no, I'mhere for you.
But what I love is when theypick up a rod for a half hour.
I love seeing the technique,because you can only especially
us, not bars.
You can tell us one thing.
It goes in one ear and out theother, but seeing them like

(12:44):
simon barth, for example, whenhe was working um the walleye in
deeper water and he had a wholemomentum of how he would uh
bring it in.
You could see him do it.
But uh, yeah, I'm going alittle bit off topic, I just get
excited talking about that.
But yeah, I definitely uhinvest some money into a guy,
not just for the spots but tosee the techniques and why

(13:05):
they're fishing certain areas.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah, and you know another thing too, siege, along
the same lines, but I'm going tochange it up for the kitchen.
You know we talk about payingsome extra dough to.
You know, go out with aprofessional per se, or go out
with somebody who knows thewaters, the local waters.
How about this, ej?

(13:27):
How about people spending someextra money to eat?
Well, and I'm only saying thisbecause you know our next guest
coming up, nicholas Stark.
I know he's got quite thebackground when it comes to
being in the kitchen.
I can't wait to ask him aboutwhere he started and where his
roots are.
But when you look at thepictures that this guy's posting
, with the caviar and all thisstuff, I see fine dining all

(13:50):
over it.
Oh yeah, there's two differenttypes of chefs out there, siege.
There's the guys that willstand in front of a barbecue and
put out the best brisket or thebest smoked meat you've ever
had in your life.
But then there's the guys thatcan create masterpieces with a
pair of tweezers, and I feel,like you know, nicholas has a

(14:11):
bit of both in him.
You know, like you know, Ireally can't wait.
But listen to our listeners outthere, treat yourself, go out
for some nice, fine dining oncein a while.
Take your missus, take yourkids, you know, find a nice
local mom pa shop.
You know we talked about theschnitzel, that schnitzel stop
that we ran into while we wereon the Corathra Lakes and you

(14:36):
know something like that Siege,like you know it's like a hidden
gem.
Go out there, spend a bit ofdough.
Yeah, you're going to find someof the best food in the world
in Ontario, would you agree?

Speaker 2 (14:46):
with me, man.
Yeah, I love what you're sayingwith that and not only do you
have to do fine dining.
I know people's budgets now istough, but I like I love what
you're saying on that is local,like.
I'm in London, ontario, and I'msurrounded by franchises and my
family and I we look for not toknock these places like the
Boston pizzas and the Kelsey'sand all that stuff.

(15:09):
We look for like family-runplaces.
You know the food's not alllike you know all those other
stuff is this copy and paste?
You know, look for it.
We just found a fantasticMexican restaurant in London and
and it's a family run and Ilove what you're saying on that,
though it's just it hitsdifferent.
You know what I mean.

(15:30):
It does.
Absolutely does.
And that snitchel shack we wentto in Lindsay.
I've never experiencedsomething like that.
Most people would drive by thatplace and they'd be like oof, I
don't know, and I'm notknocking the looks of the, the
cosmetics of the place at all,but it people would probably
just go buy it right and theywouldn't give it a second chance
.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
But give these places a second chance oh man, one of
the best sandwiches I'll sellstay to this day.
Siege one of the best sandwichesI've ever had, now on the lines
of best sandwich I've ever had.
I put out there Siege before weget to Nicholas.
I put something out there and Icalled out to the listeners the

(16:11):
first person to send you a DMof a homemade schnitzel sandwich
using wild game, incorporatingwild game, I don't care what it
was.
I'm going to send them anexclusive one of a kind.
I mean, our inventory is lowright now.

(16:32):
We got news we're going to talkabout after we get Nicholas on,
because he's waiting backstagefor us right now as we speak.
But I need you to tell me andtell the listeners who won the
smash schnitzel picture for thewin an exclusive knife that that
we are going to send to thisperson.

(16:53):
I seen the picture it was.
It was something that I'm goingto tell you right now.
I wouldn't have been able tocreate myself me my big mouth
putting it out there.
This guy just blew me away.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Tell us about it, so yeah it was in within, I want to
say, 24 hours of the episode.
Man and I had a lot of peopletexting and asking you know
about the ingredients, uh, whatyou're looking for, and uh, I
did have pictures.
Come in after this lucky winner.
But unfortunately, this luckyguy well, I shouldn't say

(17:25):
unfortunately this guy is stevenhorst.
It goes by stevenhorst82 oninstagram and he made a smash
schnitzel sandwich.
He this is what it consists ofready for this, venison
schnitzel, mushroom and oniongravy, lots of melted gouda

(17:45):
cheese and duck fat fried egg,because every schnitzel needs an
egg on top.
He said and oh my lord, Ireposted it on stories.
But this, this sandwich, needsnot just to be a story post,
it's going, it's going right onour main page.
And, steve, he knocked it outof the park.
And I'm not surprised.

(18:05):
You know what did Nate Diaz saywhen he beat Conor McGregor?
I'm not surprised.

Speaker 8 (18:11):
Do you know what I mean?
Not surprised.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
You said, you weren't surprised.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
You weren't surprised , you told me.
You said you know what Smash?
We got a winner.
You sent me the picture, yousent me what the description was
and I looked at that and I waslike holy shit, yeah, this guy
knocked it out of.
Not only did he get to, he made, he must have made it the next
day.
Yeah, um, because they, likeyou said the, the picture
started coming in later, butthis was a masterpiece, brother,

(18:39):
yeah masterpiece and I'm notknocking anyone else to send
pictures in.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
They all look fantastic.
They all look so good.
It's just, Steve, was he jumpedman?
The benefits of listening toEating Wild podcast.
You never know what kind ofsecret little gem we're going to
have in the podcast.
But again, congrats, Steve, andI know you are going to love
this Eating Wild filet knife.

(19:04):
We've worked on it a long timeback and forth with Mike and it
is a beaut, Steve, and I knowyou are going to love this
eating wild fillet knife.

Speaker 3 (19:12):
We've worked on it a long time, back and forth with
Mike, and it is a beaut.
It is, oh my God, it's a beauty.
And, just for the listeners,we're going to go to break very
shortly Again.
We don't want to keep Nicholaswaiting too long backstage.
But you mentioned Mike fromKukushkin.
We have reached out to Mike forhim to be a guest on a show.
Hopefully, uh, after you hearthis one, our, our following one
will be with Mike.
He's busy as hell right now, sohopefully we can get him on

(19:33):
because I really, really wanthim to explain to the listeners
how much went into creating, um,this eating wild filletife.
We got two versions of it.
We got a smaller version foryour pan fish.
We got a longer version foryour bigger fish.
German steel Eating Wild logoengraved into the blade, along

(19:57):
with the kakushkin Comes with abeautiful carrying case and
cover.
I can't even get into itbecause I want to save it for
Mike.
But listen, steve, I reallyappreciate you taking that
challenge and serious, asserious as you did, and I can't
wait for you to get your handson one of these fillet knives.
And listen, man, keep fishing,keep hunting and keep eating and

(20:20):
you know we feel like Oprahthese days.
We're just giving stuff away,siege, and I really appreciate
that one.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah, it's a beaut.
Thanks again, and thanks toeveryone that entered it.
It was just a last minute thingand yeah, so keep.
I think this might be areoccurring thing.
This might be.
You know, every now and thenwe'll put a challenge out and
we'll a food challenge for ourlisteners to come up with, and
we always have prizes.
Like Antonio said, we are themale versions of Oprah Winfrey

(20:51):
Everyone gets a car.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Everyone gets a car.
Well, listen, we're going to beright back after these short
messages from our friends andour sponsors and when we come
back, we'll be joined by the oneand only Nicholas Stark.
Stay tuned.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
but we can save you hours ofmeal prep with our art solids.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
more time and eat deliciouslocal fresh ingredients.

Speaker 3 (21:24):
For delicious flavours.
Art is always cooking up freshideas and crafting chef-inspired
recipes because we like to keepyou inspired and satisfied
Matcha, broccoli, crunch Honey,yuzu Coleslaw, zesty Kale,
caesar and Maple Tahini.

Speaker 4 (21:38):
Crunch, add your own protein to the salad or balance
your Friday night pizza out withit.

Speaker 1 (21:43):

Speaker 6 (22:01):
Hi everybody.
I'm Angelo Viola and I'm PeteBowman.
Now you might know us as thehosts of Canada's Favorite
Fishing Show, but now we'rehosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, Angelo and Iwill be right here in your ears
bringing you a brand new episodeof Outdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm, Now, what are we going totalk about for two hours every
week?
Well, you know, there's goingto be a lot of fishing.

Speaker 3 (22:23):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
Yeah, but it's not just afishing show.

Speaker 5 (22:29):
We're going to be talking to people from all
facets of the outdoors, fromathletes, All the other guys
would go golfing Me, and Garthand Turk and all the Russians
would go fishing To scientists,to chefs.

Speaker 6 (22:54):
And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you
are.
Outdoor Journal Radio seeks toanswer the questions and tell
the stories of all those whoenjoy being outside.
Find us on Spotify, applePodcasts or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Speaker 3 (23:08):
Welcome back to the Eating Wild podcast.
I'm your host, antonioSmash-Moleka.
Alongside Showtime, johnson andSiege, we finally got our guest
joining us live.
We've been talking about thisgentleman on the pre-show,
nicholas Stark, who is a chefand wild food supplier in
Toronto, ontario.
Nicholas, thank you for joiningthe Eating Wild podcast today.

