Feast On This

By Mike P Mulcahy

Chef & Restaurateur Mike Mulcahy takes you on a journey back to the beginning where food made its influence so deep, it would guide his career. Mike shares stories that will shock a little, make you laugh and inspire the food lover in you.

Over 130 recipes including 90 from Big feast Bistro & Retail, the place you've co

• Language: English
• Publisher: Big Feast Bistro Inc
• Release date: Apr 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781777393311

Book preview

Feast On This

Copyright © 2021 by Mike Mulcahy

Big Feast Bistro + Retail™

All rights reserved.

The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher—or in the case of photography or other reprographic copying—is an infringement of the copyright law, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in reviews.

License from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Internet addresses given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

ISBN 978-1-7773933-0-4

Ebook 978-1-7773933-1-1

Photography by Kristie Pryor, Jeremy Allouche momentsofwild.com

Additional photography by Oliver Rathonyi-Reusz inviewimages.com

Book design by Harv Craven harvcravendesign.com

This book is dedicated to Mom & Dad; I hope you are well.

Foreword

Please Be Seated

THE EARLY YEARS

A few dishes inspired by mom to be shared with family

THE KEG YEARS

Creating the first recipe

SOUPS

Pubs taught me to make soups and over the years, I learned how to make them better

LATIN INSPIRATION

Did you just put chocolate and coffee in that chili?

THE MILESTONES YEARS

Where I honed my craft, and learned how to plan for success

I ONCE CAUGHT A FISH THIS BIG

Globally inspired dishes

WHAT IS BIG FEAST?

Finding our identity while planting our roots

THE BIGGEST DISASTER… WHAT A SUCCESS

Fresh baked goodies we sell in the bistro

HOW COULD THEY IGNORE BRUNCH?

Sunday morning hollandaise, unique eggs benny, French toast, and more

SO, THIS IS SUCCESS?

Savoury favourites from the buffet table, the catering years

FOR MY VEGAN FRIENDS

Plant-based foods that taste so good, you’ll be shocked

MORE THAN JUST A BURGER

10 gourmet burgers you must make

IMPROVISE, OVERCOME, ADAPT

Ways to eat chicken you may not have considered, like with corn flakes

Acknowledgments

Index

FOREWORD

I CAN EASILY REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I MET MIKE MULCAHY.

It was in the schoolyard at Devon Gardens Elementary and we were both 10. Mike was a stocky kid that didn’t take shit from anyone—he was one of the toughest kids in our school and everyone knew it.

We shared common ground as we’d both been through hard times: this was my fifth elementary school since my parents divorced, and I had been living with my Aunt and Uncle for some time. Mike lost his father at such a young age after moving to BC from Montréal. We found we could relate to each other, and as a result our friendship has grown over 40 years.

Mike and his older brother Glen were forced to grow up quickly and became the men of the home, protecting and helping their mother through some tough times. Mrs. M was an amazing person who supported Mike like no other, and he always had huge respect for her.

Music and food are two of his passions in life. I swear he could easily write a book about his early music career, and we’d all share a few laughs and maybe even some tears listening to his stories. We had good times watching his band play during the 90s Vancouver music scene, complete with the occasional groupies and all.

Mike took cooking jobs in several places to support both himself and the band. Money was tight, but his survival skills are unparalleled. Whenever he was in dire straits, he’d supplement his income by beating me at darts in the pub, or cleaning us out in a well-played game of Hearts.

As his music dreams faded and his cooking experience grew, I saw Mike become more passionate about his career as a professional chef, and was impressed at how quickly he moved up the culinary ladder. When Mike went on his own and started Big Feast, he was a father of two boys with his daughter on the way, a mortgage and plenty of bills to cover. What he’s built with Big Feast is fantastic and has earned heartwarming community support—even during a global pandemic—that Mike returns in many ways. I believe he deserves all the success he has achieved and more.

I enjoyed reading Feast On This more than I thought possible, because his creativity and passion for food has never stopped. His collection of inspirational recipes is backed by memories and connections, all of which contributed to what you’ll discover on these pages.

On the journey to where he is today, life has dealt Mike some serious setbacks. I feel it’s important to learn how those challenges pushed him to succeed as a person who genuinely cares about his guests. Ultimately, I’m happy that he finally had the time to write it all down for us to enjoy!

—Jason Davids, Lifelong Friend

INTRODUCTION

PLEASE BE SEATED.

For more than 20 years I’ve joked with my crew that I’d someday write a book about my adventures in the kitchen. Something odd would happen during a busy service and I’d say something like, "Chapter 8: All The Crazy Stories I Could Tell Without Filters or That’ll make the book, just not sure what chapter it’ll be in." The stories I’ve chosen to feature here are only a few of a hundred I want to share. They are stories based on memories, and I have done my best to put as much truth to them as I recall. Let’s be honest, I’m a 50-year-old Irish chef who learned how to cook to pay the rent while trying to become a rock star in the ’90s. I didn’t know that becoming a chef would feel so rewarding until my late 20s when the hopes of a music career started to fade. I’m proud of all the things I’ve accomplished, the people I’ve met, and the great food I’ve created over the years.

