left: Laura Calder (left) signs a copy of her cookbook for Denise Marchessault (owner of local cooking school French Mint and EAT writer) in the Atrium last Sunday, right: the cover of Dinner Chez Moi, Laura Calder's latest cookbook

First off, a disclaimer: I don’t have cable tv. My exposure to the Food Network is limited to a few episodes I’ve caught on Air Canada flights, usually viewed without any sound, because inevitably one of my children has lost their earphones and I have to part with mine.  So I did not know what to expect when I first opened up my review copy of Laura Calder‘s new cookbook, Dinner Chez Moi: The Fine Art of Feeding Friends. At first glance, I was pleasantly reminded of one of my favourite cookbooks – Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat. That early impression came from purely aesthetic elements – a similar use of font and layout, but I soon observed more similarities – the witty preamble to the recipes, the friendly, chatty tone which makes you feel as though you are sitting on a stool across a counter as the author prepares a meal for you to share. Both food writers are skilled in the art of gentle nudging – “look”, they seem to tell us, “I’ve done this and so can you.” I think one of the reasons for this shared ability is that both Laura Calder and Nigella Lawson are writers first, cooks second. Both refer to themselves as home cooks, openly pilfering recipes from their friends and family’s collections, graciously crediting their sources when necessary.

At her recent cooking demonstration and book signing at Cook Culture, Laura Calder explained how this new book is a bit of a departure for her, with more British and international flavours than her previous cookbooks, which focused on French cuisine. The inspiration behind this volume was to address the fear people have around dinner parties. The author described it as an eclectic book of menus…”with recipes like the Christmas Cherry Pound Cake thrown in randomly”. Arriving in Toronto after a decade in France, Calder was dismayed to find that dinner parties were few and far between, and, as new neighbours warned her, often catered.  A chance encounter at a Vancouver dinner party with a Welsh expat now living in Bamfield led her to a new group of friends – her ‘pub group’, and a renewed appreciation for breaking bread with others. Dinner Chez Moi is dedicated to John Evans, (the Bamfield Welshman, as I now think of him), and his culinary influence echoes throughout the book, from his Minty Potatoes (p. 85) to his Million Dollar Fish Pie (p.334-35).

Following a lovely presentation at Cook Culture, with delightful tastes of her Carrot Soup with Coriander (p. 4), the exquisite Chard and Eggplant Torte (p. 32-33) and Glazed Lemon Loaf (p. 35), Laura Calder kindly took the time to sit down with EAT and discuss French Food, cooking trends, and her rural spirit.

EAT: What led you to career in food?

Laura Calder: I think the interest in France and French… language is one of my passions too, and I think I always wanted to write about food. I never wanted to be a chef. I don’t consider myself a cook by profession, I consider myself a writer and a presenter first. Cooking is what I’m interested in, but that’s just what I use to talk about other things, really.

EAT: What first drew you to French cuisine?

L.C.: I like things that are familiar to me – things that are familiar, but things  where I have a strong starting point. French cooking has ingredients that I know – apples, potatoes, parsley, carrots, cabbage, meat – regular meat. It’s not like if you go into exotic Asian cuisine – I didn’t grow up eating those flavours, it’s not that I don’t find it interesting but I wanted to do things in my world, I wanted to be a good homecook where I was, so I wasn’t interested in exotic things. France just gives you such a good grounding, the technique and the basis of it means you can use it in other cuisines too, so France is my number 1, but I like European cuisines generally.

EAT: What was your first French food experience?

L.C.: It was in Quebec actually – I worked as an au pair in Quebec when I was 16 one summer, and the family ate artichokes all the time. We never ate artichokes at home – nobody ate artichokes! I found out all sorts of interesting recipes from them, so that was part of my initial reaction – I was aware that they eat differently.

EAT: I noticed a lot of Vancouver Island in your new cookbook – tell me about your food experiences here.

L.C.: The interesting thing about a place like Bamfield – first of all it’s accessible only by boat or plane – you can get in by a long logging road but all the food comes in by boat. There’s one little store up there – lots of fish… They’re working with nothing and he gives the best dinner parties, this guy (John Evans, to whom Dinner Chez Moi is dedicated), cooking with what he has and … I don’t know, I have to analyze what it is he does that makes it so incredible. He’s just got it.

The first time I went to cooking school I went to Vancouver. I did a six month course there and I’d never been west of Toronto before that, so for me, BC is in part where it began. I did that course in 1998, and then I started coming back here about two years ago – so about ten years apart – I felt like I had come full circle.

EAT: What is your favourite technique from French cooking?

L.C.: I try to push the basics – sautéing is useful… I make soufflés a lot. A lot of braising, slow-cooked dishes.

EAT: Least favourite food trend?

L.C.: I don’t know – there are some great food trends. Quinoa! Quinoa is a fantastic food trend. Here’s my pet peeve: small plates. I don’t want 16 different plates of something when I order dinner.