(23:31):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
I love the name.
By the way, it reminds me ofNicholas Stark featuring.
It sounds like you're an actionhero on Hollywood or something.
It's a great name, you know.
It got me out of a ticket once.

Speaker 7 (23:45):
Oh, okay Are you Iron man?

Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yes, I like that.
That's awesome man, that'sreally cool.
That's crazy man.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Well, listen, Nicholas.
Thanks for taking the time, foryou know, sitting down with the
Eating Wild podcast, we got toask you, man, like your title,
Chef and Wild Food Supplier.
That's quite the name tag,brother.
Can we start off with NicholasStark, the history behind
Nicholas Stark and how youbecame a chef in the industry

(24:17):
today?

Speaker 7 (24:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
I began my journey in culinaryarts basically at Canoe.
That was like my first job andthat's like where I was like
very first exposed to tons oflike really awesome local
ingredients and lots of wildingredients that I had like
never seen before.
And that's where I first made aconnection with the forager.

(24:44):
That was like supplying therestaurant and basically I like
begged them to take me out and Iended up going out for a
weekend at their cottage.
Her name was the mushroom lady.
I don't know if she's stilloperational, but she's amazing,
wow.
And basically I went out andthat was like my first taste of
like uh, foraging, um, at leastfor like mushrooms and other

(25:08):
things, like uh, familiarly likewe had like picked like
watercress and some other stuffbut like mushrooms.
That was like my first forayinto uh, into it and um, I've
been hooked ever since.

Speaker 3 (25:20):
Wow, wow.
So when you say the mushroomlady, was this somebody who was
just strictly foraging mushroomsin Ontario or was this somebody
who was, like, growing, had theoperation, like you know, and
supplying restaurants withmushrooms?

Speaker 7 (25:38):
So she was doing like a bunch of restaurants inside
and she also like buy wholefoods for a little while
restaurants and she also workedat Five Old Foods for a little
while.
But she was like a small scaleforager but she did like some
plants and mushrooms and she wasreally knowledgeable.
So it was really cool to likespend my first little bit with
her because she was very, veryparticular about me learning all

(26:00):
the names and likeunderstanding what I was
actually thinking.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
Of course, man, and I think Siege me and you talk
about it all the time and likeunderstanding what I was
actually thinking.
Of course, man, and that, and Ithink, siege, we mean you talk
about it all the time.
We talk about it with Top Dogand Hookset.
We see at our hunt camp so manydifferent types of mushrooms
and it's always the question wehave, like who's out there to be
our mentor and guide us to like, what are these mushrooms?

(26:25):
How do you even you know, howdo you process them?
How do you know they're safe?
How do you know you're notgoing to kill yourself?
You know what I mean, siege.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Exactly.
With our luck, we'll take,we'll pick the wrong mushrooms
and you know.
Next thing, you know we'reseeing leprechauns or something.
You know.
We definitely don't have theeducation on that and it sounds
like Nicholas, the lady you wentwith.

(26:56):
That's very valuable to knowexactly what you're harvesting
and foraging because, like forus, we're clueless.
But there's so many it seemslike there's so many different
types of mushrooms out there and, yeah, like, how do you like
what would be the main mushroomyou tried to forage?

Speaker 7 (27:12):
So like I think like the best way to kind of approach
it is to like go very slowly,really take your time and like
feel like 1000 percent confidentbefore you ever commit to
eating anything out of the wild.
So different people will takedifferent approaches to that.
You can go the more scientificmethod where you're doing score
prints and like figuring thingsout that way.

(27:34):
Or you can also like go throughlike mentorship and start to
understand.
You know, like certain thingsthat people can show you and
teach you about, like veryspecific characteristics about
individual mushrooms, and thenyou can kind of like, um, if
someone was just going to bestarting in foraging, I would
say like focus on learning.
Like a really simple mushroomthat has like very few

(27:57):
lookalikes, like, for example, achanterelle mushroom, okay, uh,
where that entire genus haslike a very, very, very
distinctive characteristic,which is it has all scales, and
basically once you identify thatand really clearly know how to
identify that, you can reallyeasily identify most of that
family.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
Right, and a chanterelle mushroom, nicholas.
I mean they're not cheap,especially if I'm purchasing
from my supplier, but the flavor, I mean, is incredible and I
find that and this is just aquestion for you in general like
, let's use a Chanterellemushroom, for example.
How do you put a price tag onthis?

(28:39):
Is this something that isbecause it's very rare and you
can only get them at a certaintime of year, something that is
because it's very rare and youcan only get them at a certain
time of year?
Or is it something wherethere's just not enough of it to
have the volume that'saccessible for restaurants or
chefs like myself?
Because Chancho mushrooms Idon't know what the shelf is on

(28:59):
them if you're constantly buyingthem, but I do know that
they're not a cheap mushroom topurchase.

Speaker 7 (29:07):
Yeah, they're definitely.
They're like kind of mid-range.
As far as, like the wildmushrooms are concerned, Like
they can go, you know there arecertain wild mushrooms that are
extremely expensive and othersthat are much cheaper, but
chanterelles in general itreally depends on where they're
from, because chanterellesflavor is really determined on a
symbiotic bacteria thatactually pairs with it.

(29:30):
So all Chanterelles are notcreated equal.
Specifically like, theSaskatchewan Chanterelles are
extremely famous because theyhave like an extremely strong
apricot smell to them.
But the ones from northernOntario are extremely similar
and I think they're like some ofthe best chanterelles on the
planet, and that's like due tothe bacteria that forms a

(29:53):
symbiotic relationship with thechanterelle.
So it's actually like all thechanterelles are not clearly
equal.
Even though they may looksimilar, they don't all taste
the same and texturally they'regoing to be different.
Wow, that's incredible man.
They look similar, they don'tall taste the same and
texturally they're going to bedifferent.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
Wow, that's incredible man.
So you start this voyage withthe mushroom lady, she's showing
you the ropes and you justautomatically develop this
passion for foraging.
And I just want to touch basewith you on this subject Because
I know again, being a chefmyself and we do have, you know,

(30:28):
we got the garden going in thebackyard, but it's not the same.
There's nothing like going outinto the wild.
And you know, having theknowledge first of all, I think,
is the most important.
But I can see how you can gethooked on it, because the reward
is just, you know the benefitof it, and we'll touch base on
hunting and fishing as on it,because the reward is just, you
know the benefit of it, andwe'll touch base on hunting and
fishing as well, because thereward all the obviously, even

(30:50):
with that, is the harvest.
But when we get into theforaging of fresh produce and
mushrooms and stuff like that,you must have this unbelievable
passion for it.
And what time of year and whatdo you look for when you're
starting?
Like, I know there's differentseasons for different things,
but you know I'll give you anexample.

(31:11):
So when it's coming to earlyMay, my blood starts boiling
because I know crappy seasonsaround the corner and I'm ready
to go out there and I'm ready topop.
When is it the time thatNicholas is like okay, right now
, this is what we're going to belooking for, this is what's
coming first and the feverstarts right away.

Speaker 7 (31:32):
Well, it's definitely that like first like melting of
the snow for sure, Cause, likeyou know, after like a super
long winter and you've had likesuch limited options from
Ontario getting out there forthe first time and like
harvesting, like wild leeks andthings like that are some of my
very favorites Just because itkind of like breaks that like
winter spell when you just likereinvigoration of like yes, this

(31:56):
is an amazing place to live andit's not just always covered in
snow, I get it, man.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
And then leeks, the leeks.
Now do you mostly do yourforaging up north or do you do
any local in the city I knowobviously up north you probably
have a lot more opportunity upthere.
But I do know people here thatsell to me as well, that will
you know, especially fiddleheads.
They're grown in abundancearound here abundance around

(32:29):
here.

Speaker 7 (32:29):
Yeah, so I forage in a huge range.
We do most of our stuff inOntario, but we do do New
Brunswick, nova Scotia, princeEdward Island and Newfoundland
as well.
So, but predominantly we're,we're, we're going between like
Cochrane and Toronto, and thenalso like Red Lake as well.
So we'll go very, very far.

Speaker 3 (32:46):
Red Lake.
You mentioned Red Lake.
Is that in the Halliburton area?

Speaker 7 (32:51):
No, that's six hours north of Thunder.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Bay, holy Moses, oh boy, okay, I was way off.
I fished a lake called Red Lakein the Halliburton days and I'm
like, wait a second, I knowthat lake.
So you're foraging all overOntario, all over Canada and
it's incredible because I don'teven think people understand,

(33:13):
siege, the amount that thisearth gives back to us because
nobody has the knowledge ornobody has the passion like
Nicholas does.
And listen, there are peopleout there.
We had a wonderful chef, doris,who came and joined me in the
kitchen, siege, who at the timeshe couldn't forge anything
because the weather was just toowet at the time when she came

(33:36):
to visit.
But you know, I think we needmore people out there that need
to develop this sort of passion,because you know it's out there
and I think that you know,nicholas, can you make a career
out of this?
Can you make enough profitwhere you go and do what you
love to do and survive as wellas a business?

