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- Rooted Catering
Spruce Tip Hashbrowns
These hashbrowns are roasted and tossed in a spruce tip salt. Layered with roasted onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Spruce tips have a nice earthy flavour.
Spruce tips are the new spring growth at the end of a branch of spruce trees. They are tender, packed with nutrients, and can be eaten raw, in syrup, tincture, oil, or tea. Spruce tips contain vitamin A, potassium, vitamin C, magnesium, phosphorus, and antioxidants. They also provide antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, can be used to season soups, pastas, stews, curries, and enhance mineral absorption from grains and legumes.
There are approximately 35 different species of spruce that can be harvested for their tips, and each species will have a slightly different flavor. Spruce tips are sought out by chefs, brewers, and mixologists for their soft nature and distinct flavor.
Spruce tips are a foraged delicacy, hand-harvested by pinching off the tips, and are only available for a few weeks in the spring. Spruce tea, which relieves coughing sore throats and chests, and is made by boiling spruce cones and straining. Sticky gum is the clear sticky sap that can be found on spruce trees—it is used to soothe irritated skin, heal cuts, and reduce the chance of infection. Spruce gum can be chewed like a piece of gum and the juice can be swallowed. It is also used to draw out slivers.
Teetl'it Gwich’in Language Lesson
Spruce Cone | Dineedzil
Meet The Chef
Steph Baryluk
Chef Steph Baryluk (BAR-luck) created the Rooted Catering and Dining Commons menus at SFU. She is Teetl'it Gwich'in from Teetl'it Zheh (Fort McPherson), Treaty 11 Territory located in the Northwest Territories and now resides in Tsawwassen, BC with her husband and two kids. After completing her Red Seal as a Cook she knew she wanted to do more with her Indigenous roots. Chef Steph has hosted cooking classes and speaking engagements in her hometown, at the FAO in Rome, and across the Lower Mainland. She also launched her own company, MRS B’S JERKY, which is a play on traditional caribou dried meat ‘Nilii Gaii’ but made with beef. She's excited to share her Indigenous cuisine and stories with the SFU community.
