Eat Magazine - Articles

The Future of Zambri’s

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Rumon Carter, Artifact Imagery

The door to Zambri’s is wedged open with a stool, a tray of fresh linguine perched on top to dry. I’m a little early for my meeting with Jo Zambri, but Gina lets me in, and I sit down at a table, happy to observe the pre-lunch hour happenings. Louis Vacca is hard at work in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on all his tempting offerings; eggplant parmigiana, sandwiches, and mixed vegetables in addition to the fresh linguine.

One of the servers comes in – it is her birthday today, and she notices the happy birthday message written on the blackboard. The chefs have bought her a bunch of flowers, which she admires before setting to work sweeping the floor and checking the tables to make sure they don’t wobble. Gina wipes the board clean, and starts writing in the day’s specials. I’ve almost forgotten that I’ve come here with a purpose other than simply to watch this lovely team in their happy interactions and preparations when Jo comes in and joins me at the table.

I’ve come to chat about the future of Zambri’s; specifically, the vision the owners have for their new location in the Atrium, set to open in August this year. Now included among the owners is sous-chef Louis Vacca, whom Jo calls away from the kitchen to come and meet me. When asked a few questions, Louis shies away, saying the focus should really be on Peter and Jo (the brother and sister team who opened the restaurant together.) “I just bought into something wonderful,” he explains, before returning to the kitchen. Jo elaborates, saying that their decision was not financially motivated. Rather, as the Zambris looked to the future, they felt it was a good time to include Louis, whom they have considered a part of the family for the past few years. The feeling is mutual – Louis returns from the kitchen a little later with a scrap of paper on which he’s scrawled a few notes for me. He’s written down what wonderful people the Zambris are – that Jo is like a sister to him, while he sees Peter as both a mentor and a close friend. He has also underlined words, emphasizing how “wonderful it is working with such amazing ingredients, local every day.”

Jo stresses that their focus now is on how to bridge the gap between the present location, and the new space down the street, which will boast eighty-five seats indoors, as well as an outdoor, south-facing patio and a patio inside the atrium. They are well-aware of their customers’ concern that the ambience may change, and while they know it can’t be the same, they are figuring out how to retain the spirit of the place that has become so well-loved by all who’ve eaten there. Certain changes are anticipated; there will no longer be counter service for the lunch hour, but table service through lunch and dinner. They will keep longer hours, and pizza will also be added to the menu. But as to the spirit of the place, well, I can tell that it is the people who most definitely make this place, and there is no doubt that the welcoming, family atmosphere and the food that has made them famous will transfer without any difficulty to the Atrium. I’m looking forward to watching it happen.

Watch for the next episode of the Eat Out Loud podcast and Adrien Sala’s interview with Peter Zambri for more about the future of Zambri’s.

Fresh vs. Frozen

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Most consumers consider the quality of the fish they purchase by how “fresh” it is. Having been in the industry for more than 17 years I have come to realize that fresh, at best, usually means it is delivered to market 2 or 3 days after it was caught. It can then sit in a chilled display for 3 more days. Technically the fish is still “fresh” as it hasn’t been frozen but is it good quality?

There is a term used in the commercial fish industry; “Bottom fresh”. This means that the fish being delivered was caught during the first days at sea and was on the “bottom” of the storage hold. If we consider a fishing boat being at sea for 3 days to a week then the difference between “bottom fresh” and “top fresh” (first and last caught) can mean a great deal in the quality of the product going to market or to restaurants.

This unknown has led me to purchase almost exclusively from reliable suppliers that flash freeze fish at sea within hours of being caught. I can then be certain that the product I am purchasing will be as close to its original quality as possible without catching it myself. A good supplier will freeze the catch on board at minus 40 degrees C (or F, they are the same) within an hour or two of catching it. It arrives in my kitchen in the exact same condition every time allowing for a consistently high quality product (a rare and precious thing in my industry). Freezing will also bring a swift halt to all microbiological activity in the fish, including the pathogens which cause food poisoning and spoilage. This gives the peace of mind that the fish you are serving will be healthy and not potentially dangerous.

Another benefit of purchasing frozen (and more important in my opinion) is the ability to ship the product in a much more efficient and sustainable manner. Fresh fish is commonly shipped by air to destinations away from the coast to ensure its relative quality and value. The amount of energy used to ship fish by air is enormous and far outweighs its value as food energy. A very dangerous imbalance if left unchecked. Shipping frozen fish by road or rail can obviously be achieved with a much smaller carbon footprint left in its wake, as speed is not an issue.

I’ve seen some Chefs catching on to these facts lately, mostly due to the high quality frozen product available from companies like Finest at Sea. Much more work needs to be done to educate the public however, and the restaurant industry can set an example by making responsible choices. Organizations like Ocean Wise, Sea Choice and the David Suzuki Foundation have been instrumental in spreading awareness in the industry and giving chefs access to reliable information on seafood choices. Events like the Canadian Chefs Congress and the island Chefs Collaborative Local Food festival are further educating chefs and the public about the issues surrounding the health of our oceans and the importance of sustainable industry practices.

More important than “is it fresh?” are questions like: “where was it caught and how?”, “who caught it?” and “is the species sustainable?” If more of us ask our fish suppliers these questions the more they will be forced to include them in their business model.

For more information on sustainable fish, visit these websites:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Oceans/

http://www.iccbc.ca/public/index.html

http://www.vanaqua.org/oceanwise/

Cory Pelan is chef/owner of Ristorante La Piola in Victoria and past president of the Island Chefs Collaborative.

Reader Recommended: Mediterranean Specialty Foods at Lakehill Grocery

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Charlie Gaucci packs up the feta at the Lakehill Grocery

With so much happening on the Victoria food scene, it sometimes occurs that certain establishments or events slip beyond the EAT radar. For this reason, we always appreciate any ‘heads-ups’ that our knowledgeable readers are inclined to share with us. Last month, we received an email from a reader reminding us about a little gem found on the corner Quadra and Reynolds; the Lakehill Grocery.

Owned by Yasser Youssef, this corner of the Lakehill Village mall is home to an impressive variety of Mediterranean specialty foods (in fact, that is what the sign on the building reads, though the business’ proper name is Lakehill Grocery). To follow up on our reader’s gentle prodding, I went for a visit, and came home with bags bursting with Mediterranean treats. When I first entered the shop I was warmly greeted and offered tea or coffee. Sitting down at the counter with my cup of tea, I soon observed that this was not special treatment reserved for visiting food reporters. Everyone who entered the shop while I was there was genuinely welcomed. Mostly regulars, who were greeted by name and a hearty handshake, but also several first time shoppers, who were gladly received by Yasser, or his employees Charlie and Sylvia, given details about the selection of cheeses or olives, or whatever they had come looking for.

After my tea, I was given a complete tour of the shop by Yasser, who clearly takes great pride in offering his clientele such a beautiful selection of products. The first stop on the tour was the dip counter, where I sampled each of the exquisite dips made daily on site. From all accounts, this is what the store is best known for. The house specialty is the walnut dip, made according to Yasser’s family’s time-honoured recipe that incorporates walnuts, red pepper and pomegranate molasses into a dip that boasts high levels of omega 3’s, as well as being gluten-free. The feta spread, tzatziki and tapenade are all popular as well, and with good reason. Next I admired the cheeses, which include the hard-to-find Bulgarian Kashkaval and the Greek Kefalotiri (also known as saganaki cheese) alongside the cow, sheep and goat fetas. The colourful olive bar offers a choice of Kalamata, Syrian, Moroccan, Turkish, Italian and Lebanese olives (conveniently all at the same price, so you can fill your container with a mix).

Yasser is well informed about each of the products he stocks. Leading me through the competitively-priced olive oils and balsamic vinegars he tells me why he favours the olive oil from Crete, explaining that the lack of industry and pollution on that island results in a clean, purer oil. He also points out the authentic certification on Italian olive oils, warning that there are many olive oils posing as Italian – he only carries the real deal.

Yasser proudly tells me his customers hail from all over the Island, as well as some regulars making the trip from the Penders and Salt Spring. He leads me to the canned good section, reporting that it is hard to keep these shelves stocked in boating season. (I pick up a can of dolmades). Walking back to the front I admire the beautiful cordials – rosewater, orange blossom water, pomegranate syrup and molasses, and eye the house-made falafel and spanakopita (the traditional spinach as well as a seasonal vegetable variety available daily). I’m offered more samples, but the dinner hour is approaching and I’ve got a Mediterranean feast in mind. I choose a selection of dips, olives, some sheep’s feta, a few portions of spanakopita, and grab a bag of sangak; a two foot long, folded Persian flatbread. All that is required at home is to toss a quick Greek salad, and we’re set to go. This could become a habit. I thank Yasser, and direct a grateful thought to the kind reader who led me to this place. I know I’ll be back.

If you have a food recommendation for us, please email editor@eatmagazine.ca or click here.

Lakehill Grocery

3949 Quadra

250-727-3632

Fed Up with Julie

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Alain Pigard making cretons

I, for one, am happy the Olympic games are over. Don’t get me wrong. I had a grand ole’ time. Our athletes were remarkable. The city was gloriously insane. I couldn’t be more proud to be Canadian and a Vancouverite. But the lungs cannot breathe another cheer. The eyes can’t take another big screen. The ears can’t take more din. And the belt can’t take another celebratory bite, (or beer). While those super bodies were burning pounds I was building them. And those were proud Canadians too.

During the Olympics, I devoured Canada, sea to shining sea - from a multi-course gourmet breakfast to German farmer’s sausage with sauerkraut and suds. At the ungodly hour of six a.m. on the day before the Games officially began, some of our nation’s finest chefs-turned-short-order cooks whipped up stunning dishes at an Agriculture Canada sponsored feast in the Pan-Pacific Hotel. The culinary showcase included Canadian wheat, blueberries, beef, pork, eggs, seafood and maple syrup. Bleary eyes, assisted by a shot of caffeine, blinked wide open the second they spied the grand centerpiece (by food stylist and EAT contributor Nathan Fong). PEI celebrity chef Michael Smith, on his way to Whistler as captain of the 100 chefs who were cooking for the athletes, performed a Chef At Home routine, stuffing blueberries and cream cheese between thick slabs of grainy bread for French toast, and braised sausage in apple cider. From Montreal’s Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel’s stately Beaver Club, Chef Alain Pigard gussied up old-fashioned Québécois cretons with cream, and lingonberry preserves. As my taste buds cried yes! Yes! over the pork in pork fat that dissolved into a mustard and maple sugar brioche, my arteries were pleading no! No!

For me congee (a Chinese porridge) tastes pretty much like gruel, but a barley congee topped with pork cheek and pine mushrooms from Pan-Pacific’s Daryle Nagata converted me—at least for that morning. Saskatchewan Chef Remi Cousyn topped aged rib eye with a quail egg but really all I wanted was his knockout mushroom bread pudding. New Brunswick treated us to lobster nuggets atop Yukon Gold rosti. Talk about a culinary treasure trove. Note to self: Make Toronto chef, Donna Dooher’s buckwheat dosas with curried sweet potatoes and onion, and apple-pear chutney for brunch.

Provincial Pavilions, were erected throughout the city, and existing venues had morphed into “Houses” to pump out live music, play games on the big screen, serve up beer and, of course regional fare. At The Arts-Club-turned Atlantic House, instructors and students from the maritime provinces’ culinary schools steamed PEI mussels and shucked malpeques, marinated Nova Scotia scallops, and made Newfoundland cod paté, as well as pickled herring ceviche. Most interesting, though, was the sustainable-farmed smoked short-nosed sturgeon, served with the fish's caviar, from New Brunswick. The eggs were a smoky gold-green, delightfully briny, with a slightly nutty flavour. Though they lacked the salty “pop” of Caspian caviars, they were delicious. It was also nice to learn top-notch Canadian restaurants are opting for New Brunswick luxury over the more pricey caviars from endangered wild sturgeon.

The Saskatchewan Pavilion had the air of a county fair tent with its green turf, cheek-by-jowl tables and low ceiling. Over farmer’s sausage sauerkraut and suds, friends and I cheered our gals on to gold in women’s hockey. But midst periods, I sauntered over to the “Pulses Canada” booth pushing Saskatchewan lentils. Did you know Saskatchewan produces 99% of Canadian lentils, much of which is exported to India? I didn’t.

A few days earlier, I had been invited to Gourmet Warehouse to chat with Michael and Anna Olsen, of Food Network’s Sugar and Fresh, as they prepped for next day’s Ontario Pavilion demonstration. The two worked in perfect sync making caramelized onion and apple tart with Ontario goat cheese, dry-glazed pork tenderloin with dried cherry gastrique, and an Inniskillin ice wine fruit and cream trifle. The pork dish was so good I begged the recipe.

A last-minute invitation to a “gourmet” Aboriginal Culinary dinner had me scrambling to make it to the Native Education College’s Longhouse. I was thrilled I had accepted. The reason for the dinner was complete news to me. Chef Ben Genaille, an instructor at Vancouver Community College’s Aboriginal Culinary program, formed an aboriginal culinary team two years ago, with ambitions of competing in the 2012 IKA Culinary Olympics against chefs from around the world. The meal was outstanding. Fire-roasted corn soup served with oolichan oil smacked of smoky sweetness. The delicate fish oil added an unusual but most pleasant interest. A single spot prawn garnished cattail heart cream and drizzled with wild-onion oil preceded duck-glazed crisp halibut. Braised bison with watercress and parsnip puree shredded with a touch of a fork. Cranberry bannock bread pudding finished us off. Winemaker and owner of Nk'mip winery Randy Picton led us through the wines.

At a Sunday press luncheon at the BC Pavilion Rob Clarke, John Bishop, Vikram Vij, Tojo, and Pino Posteraro were on hand to showcase West Coast fare. Local and out-of-town media slurped kushi oysters, nibbled mini Cornish pasties with cubed local fingerling potato and grainy mustard salad, fragrant curried free-range chicken, succulent house-smoked salmon sushi, and a pearl barley salad with dried berries. All plates were paired with BC wines.

And then there was the Whistler trip on the Alberta Train. Alberta leased the Rocky Mountaineer during the games, and for the time being, it will remain under wraps as the Alberta Train. On the trip up to Whistler, everything from skiing to stampeding was promoted as folks chowed down on blueberry scones, wild boar bacon and buttermilk pancakes, hearty hot grain cereal or sausage filled omelettes. On the way back it was all about the meat—elk, beef, pork and poultry—and great prairie chowder thick with potatoes, mushrooms, barley and corn. Chef Brad Smoliak was the cooking brain behind the traveling menu.

Finally I bade adieu to the Games at Place de la Francophonie, where seating was window ledge only. I held off on the poutine (with real cheese curds) and opted for the ham-and-cheese quiche to soak up the suds during our triumphant Hockey Game. I joined the French chorus of O Canada, no matter that I barely know the words in English.

It was a swell two weeks, it really was. And I couldn’t have celebrated the Olympics on Canadian and, more specifically, hometown turf, more tastefully.

Flavours of Cooper's Cove Guesthouse

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I once read about a food writer who got herself into some serious hot water for reviewing a restaurant in the New York Times when she had already contributed a positive blurb to the back of the same restaurant's chef's cookbook. So, in the interest of full disclosure, let me say that yes - EAT Magazine is quoted on the back of Angelo Prosperi-Porta's Flavours of Cooper's Cove Gueshouse. Here's what we said then: "Two hundred enticing 'real' recipes where the flavour of the food is not masked, but is enhanced with simple ingredients to maintain earthy, honest flavours." We stand by that.

In the new Touchwood softcover edition, Angelo Prospera-Porta invites you into the kitchen of his Sooke guesthouse and generously shares the recipes that have made his intimate cooking classes so popular. Don't miss his signature Sea Bread, using locally harvested edible seaweeds. For locals who are interested in more information on the Cooper's Cove cooking retreats, click here.

Published by TouchWood Editions, 2010.

Battle of the Chefs

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Photo: MC and host Kevin Brauch sabers a bottle of champagne blind and wearing a pair of red Olympic mittens.

Last night in the Crystal Ballroom at the Fairmont Empress hotel a cook-off of epic proportion took place as two titan chefs battled for supreme bragging rights at Mission-Emp-Possible. Each chef cooked six courses, which were presented to a panel of judges and 130 guests. From the Okanagan, chef Matthew Batey represented Mission Hill Family Estate winery and Takashi Ito represented the home team and the Empress. It was a friendly competition with a twist as each chef had to create a dish that paired with a Mission Hill wine. Judging was based on presentation, taste and how well the dishes paired with the wines.

The judges agreed that the best pairing of the evening was Chef Ito’s Seared Ahi Tuna, Braised Kinpira Burdock and Shiso Onion Vinaigrette with the 2008 MHFE Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. But the judges were divided on best dish of the night with one half going for Chef Batey’s Moonstruck White Grace Cheese and Truffle Sandwich with Fries and Cherry Ketchup and Chef Ito’s Star Anise Braised Bison Short Rib with Garlic, Rosemary, Polenta and Cambozola Cream.

When MC Kevin Brauch (The Thirsty Traveler and Iron Chef America) announced Chef Ito had defeated Batey everyone agreed that the real winners that night were the guests who had feasted on the challenge.

Montreal Highlights

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: serving up the duck at La Salle à Manger

As world athletes gather to compete in Vancouver this month, an international gathering of a different ilk takes place across the country, in Montreal. Though news of the 11th annual Montreal High Lights festival has not succeeded in seeping through our Olympic fever, this celebration is important in its own way, for it serves to boost Montrealers’ mid-winter morale (well, to be generous, let’s say they’re two-thirds of the way through winter).

The ‘Festival Montréal en Lumière’ definitely aims to distract people from their weather woes. The website boasts that “it’s always warm on the festival site”, and for ten days, festival-goers can attend shows as part of the “Caliente!” series, “dedicated to hot’n’spicy rhythms.” This year’s festival, running from February 18th to 28th, is featuring a celebration of Portuguese wines and cuisine as thirty-nine guest chefs and vintners are hosted by local restaurants. In addition, six guest chefs from New Orleans, the festival’s featured city, will be in attendance.

In honour of the 11th annual Montreal High Lights Festival, I thought I would revisit some of the culinary highlights from the last trip I took to my native island. It was a flying visit that I snuck in early last December, but in that short time, I managed to fit in something old and something new. My first stop was Quincaillerie Dante, an institution in Montreal’s Little Italy since 1956, made somewhat more famous when it was featured in Gourmet’s March 1996 issue, devoted entirely to Montreal.

I had never actually stepped inside this eclectic hardware store before, but it was just as Gourmet had described it: to my right, a man examining a rifle at the gun counter, to my left, a display showcasing resident celebrity chef Stefano Faita’s newest cookbook Entre cuisine et bambini (a follow up to his first success, Entre cuisine et quincaillerie). Stefano is the son of Elena Faita, who is part owner of the shop, and founder of the popular Italian cooking school Mezza Luna, an annex to the hardware store. I wandered away from the guns, towards the gorgeous kitchenware selection, admiring the authentic pannetone papers available in various sizes. The shop was all a-bustle with pre-holiday display preparations so after a good browse and a few well-chosen purchases, I made my way back out to the snowy street.

The next culinary highlight was a bit of a surprise to me. For my father’s birthday, I had planned to take him out for a bistro lunch, thinking either L’Entrecôte Saint-Jean or L’Express would fit the bill nicely. However, Montreal had just been hit with its first snowfall of the season, and my father seemed reluctant to take on downtown snowdrift parking during the lunch rush. “How about roast beef at Magnan’s instead?” he suggested. Another Montreal institution I had heard much about but had never tried myself, I agreed, and we leisurely parked in the nicely plowed lot beside the tavern. Parking ourselves in our seats proved more of an obstacle, given how tightly packed the dining room was. Magnan’s Tavern has been the go-to spot for a reliable roast beef dinner since 1932. Situated on a busy corner in the old industrial sector that flanks the Lachine canal, little has changed in the seventy-five plus years they have been operating, except for the flat screen televisions mounted on the walls, and the fact that women are now welcome (though still vastly outnumbered, at least during the lunch hour I was there for). The menu has expanded as well, however regulars still order by the number – Number 1 being the 6 oz. portion (15.95$), climbing up to the number 5 (the 20 oz. portion, for 37.50$).