Speaker 7 (34:00):
I think that it's very possible for someone living
in Northern Ontario.
If you're living in Toronto,it's extremely difficult to
support yourself.
Uh, the foraging and, like mebeing a chef, is that like what

(34:26):
kind of like really incentivizedmy passion and getting into
this?
Is that like having access tothe like most incredible
seasonal ingredients whenthey're like available?
And I think that's somethingthat's like really lost in a lot
of like north american culturein general.
We're just used to havingeverything all the time and like
kind of waiting for like someof those super seasonal items

(34:47):
that are like very ephemeral andlike disappear within a week
and are so special.
It's like some of the mostamazing stuff.
That really like invigoratesthat passion within me.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
So are you still?
Are you still in the kitchen,nicholas?
Like, uh, like, um, I think I,when I talked to you on the
phone, were you in Europe beforeCanada.

Speaker 7 (35:07):
I did spend a little bit of time in Europe.
I am in the kitchen just notvery often.
I do a little bit of privatework, but that's pretty much the
all in all of it.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
And then, if any of our listeners your Instagram is
dark north, if any of ourlisteners your Instagram is
darknorth and I see that youactually it looks like you
package products, like you haveproducts available.
Are they available to thegeneral public or are you just
privately selling these to chefsaround the Toronto area At the

(35:42):
moment they're just available tocommercial clients, but we are
launching a direct-to-consumerplatform.

Speaker 7 (35:47):
That's in the area.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Ooh.

Speaker 7 (35:49):
I can't wait for that .

Speaker 3 (35:50):
That's going to be amazing, yeah, so what kind of
stuff, like Nicholas, can we?
First of all, people.
Can they go directly to you onInstagram and DM you and get
some of your product?

Speaker 7 (36:01):
Yeah, we always try to accommodate when we can Like.
The thing with a lot of wildproducts is that they're super
seasonal and some of them areextremely temperamental.
So we always try our best tosupply as much as we possibly
can.
But there there's always a lotof issues with wild supply, like
logistics and like gettingthings out of like really remote
areas and all kinds of things.

(36:21):
So we try our best, but butyeah, it's always possible.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
Restaurants in the Toronto area must love you
having you as a supplier,because when I'm at restaurants
a lot of time and it's greatbecause they're putting it out
there and they're like locallysourced you know these mushrooms
or these ingredients, so you'realmost that guy, you're the
locally sourced kind of guyfueling these restaurants.

(36:49):
I definitely try.

Speaker 7 (36:51):
I wish I could get to more of them but yeah, we try
our best to service as manyrestaurants as we can and we
take great pride in likeproviding like a very special
product.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
One thing that really caught my eye and Tone I sent
you the video is you dabble inthe caviar business.

Speaker 7 (37:09):
I do, that's.
You know we have a very longwinter and sadly I can't forage
during most of the winter.
So you know we import caviarand truffles and mushrooms from
other basically domains whenwe're in the office.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Wow, that's amazing the videos for our listeners.
You've got to go on Stark North.
This guy puts together thesevideos and these little like you
kind of see the behind thescenes of the packaging and when
they're filling the cans ofcaviar and it's an art to it.
Now I'm not even a huge caviarguy and now I am.

(37:45):
It's crazy, man you got me soldwith those clips.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
It's awesome and I wanted to ask you I'm glad you
brought that up Siege the caviarwhat species of fish usually
are you using when you arecollecting the eggs?

Speaker 7 (38:04):
So, like, black caviar comes from sturgeon, okay
, um, and that's uh.
There's a number of differentsturgeon that produce caviar and
are cultivated around the world.
There's only one wildproduction, that's uh, from
basically, um, eastern canada.
It's coming from brunswick,okay, but that's actually the
only legal wild production.
Everything else is cultivatedand basically the two main

(38:29):
species of sturgeon, it's a moreKaluga hybrid, so it's like a
hybridized sturgeon.
They're basically crossbred,right.
And then the other sturgeonthat we focus on is Osetra.
Wow, wow, jesus.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
It might be a stupid question, and listen, I've been
cooking my whole life, Nicholas,and caviar is just something I
have not worked with.
I've not worked with it.
We do get requests, obviously,when we're doing cocktail
parties, sometimes for caviar.
But one question I alwayswanted to ask somebody that had

(39:05):
the knowledge or uses caviaroften the color, the color of
the actual eggs like you gotbeautiful, vibrant pink and
peach and black.
Does it naturally come that wayor is it infused with some sort
of food coloring?

Speaker 7 (39:20):
Yeah, so certain sturgeon, they basically have
different color variations.
Ossetra, from my understanding,has some of the greatest
variations of any species.
So basically the Ossetrasturgeon can come in very golden
.
It can also come in anythingfrom super, super golden almost

(39:41):
like banana yellow, to black,wow, and like you get a whole
bunch of different tones inbetween, like there's greens and
, like you know, mixed color.
There's also bicolored eggs, soeggs that will have two colors,
like black and yellow, half andhalf Right, pretty interesting.

Speaker 3 (40:03):
Now, does that affect price at all?
Like color.

Speaker 7 (40:07):
I find that the color of the caviar definitely does
have an effect on the flavor.
I'm not sure if it's because Ithink it may just be more
attributed to the genetics ofthe fish, right, um, but um,
there's definitelyparticularities to lighter
caviar versus dark caviar wow,interesting.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
That's smart for you to do that during the winter,
because I was going to ask youwhat are you doing in the winter
?
You know, like, what do you do?
You're obviously not gettinglike blueberries and all that
stuff.
That's really smart on your end.

Speaker 7 (40:39):
Yeah, it was more out of necessity, but it's great.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
So your culinary career, Nicholas, let's just
talk about that quickly.
When you started cooking beforeyou got into the and you met
Mushroom Lady and your passionjust kind of blew up with the
harvesting and the foraging,what was your style Like, what
were you mostly cooking and whatkind of restaurants did you
work in?

Speaker 7 (41:05):
So I worked for Oliver Bonaccini chain of
restaurants for almost sevenyears and so that was just
between.
Like, basically, auberge andCanoe were the two restaurants
that I worked at, wow.

Speaker 3 (41:17):
Canoe Jesus.
It's one of the bestrestaurants out there, in
Toronto anyways.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
I like the name.
I've never been.

Speaker 7 (41:25):
Probably can't afford it.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
I might have to take your order.
That's incredible, man, awesome.

Speaker 7 (41:29):
Wow, wow, yeah.
And then from there I uh, Ileft and I spent three years in
Europe where I did a lot of justlike staging at different
restaurants and traveling andlearning about all the food and
kind of like reconnecting withum, like my heritage, um my
family's, like originally fromPortugal and so um, and then

(41:49):
after that point I came back andactually worked, for I worked
at Auberge again for a littlebit and then I kind of bounced
around and then I got into theprivate game.

Speaker 2 (41:59):
That's crazy.
You know what the crazy thingis, Tony?
What are the odds?
We have a nice Portuguesegentleman on the podcast and our
two Portuguese co-hosts decideor well, I shouldn't say decide,
they're swamped in work and andone's going to Portugal
tomorrow on the red eye tonightbut what are the odds?

(42:19):
You got a mungie cake and, uh,italian and the two Portuguese
guys couldn't make it thatthat's crazy.

Speaker 3 (42:25):
But listen, man, to be honest, I cooked.
I cooked Portuguese food earlyin my career as well and I
mentioned it on this podcast.
You know, from Cousin Du to youknow, learning how to do the
Sardinia Jingalenia.
One of some of my best friendsgrowing up Portuguese owned
Portuguese restaurants still allaround Toronto Mario's Barbecue

(42:46):
and stuff.
And the culture, the Portugueseculture, the food is incredible
.
And just you heading out toEurope, it must have been a
culture shock.
And the only reason why I saythat is because the lifestyle
and the food, you must sayNicolas, I mean, you had the
experience Is it not differentthan what it is here?

Speaker 7 (43:07):
Yeah, and that's kind of like one of the main like
drivers for me to like focus somuch on these like forage
products.
Because, like one thing, Ithink that we, like you know,
portugal is not maybe like themost culinary um, like um
developed place.
Like they don't have, like theydo obviously have like michelin
star restaurants and like fancyplaces, but I think like what

(43:27):
portugal, where they reallyshine, is in like the quality of
produce and ingredients, right,and the stuff is just so good.
And so when we kind of likelook at like canada, it's like
what do we have?
That's like on that kind ofsame bar and like, although
there are some farmers who aredefinitely stepping up to the
plate, like I think we stillhave like quite a ways to go.

(43:51):
Um, and I think like the wildfood really like fills that gap,
like some of the things fromthe wild are just so incredible
and like they're picked whenthey're supposed to be picked.
They're like ripened in seasonand like that is like just what,
like it's like the best thing achef could ever ask for.
Yeah, I bet.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
Now, siege, you mentioned to me off camera, off
air, something that Nicholas wasmentioning to you, and I think
it had to do something with thewood, and correct me if I'm
wrong, but something about thepesticides.
We're discussing it.
I'd love to talk to Nicholasabout that.

Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, you can.
What we're talking about,nicholas, is you were mentioning
some places that you can'treally forage anymore or look
for game, because if you want togo into that a little deeper,
that'd be great.

