Preface

As a Macedonian woman, I have learned the importance of food. As a chef, I have learned how to refine that food. My maternal grandfather was a chef in his own restaurant and, among others in my family, very inspirational to my culinary career.

In the late 1920s, during the first major wave of Macedonian immigration to North America, my grandfather traveled to Canada at the age of twenty-two. His father had died when he was nine, and as the only “man” in the family, he believed he was leaving home to seek a brighter future. Little did he know he was heading straight into the Great Depression. Upon arrival, he did not speak a word of English but he was committed to making Canada his new home. In Toronto, he united with fellow Macedonians to navigate the perils of his new home, managing to survive by eating bean soup and cabbage stew.