The first word in LURE, Chef Ned Bell's new cookbook is "the.” The second word is "integrity," which is followed by "obligated, evolution and responsible." If you know the man, who headed up YEW Seafood + Bar at the Four Seasons and is now the executive chef for the Ocean Wise program and leads the culinary team at Vancouver Aquarium, like I do, those words come close to describing him. This is Ned’s first book and it focuses on vegetables and seafood. No meat! He’s writing of clean eating from clean, healthy oceans. As Ned says, “it's not enough that this is a cookbook but it's important you know where you buy from and who you buy from. My goal is to have people hopefully recognizing that through the fish and seafood they eat, whether it's in restaurants or bought in retail to cook at home for their families, they can make conscience decisions that protect our world's oceans.”
As long as I’ve know Ned he’s always been talking about a possible cookbook but one with purpose that went well beyond the kitchen. It seemed like the next logical step after Ned’s epic Chefs for Oceans Ride where Ned rode his bike from St. John's, Newfoundland to Vancouver in September 2014 to raise awareness in cities across Canada about the importance of eating sustainable seafood.
Like many of us, Ned admits that at the start of his career, he cooked unsustainable fish. He never gave it a second thought "because we just didn't know any better … The sustainable seafood movement is only two decades old and remember, 25 to 30 years ago the organics movement was in the dark limp corner of the grocery store—now it dominates the store."
Chef’s advice is to remember that the recipes are just a guideline. Follow the recipe once the way the chef wanted you to. Then you can branch out using the ingredients that you like, according toseasonality. I love Ned's attitude about making the right seafood choices but when you do get that seafood home make it the centrepiece of an entertaining meal. If it's crab, for instance, create crab for the whole table, family-style.
All the recipes reflect the season's flavours. "In the fall, I think about apples and pears. I think about root vegetables, parsnips and celery roots and caramelization. So my Ling Cod with Pear Butter recipe reflects the fall season so well." The Salmon Kale Salad, with apples, dried cranberries, hazelnuts and fresh goat and cheddar cheese is also excellent. That was Ned's signature salad at Yew.
In the music business one of the great marks of a standout artist is to give the audience a message that you can dance to. With LURE Ned Bell has placed his message inside each and every recipe. It's time we all got the message! What’s next for Ned? A second book will focus on seaweed set to be released this Spring 2019.