Speaker 7 (44:47):
Yeah.
So, basically, a couple ofyears ago I stumbled upon this
for the first time ever and likewe're talking about this is,
like you know, timon's area andnorth and um, so like this is
truly in the wild, and I came upto like one of my like
chanterelle spots that I likehad been picking for many years,
and there was like these largesigns posted, uh, basically

(45:09):
saying like it's toxic to walkin here.
Um, and this is something thatlike definitely just came to
like um my attention because Iwas like I I couldn't believe
that like in like the heart ofthe wilderness that they were
like using like toxic sprays andin quantities that like
basically made it not like safefor you to even travel in there.

(45:31):
So, um, yeah, like 250,000acres of um Ontario, apparently,
according to statistics, arelike sprayed every single year
post-cutting and like um forlike maintenance, um, and
basically it's to um anynon-choice trees to grow, so

(45:55):
it'll kill all the alders andall the other little bushes that
are kind of there.
Oh, my goodness.
And it's just kind ofinteresting because, in the
nature of things, when you get acut block, usually that cut
block is just like chocked fullof wildlife.
You know you get like tons moregrouse rabbits, all kinds of

(46:16):
smaller game, because like that,like um, very dense low cover
really provides amazing coveragefor these animals to breed and
reproduce and do all that stuff.
But what I really find is a lotof these cut blocks, especially
after they've been sprayed, arelike the void of life oh,
that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
And there's signs for you not even to walk on this
stuff.
Yeah, that's correct.
Oh, my goodness, could youimagine?
Like, I mean, we think we'regoing to get into a little bit
later for our listeners.
Uh, you know, nicholas isn'tjust an awesome chef and forager
.
This guy pops, yeah, he's, uh,he's, he's a heck of a fisherman
and a hunter.

(46:57):
But, like, I'm thinking, like I, I on fishing canada, on the
outdoor journal podcast network,they had a guest on and they
were, they were talking aboutthe spray and I had no idea.
But I mean, even the animalsthat may be exposed to the spray
, I don't even know if you wantto harvest them, am I wrong?

Speaker 7 (47:18):
on that.
So I think the exact quote thatsomeone got from the company
because there's a number thatyou can call was eat the
blueberries, but the moose meatshould be okay, should be we all
know what the moose are eatingand all that stuff, like all the
blueberries and like, I mean,everyone like bears and all that

(47:42):
stuff.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
So if they're consuming it, that's the biggest
crock of shit I've ever heardof in my life.

Speaker 7 (47:46):
Here's the thing Siege, go ahead there was
basically a trail cam that uh,hunter northern ontario had set
up, that uh, I'll try to findthe video and maybe send it to
you guys, but uh, basically, uh,within 12 hours of like it
being sprayed, um, there waslike moose coming into that

(48:06):
exact area where the spray hadjust been sprayed and they were
like consuming all the foliage.
Oh no, that's crazy.
So I mean, like I don't thinkthat could be healthy for you.
I don't think, like, um, if,like, the levels aren't safe for
you to walk in, they'redefinitely not safe for you to
consume, and probably, like youknow, if you are like trying to

(48:27):
hunt cut blocks, you should belike a little bit more cautious,
firstly, of blueberries, forsure, and secondly, of, like any
game that you're trying toharvest there, because it is
pretty much in the process, likeonce they cut it, and like
they're going to replant,they're going to spray, right.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
That is fascinating, that is.
That blows my mind, man.
That is, that's crazy.
And it's just to prevent.
You were saying like, likeunwanted growth of certain trees
or something, but really,what's going to grow on there
that's not natural to Canadiansoil anyways, you know what I

(49:02):
mean.
It's just I don't know.
We're not scientists, tone, andI don't know any of this stuff.

Speaker 7 (49:08):
But yeah, at the end of the day, it's just, it's a
financial thing, right, like thetrees, with no competition,
grow faster Right, and therefore, therefore, therefore, they,
they, you make more money if youspray.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
So, that's, that's a rope.
Yes, there's the rope.
I was waiting to hear the ropelike the catch kind of.

Speaker 3 (49:30):
That's why they're all about the dope.
It always is and this is whatdrives me nuts.
So just just basically touchingon, like the, you know the
quality and tasting of the wildgame and I was told by many
people.
Obviously with the eating wildpodcast, people are always
reaching out to us, asking usquestions and one one
conversation that I went backwith, uh, back and forth with

(49:50):
with somebody, was the bear meatout in the Parry Sound area.
And again I see you and I andthe boys, the four skins none of
us has really harvested a bearbefore.
We haven't shot one yet, butfrom what I heard and Nicholas
correct me if I'm wrong, maybeyou know more about this the
bears out in the Parry Soundarea are usually eating.

(50:13):
They have a massive dump areawhere most of the bears will
just hang out and they'll beeating garbage and it's renowned
over there for bears andthey're harmless because they're
so used to people going thereand dropping their garbage off.
And, uh, from what I heard wasis that somebody who harvested a

(50:36):
bear out in that area?
The meat was just awful and anddoes that have something to do
with it?
Because they're, they're justeating.
You know they're not eating theproper stuff out there.

Speaker 7 (50:47):
Yeah, I mean, well, you know, just like you know, a
kobe, kobe beef has like superexceptional because of what it
eats.
Um, I think, like you are whatyou eat and like when they're
consuming like all kinds ofplastic and like, um, because
you know, bears aren't likeopening things up, right like
they're.
If there's a tin with like alittle bit of like sardine juice

(51:07):
in it, they're going to eathalf of the tin, right, and so,
like I think at the end of theday, they're probably just
getting like a whole bunch ofcontaminants and chemicals and
things that, like bearsshouldn't be eating and like
that probably is highlyaffecting the flavor.
So I have heard the same thingany, any bears near the dump,
the meat is basically useless.
So, um, yeah, I would just say,hunt in a different area and

(51:30):
away from any dumps, for sure,because you're gonna um, and I
mean, like I've heard I haven'tharvested one myself, but I've
heard like the most exceptionalbears are always blueberry bears
.
Yes, that are like close to um,like large blueberry patches
and stuff like that.
But then it comes back to well,was that blueberry patch just
sprayed with?

Speaker 2 (51:49):
chemicals, because I've heard the same thing and
I've heard that there's actuallybear meat.
When they consume so much of it, it almost has like a purple
hue to it.
I don't know if this is fakenews or but I heard and it's
extremely good to eat.
That's that's what I've heard.
I don't know if you heardanything like that I have heard.

Speaker 7 (52:08):
I have heard about the blue fat as well.
I haven't personally ever seenit, but I would love to see it
one day yeah, we're not.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
We gotta talk to a few people about that.
Siege, we got guys that popbears all year, coach gags and
and even dave gray dave graygrew up eating bear and I'd love
to talk to him about that.
That uh, it sounds amazing.
So, you know, nicholas, youyou've, you know, you, you got
quite quite the career, quitethe journey.
Siege mentioned this a fewminutes ago.

(52:36):
You are an absolute pop festwaiting to happen and you fish.
If you look at, if you look atyour Instagram like there's just
a few pictures that came outinto my mind there's a picture
of you with a lake trout that Idon't think I've ever seen a
fish that big in my life um, alaker anyways, um, let's talk
about that.
What got you, uh, what got youinto the outdoors?

(52:59):
Obviously the foraging andstuff like that, but what got
you into, let's say, fishing?
We'll start with the fishing.

Speaker 7 (53:04):
So, um, basically, yeah, I've.
I've been fishing since I couldbasically stand.
My dad put a fishing rod in myhand when I was very young and
that was like one of our likemain family activities.
Most weekends we were likegoing fishing.
We did ice fishing, we didriver fishing, we did boat
fishing, we did trolling forsalmon, we did everything.

(53:25):
So fishing has kind of been inlike my life.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
You had no choice.
You were like me.
I had no choice.
You had no choice.
You're like me.
I had no choice when I was akid, I was just like do this,
I'm like okay, I like it, yeah,so sorry.

Speaker 7 (53:37):
I was like obsessed.
I was constantly begging to gofishing.
Yes, so that was kind of likemy first journey into it and I
really started slamming like thebigger fish I actually had.
It's a great story.
I was headed down a logging road.
I was like probably almost 60Kdown this logging road and I

(54:03):
actually there was like a giantrock in the middle of the road
and I didn't have time tobasically get away from it and I
dinged my oil pan just enoughto perforate a hole in it and I
didn't realize that at the time.
But anyway, so I parked my carand I got out and I was doing
some foraging and I was doing alittle fishing and I went to go
start my car and right away thelike the heat came on and the

(54:25):
oil sign and I was like well, ohno, what's happening?
I went and looked and my entireoil had just like gone onto the
floor.
I'm really sorry for the force,but it wasn't on purpose.
Um and um, basically, um, I waslike damn, this really sucks.
I'm like trapped down here andthen, like all of a sudden

(54:46):
someone came from farther downthe road and was coming out and
I flagged them down.
And the guy's name is Nick,funny enough, and he was fishing
back there and I told him I'mlike, hey, my car is done.
Do you mind giving me a ride tothe road?

(55:06):
Anyways, long story short, weended up hanging out for like
three days, fished like all awhole bunch of lakes, and he had
like a small little boat and atthat time I didn't have a boat,
so I was just doing shorefishing.
So it was just like I got toget onto all these like fun
lakes that I always wanted toget on right.
Um and uh.
That's uh.
You know we started slamming.

