Originally from Texas and a fan of southern cuisine, Gwyn Beaver was a bit disappointed with the food options when she first moved to Canada 16 years ago.

“We lived in Montreal and I started making southern cooking for colleagues,” Beaver said. “It was down-home cooking like cornbread, fried chicken, candied sweet potatoes, Hoppin’ John — a black-eyed pea dish — collard greens, jambalaya, gumbo, sweet-potato pie, pecan pie and pickled okra.”

Some of them said it was so good, she should open a business.

Beaver knew she wanted to name it , but Quebec rules dictate the title has to be in French.

“I didn’t want to change the name,” she said.

Fast forward to 2018, when Beaver and husband Shawn Pitre moved to Wasaga Beach.

“I was ready for a change. I’m a performer and what I’ve always wanted to do is music and food,” she said.

So, she got a business licence and started doing A Taste of Soul pop-up dinners for friends.

“It was like hiring a personal chef for the evening. I would bring everything: the choice of two entrees, two sides and two desserts. And I would clean up.”

Then the pandemic hit and Beaver wasn’t sure where to turn.

Someone suggested she offer virtual cooking classes.

And Pitre, who studied ethnomusicology, was on board to teach musical tidbits during the class.

“Jambalaya is known as much as a dish as a song,” he said. “There are something like 300 different versions in different languages around the world. It was an easy fit — I’ve already done a ton of research on this.”

“It’s a great way to be entertaining and educate people,” Beaver said. “People say they love this type of food, but don’t know anything about the culture.”

And the origins of music or food have more connections that we sometimes realize, she said.

The Jambalaya 101 class uses vegetables, rice, spices of salt, pepper, paprika, and a protein like crawfish, shrimp, chicken or tofu.

And with plenty of snowbirds already familiar with corn bread or fried chicken, making a Jambalaya or gumbo isn’t too challenging, Beaver said.

The hardest part about it is making the roux, which is a paste made from flour.

“It’s time consuming. So while people are cooking with us, that’s when you can open the wine,” she said.

Beaver also uses OfficeInc! Corp’s Food Opportunity Resource Kitchen (FORK) in Barrie to prepare a monthly lunch for pickup in the city, called Sunday Soul.

For more information about A Taste of Soul, visit their  or visit .

A TASTE OF SOUL

TYPE: Southern entrees and dessert

PHONE:

HOURS: Sunday Soul or virtual class by appointment

WEBSITE: