Simone Santerre is a French-Canadian food writer whose culinary voice resonates from her home in Norway, where she brings a thoughtful, grounded approach to seasonal cooking. Through her beautifully curated newsletter, good food at home, Simone celebrates the quiet elegance of simple ingredients and the comforting rituals of everyday meals. Her recipes are as much about nourishment as they are about narrative — often spotlighting the diverse, often-overlooked beauty of edible plants. With a background rooted in public health, Simone explores the intersections of food, well-being, and the systems that shape how we eat, offering a perspective that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.
ConsiderBeyond: How would you introduce yourself to your fans and our community? What inspires your passion for cooking, and what drives you to share your recipes with a wider audience?
Simone: I’m a Canadian food writer currently living in Norway. I develop recipes with simplicity and seasonality in mind, always guided by an underlying focus on pleasure and sustainability. My true passion lies in public health—specifically in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases—and with that comes a deep interest in how our environments, systems, and policies shape health beliefs and behaviors at the population level.
In my view, one of the most enjoyable and effective ways to promote good health is by making nourishing, delicious food more accessible and appealing to everyone. For me, sharing recipes—just like buying quality ingredients, cooking with care, and gathering around a meal—is a simple yet powerful way to contribute positively to our own well-being, our communities, and the planet.
ConsiderBeyond: You have a deep appreciation for learning from local food growers. What are some of the most valuable lessons you've taken from these learnings, and how have they shaped your approach to cooking?
Simone: I truly believe we’d be nothing without food growers. Food is life — and growing it for a living is arguably one of the most difficult, demanding, and underappreciated pursuits one can undertake. When done with care, wisdom, and respect, growing food has the power to help communities thrive, strengthen local economies, and support the preservation of nature. But when approached with impatience, imprudence, or a lack of reverence, the consequences can be devastating — affecting everything from the environment to public health and collective well-being.
I first discovered farmers’ markets when I moved to Montreal, and my weekly visits to the Atwater and Jean-Talon markets forever changed the way I shop, cook, and eat. From food growers, foragers, and small-scale grocers, I learned that good meals always begin with good ingredients — and the best ingredients are typically those grown on a relatively small scale, in the right season and place, by people who care deeply for the land we all call home.
ConsiderBeyond: How do you integrate sustainable practices into your recipe development, and what are some simple yet impactful changes you encourage home cooks to adopt?
Simone: When developing recipes or just cooking on the fly, I always keep a few guiding principles in the back of my mind: use what you already have, supplement with what’s in season, and limit resource-intensive ingredients. These are the same changes I encourage others to embrace. To make it easier to reduce waste, it can be useful to organize your fridge, pantry — and even freezer — in a way that really lets you see what you have. This helps make anything perishable as inviting as possible (so that you’ll use it up or freeze it before it goes bad) and also stops you from buying doubles (because you’re more aware of what you already have). Resisting the temptation to over-buy is another good way to cut down on waste, as well as save money: make a list of the perishables you actually need before heading out for groceries, focusing on seasonal produce you can reasonably consume in the coming days or week, then stick to it! (Though if stocking up on non-perishables, feel free to get more bang for your buck by shopping in bulk for foods preserved at their peak.) Foods harvested in season are not only generally fresher, more nutritious, and more flavoursome — they’re also usually more affordable, as they tend to be in higher supply.
Lastly, the lower a product is on the food chain and the more in-season it is, the more sustainable it tends to be. So try to see if there are any simple swaps you might be happy to make based on your preferences and local availability: for example, if you like to snack on fruit, reach for apples and pears in the fall, citrus in winter, and berries and stone fruit in the summer (in spring, when few fresh fruits are in season, frozen or other preserved fruit are just as fantastic). If you love fish, try to move away from farmed salmon and see if you can include wild-caught herring (in spring and summer) or mussels (in fall and winter) in your rotation instead. The great thing is that you don’t need to make massive changes — just take the time to notice, do your best with the information and resources you have, and make slight adjustments that work for you along the way.
ConsiderBeyond: What ingredient do you love using that you think has more potential than people realize? Can you share one of your favorite recipes that highlights it?