I opted for number 1, and with my first bite, understood the longstanding appeal this place holds. The roast beef au jus was perfectly saignant (rare), as I had ordered it. The well-marinated beef was tender and flavourful, the mash complimented it beautifully, and the veggies were a lovely tender-crisp, not overdone as I had feared might be the case. The building itself feels full of Montreal history, but not the one you get a little higher up the hill. The industries that line St. Patrick may have changed, but this is where the hardworking class has flocked to for good food, and Magnan still delivers. In retrospect, I don’t know why I was so surprised. The food Montreal has made famous; smoked meat, bagels, poutine, none of these can be described as gourmet, at least not in their original incarnations. For a very long time, Montreal has excelled at getting the classics done right.

Which isn’t to say that there isn’t a whole lot of exciting innovation taking place there as well. To experience something new, I had recruited three good friends to join me in trying out La Salle à Manger, rated as one of the top ten restaurants to open in 2009 by En Route last November. Hearing that this was the new project of Samuel Pinard, the chef from Reservoir, one of my old haunts, I knew it would be a memorable evening. After a happy reunion and Champagne toasts we hopped in a cab and went over the mountain, climbed over the snow bank and huddled into the bright new restaurant. David Bowie was playing over the speakers as we settled into our chairs, admiring the recycled bowling lane-topped tables and metro tiled walls. Our hosts were young, hip and deeply passionate about the food and wine we were carefully choosing.

Our attention was directed to the ardoise (blackboard) on the wall, and it was explained that each special was a serving for two, brought on a platter and then served at the table. We paired off and chose both the jeune canard embeurée au lard fumé avec purée de carottes et salade bettraves and the royale de lapin, papardelles aux chanterelles et emulsion au foie gras. But first, a few oysters – different varieties from New Brunswick, enjoyed with a 2007 Aligoté La Bête. It was the kind of meal you don’t want to end, and we certainly managed to stretch it out. The young duck I shared was the best I have ever tasted, every bite a balance of textures and flavours. Friends who usually pass on pasta helped themselves to seconds of the papardelle. Forks were enthusiastically pushed across the table, so everyone could get a taste of everything, and not miss out on any part of the experience. Someone muttered a superlative along the lines of “this is perfection”, and the server just nodded knowingly.

Unfortunately, my notes taper off somewhere before we get to the cheese plate. It’s a shame, because there were a few new Quebec cheeses I would have liked to hunt down again, but there was much wine drinking and conversation to catch up on, and we were in the right place to do it. By the time we got into a cab to take us back over the mountain almost five hours later, we’d vowed to make it a tradition – a new restaurant for each reunion. Luckily, in Montreal, festival or no festival, there is no shortage of choices.

If you go:

Quincaillerie Dante

6851 rue St Dominique

(514) 271-2057

Magnan’s

2602 rue St Patrick

(514) 935-9647

La Salle à Manger

1032 av Mont Royal Est

(514) 522-0777

A Great Catch

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: a commercial fishing vessel returns to port

With a growing array of sustainable seafood options to choose from on Vancouver Island, it’s no wonder that sablefish has become exponentially popular in recent years. Found in the deep clear waters of the North Pacific, sablefish is a species of many names –it’s often also called black cod, butterfish and coalfish. Known and revered for its rich, sweet flavour and flakey texture, sablefish is sometimes compared to sea bass but lacks the negative environmental implications.

These bottom dwellers live on the ocean floor and have grey skin that’s juxtaposed by pearly white flesh. They have been harvested in BC for more than 40 years and, although they’re traditionally exported across the Pacific, Sablefish are becoming more common within Canadian borders. Originally harvested as bycatch*, Sablefish are now caught live in traps, which preserves the quality and freshness of the fish. On the ecological front, this method of fishing eliminates bycatch and the accidental harvesting of juvenile fish, ensuring a sustainable product.

When purchasing sablefish, look for firm, pearly white flesh and skin that is not discoloured. Also, keep in mind that larger fish have a superior taste and texture to the smaller ones. Sablefish is often smoked, which can be a delicious addition to purees and dips. It is also commonly available unsmoked as fillets, steaks or “J” cut, in which the head and collar have been removed. Sablefish flesh contains a high oil content which makes it perfect for high heat, quick cooking such as pan searing and grilling. Its large flakes also stand up to slower cooking methods, such as braising and poaching.

A versatile, forgiving fish, the key with sablefish is to experiment. Its fat content allows it to withstand higher heat without drying out, and its firmness ensures that it won’t fall apart when cooked for longer periods. Also, look to sablefish for your daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids. This fish, which is available year round, provides as much as wild salmon and is an ecologically responsible, local choice.

See this week’s recipe box for an excellent sablefish recipe.

*Bycatch is defined as “fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish. Bycatch are either of a different species or juveniles of the target species.” (Wikipedia)

A Promising Start to Victoria Dine Around

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One of things I like about the Victoria Dine Around & Stay in Town is going to the Tourism Victoria website and checking out all the menus. This year restaurants have the choice offering $20, $30 and $40 dollar menus. (Note: the menu you see may not necessarily be the menu you’ll find at the restaurant, as menu tend to change.)

After browsing through the various menus I settled on Canoe Brewpub, Marina & Restaurant, partly because I liked the look of their menu but also because I knew if the Canada / Switzerland hockey game was still going I’d be able to watch the game on one of the big screens in the Canoe bar.

As it turns out I sat down just as Crosby put the puck into the Swiss net in a knuckle biting shootout to win the game.

I decided on the $30 menu and began with the West Coast Chowder. The soup was delivered thick and hot in a large bowl, smoky (from the black cod) and slightly piquant (due to the Choux Choux chorizo) and brimming with potato, corn and croutons. A drizzle of evo oil finished this excellent starter.

Next up, a dish called Singapore Street Noodles. A tangle of thin egg noodles came with chunks of chicken and bits of BBQ pork, oyster mushrooms, gai lan, shredded carrot and strips of red pepper. It had been tossed in a mild, coconut curry laksa sauce. It was well prepared and tasty so I called it pretty good.

For dessert, the choice was carrot cake or chocolate brown ale cake. I went with the brown ale cake (after all Canoe is known for its craft brews.) The cake was moist with a hint of beer flavour and squeegee of raspberry sauce. A sweet and lovely ending to a fine dinner

From my first night of Dine Around I figured my experience promises a good nineteen days ahead.

Dine Around and Stay in Town runs to March 7. Visit the Tourism Vancouver or Restaurant Association website for participating menus. Out of town visitors will also find accommodations deals on the website.

Canoe Brewpub website

Tel: (250) 361-1940

450 Swift Street

Victoria, British Columbia

Tourism Victoria website

BCRFA website

The Fourth Annual Victoria Tea Festival

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Daniela Cubelic, owner of Silk Road and one of the driving forces behind the Victoria Tea Festival, demonstrates the proper way of making Taiwan Oolong tea Gongfu style. credit: Gary Hynes

Green, white, red, black: a rainbow of colour was on display this past weekend at Victoria’s fourth annual Tea Festival. Billed as North America’s largest tea exhibition, it was impressive to see just how many independent tea importers and suppliers are based here in British Columbia, each covering their own specific areas of expertise. Every kind of black, oolong, green, maccha, white, red (rooibos) and herbal tea imaginable was available for tasting, and at various temperatures. Festivalgoers were treated to helpful brewing tips and information on the numerous health benefits of the different varieties by knowledgeable presenters, standing by at each of the forty stalls which filled the ground floor and mezzanine of the Crystal Garden.

New to the festival this year was Tula Teas , a woman-owned tea business based in Victoria. This enterprise is still getting off the ground, yet their beautiful display of high-grade teas imported from small, family-owned tea gardens was garnering a fair amount of interest and admiration on Saturday. Vendors came from further afield as well, such as Calgary-based Vastu Chai, whose stall artfully displayed the array of ingredients included in the authentic family masala chai recipe that forms the foundation of their business.

The Tea Festival's well-attended series of presentations included The Ache's Pride: How Yerba Mate is Saving a Rainforest and Her People, Chinese Tea Ceremony, English Tea Traditions and Blends, Rooibus and Honeybush Teas, Ceylon, the Island of Tea, and Refreshment of the Spirit: Oriental Tea & Wine Drinking Vessels. I managed to squeeze in to the back of the presentation area and catch chef Heidi Fink’s demonstration on Cooking with Tea, where attendees were treated to samples of Chai Honey Butter, Smokey Maple Salad Dressing featuring Silk Road’s Lapsang Souchong tea, and a delicate Jasmine Tea sorbet. Chef Heidi reassured the audience that all the beneficial antioxidants are transferred to foods that feature tea as an ingredient, in addition to the tea imparting a new level of complexity to a dish’s flavour.

If you didn’t make it out this year, be sure to mark February 12th and 13th on your calendars for next year. This successful fundraiser for the Camosun College Child Care Services is not to be missed.

A New Appreciation for an Ancient Favourite: Chocolate

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

My favourite chocolate story is one my grandfather used to tell. He was fighting with the British Army, stationed in a small town in Holland at the end of World War Two. When the soldiers got news that the war was finally over, they went out and distributed all their chocolate rations amongst the children in the streets. I recently had the privilege of attending a chocolate seminar at French Mint, where I learned that the tradition of supplying soldiers with cacao products dates back to the time of the Aztecs. The Aztecs also provided this product; a frothy, ground cacao-based beverage, to men on their wedding nights, which brings us to this week’s chocolate holiday: St. Valentine’s Day.

Chocolate has long been used as a gift to demonstrate affection and also has an important association with a seductive power, so it is not surprising that it has become the offering of choice on February 14th. Chocolate is the world’s second largest cash crop, following closely behind wheat. There is no doubt that it is appreciated year-round, however St. Valentine’s Day has become a time when we seek out the best, and pay attention to details that are often overlooked.

If you are truly passionate about chocolate, and wish to learn more about its history, as well as the political implications surrounding its production, then I highly recommend spending some time with David Mincey, Vancouver Island’s resident chocolate expert. His course, Chocolate – Food of the Gods, has been offered through UVic’s Continuing Studies department. The three-hour seminar I attended at French Mint was a condensed version of this course, but in that time he succeeded in completely transforming my view of chocolate. Sharing a selection from his personal chocolate cellar, students learned how to taste properly; take a small bite, chew and using your tongue, push the chocolate up to the roof of your mouth, allowing it to melt before you begin to swallow. Our palates were also developed so that by the end of the three hours we could distinguish whether the cacao beans used in the sample originated in South America (a noticeable fruitiness is detected in the flavour), or in Africa (a nuttier, somewhat drier taste on the tongue) where 70% of the world’s chocolate comes from.

For David Mincey, assessing the quality of your chocolate can be determined by looking at the ingredients list: the three top ingredients should be cocoa mass, sugar and cocoa butter. Lecithin, and vanilla are acceptable additives. Milk solids are also fine, if you are after a creamier flavour. But for the purists, anything beyond that is filler, and will distract from the authentic taste of chocolate. Over the past century, we have moved further away from this authentic chocolate product, and as a result, out tastebuds have become accustomed to more highly processed, altered versions.

It is, above all, a question of taste. You may prefer a chocolate confection to the pure product, and luckily, the array of choices available to us here in BC will easily cater to all. There are many local chocolate makers and pastry chefs doing exciting things incorporating local ingredients into their creations. If you are looking to support local chocolatiers this Valentine’s day, here is EAT’s list of the top ones on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Lower Mainland. Click the links below to find out where they available.

Vancouver Island:

Terrible Truffles

Moziro Coffee Roasters and Chocolatiers

Chocolat Chocolatiere de Victoria

Rogers’ Chocolates

Gulf Islands:

Denman Island Chocolates

Saltspring Island Chocolates

Cocoa West Chocolatier (Bowen Island)

Harlan’s Chocolates

Gabriola Island Chocolates

Lower Mainland:

New Year, New Rice

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photos: A member of the Vancouver Japanese Gardener's Association demonstrates how to make mochi at the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre and a plate of handmade mochi with traditional toppings: soya sauce, brown sugar, green onion, grated daikon, ground sesame and nori. Credit: Sharon Mah

Thud. Thunk. Whack. The crowd cheers. A line forms as hungry visitors clamour for a turn with the wooden mallet.

This is Mochitsuki, an ancient rice-pounding ceremony that occurs during shogatsu, the Japanese new year, which falls on January 1. Mochitsuki usually takes place in late December. At Mochitsuki, rice is pounded until it forms a sticky rice cake called mochi.

Rice holds an important place in shogatsu. As the dominant staple of Japanese food culture, rice is a symbol of livelihood, prosperity and an abundant harvest. "There is a strong connection with rice, land, people and spiritual life. It is a source of life," explains Masa Shiroki, founder of Artisan SakeMaker in Vancouver, BC.

Masa, in particular, knows the importance of rice. Not only is it a key ingredient in his sake, but he recently fulfilled a long-term goal of growing rice locally. He anticipates brewing his first batch of sake with BC-grown rice from this fall's harvest.

He tells me that sake, mochi and salt, are the three traditional items offered to invite the protection and graces of the spirits during shogatsu and in many opening ceremonies. Madoka Angel, an agriculture student at the University of British Columbia specializing in Japanese food systems, recalls a tradition at the high school she attended in Japan. "We would pour sake, salt, and place mochi at the four corners of the school swimming pool at the start of the swimming season. This brought protection to the pool, so that there wouldn't be any injuries."

While mass-produced products are easily available, it is the act of making mochi and sake the slow way that really celebrates the spirit of the new year and brings the community together.

Masa starts with milled rice, local water and Japanese yeast. These three ingredients are fermented for two months and then slowly pressed, resulting in a cloudy rice wine. Part of this wine is directly bottled as Masa's Osake Junmai Nama Nigori wine. His other two sakes, Osake Junmai Nama Genshu and Osake Junmai Nama, are the clear sake that rises to the top after the rice lees settle out of the Nigori wine. He does not filter the wine or add preservatives. Masa even makes use of the lees, called kasu, that is left after the sake is pressed: he uses it as an ingredient in dressings, marinades, soups and even home skin treatments.

Mochi made at Mochitsuki festivals has an ingredient list similar to that of sake: rice, water and patience. Steamed rice is pounded in large stone mortars by wooden mallets until it forms a soft disc. The disc is then shaped into smaller pieces called mochi, which are shared amongst local families. Mochi can be eaten with simple condiments such as soy sauce, brown sugar, grated daikon and sliced green onion. It is often grilled or placed in a celebratory soup called zoni. To create a new year's offering called kagami mochi, three cakes are stacked and then eaten fifteen days after the new year. Factory-made mochi is available at some Asian food markets, but have a smoother consistency and loses much of its rustic texture.

Viewed as a symbol of good luck and livelihood, rice cakes are found in the feasts of other Asian countries as well. Chinese tangyuen and niangao, Vietnamese ánh chưng, Korean ddeok gook, and Burmese mont lone yei baw, are all part of Lunar new year feasts, which takes falls on February 14 this year. And if Masa has his way, rice will soon become a part of BC's own local food culture.

In the meantime, you can find mochi and Masa's sake in restaurants and markets throughout Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, including:

Artisan SakeMaker

1339 Railspur Alley, Vancouver

Fujiya

912 Clarke Drive, Vancouver

3624 Shelbourne Street, Victoria

Sakura Japanese Products

1213 Quadra Street, Victoria

Spinnakers Wine Merchants

130-176 Wilson Street, Victoria

Zakkushi

823 Denman Street (and other locations), Vancouver

National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre's Annual Mochitsuki Day (usually in December)

6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby

A New Era for Victoria's Coffee and Tea Culture

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: a selection from Jill Heffner's teacup collection. Servers expertly match suitable cups and saucers for each customer.

Part 2: Move over, Murchie's

I’m actually a big fan of Murchie's. They make good coffee as well as tea, and their scones and pastries never fail to impress. They are undoubtedly one of the reasons (along with Afternoon Tea at the Empress and Butchart Gardens, not to mention White Heather and the Blethering Place) why Victoria is often referred to as Canada’s tea capital. However, the focus seems to be shifting from teatime to tea experience. This shift began with the opening of Silk Road a few years ago, but the trend has continued more recently with last summer’s arrival of JagaSilk Teabar. This serene spot tucked into a corner of the Nootka Court is the perfect place to visit for a masterfully brewed cup of single estate, organic Japanese maccha tea. Their limited offering loose teas are imported in micro batches to ensure the highest quality. Owners Miyuki and Jared Nyberg impart their expertise as they serve, using master potter Harumi Ota’s ceramic mugs and cups as vessels for their crisp, aromatic green teas.

The most recent addition to Victoria’s collection of tearooms is Venus Sophia. Located at 540 Fisgard St., in the heart of Chinatown, it was described by one visitor as an “eloquent tea room”. Before I paid my first visit, I wasn’t sure how a tearoom could be eloquent, but when you walk in, it becomes evident that the place does speak to each visitor differently, triggering various memories and evoking distant locations. Owner Jill Heffner reports that many guests have approached her, saying how it reminds them of a place they visited in Paris, or a teatime ritual shared with grandparents. Jill describes this as “combining the outer world of geographics with the inner world of experience”, and seems to be a big part what she and her husband Rod Shouldice set out to create.

Jill is very clear when she tells me that this is not a business concept, but a reflection of who they are. They wanted to develop a tearoom that truly supports the culture of tea; a culture which they obviously appreciate and respect whole-heartedly, stressing how different it can be from the coffee culture. The latter often seems designed to speed things up, increase productivity, grab your coffee and go, while the culture of tea offers “the possibility of peacefulness”, a time to slow down and contemplate.

Which is not to say that the family doesn’t like coffee. On the contrary, Jill and Rod take great pride in bringing in freshly roasted Oso Negro beans from Nelson, including a Venus Sophia blend that has been made just for them. They also serve Level Ground coffee, Red Espresso (a South African rooibos prepared as espresso would be) and of course, a wide range of teas from Two Leaves and a Bud, Silk Road and organic teas blended in California. For the time being, the menu is à la carte, although they are considering a fixed tea menu for the summer months. They offer a number of options for people with dietary restrictions; while the business continues to put the finishing touches on their kitchen, J & J Raw Foods supplies a variety of raw treats, from carrot cake to cheesecakes, and Cascadia provides the bread for their selection of house-made sandwiches. We are not talking about cucumber triangles, either. I sampled the scrumptious open-faced Prosciutto, Pear and Gorgonzola, sharing Rod and Jill’s fondness for mixing fruit with savoury foods. Soups and salads are also made in-house, and requests have been made for Jill to bottle and sell her special (lemon, garlic tahini) dressing.

Increased curiosity and education surrounding tea production and consumption has led to happy changes in Victoria’s tea scene. Whether you are looking for a traditional teatime, or a brand new tasting experience, Victoria has tearooms that cater to all.

Foodie Flicks at the Victoria Film Festival

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Last night I saw “Focaccia Blues”, an Italian documentary set in a real-life town in Puglia. It’s a satirical story about McDonald’s opening a restaurant in a typical Italian town where, naturally, there isn’t much appreciation for fast food. The focaccia maker next door to the McDonald’s assisted the giant in their permanent closure. It’s a pretty light look at the situation, but is a charming look at the Italian food culture. The icing on the cake was a visit – in the flesh – by Cliff Leir who brought focaccia for the entire audience from his Fol Epi wood-fired oven bakery in the Dockside Green development. There is a second showing of “Focaccia Blues” the evening of Thursday February 4th.

Today I attended “The Coca Cola Case”. A powerful look at Coca Cola’s involvement in paramilitary operation particularly in Colombia and Guatemala, this Canadian documentary is well worth seeing. It’s admirable to see the fight of the selfless lawyers and the people who have been affected by torture and death that is directly linked to this corporate giant. It certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.

“Cooking With Stella” will be screened this evening, a Canadian film which takes place in India. “Food Design” screens Sunday February 7th, the final day of the festival. It is a German documentary that sounds very intriguing:

Food Design shows how form, color, smell, consistency, sounds eating, technique, and even history influence what we consume and how we consume it. It's a documentary that wants you to think of foodstuffs in the same way as Armani suits, Alessi coffee cups and Ferraris. It's making a case for a design discipline that has received little attention, inviting its audience to take part in a sensual journey through the wonderful world of food. If that heavily manufactured sensibility of food frightens you more than just a little, be prepared to have your own assumptions challenged here. The people who think about food have already been thinking about those food assumptions too.

Purchase tickets on line victoriafilmfestival.com

Visit Kathy's website at www.TravelWithTaste.com

Fed Up with Julie

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: High Tea at the Hotel Grand Pacific

With fewer and fewer visits “across the pond”, I was beginning to lose touch with the wining and dining scene in the city that spawned the magazine. So with laptop, overnight bag and a 5am coffee firmly in hand, I aim for the first ferry on a rainy Friday morning to mix a little business with pleasure.

I am billeted at the handsome Hotel Grand Pacific, steps from the Black Ball Ferry Line and overlooking the inner harbour. From my comfy room I watch seaplanes buzz in and out like large mosquitoes and the Coho pull out of dock heading toward Port Angeles. And would you look at that! Complimentary high-speed internet. (I balk at the $15 daily rate that so many top-hotels charge). Tucked into my GP logo-ed terry robe I hunker down to write, leaving the room only to pad to the pool and to meet a colleague for afternoon tea. Grand Pacific’s High Tea with a difference—not a cucumber and cress on white in sight. Earthy black teas (Pu-Her was that day’s feature), or fragrant white and green teas are served in a French Press. A four-tier tray is piled high with savoury and sweet. There is bannock, and cheese scones, tiny pots of local preserves and chantilly cream, tea-cured salmon on brioche, free range egg salad on mini-croissants, puffy pastry filled with David Woods goat cheese and roasted tomato, skewered spot prawns, Cowichan Bay duck confit on a lattice-work pastry, custardy citrus squares, fruit laden chocolate “shells” and mini-cinnamon rolls. Impossible to do it all justice, our gracious server boxes carefully the remaining morsels for me to cart away, maybe, for later nibbles.

My husband rolls into town early evening (He is grateful for my packed up “tea”.) A late dinner in the Mark parallels the afternoon’s treats. Chef Mark Minshull pays marvelous heed to a perfectly poached free-range egg atop winter greens, Cowichan Duck breast with molasses butter, and a superb spot-prawn pot-au-feu with baby vegetables. Service is impeccable, without being gushy.

Early Saturday morning I whip out to Canada’s own Lee Valley Tools in Colwood to fetch my tickets for three March workshops (now sold out) not available at the Vancouver’s store. There are more ways to connect with food than firing it down your gullet—like making and planting stuff. I pity the instructor who will teach me to “turn” a wooden (salad?) bowl and pepper mill during two woodworking seminars. (I take small comfort in knowing that my woodworking could be no worse than my sewing). Whoever is leading the Heritage seed workshop will have a far easier time of it.

En return route to town I wheel in to the Root Cellar for buttery fingerling spuds, the curliest, most tender endive, pencil-thin bunched carrots, but really, just to be amidst the Saturday morning jostle. An Illy Americano and decadent pastry at La Collina adjacent to the market, warms the fingers, clears the head and goes right for the hips.

La Piola, at lunch passes for a village osteria one might stumble on in Italy, where the greeting is friendly, the tables are covered in oilcloth, cutlery is simple and the place is a chatterbox. And where a salad of fresh fixings, a plate of simply sauced home-made noodles, or maybe a Margherita pizza, and a glass of house red sets you up for a walk—and a nap.

Late afternoon Steve and I root around Russell’s for books. (I come away laden with a book devoted to growing micro-greens, The Potting Shed Papers and The Bishop’s Garden, a handsome tome packed with seventeenth century botanical drawings). We thumb through our literature over a pint of Driftwood Ale at Bard and Banker Scottish Public House.

Stage is everything we look for in a bistro when we are out of town—an intimate space bursting with local folk, offering tasty local fare, a small, well-chosen, well-priced wine list itemized on a blackboard. (Any time I can sip on Altesino Rosso for five bucks, generous taster, has my vote). We love our grainy housemade sausage, crisp falafel with a julienned “Greek” salad and the garlicky parsleyed wild mushrooms on rustic toast.

While the Canucks trounce Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, the curtain comes down on the day with a nightcap (my perfect Woodford Manhattan is, well, perfect, and surprisingly affordable) from our wingback chairs in the hotel lounge.

Work is accomplished. We have been well fed and are well rested. A brisk walk along the waterfront brings us back to the hotel early afternoon nosh of Dim Sum (and then some) in the Pacific Restaurant. While Steve goes for a shellfish stew, I opt for sautéed tender Asian greens, steamed buns stuffed with edamame and Cowichan Bay chicken, and spinach globes wrapped tightly a crab/spot prawn mixture. It’s a tasty end to a brief our brief sojourn.

If you go:

Hotel Grand Pacific, the Mark and Pacific Restaurant

463 Belleville St.

250-386-0450

Lee Valley Tools

314 Wale Rd.

250-391-9553

The Root Cellar

1286 McKenzie Ave.

250-477-9495

La Collina

1286 McKenzie Ave.

250-477-1663

La Piola

3189 Quadra Street

Victoria, BC V8X 1E9, Canada

(250) 388-4557

Russell Books

734 Fort Street

Victoria, BC V8W 2P5, Canada

(250) 361-4447

Bard and Banker

1022 Government Street

Victoria, BC V8W, Canada

(250) 953-9993

Stage

1307 Gladstone Avenue

Victoria, BC V8R 1R9, Canada

(250) 388-4222

A New Era for Victoria's Coffee and Tea Culture

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It is easy to take good coffee for granted when it is readily available to you. But take a road trip, say, across Canada, and you soon discover that quality java is not always so easy to come by. This was my experience two summers ago when my family and I made our big westward trek. I’m sure there must be some good coffee in the provinces between Quebec and British Columbia, but I didn’t find any along the TransCanada. As we drove through the Rockies I heaved a sigh of relief: finally, I thought, I won’t have to search for it anymore. It had been a long, long week in a truck with three kids and two Siamese cats, and that corporate green mermaid had become my new best friend.

How thrilled I was, then, to land in Victoria, with almost an overabundance (if such a thing is possible) of first class, independently owned, locally roasted coffee suppliers. I already had an inkling of the intense pleasure Victorians take in their coffee, having stumbled upon Colin Newell’s Coffee Crew blog before moving here. Colin’s extensive website turns his obsession into a tool for education. If you need to know anything about café culture in Victoria, or consumer information on the best espresso-cappuccino machines, CoffeeCrew.com is your one-stop answer. As I began researching this article, it made perfect sense to check in with Colin first.

When I naïvely asked Colin what his favourite new coffee shop was, he swiftly redirected the question. There is an important evolution to the coffee scene that must be taken into consideration. He listed no less than seven establishments that deserve acknowledgements when it comes to advancing café culture in Victoria and the lower Island. Here, in Colin’s own words, is what you need to know:

1. Drumroaster Coffee (Mill Bay) This place must be considered in the lower Island grand scheme of things because it is run by the husband and wife team of Geir and Pat Oglend - they are the originators of great coffee and espresso on Vancouver Island - they brought the culture here by installing some of the first espresso machines on the lower Island in the late 70's - Their passion for specialty coffee is, as of yet, unequaled on Vancouver Island. Geir also roasts his own high quality Arabica coffee on the premises and participates in as many coffee farmer-coop friendly (and beneficial) programs as he can.

2. Discovery Coffee (two locations: Discovery Ave and Oak Bay and Amphion Ave.) They have been roasting and serving some of the best coffee for a couple of years now and have opened a new cafe at the corner of Oak Bay and Amphion Ave. recently. They also source many of their fine coffees from the "Cup of Excellence" program which gives top dollar to the farmers and coops in coffee producing regions. Their Oak Bay avenue cafe features a "Vacuum Bar" which brews 'cup at a time' single origin (one farm) coffees that are superlative in terms of flavor.

3. Habit Coffee and Culture (500 Block of Pandora) Under the guiding hand and watchful eye of Shane Devereaux, Habit packages cool and hip into every cup, gets their coffee from Hines on Granville Island and provides an open and airy space in the heart of Old Town.

4. Street Level Espresso (700 Block of Fort Street next to The Dutch Bakery) Ken Gordon's small but ultra-hip joint caters to the arts and culture crowd with awesome espresso based drinks.

5. Caffe Fantastico (three locations: Quadra & Kings, McKenzie Ave-Cook Street Village, Dockside Green) Ryan Taylor took Victoria coffee to the next level in the mid-90's and has never needed to look over his shoulder. Each location has it's own flavor that suits the neighbourhood to a tee. Great coffees roasted at the Quadra location and always dated fresh.

6. The Stick in the Mud (Sooke Village) David Evans brings caffeinated cool to the Sooke Hills and is gradually moving towards his own roasted coffee products.

7. 2% Jazz Sam Jones roasts great coffee in the Western Communities and holds court at his Times-Colonist "so cool it hurts" joint.

I still felt the need to check things out for myself, so went off to the new Oak Bay Discovery Coffee to admire their halogen-heated siphon method in action. Enthusiastic and informative barista Matt Archambault prepared the single origin (all the beans from one farm) Brazilian Daterra reserve behind a protective glass (when prepared incorrectly, the glass siphons may explode, adding an element of danger, or performance art, to the experience), offering me tasting notes (nuts and cocoa with creamy mouthfeel) and detailed explanations about the importance of grinding the beans just prior to brewing and perfecting a gentle swirl as the brewed coffee returns to the base of the siphon.

I also stopped in at Habit for a perfect macchiato, and later spoke with owner Shane Devereaux about opening up a second location in the Atrium this August. He’s excited to be able to offer Victorians a late-night quality coffee experience.

New to the Victoria coffee scene is James Bay’s Mile Zero coffee, brewed on site at the Niagara Grocery by Ken Winchester. With one table in place and a banquette being built, this will be another spot to sit and enjoy ethically traded, organic coffee. One thing is for sure: in this town, you don’t have to travel far for exceptional coffee.

Check back on Monday for Part 2: Move over, Murchies!

Fed Up with Julie Pegg

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

“I’m as jumpy as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs”, admits Rob Feenie. Feenie has graciously wedged me in between busy and nervous the morning of the Gold Plate Awards, to chat about his two-day challenge—comprised of three stressful competitions--a mystery wine pairing, an Black Box event a la Iron Chef, and a Grand Finale.

Weeks previously, Rob wowed the judges during the Vancouver heat with a winning duo-dish of Duck confit and boudin noir made of Chilliwack’s Polderside Farm chicken. Garnish of puréed fig bridged the meat with Road 13’s luscious Rhone-style white blend. Now he’s about to sweat it out against other Canadian chefs.

Feenie’s finale (riffs on his signature dishes) are a feather-light butternut squash ravioli, mascarpone and shaved black truffle along with a top Canadian prime, 36-hour slow-braised beef short rib napped with Vancouver Island chanterelles. Alas, they failed to garner the gold.

Fast-forward two weeks. Undaunted, a cheery, confident Rob rolls out a few gold nuggets for the media at the sexy Bentall Center Cactus Club with a few new dishes he plans to dole out in several locations.

Feenie’s creations clock in for about half the price you would pay for a local, sustainable, quality and delicious dish in a top-notch dining room. And you can wear your Levis. (Though I would suggest you refrain from the torn and tatty).

A splash of Hendrick’s Gin and crackly Parmesan crisp cranks good ole’ tomato soup way up. Rob’s signature ravioli meets tender/firm giant sautéed prawns on the new menu. Weight watchers won’t miss the calories in a delicate dish of marinated sablefish floating in a dashi broth alongside shiitakes, mushrooms and naturally buttery fingerling potatoes. Shiitakes reappear, with portabella, button and crimini cousins in Rob’s take on Hunter Chicken. Our Grande Finale is an “I’ll-just-have-one-more-bite” pumpkin sponge cake with milk chocolate mousse.

Medals or not, Feenie clearly delights in channeling his energy toward casual fine dining. Ergo, Vancouver diners love that he loves it; we get to enjoy RF “gold” plates at the Cactus Club as often as we want.

For an easy recipe for Rob’s winning duck and chicken confit click here.

An Interview with Matt Thompson

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Being from a small community in Northern British Columbia, I am drawn to small, local, friendly restaurants with good food. My boyfriend introduced me to Bistro Caché a few months ago. Each visit has been a unique experience, with consistently high levels of food and service quality. We have begun making this our little spot to celebrate special occasions.

The proprietors, Matt and Cheryl Thompson, are very warm, friendly people and it shows in their family-run business. Their restaurant could easily accommodate sixty guests but they have managed to make the setting feel very intimate and warm, much how I imagine it would be at a small French café. In an attempt to learn more about how this young, entrepreneurial couple has managed to create the memorable experience that a visit to their restaurant has become, I asked Matt the following questions:

Where did you study culinary arts?

I attended Dubrulle International Culinary and Hotel Institute in Vancouver (2003), today known as The Art Institute of Vancouver – Dubrulle Culinary Arts.

What was your first job cooking?

My first cooking jobs were as a pizza cook in my friend’s restaurants in Sidney, B.C: Theo's Place and Odyssia. My first real cooking job was at Dock 503 in Sidney, B.C.

Is there a favourite dish you enjoy preparing more than others?

I enjoy preparing our duck confit dish very much because of the time and effort it takes and the attention to detail necessary to properly execute the various stages before a finished product reaches the table. That being said, I enjoy cooking almost anything tasty for my friends and/or family the most.

When did you know that you wanted to be in the restaurant business? And at what point did that become a desire to have your own restaurant?

Being around my friend’s restaurants as a teenager I found the lifestyle appealing. As I matured and began to take my jobs more seriously and treat my profession as a career, my own place seemed a  natural progression.

What would be the most important thing you would tell someone just opening any new business? How about specifically a restaurant?

The most important thing I would tell someone opening a business would be: Follow your heart and stay true to your beliefs, but at the same time be aware of how emotion can cloud your judgement and act accordingly. Also I think having the humility to seek advice is something to cultivate. Advice comes from many places, I try to hear that which is congruent with my values, but also listen carefully to that which at first may seem wrong to me.

What are some of the ways that you set your restaurant apart from others?

I set my restaurant apart from others by serving great food with as little compromise as possible that we don't see everywhere. I also feel that we can offer a personal touch from Cheryl and myself that  larger places are unable to match.

How do you keep yourself motivated and inspired?

Being a teacher/role model to junior staff is always motivating to me. I take the responsibility of furthering our trade in these young people very seriously, and try to increase their training and  development when possible. I also find their enthusiasm inspiring. Other inspirations I find everywhere. From television to magazines to cookbooks and everyday life, food is everywhere and my mind is constantly whirring with ideas and contemplating their practical application, even in my dreams!

Is there anything that you would like to change or are in the process of changing?

Our menu is dynamic and often changes twice a week. I am never completely satisfied and am constantly changing things at the restaurant. I tell people all the time that this is a work in progress  and that I am never satisfied. The day that I am content with the place is the day I go do something else.

What individual has had the greatest influence on your life, either personally, professionally, or both?

Me!

What do you mean by that?

There have been many people that have influenced me and my career,  not one that stands out. Ultimately I am in charge of my own destiny,  and my personal and professional life reflects that!

Where do you see your restaurant being in 5 years?

I see Bistro Caché being a busy, successful, neighbourhood restaurant full of familiar, happy faces through the next five years and beyond.   

To try one of Matt Thompson's recipes at home, visit our recipe box this week.

Matt & Cheryl Thompson, Chef/Owner

Bistro Caché

7120 West Saanich Road

Brentwood Bay, BC

Tel: 250.652.5044

Well Worn

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Colourful Pyrex bowls, Fire King mugs, a Parisian milk carafe and Alessi French press credit: Sharon Mah

It’s a mess. Shelves groan under a stack of pans, mismatched china, egg beaters and gadgets of bygone kitchens. There is no order and no attempt at creating a display. The only décor is a sprinkle of dust on the shelf. In other words, it’s perfect.

These are the sites of the vintage shopping hunt, places where you can walk away with a friendly cast-iron pan, a set of copper pots or even a vintage stand-mixer, for just a few dollars. While some cooks get a thrill from shiny new gadgets, others are stirred by pieces that have been passed down through generations of kitchens and have a history of good home-cooking. Tools are an essential part of every meal, and a familiar, well-worn object can be a source of reassurance when tackling a new recipe or a tough crowd.

They can conjure up memories of cooking family recipes taught in a grandparent’s kitchen, or the excitement of cooking on your own for the first time with hand-me-down pots and pans.

Purchasing vintage cookware is a way to acquire reliable gear without compromise. Items that are in good condition have demonstrated they can stand the test of time, and have often been designed and manufactured in North America and Europe for a lifetime of use. Pieces are donated or sold locally, and visiting thrift shops and reviewing comunity bulletins is just one way to reuse and reduce. Kristen Stocks, owner of vintage store and online boutique Deluxa, purchases vintage kitchenware because of its sustainability: “I love the idea of preventing new consumption while saving something that may have been headed to a landfill.” They also add some color and personality to a mise en place or dining table.

When purchasing vintage kitchenware to be used for cooking or serving, look foremost at its condition. Janet Rose of Over the Hill Vintage, an online and retail shop based in Nova Scotia, recommends pieces that are worn, but not worn out. She writes, “I find that if an item has been previously enjoyed but not abused then it will generally still hold it’s value." Items should not be chipped, burnt or damaged, and should ideally come with their original lids or accompanying pieces. If intended for décor, look for a piece that appeals to you aesthetically, whether you are keen on Scandinavian design, fanciful embellishments, or a rustic look.

While there is no guaranteed source for finding what you want, the possibility exists wherever there are cooks and kitchens. Antique stores stock pieces that have been researched and any flaws have been pre-identified. The stock is often well-edited, but they may command higher prices. Estate sales and auctions can result in unique finds, although the selection can be limited or specific to a particular taste. Church, farm and garage sales are also places to find neglected items in great condition for a bargain price, but may require more patience and scavenging, as is the case for thrift and consignment shops. Local bulletin boards and online retailers are also a way to collect vintage pieces.

But it doesn’t have to be that much work. The best pieces can be those that simply catch your eye or jog your memory. Rose describes vintage items as the “comfort food” of kitchen tools. They are pieces with a past of countless people, meals, families and homes, all of which, speculates Stocks, may “wear off just a bit on the materials.” My glass mixing bowls have probably made more meals than I have eaten, and I’m sure having that history in my tools only makes the ingredients taste better. After all, at the end of the day, it’s all about making good food.

Some places to look for vintage kitchenware in Victoria:

Lund’s Auctions, 926 Fort Street

Salvation Army , 525 Johnson Street

James Bay United Church, 511 Michigan Street

Victoria’s craigslist household items site

New Year's Eve on the West Coast

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Not sure what to do for New Year's Eve? Look no further. We've rounded up the most appetizing events taking place December 31st across BC. Wherever you spend it, we wish you a very happy New Year's, from all of us here at EAT.

Victoria

New Years Eve Celebration at AURA with Poplar Grove

AURA waterfront restaurant + patio and Poplar Grove Winery will clink their gold medals together to ring in the New Year of 2010.   Your evening begins at 7pm under the stars, in the spectacular Terrace Ballroom with Poplar Grove’s, award winning, Wine Maker Ian Sutherland. You will sip as Ian takes you on a taste tour through Poplar Grove’s entire wine selection. Next it’s off the AURA waterfront restaurant + patio for your gastronomic extravaganza. AURA’s culinary brigade and talented service team takes you into 2010 with a 5-course wine paired dinner. Now it’s time to put on your dancing shoes, grab a glass of bubble and get down to the sweet dub sound of Green Law. $169

Call 250-414-6739 to make a reservation.

Paprika’s New Years Eve

$80 ~ 4 Course Dinner (early seating)

$90 ~ 5 Course Dinner (late seating)

call 250. 592. 7424 for reservations

Casablanca New Year's at the Superior Café

For the third year in a row, the Superior Café is putting on a New Year’s Eve party with style. Dinner, Casablanca viewing, a costume contest and more on December 31st. Visit their website for more details. Call 250.380.95915 for reservations.

Café Mulatta's Jamaican New Year’s Dinner and Dance

Call 250.385.9616 for details and reservations.

Spinnakers 3 course dinner/ fundraiser.

Call 250. 386.2739 for details and reservations.

S ips Artisan Bistro's 6 course dinner with local ingredients

Call 250.590.3519 for details and reservations.

Heron Rock Bistro's 5 course New Year’s Eve Dinners with Local Ingredients

Reservations: 250-383-1545

To view the full menu, click here

1st Seating (reservations between 4:30 and 6:15 pm) $65

2nd Seating (reservations between 8-10pm) $75

Vancouver Island

New Year’s Eve Feast on the Mountain

In the Comox Valley, the folks at Triaculinary like to celebrate all the full moons with a feast. The Triaculinary website explains: “A blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month and this year it falls on New Year's Eve. To celebrate, we're joining forces with Sushi-Mon Mt. Washington to host a Full Moon-Blue Moon Feast on the Mountain.”

The event will take place at Sushi-Mon on Mt. Washington, at 7 pm. Featuring a 5-course Japanese-inspired menu created by master sushi chef Ky. Price includes a Blue Moon Cocktail upon arrival and a glass of Blue Moon's port-style wine with dessert. Beer and wine not included.

Reservations are required, phone (250) 218-3352 to book your space now.

New Year's Eve at Sooke Harbour House

Ring in the New Year westcoast style at a beautiful coastal Inn. The Sooke Harbour House is hosting an event with live musical entertainment by Roxxlyde, dancing, light appetizers, cash bar, party favours and a toast at midnight. A raffle will be held shortly after midnight with great prizes to be won! $49.95 per person excluding taxes, beverages and gratuities. Event begins at 10 pm until 1 am. A fun local event! Call 250-642-3421 or 800-889-9688 today to reserve your table.

Vancouver

VOYAge into 2010

Ring in the New Year at Loden Vancouver and Voya Restaurant

Cap off the decade in style at Voya Restaurant and Lounge, December 31. Chef Marc-Andre Choquette has created a trio of 'medal worthy' menus perfect to celebrate New Year's on the eve of Vancouver's biggest year yet!

7 Course Gold Menu - $95

5 Course Silver Menu - $75

3 Course Bronze Menu - $55

Call 604 639 VOYA or visit voya-restaurant.com for information and reservations.

Elixir Bistro rings in 2010 with Glitz and Glamour

OPUS Hotel Vancouver and Elixir infuse New Year’s Eve with Old Hollywood glamour. On December 31st, OPUS and Elixir Bistro roll out the red carpet and invite guests to dine in style, sip on bubbly and enjoy live entertainment The first seating is 5:30pm – 7:00pm and is priced at $40 per person plus applicable tax and gratuity. Guests who are attending dinner, as well as the countdown celebration in OPUS Bar, will dine on a four-course menu and enjoy a glass of bubbly, canapés after midnight and live entertainment. The second seating begins at 8:30pm and is priced at $75.00 per person plus applicable tax and gratuity.OPUS Bar’s countdown celebration includes bubbly, live entertainment and canapés after midnight. The festivities begin at 9pm and tickets are $45. Dress to impress in vintage glamour. Tickets and reservations are available at Elixir Bistro 604.642.0557 or contact Jessica Dunn at jdunn@opushotel.com or 604.694.2137.Those who would like to dine at Elixir Bistro and move on to another party may be seated early and savour Chef Letendre’s classic, sophisticated three-course menu. Elixir Bistro French Bistro meets affordable Yaletown glamour in Elixir. Recognized as the bronze recipient for casual French cuisine at the coveted Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards; Elixir is also a founding member of the Ocean Wise Program and Green Table Network. Chef Don Letendre specializes in classic French cuisine, crafting innovative dishes from the freshest regional and seasonal ingredients.

A Classic French Bistro New Year's Eve

Chef Stephane Istel invites you and yours to celebrate at db Bistro this New Year's Eve.

Two seatings, and two specially priced prix-fixe menus. Live entertainment.

The 5:30pm seating offers a gorgeous three-course $55 menu, plus limited a-la-carte.

The 8:00pm seating offers a delectable five-course $99 menu, limited a-la-carte, plus the Jackée Guillou jazz quartet live.

The Bistro will be offering extended brunch service on NewYear's Day. Visit the New Year's pages of their website for menu and details.

A Fine French New Year at Lumière

Limited to just 45 guests for each of Chef Dale Mackay's two New Year's dinner seatings. Both Grand Relais & Chateaux class menus are offered with optional regular and premium wine pairings, or a-la-carte cellar service.

The 5:30pm seating offers an exquisite four-course prix fixe menu for $98 per person.

The 8:30pm seating offers a delectable seven-course set alternating tasting menu for $198 per person. Visit the Lumière website for menu details.

A Gin Dinner at the Brasserie L’École

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The first Art of the Cocktail, a fundraiser for the Victoria Film Festival, drew to an elegant close with Dinner with a Twist. Four restaurants hosted a dinner, each with a unique menu and courses paired with cocktails. I wanted to attend, but in the back of mind I wondered if I might be allowed a glass of wine instead.

I snagged last minute seats to the Brasserie L'Ecole dinner which would pair Chef Sean Brennan’s cooking with Hendrick’s Brand Ambassador Charlotte Voisey’s gin cocktails. You might think that four cocktails for dinner is too much; luckily I had prepared my stomach by attending the tasting the previous evening including Charlotte’s Gimlet and Scottish Pair (more than once). I was excited to taste the gin cocktails she would conjure up to match the Brasserie’s food especially because gin lends itself to mixing well with herbs and spices. Hendrick’s gin is produced in Ayrshire, Scotland, and has prominent rose and cucumber infusions along with more conventional gin botanicals juniper, coriander, and citrus.

Gin has always been my white spirit of choice. When I sip a gin and tonic it transports me through space and time. It makes me feel at once like an old British lady and at the same time a British officer in India preventing an oncoming bout of malaria. It is also utterly refreshing.

Dinner with a Twist commenced with a classic cocktail. The French 75 was light, sparkling and pretty, the bubbles danced across the tongue awakening diners’ senses for what was to come.

One of my preferred cocktails came next. The Gimlet refreshed the palette and this lime-rich drink was a good choice to partner with the Halibut, potato confit, smoked sablefish and Savoy cabbage ragout first course. Gimlets work well with seafood because the lime enhances the fish’s subtle flavours. Try one with raw oysters.

For the second course, Chef Brennan presented what reminded me of an abstract installation on a plate in the form of dark squares of juicy Pork Rillon, light pink and white firm, juicy spot prawns accompanied by rich terracotta smooth butternut squash flavoured with harissa. Charlotte announced that the cocktail she had paired for this course was her favourite. It was called the Gin Figgle, an impeccably balanced cocktail with a deep orange colour. Before I go any further you should mix one for yourself (find the recipe in this week's recipe box).

Sipping this drink I became convinced that in fact, cocktails do go very well, in this case even better than wine, with food. I was a little shocked. The subtle spicing in both the drink and dish intrigued me. Harissa, a hot chili sauce paste originating in North Africa is not used in traditional French cookery, but appears on the Brasserie’s menu from time to time due to the Chef’s interest in North Africa’s influence on French cookery. The harissa was a good choice as it added that extra je ne sais quoi to the dish without being overpowering. The ginger root had the same effect on the cocktail.

Charlotte Voisey recommends using spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and clove either in a simple syrup, a foam or freshly ground and sprinkled on top as garnish. Another option for a garnish is fresh cilantro leaves topped with mace blades.

Venison loin chop was next on the menu and it was the most beautiful piece of meat to have ever approached my plate. Dark red, and two inches high, the venison had presence. You could hear diners inhale as they admired the meat. This masterpiece was served with red cabbage, spice-poached quince and parsnip purée and the tender venison delivered on taste and satisfaction. My partner who is not a meat lover is still talking about that venison. Charlotte introduced the Martinez to accompany the venison and it stood up well in colour and taste with two measures of sweet vermouth to one of gin. She declared, “This cocktail is probably as close to wine as you can get” and like a good glass of red wine it did not disappoint.

Dessert was a simple and elegant twice-baked shortbread with a touch of orange oil to go with the strawberry mint mojito, a perfect digestivo after a perfect dinner.Some diners were so impressed that much to Charlotte’s delight, they continued to sip gin once the dinner was finished.

Exceptional Eats! Awards

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Here at EAT magazine, we’ve decided that just writing articles isn’t enough. We want to give your voice a forum for identifying, recognizing and celebrating what is going on here on Vancouver Island that matters to you.

What excites you about the local food scene? What is it about food that affirms and consistently supports your decision to stay on Vancouver Island? Your voice reinforces a collective commitment to Vancouver Island and informs potential gastronomic developments. That is to say, your bums in seats for eats, unfolded wallet at a farm stand and drool on the counter at the cheese shop sustains Vancouver Island’s culinary culture, keeps it going and keeps it coming. Go team!

And so, we introduce to you the Exceptional Eats! Awards, a celebration of the notables from Victoria to Sointula and Tofino to Salt Spring. We have developed a list of short questions in consultation with a collection of individuals including food journalists, prominent Islanders, farmers, chefs, dedicated foodies and pe ople who just like to eat. Share your voice and vote for the Island’s best. This food-friendly poll is designed to reflect and respect what is significant and intriguing in our culinary culture. This is not about the biggest stack o’ pancakes or the best place to get a date. Get real. This is about food. This is about the real food and drink and the people who make it happen.

Please vote by filling out the survey. The Exceptional Eats! Awards can reflect the tastes and priorities of this community only if the community participates. It is time for Vancouver Island to share its voice in acknowledgment and gratitude. The Exceptional Eats! Awards will be an annual event, celebrating the bar, and raising it. It is time for our own awards, for ourselves, the industry, for visitors and for the love of the food.

By voting, you will become eligible to win one of the prizes generously donated by our sponsors. The winners will be announced in the March/April 2010 issue of EAT along with the results of the survey. By recognizing excellence, we are giving a big round of applause to all the chefs, servers, brewers, farmers and vintners and more who together make this Island such an exceptional place to eat and drink.

To vote, CLICK HERE

Voting ends Feb 01, 2010.

Both name and email address is required to be entered in the draw.

Please note: You will only be able to take the survey once per computer.

The Prizes:

• A Luxury Weekend at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria donated by the Empress (www.fairmont.com/empress) and EAT Magazine.

• The Mocca Master Thermal Brewer - The World's Best Coffee Maker donated by www.CoffeeCrew.com

• Dinner For Two at Deerholme Farm donated by Deerholme Farm (www.magnorth.bc.ca) and www.VancouverIslandLocalFood.com

Fed Up With Julie

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I wish you all a happy holiday, and warm wishes for a healthy, happy 2010 filled with family, friends, fine food and good cheer.

Tis the day before Christmas as this goes to press

Admittedly I'm in a bit of a mess

Between writing and wine sales

I've hardly been able

to even consider what fare will grace tomorrow's table

So I've carved a a few moments to ponder and pour a stiff drink

(A perfect manhattan with bourbon, I think)

Tackling the masses will make the task harder

Let's see what already lies in the larder

Roasted apples, parsnips and onions puréed into velvet

for a perfect soup starter

To go with the soup a wee bit of sherry

A tradition guaranteed to make any meal merry

I peer in the freezer to see what lurks there

Prime rib, wild game but oh! what luck

I spy in the corner a Quebecois duck

Yesterdays' breads

studded with prunes, dried berries for a savoury bed

for the bird, slowly roasted

with leaves of sage from the balcony and nuts, lightly toasted.

Duck drippings are perfect for roasting the spuds.

EAT's crispy kale should not be a dud.

Now is the time to fish for the wine cellar's best--

A silky Burgundy to pair with the feast.

Our little clan has not a sweet tooth

Poached pears in wine should be enough

To finish, a wedge of stilton with port

And walnuts or nuts of a similar sort.

Move over Mike Smith

I've come up with a winner

To rival a Chef at Home's coolest Yule dinner.

Season’s Eatings

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

‘Tis the season for full bellies and tasty treats. While it may seem natural to settle down to a stuffed turkey dinner and all the fixings on Christmas Day, the more adventurous might consider roasting a goose instead. Having just eaten our way through a turkey dinner free-for-all in October, cooking a Christmas goose can be a refreshing alternative to the Thanksgiving staple.

In North America, turkey is the go-to bird for most holiday meals. Historically, though, Europeans have feasted on Christmas goose for centuries. In fact, in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the Cratchit family serves goose for their Christmas meal. Most of us won’t break from North American tradition this week, but consider goose when stuffing any bird. Its crispy skin and rich flavour rival that of any fowl and the fact that goose can be relatively easy to find and prepare might surprise some.

Most consider goose in the context of hunting which isn’t completely untrue. British Columbia’s wilderness is known for its capacity to produce delicious, local meat. Because Vancouver Island no longer has a large-scale poultry processing plant, geese are either privately hunted on the Island or most commonly bred on the mainland. So, unless you hunt or know someone who does, talk to your specialty butcher about getting fresh geese from the Fraser Valley.

Like any game, goose has a strong, distinct flavour. While turkey and chicken are low maintenance to prepare, goose requires a little bit more attention but can yield impressive results that will surprise dinner guests. When cooking goose, look for a bird that is eight to twelve pounds (bigger is not better). Be sure to prick the skin to allow the fat to seep out when cooking. When stuffing the bird, favour ingredients like apple, onion, and orange, and be sure to add liquid to the roasting pan to prevent the drippings from burning. Although the layer of fat under the skin makes goose seem like an oily bird, remember that the meat itself is relatively lean and can easily become dry if overcooked.

Use leftovers in similar ways to other poultry - shredded on a sandwich or a salad - and boil the carcass for an incredible soup base. Also be sure to save the wonderfully flavoured fat to add richness to future meals.

See this week’s recipe box for an excellent accompaniment to roast goose, cassis-braised red cabbage.

Local Treasures for Last Minute Presents

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It may sound a little old fashioned, but I can think of few presents that are better received than the food basket. I still remember the first one I received, the Christmas after my first child was born. As with many new parents, I was still in survival mode, so a basket brimming with gourmet treats beyond my everyday budget was incredibly appreciated. Not only could I have a little taste of luxury in my own home, I didn’t have to shop for it, and even better, I didn’t have to prepare any of it myself.

Putting together a gourmet gift basket is also a lot of fun, as I discovered while assembling EAT’s ‘A Taste of British Columbia’ prize package for this year’s Menu of Hope Campaign. With an abundance of exquisite foods produced here in BC, you can feel good about supporting local businesses, farmers and food producers. Here is a little round-up of some of the local treasures we’ve come across this year. This list can work two ways. Use it either as a reference for gift suggestions while you are doing your own hunting, or print it up and hand it to someone who is heading out to shop for your Christmas presents!

Here’s what went into our own prize package: a Farm Folk/City Folk 2010 calendar, a 20g. bag of Untamed Feast’s delicious dried wild mushroom products (Forest Blend), locally grown roasted hazelnuts from Butler Hazelnut Farm located on Bear Hill in Central Saanich, Vista d’Oro Farm’s Turkish Fig with Walnut Wine preserves from Langley, a ½ lb. bag of Mile 0 Roasters Niagara Blend from Victoria, Cortes Island-based Gathering Place’s Organic Rooibos Tea, and two chocolate bars from Cobble Hill-based organicfair . All of these items, with the exception the Mile 0 coffee (roasted on site at Niagara Grocery in James Bay), are available at Plenty.

Considerations were made when assembling the EAT Menu for Hope prize, given that our parcel will need to be shipped (weight) and that it will not be consumed immediately (non-perishable). If you are hand delivering a gift basket, these concerns may not matter, and more options are available. A selection of local cheeses (Natural Pastures Comox Brie just won silver at the World Cheese Awards in Spain) with locally cured meats (a new prosciutto from Ottavio’s, or pepperoni from Choux Choux Charcuterie) makes a beautiful offering. For something a little different, why not make a frozen food basket, with soups and meals pulled straight from Little Piggy and Devour’s freezers, and delivered in a cooler. Nothing will make the new parents, students or starving artists on your gift list happier.

Trevor Walker, owner of Plenty, mentions a few other great items to include in a BC food gift basket: Venturi-Schulze Aceto Balsamico (Balsamic Vinegar): made from their own grape juice, simmered to a luscious concentration over an open fire, and converted to vinegar by the slow, natural ancient process. Venturi-Schulze is located up-island near Cobble Hill. French Macarons (meringue-like with hazelnuts and praline, pistachio, or chocolate) from Rendezvous Patisserie on Salt Spring Island, and True Grain Bread's Organic Butter Stollen: a traditional German festive loaf. The True Grain Stollen is rich with organic butter, rum-infused organic Thompson raisins, almonds, organic orange and lemon zest and spice; all surrounding the marzipan center. It is available with Red Fife wheat or BC grown spelt. Both grains are certified organic and milled on site at True Grain mill. True Grain is in Cowichan Bay. BC-made chocolates by Sarandipity and Denman Island Chocolates are available at Niagara Grocery and provide a sweet element to any gourmet gift, or make great stocking stuffers. For tea lovers, head to Silk Road or JagaSilk for inspiration.

If time is pressing, these thoughtful businesses have pre-made cheese boards and gift baskets. Visit their websites (click on business names for links above) for more details. Edible British Columbia, on Granville Island, whose aim is to “set a new standard for gifts by supporting your local artisans and farmers, and ensuring our local culinary scene is sustainable,” has a wide array of foodie gift baskets that can be ordered by telephone or online, and shipped globally. It has never been easier, or more tempting, to offer local foods over the holidays.

Winter’s Bounty

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Fresh, local and seasonal may seem like tough concepts to consider when Old Man Winter comes to visit. Our minds drift to sunny summer months - markets, teeming with fresh fruit and veggies, or al fresco meals made with just-picked ingredients. It’s enough to make one feel a little bit wistful and look forward to farm-fresh produce in the spring. But here and now, on Vancouver Island in the middle of December, local ingredients are not only available but delicious.

Living in the Pacific Northwest opens a myriad of opportunities for winter cuisine. With fresh produce to choose from year round, it’s not difficult to understand why the slow food movement has gained ferocious momentum on the West Coast. Even when the temperature drops and the sky clouds over, there are plenty of fresh edibles to choose from. Kale is just one example. This deeply coloured winter green is proof that eating locally during the winter months doesn’t mean that you have to forgo flavour.

An underrated but versatile vegetable, kale is most appetizing in the middle of winter until early spring. This hardy green has a strong flavour th at tones down after freezing. As a result, kale is the sweetest now because the leaves have been exposed to frost. Kale is a member of the Brassica family and related to collard greens, brussel sprouts and broccoli. A descendant of wild cabbage, kale’s large, curled leaves don’t grow around a central head. Different varieties, such as Russian kale, grow readily on the Island and can make a delicious complement to cold weather cuisine.

Kale is considered tastier when cooked and often takes a supporting role in meals. It can complement pastas, soups and stir fries but sautéing or roasting the vegetable highlights its earthier qualities. When shopping, look for deeply coloured, unwilted kale. The smaller leaves are the most tender and have a delicate cabbagey flavour. Be sure to eat the kale as soon as possible because it becomes bitter the longer it is stored.

Not to be outdone in the flavour department, look to this cousin of cabbage as a way of cashing in on a variety of vitamins and minerals. Packed with antioxidants and touted for its anticarcinogenic properties, kale is widely regarded as a “super food.” It also possesses the aesthetic characteristics that make it a popular garnish or decoration. Kale’s curly leaves and sturdy stems along with its rich green, sometimes blue or purple hues make it an eye catching vegetable.

What’s best about kale, though, is that it’s available in the winter when it seems like fresh options are limited. So, when you’re looking to get your fill of local veggies in December, remember that you don’t have to look far, and you definitely don’t have to wait until spring.

For a great way to use local kale, look in our recipe box this week.

Never Underestimate the Dishwasher

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo of Cosmo Meens by Rebecca Baugniet

It can be a challenge, when you are writing up a calendar of all the food and wine related events happening in Victoria, to curb the impulse to attend each and every one. Lack of time and money, and my expanding waistline (an occupational hazard, I suppose) are the main deterrents. But when I heard about the series of dinner classes offered at Terralicious this fall showcasing island ingredients, I knew I wanted to attend one. Island bison was the obvious choice for me, since it is a relatively new ingredient on my radar. Up until last year, I had rarely seen bison as a choice on a menu, and I don’t remember ever seeing it at the butcher’s or in the grocery store. When I moved to Victoria, I noticed it popping up all over the place – bison burgers in restaurants, bison jerky for snacks, ground bison at the grocery store… Ever so tentatively, I began introducing it into my family’s diet, excited to have a healthier option to offer the meat-loving contingent in my household. I was eager to attend a class that could teach me more about this island ingredient.

Bison has a lot going for it; is a much leaner, nutrient-rich meat than beef, boasting 30% more protein and 25% less cholesterol than beef, as well as anti-carcinogenic properties. It has a slightly gamier taste, as one would expect from an essentially wild animal. Bison is grass fed, unlike most of the beef available to us, and it’s local.

Terralicious is the gardening and cooking school operating out of the farmhouse on Haliburton Community Organic Farm. The kitchen is not a fancy one, but it is cleverly designed for small classes, with a camera located over the stove so students can observe stovetop techniques on a large screen near the seating area, and a mirror positioned over the prep counter, so everyone can easily see what is happening. The island bison class was the last in this particular series, and most of the students in attendance were regulars. One brought a long wooden votive holder, and lit candles. Wine was poured, and we took our seats to watch Cosmo prepare the bison.

He used a rib cut, bought at Slater’s, originating from the Island Bison Ranch in Black Creek, here on Vancouver Island. Cosmo explained that he had intended do a roast for us, but after looking at the nicely marbled meat, decided to cut it into steaks. Let the meat tell you what you should do with it, was the message. He had covered the steaks in a fragrant rub with a hint of lavender, packed them up snug in a Tupperware, and left to absorb the rub for several hours prior to the class. Using bacon fat left over from the first class, he seared the steaks, poking at them with his finger to test doneness (“you have to trust my hands to feel good about eating here,” he told us unapologetically – and indeed, everyone seemed very trusting). Cosmo worked quickly, although he managed to entertain and answer questions with ease along the way. He transferred the steaks to a hot oven after pulling out a large casserole filled to the brim with a mushroom, walnut and blueberry stuffing. The class took place on American Thanksgiving, and this was the chef’s nod to the occasion. Learning that our host, Dayle Cosway is American, we all wished her a Happy Thanksgiving, and watched as a substantial mounds of the stuff were piled on top of farm-picked greens.

I don’t think I was alone in contemplating how stuffing really deserves to shine in its own right like this, especially one as flavourful and satisfying as Cosmo’s. Once we had devoured the stuffing salad starter, we returned to watch Cosmo finishing the demi-glace and red wine reduction were whisked up with cream to create a luxurious sauce for the bison. Any health benefits to eating bison over beef may have been counteracted by topping it with this velvety gravy, but no one complained. In fact, it was quite the opposite, with the regulars reminiscing and ranking their favourite classes in the series (the raw food one was close to the top, while the scallop evening was also remembered fondly).

“I’m just a glorified dishwasher.” Not the most convincing statement, having just prepared a gourmet meal before my eyes, but that’s what Cosmo Meens answered when I asked him what his background was. I may be new in town, but I’ve been here long enough to know that this is the chef who started Mo:Lé, Café Bliss and most recently, the Village Family Marketplace. When pressed, he did confess to putting in time in the line at Pagliacci’s, and being mentored by John Hall (Cassis). Cosmo has handed over the chef’s reins at Mo:Lé, preferring to spend time with his family and tend the orchard on their new property, Footstep Hill Farm in Saanichton. You can visit Fresh Coast TV to see what else he’s up to.

At $65 per class, this experience offered incredible value. I have previously attended dinner classes that cost twice as much, and the wine wasn’t included. Keep your fingers crossed they bring this series back - with chef’s tips, a stunning dinner served at a long table covered in crisp linens by the fireside, good conversation and local wine, these classes fall among Victoria’s best kept secrets.

Fed Up with Julie

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I adore my classic cookbooks. It’s wonderful having Elizabeth (David) and Julia in the kitchen and The Joy of Cooking on my shelf. I’ve no quibble, though with the hip (mostly) young chefs, whose cookbooks made it on to my desk this year—nearly all of them Canadian, and mainly BC chefs who are singing the praises of local, seasonal, but above all, fresh.

I’ve prepped dishes from the following books. The recipes are approachable; directions impeccable. (Having had the pleasure of enjoying the authors’ fare first-hand—I can vouch for their talents) Most, however, cater to a modicum of culinary savvy, and presume you know your way around a stove. Books waver between $30-$50. Keep your eyes open though, for bookstore and/or on-line offers.

BLUE WATER CAFE, by Frank Pabst, WEST, by Walter Geraghty and ARAXI, by James Walt

This hardcover trio from Jack Everensal’s Top Table group of celebrated chefs belongs, fittingly enough, on top of anyone’s coffee table. We love the fishy explanations in Blue Water Café and Pabst’s skill with seafood, transferred to the page, Walter Geraghty's elegant approach in West. James Walt’s coddles you through Araxi’s recipes with reassuring words and straightforward technique. Keen cooks will take these right off the coffee table and into the kitchen.

C FOOD by Rob Clark and Harry Kambolis (C Restaurant)

What came first the camera or the cook? In this case, the camera. Photographer Hamid Attie’s brilliant eye became Rob Clark’s springboard for C FOOD. Though the food looks almost surreal against glossy black pages, Clark walks the cook through simple steps toward stunning results. (The roasted B.C sablefish with wildflower honey glaze atop sautéed Swiss chard is a case in point) Purchasing ready-made stocks, jellies or flatbreads will give the neophyte or in-a-hurry cook a leg up on some of the recipes. C Food also honours Kambolis’ and Clark’s commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly seafood. C Food is culinary art at its best.

The Main by Anthony Sedlak and French Taste by Laura Calder

These cookbooks hail from two of Food Network Canada’s many luminaries. (See also Rebecca Baugniet’s reviews of Fresh by Anna Olson and Michael Smith’s The Best of Chef at Home.)

The Main, as on the show, showcases a meal centered around a single item. (Sedlak’s section on ingredients is a terrific bonus). This delightful compendium boasts recipes that are modern, innovative yet down-home approachable. (Vancouverites eagerly await the overdue launch of the oh-so handsome Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe where Sedlak is anxious to turn his skills, boundless energy and attention to French-at-the-heart fare. City Hall has held the whole thing up for several months).

Laura Calder masters the art of elegant everyday eating in French Taste mirroring the recipes from the third season for her show, French Food at Home. She masters, for instance, Beef Bourguignon in a fraction of Julia Child’s time (and space) with equally rich results, and turns tourtiere from meat pie into a stuffed pastry “log” for easy slicing. Many recipes occupy a mere half a page, but cut the mustard—and the fat. Highly recommended for the home chef who wants to polish their French without a lot of fuss and muss.

The Pan Chancho Cookbook—compiled by Zoe Yanovsky.

Sadly, Kingston Ontario lost its much-loved Pan Chancho Bakery owners Zal Yanovsky and Rose Richardson to illness before the book was finished. Daughter Zoe, staff and friends banded together to get this terrific 230 page tome out there. The books is stuffed with recipes for bread, sumptuous desserts, main dishes, soups, salads and their dressings.

Pan Chancho’s mouth watering rustic recipes (Tuscan pork tenderloin and marinated Mediterranean tuna salad on olive/rosemary sourdough leap to mind) will get you cooking tout de suite. Published in Kingston by Bookmakers Press.

A Local Table - The Choices Market Cookbook by Desiree Nelson & Antonio Cerullo (Choices’ dietician and chef)

This practical book from Ladner’s own Choices Market(s) gathers good flavour and good health under one umbrella. Recipes, arranged according to seasonal crops, feature local producers, include nutritional facts, and are yummy to boot. For instance Jerk Chicken and Potato Salad weighs in under 400 calories and 8 fat grams. The Special Diets index tackls the challenges of those with gluten and nut allergies or folks concerned with salt intake. Vegetarians and Vegans learn how supplement meat and dairy. Coil bound for handy reading.

Alfalfabet A to Z - The Wonderful Words from Agriculture by Carol Watterson

Whimsically illustrated, this slim volume will get kids clamouring to visit a farm or pot a few seeds. Gg for Gaggle of Giggling Geese educates kids about the birds while Nn (for nibbling nectar) tells them about bees. By the time you reach Zoom zoom zucchinis (Zz) your little one may dreaming of popping pea pods (Pp). Published by the British Columbia in the Classroom Foundation with links to other school programs and teaching resources.

Vancouver Cooks 2 compiled by the Chef's Table Society Of British Columbia

This just in: My copy of Vancouver Cooks 2. A classy, updated release of Vancouver Cooks, launched five years ago mirrors perfectly Vancouver's food scene. I can just see veterans John Bishop oven braising a festive venison ragout preceded by Fanny Bay Oyster soup and Tojo's inspired Japanese touch with sablefish.

And I'm heading to the farmer's market for spinach and swiss chard to make the minestrone verde from Cibo Trattoria's Neil Taylor (EnRoute's #1 pick for New Restaurant 2009).

The book's unsung hero is Joan Cross, Vancouver 2's recipe editor. She's done a cracker-jack job of testing and tackling the daunting task of adapting seventy chefs' dishes for the home cook.

A perfect gift for your the out-of-town guest whose best memories of travel are through its cuisine.

NDP Introduce Bill to Legalize Purchase of Local Meat

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

VICTORIA- British Columbians will once again be able to purchase fresh meat products from local farmers if a bill introduced in the legislature by New Democrats today is passed.

"Even as increasing numbers of British Columbians are looking for local food choices, the centuries-old tradition of the family farm is at risk," said New Democrat MLA Nicholas Simons, who introduced the bill.

"I hope that MLAs from both sides of the house can come together to support local food and B.C. farmers by backing this bill."

The bill amends the Food Safety Act in order to allow farmers to sell meat directly from the farm to local customers. Under the current rules, all meat offered for sale must be processed at centralized facilities despite the fact that this is not an option for many small producers, particularly in rural communities. Since the B.C. Liberal government outlawed farm gate sales many small farms have gone out of business.

"Forcing farmers to ship their animals hundreds of miles for processing not only makes local meat unaffordable, it also puts undue stress on the animals and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions," said Lana Popham, New Democrat agriculture critic.

"I hope both sides of the house can come together to support this common-sense bill that promotes local economies and encourages environmental stewardship."

From the BC NDP website

Street Carts Future Undecided

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The weather is only one of the changes that I notice since my first visit to the Cook St. carts to gather information for this article, but it does set the mood. The late fall gloom is a stark contrast to the happy, sunny lunchtime bustle I observed back in early September. The lot is all but abandoned, with only Jesse Cornes, still manning the Mean Bean, and a mushroom vendor, selling bolete mushrooms under a small awning. I guess non-stop rain for three weeks will take its toll on the outdoor eating scene. But it’s not just the weather.

If you’ve been following the news, you know that the outdoor section of the Cook St. Village Food Court has met with some resistance from neighbours; complaints were lodged and a formal community consultation with public hearings has been underway for the past month. For the most part, the community appears to back the project, as was demonstrated by a recent petition filled with hundreds of local signatures. Marc Fagen, the property owner, says the main concerns are to do with noise, smell, and hours of operation, all issues that both he and the vendors believe can be easily resolved. More complicated however, is untangling the bureaucratic knot they seem to be caught in.

Last week a group of city councilors voted against the project at a development meeting, though that has not extinguished all hope for the street carts. Fagen attended the meeting, and reports that only the councilors were allowed to speak on that occasion. This Thursday, however, another meeting is scheduled, one that will be open to the public, at which the developer and vendors will be able to present their appeal to the city’s decision.

Both Fagen and the vendors I spoke with remain hopeful that the project will get the go ahead from the city, yet no one is placing all their eggs in this one basket, so to speak. ‘For Sale’ signs are hanging, and Fagen says that if the project is not approved, he will have no choice but to sell. In the words of one vendor “at least we’ve still got the cart. We can take it with us if we have to.” Gaia’s Living Foods, the most recent cart to open, has already branched out into catering and wholesale. Call owner Shawna Barker (778- 433-1053) for more information.

The open meeting will be held at City Hall this Thursday evening, November 26th, at 7.30 pm.

If you are in favour of keeping the carts, there are a few of things you can do:

1. Sign the petition or drop off a letter of support at the Mean Bean or Bubby Rose's.

2. Phone or email Victoria City Councilors or the mayor:

Mayor Dean Fortin 250-361-0200, mayor@victoria.ca or call City Hall 250-361-5711

3. Speak at the city council meeting on Thursday, Nov 26th. Click here to view the agenda for the meeting. (To speak you must drop off a letter to the Legislative Service Dept. at Victoria City Hall. Phone: 250-361-0571 or visit www.victoria.ca for more details.)

enRoute Food Issue

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo: Left: Housemade tagliatelle with chanterelles, butter, garlic, parsley and Parmesan. Right Cibo Chef Neil Taylor. (PHOTOS BY RAINA+WILSON)

EnRoute Magazine has just published its annual Food Issue that includes its choice of the top ten new Canadian restaurants. But unless you find yourself traveling Air Canada this month it’s unlikely you’ll see a copy.

So let me summarize.

Each year for the past eight years enRoute has assembled a panel of what they call “Tastemakers” from across the country to advise on which new restaurants deserve their recognition. (Full disclosure I have been one of the BC panelists for a number of years). We pass our recommendations on to the writer (Chris Nuttal-Smith) who then hops a plane and eats at all the restaurants. After completing this whirlwind smorgasbord he picks his top ten winners and writes-up the story. It’s all highly entertaining and subjective. Still when you get to compare and contrast so many similar restaurants in a short period the cream does seem to rise. Top ten BC past winners have included Salt Tasting Room, Nu, Brasserie L’Ecole, Stage, Boneta, Arbutus Grill at Brentwood Bay, SoBo and Chambar among the many. Not too shabby a group?

This year Vancouver restaurant Cibo Trattoria snagged the top spot beating out other Vancouver newcomers such a Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Modern and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Market restaurant. (So much for celebrity chefs). I ate at Cibo back when they first opened and was impressed with the fine cooking of Neil Taylor. Taylor, who had cooked previously at the River Café in London, has a light, deft touch in the kitchen. His gnocchi was textbook pillow talk – all lightness, delicacy and gossamer – and I was hooked.

Across the country Nuttal picked T-dot’s The Black Hoof, a shrine to the new charcuterist for the number two pick and Calgary’s Rush in the bronze position – a no holds barred deluxe throwback to the oil rich days. Who says Canada doesn’t have Vegas style?

Others pegged for in-flight glory include Atelier and Murray Street in Ottawa, an Au Pied de Cochon offspring Cabane à Sucre featuring the illustrious Martin Picard’s re-imagined, full fat frontal take on the maple sugar shacks of rural Quebec. Montreal also pulled through with a winning bistro called La Salle à Manger. Lest gourmands poopoo the bistro as so yesterday, this one’s “market-driven” menu brings in “salty crunchy” sea asparagus with mimolette cheese to dispel their ennui.

But for me one of the highlights of this List is the inclusion of Ship to Shore, a refurbished roadhouse on the shores of Malpeque Bay in P.E.I. No $1M makeover here - just piles of some of the freshest, non-manipulated seafood around. Thank-goodness.

Editor-In-Chief Ilana Weitzman says in her introduction: “He (Nuttal-Smith) ate a series of shockingly excellent meals in some very empty rooms.”

It’s a testament to the high quality of our restaurants and chefs that they are able to soldier on under economic adversity. “Nobody likes to eat alone” she concludes. Meaning we hope all these wonderful restaurants can survive and once again diners will get out and support them.

http://www.cibotrattoria.com/index.html

http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/magazine

Fed Up with Julie

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Chef Michael Smith is Canada’s most noted ch ef. Food Network’s Chef at Home, and Chef Abroad draw a huge following and his cookbook tours command standing room only. (Check out the EAT review of The Best of Chef at Home) Vancouver contributor Julie Pegg discovered there’s a lot more to Smith than celebrity. He is first and foremost a parent and happens to be PEI’s culinary ambassador. Smith is soapbox passionate as to where food comes from. Further, he is adamant that the message gets through to both parents and their kids.

Julie Pegg met Chef Smith and chatted with him briefly at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks, where he cooked from The Best from Chef at Home, and she caught up with him again by phone later in Calgary.

JP: What triggered you to become a chef?

MS: I was attending art school, had bought a car and needed to pay for it. I got a job cooking, loved it, and realized that it too was an art form. I figured if I’m going to do this I’d better get it right. I left art school and enrolled at CIA (Culinary Institute of America).

JP: And graduated suma cum laude, I understand?

MS: Second in my class.

JP: After your restaurant successes was it the birth of your son that influenced your leaving the professional kitchen?

MS: My gosh! Yes! Gabe was the main reason I changed gears. I’m an all or nothing guy. I had to be either a professional chef or dad. There were also a lot of other things going on around that time. It was a gamble but I don’t regret a minute of it. I began to connect with home cooks. That’s when I really learned how to cook!

JP: A mom wrote, in a forum I read, “My 2 ½ year old son and I watch your show, then we head into the kitchen to cook dinner.” You must be thrilled when you hear stuff like that.

MS: Cooking, eating and sharing food with family is something very special. It certainly is for us. Rachel, [my wife] too, does a lot of the cooking. Hearing that a mom and little one sit down to watch the show then head to the kitchen to cook together? Boy, that makes me proud.

JP: When you’re at home do you shop for food daily? Weekly?

MS: Much of how we get our food depends on the time of year. Nearly all our family meals are based around fresh vegetables. Rachel is a vegetarian. I’m a vegetarian who eats meat. (Smith chuckles). Whenever possible I shop daily and seasonally. I make every effort to source that from local producers as well. And of there’s our great PEI seafood. Gabe and I love to hit the beach and dig for clams. And the lobsters are world class.

JP: You’re a vegetarian who eats meat?

MS: Although family meals center mostly on vegetables, I do enjoy meat occasionally. But I want to know where my meat comes from and what they ate. For instance cows should graze on grass, as they were meant to, not grains. Steak is “for the road” or a couple of times a year when Rachel goes on a Yoga retreat. Then Gabe and I take it outside and cook meat over an outdoor fire.

JP: I understand you were the guest speaker at UPEI (University of Prince Edward Island) recently. You spoke on the state of food in Canada and specifically on PEI.

MS: How the heck did you find that out?

JP: I was doing a little Michael Smith research and stumbled on the University website.

MS: It was called The Future Of Flavour. I was not there as the Food Network guy. I actually ended throwing away my prepared notes. I decided I wanted to push some buttons and get those kids to know how to engage with their food. We’ve lost a generation of cooks, and we are about to lose another one and I wanted them to know how important it is to take responsibility for their food and where it comes from [like sourcing from local farmers]. I also wanted them to know they can be comfortable in the kitchen cooking for themselves.

JP: What do you mean by Big Food Inc?

MS: That was a big part of the talk. Big Food Inc. is my term for all those big cheap profit seeking stores that don’t give a damn about you and want only to feed you processed preservative-filled crap. (I believe if you can’t pronounce the stuff on the side of the box then don’t eat it)

JP: How do you reconcile your ardent philosophy with The Food Network?

MS: The entertainment business and technology has been good to me. And I have my good habits and bad habits. I’m a regular guy. That doesn’t mean I can’t eat fresh, nutritionally and well nearly every day and have a conscience as to where my food comes from.

JP: Who is your favourite food author?

MS: Right now, Michael Pollan. [The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food]. His philosophy of eating [in seven words] tells us how we should all be eating. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Julie’s afterward: I came across the UPEI podcast of the Global Issues; Future of Food with Chef Smith. Talk about a passionate proponent of getting kids engaged with real food! I also discovered that Chef Michael Smith has created a scholarship for five years. One $500 award per year will be granted to a UPEI student in their second, third or fourth year in the Family and Nutritional Sciences Program, who is committed to questions of nutrition and food today’s world, and is in high academic standing.

Tending the Seeds of Change, One Photo at a Time

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

credit: Brian Harris photo: Brenda Grealis at the Langley Organic Growers booth takes a refreshing peach break, moments before bells ring to open the Trout Lake Farmers Market in Vancouver.

If a photograph is worth a thousand words, then Brian Harris’ slideshow, "Farm Folk/City Folk Heroes" speaks volumes. With a mellow soundtrack provided by Liona Boyd, the six minute homage to twenty-seven farm and city sustainable growers visually portrays a series of heartening stories from the frontlines of local food action: the small scale growers and producers.

For many years, Brian Harris worked in Tibet and the Himalayas for a Canadian NGO, where he used his camera as a tool to restore eyesight for the vision-impaired of those regions by raising funds for cataract operations. Once he returned to Canada, Brian partnered with Farm Folk/City Folk, fulfilling his desire to continue achieving social benefit through photography. Over the past three years, he has captured the images for the FF/CF calendars and note cards. To produce the slideshow, Brian estimates he visited close to twenty-five farms all over British Columbia, in addition to a large number of urban gardens. He has done a striking job of gathering pictures that offer a glimpse of the considerable effort and rewards involved in cultivating a local, sustainable food system.

Asked if any of the farms stood out in his memory, Brian answered unequivocally that each farm is special in its own way. This reminded me of the caption from one of the final images of the slideshow that reads “every garden and field expresses the personality of the grower.” Noticeably grateful to bear witness to this expression of beauty, Brian described some farmers, such as Gabi Fernandez of Sapo Bravo Farm near Lytton, as artists, remembering the clover, planted between the rows of vegetables “so the workers could go barefoot”, and the flowers that peppered their fields.

The images from the FF/CF slideshow will be combined with other photographs to create an exhibit on sustainable farming and urban agriculture to be held at the Museum of Vancouver from August 26th, 2010 to January 2nd, 2011. Brian is also working on two children’s books that aim to introduce these topics to a younger audience. He hopes that his photographs may serve as a springboard for further exploration of the issues surrounding sustainable farming and urban agriculture.

