Foodies wanting a peek into the mind of the proprietor of Victoria's Crust Bakery will have their chance this autumn.
Tom Moore, founder of Victoria's Crust Bakery and Tombo Eats, has released a cookbook called Crust, featuring sweet, savory and hunger-satisfying recipes.
The book, which will be released on September 24th, is the culmination of a lifetime in the kitchen.
Moore met his then-wife while working as a chef in Canada's Inner Harbour, and the couple lived in Australia for 15 years before moving back to Victoria in 2013 so their children could meet and enjoy life with their North American family.
Already a career chef in fine dining restaurants, he turned to baking to escape the late nights that often come with being in the kitchen and focus on his family, and in his home country he owns and operates restaurants and bakeries, as well as teaching others to pursue their love of cooking.
“Another passion I've always had is teaching people,” he said. “I decided I wanted to open my own cooking school, and I did.”
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It has become an award-winning initiative that combines online, self-paced programs with hands-on work and farm visits.
“It was great, it was a mix of new and old,” Moore said.
It's something he left behind when he returned to Canada.
About three years ago, he started pursuing his passion for fusion cooking and began sharing his recipes.
“It was my dream to write a cookbook. I'd always wanted to write one,” he says. “I was determined to finish it and I had the time. I was lucky, the people at Crust were amazing. They supported me so much that I was able to work on it three days a week.”
Moore enlisted the expertise of wordsmith Rebecca Wellman to collect the recipes and build a story around them.
“Every recipe has a story about its origins or a childhood memory,” Moore says, “and it's really like my culinary journey.”
The cookbook features more than 85 recipes, including “fun, not-so-serious recipes” that are intended to entertain, inspire and educate.
“We've actually had to get rid of a lot of them, because they just keep coming back,” he said.
Published by Penguin Random House Canada, “Crust – Essential Sweets and Savouries from Victoria's Beloved Bakery” will be available for purchase on Sept. 24. It can be pre-ordered online at Moore's online sites: crustbakery.ca, tomboeats.com and cheftommoore.com.
Fans of the restaurant and chef can expect the book to appear in local bookstores in the coming months, marking its official launch.
