A talent for cooking has become a way for “Canokie Dave” to potentially save some lives.
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David Rochon and his wife Sarah Warry recently began preparing and bottling vats of The Everythang Sauce at Our Kitchen Brantford, a commercial kitchen for chefs, small businesses and entrepreneurs on Roy Boulevard.
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The sauce, which comes in an original variety and the “Spicy Hammer,” with a little more kick, is Rochon’s recipe, one he concocted while in an addiction rehab facility in Texas where he cooked for 25 people. In return, he got to stay for free – and turn his life around.
Three years ago, Rochon, who now lives in Hamilton and works with those battling addiction at social service agencies in Brantford and Hamilton, launched Canokie Foods in 2019. Profit from the bottled sauce goes toward his goal of helping people recover from complex trauma and addiction .
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“Our hopes are to raise money for a property where folks can go and participate in a program,” he said. “While in the program, they will have the chance to earn money while being trained for an occupation and save money to be able to afford a place to live when they leave.”
It’s Rochon’s way of giving back.
“I like helping people. It feels good. If nobody helped me, I’d probably be dead.”
Rochon, who is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, says he was in and out of facilities – rehabilitation centers, jails, prisons – from the age of 12 to 31. His addiction included a cycle of drugs and alcohol and, eventually, dealing. It all came to a head, he says, when he found himself sleeping on a bed in a friend’s garage while bounty hunters searched for him.
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Rochon was 31 and facing more jail time when he turned himself in to sober up. He said the judge discovered he was searching for a rehab program and sent him to a facility in Texas where he was in treatment for a year and later studied to become a recovery coach.
Rochon is now a certified peer support specialist in the United States and Canada.
Sober since Dec. 1, 2013, Rochon came to Canada in 2016 where he started collecting, sterilizing and filling jars with his homemade sauce, which he’d market to local stores. With financial help from a Hamilton pastor, he was able to obtain the proper licensing and produce a label according to federal guidelines.
Canokie Foods – the name is a nod to Canada and its native Oklahoma – was launched in 2020. The sauce is now sold in 14 stores in Hamilton and area and, now, in Brantford at Our Kitchen.
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The Everythang Sauce is Rochon’s take on a southern sweet barbecue sauce, which can, as the name suggests, be used for just about everything. Among the unique ingredients are carob molasses, turmeric, ginger and a mix of Indian, African and Island spices.
Rochon figures they’ve sold about 10,000 jars, each one bringing him closer to his goal of helping people through their trauma and addiction.
Rochon and Warry, who operates her own counseling and addiction services, currently offer help through their non-profit organization called Yous Matter Inc. at Helping Hands Street Mission in Hamilton. They’d like to expand their services to people in Brantford.
“I just want folks to get the care I had. If you can help people get boosted up, they can walk on their own and move forward.”
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