I started to write this as a combined memoir-slash-recipe book but quickly realized there were too many stories; I was losing focus on what matters most—the food. It’s the food and their recipes that people talk about, not about one of my crazy personal memories. I wanted to share some history, my cooking methods, the fusion of flavours, and the crazy dish names on our menus.

I recently opened my 25th restaurant; the first 22 were for other people, some for other companies, and some for the not-so-nice. My last three ventures were each based on hard work, determination, and a little stupidity. How did I get here? Why didn’t I pick something more manageable, like lion taming or becoming an astronaut? As we all know, we don’t get to pick everything in life; life gets final veto and decides many things for us. Life wants us to test ourselves and fall, then watch us rise up and triumph. I believe this is why people open restaurants—not for the fall, but for the rise.

I knew at a young age that I loved food (you’ve seen a picture of me, right?) and wanted to learn how to manipulate ingredients into sensational dishes. I’ve spent years developing my techniques and gaining experience in the kitchen, yet I still have so much to learn. I feel inspired by young cooks coming to work with knives in hand, eager to re-create one of my recipes in an effort to impress Chef. Whether or not they look up to me, I’m not sure, but I certainly admire them and they motivate me to be great.

I don’t write about what kind of pots and pans to buy, or where to shop for the best priced canned soup. There’s no advice here on planning the perfect dinner party, and I most certainly will not teach you how to set a sexy dinner table. There won’t be any ideas on reproducing leftovers into a smoothie; those books have already been written. I tell a few stories about buying my bacon from a local farmer on the side of the highway, and how I was able to teach a school of young kids to cook lunch for 100 people—without power and in a forest. I write about what inspires a lover of food and what food represents in our lives. I share personal moments of defeat where I really learned how to cry, and I hang on to hope that 100 years from now, there will still be farms. I am proud to live in a province that protects its farmlands for future generations.

The recipes I have chosen to be part of this book have meaning to me but are also really great items I encourage you to try. They have all been tasted by thousands of customers that keep returning for more. I show how essential things like caramelized onions enhance flavours and, once made, can be used in many recipes. Although I focus on more than 90 recipes from Big Feast, others greatly influence my eclectic cooking style.

In one form or another, people have been paying me to cook for them since 1986. I started cooking at 16 in unprofessional kitchens, and by the time I made it to the end of this book, I believe I’ve worked in almost 60 commercial kitchens; it’s hard to remember them all. Some as a guest chef, training at schools, Black Box competitions, long table dinners, fundraisers, consulting, opening corporate locations, independent openings, and let’s not forget about the pubs where I fell in love with making soups. Every one of them deserves mention in one way or another, but there aren’t enough pages in the book to do them justice.

I hope when you read this book you can laugh at me, yourself, or others, especially if the stories make you think of a similar situation. I hope it inspires you to cook great food and demand more from your favourite restaurant you give praise to. Try the recipes out with your friends or family members that enjoy food as much as you do. I hope you take your kids to pick some strawberries or stop at your local farmers’ market and hug a farmer. Please support your local artisan food shops even if it’s just once in a while versus buying all of your groceries at a national grocery store chain. And, most importantly, please eat locally in your favourite restaurant.

—Mike Mulcahy, Creator of Good Things

CHAPTER ONE

THE EARLY YEARS

Clearly I wasn’t cut out for beavers, 2 thumbs down.

How did mom cook with all that clutter?

Can you remember your first memory of food? Where did you live when you were young? What was the name of your best friend or cousin you couldn’t wait to see? Do you remember your first visit to a restaurant or drive-through?

Pause and think for a moment because it’s an essential question to answer. Do you need some help? Walk with me down Memory Lane for a moment.

Was it a smell; maybe homemade pie in Grandma’s oven? Can you remember the sweet smells of sugar dominating the kitchen, or the crust—that crispy, flaky goodness—holding that gooey fruit filling inside?

Was it bacon? You didn’t even know what bacon was or where it came from, but if Mom was cooking some and your 3-year-old hands reached up at that crackling pan on the stovetop, you might have had a hot ‘spark’ land on you... ouch!

Was it onions? Those stinky things that made your eyes burn when they were being cut, but started so many delicious soups and sauces that your mom stirred over the stove. Maybe it was strong aromas that would take over the house of a roast in the oven, or maybe the turkey which you would finally be allowed to baste.

My first memory of food was at six years old when I spent a lot of time with my cousins in Montréal. When Auntie Ghislaine cooked spaghetti, it was just noodles and butter; never with red sauce. I always asked Mom, Why don’t we get sauce when we go to Auntie’s? She never gave an answer, but when Mom made spaghetti for us, it had a lovely rich tomato sauce that always ended up all over my shirt.

Mom posing in the kitchen where she cooked thousands of meals.

Dad with Glen, me in the stroller.

We’ve all heard that your mom, your friend’s mom, and even your enemy’s mom are the best damn cooks on the planet—straight up, no arguments—right?

That’s until someone tells you that only their mom is the best cook in the world. That’s not gonna happen here, my friends. My mom Sherry Ann cooked simple foods, drank red wine, ordered pizzas, and sent me on my BMX for fish and chips wrapped in newspaper. Friday nights Mom often took us for dinner at her favourite Greek restaurant owned by good family friends, the Melios family.

I became passionate about food, and even though years later I chose a stressful career path it was during my youth that I realized what a big