(55:27):
Every time we and him gettogether, a trophy gets in the
boat.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
It's pretty awesome so you still fish with uh nick
to this day oh, a hundredpercent that's amazing, and I
gotta ask you what happened tothe car uh the car.
Uh got towed out of there andgot a new oil pan and drove back
to toronto I love those kind ofstories, like I mean, at mean,
at the time you're probably sopissed off about that car and

(55:53):
then next thing, you know howlong did you fish with this
gentleman?
Three days, three days.
That's amazing.
That is amazing.

Speaker 7 (56:01):
I just sat in the back of his road.
We went and got it after.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
And you guys are you're fishing for trophies and
that is so cool, fishing fortrophies, and that that is so
cool.
And what I admire about you is,um, when I see, when you're
foraging, you know you'll have a.
You'll be, let's say, you'regoing for blueberries or
something like that, and uh, ormushrooms, and next thing you
know you get your mushrooms thatyou're foraging and then you'll

(56:25):
see an open fire.
I'm trying to paint a picturefor our listeners.
You'll have open fire, thenyou'll have a pan and then
you'll have these beautifulmushrooms in there and besides
those beautiful mushrooms,you'll have some even better
looking grouse that youharvested and it's all going
into this pan and it's just likeman.

(56:45):
It's just so cool that you'redoing that.
You're doing pretty much yourjob of foraging and you're
bringing out, like I think youtold me earlier why forage
without a gun.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (56:57):
Yeah, 100%.
It's like the opportunities forlike taking especially small
game like which is what mostlywhat I hunt.
It's just incredible and like Ifind that, like you know, at
the same time when it's grouseseason, it's also like Matsutake
season and like really reallyfar North Ontario and I think

(57:19):
like a lot of the combinationsthat are coming out like
seasonally together are likereally epic, like um.
One of my favorite things, likeprobably like one of my
favorite bites probably on earth, is like spruce grouse with
Matsutake.
Oh, yes, yes, just poached inbutter.
So like I just gently poach theMatsutakes first and like
really infuse the butter.
I just very gently poach thespruce grouse in and that's like

(57:43):
my trail snack.
I just like have a little pan,some butter, some salt.
I just crank the pan rightafter I shoot the grouse, pull
off the legs, pull off thebreast, and then I'm just like
there poaching it, eating itroadside and it's like it's
freaking incredible man.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
It just like blows my mind and you call that a trail
snack.
I call that.
For me, that is like a nightout of a town, like that is a
fantastic dish, that is.
That is so cool that you dothat and and I can just imagine
when you're foraging theopportunities you have, you
might see these little lakes orsomething Do you ever bring like
with you like a kayak or acanoe?

Speaker 7 (58:22):
No kayak or canoe, but I do have like a 10 foot
aluminum that I can carry on myhead oh nice, so I'll usually
just like throw in my on my head.
Oh nice, so, um, I'll usuallyjust like throw in my little
bush boat.
That's great If I'm so inclined, but, um, usually that takes a
little bit more planning so it'snot kind of like whimsically
will that happen.
But what I will do is bringlike a fishing rod and I can do

(58:43):
a lot of short casting.
What I like to do is just likeI'll usually use like a super
light test and then I'll usesomething like a casting spoon
right, I can cast it a quartermile oh yeah, with those casting
spoons you could go.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Yeah, yeah, that's phenomenal.

Speaker 3 (58:58):
You know, nicholas, um the lake that you're fishing
at, or you end up, do you evenknow sometimes what the species
are in that lake.
Or you just basically going out, going out to a field and come
to a body of water and it's like, okay, well, let's see what
we're looking for today.

Speaker 7 (59:16):
Definitely I'm targeting specific bodies of
water for certain species.
Like I'll use like the fishonline directory, which I think
is like such an amazing it is,it is and that like kind of lets
you know, because there's alsolike certain lakes, you know, um
stocked lakes, stocked brooktrout lakes, especially.
They don't close, their seasondoesn't close.

(59:37):
So it's like really awesomewhen you want to get like you
know, some of that like reallyclose inshore late season
brookie fishing where you'relike hitting them in like a
couple feet of water and likeyou want that opportunity but
you don't, as like you can'tfish brookies anywhere else.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
wow, that's phenomenal have you ever thought
about being on that?
When I think of your story andI think of your, your, your
career path, that you have, whatis that?
Uh, the survivor show alone.
Yes, have you ever thoughtabout being on something like?

Speaker 7 (01:00:06):
that I've thought about it, uh, but not, not
seriously.
But many people have told meyeah, I like.

Speaker 3 (01:00:13):
I watch it religiously.
That's my favorite show on tvtone.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
You and I were great at watching it but are you nuts?

Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
you want to put me in the middle of a you know we're
in our late 40s or whatever usus portaging with.

Speaker 2 (01:00:28):
Uh, you know we we'll live through you, nicholas, on
this one.
We love it, I admire what youdo, but we'll live, we'll.
We'll watch it on instagram,yeah.
So, nicholas, when it comes towhen you're out there, you
mentioned you bring like alittle aluminum boat with you.
Are you bringing anything forlike a trolling motor or does
that have like a gas motor?

Speaker 7 (01:00:50):
uh, yeah, I got a 9.9 merc that I borrow from a
friend of mine up there who hasa lodge, and the boat does 44
kilometers an hour.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
It's incredible, like cover some water and it's good
on gas too.
Those 9.9s, oh my god, all youcan run it for like a week.
So I wanted just to paint apicture for our listeners.
I'm just so fascinated.
Like I said to you earlier, I'mfascinated.
My wife and I watch Alone allthe time and here I am putting
you out here, like you aredefinitely living off the grid,

(01:01:21):
but I know you're not.
But when you go to harvest andeverything you mentioned earlier
that you're carrying in thisaluminum boat and then a motor,
are you solo doing this?

Speaker 7 (01:01:32):
Sometimes solo, but usually I'm fishing.
Most of the fishing trips I donow are with Nick.
We do a couple of annualfishing trips.
We actually have one coming upright at the end of July into
August and basically, yeah, wepicked a super back country lake
.
I know for a fact that the onlypeople who have fished that

(01:01:57):
lake have entered via commute,the only road that goes there.
There's giant old growth that'sgone across the road.
So we're bringing two chainsawswe're going to cut our way
through to this lake and we'rebasically like two chainsaws
we're going to like cut our waythrough to this lake and we're
basically going to like get on.
It's probably going to take usabout a half a day just to get
on the lake.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
Wow, I admire that, my friend.
Like these lakes, like I mean,we do a lot of fishing and you
know well Nipissing and Korthasand Lake St Clair and Lake Erie,
but these I'm picturing in myhead right now.
There's no jet skis, there's nopeople water skiing, there's no
, like where you're going, andI'm sure these fish aren't

(01:02:38):
seeing a lot of lures.

Speaker 7 (01:02:45):
It is honestly some of the most fun fishing I think
I've ever experienced.
If you get onto a lake thatsees maybe one fisherman a year,
um, they bite almost everything.
It's incredible.
They're so unpressured.
Everything is, just, like youknow, ready to bite.
We never use any live bait.
We're, just like you know,doing viewers and like it is.
It is utterly incredible.

(01:03:07):
Like you know, a 30 fish, 40fish day is not like out of the
question in places like that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:13):
There's a lake that I go to with my family.
I'm actually going in a coupleof weeks and I have two
daughters and they love fishing.
I didn't force them on it byany means.
They just you know as a kid, ifsomeone tries to force it on
you, you lose interest.
And this lake that I go to, iton you, you lose interest.
And this lake that I go to,it's far.
It's about six and a half,seven hours from my house in

(01:03:34):
london and it's the same thingwhat you're kind of talking
about.
And they catch so much fish andand then the problem is,
nicholas, is I bring them toanother lake after that and they
don't catch near as much fishand they're like I thought
fishing was supposed to be easy.
The other lake we go to, far upnorth, we catch them one after
one.
I'm like, yeah, it's not alwayslike that.
You know, you get spoiled inthose back, uh, those back legs

(01:03:57):
you really do honestly.

Speaker 7 (01:03:59):
Um, you know, like I spent teenage years in early 20s
only doing fishing in likesouthern ontario.
It wasn't until like my mid-20sand late 20s where I really
started to get into like fishing.
Like you know, untouched lakesand like lakes that are like
hiking only or like no motorizedvehicles allowed Right, I

(01:04:20):
didn't have a boat for years andjust from shore I would catch
more fish in a day than I wouldin a year down south, Right, and
you know some beautiful fishLike I've caught like 15-pound
pike from shore.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
I've seen pictures.
I've seen pictures of the pikeyou get and that's what I was
kind of leading into was I'veseen.
Like the pictures you show me,they're all trophies.
What is your favorite?
I would have to ask you what'syour favorite fish to try to
target and your favorite fish toharvest on your adventures.

Speaker 7 (01:04:59):
I really love pike, but I've found a brand new love
for lake trout.
Lake trout is probably my newaddiction, but definitely for me
me, I think, without question.
Um pike is like my absolutefavorite fish to catch.
I think they're just so muchfun.
Um, they're so aggressive,their bite it's like incredible

(01:05:21):
and like when you get a biggerone fight is phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
Those head shakes.
You know I'm addicted to thosehead shakes when you get.
When you get, I'm gettinggoosebumps talking to you about
it.
Now is you know you, you catchthe average size pike and you
know I'm addicted to those headshakes when you get.
When you get, I'm gettinggoosebumps talking to you about
it.
Now is you know you, you catchthe average size pike and you
know it's average.
But when you get those onesthat you could just feel the
left and right head shake on onyour like you know and uh, yeah,
do you, uh, do you harvest pikeas well?
oh, absolutely one of myfavorite and it's so funny you

(01:05:49):
say that there's been such amisconception over the years.
And, like I mean, I grew up mygrandfather always called them
snot rockets and get them off myline, and I didn't really
appreciate pike until I got alittle bit older and I started
fishing with some of ourco-hosts, like Luis and Dan and
Antonio, and I always thoughtthey were just terrible to eat.

(01:06:10):
They're slimy, and then, ifit's like I can speaking um, you
would probably know, this iswhen you clean them properly and
take your time, and I I, when Iate my first pike, I was blown
away, is it's so?

Speaker 7 (01:06:25):
good, yeah, and I mean like they're like they're
an absolute staple in like oldschool, like European cuisine as
well.
Like pike is like a famous fishand I think it deserves that
place.
I think like, yeah, you know,obviously it has a different
bone structure.
That's the thing we need tounderstand.
You know, like everyone triesto fillet it like a regular fish

(01:06:47):
, but it's not.
It doesn't have the same bonestructure as a regular fish.
So if you fillet it like aregular fish, it's right, it's
not.
It doesn't have the same bonestructure as a regular fish.
So if you fillet it like aregular fish, you're going to
get bad results, right.
I think you know just um, I wastaught by um, um, my friend,
basically his name's doug adams.
He's like a pike cleaningmaster.
He has okay, okay, callednorthland paradise, okay, and

(01:07:09):
he's just like such a gem.
And he showed me how to cleanpike and ever since then I've
been bone free and enjoying pikemeat like nonstop.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
Yeah, that's crazy, because when I was younger, I
was always told yeah, we'll eatpike, but the only proper way to
eat pike, due to the bones, isyou have to smoke the pike.
And then you still, when yousmoke it, the bones come out
easier and all that stuff.
But I, you know what?
I love my grandfather, I lovemy father, my uncle.
They're fantastic.
But they gave me some falseinformation and that's what they

(01:07:43):
were taught, too right.
They were always known thatthey were bony.
But once you, I think youtotally are right when you know
how to work around those bones.
And then, um, yeah, there's alot of people sleep on the on
pike.

Speaker 7 (01:07:57):
They definitely do.
I think, like um, it'sdefinitely one of the best
eating fish we have.
Like um for me for sure, likehands down one of the best
eating fish, especially fromlike those super cold northern
waters.
Like they're just exceptional.
And then sometimes you get them, the meat has like an orange
hue to it and I particularlylove those ones.

(01:08:21):
I don't know exactly whatthey're eating to create that,
but it's.
It's definitely they're eatingsomething different or they're
like starting to targetsomething different.
I usually notice that theystart to get that meat like the
five pound plus mark and theyare like so incredible.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
So when you're preparing pike, are you doing
like a traditional beer batteror like a pan fry?
Kind of walk us through how youlike to prepare your pike
dinner.

Speaker 7 (01:08:52):
So I have a little bit of an unconventional batter
that I really love to use.
I basically just bring likepancake mix and I spice it up,
and what I love about that islike there's something in the
pancake mix that doesn't let thefish get not crispy, so after
you fry it it stays crispy for asuper long time, which I think

(01:09:15):
is always like really nice,because like sometimes you don't
get to eating all the fish likeimmediately, and when it loses
its crisp it's really not asgreat when you're having that
like typical shore lunch.
So for me, like just a generalpancake batter, and then I
basically add like some smokedpaprika, I do a little bit of

(01:09:35):
salt and pepper, some cayenne,some onion powder and then like
pretty much call it a day,that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:09:41):
The cayenne that's a very nice touch.
I've had similar recipes thatyou're talking about, but I have
not included the cayenne, and,uh, that sounds really good, man
, that sounds really good yeah,it's absolutely delicious.

Speaker 7 (01:09:59):
Um, yeah, I like doing them like that.
And then another thing I liketo do is I make like a mousse
with the pike and I do like aclassic french like uh, cornell
with them.
So, just like a pike mousse andthen I poach the cornells and
it's really incredible too.
They have great texture and,like the fat content is
generally pretty great in thePike and, um, and, yeah, it's
just like it's such a great meat.

(01:10:20):
It's very versatile.
I'm using so many differentways.
It's fantastic smoked as welland, yeah, I just absolutely
love Pike.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
That's awesome, man.
And now, what do you?
Do you have anything?
Uh, what's going on withnicholas?
You mentioned that you are umgoing out with nick again.
I guess, um, uh, fishing andand foraging, is that, uh?
What's what's on your plate forthe rest of the summer?

Speaker 7 (01:10:43):
mushroom season just started.
I was harvesting shot shellsthis morning and, okay, we're
going to be progressing into,like, all the different
mushrooms and then the fallmushrooms, um, but, uh, this
trip is really special.
It's been three years in themaking.
That's awesome, oh, wow, uh, wehave tried, we have tried to
get onto this lake four timesand we have not been able to get

(01:11:05):
out there ever once.
It's, uh, the road to this lakeis, uh, nothing short of
absolutely treacherous and, um,it's quite an adventure.
Like the half the adventure isjust getting there.
Um, so true, and um, it's apretty awesome lake.
It's quite large, it'sextremely isolated and it's

(01:11:29):
seven miles from end to end andat some points you can like,
almost like.

Speaker 2 (01:11:37):
I think it's only 10 feet across, and what will you
be targeting this?

Speaker 7 (01:11:40):
lake specifically is pike in great numbers and great
size.

Speaker 2 (01:11:43):
That's awesome.
Yes, you have to.
You have to share that with us.
That's, that's phenomenal.
We could keep you on all.
We're running out of time, butwe could, definitely.
We got to.
Uh, you have to share that withus.
That's, that's phenomenal.
We could keep you on, althoughwe're running out of time, but
we could, definitely.
We got to have you back on.
Let's have, let's aim for, likeI don't know what do you think?
Tone like, uh, maybe anoctoberish or something?

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
yeah, we got it, we got it.
We got to talk to nick when itcomes to the hunting season and
when, when the foraging seasonis wrapping up and we, we got to
dive, dive into some the story,like I'm sure you probably have
stories that uh, you know, wewe'd love to talk about and we,
like Siege said, we couldprobably talk to you for hours.

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
Yeah and uh for all our listeners.
How can they uh?
How can they reach out?
Uh, you know, see, your journeyIs there.
Are you definitely on socials?

Speaker 7 (01:12:29):
Yeah, so at Stark North on Instagram is probably
the best way.
That's where I like post themost active and like up-to-date
content, and we'll be posting alot more to come.

Speaker 2 (01:12:42):
That's awesome.
Thank you so much, nicholas,for joining us today.
Antonio is having a little bitfor our listeners, a little bit
of audio issues, so I'm kind ofjust taking the role for me.
He's probably going tocriticize me for everything the
rest of this interview.

Speaker 3 (01:12:56):
You're doing a great job.
Oh, there he is.
There he is, you're doing agreat job.
Don't kid yourself, bud, you'renatural.

Speaker 2 (01:13:02):
Well, thanks again, nicholas, thanks for our
listeners.
Make sure you go to Stark Northand let's learn about more
about Nicholas Stark on oureating wild journey, and we look
forward really look forward tohear about your next adventures.
I'm being selfish because Ireally I envy everything you're
doing.
You're going off the grid,you're going with a little

(01:13:23):
aluminum boat, a 9.9.
You're foraging and you'refishing and, yes, it's a really
cool, and I can't wait to hearmore of your stories in the
future.

Speaker 7 (01:13:32):
Oh, thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
No problem.

Speaker 1 (01:13:42):
but we can save you hours ofmeal prep with our art salads.

Speaker 2 (01:13:49):
more time and eat deliciouslocal fresh ingredients.

Speaker 3 (01:13:56):
For delicious flavours.
Art is always cooking up freshideas and crafting chef-inspired
recipes because we like to keepyou inspired and satisfied.
Matcha, Broccoli, Crunch Honey,Yuzu Coleslaw, Zesty Kale,
Caesar and Maple Tahini Crunch.

Speaker 4 (01:14:10):
Add your own protein to the salad or balance your
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Speaker 1 (01:14:15):

Speaker 8 (01:14:34):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Ouellette and I washonoured to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.

(01:14:55):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced tothe birch-hungry fungus known as
chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal use by
Indigenous peoples all over theglobe.
After nearly a decade of harvestuse, testimonials and research,

(01:15:18):
my skepticism has faded toobsession and I now spend my
life dedicated to improving thelives of others through natural
means.
But that's not what the show'sabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
On Outdoor Journal Radio's,under the Canopy podcast, I'm

(01:15:42):
going to take you along with meto see the places, meet the
people.
That will help you find youroutdoor passion and help you
live a life close to nature.
And under the canopy.
Find Under the Canopy now onSpotify, apple Podcasts or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.

Speaker 3 (01:16:02):
We interrupt this program to give you this week's
product code password for theEating Wild Traeger giveaway.
This week's password is pelletP-E-L-L-E-T Pellet.
Make sure you go to the Fishand Canada website under

(01:16:24):
contests, Go and punch in thatword.
Give you some free entries.
Good luck.
Now back to the episode.
Welcome back to the Eating Wildpodcast folks.
I am Antonio Smash Maleca,Along with my co-host.
Today we got ChristopherShowtime Johnson Siege.
We just had Nicholas Stark onand I'm going to be honest, man,

(01:16:44):
this guy, he has got EatingWild written all over his face.
He was, he's, a perfect guestfor basically what this podcast
represents.

Speaker 2 (01:16:57):
Yeah, man, and the stories when he was talking
about the foraging and all thatso cool, but he's out there, not
out there as in out there.
He's out there doing it, he'sin the woods, he's doing it.
That story he said how his carbroke down and then he meets
another guy named Nick and itjust shows you with the outdoors

(01:17:19):
man, it just shows you when youhave that connection with
someone that has the sameinterests as you and now they
seem like they're fantasticfriends and they're doing
fishing trips together, allbecause of broken down car.
That's crazy, yeah, it'sphenomenal.
I can't wait to pick his brainmore, uh, down the road and I I

(01:17:40):
would love to um incorporate foryou especially, uh, some of the
stuff he forages.
If we can get that stuff, someof it, into your hands and I
would I can just imagine whatdishes you would do with some of
that stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:17:53):
Oh man, I, I really want to try um, the caviar.
Like the caviar was somethingthat really shot out to me
because, you know, I don'treally get to work with that
kind of stuff, to be honest,like with our style of cooking
again, cooking on film andtelevision sets, like we're
carnies high end carnies, Iwould say, and we we really

(01:18:18):
don't get those opportunities to.
You know, have some of the morefiner things, and I and I
always think caviar.
When you think of caviar youthink it's one of the more finer
things, but really it's not.
You can, you can almost eat itwith anything, eat it with
crackers, you know, um.
But but he mentioned somethingthat really stood out to me, and
when he mentioned that heworked at canoe.

(01:18:39):
Forget about going to europeand staging at all different
restaurants, like he mentioned.
But I don't know if you knowthis, but canoe is the closest
thing that toronto has to amichelin star restaurant.
In fact, I don't even have astar, I don't even know, because
toronto really isn't known fortheir michelin star restaurants,
like a Chicago or you know,copenhagen and stuff like that,

(01:19:01):
or even London and Paris andBarcelona.
You know my idol, my mentor inthe kitchen, marco Pierre White
and Gordon Ramsay, not becauseof their TV presence.
In fact, marco Pierre Whitedoesn't even go on TV, he's just
he's kind of popular now onsocial media because he's such a
lunatic and all the interviewsthat he's had back in the day,

(01:19:22):
you know, he just tells it theway it was.
But you know somebody likeGordon Ramsay who's worked in
Michelin star restaurants andowning Michelin star restaurants
.
You know, you see what it takesto work in those kinds of
restaurants and the pressure.
And I know we laugh becausewe've been watching an amazing

(01:19:43):
TV show called the Bear.
Oh, my goodness.
And if you haven't watched this,this TV show, that is real life
, that is real kitchen,etiquette, kitchen.
I'm going to say I'm lost forwords here.
This is the reality.
The person who writes andcreate that TV show, the Bear

(01:20:04):
it's on Disney.
Watch it, because that's whatwe go through every single day.
And you can be at a fast foodsandwich shop.
You could be a high endMichelin star restaurant or you
can be, like you said, you're,just local mom pop shop and
everyone goes through everykitchen, goes through the stress

(01:20:25):
and the anxiety of making surethat you're perfect every single
day.
And it's tough siege, it is,but you know, for him to work at
Canoe tough siege, it is, um,but you know, for him to work at
canoe, that's got to be one ofthe most pressure-filled
restaurants, I would say, intoronto, and I would.
I wish I could have talked tohim more about it.

(01:20:46):
But uh it that right away setthe tone for our interview.
And now I said to myself I knowwhere this guy comes from.
You know, I know where guycomes from.
And then you were talking tohim about popping, because when
you see how much fish and howmuch this guy forages and hunts
and everything I would havenever.
Would have looked at him and belike, wow, this guy was
probably making some of the bestfood in Toronto.

Speaker 2 (01:21:08):
Oh yeah, and he told us a funny story off camera.
It wasn't really funny, but thecool thing is what he does is
when he's foraging he brings agun with him and all that stuff
to look for, to harvest, game,and a lot of times he brings a
pellet gun with him.

(01:21:28):
So, if any of our listenersknow, you can have a pellet gun
and all that stuff for grouse.
And my grandfather used to usea slingshot for grouse when he
was moose hunting because hedidn't want to waste a bullet
first of all, and he didn't wantto scare any moose that were
around.
So stealth mode and all that.
But the fact that he goes outthere with the pellet gun, you

(01:21:50):
know he goes foraging and thengets some grouse and then cooks
it right on spot.
But we have to.
We have to do more withNicholas and both in the kitchen
, with you and in the wildernessand on the lakes.
We have to do some kind ofcollab.

Speaker 3 (01:22:09):
I'm going to be honest, man, I think my nerves
would be shot.
I've cooked with some of thebest people in our industry.
A lot of people have heardCraig Baxter on our show.
In fact, he was on last week.
I would say I would go upagainst anybody cooking
alongside that guy, even Martins.
Give me Martins, give me Craig,and I'll go up against anybody

(01:22:30):
in the city Just really lookinginto what this guy does as
Special Siege and his skills andhis talent is unmatched and it
was a pleasure having him onhere and I really appreciate it
and we got to follow up with him.
We definitely got to follow upwith Nicholas and you know,
again, we really appreciate thetime you took with us.
But, moving on, we got a littlebit of homework and a little

(01:22:55):
bit of cleanup shop here withthe Eating Wild podcast.
We had some really, reallyamazing things happening in the
past few weeks that I want totalk about quickly, siege, one
of them being our latestgiveaway on the Fish and Canada
website.
On the Fish and Canada websiteis somewhere in this episode.
You got the first actually no,I'm going to say possibly the

(01:23:20):
second code that people got tolisten.
You got to listen to the wholeepisode because it might not
have been aired yet.
It might not even beenhappening in this episode.
It could happen right afterwe're talking here.
But you're going to get 100bonus code entries.
If you hear the bonus code, youlog on to the fishing canada
website, go under contest, punchin the code for the week and, I

(01:23:41):
think, siege to get a get a fewextra pops yeah, they get 100
extra pops.

Speaker 2 (01:23:46):
I love that.
Um, they get 100 extra pops andit that traeger man, that
traeger we got a 34 pro thingelectric pellet smoker.

Speaker 3 (01:23:57):
This thing can fit a pig on it and I'm telling you
right now I was so tempted toput this bastard up in my
backyard and say ciao.
Couldn't do that.
We love the listeners.
We love our followers.
Yeah, I'm really pumped forthis one.
So make sure people, whenyou're listening, check it out
for this one.
So make sure people, whenyou're listening, check it out,
listen to the whole episodes.

(01:24:18):
You guys got to listen for thenext three weeks because I'm
telling you you want to win thisbaby.
You want this in your backyardand see you win this thing.
What are you doing?
What's the first thing you do?
Because you don't you don'treally smoke much, but I would
have to do is go on YouTube andfigure out how to work this bad

(01:24:38):
boy.

Speaker 2 (01:24:39):
I'm a Weber kind of guy and I just put it on.
But I've seen we all listen toJoe Rogan and I've seen what he
does with Traegers and I see hisInstagram, what he does with
Traegers and they lookphenomenal man Brisket, you name
it, jim.
And they look phenomenal manBrisket, you name it.
Jim Miller uses them all thetime and he's doing chicken and

(01:24:59):
all that stuff.
But yeah, and I'm excited,whoever wins, I'm really excited
.
This is one of the coolestgiveaways we've had.
And they keep coming, antonio,they keep coming, they're coming
, man, they're coming, yeah, man.

Speaker 3 (01:25:15):
Well, you know we talked about the fillet knife
which, uh, we have some of theum, some of our um, you know,
knife ambassadors are out therecutting some peixe as we speak.
Uh, you've been getting somegreat feedback on that, but,
again, we're going to save thatfor a future episode and we we
only have a limited stock ofthese, so, um, as of now, siege

(01:25:38):
can people I know this is kindof premature because we want to
get the right details out rightpeople?
We're hoping mike can help uswith that, but can people
actually reach out to you now oninstagram?

Speaker 2 (01:25:51):
so what?
Yeah, that's a fantasticquestion because we're just
working out the pricing on theboth of the knives and the
limited inventory.
So we are going to be doing asmall run and we were thinking
about long story short.
We were thinking about doing ane-store and all that stuff.
So what we're thinking aboutdoing is doing a small run on

(01:26:14):
Instagram.
You can DM us for the interestif you're interested in one of
them, and we just have to figureout all the logistics of
shipping and all that stuff.
But it's going to be a verysmall run until we talk to mike
and who knows, maybe it's goingto be in our portfolio for a
year when we have more inventory.

Speaker 3 (01:26:32):
But they're fantastic oh, I'm looking forward to it,
man, I'm really looking forwardto it.
And just before we close offthis episode, siege, you are a
week away.
Siege is a week away fromhitting Paradise City.
Take me home to the ParadiseCity.
This is a place that the rootsof the Christopher Johnson tree

(01:26:53):
started.
I want to ask you before you goaway, because hopefully we can
get in a few more episodesbefore you depart.
But you're going to your homecountry, you're going to where I
don't think people evenunderstand.
You kind of gave me the lay ofthe land today of where the
roots started, from yourgrandmother purchasing land out
about six and a half hours awayfrom London, ontario.

