Roger Andrews knows that Newfoundlanders love their traditional food. Being a Newfoundlander himself he can relate to the penchant for pea soup, cod dishes, boiled dinners and puddings so relished by those who grew up on this regional fare. But he also knows that more and more people are making health-conscious choices about what they eat-and some are in fact under doctor's orders to control their salt, fat and sugar intake.
Roger is in charge of the kitchen at a personal care home, in St. John's, NL, where most of the residents are elderly, many with medical issues that call for dietary restrictions. So he tweaks traditional comfort-food recipes to provide healthier alternatives, getting great pleasure in seeing eyes light up when his "doctored" pea soup is placed on the table.
Before receiving an honours diploma in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of Canada, in Charlottetown, he completed a two-year course in food service and nutrition management, which prepared him for the therapeutic side of food.
But first he wanted to travel and gain cooking experience. After stints at restaurants in the Grand Cayman Islands, Bermuda-and Prince Edward Island-he shook the wanderlust from his heart and shoes to settle in as cook and food operations supervisor at St. John's Eastern Health Corporation, the food services facility for the hospitals in St. John's.
"It was a great experience cooking something other than fine dining food," he says of the job he held for three years, during which time he supervised the serving of more than 2,400 meals daily.
Now, as head chef at Cambridge Estates, he enjoys working on dishes for people with medical issues that include everything from heart and circulatory problems to bowel conditions.
"These are just a sampling," he says. "Throw in food dislikes, and allergies, and mealtime can be quite interesting-one meal may be modified or served in numerous ways."
Gone is the pea soup's traditional salt beef, high in fat and salt. Instead, he uses a ham bone "with some meat on it," skims the fat from the broth and adds celery and garlic for flavour. He figures the salt content in his pea soup is reduced by more than half that of the traditional recipe.
While admitting he "dabbles" in many different styles of cooking at Cambridge Estates, the 32-year-old chef also dabbles outside his day job. He's involved in culinary competitions both as a competitor (including the International PEI Shellfish Chefs Challenge, where he placed third overall) and as a mentor and coach, for the Newfoundland Provincial Culinary Team (provincial champions in 2005 and 2006). Several medals attest to his enthusiasm and talent, including a silver medal and third place overall at a competition in Miami.
At home, Roger and his partner, Angie Ryan, are proud parents of Julia Rose, born in August 2005. With Angie working as the pastry chef de partie at the elite Fairmount Newfoundland, the couple share both parental and meal duties.
Home cooking is simple compared to what they both do at work. Roger's favourite foods are sushi (the more exotic the better) and potato chips, but whoever has the day off prepares their staple foods of stir-fries, pasta, stews or soups, which he says are "easy stuff."
"When we cook fancy at home, generally there is family or company coming over."
And there is Julia Rose demanding attention. Roger doesn't mind that most of his hobbies-including golf, hockey and fly fishing-have suffered over the past year and a half. Although he stays active in volleyball, competing in the provincial championships held in Gander every March, he finds watching Julia Rose grow is as much fun.
"I think I am learning to be a good dad. Everyday something new comes up and I learn as the time passes," he says.