Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Eric Akis lived there a few months before my Latvian-born father moved the family to his next Canadian military posting in Cold Lake, Alberta. From there they moved to Winnipeg, Moose Jaw and the Northwestern Ontario town of Sioux Lookout, where, as a teenager, he began his cooking career as a civilian kitchen helper on the base. A food writer for the Victoria Times since 1997, Eric Akis has doubled as a food consultant and recipe developer for the Thrifty Foods supermarket chain owned by Sobeys. He previously worked as a trained chef and pastry chef for fifteen years before turning his hand to journalism. He has lived in six Canadian provinces.
BOOKS:
Everyone Can Cook: Over 120 Recipes for Entertaining Everyday (Whitecap, 2004)
Everyone Can Cook Seafood: Over 120 Recipes for Entertaining Everyday (Whitecap, 2004)
The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Random House, 2015) $24.95 978-0-449-01640-4
[BCBW 2015]
BOOKS:
Everyone Can Cook: Over 120 Recipes for Entertaining Everyday (Whitecap, 2004)
Everyone Can Cook Seafood: Over 120 Recipes for Entertaining Everyday (Whitecap, 2004)
The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Random House, 2015) $24.95 978-0-449-01640-4
[BCBW 2015]
Articles: 2 Articles for this author
Everyone Can Cook (Whitecap)
Press Release
According to Whitecap Books' press material, 2003:
"Eric Akis was born into a military family in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and spent much of his childhood moving around to different bases. He developed a sense of adventure for food early on and loved to "muck around"; in the kitchen. At 16, he got his first job as a kitchen helper at the base where his father worked. There he met his first teacher and mentor, Sandy Wong, who recognized his potential and took Eric under his wing. Encouraged by the support, Eric took a professional cooking course at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
"After his apprenticeship and an advanced cook's course, Eric moved to Toronto. He worked at the Four Seasons, It's Magic Restaurant and the National Ballet School while running a catering company on the side, and completing a pastry chef course. In 1992, he moved to Victoria, where he was head chef at a retirement home for two years before starting his food consulting business. His primary services are recipe development and food styling to a diverse client list, which includes Thrifty Foods, Red Bird Communications and CH Television. For six years he has been writing a food column for the Victoria Times-Colonist, which now appears in newspapers across Canada. To date, he has written over 300 columns and developed hundreds of recipes.
"Along the way, Eric has continued his education by taking food and hospitality courses, and traveling to culinary destinations and food festivals such as the annual Singapore Food Festival. He lives in Victoria with his wife Cheryl, also a chef, and his son, who has inherited his parents' love of food. Everyone Can Cook is his first book."
[BCBW 2003] "Cookbook"
The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook
Article (2015)
Food writer for the Victoria times since 1997, Eric Akis has doubled as a food consultant and recipe developer for the Thrifty Foods supermarket chain owned by Sobeys. He previously worked as a trained chef and pastry chef for fifteen years before turning his hand to journalism. He has lived in six Canadian provinces. His new book is The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook: More than 100 Delicious Ways to Enjoy Storebought and Homecooked Chicken (Random House $24.95).
978-0-449-01640-4
BCBW (Autumn)