Biography
Pascal Baudar is a wild food, outdoor/self-reliance instructor and author in Los Angeles, California. He has dedicated the past 12 years to studying self-reliance, traditional food preservation methods and wild food in the Southern California region and integrating them into a sustainable lifestyle.
Originally from Belgium, Pascal grew up in the rural farmland nearTournai where a close relationship with the land, knowledge of botany/agriculture and a hands-on approach to sourcing food was a natural way of life.
Specializing in wild food preservation and country Belgian/French cuisine, Pascal brings old world techniques and traditions to his culinary creations – including fermenting, salting, pickling, drying and various methods of canning, to name a few. He is also a certified Master Food Preserver / Food Safety Advisor.
His experience and artistic approach to sourcing, preparing and preserving food you find in the wilderness has allowed him to create truly unique gourmet dishes.
He has been teaching classes for the last 7 years in the Los Angeles area and has been featured in numerous publications and TV shows such as ABC News, NBC, Times magazine, Los Angeles Times, the "Wilderness Way" magazine, Pasadena Weekly and much more.
His philosophy is simple: "I consider myself a student first and continue learning every day from the world around me, people attending my classes and the wonderful people I seek expertise from whenever I don't have the answer."
Pascal is also an avid competitive marksman, outdoor photographer, as well as an accomplished, award winning artist and creative director.
Mia Wasilevich is a self-taught chef and wild foodie in Los Angeles, California. By the age of 15 she had already traveled to more than 20 countries. A Southern California native, Mia’s cultural background is a mix of Russian, American Indian and South American and through the lens of such a diverse heritage, her culinary lexicon embraces both the simple, homespun foods of the countryside as well as modern urban gastronomy.
Her culinary passions include studying food anthropology and applying traditional, as well as molecular gastronomy to her culinary experiments. In addition, her interest in sustainable and local food sources led her to embrace learning about wild food foraging and her introduction to Pascal was serendipitous.
Having always talked about living a truly sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle, she has contributed to some notable green blogs and books, only recently has she been able to put this lifestyle into practice on a daily basis by living off her urban garden and the wild foods in her terroire.
Mia runs the show at Transitional Gastronomy and offers several classes where she transform wild food into a true gourmet experience.
Mia is a writer, communications/marketing specialist and project manager. She used to enjoy archery, but now her free time is spent happily cooking, texting in the wilderness, photographing and learning to like practical shoes.