How did an adventurous, career-driven chef end up in prison? You could say it all started with an Easy-Bake Oven.
Gertie Murphy (née Hambrook) was born in Miramichi, NB, and grew up in Fredericton. As a young girl, she loved making cakes with her Easy-Bake Oven. But it wasn’t until after high school, when she met a female chef while waitressing, that she put two and two together and concluded she’d like to become a chef. “It made me realize that if she could do it, I could do it,” Gertie says.
She studied at the Culinary Institute of Canada at PEI’s Holland College, taking part in culinary competitions and picking up valuable skills—as well as several medals—along the way.
Gertie eventually headed off to Dublin, Ireland, where she landed a job at a new restaurant called Hartley’s. It was owned and operated by two women, and it was the first time she would work in the kitchen with female chefs.
It was also there that Gertie would meet her future husband, Rob Murphy, an Irishman who tended bar at Hartley’s.
After a year in on the Emerald Isle, Gertie began to feel Miramichi calling her home. Once home, she was offered a position at the Atlantic Institution, a maximum-security facility for male offenders, in Renous, NB.
It’s not a typical chef’s job, she admits, but she finds it very rewarding—like many chefs, she takes pride in everything she cooks. “It’s important to me to give it 100 per cent every time,” she says.
She makes healthy meals for the inmates with whole wheat breads and pastas, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a variety of proteins: eggs, chicken, turkey, pork, beef and fish.
“Every meal is made fresh,” she says. “We make spaghetti with meat sauce from scratch, and roast beef dinner—beef, mashed potato, turnips and carrots and homemade gravy.”
“My experience at the institution has created an awareness of another side of life,” she says. “I have developed compassion through this.”
Q What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A My decision to spend a year abroad, particularly Ireland, has been the most rewarding accomplishment for me. This experience has broadened my culinary skills, as well as other aspects of my life.
Q What is your favourite ingredient to work with?
A I would definitely say butter. It is the most incredible, versatile ingredient, for everything from hollandaise sauce to pastries. Chances are, the best thing you’ve ever eaten was made with butter.
Q What kitchen tools can you not live without?
A Although my tongs are like an extension of my arm, I can’t be without my micro-plane grater; it’s great for zesting lemons and grating nutmeg.
Q What is your favourite cooking style?
A I believe in keeping it simple. I love to cook with fresh ingredients. Utilizing local flavours is very important to me: Atlantic salmon, brook trout, wild strawberries, wild blueberries, fiddleheads and maple syrup are just a few of my favourites from the Miramichi.
Q What do you see as trends in food?
A Consumers are really into locally sourced meat, seafood and produce. They want to know about their food—where it has come from and how it lived.
Q Do you have any cooking tips to share?
A Try to use the freshest ingredients possible; opt for fresh herbs because they make a great addition to salads and sauces.
Q What foods do you eat in secret?
A I have a real weakness for salt and vinegar potato chips, buttered popcorn and sour patch candy. I try to stay away from these things, but I love them all!
Q What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in the kitchen?
A When I was in Dublin, one of my chefs asked me to de-seed and chop chili peppers. Not thinking much about it, I went right to work. When I finished, I said to the chef, “My fingers are burning; what should I do?” He replied, “I don’t know—I usually wear gloves!” I had to finish the service by dipping my hands into an ice bath every two minutes to get relief.