By: Staff Writer
March 1, 2022
A rising Jamaican cooking sensation living in Canada dishes on his debut cookbook, his plans for 2022 and 2023 and what inspired him to become a chef.
Noel Cunningham, author of Cuisine by Noel, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that after the debut release of his cookbook, Cuisine by Noel, in December, 2019 he has bigger plans that goes beyond just being an author.
He also said: “The sale of the book is doing great. It’s currently on Amazon, available in Fontana Pharmacy in Jamaica, and Books and CDs at the departure lounge at the Norman Manley International airport.”
Chef Noel currently operates his own restaurant and catering service out of Freeplay 300 College Street in downtown Toronto.
Chef Noel also spoke about his plans for 2022 and beyond and said that having his own cooking show “would be a dream come true. I’ve started my own series in, 2016 on Youtube, ‘What’s cooking with chef Noel’ and planning on restarting it in April of this year.
“My plan for the remainder of 2022 is to release my second book, do more cooking classes virtually and in person and hope to release a few more gourmet products to join my Chef Noel’s Jerk marinade.”
Chef Noel also said: “I got into cooking at the age of 12 just hanging in the kitchen with mom, I’m from a family of foodies so I was always around food.”
He continued, “My aunt Miriam Baker, who is a chef herself, saw that I was interested in culinary and she motivated me to pursue it. After researching I realized there are countless opportunities as a chef. I did food and nutrition in high school at Edith Dalton James High and I did well was awarded twice. This was when I decided to follow my passion.”
There is a big difference between being a chef and being an author, but Chef Noel says writing the book was a “dream” since he was in Senior highschool. “Writing a cookbook was my dream since I was doing food and nutrition in the 11th grade. I would write down recipes thinking that I am going to do a book.
“Of course, I needed more time, experience and knowledge so it was on the backburner but I never forgot about it. In, 2016 the ideas came back to produce a book then I realize I was also celebrating my 10-year anniversary as a chef and I wanted to use this book to tell my story and share my culinary journey to both motivate others to cook, or even pursue a career in culinary.
“Writing a book, especially a cookbook is a lot of work, time and dedication but I was motivated and also wanted to challenge myself. I’m currently working on two more books now. One will be released later this year and the other in late 2023.
Could all of this be done from Jamaica, CMP asked Chef Noel and he responded: “To be honest it wouldn’t. Jamaica laid the foundation for me but Canada has helped me tremendously in achieving a lot since I came here in, 2013. I was able to complete my diploma in Hotel and Restaurant management for free, have a website, complete my book and more. The support here for culinary is huge. Jamaica is a smaller market and if they count you out then you are out. It’s super hard and competitive.