An amateur baker from the Okanese First Nation will be the only Indigenous contestant on this year’s Great Canadian Baking Show.
Jodi Robson learned to bake at a young age, watching her Kokum bake various delights.
She said learning to make sweet fry-bread, started her passion, which grew in her teens baking with her mom.
Robson was encouraged by her husband to apply for the show, not thinking she’d be one of ten people chosen. She said her audition went well enough to become a contestant.
The days of baking were long and stressful for Robson, who was working against the clock, other competitors, sometimes herself and the high demands of the judges.
But during her bakes, she kept grounded in her culture. “I wanted to go away from the norm and try to use things I would have used growing up. Like raspberries or Saskatoons and wild mint. Stuff we would have had easily accessible on the reserve,” Robson said. “I was the only one who was Indigenous in this season’s competition. And I really wanted to show that in what I was presenting. I wanted to have some aspect of that present. I wanted to be proud of what I put out.”
Robson stated her culture came through in the presentation of the bake and the ingredients used.
Robson’s signature bake is sweet fry-bread, which has taken her nearly two decades to complete, adding her Kokum did not teach her the recipe. Yet cookies are Robson’s in a rush bake.
Robson said she really enjoyed the experience on the show, as she learned a lot about baking, aspects she would not have gained if she were not on the show.
The first episode airs Wednesday on CBC.
(PHOTO: A baked cherry and almond tart. Courtesy of Jodi Robson Facebook)