Canadians are happy when we’re eating, or talking about food. I got to do this recently, (the talking about food part) with Suzie Ridler, aka Suzie the Foodie, about how she got her start writing for Canada’s Food Network.
Me: How did you get your start with food?
Suzie: Very reluctantly and out of desperation. When I moved away from home I hardly knew anything about making food and my future-husband was hopeless in the kitchen so it was learn to cook or live on mac and cheese forever. No thanks!
Me: How did you get to be a food writer?
Suzie: I have a degree in English and creative writing but the world of fiction no longer inspired me and I think writing poetry on demand for a crappy professor killed my inner poet. Food is where my interest was, and I love talking about it so I just started writing about it and people seemed to enjoy my food, and stories.
Me: You relocated for personal reasons, how did that impact you’re choices involving your career/passions?
Suzie: When I moved from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, I had no idea how different my life was going to be. I had moved a lot but this move was shocking. I lived my life outside out west, and here, well, with all the snow and cold that we get I am now stuck inside for almost half the year. As a result, I got bored out of my mind and turned to the kitchen for inspiration. As a result I started to take my interest in food more seriously and now I am a food writer and photographer for Food Network Canada.
Me: Who do you say have been your most influential “celebrity” chef role models?
Suzie: No doubt Anna Olson from her show Sugar meant the most to me. What a fantastic teacher she is and always so enthusiastic about food. She taught me many rules of baking and where you can “switch it up” when it comes to sweets. Cooking is great but baking is so much fun, oh how I miss that show.
