Writer, photographer, award-winning author, Pat Crocker from Neustadt, ON is passionate about food, gardens and herbs. She loves her work as a culinary herbalist and asks, “In what other profession would one be encouraged to wander alone in gardens; grow and cook with herbs; write about these and other culinary wonders, and tell others about those pleasures?” Winner of the Herb Society of America’s Literary Excellence Award and Best in the World for her Juicing Bible (1998) and her Vegan Cook’s Bible (2009), Pat has nine published cookbooks to her credit.

What’s your weakness? Dessert or mains?
Even with an incredible attachment to sugar, I would still choose a vegetarian main dish, but I might add a drop of maple syrup.

Who or what got you interested in food?
Growing up in the 1950s with a last name like mine, it might be argued that my interest in food was pre-destined, but in fact, it was my insatiable sweet tooth. At the age of 8 I realized that I could dramatically increase my intake of desserts if I made them myself.

What inspires you?
Thoughtful use and new combinations of herbs and other ingredients in recipes

What was your favourite dinner when you were a kid? Do you like it now?
In the winter it was oxtail stew and in the spring it was butter-fried smelt from the Humber River. My favourite summer dinner was simply buttered corn and in the fall, I loved the fat tomatoes from my father’s vegetable garden. I love those foods still, and yet I have not tasted smelt for a very very long time.

What’s the first dish you remember making?
Nanaimo Bars- to me they were the perfect dinner dish!

Proudest food-related moment?
My daughter’s first birthday cake.

Strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
Cod’s tongues.

Favourite sound in the kitchen?
My mother’s Sunbeam stand mixer.

Favourite cooking smell?
Vanilla

Quintessential Canadian dish?
Cod’s tongues or Nanaimo Bars- can’t choose.

Molecular gastronomy, best thing ever or the unwearable haute couture of food?
Just another food fad.

Cilantro — can’t get enough or tastes like soap?
My worst nightmare.

What local foods can’t you live without?
Garlic, garlic, garlic

What’s your greatest culinary extravagance?
My trip to Istanbul to visit the spice market.

Most over-rated kitchen gadget?
The garlic  press.

What’s the most treasured possession in your kitchen? Why?
Mezzaluna- it is efficient and precise in chopping garlic and green herbs.

Fill in the blank. If I never cooked / ate / heard about  ______ again, I’d be happy.
Cilantro.

If you could cook for anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
I love cooking for my friends and family; I am in heaven in the kitchen with Susan Belsinger (www.susanbelsinger.com) and it would be a thrill to share the hob with Jill Norman (Herbs & Spices, DK Publishing, 2002).

What would you prepare for him/her?
It would depend on the season and what was up in the herb garden.

What  was the last thing you ate?
Home-fried potatoes with bacon, onions, dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, thyme, rosemary and leftover potatoes.

If you had to work outside the culinary field, what would you do?
Be a full-time gardener.