(01:27:15):
But you are going out to thisspecial place.
And what are you lookingforward to?
And I know you take your familythere every year, but you pop,
brother, you pop nickels.

Speaker 2 (01:27:27):
Oh yeah, I've got a seven pound four ounce large
mouth there.
It has everything and youtouched on a little bit.
It's a history of mygrandmother came from Sweden
with her family and theirfarmers anyways, we have a
property there and I've beengoing since I've been in diapers
, so it's a place that's specialto me and my family and we're

(01:27:52):
gonna do a lot of.
I'm not going to have the cellphone that much, so the
Instagram posts may have to slowdown for a week or two.
It's not like we disappeared,but yeah, I'm going to do a lot
of fishing, a lot of just familytime.
Man, if I'm not fishing, I'mpulling the kids around the tube
and we're going to go islandhopping.
We do barbecues on differentislands, you know, hot dogs over

(01:28:15):
fires and all that stuff.
So, yeah, I'm looking forwardto it and I wish I could tell
everyone the lake, but this oneI can't.

Speaker 3 (01:28:24):
I can't do it.
Keep that to yourself, brother.
I don't even know, because youdidn't even tell me, but I'll
get to be honest, I'm bringingyou there.

Speaker 2 (01:28:37):
I'm bringing you and the boys there, the foreskins
skins, but I'm blindfolding eachone of you and putting uh, you
know, the black car will show up.

Speaker 3 (01:28:40):
It's gonna be like narcos when we're showing up to
the dope fields, when you got usall covered up yes, take, you
didn't take the blindfold offand we're on the lake.

Speaker 2 (01:28:47):
That's it yeah, the only one that I'll ever bring
without blindfolding.
Blindfolding is mr p bowman,him and I uh yeah, yeah, but not
you guys.
Bull rod's cool man because heknows a lot.
Blindfolding is Mr P Bowman,him and I.
Bullrod, yeah, but not you guys.
Bullrod's cool man because heknows a lot of good lakes and he
keeps secrets really good and Iknow he does Hold on a second.

Speaker 3 (01:29:05):
Yes, you're trying to tell me.
Mr Bullrod and Angel Viola keepsecrets.
They got a segment on the Fishand Canada show where they're
giving you GPS.
Oh right, Are you baked on theFish?
And?

Speaker 2 (01:29:13):
Canada show where they're giving you GPS
coordinates.

Speaker 3 (01:29:16):
Are you baked?
You're telling me Bo Rod keepsa secret.
I got a pad and paper everySaturday morning right before
the show closes off, and I'mtaking notes.

Speaker 2 (01:29:25):
Oh, isn't it?
What is it?
The hot spot they're gettingthere, or whatever.
Oh geez, yeah, you know what?
Bo Rod, I'm taking away thatinvitation.
Antonio, you're in, bo Rod,you're out.
Man, I forgot you putcoordinates.
Oh yeah, that's out the window.

Speaker 3 (01:29:40):
That's right out the window.
Siege, come on man.

Speaker 8 (01:29:43):
Him and Viola are giving people the secrets.

Speaker 3 (01:29:45):
Hey, listen, you know what I'm going to be honest,
man, I actually, you know,before we were part of the
Outdoor Journal Radio podcastteam and network.
We were fans we're always fansof the Fishing for the Land, of
the Show and when they starteddoing two things one was Getting
there, that segment Gettingthere, which actually is brought
to you by the ODJ and thepodcast network, which is pretty

(01:30:09):
cool to see our logo and ourfaces Saturday morning on the
Getting there segment.
And you know it's Bo rodtelling you exactly how they got
there.
You take the 401, you have the400 north and you get off at
this street, this and that, andthen you know the Garmin spot,
like the spot lock, like this iswhere we fished.
Here's the coordinates.
This is what we got and I thinkit's important to some

(01:30:32):
listeners because you knowpeople that grew up watching TV
and watching these idols on TVfishing.
We all wanted to be them Siege.
We all wanted to be in theirshoes and you know the fact that
they're sharing not only thesecrets but they're sharing the
spots publicly on TV in front ofmillions of people.
It's like, hey, I'm invitingyou guys to come here and be us

(01:30:55):
for the day, and you know what.
I always appreciated thatsegment.
But you're right, there are alot of people out there that,
will you know, say hey, that's.
You know we shouldn't, theyshouldn't be doing that, this
and that, but you know it's.
People are on both sides of thefence and for me I'm on that
side where I actually appreciateit.
I'm going to be honest with youtoo, siege.
Out of all these years I've beenwatching television shows and

(01:31:17):
it's funny because there's acouple of shows out there where
I actually, when they were onScugog I won't mention the show,
but they were on Scugog I knewexactly where they were.
I knew exactly because I'mwatching the show and it's like
I know where they are.
I fished that spot oh, whattime of year was it?

(01:31:41):
And you're thinking about it.
But when you're watching otherguys on tv and they're like,
yeah, this is the spot we'refishing, like, like the fishing
canna show, I've never once doneit.
I've never actually once havetaken the time, plan out a day
and went to those coordinates.
So how many people do you thinkreally do that siege?

Speaker 2 (01:31:52):
yeah, I'm sure there is uh people that people that do
and it's a feather in their capfor them.
I really like what they do withthe lodging.
They show you what the lodgehas to offer the docking, the
boats available to rent, theaccommodations, the food plans
and they did a recent one, apike one, that really gets me

(01:32:13):
excited.
But yeah, it's a great programthey have over there ODG Outdoor
Journal Network and FishingCanada.
It's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:32:23):
Yeah, and again, I always appreciate our teammates.
You know Frank Ugly Pike andSteve Niedzwicky and Jerry
Ouellette, and the list goes on.
And I'm telling you right now,it's a wonderful team to be a
part of, and Steve Niedzwickyand Jerry Ouellette, and the
list goes on.
And I'm telling you right now,it's a wonderful team to be a
part of.
And you know, I just sometimesit's so surreal, CJ, that we're

(01:32:49):
on the other side of the micsharing stories and people are
emailing us, like I said, youknow, to see that picture of
that sandwich.
Oh yeah For me, just all of asudden losing my mind saying,
hey, I'm putting a challenge outthere, and then bam, all of a
sudden your Instagram lights up.
It was pretty cool for me and Ireally appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:33:04):
Yeah, and stay tuned.
We have big plans coming and weare so excited.
I wish I could share more withthe listeners now, but stay
tuned.
We're never a boring group.
We always have somethingplanned.
And you were talking aboutother podcasts.
On our network, there's a newone, untamed Pursuits.
Yeah, and that's Jamie was onthe Tackle Box before, and his

(01:33:31):
co-host is a hunting guide.
I believe his name is Ryder,and that's fantastic as well.
So we're growing man.
We're growing with the networkand yeah, it's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:33:43):
And Jamie, that guy's a stick and a half.
Every story that guy has isincredible.
I really enjoyed listening tohim.
I've been on his show as welland we dug deep.
He's got all the knowledge onthe water sports and and his new
co-host, that guy's that guy'sgot pop fest written all over
his face too, um, from huntingall over the world and and I'm

(01:34:05):
just excited that, uh, thatwe're growing and, uh, there are
a lot of things happening siegewith the eating wild podcast.
But, uh, you got to stay tuned,you got to listen.
Make sure you listen to everyepisode.
Also, one really important thingbefore we go, see that the
listeners can do is go on ApplePodcasts or wherever you're
listening to this show right nowand drop a review, good or bad.

(01:34:28):
We take it professionally, notpersonally.
I'll always say that, just likeme in the kitchen, we'd love to
hear back and you know whatthat does.
It helps us stay on the micsand that's how we get our data.
That's how we can pitchsponsorship and just show people
out there that people arelistening and they're enjoying.

(01:34:50):
So I encourage everybody to goout there.
Drop us a line, drop a DM toSiege on our socials.

Speaker 2 (01:34:56):
Again, you can subscribe to the podcast as well
.
If you can Subscribe to thepodcast and follow us on
Instagram.
We never have boring stuff onInstagram.
We're always doing somethingand, thanks to the listeners,
we're pretty much doing kind ofwhat our dream is.
We're meeting fantastic peoplein the hunting and fishing and

(01:35:17):
we couldn't do it.
This sounds so cliche, you knowwhat I mean, but I really mean
it.
We couldn't do it without thelisteners and, um yeah, amazing.

Speaker 3 (01:35:25):
Well said, brother.
Well listen, I'd like to say aquick thank you to nicholas
stark for joining us today and,uh, stay tuned for some awesome
stuff, some awesome giveaways.
And we're just getting started,siege.
I'm going to invite Coach toget that lovely tune started.
This is Antonio Smash Malecka,joined by my co-host today,
christopher Showtime Johnson forTop, dog Pereira and Daniel

(01:35:47):
Hooks at Martin's.
This was the Eating WildPodcast.
We're out of here, ciao.

Speaker 8 (01:36:10):
Get the net.
We'll see you next time.

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Episode 57: Wild Foraging with Nicholas Stark

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