EAT: If someone in France asked you to describe Canadian cuisine, what would you say?

L.C.: I would say that there isn’t one. There isn’t a unique Canadian cuisine. On the east coast we do a lot of British dishes, in my growing-up years it was quite English in a way, or English-American – apple pies, beef stew, roasts – that sort of thing. There’s no unifying cuisine here – we have cooking, but there’s a French cuisine, it’s a codified thing. There’s Italian cuisine, there’s Indian, there’s Chinese, there’s no Canadian cuisine.

The only place I can think of right now where there might emerge a completely new cuisine would be Australia, because they have British and French influences, and they have huge Mediterranean influences and a real mix of Asian and that’s sort of evolving into something that might be like a cuisine, eventually. We’re so much in flux. Cuisines are something that are established for a long time. French food is French food. It’s been that way for hundreds of years and it evolves very slowly. But we’re in a (…) mishmash. We’re in motion. You don’t get a cuisine out of motion, you get fusion and confusion. You don’t get a cuisine until the dust settles, I think.

EAT: How did growing up in rural New Brunswick influence your feelings about food and dinner parties?

L.C.: It influenced me because food was part of the community, because we’d get meat from the guy down the road, and milk from the guy up the road, and my grandfather’s gardens so food was a community affair. I think I’m very much a rural cook. Even in France – I did live in Paris quite a lot, but I also lived in Burgandy in the middle of nowhere too, so all these influences have been mostly rural, and I think that’s how I cook. I like food that’s very honest. I like it to be nice, but it’s not chic urban cooking. It’s very homey and rural. And entertaining is my social life. I don’t go out much – I don’t live like an urban person, I don’t go to bars and clubs. I like to sit by a fire and eat and have people pop by. That’s a very rural thing too, I think.

–

Laura Clader’s new cookbook, Dinner Chez Moi: The Fine Art of Feeding Friends is published by Harper Collins. $39.99.  Catch Laura Calder on the Food Network’s new Recipes to Riches show. For full schedule visit www.foodnetwork.ca. To read more about the Laura Calder event at Cook Culture, click here.

left: the sign for the Black Hat on the corner of Langley and Broughton, right: Sam Chalmers in the new kitchen at the Black Hat, credit: R. Baugniet

“Ceci n’est pas us chapeau noir” (This is not a black hat) reads the painting on the wall at Sam Chalmer’s new downtown restaurant – a nod to the chef’s favourite artist, Magritte. Does surrealism influence his cooking? Not really, Sam tells me. He’s a big influence, but more for the aesthetic of the restaurant than for the food. The chef and owner of Bistro 28 and the newly opened Black Hat recently sat down with EAT to discuss art, beef and more. Here are some of the highlights:

EAT: What made you want to open the Black Hat?

SC:  Bistro 28 has been very successful and we felt ready to launch a bigger venture and reach a larger market. There are only a few places that I like to eat out at in Downtown Victoria – I wanted to create the kind of place that I would want to go to.

EAT: And the name comes from the fact that you often wear a Black Hat?

SC: Yes – sometimes regulars at Bistro 28 wouldn’t recognize me if I didn’t have my hat on. We had a different name at first – this was a 4 am revelation.

EAT: How’s it going so far?

SC: Great! We’ve been open just over a month, and we’ve already got some regulars.

EAT: Tell me about the menu.

SC: It’s a similar menu to Bistro 28, but with the new location, we give it a ‘downtown’ feel. There are international influences, a raw menu and our wild card: the Wagyu.

EAT: Can you explain what Wagyu is to our readers – when were you first introduced to it?

SC: It’s something I’d read about, but had never tried until I ordered it for Bistro 28. It’s probably the second best beef in the world. This beef is rated 9+ – it’s from Australia, and just has the most amazing marbling. (Sam runs to the freezer to get a cut to show me. It’s true – you’ve never seen marbling like this before.) People who haven’t tried it may have a hard time seeing $130 on the menu for a striploin, so we’ve also got the Wagyu Tasting Menu, which lets you try it three different ways: in a tartare, in meatballs, and the sirloin. At $250 for four people, it’s much more accessible. We’re the only ones serving it in Victoria. We’re here to educate, as much as to feed!

EAT: Do you come up against any criticism for bringing in beef from Australia?

SC: Yeah – we get a bit of that, but I’ve always said I will get as much from the island as I can, as long as it’s the best quality. I’m not going to sacrifice quality just to stay local. I’ve also got Pemberton beef on the menu (in the raw menu as tataki). But there’s nothing that compares to Wagyu being produced in Canada.

EAT: And who’ve you got in the kitchen?

SC: While we’re getting going, I’m here about 98% of the time, but eventually I’ll try to split it evenly between Bistro 28 and the Black Hat. Brian Bekkema came from Bistro 28, but for the rest of the staff we just lucked out. We’ve been hugely lucky.

EAT: This is a great space.

SC: Yes. We looked at a few places, but this was perfect because it was a blank slate – no demons!

