On Oct. 26, the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre held the Great Bannock Bake Off. The event began with drop-in style baking from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., followed by judging from 2 to 3 p.m.
The event was held not in the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre itself, but rather in one of the kitchens beside the Artisanal Food Market. In anticipation of the event, many posters could be seen around campus. The first Great Bannock Bake Off took place at NAIT in 2014. Kaitlyn Menard, an Indigenous liaison specialist and the event’s organizer, said it was the first time the bake-off was hosted in about three years
“When you see bannock, when you hear bannock, it obviously brings Indigenous people together,” said Menard. But she explains that the event, which was open to all staff and students, brings the entire NAIT community together. “[It] allows them to take part in it and make something that’s very special to us.”
Walking into the bake-off, plenty of people were busy kneading, cooking Bannock and chatting amongst peers. The atmosphere was not what you would have expected. Instead of a rushed competition style where stakes are high, the atmosphere was laid-back, calm and most importantly, fun.
“I felt so safe and just passionate and in my zone.”
There was no sign of tension here at the Great Bannock Bake Off. This competition was not large, but not small by any means; it was just the right size and right amount of people.
But the age-old question remains: what actually makes the best bannock?
More than just a recipe
“The cheesy answer is love and care,” said Menard. “A lot of people don’t follow a recipe; they just kind of follow it with their heart, and I think that cooking with love … makes it turn out really good. And not over-kneading.”
“It was very beautiful to be Metis and get into that communal group and that space where you’re accepted and you feel like it’s a community and a family.”
Lonny Potts, a cultural advisor for the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre, says it’s about your overall attitude. “My grandmother used to tell me it has to come from a good intent and a good heart,” he said. “When you treat people kindly, it comes out in your food.”
Events like the Great Bannock Bake Off are also a learning opportunity for students.
“When you look at bannock, it came from our Scottish brothers and sisters,” Potts said.
“Today, it plays a more modern role of … rites of passage, teaching students how to use their hands, to come from a place of love and just learning how to be independent and seeing the outcome of their creation through bannock.”
This year, about 60 per cent of the competition’s participants were students. NAIT student Landing Eagle Waskahat won third place for his “super soft and tasty” traditional bannock, while NAITSA VP academic Danielle Libunao and NAIT VP students and campus experience Clayton Davis teamed up to make a maple bacon bannock that won second.
New NAIT student wins first
The first-place winner, Sarah Fyvie, will be entering the Culinary Arts program in January. Fyvie told the Nugget that she saw the Bannock Bake Off posters when she attended NAIT Open House.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I really want to do this,’” she said. “I needed to just put myself out there and try it out.”
“I would make it just by heart, based off of what my family had taught me,”
Fyvie made a traditional bannock with honey sage butter and homemade saskatoon jam — with berries she grew herself. Fyvie said the competition was her first experience cooking in a kitchen that big. “I was in my element,” said Fyvie. “Like I felt so safe and just passionate and in my zone.”
She learned to make bannock when she was young and said she’s usually a “freestylist” in the kitchen. As a Metis student, bannock is important to Fyvie and her family.
“I would make it just by heart, based off of what my family had taught me,” Fyvie said. “I have this connection with food. And so it was very beautiful to be Metis and get into that communal group and that space where you’re accepted and you feel like it’s a community and a family.”
It comes as no surprise that bannock fosters such a huge community that bringing the Great Bannock Bake Off back to NAIT created something special for students and staff alike. And for incoming students like Fyvie, knowing the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre is here feels welcoming.
“I’m very excited to be a student,” she said. Students can visit the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre at E121 on Main Campus or follow them on Instagram at @nisohkamatotan.nait.
Feature image by Oscar Caceres-Chapelle/The Nugget
This article was originally published in our Nov. 4 print issue. Read it online here.