Simone: I really enjoy incorporating root vegetables into baked goods. Some people might think the only reason to do this is to “sneak” vegetables into treats to make them “healthy,” but I do it loud and proud because I think it tastes really good — it usually helps improve texture and moisture, too! Putting beets in chocolate cake or using parsnips in a spiced loaf just makes for a more interesting and delicious dessert, if you ask me.
ConsiderBeyond: You have a remarkable ability to share your cooking journey as a story on Instagram, seamlessly blending storytelling with stunning visuals. How do you approach telling the story of cooking through your photos and experiences?
Simone: Thank you! I always try to lead by example, showing rather than telling. On Instagram, I’m often sharing dishes I’ve made spontaneously, without a formal recipe. The easiest way for me to help others create something similar—if they feel inspired to recreate it or add their own twist—is simply to film while I cook and share the most relevant snippets in a story or post.
When it comes to food, I believe there’s real value in generous sharing—not just of meals, but also of tips, tricks, recipes, and techniques. Whether online or in person, sharing knowledge gives others the chance to learn something new and try something different or exciting in their own kitchen.
ConsiderBeyond: If you could change one thing about the way people think about cooking, what would it be?
Simone: That it doesn’t have to be complicated, difficult, time-consuming, boring, messy, or “just for people who are into cooking.” I think the only ones who benefit from us believing these things are the big corporations that profit from manufacturing alternatives to home-cooked meals. Cooking should be joyful!
If you find yourself resisting the idea of stepping into the kitchen, try to realize that you don’t have to cook — you get to cook. And it never has to be more elaborate than simply assembling a few things you like onto a plate (you can even get weird with ingredient combinations, if you like — it’s your plate!). In fact, some of the best meals take less than ten minutes, five pantry ingredients, and one pot, pan, or tray to make.
The trick is to learn a few easy pantry dishes you can make on autopilot and keep their ingredients stocked, so that you always have a plan — even on those days when the fridge is nearly empty, you’re short on time, and inspiration is running low. (That said, we all deserve a break sometimes, and there’s absolutely no guilt in letting someone else — whether at home, at a friend’s, or at a local restaurant — cook for you now and then. In fact, there should never be any guilt when it comes to cooking and food… ever!)
ConsiderBeyond: You’ve mentioned your grandmother’s Caribbean cooking as a major influence. What are some of the flavors or techniques from her kitchen that continue to shape your recipes today?
Simone: My maternal grandmother (hi, Gran!) lived with us for a few years when I was a kid, and she was often cooking up a storm. Although she made the best Jamaican food I’ve ever tasted, she was never afraid to dish up meals from all around the world — all with equal excellence. I have no idea how she manages to make everything taste so good (my family is still asking her to write down at least one recipe for posterity), so I almost never cook or order anything Jamaican because I already know it won’t compare to hers.
Still, despite being very vague and secretive about her ingredients and techniques, she inadvertently taught me that the best food is made with love — and that diversity truly is the spice of life.
ConsiderBeyond: You mention that travel and location play a big role in your culinary perspective. Is there a particular dish or ingredient you’ve encountered abroad that changed the way you cook?
Simone: I’ve been very privileged to live in several countries throughout my life, and living abroad—rather than just visiting—inevitably allows for a deeper appreciation of local food culture, whether consciously or not. I don’t think any single dish or ingredient I’ve encountered abroad has influenced my cooking more than the overall exposure to, and experience of, diverse food cultures.
What I’ve learned over the years is that food often tastes best when it’s “at home” — grown and prepared with skill and care by locals, and enjoyed in its own terroir. That’s partly because ingredients bred for flavour often don’t travel well. A fresh Canadian strawberry tastes best in Canada, a Norwegian one in Norway, and a ripe mango will be at its most delicious in subtropical or tropical climates. (A Spanish omelette also tends to taste better in Spain — though I’ve found that recipes often travel better than the local ingredients that originally inspired them.)
As a result, I’ve become quite attuned to the provenance of ingredients. When it comes to fresh or highly perishable items, I try to stick to locally produced foods as much as possible. For preserved or shelf-stable ingredients, I do my best to seek out those produced in countries and regions renowned for the excellence of that particular product.
ConsiderBeyond: What does beauty in food, cooking, and practical but sustainable recipes mean to you?
