Island chef celebrating Canada 150 in Africa

An Island chef is taking the taste of P.E.I. to Africa as part of the Canada 150 celebrations.

IIona Daniel was asked by Canada's ambassador to Ethiopia to prepare a meal for 800 people this week, after she was found through a Google search by staff.

She'll be using Canadian foods such as lobster, mussels and beef, but it will also be fused with local Ethiopian ingredients.

So far she's enjoying the interactions with the other cooks as they get ready for the meal.

"There's a great diversity of men and women in the kitchen," she told Island Morning's Matt Rainnie. "But more so from what I've seen so far, women are doing the prep, like peeling, chopping onions, that sort of thing. So I got them to help me with the beef tenderloin, and we did those sorts of things together, a little bit more skill involved."

Daniel is working in the capital city of Addis Ababa and had hoped to see more of the country, but has run into a travel issue.

"Actually there's a festival going on right now, kind of like Old Home Week," she said. "So there's a lot of Ethiopians returning to the country, so all the domestic flights are basically fully booked, so it's limited some of my travel plans."

The guest list for the meal includes politicians and diplomats, restaurant staff, and Canadians who are living in Ethiopia.

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