EAT: There’s a nice juxtaposition of old and new.

SC: We’ve got the original brick walls and posts. These tables are made from reclaimed Douglas Fir from the ceiling joists that were taken down during the seismic upgrade. Our landlord, Richard Holmes, also let us use three chandeliers that were designed by Rattenbury for the Empress, but just sat in the basement there for years. But we’ve also got a geothermal heating system, with three heat pumps right over the kitchen.

EAT: Anything else you’d like our readers to know about ?

SC:  I think that we’re here to offer Victorians a quality product at a fair price. We’re not jacking prices for the tourists. We’ve also got a great wine list, with 16 reds and 11 whites by the glass… Come and give us a try!

EAT: Thanks for chatting with us, Sam!

The Black Hat

HOURS:

Wednesday-Sunday 5:00pm -Midnight

LOCATION:

1005 Langley Street

Victoria, BC V8W 1V7

Canada

PHONE:

(250) 381-2428

While it seems as if a new celebrity chef is born every minute, farmers—those dedicated, fervent, innovative individuals—remain largely undervalued.

Yoshiko in front of the Huki plant at UmiNami. Photo by R. Baugniet

Anyone who has visited Ontario in the past few years has probably come across the bright yellow signs in their travels. The public awareness campaign started by Ontario Grains and Oilseeds in 2005 offers urbanites a reminder that “Farmers Feed Cities.” Here on Vancouver Island, we have the more subtle “Fresh from the Island” signs and stickers that help us choose local products. Yet despite growing enthusiasm for farmers’ markets, how much does the average consumer really know about where their food comes from? Yes, we want to know if it is organic, or humanely raised, if our milk comes from healthy cows, and our eggs from happy hens. But do we truly appreciate the effort and challenges involved in producing quality food? How are the farmers doing?

With these questions in mind, I set off to visit four very different farms in southern Vancouver Island hoping to get a little glimpse of what it’s like to be farming in 2011. I came away from each farm not only with delicious freshly picked samples but with a renewed sense of admiration for those who work the fields. While it seems as if a new celebrity chef is born every minute, farmers—those dedicated, fervent, innovative individuals—remain largely undervalued. The farmers involved in small-scale agriculture are always thinking about our food security and working to fortify it. It’s a beautiful thing to witness each of them doing this work in their own way.

SunTrio Farm

Three brothers farming together in Saanichton.

“I’m a fan of lemon,” says Frank O’Brien, pausing to squeeze half of one into the bin where the sunflower sprouts are being rinsed and giving them a little stir before continuing the tour through the greenhouses. The youngest of the three O’Brien brothers who run SunTrio, Frank’s domains are the sprouts, the microgreens and the strawberries. He is also the one you are most likely to meet at the market, encouraging you to try a cucumber slice or guess what kind of sprouts he’s offering a taste of today. Dennis takes care of the hot crops—tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and peppers—while Michael takes care of the accounts. The Trio have been farming the four and a half acres in Saanichton since 2008, with plans to plant apple trees around the perimeter of their property this summer. The farm is in transition to certified organic (IOPA).

Frank, who gained experience growing sprouts in Australia, is a fervent believer in the healing power of plants and as such views farmers as the new doctors. “People are waking up from the pharmaceutical age,” he tells me. “It’s no longer about ‘how long will this keep in my fridge?’ It’s fresh, it’s alive – eat it now.” With a focus on the good energy fresh, organic food can provide, SunTrio sells greenhouse-grown sprouts, greens, tomatoes and cucumbers year-round in their farm store, as well as at the Moss Street Market, the James Bay Market and the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society’s Farmers’ Market in Market Square.

Umi Nami Farm

Organic Japanese produce thrives in Metchosin.

Yoshiko Unno and Tsutomu Suganami came to Canada more than 15 years ago. They had been farming in Japan for 10 years prior to that and came to Canada in search of a larger piece of land. Shortly after setting up their 10-acre farm in Metchosin, Mary Alice Johnson of ALM Organic Farm in Sooke invited them to sell their produce at the Moss Street Market. The couple created a name for their farm out of their two surnames that, when translated, roughly means “sea wave” and developed their farm around what they knew best—Asian vegetables. Yoshiko Unno tells me that the climate is slightly cooler here than where they had farmed in Japan, but there are fewer insects here.

When I arrive, Yoshiko is tilling the soil in one of the greenhouses. As I park, I see her stop the machine and come out to greet me. The first greenhouse she shows me has tidy paths between the vegetable beds mulched with dried corn stalks to reduce weeds. Two apprentices are crouched down on either side of one of the rows, methodically planting, each using a cornstalk to measure the distance between each seed. Outside, Yoshiko tells me these are new apprentices from her husband’s home village in Japan. It was devastated by the tsunami in March, and they have come “to forget” for a while.

Now with more than 20 greenhouses, Umi Nami grows a wide variety of B.C. certified organic vegetables, from daikon, carrots and Japanese turnips to greens that have seen a noticeable rise in popularity such as mizuna, mustard greens and bok choy. As Yoshiko gives me a tour of her beautifully maintained property, I spot the kamatsuna plant and the shiso leaves I’ve tasted prepared by local chefs. But Yoshiko is eager to have me try something new. The plant, known as “huki” or “fuki” (its Latin name is Petasites japonicas; in English it is called Japanese butterbur or sweet coltsfoot), grows abundantly in one of the greenhouses. Simply prepared by removing the strings from the stalk, slicing it into two-inch-long pieces, and soaking it in cold water for five minutes, the refreshing, crunchy pieces have a more pronounced flavour than other greens—slightly bitter, yet fragrant. The stalks can be used fresh in salads, in stir-fries, or pickled for use in winter soups.

Yoshiko’s partner passed away earlier this year, but she continues to farm with the help of her apprentices and her one employee, Madoka Yasumura, who represents the farm at the Moss Street Market. In addition to selling produce at the market, Umi Nami Farm regularly supplies Daidoco Japanese Restaurant in Victoria and offers a year-round produce box program.

Terra Nossa Farm

Organic livestock and poultry in the Cowichan Valley.

I think Evelyn Pereira must be the most cheerful farmer I have ever met. Joking that the mosquitoes drove her and her husband, Jesse, out of Prince George, she explains that it is their background in railway and construction that has allowed them to live out their dream of farming fulltime. This is actually their retirement, though they have never worked harder.

“It’s all about the rotation,” she explains to me as we walk through the fields. Just as with crops, the sheep and pigs travel through pastures in a choreographed dance with nature. This ensures the health of the land and the animals. “The chickens follow the sheep. After the pigs, alfalfa.”

The couple acquired the 26-acre farm five years ago and have accomplished an incredible amount with the land in a short time. Beyond the sheep, pigs and chickens (both brooders and layers), Evelyn shows me their three acres of blackberries as well as the field that yielded 800 pounds of sweet potatoes last harvest.  Then, with a special twinkle in her eye, she sweeps her arm to show off the new orchard—300 hazelnut and 100 oak saplings, all inoculated with Perigord black truffle spores. DNA samples have been submitted to the B.C. Truffle Association, and Evelyn laughs, saying, “If this works out, I’ll be putting up bleachers and charging admission!” If it doesn’t, they’ll just try something else. Asked what she perceives as the main challenges to farming in this day and age, Evelyn admits that there are some government regulations that are impediments to small-scale agriculture, citing the quota on her flock of laying chickens as an example. Though she would like to have a larger flock to meet the demand for their organic products, the marketing board controls how many they can have.

The Pereiras, who named their farm “our land” in Portuguese, have an ardent appreciation for good food, and the scope of their products speak to this. Showing me the goji berry plants, she tells me how this came about at breakfast one morning as Jesse was putting the new super food on his cereal. “Why aren’t we growing these?” he asked. A little Googling later, and the seeds were obtained and planted.

Terra Nossa sells their products at their farm store, open daily, as well as at the Moss Street Market and the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society’s Farmer’s Market in Market Square.

Vantreight Farms

Saanich Peninsula’s biggest farm transitions to organics.

As Ryan Vantreight takes me on a tour, a few Canada geese can be seen in one field, lunching on the tops of his oats. In another field, workers in lab whites are collecting samples of soil in search of the golden nematode. (This sounds to me like the first in a cinematic adventure trilogy, but Ryan explains that the farm lies within the quarantine area for this tiny species responsible for producing cysts on potato roots.) Last year there was no trace of the destructive creature found in these fields. If the soil passes the test again this year, the farm will be allowed to grow the nightshades – potatoes, tomatoes, etc.

Like everything in farming it seems, there are some massive hurdles involved. In the case of the nematode quarantine, this includes thorough cleaning of all farm equipment as it arrives on the farm to eliminate the chance of any contamination. But Ryan has grown accustomed to obstacles. Currently Vantreight Farms, with its 165,000 square feet of greenhouses and more than 750 acres of production land, is at the centre of a controversy regarding the rezoning and development of a non-arable (unsuitable for farming) section of their property now known as the “Hill Project.” Critics maintain that the proposed residential development will alter the rural character of the area. The fifth-generation farmer/general manager counters that the development is designed to allow them to continue farming. “People want to protect farm land – so do we.” The main goal, he adds, is to continue food production. “When it comes to food security, he says, there are two main components. Land and storage space for the produce. We have both.” By October of this year, around 80 acres will be certified organic, including the greenhouses and adjacent fields where all their herbs, greens, beets and berries are grown.

Vantreight produce is available weekly in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. They also supply The Marina Restaurant in Oak Bay.

A great resource for information on Vancouver Island farms is the Island Farm Fresh website (www.islandfarmfresh.com), as well as their printed guide. For more on Cowichan Valley farms, visit the Cowichan Agriculture Society website (www.cowichanfarmers.org).

SunTrio Farm

8214 East Saanich Rd.

Saanichton, B.C.

250-652-1003

www.suntriofarm.com

Umi Nami Farm

961 Matheson Lake Park Rd.

Metchosin, B.C.

250-391-0763

Terra Nossa Family Farm

765 Kilmalu Rd.

Mill Bay, B.C.

250-7423-7484

www.terranossa.ca

Vantreight Farms

8277 Central Saanich Rd.

Saanichton, B.C.

250-652-7777

www.daffodil.com

Scenes from last year's Chef Survival Challenge, images courtesy of Chef Survival

As you walk down the long driveway that leads into Madrona Farm, you can’t help but marvel – “only five minutes ago, I was in the city.” The 27-acre property on Blenkinsop is definitely an urban farm, yet the tranquility and surrounding rural vistas deceive you into thinking you’ve left the city miles behind. There is something magical about it. Equally magical is the story of this farm’s survival. Over two years of constant campaigning and close to 4, 500 individual donors ensured that Madrona Farm would be saved by The Land Conservancy, and remain in agricultural production in perpetuity.

One of the central fundraising efforts in the fight to save Madrona was the Chef Survival Challenge. If you are wondering why this event continues to take place even though the initial objective has already been met, the answer is two-fold. First, inspired by their own success story, Nathalie Chambers (one half of the current farming couple on the property), joined TLC, now heading their Native Pollinator Enhancement Project and continuing to fundraise for their Agriculture Programs. She explains that “TLC’s goals with these programs are to protect farmland for farming, create access for farmers, make farming more viable, and protect the native biodiversity with a respect for the inter-dependent nature of agriculture and the environment.” The Chef Survival Challenge channels 100% of the proceeds from the event directly to farmland conservation, bolstering TLC’s agriculture program.

The second reason is that the Chef Survival Challenge is just a whole lot of fun. What other event allows you to watch the region’s top chefs go head to head in a demanding obstacle course, row furiously out to ‘Condiment Island’ to collect their kit, race around a farm in frantic search of ingredients and then produce a 5-star meal on a camping stove? Chef Sean Brennan of Brasserie L’Ecole is the leader chef for this year’s event, and is looking forward to the day, despite telling me unequivocally how much he dreads the obstacle course! Brennan joined the effort because he feels it is important for chefs to be part of the circle creating awareness. “ A lot of people don’t know that TLC is involved in protecting farmland.” He explains the unique relationship that forms between chefs and their suppliers, and believes that chefs have a role to play in protecting the land that provides them with quality products. So what does he like best about the challenge? “The camaraderie among chefs – you don’t find it like that at any other events.”

The 4th Annual Chef Survival Challenge will take place  at Madrona Farm on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011, from noon to 6pm. Tickets are $50 per person/ $100 per family, and are now available at the Madrona Farm Vegetable Stand, 4217 Blenkinsop Road. This family-friendly event will be emceed by David Cubberly  and fully catered by John Brooks of Smoken Bones and John Pulker. The event will include live local music, food demos, a BC craft beer tasting garden and coffee provided by Caffe Fantastico. Cheer on the region’s finest chefs as they compete to find the best ingredients on the farm, then bid on the meals they create. Prizes and gift certificates from participating restaurants will be given away as well! For more information, visit www.chefsurvivalchallenge.com. 

images: left, samples of Vij's Curried Chickpeas, right, Vikram Vij at the London Chef. credit: Rebecca Baugniet

Earlier this week, Canadian cooking icon Vikram Vij made a stop in Victoria as part of a tour to launch his new line of frozen foods. At a media launch held at the London Chef, Vij explained his deep respect for homestyle Indian cooking, and how it inspires him to “add corners” in his restaurant kitchens, such as hand sifting, roasting and grinding spices. Vij compares his new packaged meals to pasta, which you boil in a pot  while you open your wine and heat up some naan. When the curries are ready, you make them your own by adding fresh cilantro, yogurt or chilies.  Guests were visibly impressed by  the samples on offer, and London Chef owner Dan Hayes echoed everyone’s thoughts when he stated “I can’t believe something that tastes this good came out of a bag.” Asked about the famous “no reservations” policy at Vij’s, the chef explained that the primary reason for it is because he wanted everybody to be equal in his restaurant – a place where no one is going to get bumped for VIPs. He also added how the lounge can a good place to start a meal…

If I come to your house and you take me straight to the dining table, I’d be offended. Sweetheart, let’s go to the lounge and get hammered!

EAT: I hear you’re just back from Toronto. Is your new line of frozen foods now available coast to coast?

Vij: Yes – it has gone ‘coast to coast’! We have products available in shops in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Jasper and Whitehorse, and are in the process of securing a distributor for Sobeys and Loblaws.

EAT: You must be very excited.

Vij: Excitement, no – that’s not the right word. You can never take it for granted – the market is huge. Like wow- huge. So overwhelming, yes.

EAT: Is it a challenge to ensure the same quality when you’re serving such a large market?

Vij: We’ve worked really hard over the past four months, ensuring the quality of the bags and that the flavours are still cooked with as much passion and love behind the food. So I’m not worried about the quality, because I know the quality to be good. I eat it myself.

EAT: What are your favourites?

Vij: I think the Punjabi Dahl is one of my favourites.

EAT: Will the frozen menu items change with the seasons as your restaurant menu does?

Vij: No, it takes a lot to change a product. You can’t just print up ten bags and then let it go – so right now we’re just going to concentrate on the bags that are selling well. A restaurant changes seasonally, but for a factory it’s a yearlong process. Down the road, yes.

EAT: How does living in British Columbia inspire your cooking?

Vij: We have the best produce available to us that comes from the Fraser Valley – it produces beautiful tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic… our meats are very good quality as well, and all sustainable. I love living in British Columbia as it provides me with the best ingredients possible.

EAT: Any chance of you opening up a restaurant in Victoria?

Vij: I don’t have any plans so far. Down the road – maybe – but not right now.

EAT: It’s been a busy year, with the cookbook launch and now the line of packaged meals. What’s next?

Vij: Well, we’re looking at opening a food truck in Vancouver, moving Vij’s from where it is to a new location on Cambie St. and coming up with a new concept for where Vij’s is now.

EAT: Never a dull moment!

Vij: I thrive under stress, there’s no question about that!

EAT: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us and all the best for your new ventures!

Vij: My pleasure.

To find out where you can buy Vij’s frozen foods, click here. 

left upper: guests line up at the Natural Pastures tent, left lower: Steve and Heather Highnett of Vin Coco, centre: Robert Cassels, chef at Flavour with his beetroot polenta, squash and goat cheese stacks, right upper: the team from Kulu prepare their Terra Nossa pork with Umi Nami Farm salsa on rice, right lower: the Thank You sign from Farm Folk City Folk. all images: Rebecca Baugniet

I know a lot of people were doing sun dances last week. In the days leading up to Vancouver Island’s 14th Annnual Feast of Fields, the forecast looked grim. Much to everyone’s, but especially event organizer, Melanie Banas’ relief, all that dancing paid off –  the clouds cleared and the sun beat down on an appreciative crowd. Marley Farm proved to be yet another idyllic setting for the event, with tents scattered through the fields, making for a pleasant stroll between sips and bites. Music wafted, children waded, sated guests took naps under trees, dragonflies buzzed and an elderly ginger cat meandered the grounds, visibly perplexed about the sudden influx of human beings to the property, but quite appreciative of all the extra attention.

A few new businesses had their first time in the field this year, including  Kulu Restaurant which opened in Fernwood Square early in 2011, serving up Terra Nossa Farm pork with Umi Nami Farm salsa on rice and nori. Chef Rob Cassels of Flavour, the new restaurant in the Ramada Inn on the Gorge, made good use of Sun Wing beets, Hilary’s Artisan Cheese and Mitchells Farm’s squash to create vibrant coloured stacks. Recently opened Cowichan-based Unsworth Vineyards shared a tent with Amuse Bistro - a nice preview to their future collaboration on site at the vineyard. Fruition Paletas cooled us off with their roasted peach and marionberry frozen treats.

EAT wishes to thank all our Tapas readers who entered our last minute Feast of Fields ticket contest last week. With so many wonderful answers to our question ‘What does Feast of Fields mean to you?’, editors were relieved it was a random draw! Congratulations to our winner, Diana Lucas, who wrote this to us after attending the event:

“The number of participants, their commitment to quality and their passion for their wares was impressive.  It was such a joy walking the field and discovering all the flavours of the Island (and the Okanagan, too, I see).  It made me feel blessed that we have so much to enjoy and savour on the Island.  These folks were so kind to take time out to prepare and share their harvests or specialties.  I thanked the ones that travelled from up Island and the Okanagan, for their time.”

The 2012 Vancouver Island Feast of Fields will be held Sunday, September 16th. Tickets go on sale June 1st, 2012.

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left: Tim Trebilcock, VDPMS director (at the back), with Eat Here Now volunteers at the Silver Rill corn boil stall, upper right: Jason Guille, Philippe Lucas and Scott Kelly - VDPMS directors, lower right: Scott Kelly interviews Ryan Vantreight. all images: Maryanne Carmack

Where in Victoria can you grab a baguette from Fol Epi, a bite to eat from Canoe, pick up some of Camille’s Smoked Tomato Salsa, watch a knife demo by one of the area’s top chefs, and buy some farm-fresh produce to bring home for dinner or some heritage seeds to plant in your garden, all without walking more than a hundred paces? For now, it only happens in one place, once a year. Last Sunday’s Eat Here Now Harvest Festival was a glowing celebration of local food, farms and community, offering Victorians a delicious taste of what could be,  if the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society succeeds in bringing a permanent market back to our city’s core.

Momentum is definitely building. The event, which organizers estimate doubled in its second year, drew close to 10,000 residents to the square throughout the day, and generated about $7,000, which, along with grants from the Island Agricultural Foundation and Enterprising Non-Profits will help fund a needs assessment of local vendors and farmers, and develop a governance model as well as a business plan.

Highlights of the day included the successful corn boil,for which all the corn was generously donated by Silver Rill Farm, and the arrival of 5th generation farmer Ryan Vantreight, who drove his family’s Massey-Ferguson tractor down from Central Saanich to demonstrate just how close our food comes from.

Wandering from stall to stall, attendees enjoyed ‘buck-a-bite’ treats from local restaurants such as Kulu, Choux Choux Charcuterie, Cafe Bliss and more. The kids’ zone saw many happy children playing on the inflatable castle, learning about chickens and getting their faces painted. The sun shone down, the crowd danced and laughed and filled their bellies. It was a good place to be on September 11th, 2011, and with any luck (but more likely with a whole lot of determination and hard work), it won’t be too long before we have such a place to go any day of the year.

image: Jeff Wright, owner of Old Country Seeds, chats with a customer, credit: Maryanne Carmack

image: Marilyn Soames (left) introduces her heritage chickens to attendees credit: Maryanne Carmack

Left: The Imperial tea service, upper right: pan-fried tea-cured salmon, lower right: the traditional moon cake and contemporary moon cake

In celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival, The Pacific Restaurant‘s Executive Chef Rick Choy has created a contemporary menu with a traditional spirit. Using the wooden moon cake mold passed down to him by his grandmother, the chef makes the traditional  lotus seed-filled treats, though he explains it took him many tries to get the recipe right, explaining that Chinese cooks like to leave something out when the write out a recipe  - a little mystery to solve! Chef Choy also uses a modern moon cake press to make his contemporary version, using a green tea pastry with a crunchy almond filling. The first course is a silky  prawn custard in a fragrant shiitake and goji berry broth (prawns are a symbol of liveliness, while shiitakes represent longevity). The main course offers a choice between tea-cured salmon or steamed cornish game hen, both accented by traditional ingredients such as ginger or taro root. Find the full menu below.

From the press release:

The specially-prepared three-course celebratory Chinese Moon Festival menu will be offered in the restaurant on each of the five nights, from Thursday, September 8 through to Monday, September 12. Continuing The Pacific’s merging of the traditional and contemporary, Silk Road‘s Daniela Cubelic has selected Chinese tea pairings for each dish and restaurant’s sommeliers have chosen contemporary wine pairings. The menu will cost $38.88 per person, with tea pairings for an additional $8.88 or wine pairings for $28.88. As part of the celebrations on the Saturday night, September 10, a lion dance will be performed for good luck at 6:00 pm.

The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival, is traditionally associated with the tale of the archer, Houyi and his wife, Chang’e, the Goddess of Immortality. Legend has it that after taking an immortality pill, Chang’e flew up to the moon where she continued to live, while Houyi set up residence on the sun. The bright mid-autumn moon is said to be the result of Houyi paying his wife a visit. The festival is celebrated in both Chinese and Vietnamese cultures on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, bringing together family and friends to admire the bright harvest moon and eat mooncakes.

While a magic pill was the “elixir of life” in the tale, the Hotel Grand Pacific will be celebrating with a substance perhaps less extreme but just as potent: tea! Along with the tea pairings for the menu, Cubelic will also perform a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, approximately 30 minutes long, in The Mark at 3:00 pm on Sunday, September 11, perfect for those wishing to enjoy the restaurant’s weekend dim sum. Tickets are free, however reservations are required to observe the ceremony; reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 250-380-4458. Dim sum will be offered on both the Saturday and Sunday, from 11:00 am through to 3:00 pm.

The Chinese tea ceremony is the world’s oldest tea ritual and can be performed any time of year as a way to enjoy tea or as a celebration to mark a specific occasion. The version of the ceremony that Cubelic will be performing is specific to the Chinese Moon Festival. The tea ceremony was devised for brewing tea under the influence of the moon, and each of the steps in the tea ceremony, and even the tea-ware used, all have meaning and symbolism that tie to the occasion.

The Chinese Moon Festival menu is as follows:

Steamed Prawn Custard

Shiitake and Goji Berry Broth

Tea pairing: Mulberry Tea

Wine pairing: Road 13 Chenin Blanc, Oliver B.C.

—

Steamed Cornish Game Hen

Wrapped in Lotus Leaf

Sherry Ginger Sauce

Tea pairing: Black Pu-erh Imperial Tea Mandarin

Wine pairing: Mt. Boucherie Pinot Noir, Westbank, B.C.

~ or ~

Pan Fried Tea Cured Salmon

Da Fang Reduction, Taro Root Rösti

Tea pairing: Black Pu-erh Imperial Tea Mandarin

Wine pairing: Mt. Boucherie Pinot Noir, Westbank, B.C.