Simone: Beauty is often dismissed as superficial or vain, but I believe it’s essential. I’m of the opinion that things — food included — should be not only useful, but beautiful too. Beauty makes life better. It also carries meaning. In food, what is beautiful is often healthy: a diseased plant or rotting fruit shows its condition simply by the way it looks.
Even beyond the field, beauty in food has purpose. Sure, you could view food as mere fuel — something utilitarian and nothing more, to be slopped onto a plate and gobbled without care — but what a missed opportunity to bring pleasure into your day. Looking at beautiful things makes us feel good. It draws us in. And while beauty is subjective, the kind found in nature tends to have a universal appeal. Food, after all, is probably the closest to nature we encounter on a daily basis.
By noticing and highlighting the inherent beauty that already exists in food — whether through shopping with care, cooking with attention, or sharing recipes with love — I hope to contribute something positive: making these everyday rituals more enjoyable and inviting for myself, and for anyone else who wants to join in.
ConsiderBeyond: If you could cook a meal for your younger self when you were just starting out in food writing, what would you make and why?
Simone: Beauty is often dismissed as superficial or vain, but I believe it’s essential. I’m of the opinion that things — food included — should be not only useful, but beautiful too. Beauty makes life better. It also carries meaning. In food, what is beautiful is often healthy: a diseased plant or rotting fruit shows its condition simply by the way it looks.
Even beyond the field, beauty in food has purpose. Sure, you could view food as mere fuel — something utilitarian and nothing more, to be slopped onto a plate and gobbled without care — but what a missed opportunity to bring pleasure into your day. Looking at beautiful things makes us feel good. It draws us in. And while beauty is subjective, the kind found in nature tends to have a universal appeal. Food, after all, is probably the closest to nature we encounter on a daily basis.
By noticing and highlighting the inherent beauty that already exists in food — whether through shopping with care, cooking with attention, or sharing recipes with love — I hope to contribute something positive: making these everyday rituals more enjoyable and inviting for myself, and for anyone else who wants to join in.
ConsiderBeyond: When do you feel the happiest and most fulfilled in your work?
Simone: I love every step of the process — working with my hands, challenging myself to write — all of it requires slowing down and paying close attention so that I can deliver the very best I’m capable of. There’s something about being so fully present in the work that fills me with a peaceful sense of appreciation.
What leaves the most meaningful impression on me, however, are the kind messages people have sent over the years* to let me know I’ve made a positive impact on their lives. That, more than anything, is what makes me feel truly fulfilled.
*Though I’m notoriously bad at responding to messages… my sincerest apologies to anyone who’s still waiting for a reply!
ConsiderBeyond: How do you see the connection between storytelling, high-quality recipes, and visually stunning aesthetics? How do they come together in your creative process?
Simone: The storytelling, recipes, and (as you very generously say!) visually stunning aesthetics flow together quite effortlessly for me — they’re all part of the same bigger picture. I enjoy the kind of work that forces you to slow down and engage your senses, and often the result is what I consider beautiful meals that I like to immortalize through writing and photography.
I’m a big believer in having high standards and no expectations. So whether I’m presenting and photographing dishes, developing and testing recipes, or writing about food, I try to uphold that ethic throughout the entire process. I hope that doing so naturally results in something others will not only find beautiful, but also trust — and want to return to.
I never want to waste anyone’s attention with lackluster imagery, recipes that don’t quite work, or words that leave no meaningful impression. I genuinely value the time anyone spends stepping into my world, so it’s important to me to always present something I believe is of high quality — whether that’s a visual, a recipe, or a piece of writing.
ConsiderBeyond: What would you like to say to your fans who continue to support and follow your journey?
Simone: Definitely: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I couldn’t do what I do without you, and honestly, I think you’re just a marvelous bunch.
In seasonal sundays, the fortnightly supplement to my monthly newsletter, there’s a section where I answer cooking questions — and my readers always send in the most thoughtful queries, written with such kindness and care. The comments I receive on Instagram are enough to let anyone’s ego get out of control! I’m truly grateful to have the support of such a respectful and engaged community.
If you ever see me on the street, or simply want to reach out for any reason at all, I hope you always feel welcome to say “allô!”
Photos by
Simone Santerre
