sa国际传媒

Skip to content

sa国际传媒榮a国际传媒楨mbracing the sucksa国际传媒: B.C. chef takes on the wild for Disney+ series

Four nights trying to make a 5-star dinner in the woods an eye-opener for chef Jade Berg
30702887_web1_221005-CRM-Campbell-River-Chefs-Vs-Wild-GROUP_1
Contestants on Chefs Vs. Wild are dropped into the wilderness where they must survive and forage enough ingredients to create a five-star meal. Campbell River chef Jade Berg is second from left. Photo courtesy Hulu

Jade Berg was cold.

It was his fourth night in the woods and the atmospheric river had just hit B.C. He was trying to sleep in a makeshift shelter that he described as sa国际传媒渨orse than sleeping under a pasta strainer.sa国际传媒

Everything was wet, his waterproof gloves had been wrung out too many times, his clothes hadnsa国际传媒檛 dried out since he fell in the ocean three days prior and the storm was just hitting its peak.

Still, he had to sleep, or at least try to. He dozed, sometimes for up to twenty minutes at a time, but would be woken up again when he rolled over and an icy shower of water that had accumulated on top of his waterproof hood poured into his jacket.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e never been that cold in my life,sa国际传媒 he said.

Berg had spent the last three days in the woods on the Sunshine Coast, but he wasnsa国际传媒檛 just camping. He was trying to make a five-star meal, and was doing it all on camera for Hulusa国际传媒檚 new series Chefs Vs. Wild.

Video courtesy Hulu

Chefs Vs. Wild is a new show on Hulu which will be premiering in Canada in late October. The idea is that a fine dining chef is paired up with a survivalist somewhere in the woods on the west coast.

They have four days to gather and wild craft as many ingredients as they can while surviving on their own, then use those ingredients to create a five-star meal.

sa国际传媒淲hat they donsa国际传媒檛 show on the series is that we had no food with us, the clothes on our backs and a backpack full of sugar and vinegar to make infusionssa国际传媒 Wesa国际传媒檙e not sleeping in sleeping bags. Wesa国际传媒檙e sleeping on sword ferns in a shelter that we built, trying to stay out of the rain,sa国际传媒 Berg said. sa国际传媒淲hen we came across the food sa国际传媒 for example we found oysters on the beach one day sa国际传媒 do we keep it? We have to do an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. Or do we eat it because we havensa国际传媒檛 eaten anything in days.sa国际传媒

In 2008, Berg arrived on the west coast with the dream of being a chef. He had $100 in his pocket, no place to stay, and no job, but immediately jumped in to Vancouversa国际传媒檚 restaurant scene. After paying his dues there for a few years, and bouncing around the coast between Vancouver and Powell River, he eventually settled down in Campbell River and worked in fine dining as a chef. That was until he had a major back injury and was told hesa国际传媒檇 have to give up his dream job.

sa国际传媒淲ork Safe said sa国际传媒榶eah, yousa国际传媒檙e never cooking again,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒 he said. sa国际传媒淭hat led to a lot of soul searching, what was I going to do? Thatsa国际传媒檚 what I tied my identity to. I started driving commerciallysa国际传媒 and started getting more into the wild food side of things.sa国际传媒

It was through his appreciation for wild food that an unexpected opportunity arose.

sa国际传媒淚 started fishing a lot more and really wanted to start getting out and foraging, hunting, and doing everything I could to have that connection to the land and the food I made. I started posting pictures of it on Instagram and somehow it became my marketing. I got a message one day from ITV Casting, saying theysa国际传媒檇 like to have me on this new show,sa国际传媒 he said.

A few months later, he was dropped off in the bush, and things didnsa国际传媒檛 quite go as expected.

sa国际传媒淚n the first two weeks that I was there (before filming) the foraging was amazing, but as soon as the wind and rain started hitting the mushrooms went from being in their prime to being rotten and non-existent,sa国际传媒 he said. sa国际传媒淲e had to keep it fresh, if you found a bunch of mushrooms, what are you going to keep them in?sa国际传媒

All that time, he was subsisting on about 100 calories per day, and had to be in a cooking competition at the end of it all.

sa国际传媒淚t was only four nights, but those four nights felt way longer that that. On night two, I thought sa国际传媒榳hat did I get myself into?sa国际传媒 On day three, I hadnsa国际传媒檛 eaten anything that day, my partner had been pulled from the game (due to hypothermia) so I was doing all of the foraging myself,sa国际传媒 he said.

sa国际传媒淚 had some sort of like, I donsa国际传媒檛 know man, change of heart or epiphany kind of thing. The first time since entering that depression after the back surgery and ending my career that I felt that alive. I was like sa国际传媒榟oly shit man, I can feel this.sa国际传媒 I wasnsa国际传媒檛 just numb,sa国际传媒 he said. sa国际传媒淚 was miserable, cold and hungry, and I donsa国际传媒檛 know if it was a combination of not eating for that many days or not sleeping. It sounds stupid and cliche, but holy shit, that was a big turning point for me. It helped me find my passion again.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 about embracing the suck,sa国际传媒 he said.

As for the cooking competition part of the show, we donsa国际传媒檛 want to give away the ending. However Berg did say he cook something unexpected with a sea urchin.

He hopes that this show gives his Wild Isle Cooking business more exposure, and helps more people realize the amount of food that is available right at their feet.

sa国际传媒淭o me itsa国际传媒檚 all about connection. You go to the grocery store and get a piece of meat, wrapped in plastic on a piece of Styrofoamsa国际传媒 . You donsa国际传媒檛 respect the ingredient and you donsa国际传媒檛 really understandsa国际传媒 that was a living, breathing, feeling animal,sa国际传媒 he said. sa国际传媒淚f yousa国际传媒檙e out theresa国际传媒 picking berries for hours and hours to get enough to make the jam you want for the season, you work hard for it, and develop a connection and respect.sa国际传媒

Chefs Vs. Wild begins streaming on Disney+ on Oct. 26, with two episodes per week. Berg is featured on episode 3, which will be available Nov. 2.

RELATED:



Marc Kitteringham

About the Author: Marc Kitteringham

I joined Black press in early 2020, writing about the environment, housing, local government and more.
Read more



(or

sa国际传媒

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }