Zahra de Grey’s home cooking reached new heights after her move to Baker Lake in 2021 as she learned to make her recipes from scratch using pantry essentials and local ingredients, sometimes with a South Asian twist. (Photo courtesy of Zahra de Grey)
Baker Lake teacher serves up homestyle cooking with a Nunavut twist
To save money on higher food prices, Vancouver-based Zahra de Grey learned to cook from scratch while living in Baker Lake
Zahra de Grey has always been passionate about home cooking after learning the culinary basics from her mother and grandmother. But it was her move to Baker Lake from Vancouver in 2021 that inspired her to pursue cooking from scratch as both a hobby and lifestyle.
“I used to be a very wasteful person,” said de Grey. “A tiny brown spot on a parsley bunch would have me tossing it into the garbage. I don’t do that anymore.”
Since moving North with her husband, de Grey has had to face the reality of rising food prices, which are often double or triple what they are in the south.
“I joke that the grocery stores are for out-of-towners like me as the locals prefer to hunt,” said de Grey, who works as a substitute teacher at Rachel Arngnammaktiq Elementary School.
“Food that you would mindlessly put in your cart down south, like a package of asparagus or a pound of butter, are much more expensive here.”
De Grey decided to rely on her expertise with pantry staples like flour, sugar, butter and milk to make everything from doughs to sauces. She also stocked up on herbs and spices from her trips down south that are part of her South Asian heritage, like ginger, garlic, chili and coriander.
“There’s lots of misconceptions down south about the value and sustainability in hunting and preparing your own meat,” said de Grey.
“Living in Nunavut, I saw people using every piece of an animal, including the fat, so I started doing the same,” she said, explaining how she learned from her neighbours to render and use animal fat instead of oil to sear her meat.
The biggest change has been incorporating northern ingredients to her recipes, she said. These include Labrador tea and crowberries which she picked to use in her syrups and as flavours in her homemade ice cream.
Zahra de Grey’s homemade musk ox tacos served atop a tortilla. (Photo Courtesy of Zahra de Grey)
De Grey has also started using local meats like muskox and caribou in her made-from-scratch recipes.
The lessons in food de Grey learns up north are shared in her classroom. Last October, when she was the acting science, technology, engineering, art and math instructor, she organized a field trip with her Grade 5 students to Baker Lake’s Northern grocery store.
“I wanted them to learn how to spot a sale, compare prices, read labels for nutritional information and shelf life, as well as notice how similar products, like tomato sauce, are marketed differently,” said de Grey.
The students then cooked up a feast from the pantry items they purchased.
“Seeing them make a meal out of their purchases and have an understanding of balanced eating made me very proud of them,” she said.
Though de Grey will be moving back home to Vancouver this winter, she credits the “beautiful experience” she has had in Baker Lake to the openness of some community members.
“People have been so willing to share their culture and teach their techniques,” said de Grey, who will be learning from a local friend how to make muskox jerky and prepare trout on a flat rock.
Zahra de Grey prepares the dough for her naan, a South Asian flatbread, in her Baker Lake kitchen. De Grey said she loves to share her Pakistani Indian cooking with her Baker Lake friends. (Photo Courtesy of Zahra de Grey)
It is a reciprocal cultural relationship as de Grey has also shared her Pakistani Indian cooking with her Baker Lake friends.
“I was most proud to share my lamb curry with them as it’s a meat they were not used to and a true representation of what I grew up eating,” she said.
De Grey’s food journey in Baker Lake is well documented through her Instagram page which she started in 2023.
“This cooking process is what appeased my appetite and moving to Baker Lake has only made me the best I can be at this hobby,” she said.
Zahra’s Muskox Tacos, with meat hunted from the land
Recipe can be adjusted to taste
Ingredients
- 3lb round cut
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons of cumin
- 1-3 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- Beef stock (enough to cover the meat)
- ¼ neutral oil
- Salt and cayenne pepper (for spice) to taste
- Bell peppers (optional)
Directions
- Ensure your muskox meat is completely dry (this is very important to achieve great colour in the end)
- In a dutch oven, heat your oil over medium high heat
- Carefully place your muskox meat into the hot oil and sear each side of the meat until it is golden brown and crusted. Place to the side on a clean plate (preferably a lipped or large plate, as the meat will release juices) – this step is NOT to cook the meat, just to sear the meat
- Reduce the heat
- In the remaining oil and rendered meat fat, add your onion, garlic, and bay leaf
- Once your aromatics are softened, toast your tomato paste in the centre of the pot for about 2 minutes.