—

Moon Cake Two Ways

One Traditional

One Contemporary

Tea pairing: Jasmine Tea

Wine pairing: Tinhorn Creek Late Harvest Kerner, Oliver, B.C.

The countdown is on – one week from today, children across the province will be heading back to school. I think most parents look at this date on the calendar and a little sigh of relief escapes. But for many of us, this is quickly followed by a twinge of regret; the less structured days of summer are behind us, routine and regimen will reign once more, which often means that family time will be squeezed down to a bare minimum: the dinner hour. If this sounds familiar, then I offer up three books to renew enthusiasm for your daily family meal. Each one provides some tasty new ways to connect with your kids, both in the kitchen and around the dinner table.

The Cleaner Plate Club: More Than 100 Recipes for Real Food Your Kids Will Love, by Beth Bader and Ali Benjamin.  Storey Publishing, 2010. $19.95

Part cookbook, part manifesto for children’s health, The Cleaner Plate Club aspires to spread a love of fresh, whole foods. A collaboration between two mothers, this book acknowledges the challenges in getting children to accept unprocessed foods in today’s food culture, and offers strategies to overcome these challenges successfully. What is particularly impressive is how they manage to serve up a load of information on nutrition without coming across as preachy. New cooks will enjoy the thorough introduction to whole grains and vegetables, including selection and storage tips as well as suggested favourite preparations. Parents who fall into all cooking levels can appreciate the “Faster-than-drive-thru-dinners” list (pages 176-177) for those nights when you want to get something on the table in fifteen minutes or less. Find the Cleaner Plate Club blog here.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory – More Than 150 Magical Recipes for Wizards and Non-Wizards Alike, by Dinah Bucholz. Adams Media, 2010. $23.99

If you’ve got a hard core Harry Potter fan in your household, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy of this book. Chapters have clever titles, such as Good Food with Bad Relatives, or  Treats from the Train. The recipe list reads mostly like an ode to classic British cookery, but each one is introduced with a reference to the book that mentions the food in question, allowing you to recreate any feast from the series. This book would be an excellent resource for any Harry Potter themed birthday party.

The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time, by Laurie David with recipes by Kirtin Uhrenholdt, Grand Central Life & Style, 2011. $33.99

This is a book to dip into again and again for inspiration – recipes are interspersed with anecdotes, tips, quotations, games and more. Sprinkled with a large pinch of star sparkle, with “words of wisdom” contributed by Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Jamie Oliver, Tom Hanks and more, Laurie David has assembled a collage-style love letter to the family dinner hour. The Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Quinoa and Greens (p.116) from the “Meatless Mondays” chapter has become a favourite at my table. The chapter entitled “Two Homes, One Table” offers tips for keeping the family dinner going after divorce, while  the “Table Talk” chapter prompts new avenues for dinner conversations.

from left to right: preserves on display at Au Coin Gourmand, a sign in front of a butcher's stall quotes Stendhal: "Happiness is having your passion for your career", one entrance to the market. All images: Rebecca Baugniet

On a recent visit to Montreal, I took a little trip down my culinary memory lane, and spent some time at one of Montreal’s four permanent markets. The Atwater Market, located in the St. Henri neighbourhood, was the closest market to my childhood home, and the place we would go at least once each season, to choose our Halloween pumpkins, our Christmas wreaths, etc. I remember my father chatting with the butchers who would lean over their cases to offer lolipops and how, in the  late spring, there was a huge tub filled with live trout at one end of the long art deco building where my brother and I would watch people reeling in their dinner as our parents stocked up on starter plants and fresh vegetables.

Beyond housing happy memories, the market is still bursting with an incredible variety of fresh foods, from the farmers’ stalls that flank the building, to the bakery, gourmet supplies and butcher stalls on the inside. Each stall has carved out its own niche, one selling only terrines and pates, while the neighbouring stall boasts wild boar and game. Across the aisle you can find duck and rabbit, or the market’s sausage maker. The trout tank is gone, but the Poissonerie carries a beautiful selection and the Fromagerie is a little piece of  cheese lover’s  heaven. One new vendor that caught my eye is the local chocolatier Genevieve Gadbois, who has created a whimsical line based on “souvenirs d’enfance” (childhood memories), giving the nostalgic flavours of nougat, cherry, marshmallow and coconut a grown-up twist. Her seasonal offering was chocolate-coated blueberries from the Lac-St-Jean region. The Premiere Moisson Bakery anchors the south end of the building, serving quality breads, patisseries and viennoiseries in a cafe setting.

Built in 1933, the market was used by the military as a meat storage facility during World War II. The third floor of the building is now rented out to a gymnastics studio, which helps sustain the market with a steady flow of customers even in the winter months.

If you support the idea of a permanent public market in Victoria, be sure to check out the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society’s website, and their Eat Here Now Local Food Festival, Sept. 11 from 11-4 in Centennial Square.