Cooking with conscience

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This article was published 05/10/2017 (3276 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some people call Ben Kramer a pioneer. Others probably refer to him as a pain in the butt.

The Regina-born chef is happy with either designation. Kramer, who moved to Vancouver when he was 11 and went to culinary school at Vancouver Community College after high school, came to Winnipeg in 2000 (”I was chasing a girl,” he says) and quickly developed a reputation as a chef with a social conscience and a single-minded dedication to cooking outside the factory-farm system.

Dandelion Eatery, his first local venture, focused on organic fare and offered vegetarian and vegan options. He went on to gut the University of Winnipeg’s food system, creating Diversity Food Services, which aimed to provide students with tasty, nutritious cafeteria meals that relied on fresh, local ingredients.

The chef then took his food-from-scratch approach to Elements in the university’s Richardson School for Environment and Science, the first public fine-dining restaurant operated by a post-secondary institution in Canada.

“I’ve always had a social bent to my food, from an early age, especially moving here from Vancouver,” Kramer says of his passion for sustainable practices and farm-to-table food. “There wasn’t a lot going on locally that kind of fit the way I grew up cooking. So I spent a lot of years cultivating that here and making those connections… when you’re dealing directly with farmers and with producers, there’s a social aspect that just comes out. When you’re talking about animal husbandry or organic producing or trying to fight ridiculous regulations that the government imposes on (farmers), the social aspect, you can’t ignore it the same way you can when you’re not involved in the food system.”

A 2011 Globe and Mail article credited Kramer’s work at U of W with revolutionizing Winnipeg’s food scene, saying, “The school’s buying power has persuaded suppliers to finally provide sustainable, organic products to the city, once deemed too small a market to justify such deliveries.”

Though the idea of locally sourced food is far more widespread now, Kramer — who left U of W two years ago to focus on his custom catering business — says there are still battles to be fought.

“My role has become a lot more political. Whereas 10 years ago I was trying to find ethical seafood — Ocean Wise wasn’t here — now I find I’m spending more time dealing with things on a Minister of Agriculture level than trying to carve a trail. But lot of that trailblazing really came from, ‘This is the only way I want to cook. I’m living here, there aren’t those opportunities, so let’s make our own.’”

 

Jill Wilson: Do you come from a foodie family?

Ben Kramer: Oh, yeah, my parents liked to cook at home, cooked from scratch. We had a garden growing up, although that changed when we moved to Vancouver because you can’t afford land, you can only afford buildings. When they went to eat out and dragged me along; it was often to places they wanted to eat, not places I wanted to eat… When my friends were going to Disneyland, we went to France and did wine-tasting tours, when I was too young to appreciate it. But I developed a palate and appreciation for food.

Jill: What would you say is your signature dish?

Ben: I definitely don’t have one. I’m ingredient-driven, so it’s what’s fresh and what’s local. I’m not trying to impose my style of cooking on the food; it’s very much the other way around.

Jill Wilson: Is there a food you’re not really fond of?

Ben: I don’t eat a ton of organ meat, which most chefs do. I don’t eat a ton of shellfish. I grew up vegetarian; I didn’t eat meat until I went to cooking school. I’ll try ‘em, but having brain or liver or kidney on the menu is not my go-to.

Jill: Is there an ingredient that you’d like to make more popular?

Ben Kramer: I’m a big fan of game meat. And being in Manitoba as long as I have, I love beets. People are scared of them — they don’t know what to do with them and they’re really messy.

Jill: What do you cook for your kids (Kramer has a son and a daughter) that they really enjoy?

Ben: We eat a lot of tacos at home; we do a build-your-own thing where we do as many toppings as we feel like and we have at ‘er.

Jill Wilson: Is there something that’s always in your fridge or pantry?

Ben: There’s always Frank’s Red Hot sauce in my fridge because of my daughter. She’s obsessed with it. In my pantry, I’ve always got apple cider vinegar. My fridge is pretty empty, though; it’s mostly fresh produce. Well, and beer (laughs).

Jill: What’s your favourite beer?

Ben: There’s very little beer that I don’t like. There’s a beer out of Victoria called Fat Tug (an IPA from Driftwood Brewery) that I’m into right now and I’m a big fan of Estrella in the bottle (Damm Inedit, a witbier from Spain).

Jill: What meal would you make to impress a date?

Ben Kramer: Probably gnocchi. It’s one of the first things I learned how to make as a professional. I made a ton of it at a young age and I can make it in my sleep now. If I was nervous and trying to impress, I would pull that one out.

Jill: You seem like a someone who doesn’t really have a fast-food guilty pleasure.

Ben: I come across as a really healthy eater, but I’ll hit McDonald’s now and again. I like really crappy tacos, like Taco Bell, Taco Time. Lots of pizza. It’s all about balance!

Jill: What’s your proudest moment as a chef?

Ben Kramer: We had a conflict with a marketing board a number of years ago. They were doing some unfair things to farmers and we came together as a group and started a coalition (growers and independent food retailers) and tried to reason with them. Then we had a campaign to change legislation. They made it so farmers couldn’t sell potatoes directly (to restaurants and stores). I couldn’t get organic potatoes because this board had no interest, so to get them, I had to go to B.C., and get Manitoba potatoes that were shipped to B.C and then shipped back. We took them to task and won, so the potato battle was a big one for me.

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @dedaumier