Readers of Saltscapes met Alain Bossé, AKA the Kilted Chef, in our last issue of 2008. The magazine’s founding food editor, the late Marie Nightingale, wrote a story about Alain, who had been a popular cooking demonstrator at the Saltscapes Expo, well known from his time as general manager of the Pictou Lodge. He would be taking over the role of our food editor.
“Jim and Linda Gourlay (the retired founders of Saltscapes) got in touch with us, wondering if we might like to put our hat in,” Alain says from the Bossé kitchen in Pictou, N.S. “They were doing a little competition and had three chefs as possibilities, and they picked us. They knew us from our involvement in Taste of Nova Scotia, and they liked what we were doing with local foods, and so we came on board.” Alain always includes his wife Johanne in his conversations, because she’s also partner in the Kilted Chef business. She (along with several editors) would nag him about deadlines, and help with interviews and recipe development. Plus, she’s a fabulous baker.
Alain loved doing the food pages for Saltscapes for nearly 15 years. “There was always excitement, along with deadline panic,” he says. “We loved finding the gem, the little place that no one knows about, that special restaurant or producer doing something outside the box … and there are so many local gems, both the new and the tested and true.”
He speaks fondly of traditional favourites but also the pleasure of meeting new arrivals, new farmers and producers doing different things, and the delights of all the different cultures and recipes now available in our region. “We have a heavy influence from Mexico, from India, from many Middle East ethnicities,” Alain says, “All who both introduce new foods and incorporate their ideas into well-loved traditional recipes.” One of his favourite dishes is tandoori seafood chowder from Dhaba, an Indian restaurant in Halifax. “They take their culture and ethnicity and bring it to Atlantic Canada in a way that we can all get excited about.”
Alain says that COVID hit restaurant operators especially hard. “But it also inspired the whole cook-at-home movement. It made us all look at our own pantries and rediscover the fun of making meals.” At the same time, he says, comfort food has made a big surge in popularity. “People go out to treat themselves, and it’s not always gourmet-type food that they want. We see many restaurants that are doing well, have responded to that demand for comfort style cooking.”
Do they each have a favourite recipe from the archives? Johanne is prompt to answer: hers is a bok choy salad that was a recipe contest winner some years ago, which she still enjoys making. Alain is a little slower. “We did every recipe with our heart and soul, so picking one is sort of like picking a favourite child.” He adds, “my village Greek salad recipe, my French onion soup, those would be two that I brought to the magazine from my past and still make today. And then there were the recipes we developed based on interviews with producers and chefs we were writing about.”
While he’s hung up his editorial hat, Alain isn’t idle. During COVID when everyone was staying the blazes home, he and Johanne began a series of live cooking shows on Facebook. This turned into some 700 shows on social media. They now do much shorter shows, but they do them regularly, recording several at a time to post when away with other work. They are both very active with buy-local programs such as Nova Scotia Loyal, and continue to work as consultants for restaurant makeovers, and developing recipes for businesses around Atlantic Canada. But they make time to relax with their dachshund, Figgy, and exploring with their new RV.
Alain and Johanne share a huge nod of appreciation to the Gourlays for giving them the chance to work with Saltscapes and for what they’ve done to build the brand and promote all things local. “We learned to love Jim in his own way — we were very much intimidated by him until we got to know him better — and he and Linda gave their hearts and souls to the magazine.”
Recipes
Alain and Johanne Bossé offer a fresh twist on old favourites.