Stand-up comic Ali Hassan will have the honour of announcing all the winners in each category at the Taste Canada Awards Soirée on Monday, October 30th, 2023.
Ali is best known for hosting ‘Laugh Out Loud’ on CBC Radio and for his roles on My Spy, Working Moms and Hudson & Rex. He’s also a stand-up comedian (touring Canada this year with his show entitled ‘Does This Taste Funny?’) and has released a comedic memoir titled ‘Is There Bacon in Heaven?’. Ali is also no stranger to the food world: he has worked as a chef, restaurant manager, caterer and a cooking instructor.
Taste Canada: What was your inspiration to start your career in the food industry?
Ali Hassan: I loved making food, I loved eating food, I loved the kitchen…and I had no other marketable skills!
Taste Canada: Do you use cookbooks? If so, what do you love about them and why do you think they’re important to Canadian culture?
Ali Hassan: My favourite thing about a cookbook is the story it tells. Where a dish came from, what memories and experiences it harkens back to, who you first ate it with, why you try to re-create it. Cookbooks can highlight fantastic Canadian stories!
Taste Canada: How do you combine your love of food and comedy?
Ali Hassan: There was a time when I thought I was going to be a chef on television, combining food and comedy. But every production company wanted to know: are you a comedian who is a chef, or a chef who is funny? This was, for some reason, the most important question on earth, and I didn’t really know how to answer it. Now, I just bring my personality to the kitchen – which organically showcases food and comedy!
Taste Canada: As a former chef, what role do cookbooks play in preserving and sharing culinary/cultural traditions and heritage?
Ali Hassan: I love reading about what inspires people to cook, whether it’s their heritage, their community, their friends or their dining experiences. Any time I’ve read a great cookbook, it has helped remind me about all the people in my life who have helped either form my culinary foundation or grow my palate, and it’s a reminder about how fortunate I am to be able to eat the way I do.
Taste Canada: Tell us about your most memorable moment in the kitchen, either professionally or personally.
Ali Hassan: I remember catering a wedding and one of my staff spilled 100 kebabs on the floor as he was taking them out of the oven. I had to think fast: we washed each kebab, sliced them, and added them to a hot pot of tomato sauce. A new dish – Kebabs à la Sauce – was born, but my blood pressure was through the roof!
Join us for the biggest night in Canadian cookbooks on October 30th, 2023 at the Fairmont Royal York!