I was saddened to read this article today announcing the death of Ukrainian Canadian TV personality chef Ken Kostick at age 58. He died Thursday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto from complications arising after a battle with acute pancreatitis this past February.
The Winnipeg-born celebrity chef was best known
as a cooking host on the Gemini Award-nominated TV show What’s for Dinner? on CBC, Ken Kostick and Company on Food Network Canada and most recently, He Said, She Said with Ken & Mary Jo on W Network.
He also worked in radio, appeared on the Shopping Channel to represent gourmet cooking products, and had opened a catering business called Gourmet by Ken Kostick.
The Ukrainian community recalls with fondness and gratitude his gig as Festival Parade Grand Marshall at last’s year’s Toronto Ukrainian Festival. More details at Andrew's blog here.
As well, during his career, Ken Kostick published 15 cookbooks, with titles such as What's for Dinner: Meals in 30 Minutes or Less, Kens Soup Krazy, and Countertop to Table Cuisine. His most recent is The $10 Gourmet published in 2009 and now in its second printing.
He had been working on two more when he died: Ken’s Soup Krazy 2, and BONE-Appétit, a book of recipes for dog lovers such as himself.
Before becoming a celebrity chef, Ken worked in the travel industry and also ran a successful modelling agency. But he grew up with a love of cooking. According to the Food Network Canada website, for many years, Ken cooked and delivered food on Christmas day to needy people in support of Mother Teresa's "Missionaries of Charity." In 1995, Ken's efforts snowballed into Food for Life, a non-registered charity supported by Life Network and Food Network Canada for which Ken was a spokesperson.
There are some lovely photos of Ken here.
Sign his legacy guestbook here.
A few YouTube videos for you to enjoy and honour the memory of Ken Kostick.
Vichna Yomu Pamyat! (Memory Eternal).
Shopping on a budget ...
Goat cheese and bow-tie pasta
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2 comments:
Oddly enough having lived in Ukraine for over ten years, I was kind of out of touch with a lot of the goings on in Canada, particularly with Canadian specialty TV channels. When I first saw that Ken Kostick had passed, I had to think a little, because while I was not familiar with his role as mentioned in this blog I knew I had heard his name before.
Then it hit me. Many years ago, a dear friend of mine, Maria D., knowing how much I like to cook gave me a cook book for my birthday. Often, when I was out of ideas of what to cook for friends I would leaf through that cookbook. One time during the summer of 2009, during my last few months in Ukraine I pulled out that cookbook for inspiration. It was only then that I ever realized that it was the work of Ken Kostick. Thank you Ken, for your inspiration. You will truly be missed by countless numbers of individuals. May you rest in peace.
Thank you Vasyl, for sharing your story.
Ken's passing is indeed a huge loss to the community, the country, and the world.
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