While there were major variations from region to region and from season to season, in general, the traditional diets of Indigenous peoples of North America were remarkably healthy--high in protein and nutrients, low in salt, sugar and nearly without refined carbohydrates, featuring large and small game, waterfowl, eggs, fish and seafood, tubers, berries, tree roots, grasses, seeds and cultivated food crops.

As a classically trained chef of First Nations heritage, David Wolfman has a passion for bringing these traditional food sources together with European cooking techniques. In Cooking with the Wolfman, he and his wife, Marlene, share recipes gathered from David's career as a caterer, culinary professor and host of a popular cooking show, as well as a few family favourites, like an updated version of Marlene's great-grandmother's recipe for pemmican.

Covering everything from the origin of bannock to the finer points of filleting a fish, Cooking with the Wolfman is accessible to readers of every culinary skill level, with step-by-step instructions and charts covering the fundamentals of cooking, from knife handling techniques, choosing cuts of meat and making stocks and sauces to home smoking.

From foodies who want to try locally foraged ingredients to Indigenous cooks looking for new ways to enjoy familiar traditional foods, David Wolfman's easy-to-follow recipes make Indigenous Fusion available to everyone. With over one hundred recipes including Buffalo Egg Rolls with Mango Strawberry Dip, Buttery Bourbon Hot-Smoked Oysters, Slow-Cooked Ginger Caribou Shanks, and Blackened Sea Scallops with Cream of Pumpkin as well as beautiful colour photographs, Cooking with the Wolfman will inspire readers to bring more traditional foods into their kitchens.

Chef David Wolfman, member of the Xaxli'p First Nation, is an internationally recognized expert in wild game and traditional Indigenous cuisine. He has been a culinary arts professor at George Brown College in Toronto since 1994 and is also executive producer and host of a popular APTN program, Cooking with the Wolfman.

David Wolfman's profile page

Marlene Finn, M�tis, is an education consultant, former director of the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards and former vice president of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. Together, she and David deliver cooking demonstrations and workshops on indigenous food and family nutrition. David and Marlene live in Toronto.

Marlene Finn's profile page

• Short-listed, Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award - Cooking
• Joint winner, IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist - Cookbook General
• Short-listed, Tate Canada Awards - Regional/ Cultural Cookbooks category

“A good cookbook can be the platform for that, recounting stories of shared times, detailing ways to preserve and maintain traditions. Cooking with the Wolfman: Indigenous Fusion by David Wolfman and Marlene Finn (Douglas & McIntyre, $29.95) is just such a book filled with the recipes and stories, collected from the families and friends of Wolfman (of the Xaxli’p First Nation), with his wife and partner Finn (of the Métis Nation of Ontario).”

Wendy King, Winnipeg Free Press

“…Many refer to him as the Godfather of Indigenous Cuisine, in fact, his passion has always been in teaching aboriginal traditions. And he does so with expert flair and beauty in a glorious new cookbook, Cooking with the Wolfman… a stunning book that covers everything from origins of heritage foods to creating unique recipes using classical European cooking techniques… book brimming with colour and detail, and reverence for the foods of our nation.”

Rita DeMontis, Toronto Sun and Sun Media

“[Wolfman] is being lauded as an innovator and an inspiration – one who championed Indigenous flavours and techniques well before the mainstream North American food scene paid attention. “David Wolfman takes a cuisine that was treated in Canada as almost an historical artifact and made it as a living cuisine again," said Dr. Lenore Newman, the Canada Research Chair in food security and the environment…”

Angela Sterritt, The Globe and Mail

“Their cookbook provides a beautiful balance of fact, cultural lore and practical tips with a refined focus on keeping it local.”

Jules Torti, Harrowsmith Magazine

“Wolfman has written both a storybook and a cookbook…a good read and a fine cooking course in one.”

Julian Armstrong, Montreal Gazette