Toronto chef launches exciting new project, Open Source Cookbook

🕒 11 min read

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have to face many new challenges. With the majority of the population currently holed up at home, new hurdles include creating delectable meals from daybreak to nightfall with whatever’s on hand.

Which doesn’t sound that difficult, until you actually do it. Despite being sequestered for only a few weeks, people are already experiencing serious burnout from bean dishes and other viral ‘quarantine recipes,’ endlessly scrolling online in in search of inspiration.

One of the best cookbooks available right now isn’t a pricey hardcover you have to order (and wait for) on Amazon, doesn’t require a dedicated stand to prop it open, and won’t take up any coveted real estate in your already crowded space. It gives you access to multiple in one convenient location without taking up crazy bandwidth or overloading your already teetering hard drive.

New collection, who ‘dis

Open Source Cookbook, a compilation of recipes, designed “to be used in quarantine during a global pandemic,” is free of charge and open source, meaning it’s readily available online and can be shared and redistributed. In fact, the more shares, the better.

Nick Chen-Yin, former co-owner and pitmaster at the stellar, now shuttered Smoke Signals Bar-B-Q, reached out to friends and colleagues, gathering top-notch chefs from local restaurants and afar, alongside people outside the industry - including his mother and grandmother – to contribute to his ever-evolving virtual tome.

Level up

Currently, the collection boasts everything from healthy vegan fare and carb-y comfort foods to indulgent desserts and evocative cocktails. These exhilarating dishes by top chefs take your meals to the next level.

Craving pizza? There’s no better place to start than

Werewolf Pizza’s epic Pepperoni. Making steak? Take it up a notch with chef Meghan Robbins of Superpoint Pizza’s Hot Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich.

Paula Navarrete, former executive chef at Momofuku Kojin, now behind the stove at Suraya in Philadelphia, “wanted to include two recipes that I make all the time at home.” Her Broccoli Frittata and Chocolate Babka are easy to make and can last a few days.

And no quarantine cookbook is complete without a Sourdough recipe, so learn the basics from master Patti Robinson, owner of Robinson Bread.

Pass it on

There’s something for every level of cook and plenty of family recipes too: Ted’s Nonna’s Gnocchi from chef Ted Corrado of By Ministry, Clarence Kwan’s Grandma’s Canto Country Chicken Legs, and Nick’s Grandma’s Mui Chuy Kow Yuk (Preserved Greens and Pork Belly), for example.

Journalist Canice Leung learned to make dumplings from her mother. Leung’s Pork & Chive Dumplings “is an adaptation of her recipe with some tweaks over the years. I think every Chinese family has a version of a recipe, or a preference for ingredients, or a style of folding, that is unique to them, or pass down over the generations. And that’s where I got mine,” she said.

Come together while apart

The book is much more than a collection of recipes. There are photos and YouTube links, great commentary (Jesse Fader, chef/owner of Favorites, Nice Nice, Paris Paris, Superpoint, and Woodhouse Brew Pub:“...please let’s stop using the term “opening up” a pizza to describe rolling out dough. You sound like an ass.”), and personal stories that will tug at your heartstrings and make you want to spend even more time in the kitchen (Creator Nick Chen-Yin: “Jon saved me from going to a Vietnamese jail and that’s when everything changed.”). Which at this particular time in history, is a remarkable feat.

Chef Matthew Ravenscroft of Rosalinda who contributed Vegan Charred Broccoli & Coconut Soup said, “As everyone navigates these times, it really creates a new opportunity for everyone to come closer and forge new meaning through experiences like this. It fosters a sense of community that our industry has always flourished in and makes me feel very fortunate to be a part of. 

And it’s not just the public experiencing this new world. “Eating at home has become a very interesting and diverse experience with my wife (Laura Maxwell, Le Sélect Bistro) and I both being chefs,” said Brent Maxwell who shared his recipe for Albacore Tuna with Bok Choy, Tofu, Coconut Broth and Anise Ash, “to keep it light and on the healthier side.” 

On the table

Curious about how all this came together? Chen-Yin shared the genesis of the project and its evolution thus far, from the safe confines of home:

How did you come up with it?

