My name is Eric (pronouns: he/him) and I’m the writer, cook, and eater behind Anise to Za’atar.
I am currently living on Vancouver Island with my family, a settler on unceded Quw’utsun territories, in what is currently know as Canada.
I’m passionate about the stories that make up the food we cook and eat. These are stories found in history, stories made in the present, and stories that create our collective futures. I am passionate about the ways which food can open us up to and make us aware of connections we might take for granted: connections to food producers and growers; connections to the environment around us; connections to politics, power, and history; and connections to one another.
I am a self-taught cook and recipe developer with a background in writing and editing. During my 9 years as an academic, I not only published widely around issues of racism and decolonization, but co-founded and editing a leading open-access journal in my field.
My writing and artistic work has been featured in places such as CBC.ca, CNN.com, The Feminist Wire, Huffington Post, and CanadianArt.ca. I’ve also been writing on my own personal websites and blogs for more than 15 years, including articles that have gone ‘viral’, reaching more than 100k readers. In 2019, Anise to Za’atar was selected as a finalist for the Saveur Food Blog Awards in the category of ‘Most Groundbreaking Voice.’
My writing here on Anise to Za’atar uses food to tell stories. These stories are personal, political, cultural and historical. Food is never just food.
If you want to learn more about me and my past writing, you can visit www.ericritskes.com