Stuart Forster heads to Pictou, Nova Scotia and meets Alain Bossé, the Kilted Chef – a culinary ambassador for Atlantic Canada.
Disclosure: Some of the banners and links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Alain Bossé is known as the Kilted Chef. Standing in the kitchen of his home in Pictou, Nova Scotia, I can see why. He’s wearing a blue and green tartan kilt and a double-breasted chef’s jacket.
He welcomes me with a glass of Selkie, a bottle-fermented sparkling wine. Alain is a culinary ambassador for Atlantic Canada and doesn’t miss the opportunity to explain how Selkie is a product of the cold-climate viniculture practised in Nova Scotia’s vineyards.
Atlantic Canada’s food ambassador
Alain regularly travels around the world promoting produce from Atlantic Canada, particularly the region’s lobster and seafood. He also offers culinary consulting and cooking lessons to groups of up to eight or 10 people. The classes last all day and involve visits to local producers, giving people a chance to see where the ingredients come from.
The chef invites me to wash my hands and roll up my sleeves, then ushers me towards the island workspace in the centre of his vast kitchen. Glancing around, I can’t help but feel a tad envious of his spacious, well-lit kitchen with glass-fronted refrigerators. It’s a lovely, spacious place in which to cook.
Dessert laced with rum
We’ll be making peppered strawberries with locally produced rum. It’s a combination I’ve never even considered previously preparing. Alain reveals he has been cooking the dish since the 1980s.
He invites me to pick up a knife and remove the leaves and stems from freshly picked strawberries. That’s known as hulling them in this part of the world.
Of course, I can’t resist chomping on a couple. Yet most go into the bowl on the bench in front of me. Nothing beats fresh, seasonal fruit. The strawberries are delicious and sweet.
When I’m finished, Alain gives me a useful tip: lemon juice helps remove the fruit’s sticky redness.
Origins of the Kilted Chef
Inevitably, I can’t help asking Alain, who is of French-Canadian heritage, why he wears a kilt.
He explains that many of Nova Scotia’s present-day residents can trace their heritage to Scottish settlers who arrived on the Hector in 1773. A replica of the ship stands moored at Pictou’s Hector Heritage Quay.
Alain first wore a kilt at a fund-raising event for the Heatherbell Pipes and Drums group and realised it could form part of his branding.
Alain Bossé, the Kilted Chef
He demonstrates how to layer up the dish and then encourages me to grab a glass of wine.
We head outside into the sunshine and tuck into the dish, featuring meringues that are crispy on the outside but chewy in the middle, while chatting about Nova Scotian food.
Here is the recipe we made for you to try at home, supplied courtesy of the Kilted Chef:
Pavlova topped with Chantilly maple cream and peppered strawberries
Serves six
To assemble:
Place half of the Chantilly cream onto the cooled Pavlova. Spread to within one inch (2.5 centimetres) of the edge.
Top with peppered strawberries, then repeat on the second layer.
Meringues
Use the meringues as the base for the pavlova.
Ingredients
4 egg whites
½ a cup of sugar
¼ a teaspoon of cream of tartar
½ a teaspoon of vanilla extract
Method
In a spotlessly clean and dry bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar.
When soft peaks develop in the mix, slowly add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time.
When it is glossy, add the vanilla and beat for seven to eight minutes until the meringue mix is no longer grainy.
Place the mix on parchment paper in individual portions and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 60 minutes.
Peppered strawberries recipe
“This is truly one of my favourite summer desserts,” says Alain about this delicious dish.
Ingredients for two
1 pint of fresh Strawberries (½ litre)
Half an orange
2 tablespoons of butter (30ml)
5 tablespoons of sugar (75ml)
1½ ounces of Sea Fever rum (45ml)
Black pepper – 50 turns of the pepper mill
Method
Remove the leaves and stems from the strawberries.
Cut the berries in half.
In a skillet, melt the butter, add the sugar and stir constantly until the sugar is a nice caramel colour.
Add the juice of the orange, then the strawberries. Let them simmer in the syrup for a few minutes.
Add the rum and allow the alcohol to cook off. Add fresh ground pepper; about 50 turns (don’t be shy!).
Chantilly maple cream recipe
Makes two cups
Heavy cream (Double cream) – 2 cups
White sugar – 2 tablespoons
Maple syrup – 2 tablespoons
Vanilla extract – 2 teaspoons
Method
Place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.
Books by Alain BossÉ
Enjoy cooking and want to try some of Alain’s recipes? The following books are available from Amazon:
Visiting Pictou, Nova Scotia
Pictou is in Nova Scotia:
Further information
Discover more about Alain and see more of his recipes on the Kilted Chef website.
The Nova Scotia website has a section dedicated to the province’s food, drink and culinary experiences.
Destination Canada‘s website also has information about culinary experiences in the country.
Stuart Forster is the author of this post. He is a travel and food writer based in North East England.
Photos illustrating this post are by Why Eye Photography.
If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for the free Go Eat Do newsletter. It’s a hassle-free way of getting links to posts once a month.
‘Like’ the Go Eat Do Facebook page to see more photos and content.
A version of this post was initially published on Go Eat Do on 17 July 2016.
Rick Draper
December 16, 2017 at 22:54Mr Bosse is our brightest star in the cooking world. It is pleasure to call him my friend.
Go Eat Do
May 23, 2020 at 08:39He’s a great fella to spend time with. He explains how to prepare dishes incredibly lucidly, so it’s fun and easy to follow his recipes.