Equal parts wishing I had ‘insert dish’, asking friends for their recipes, and realizing that my own recipes weren't consolidated in one place. It really started as a document that I could share with friends, but then I figured, why not share with everyone?

When did you first think of it and how long before you were able to post the Beta version? 

I thought of it about ten days ago, started designing it nine days ago, and today is the Beta version. In fact, I think it will always be a beta version.  If it's too polished, too structured, too controlled... it loses its intent (and charm to be honest) of being open source.  That said, I'm still working through challenges and I anticipate it will be a rolling evolution.

Did you reach out to everyone you knew or did people approach you after hearing about it?

Yeah, I reached out to everyone.  No one knew what I was doing, so there wasn't really anyone asking to be a part of it.  But once I gave the elevator pitch, everyone seemed to be down.

If it gets big enough, would you be interested in a version of it being in print, or would you rather keep it an organic, evolving project with as many people contributing as possible?

I don't know the answer to that right now. Instinctively? Probably not.  My intent was never to make a physical book or hope it blossomed into that (I'll save you the political diatribe). I just really thought it would be cool if people could share recipes in the same way we share music... especially during a time where I'm sure many people are getting bored of eating the same shit.  If the right circumstances presented itself then maybe?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

People don't have to be a culinary professional in Toronto to contribute, but they have to not reprint someone else's recipe or photos - are you overseeing that aspect of it or just letting it live online in whatever state, however rogue?

Yeah, this is one of the challenges I'm facing, and to be honest, I don't know what the answer is.  Since releasing, I've had people submit recipes and while most of them are good, there are a couple where I'm like, This is just some bullshit from allrecipes.com. I'm going to have to figure that part out.  Orrrrrrr I could just go straight Pirate Bay, embrace the inner anarchist, and let anyone and everyone submit whatever they want.

Your dream cooking day at home, what are you making from the cookbook from when you wake up until bedtime?

They're all so good. There's nothing in there that I'm like, Meh.  To be honest? Jesse Fader (chef/owner of Favorites, Nice Nice, Paris Paris, Superpoint, and Woodhouse Brew Pub) and I have been having sidebar convos about "cracking codes" in the fast food world. THAT really excites me. But those recipes will never ever make it in the book. We swore on it. Took an oath. If they get leaked, it's open season on "eliminating the asset."

*** 

Chen-Yin writes in the introduction, “Food without the craft and alchemy of accomplished cooks – in the absence of atmosphere, context, culture and storytelling – is just well… caloric fuel.”

Aside from takeout, making these exquisite dishes by top chefs is the closest thing we have to dining in their restaurants right now.

Until we meet again.

Open Source Cookbook Contributors*

Creator Nick Chen-Yin, chef
Nick’s Mom and Grandma
Jean-Paul Bourgeois, chef in the US
Ted Corrado, chef By Ministry
Jesse Fader, chef/owner Favorites, Nice Nice, Paris Paris, Superpoint, and Woodhouse Brew Pub
Sean Gilliland, chef
Sam James, owner Sam James Coffee Bar
Clarence Kwan
Canice Leung, journalist
Brent Maxwell, chef
Nick Morra, chef
Paula Navarrete, chef Suraya
Graham Pratt, chef Woodhouse Brew Pub
Matthew Ravenscroft, chef Rosalinda
Kyle Rindinella, chef Enoteca Sociale
Meghan Robbins, chef Superpoint Pizza
Patti Robinson, owner Robinson Bread
Veronica Saye, bartender Tennessee Tavern
Alex Tran, owner Capital Espresso
Greg Ulanowski, chef, previously of Smoke Signals Bar-B-Q
Werewolf Pizza
Craig Wong, chef/owner Patois
Kandie Wong, founder Small Cures

*At press time. 

The Open Source Cookbook is currently available online and PDF to share and download.

———

Want more local food and restaurant news? Follow Toronto Restaurants on Insta and Facebook for breaking news, visit the website for timely updates, and subscribe to the newsletter, so you can finally stop scrolling and catch up all at once).