Toronto restaurants
seal dishes prompt global reaction after sparking duelling petitions
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Chef
Joseph Shawana's restaurant, Ku-kum Kitchen, came under
fire this week for serving seal meat. (Paul Borkwood/CBC)
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Indigenous chef Joseph Shawana says seal meat
will stay on the menu at his midtown Toronto restaurant, despite
a petition calling for its removal.
"It's our way to pay homage to our northern
brothers and sisters," Shawana told CBC Toronto on Wednesday.
Despite some negative comments, he said, "We've seen a lot
of positive feedback from community and far reaches from all over
the world" since the controversy broke over the weekend.
His restaurant, Ku-kum Kitchen, currently serves
two seal dishes, part of Shawana's vision for a place that puts
traditional Indigenous ingredients in the spotlight.
As It Happens
Toronto Indigenous chef Joseph Shawana defends seal meat dish
after online petition targets restaurant |
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"It helps everyone that comes to the restaurant
identify with our culture, Indigenous culture," he said,
adding that food is "who we are. It's our way of life."
Defending seal meat supplier
A petition published this month demanded that Ku-kum's
seal dishes be removed, calling the seal hunt "violent, horrific,
traumatizing and unnecessary."
That prompted a counter-petition, with its author
arguing that Canadians needed to "start looking at Indigenous
people ... with respect that our culture is different."
The original petition's author, Jennifer Matos,
told CBC Toronto in an email on Tuesday that she took issue with
the menu because the seal meat was "sourced by the commercial
hunt and not the Indigenous hunt."
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Ku-kum's
seal tartare is served alongside beet and maple-cured salmon
and cold smoked Arctic char. (CBC)
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Shawana said he thinks Matos's petition, which
has garnered more than 3,000 signatures as of Wednesday, springs
from "misinformation."
"I educated myself on the whole seal harvest
itself, how it was in the '50s to what it is now. It's night and
day," he said.
He also defended his supplier, SeaDNA, calling
it "very sustainable" and pointing to strict federal
regulations and the "rigorous training" undergone by
hunters.
"We did our due diligence," he said.
"We searched months on end before we even came up with a
menu."
Sting from online reviews
Harder to shake off have been some negative online
reviews for his restaurant, which Shawana called "low blows"
though positive reviews have also flooded in on Facebook,
Google and Yelp over the last few days.
Echoing the counter-petition created to defend
Ku-kum, he also questioned why his restaurant became a focus when
numerous restaurants and corporations serve meat from inhumane
sources.
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Shawana,
shown preparing seal tartare in his restaurant kitchen,
said he had anticipated that serving the meat could cause
a stir. (CBC)
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"Why target a small little Indigenous restaurant
that's only 27 seats when there's these larger corporations?"
he asked.
As for his restaurant, Shawana said the controversy
doesn't seem to be hurting his reservations: Ku-kum Kitchen is
booked solid for the next two weeks.