- Combine all ingredients
- Add in your meat, beef stock, and salt and cayenne pepper to taste
- Place into your oven @ 270F for 3 hours, or until the meat is tender
- Once tender, take the meat into a separate bowl and shred. Add it back into the braising liquid and mix until completely combined
- Depending on your preferences, you can continue to cook the pot until you achieve your desired moistness. You can also sear the meat in a cast iron pan on high heat for charred flavour
- If you want to add bell peppers, julienne them, add them when the meat has been shredded and added back into the pot, and cook to your desired texture
Serve this on tortillas with your favourite toppings or make this into a taco bowl with rice!
What , no frozen pizza pockets . no microwave.
Nunatsiaq News,
Do better and start holding accountability on commentary by making it mandatory to have names when leaving comments. Anonymity is used to protect victims not racist and hurtful comments.
I think Your confusing distasteful with racist.
Do better? This is actually one of the few places people can disagree with one another without having to fear public harassment or bullying. Not all viewpoints that disagree with yours are racist or hurtful, and it is healthy to hear differing opinions. Nunatsiaq actually does a fairly good job (sometimes too good) of moderating.
What was racist about the comment you are replying to?
I was being ” SARCASTIC ” not racist, i guess , you don t get it.
It must be exhausting to be perpetually offended. I thought the original comment was a funny observation that everyone could relate to. Guess I was wrong.
pizza pockets 4 lyfe!!!
Wow, person cooks from home in response to higher food prices.
Womp womp
“Friend of journalist cooks from home in response to higher food prices.”
we follow each other now on instagram, but didn’t know each other before this article was written. she reached out to me, as journalists do, to write a story on sustainable cooking and my experience in the north.
nehaa is a very kind person. i am grateful that she interviewed me and we could submit a positive story about baker lake to nunatsiaq news!
How do you make a slushie from scratch? Asking for a friend
funny you should ask, because i just made strawberry lemonade syrup and plan on making a slushie this week!
if youre interest in seeing this, follow @mmm_whatscooking on instagram 😊
I used to eat out/take out quiet a bit , then started cooking more at home , calculated and to my surprise , i was saving $300-500 a month , it add up
Thanks for the article Nehaa! It’s great to see people trying their best to beat the higher prices
Kudos to you Mrs. de Grey.👏
I am sure that the students and community appreciate your classes and friendliness.
Thank you and Bon Appetit.🤘
agreed! making food at home can definitely save you some money, which is 1 of the main reasons i started cooking at home. you can do *so much* with basic ingredients.
” … has had to face the reality of rising food prices, which are often double or triple what they are in the south. ”
It isn’t true. Food prices are around 30% higher, on average, in the North in comparison to towns in the South. DO NOT conflate junk cereal, frozen ‘entrees’, ice cream, fruit ‘juice’ with food. They are not food nor are they subsidized through the Nutrition North program. Nor should one include extreme and outsized novelty perishables such as watermelon or pumpkins. It’s too silly.
One can eat at reasonable cost in the North if one sticks to buying food and preparing it from scratch, which any sensible person would do.
Buddy you end your rant off with what the article is about. I have travelled all over the North and the prices of food and other living essentials are off the charts. To suggest that people are not sensible because they indulge in junk food or possibly don’t have the education to make informed decisions on what they eat is absolutely ludicrous. Not everyone knows how to cook, and not everyone eats fresh food all of the time. I have been to communities where “fresh food” is rotten.
There is nothing wrong with someone showing folks how to make interesting meals with what little can be available to them.
I disagree, try eating healthy. The prices of vegetables along with fruit is outrageous.
Speaking of double to triple prices, asparagus is generally double to triple the price of many other vegetables. I’m originally from the south and never in my life have I “mindlessly” put asparagus in my cart. I’ve always said asparagus is a rich-person food.
Often true, but if you buy Canadian grown asparagus in season it is not as bad as buying Mexican grown in February.
A bunch (12-stalks) of asparagus can cost $3 down south. The privilege comes from where you shop.
Uhhhh, I don’t know where you’re shopping, but I’d love to go. “Can cost”? Like if it’s on sale? Maybe, but then you’re not mindlessly putting it in your cart, you’re consciously taking advantage of a sale on something normally expensive.
Answer, which of the following vegetables is more expensive than asparagus by the pound:
Tomato, Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Squash, Green/Yellow Beans, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Zucchini, Corn, Peas, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Sweet Potatoes.
What’s the answer, please?
Can cost $3 is right. If you live in a metropolitan area and shop in a large grocery store, when it is in season.
Otherwise, the OP is correct, it is quite expensive. $6-7 for us non-privileged asparagus eaters. I go without as my wife says it is too expensive.
I just watched a kid, about 10 years old, buy three tall-can redbulls and like 5 packs of candy at Northmart. It broke my heart.
Good on everyone involved in this article for promoting healthy eating.
Like most any other kid in the free world… having a stash of candy is a must if your a 10 year old.