Farm Folk/City Folk is a non-profit society working towards a local, sustainable food system. The slideshow and calendar are two of their initiatives to raise awareness and appreciation of the issues mentioned above. The calendar includes twelve images from the FF/CF Heroes slideshow, as well as a seasonal recipe for each month. FF/CF is involved in numerous farm, city, joint farm and city, and education programs, including the Community Farms Program (a joint venture with the Land Conservancy of British Columbia), Feast of Fields, Incredible Edible Tours, and Sustenance: Feasting on Art and Culture Festival. For more information on Farm Folk/City Folk, or to view the slideshow, please visit www.ffcf.bc.ca. For more information on Brian Harris, visit his website.

Tapas readers will have an excusive chance to win one of three copies of Farm Folk/City Folk’s 2010 calendar later this week, so if you haven’t already signed up to receive our newsletter, click here.

Local Chefs Gather to Compete at Hubert Hall

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Chef Josh Houston's winning Salt Spring lamb saddle with smoked parsnip purée, Saanich farmed carrot ribbon and Tillicum plum jus.

It may not have been televised like so many other culinary competitions, but it was no less intense for the ten participating chefs and their assistants. Hailing from seven local establishments, (Westin Bear Mountain Resort, Bistro 161, Chateau Victoria’s Vista 18, Demitasse Bakery, the Heron Rock Bistro, Glo Europub and Fairmont Empress) ten chefs gathered at Camosun College last Sunday as the Victoria chapter of the Canadian Culinary Federation held its fourth annual Chef of the Year competition.

Teams were divided into the Blue and Red labs of Camosun College’s Culinary Arts Program facility, and had precisely six hours to prepare and present a four-course meal showcasing Vancouver Island products. Seven judges, including chef Bruno Marti (La Belle Auberge), chef Ronald St. Pierre (Locals) and chef Cory Pelan (La Piola) were distributed in the kitchen and in the hall, marking everything from preparation techniques, efficient use of ingredients, observance of safety and sanitation regulations, to timing, presentation, taste, composition and temperature.

The event also served as a fundraiser for the branch’s junior scholarship fund. Guests were greeted with a welcome cocktail, a blend of Kings and Spies Cider and blackberry cordial, provided by Kristen and Bruce Jordan of Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse. Hubert Hall was elegantly set up with ten round tables, each with ten place settings, cleverly designed to ensure every person at a table received dinner prepared by a different competing chef, thus giving every guest a glimpse of all the chefs different creations, despite not knowing who had created what. Wine was provided by the Mark Anthony group, with two versatile wines, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Shiraz from Prospect Wines, served to compliment the wide variety of dishes being served.

Between the four courses, Daphne Good, the evening’s MC, introduced each of the participating chefs. CCF’s Victoria chapter president, Graham Hawkins, also spoke about the central goals of the CCF; to foster professional development and fellowship amongst chefs, to promote awareness of the culinary profession and encourage training and participation in culinary competition. Hawkins, an alumnus of Camosun’s Culinary Arts program, spoke about his experience at the college, remembering teachers who “pushed students to the edge of their abilities,” and the motivation that experience gave him to serve as a mentor to the next generation of culinarians. He presented three recipients with Junior Scholarships, to assist them in their continued culinary education, before announcing the winners of the evening’s competition. The coveted Chef of the Year title for 2009 went to Josh Houston, chef at Westin Bear Mountain Resort. Congratulations to Chef Houston – he will represent the Victoria branch in the CCF’s upcoming provincial competition, so the pressure is back on!

The CCF is currently recruiting junior members; click here for more information.

Quintessentially Quince

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In a recent Los Angeles Times article, David Karp referred to quince as “so out, it’s in.” Once a popular pome, it’s not hard to understand why quince isn’t a fruit-basket staple like its cousins, the apple and the pear.

This lumpy, golden yellow fruit can be difficult to find in markets even when in season during the fall months. On the other hand, those with quince trees in their backyards might complain that it grows in such abundance that it’s tough to decide how to use it. This doesn’t take into account the unpleasantly astringent taste that raw quince has when you bite into it. Life must be tough for the quince, often considered too inconvenient to preserve but not delicious enough to eat as-is.

When ripe, quince flesh turns from green to golden yellow and its fuzzy covering (similar to a peach) rubs off, revealing smooth, waxy skin that has an intoxicating perfumey scent. Once cooked, the tart white flesh turns a rosy pink. Quince is truly paradoxical in nature - most fruit is ideal when fresh but quince needs a little bit of cooking time and sugar to highlight its tastiest qualities.

However off-putting quince may seem when you pluck it off a tree and take a bite, it’s a surprisingly versatile fruit. Given the increasing emphasis on slow, local food, it makes sense that quince is gaining notoriety on the west coast where the climate is ideal for quince trees to thrive. The fruit’s high pectin content makes it a prime candidate for jams, jellies and compotes. In fact, the word marmalade comes from the Portuguese “marmelada,” meaning quince preserves. Cooked quince may also accompany meat, cheese or ice cream. It can supplement fruit pies for texture and tartness, or can be poached and served with whipped cream.

Quince trees grow most prolifically in Western Asia and South America, although California has North America’s only commercial orchards. If you’re lucky enough to see quince at a market in Greater Victoria, it was most likely harvested in a resident’s backyard. Local organizations such as LifeCycles and the Island Chef’s Collaborative make excellent use of the fruit. Under the Fruit Tree Project Business Partnerships Program, LifeCycles volunteers pick quince from backyards. With the support of the Marina Restaurant and Truffles catering, LifeCycles also makes quince paste that can be found at local restaurants and delis, while the Island Chef’s Collaborative sells a delectable jelly at their summer market.

Visit the Slow Food Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands website for two great recipes: quince jelly and quince butter.

Cumin, Beer and 20 Strangers

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Last month, Canoe Brewpub held its inaugural Long Table series. This was the first time Canoe offered an event like this, where you sit at a long table with twenty strangers and enjoy a set menu of an entrée paired with one of the brewpub’s beers. Offering impressive value at 15$ per person, I decided to attend two. Both meals managed to transport my taste buds to far off places using cumin as a key flavour. Native to Syria and used traditionally in Middle Eastern and South Asian cooking, cumin is now a common addition in Mexican inspired dishes. Perhaps, because cumin is part of the parsley family, it lends itself well to a variety of dishes and does add a depth and warmth to dishes from many parts of the world.

The entrée for my first long table experience was a Moroccan inspired lamb ossobuco, accompanied by Canoe’s Beaver Brown ale, an appropriately selected pairing for a fall evening. Prior to serving the meal, a tour of the brewery was offered so that the patrons could learn about the beer making process. Much to everyone’s amusement, our tour guide emphasized, on both nights, the similarities of the effects of drinking beer to those of inhaling cannabis.

After the tour, we returned to the long table. Although the ossobuco was served sans gremolada, which disappointed a couple of the diners, this was soon forgiven as the lamb, accompanied by creamy mashed potatoes and fragrant cumin-glazed carrots, fell easily off the bone onto forks and into hungry mouths.

Three nights later I went back for more, and saw the Long Table return to the Moroccan region, when Canoe Chef Ruthford presented a North African goat curry vindaloo. If you ever need an easy way to start dinner table conversation, serve goat. The goat was not from North Africa, but from Vancouver Island, and it surprised many of the diners in being so succulent. A common misconception about goat at the table was that it is a tough, gamey meat. I think that Canoe managed to convince the whole table that goat should be on the menu more often. A British inspired beer, the Extra Special Bitter was served with the curry and it certainly worked. The curry was served with rice, naan, pappadams and chutney and raita. I didn’t need the raita to cool the curry, because I prefer a lot of heat in a vindaloo. Once again, this was provided by the use of cumin. I was delighted with the meat, which was curried to succulent perfection.

The cumin plant is an annual, and can grow in gardens on Vancouver Island. However, Richard White, resident owner and operator of Hazelwood Herb Farm in Ladysmith, reports that the yield off each individual plant is not great, so unless you are growing many plants it is easier to buy the seeds. Cumin is widely available at grocery stores and specialty food shops.

The next series of Long Tables kicks off at Canoe this Sunday, November 8th, and runs until Wednesday, November 11th. Visit our Events board for more details, or call 250.361.1940 to reserve your spot.

Fed Up With Julie

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Southern Ontario boasts a network of concession, county and side roads that criss-crosses gentle hills, pristine farms, hamlets and coppiced groves. Come mid-October maple’s fiery reds and poplar and birch’s flaming yellows turn gradually to shades of russet before dropping their leaves. Hay bales and sheds piled with pumpkins, bushels of sweet-tart apples and jars of clover honey grace farm driveways. Small town markets groan under chard, beets, squash, turnips, apples, crusty breads, homemade pies and sausages.

On a recent family visit to Bracebidge, north of Orillia, I ventured not once onto the nightmarish multi-lane Highway 401 or the crowded 400, choosing instead, to meander the back roads in and around the Caledon Hills.

Agram Meats on Trafalgar Road, north of Oakville is one of the finest butchers I’ve come across. I stop, every visit, for sausages, free-range chicken and whatever else catches my fancy. A perfect coffee stop is the Glen Oven Café in Glen Williams for a superb Cheddar scone, and a fine dark roast from a fair trade coffee roaster in Guelph. Following the Credit River, the wee towns of Balfontaine and Terra Cotta provide a delightful break to catch a breath of air. This trip I came suddenly upon Spirit Tree Cidery on a side-road outside Cheltenham. This was one lucky find. Luckily “near-urban farmer” owner, Tom Wilson and wife Nicole Judge are in the house. We have a lovely chat. Opened barely three weeks when I dropped by, the cidery and wood-oven bakery was already scrambling to meet the local demand for handcrafted breads, including a hefty “miche”. (See Nov/Dec issue of EAT for the article on miche). Right now sweet ciders (non-alcoholic) are for sale. In the spring of 2010, the couple will offer hard apple ciders in English pub style (about 5 per cent alcohol) and French bistro style (about 8 per cent alcohol). As it turns out Tom and Nicole hope to get input and inspiration from Vancouver Island Merridale Cider’s Janet Docherty and Rick Pipes. Beyond bread and cider Spirit Tree carries Ontario Cheeses and locally harvested red-fife wheat from Owen Sound’s Grass Roots Organics. Anyone heading back to Toronto area should check out Spirit Tree’s website www.spirittreecider.com

Lunch is at Steen’s Dairy Bar counter in Erin Village where bacon sizzles on the grill, and the two gals behind the nine-stool counter tear leaves of iceberg lettuce and slice tomatoes as needed for old-fashioned made-to-order beef burgers, pea meal bacon and clubhouse sandwiches. The priciest menu item is $4.25. Dessert is a must have slice of apple pie or choose from one of many or the housemade ice creams listed above the grill. The pumpkin ice cream, made only in autumn, was out of this world. (The dairy bar in Thornhaven about ½ hour south of Barrie on Hwy. 27 serves, too, “hand-scooped” ice cream from the Sealtest cooler, and 50’s style waffle ice-cream sandwiches…and great all day bacon, eggs and pan-fries)

Creemore is another of my regular stops—for beer. Now owned by Molson, the brewery still turns out one of Ontario’s finer brews.

This visit four of us ventured to Huntsville, about forty-five minutes north of Bracebridge to check out The Farmers’ Daughter, a modern-rustic grocery and café. And what to choose from all the homey dishes? The Cornish pasty, an enormous cabbage roll, a slice of sweet potato pie, or a heaping bowl of vegetarian chili. A date square for the road? We ordered the lot.

One day was spent exploring Niagara’s side roads. A visit to a local prosciutto producer, kindly arranged by Chateau de Charmes Paul Bosc, proved to be not just a lesson in curing nitrate-free and water-free hams, but also delicious. And I whipped into Anna and Michael Olsen’s Foods at Ravine Winery in the quaint town of St. David’s (Anna Olsen hosts Sugar and Fresh on Food Network Canada. Michael is a renowned chef and teaches at Niagara College)

Locals and tourists alike who only zip back and forth on the uber-highways are missing out on quintessential southern Ontario. Its grid of rural roads provides the culinary traveler with something unique and wonderful. On your next visit, take time to tour the back roads. Who knows what’s around the bend - a rural bakery, a country market or a sausage maker, a tiny winery, or…

San Mai Stainless Damascus to be made in BC

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

San Mai Stainless Damascus

This is an update to the article “Anatomy of a Knife” that appears in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of EAT Magazine.

Cosmo Knives is now making San Mai Stainless Damascus knives and Seth Cosmo Burton maybe the only person in the world custom making it at present.

What is San Mai?

A simple way to think of San Mai blade construction is to imagine a sandwich: the center is hard, high carbon steel and the pieces of bread on either side are the lower-carbon, tough side panels. The edge of the blade should be hard to maximize edge-holding ability, but if the entire blade was hard it could be damaged during the rigors of battle. For ultimate toughness the body of the blade must be able to withstand impact and lateral stresses.

Toughness is generally associated with "softness" and "flexibility" in steel, so that, surprisingly, if a blade is made "tough" the edge won't be hard enough to offer superior edge holding. San Mai blades provides a blade with hard (higher carbon) steel in the middle for a keen, long lasting edge and tougher (lower-carbon) steel along the sides for flexibility. There are other makers making San Mai in carbon steels but Seth Burton is the only one using high performance stainless steel. He has upgraded his steel making equipment with a new 6000LB Rolling Mill, so he is ready to start producing the best available material for knives. Seth will be also rolling mocume-gain (wood grained metal in Japanese) for the fittings (guard, bolster pummel, etc). His first San Mai knife was made for a new made-in-Canada pilot show called Cityslickers (hosted by Rob Stewart) on the Food Network.

For more information on Cosmos Knives visit cosmoknives.com

Canadian Chefs Cooking up a Congress

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

There is quite a buzz in the Canadian chef community about an upcoming gathering of the clan. In September 2010, Vancouver Island will host over 500 of Canada's best food minds and a host of culinary students in what is being billed as the "Woodstock for Chefs".

The gathering is the brainchild of Canadian super chef Michael Stadtlander, the first event was launched at his home base of Eigensinn Farm (near Colwood Ontario) with the mission to "connect chefs to our land in solidarity with farmers, fishers, gardeners, foragers and all artisanal food producers and reinforce the passion and integrity of Canadian food culture". In Michaels eyes the most important result of the congress is the simple act of communication between the chefs and the cooks of tomorrow.

The 2010 theme will be Oceans for Tomorrow. Starting with Keynote speaker David Suzuki, the goal will be to encourage conversation and education on how chefs can be a vital link in the transfer of knowledge and awareness about our place in the food chain and our impact on the oceans of the world.

On September 10th and 11th, chefs, cooks, apprentices and culinary students from across Canada will converge on Providence Farm in the heart of the beautiful Cowichan Valley for two days of conversation and deliberation on the state of our water ways, our effect on marine life and what constructive steps that our industry can build to help improve the health of our oceans. If you're part of the hospitality industry and want to take part in this exclusive industry event you can check out the congress website. General public participation will be in the form of a series of fundraising dinner for projects benefiting Providence Farm and local conservation and culinary educational programs. Details will be posted as the events take shape. Many of us can't wait for next fall.

To follow the blog about the Canadian Chefs Congress visit www.vancouverislandlocalfood.com

Countdown to Cake Crash

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The white rocket stood gleaming in the night air, poised and ready. The location, however, was not Cape Canaveral, but my kitchen counter. The event; not a NASA launch, but rather my son’s 5th birthday party, and the countdown was, in this case, not to liftoff, but to slicing.

Somehow, despite my better judgment, I still get drawn back to the deceptively difficult art of cake sculpture year after year. The same scene plays out, in many ways like a recurring nightmare: it is late at night, and I am icing what I’ve convinced myself are artfully stacked layers of cake (in the case of the rocket, upside-down ice cream cone on top of jelly rolls on top of pound cake). My husband walks into the room, glances at my creation, and rolls his eyes, as he does so taking in the colossal mess that surrounds us. “It looks like a rocket, right?” I ask, begging for approval.

“Um…” The pause is too long. He realizes this. “No, it could… Really. If you pipe a doorway, and some portholes.” He’s pointing his finger at different areas of the cake, the way I imagine an architect considers his plans. I ask politely if he will do it. The man is a very talented artist. He’s won awards for snow sculpture, I remind him. “Different medium, ” he says, walking out of the kitchen, “I’m going to bed.” What good is a BFA, I wonder to myself, if you can’t help your wife in her time of need? But we’ve been married long enough that he can sense my thoughts, if not hear them, and says, as he climbs the stairs, “this is your project.”

He’s right. It’s my project. I don’t know why I do this to myself, but with each child’s birthday, I set my sights on some near-impossible culinary feat, and then labour, mainly unassisted, for hours in the kitchen. It all began with my eldest daughter’s first birthday, when I was taken in by an idyllic birthday spread featured in a Martha Stewart publication. How brilliant, I thought as I admired the ladybug cupcakes, just slice the top off the cupcake, cut in half and rearrange them to look like wings. So cute, and so simple! The reality was far different, I soon realized, as I searched my cupboards for enough bowls to hold the eight separate pastel shades of icing needed for the recipe. Cutting one top off of one cupcake might be simple, yes. But cutting the tops off two dozen, then icing the crumbly tops individually, and then attempting perfectly circular swirls was all too much.

I can’t place all the blame on Martha. I come from a family of crazy cake makers. One of my sisters (who went on to attend cooking school) does have a genuine talent in this arena, and I nostalgically recall a beautiful piano keyboard cake that she made for me, and a spectacular fire truck cake she made for my brother. For one of my birthdays, my mother filled emptied-out orange halves with orange jello and decorated them with miniature marshmallows. And my paternal grandmother was also known to favour the theme cakes. You can imagine then the comfort I found when I recently stumbled upon the hilarious site that showcases professional cakes gone wrong. It is so reassuring to see that I’m not alone, and to put it in perspective: at least no one hired me to make this cake.

The ladybug cupcake fiasco put me off Martha Stewart for quite some time, but strangely not off the shape cakes. There have been a double decker bus and a train, among other less-identifiable ones. Even when I haven’t tackled a sculpture, I’ve still aimed high, like the Dorie Greenspan Black and White cake. (I now leave melting white chocolate to the professionals.) For the latest attempt, I promised my children that they could help decorate it in the morning, so I left it on top of the fridge, praying the new kitten wouldn’t attack it in the night. In the morning, the kids looked upon the white vessel with awe, and then set to work very seriously, at first, then less so. The final result, we decided, was not so much an Earth-based rocket, but more probably an alien spaceship from Planet Candy.

When my husband came in to admire it in all its glory, and asked me “have you seen that Cake Wrecks blog? I think you’ve got a contender,” I couldn’t help but agree. In all honesty, the cake ended up looking something like a cross between a castle and a giant octopus. But I was still able to swear at him in my head, knowing full well he could hear it.

After Apple Picking

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I love moments that seem to stop the world for a second, time slowing to a molasses pace and you catch an extra breath or two. A few weeks ago I was at my mother's house on Salt Spring Island where she has a glorious little apple orchard. I'd gotten it into my mind that this year I was going to go all out with those apples. We would press juice for freezing, making hard cider and vinegar. There would be applesauce, chutney, jelly and maybe even an apple barbecue sauce. Maybe I go overboard sometimes, but I wanted to make hay while the sun shone, you know?

The first step to all those great projects was picking the apples of course. So there I was with my jeans rolled up to my knees and a cloth bag strung around my neck, wedged into some branches and limbs at the top of a tree. I'd already picked a few boxes from the lower branches, but I was determined to get all those rosy clusters from way up high. I was sweating and reaching as far as I could without losing my balance when all of a sudden I stopped. My schedule had been so busy lately, it seemed as though I was always running from one thing to another, racing to ferries and back, my poor dog patiently hopping in and out of the truck. But at that moment, up in the tree, everything stopped. The sunlight was filtering through the leaves, dappling my arms and warming the apples so that the sweet, blossomy smell of fruit surrounded my head. It was perfectly quiet (one of the things I love about my mom's place), I could hear the leaves gently ticking against one another in the breeze, a bird calling somewhere nearby and the snuffling rustle of my faithful boy, tail wagging, as he investigated every pile of leaves or clump of bushes. I leaned back against the trunk of the tree and took several deep breaths. I sat there in appreciation for a few minutes. I wanted to capture this moment somehow, bottle it for later, for whenever I needed it. Seemingly impossible, although after consideration I realized that was kind of my plan. Frugality and nourishment aside, to freeze, can and bottle all these apples so that during the grey winter months I can taste a warm autumn afternoon whenever I want. That thought spurred me on to keep picking. And picking.

