4 Montreal chefs on kindness, memory and the meaning of sharing food

CBC Quebec has launched its Make the Season Kind campaign. It's our annual campaign that focuses on food insecurity, while also celebrating kindness, generosity and community spirit around the province.

In four different kitchens across Montreal, the stories couldn’t be more distinct: a smoky lentil soup rooted in family care; a century-old kebab recipe reimagined in Quebec; a rustic Mexican cookie brought back to life and a cozy congee that turns leftovers into love.

Yet the thread tying these chefs together is the same — kindness, memory and the belief that food is far more than sustenance.

This series is part of CBC’s annual Make the Season Kind campaign, a celebration of kindness, generosity and community spirit.

Here is what four Montreal chefs shared about cooking, connection and the dishes that ground them.

Cooking as instant connection

In the compact kitchen of Restaurant Gus in the city’s Little Italy neighbourhood, chef David Ferguson stirs a bubbling pot of lentil soup perfumed with chipotle, cumin and lime.

Cooking, for him, has always been about immediate connection. “You get this instant gratification,” he said, describing the joy of watching someone enjoy a dish he’s made.

Lentils feel universal to him — nutritious, comforting and woven through many cultures. They also remind him of his childhood, when he’d complain about lentil soup only to realize later how much intention his mother put into it.

He blends the soup just enough to keep its texture, then finishes it with cumin, lemon, sour cream and cilantro.

“You can almost taste the kindness,” Ferguson said, describing what he wants diners to feel in every bite.

A century-old recipe and a mission to give back

At Mama Khan’s restaurant in the Plateau neighbourhood, the sizzling Adat Khan kebab — crispy, aromatic and tender — carries more than flavour. It carries legacy.

The recipe has been in Abdul Raziq Khan’s family for over a century, passed from his great-great-grandfather down to his mother, the restaurant’s original head chef.

Khan had no professional cooking background when he opened the restaurant. His mother taught him everything, and he says he quickly discovered how intimate it feels to share food. Customers often tell him stories of their childhood, sparked by the familiar taste of the kebab.

“People come here and tell me that food took me back to Peshawar or I haven’t [tasted] a food like this in 20 years," he said.

That emotional connection inspired the restaurant’s pay it forward initiative, which has provided more than 15,000 meals to people experiencing homelessness, he says.

Khan credits his mother, who he describes as an immigrant woman who learned French, embraced Quebec culture and raised her family with resilience, for shaping his instinct to give back.

“I feed the homeless because of her,” he said.

Baking memory into every bite

In the kitchen of Carlota, chef Mariana Martín recreates a rustic cookie beloved in central Mexico.

Traditionally made with piloncillo, a dark sugarcane syrup, she now prepares a Quebec version in Mile End using maple syrup — a gentle blend of old and new.

She says the cookie has been fading from popularity in Mexico, overshadowed by modern pastries. Yet at her bakery, Martín says she hears stories from customers who haven’t tasted it in decades.

“When we immigrate, we bring those emotions in our suitcase,” she said, adding she believes anthropology, memory and history live inside every baked good.

She says creating a pastry that transports someone back 20 years is priceless.

Leftovers, comfort and a mother’s touch

Chef Anderson Lee prepares leftover turkey congee the way his mother did — though with his own, more flavour-packed twist.

As he drops bones, ginger and scallions into a pot in the kitchen of his Old Montreal restaurant, Oncle Lee KĂO, he laughs about childhood nights when he’d groan at the sight of congee. Now, he craves it.

Cooking, for Lee, is deeply tied to community.

“I really wanted to make people happy when they come in,” he said. “Working in restaurants is one of the few jobs where people arrive excited to see you.”

Lee thinks this dish is perfect for winter, especially since “leftover turkey is universal during the holidays,” he said.

Once the porridge becomes silky, he tops it with ginger, white pepper, green onion, chili crisp and his mom’s homemade secret sauce: a combination of soy sauce, bird’s eye chili and garlic.

Lee says for him, his mom’s inspired congee is comforting, nostalgic and full of warmth — transforming scraps into something memorable.