The third in the canada.com Cannabis Tourism in Canada series has me heading into the kitchen with chef Travis Petersen, head of Canadian cannabis brand The Nomad Cook, where nothing is half-baked.

Petersen’s story is like that of many elder Millenials — dedicated to a job and its long hours, to then be laid off when a recession hit just to find himself in a new career of his making that some would describe as a calling. After working for seven years in the oil and gas industry in Alberta, that’s what happened to Petersen. Armed with a special set of skills — a knack and passion for cooking — he signed up to be a contestant on the third season of MasterChef Canada. He lasted for two episodes but did not hang up his apron after leaving the MasterChef Canada kitchen. 

Fortunate to hail from ‘out west,’ Petersen saw up-close, the various careers within the nascent cannabis industry and carved out space out for himself. Cue: The Nomad Cook. Started in January 2016, The Nomad Cook travels across Canada hosting cannabis-infused private dinner parties. Petersen’s first public event was in 2018 over the 4/20 weekend where more than 160 diners showed up and placed their stomachs and trust in him. Speaking of trust, Petersen is very clear that the aim of a Nomad Cook experience is not to simply put cannabis in food and get guests baked.

But rather to find dishes that are enhanced by the herbaceousness of marijuana and through microdosing Petersen allows each guest to leave his events having had a positive experience. Petersen is exceptionally passionate and cautious and does his own extractions to ensure accurate potency and flavour quality of each dish. Petersen is currently hosting aseries of dinners and brunches in Toronto for the summer in addition to pop-ups that he’ll co-host across Canada and in Brooklyn.

What else can you expect from Petersen? Well, there’s a cookbook in the works and he wants The Nomad Cook to become a global culinary cannabis brand. I, for one, can’t wait to be able to purchase ready-to-use cannabutter at my local grocery store.