Nearly three hundred pounds of apples later the real work was about to begin! The first thing we did was take about 200 lbs to a local apple press, where they were pressed into such a richly flavored juice that it makes anything from the store seem depressing. It was bottled straight away in two liter jugs for the freezer. I'm already thinking about what I can use the juice for, other than just drinking. Imagine how great it would flavor roast pork or a delicious pan sauce for chicken? It will definitely be going into a few squash soups or gratins, maybe a splash to help sweeten cabbage and bacon, an apple-caramel sauce to spoon over a warm pumpkin cake. Wait, this is just the juice, there is more work to be done here.

So I move on and juice another 15 lbs at home with my mom's Champion juicer. This batch I divided into litre jars, adding a vinegar mother to half of the jars, and a yeast/apple cider starter that I'd made earlier, to the remaining ones. In three to four weeks I'll have cider vinegar. I decided to try two different methods side by side so that I could see which one turned out better. Then my mom and I turned our attention to applesauce. We've both made applesauce before and each experimented with different styles and flavors, but this year we decided to stay simple. My favorite way to make big batches of a simple applesauce is to cut all the apples into halves or quarters (keeping them similar size), cut out any brown bits but leave the cores and skin, they add body and color to the finished sauce. Load all the apples into roasting pans, splash about 3/4 cup of water into each pan, cover tightly with foil and roast for a couple of hours in the oven at 325 degrees. This way you won't have to keep stirring a big pot on the stove. After a couple of hours check to make sure all the apples are soft, take the pans out of the oven and cool slightly. Pass everything through a food mill into a pot, taste for sweetness and add a little sugar to taste. We split our batch into two pots, adding a bit of maple syrup and vanilla to one but only a little agave syrup to the other before we canned it all in a water bath.

While the apples were roasting for sauce we got to work on a chutney and a barbecue sauce too. I also set aside about 45 lbs to make hard cider, which is a whole other story! The rub after all this is that I barely got past the halfway mark in the orchard. In another few weeks there will a whole bunch of trees with late ripening varieties just waiting for me climb up and pick them.

"My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree

Toward heaven still,

And there's a barrel that I didn't fill

Beside it, and there may be two or three

Apples I didn't pick upon some bough."

From "After Apple Picking" By Robert Frost

An Evening of Artful Pairing at Haro’s

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo: Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre Credit:Rebecca Baugniet

“Are you ready to be transported to the bottom of the Salish sea?” It was a cool and rainy fall evening, and my aunt and I had just come in from a soggy stroll down the Sidney pier. Luckily, at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre you can enjoy the sights of this rich ecosystem without getting wet. And even more fortunately, for this particular occasion, the long counter just past the entrance which is usually home to a row of microscopes, had been transformed into a bar, with bottles of White Bear wines; Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, waiting to be tasted. It seemed fitting that as we toured this site dedicated to educating the public about the biodiversity of the Salish sea, we should be sipping wines that also support the conservation of a unique BC ecosystem. We did not have to wait long before servers from Haro’s emerged with tempting plates of canapés, the highlight definitely being the delicately spiced crispy duck confit rolls. It became evident that the ‘artful pairing’ advertised was a theme running through all aspects of the event, from the food and wine, to the thoughtful partnering of different ventures holding similar philosophies.

After an hour of admiring and learning about the jellies, invertebrates and other marine mammals, it was time to move on to the four course dinner, and the group assembled in the entrance of the Discovery Centre, where we were introduced to the evening’s special guests; Ingo Grady, the Director of Wine Education from Mission Hill Family Estate Vineyards, and Rachel Fisher and Heather Stretch from Saanich Organics. I had the pleasure of being seated a table with these two farmers who had grown the spinach, leeks, and most of the other vegetables that appeared on our plates, and it occurred to me that it is not often enough that I get to share a meal with those who have tended the ingredients. Over dinner, I learned about Rachel’s new asparagus bed, and how her favourite crop is eggplant. I also heard how Heather’s heart swelled when her young son yelled to her across a field, fist clenched around a bunch of greens, “Mom – you’ve GOT to try this kale! It’s DELICIOUS!” and got an idea of some the challenges and rewards involved in small scale organic farming on the peninsula.

As the plates were delivered to the tables, Natalie King, Director of Food and Beverage at the Sidney Pier Hotel and Spa, took the microphone and introduced each course. We then heard from Ingo Grady, who described every wine in detail, mentioning the different grapes used, and whether they benefited from morning or afternoon sun. He also guided us through the layers of flavours, for instance, of the Reserve Riesling 2008, which was paired with Executive Chef Michael Ringland’s Organic Spinach Risotto with Moonstruck Feta (find the recipe here), he evoked “homemade orange marmalade.” Offering a palatable, slightly less formal terminology to compare the perceived aromas and characteristics to made it more accessible for those still new to wine tasting. The risotto was followed by a beautifully moist serving of sablefish, accompanied by a pepper tuile and braised leeks. (All fish served at Haro’s is ocean wise.) The end of the event slowly rolled around, everyone beyond sated with bellies full of venison, aged Moonstruck cheeses and one perfect truffle made with the final wine pairing of the night, Mission Hill Family Estate’s Compendium 2006. Natalie invited the kitchen team out to take a bow and enjoy a hefty round of applause, thanked the maître d’ and each server individually, and we went back out into the drizzle, the sound of the Salish sea lapping at the shore behind us.

Haro's Restaurant + Bar

2538 Beacon Avenue, Sidney

250-655-9700

Fed Up With Julie

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A whistle-stop visit to Calgary recently showed that cowtown chefs are dishin’ up more than honkin’ big steaks (not that there is anything wrong that). We rolled into town just in the nick of time to catch a taste of Chef Justin LeBoe’s house-made sopressata, feather-light ravioli, tender octopus, scallop carpaccio, at uber stylish Lush, while cracker-jack sommelier Heather presented and poured wine. An early morning walk on Prince’s Island and eye-opener java in quaint Kensington neighbourhood preceded lunch at the River Café by the Bow River. Long celebrated for its fresh fare we could not have been happier with red-fife wheat sourdough, bra ised local rabbit and peach tart. I should point out that Nanaimo native, Chef Heather Gould-Hawke, whips up marvelous things with Alberta ingredients at down-to-earth District. We sampled the bucket of Broek Pork Acres’ bacon crisped and dipped into maple syrup, twice-fried frites, served solo with housemade ketchup, a damn fine bison burger and “charcuterie”, i.e beef not pork, from Canmore’s Valbella Meats.

Pastis’ “French comfort” October menu is in full swing. Wine-rich boeuf Bourgignon and Coq au Vin followed by a classic tarte tatin or profiteroles gives a nod to Julia Child. November will honour “La Chasse” (The hunt). Then there’s Rain City Grill’s Market Mondays. Recently Jordan Sturdy, of Pemberton Farm, foregoing blue jeans and Blundtstones for suit and tie was on hand to “tour” guests through a dinner featuring his farm’s diverse produce.

Cabernet, carmenere and syrah flowed when Chilean wine producers came to town. I only had time to taste a few, including a very good carmenere. Sutton Place also hosted Argentina’s winemakers. We loved the malbec and were surprised with Torontes, this floral and fruity and oh-so-food friendly white varietal. Accompanying the winemakers was Chef Frederico Ziegler. He worked with the hotel’s kitchen to whip up beef ribs, chicken empenadas and other Argentine fare for the evening consumer event. Ziegler, like so many modern-thinking chefs, does his best to push local and fresh. “We are more than tango and beef, says Ziegler. “Patagonian lamb is very special because the vegetation is poor and the animals graze freely”. Over lunch at Le Crocodile, Ziegler sipped Blasted Church Pinot Gris and Joie Rosé. A mixed grill of halibut, wild salmon and prawns under Michel Jacob’s superb French touch duly impressed the Mendoza chef who glances at his dish, “Just like wonderful wine begins in the vineyard, wonderful food begins on the land or sea”. We look forward to Chef Ziegler’s return to the 2010 Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival, when Argentina shares the spotlight with New Zealand.

Always Searching for the Big One

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

photo credit: Sarah Lambert

Charm, elegance, perfection, these are things that come to mind when thinking of a cupcake. Instantly upon entering a cupcake cafe we are blessed with that indulgent feeling of childhood and reminded of simplicity. We scan the display case, examine the lovingly made sweets and choose the one that is just right. Each one has been handled with care, prepared and decorated, and is waiting to be enjoyed. We peel open that paper, eyes fixed on the delicately applied layer of icing, watch as the occasional confetti sprinkle tumbles off and now, the cake is exposed, vulnerable. I am addicted to these single serving sweets, and seek the best in cities up and down the Pacific coast.

It began in Vancouver when walking past Cupcakes by Heather and Lori (The original on Davie Street!) If at first not stopped by her sense of smell (think: grandma’s kitchen) then any woman would be instinctively halted by the entirely pretty-in-pink interior. Once inside, I faced a counter display of approximately fifteen tempting trays of cupcakes, ranging in size from “minis” to the “Big one”. Every single one looked delectable. Would I go with the classic chocolate? I chose something more unique: “Sweet 16”, for memories’ sake. My vanilla cupcake was handed over, topped lovingly with pink vanilla butter cream and confetti sprinkles. It was the most balanced cupcake I had ever had. It was sweet, rich, and dressed perfectly by a velvety topping in just the right amount. This was my first and certainly not my last visit.

Soon after I was blessed with a familiar feeling while visiting Portland and, strolling through the Pearl district, stumbled upon Cupcake Jones. Although the sign was purple and the store was smaller, I was at ease. No more than four individuals could fit in this boutique at once, but despite a line-up out the door, the girls at the counter smiled patiently while I chose the perfect treat to suit my mood. Smore’s was the cake of choice. It spoke for itself: chocolate cake, creamy graham cracker filling, and marshmallow icing. As if that wasn’t enough, the gift of two garnishes, a chocolate square and a piece of graham cracker made me feel like a princess. For the more adventurous, the Root Beer Float might be appropriate...

Victoria hasn’t been left behind in the cupcake industry. We are lucky to be seeing the increasing appearance of cupcake cafes around the city. While tasting cakes on the Crumsby’s patio in the Estevan village, after it first opened not too long ago, I found myself seated just a table away from the owner. When asked what prompted her to open the cafe she replied: “I just wanted a place where everyone could come and get together”. The cafe was designed with that in mind. Walls painted in the blue, green and yellow of a Dr. Seuss book are playful and inviting. The designated play area makes this a hot spot for moms to meet over coffee-Melitta! The menu at Crumsby’s is focused largely on “morning cupcakes” -muffins- but done in timeless taste are the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with butter cream. They will have you wanting more.

Those seeking classics and creativity will find what they are looking for at Ooh La La cupcakes on Hillside Avenue. An appropriate name for a store decorated as a Parisian cafe, adorned with mini jewelled chandeliers and cozy bistro tables. Equally clever is their logo: an Eiffel-cupcake-tower. I seat myself with my cookie monster cupcake, smiling. A chocolate cake filled with Oreo cookies and chocolate chips, topped with blue almond butter cream and two Oreo cookie monster eyes. The cake is complex, and unfolds chocolate in layers. Like biting into a cloud, this confection was 65% icing, good or bad depending upon your preference. I tend to believe that less is more. Nevertheless, I will return for another taste or to order a specialty rose or daisy cupcake, topped ever so delicately with a fleur made from fondant.

One step into a cupcakerie will have anyone feeling juvenile, allowing the cares of yesterday and tomorrow to be muted for a moment and the most important decision to be which flavour right now? Whether it is to indulge, to celebrate or to socialize a cupcake is for everyone. As to when it comes to choosing the one that is right for you, it is best to take a man’s advice: “Don’t bother with a mini, go for a big one!”

Turkey Madness

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This is the time of year known affectionately at the butcher shop as Turkey Madness. It begins September 1st, when we open the books to take orders for Thanksgiving turkeys. We sell fresh, locally and naturally raised birds that arrive in the shop straight from processing a day or two before Thanksgiving itself. We call it Turkey Madness because from September on it's a building frenzy where we are answering questions, giving advice and cooking tips, people are jostling to get on the List, and the finale is a two day blur of matching folks with the right bird or roast and disappointing those who didn't make the List.

I can tell you first hand that there is a huge demand for naturally raised, local turkeys, which is why it is both sad and surprising to learn that one of our favorite growers is calling it quits after this season. We've all heard about the rising production costs for those raising local, island livestock but what does that actually mean for the farmers and subsequently for us as the consumers?

I had a fascinating conversation with Peter Manning, who farms in Cobble Hill and he was able to put things in stark perspective for me. Peter and his wife have been raising turkeys for about ten years and have had their own breeding stock for much of that time. They raise approximately 200 Standard Bronze birds each year. Turkeys are much more labor intensive and expensive to raise than chickens. This is mostly due to the fact that chickens are slaughtered at 8-10 weeks and turkeys take 6 months to reach full weight, and they consume much more feed. Peter told me that the two main reasons for the escalating costs involved in raising his birds were feed and processing. In the past two years the price of feed has more than doubled. That's huge when you think about the six months it takes to keep and raise a turkey. Then consider that five years ago, before the Ministry of Health changed the regulations for slaughter and processing, it cost $4.00 per bird to slaughter and clean. Today it's between $9.25 and $9.50 PER BIRD!! Five years ago Peter would have Plucking Pros, a mobile operation out of Shawnigan Lake, come to his farm. They would slaughter, inspect, pluck and bag the turkeys right there on the farm. They did a fantastic job and the farmer was right there to watch. It also meant less stress for the birds who now have to be shipped live in a truck and taken to an island processing plant which is much more uncomfortable for them. This was a valuable service for lots of people who only had small flocks too, but sadly it is no longer allowed.

Many people, Peter included, feel that the decisions made by the Ministry of Health have a political root and in the end have the effect of emasculating the Ministry of Agriculture. Many of the regulations make sense for large scale industrial operations where the potential risks are higher. But for the small scale local producers who try to offer healthy, more natural meat and poultry to their community it can mean certain death.

At the butcher shop we sell Peter's beautiful birds for $5.00/lb. That's up fifty cents a pound from last year and for the first time we have customers balking at the price, wanting to think about it before they reserve their Thanksgiving turkey or opting out all together. I asked Peter what he would have to sell his birds to us for in order to cover all his costs. When he said $8.00/lb I was shocked, not because I don't think that price would be fair, because of how wide the discrepancy between what he can ACTUALLY get and what he NEEDS to get is. I believe we have a distorted idea of food costs, that in North America we think cheap, abundant food is a birth right. But that's a delusion. Even though it is a cliché, Peter said it perfectly when he stated, "People talk the talk, but they don't want to walk the walk."

I don't have the answers, I'm not sure how to bridge this gap between what we know is the best thing for our bodies to consume, for the health of our Island and the price we have to pay for that. But a start would be to rethink the how, how we consume. Buy that gorgeous turkey and feed twice as many people with it. Let the rest of the groaning Thanksgiving table fill a larger portion of our plates with the understanding that a smaller portion of meat is more likely what we need anyway. It's too delicious to give up entirely, don't you think?

Rebecca has been a chef for over ten years. Seven years ago she fell in love with the West Coast and its culinary bounty. She currently lives, works and eats in Victoria with her awesome dog.

Fed Up With Julie

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What did our Vancouver gal get up to this week?

Riding the Rails in The Lap of Luxury

I was one of four fortunate food and wine media to clamber aboard the Rocky Mountaineer, and travel the tracks from Vancouver to Banff. Based on previous railcar dining, and despite assurances to contrary, I remained disinclined to think of fine cooking in terms of train travel. But Rocky Mountaineer’s GoldLeaf kitchen team, with Executive Chef Frederic Cout on (formerly of the Cannery) at the helm proved me wrong.

Day One

The Rocky Mountaineer pulls out of the Vancouver station, snakes around mountains, rumbles through tunnels, and chugs over rough waters until it rolls into Banff. All the while the staff, service and cuisine excel. The train may sway but the feet in front of the stoves are firmly planted. Since early morning, chef and crew have been baking fluffy scones and feather-light pancakes; sautéing red-skinned spuds to go alongside scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, or prepping the mid-day meal which will put the best of BC and Alberta on the table. As well this trip also BC wine-themed. (Other trips may include photography, natural history and storytelling.)

GoldLeaf Meals are white-linen and silver service all the way. The breakfast (four choices--) is excellent. The train huffs and puffs past pastures and small railway communites. As mid-day approaches, Jurgen Gothe invites passengers to join him in the parlour car, a beautifully refurbished CNR carriage, for a little BC wine appreciation. Never stuffy or intimidating, the long-time host of CBC’s Disc Drive, and wine columnist for the Georgia Straight tours us through the Okanagan and gets guests laughing while they’re learning. They soon embrace Jurgen’s passion for Riesling (this one from See Ya Later Ranch). The world’s most misunderstood grape is the crowd pleaser.

Beginning with fresh-baked grainy bread my lunch starts with a composed salad of tender frisee, crunchy greens, polenta croutons, and “popped” wild rice, nicely dressed, then segues into prawns bathed in broth and topped with crisp julienne vegetables. Sumac Ridge Winery fruity but dry pinot blanc does very nicely with both courses. My dining buddy slices into a juicy pork tenderloin, which suits the winery’s merlot. Sinfully delicious pecan ice cream, an equally decadent chocolate brownie, and fresh-brewed dark roast gathers together the sweet and bitter, hot and cold.

Day Two

This morning I ask to order off the menu—eggs, toast and fresh fruit. No problem. My eggs are poached Julia Child perfect. After breakfast folks read or chat. No mobiles ringing. No computers. (I love that a woman is penning, in a perfect hand, several post-cards).

Jurgen hosts us with Sumac Ridge Stellar’s Jay, BC’s first sparkling wine, before joining us in the dining car for lunch. He discusses briefly, the wines to accompany the menu. Wild mushroom bisque precedes my choice of main (the other is Alberta beef), glazed BC salmon garnished with shaved fennel. Inniskillin Pinot Noir and See Ya Later Pinot Gris show that salmon can belly up to both red and white wines. A meltingly good Semifreddo is today’s grand finish. And, what would a ripping good BC repast be without ice-wine?

The magnificent Rockies strut their stuff under a setting sun. A snooze, more reading, and a cocktail or two in the domed coach round out the day. (GoldLeaf service includes all alcoholic beverages, save the specialty wine list). My shoulders are again a good six-inches below my ears.

This is luxury travel as it should be—unhurried, pampered, with fine dining, wine, along with little courtesies that add up to a lot of pleasure.

http://www.rockymountaineer.com/

Slow Food Movement Picking Up Speed on Vancouver Island

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On a perfect late summer’s day in September, I drove up Rose Lane in Saanich and parked beside the entrance to Haliburton Community Organic Farm. I saw a sign that said Terralicious Garden and Cooking School, a large Slow Food banner hung up on the fence, and knew I had found the right place. I glanced over toward a small group, huddled around a picnic table, carefully examining an impressive array of tomato varieties. Although I didn’t know anyone in the circle, I was warmly welcomed, handed a toothpick, and invited to start tasting. What followed was a memorable afternoon that included a demonstration on saving seeds, a tomato dish potluck (with iced tea and freshly baked bread to accompany it) shared outside in the sun, and a guided tour of the farm. It was my first real acquaintance with Slow Food, and immediately I understood why they use the term ‘convivium’ to describe themselves. The experience was, in a word, convivial.

One of the people I was soon introduced to was Don Genova, known to many as the voice of CBC’s Pacific Palate and Food For Thought, and now the new leader of the Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands Slow Food convivium. He kindly agreed to answer some questions over the phone last week. Don’s first encounter with the movement was in 2002, when he was traveling from Germany to Rome, and decided to stop in Turin for the Salone del Gusto, the annual Slow Food salon of taste. He officially joined the organization in 2005, when he moved to Vancouver Island, and was appointed as new leader of the contingent earlier this summer. Don jokingly asks me how long I’ve got when I inquire what his new position entail, but trims it down to the central objectives of guarding the spirit of the convivium, spreading the good word of slow food, and overseeing the administration of the group.

