Wild Chef is a place where I  celebrate the diversity of Canadian wild food and share my wild harvesting and culinary adventures with you. I love eating wild food because it makes me feel alive. Gathering my own food from nature is a skill that was shown to me by my parents. I  started with saskatoon berries and rose hips and continued along the trail to fishing and later hunting. Today, working as a professional chef in Calgary’s fine dining scene, I’m most inspired by wild foods and love to share with the diners.

Please remember that hunting, fishing and foraging and even grocery store shopping for wild food is a privilege with which comes responsibility. While many wild food products are sustainably harvested,  some wild food sources may be threatened due to environmental impacts, habitat loss and  over harvesting. Sometimes wild food may not be the best consumer choice.

Through this blog, I aim to help you make informed decisions about consuming wild food, and sharing in the wide range of benefits that can come from wild food choices. In these pages you will find tips and tricks for harvesting as well as recipes and professional culinary advice for safely preparing wild food in the home kitchen. I hope that you enjoy your wild chef experience and I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.

Mathieu Paré, Wild Chef