Don reassures me that ‘slow food’ doesn’t necessarily designate food that takes a long time to prepare. He describes a speedy and delicious lunch he recently prepared at home; a quesadilla made with local cheese and fresh tomatillo salsa (“5 seconds in the food processor”), and stresses the focus should be on where the food comes from, as opposed to how long it takes to make it. As such, the main role for members to play, he says, “is not just a matter of being conscientious but of being pro-active and actively supporting those producers. We shall be ‘co-producers’”, clarifying that the term from the Slow Food manifesto implies that as you discover something, you tell others about it, thus participating in the dissemination of good, clean and fair foods.

The group now stands seventy-five members strong, with an additional six on the executive. Don is quick to say how lucky the group is to have the two founding members of the Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands convivium sitting on the executive; Dr. Sinclair Philip, Sooke Harbor House owner and Canada’s representative to Slow Food International, and Mara Jernigan, owner of Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat and Guesthouse, and currently the president of Slow Food Canada. When asked how Slow Food has influenced his work as a food writer and broadcaster, Don explains that “Slow Food has been part of how my journalism has changed over the years. I’m more interested in talking to farmers and producers who are trying to lead a more sustainable food life”, than writing what he calls “service articles” that report on décor changes or new chefs at high end restaurants.

My next Slow Food event is the Victoria premiere of Food Inc. The convivium has sponsored the showing, and the theatre is packed. I asked Don if he thinks things are better here in Canada than what we saw depicted in documentary, which clearly illustrated the extent to which big business has overtaken health concerns and sustainable food options in the United States. While he doesn’t see any major strides occurring on a provincial or federal level in this country, he does think things are getting better on a local level. He cites cases such as the City of Vancouver’s proposed bylaw to allow urban chickens, the City of Duncan deciding to no longer purchase eggs from battery hens, Cowichan Bay becoming a Cittaslow, and the impressive response he witnessed last summer when the CRD offered plastic composters at a reduced rate as encouraging examples. Another example might be the next function he mentions, though still in the planning stages. Aiming for January, the convivium is organizing a fish symposium modeled after the one Don attended in Genova in 2007, with the intention of bringing together a panel of experts, chefs and local politicians to look for solutions to the challenges facing fish, their producers and consumers. At a time when so much of the news pertaining to food production appears bleak, the Slow Food movement does offer a penetrating glimmer of hope. I’m looking forward to the next gathering.

Chicken Dance

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Paying customers and chefs alike are quite concerned these days about the state of their meat. They question how the animal was raised; the location and conditions of rearing; the breeds they’re buying, selling and eating. And most animals are getting this attention. Most animals, that is, except the one that’s consumed almost as much as beef in this country. The lowly, forgotten, downtrodden and taken-for-granted chicken.

Beef has Angus, Limousine, and Hereford. Pork has Berkshire, Old Spot and Tamworth. Lamb has Texel and Dorset. Chicken has, well, chicken. Why is this?

Partly because it’s the way things have been for decades. “We're on the big learning curve,” says Donna Dooher, chef/owner of Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, a fervent proponent of conscientious eating. “Most chef's of my generation and the generation behind me have grown up with chicken. Period. All birds were bred for ‘factory-style’ production and no one thought different. Gosh most of us barely new what a farm looked like.”

But there’s some other funny business at work: Ontario’s quota system, fiercely enforced by what some insiders (read: chefs, purveyors, farmers, and knowledgeable eaters) call “the chicken police.” (OK, that’s a pretty hilarious image….) But the consequences aren’t worth a giggle. Quota propagates mediocrity; chicken that’s bred for efficiency rather than taste.

“The main reason we do not have any choice when it comes to buying chicken is that chicken quota will not allow anyone to produce enough of these heritage breeds to stay in business,” says David Chrystian, executive chef at Chez Victor in the Le Germain Hotel. “Large production quota has all been distributed to the big boys, who only grow commercially.”

Large producers pay for “quota.” Essentially, it’s a licensing fee, paid per chicken. So you have to move volume to make it worthwhile. Enter: the Ross Cobb. This is a bird that’s been engineered to grow fast, and to have ample, tender breasts. It’s the breed you eat all the time; you may very well have never eaten a different breed of chicken. It’s designed to put on weight fast, really fast, almost reaching obesity in a mere six weeks when raised in high-volume operations. The meat is predictable: the legs aren’t too tough and the breasts are big (and bland). Exactly what the masses want in their supermarket coolers—as cheaply as possible. Mature at six weeks? That’s about half the time it takes to get a heritage breed to market. Half the time, and at least half the cost.

But what about taste? “Well first let's look a the taste difference just from a production standpoint,” says Dooher. “Roast chicken pieces that have been tumbled and packaged on a Styrofoam tray (possibly coming from China) compared to a whole roast chicken that's been locally raised and grain fed. Hands down a huge flavour improvement. [And] I think there's a difference in taste and texture from breed to breed.”

But if variety is the spice of life, no wonder our chickens are so vapid. Not the least because they’re bored. One chicken distributor who prefers to remain anonymous works with a producer who raises a breed called White Rock. “But few of us like that breed,” he says. “In the fifties, the White Rock bird weighed in at 2.5 pounds at eight weeks of age. Now, at six weeks, they can weigh five pounds. This is due to generations of selective breeding.” The result is a meaty, tasteless bird that is designed to be eaten, but not to live a normal, healthy life. Their feathers develop poorly, making them susceptible to climate variations and disease, and they have little desire to roam because they are too big for their frames. Unhappy, uncomfortable and uninspired—not the qualities you should want to ingest.

The cover of September’s Bon Appetite magazine features a gorgeous, pin-up quality herb-roasted chicken “Italian style.” Inside, the magazine features recipes by top U.S. chefs and promises their secrets “to crispy, juicy perfection.” Tucked away near the back of the magazine, there’s a small information box that says dquo;good-quality chicken isn’t hard to find, but you have to know what to look for.” It goes on to recommend the firm, rich meat of the Blue Foot, declared by French food writer Brillat-Savarin as “the queen of chickens, the chicken for kings.” A French breed called Poulet Rouge Fermier is praised for its “great taste,” thin skin, elongated breasts and longer legs. It all sounds like an embarrassment of riches! Our U.S. neighbours can get these and more—easily! The article goes on to say: “Even a humanely raised, organically fed, air-chilled chicken is only as good as its breed…. Older breeds (like Barred Plymouth Rock and Dark Cornish) have fuller flavour and firmer flesh than modern varieties.

So where does this leave us northerners? Eating the White Rock and the Ross Cobb. Well, the Ross is not a bad bird, as far as it goes. Conscientious, organic farms like Fenwood use it. So does Cumbrae’s. “There’s a reason for the breeds people are using,” says Cumbrae’s Steven Alexander. Consumer preference and volume are pretty strong persuaders. Alexander sources poultry from farmers that provide good living conditions and room for their birds move—and the difference in taste is clear.

Alexander plans to trial some “test batches” of rare breeds. He’s looking to see how the Blue Foot—rumoured to be salmonella free—will do in our climate. He’s curious to see the public and industry reaction to a new poultry experience. Price will no doubt be a major factor (or barrier).

Rare and heritage breeds can have a more (and we hate to use this term) gamey flavour. Chef Chrystian takes the legs from the Chanteclair Rouge, which recently made it’s way on to the Slow Food Ark of Taste, and prepares them as confit. The results, he declares, “exceptional.”

Tawfik Shehata, chef at Vertical, sources Chanteclairs from a Mennonite farm in Elora. He’s a leg man: and the Chanteclair delivers. “We do half a chicken at night. The breast is roasted on the bone and is de-boned before serving. The leg is deboned and stuffed with lightly smoked eggplant, steamed then roasted to crisp the skin.” Simple, reverent, delicious.

Those Elora Chanteclairs are distributed in Toronto by Neil Vandendool of Ontario Harvest Farms. They are industry-only birds, so you’ll have to visit a restaurant to try them. (Dooher uses them at Mildred’s.) “The Chanteclair was used in production 40 years ago,” says Vandendool. “It’s not widely used today. The chicken of today is a horrible product. A hunk of protein with no flavour.” Because the Chanteclairs take longer to reach maturity, they are also more developed and fattier. They are “riper,” if you will, and this translates to greater depth of flavour.

So it’s not just about breed, it’s about mother nature and the natural order of things. Still, Vandendool says that if a farmer wanted to raise heritage breeds, the maximum number of “non-quota” birds he could legally raise is 300. And the farmer wouldn’t be able to distribute them; they’d have to be sold from the farm itself (this is known as “farm gate” sales). The production costs would be astronomical, and no one would pay that much for a chicken.

Jeff Crump, executive chef at The Ancaster Old Mill would love to have “a few heritage breeds to select from.” He’s been using chickens from Fenwood Farms—“we were the first [to use Fenwood]… seven years ago”—but confesses that he does not know the breed he’s putting on his menu. But he can tell the difference in taste. He serves Sunday Suppers of family-style whole-roasted Fenwood chickens cooked by an outdoor hearth. (Three courses; $39 a person.)

John and Carol Fennema, who own Fenwood in Ancaster, raise Ross Cobbs (both natural and organic versions) and move out 2800 birds every Sunday night. Processed on Monday, they arrive at the butcher, retailer or restaurant on Tuesday. A recent visit revealed birds that are docile and content. They should be: Their 2.5 square feet of space per bird is like a luxury condo compared to a factory farm’s 0.6 sq-ft.

Creature comfort is important to heritage-breed advocate Tawfik Shehata of Vertical, and the reasons are both self-serving and admirable. If change is to come to our chicken system, we all have a role to play. “The only way to protect these [heritage] breeds is by eating them,” he says. “Strange but true.”

Jamie Waldron is a butcher at Cumbrae’s in Dundas, Ont.

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Sake To Me

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I had the pleasure of meeting Artisan Sake Maker Masa Shiroki at the Taste festival this summer and was thoroughly impressed. So when I was invited to attend a sake pairing dinner in Victoria I couldn’t resist.

The Mark at the Hotel Grand Pacific regularly hosts first rate winemakers dinners. September’s dinner was no exception with Executive Chef Rick Choy and Restaurant Chef Michael Minshull getting creative in the kitchen. The chef’s pairings with the many sakes were delightful. Starting with hors d’oeuvres during the reception, the meal was presented in six courses, each paired with sake.

We began with the most divine sparkling sake: Masa’s own Osake Sparkling Junmai Nama. The first course, Qualicum Beach Roe on Scallop, was the beginning of a great adventure. The next course surprised me. Sturgeon. I wasn’t all that excited about sturgeon, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. It was fabulous. The meaty fish had a refreshing citrus sauce complemented by a salty dollop of caviar and a bitter bite of watercress. It worked beautifully with the sake. Another sake, paired with Braised Bison Short Rib with Buckwheat and Celery Root Ravioli, arrived and quickly became my favourite course. But then the cheese course arrived and it became my favourite…yes, a cheese course! Three cheeses in their natural state served alongside a composed state that was most impressive; Gorgonzola with a Gorgonzola cheesecake, Époisse with a gougère, and Farmhouse Cheddar with a cheesesauce filled crouton that exploded with flavour. The cheese plate paired perfectly with Osake-Junmai Nama Nigor, an unpasteurized slightly effervescent sake. This cloudy looking sake was divine. If you can believe it, there was still dessert. It was a delicious challenge after six courses and, yes, six sakes.

Masa Shiroki was an absolute delight throughout the evening. With each sake, he told an enchanting story. Masa is working hard to promote sake with non-Japanese food pairings and it was obvious that the imaginative pairings pleased him. Of his sake making, Masa shared with the diners his mission: to use natural ingredients, to concentrate on small productions, and to do everything by hand. With a two month cycle for each sake, this is no simple task, but if anyone can do it, Masa Shiroki certainly can! At 59 years old, his energy is enviable; his enthusiasm contagious. Beginning to grow his own rice in Ashcroft, British Columbia, Masa wants to be the first land-based sake winery with 100% Canadian ingredients. This new endeavour is a challenge providing fruitful. Hats off to Masa Shiroki and the team at the Hotel Grand Pacific…a delightful evening!

Eating al fresco on Cook Street

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo: Jesse at The Mean Bean Credit: Rebecca Baugniet

If you’ve walked through the Cook Street village lately, you may have noticed a little more activity in the lot adjacent to Bubby Rose’s Bakery. What started with Red Fish Blue Fish’s satellite operation, 1 Fish 2 Fish, back in February, has grown to a cozy cluster of street carts. A sign on the wall reads “The Food Court is Expanding”, and looking around I can tell that someone has a vision.

“You’re late”, the vendor at 1 Fish 2 Fish tells me, when I answer his question as to why I am scribbling notes in front of his neighbor’s cart. “We were up to eight earlier in the summer. There was a smoothie place, and a bubble tea cart…” I ask about Buna, the cart opposite his, which is closed this afternoon, but has a board up advertising Ethiopian coffee, falafel and baklava. (I can’t help but think that’s a lot of cuisines for one small space.) He’s not sure. “They closed for a family vacation. Maybe they’re just doing weekends now.”

I’ve already had lunch, but am curious about Caffe Fantastico’s latte, after reading about it here earlier this year. I take my mug out through the back door of the Village Food Court and find a little table under a tree from which I can observe the late lunch hour millings around their developing outdoor section. Sitting in the corner of the L-shaped lot that links Mackenzie St. to Cook St. it occurs to me that I haven’t spent nearly enough time out on a terrasse this summer. As a transplanted Montrealer, I have a deep appreciation for the outdoor dining and wining experience. From curbside cafés to little neighbourhood restaurants hiding a diminutive courtyard out back with twinkling lights in the trees, there isn’t a meal I wouldn’t rather eat outside, if the weather is right. I study my surroundings, and noticing the parking lines painted on the tarmac, consider that this parking lot-turned-patio has some twinkly terrasse potential.

This could be nice, I think. With a little work it could be really nice. And a little work is happening, slowly but surely. There are signs of construction on site, and the vendors report that while finishing the stairs is the top priority, there is also talk of a stage in one corner. James, who was manning the cart at 1 Fish 2 Fish, mentioned the need for a covered setting, and possible heat lamps to see the kiosks through the rainy months, although both he and Jesse (Jesse’s Grill) think they will close down from December to February. Permits to install some such structure are currently under negotiation between the property owner and the city.

The other Jesse I spoke with was on duty in the Mean Bean, Bubby Rose’s coffee outpost, which he says will be open year-round. If you’re stopping in for a bite at Bubby Rose’s you can still pay for your coffee with your food inside, but will then be redirected to the Mean Bean to get the coffee part of your order. Gaia Living Foods, a new cart promising raw, vegan and organic foods is slated to open October 1st. Boasting a solid selection of high quality street fare and more imminent improvements to the setting, the kiosks of Cook St. are well worth a visit, and my guess is they will be even more so, once the reality catches up with the vision.

Seattle September Stopover

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I had 2 free days a couple of weeks ago (doesn’t happen very often!) so I stole away for a 36 hour Seattle summer sojourn. Took the Clipper down standby (nerve-wracking – I got the very last seat!), and a few short hours later was walking the hilly streets of Seattle.

Since I didn’t have a car, and needed a little relaxation, I wanted to keep things simple and stress-free – and within walking distance to the downtown core. The hotel I stayed at couldn’t have been a more perfect fit. The brand new Hyatt at Olive 8 is an uber-eco oasis, conveniently situated at the corner of Olive and 8th (a block from Pacific Centre and minutes’ walk to Pike Place). This architecturally stunning 39 story hotel/condo has just received LEED Silver status, a first for hotel/condominium buildings in the Seattle area and one of only 20 hotels in the US to be officially designated ‘green’. We’re not just talking low-flow plumbing and recycling bins (though they certainly have those). Think composting programs in the kitchen, eco-friendly cleaning supplies (and carts) for housekeepers, room lights that only work when your key card is inserted in the activation slot (no more lights on when you’re out), well placed and abundant A/V equipment in conference rooms to reduce the use of printed paper, reclaimed fallen timber in the restaurant, extensive glass in all public and private areas to reduce the need for artificial lighting, an 8000+ sq ft green rooftop… I could feel my stress begin to melt away…

Add in thoughtful amenities like the 24-hour state of the art fitness centre, sunlit 65 foot saline pool and oversized jacuzzi, and the eco sanctuary spa Elaia, utilizing local organic ingredients (including the coffee grounds from the hotel’s kitchen) and it’s easy to find an excuse to stay in. Even for sustenance. Urbane restaurant sources the majority of ingredients for its seasonally-based menu within 200 miles. An impressive extensive and rotating selection of bitters and syrups are made in-house by Executive Chef Brent Martin and his team (don’t miss trying a taste at the lobby wine & coffee bar) and the wine list is overwhelmingly Washington. On the menu when I visited recently: Beecher's Cheeses, Frog’s Song Farm produce, Uli's Sausage, Salumi Artisan Cured Meats, Macrina Bakery muffins and La Panzanella Crackers.

But go out, I did. The next day, after fueling up with an excellent latte at Monorail Espresso (*I would have had another but it’s cash only - arg) and stuffing my carry-on bag with goodies from Pike Place (yum – truffle salt from La Buona Tavola! Fire up the popcorn popper!), I happened upon absolutely the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. A giant, shiny metallic Airstream-turned-pig – sunglass clad no less. Think Victoria’s Pig BBQ Joint – but on wheels – and mobile – and you pretty much have it. Maximus/Minimus is wicked delicious, cheap and satisfying wholesome food. And like Pig BBQ, the menu is short and sweet too:

Pork or Veg Sandwich - $5.46

W/SAUCE - MAXIMUS OR MINIMUS

• ADD Beecher's Flagship cheese - $.91

• ADD slaw - Maximus or Minimus - $1.37

• ADD chips - $2.28

Sides

Chips - $4.55 | Slaw - $2.73

Drink - $1.82

Maximus - Ginger Lemonade | Minimus - Hibiscus Nectar

And the Max/Min? Well depends on your taste – Maximus sauce is on the hot side – with a wash of beer cooked down with a spicy six-pepper blend. Minimum is on the sweeter end of the spectrum, based on the triad of tamarind, honey and molasses. I took mine Veg (thank you!) Minimus, with a Minimus drink, and sat in the summer sunshine watching dozens of other pig-worshipper passers-by come and go. The Pigmobile was at the corner of 2nd and Pine – where it rests most days between 11am-3pm. But if you want to make sure you catch it, sign up for twitter or facebook updates on their website – this little piggy gets around!

Hyatt at Olive 8 1635 8th Avenue 1.206.695.1234

Rates from $149 USD

www.olive8.hyatt.com

La Buona Tavola

1524 Pike Place 206.292.5555

www.trufflecafe.com

Maximus/Minimus

www.maximus-minimus.com/home.htm

Monorail Espresso

520 Pike Street

206.625.0449

Adventures in Good Eating Part III: the Halifax Farmer's Market

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Halifax’s Farmers’ Market, born in 1750, is Canada’s oldest continuously-running farmers’ market. It is also, according to food mogul Anita Stewart, one of the top ten markets in Canada (click here to read the full list compiled for Canadian Geographic). Any shopper who has ever woken early on a Saturday morning to peruse the goods at the Halifax Farmers’ Market knows it is a true national gem.

Housed in the Alexander Keith’s Brewery building, its serpentine paths, stairwells, and cave-like rooms lead you through twists and turns each featuring their own vendors. The main space, well lit from skylights above, is full of produce from farms, orchards, and vineyards selling all sorts of fruits and vegetables in season, often organic, and definitely local. The Creperie Mobile is a local favourite with its nutella or savoury crepes served Parisien style. Steve O Reno’s perfect cappuccinos pair nicely with this decadent breakfast, or head downstairs and join the long line for a rustic baguette from Boulangerie La Vendeene (and take home their buttery, chocolatey pepito for later). A couple other personal favourites are the hard cider, fresh oysters, Acadian meat pies, and Dutchman’s Farm blue cheese by the appropriate name of Dragon’s Breath. They’re not kidding.

This farmers’ market opens early, beginning at seven in the morning —and it’s not unusual to see a few keeners arrive even earlier. Clusters of musicians keep the hallways full of hand-clappers and conviviality, there are often other performers and artists, and there is always, without exception, a large crowd. While I lived in Halifax for four years, the Saturday morning market was a major hub of my social circle. Everyone met there for breakfast and groceries, no matter how late their Friday nights had gone. Now the Halifax market is open six days a week and soon the whole bazaar will be moving toward the water and setting up camp along the pier.

The shift to the Seaport Market, as it will soon be called, allows for a brighter space that will be open year-round, six days a week. Not only is the new venue more spacious, allowing for more local vendors, it is designed to have a minimal ecological footprint. Salvaged wood was used in the building and solar panels and wind turbines will supply the majority of the electricity. A green roof and natural lighting round out the design (click here to see the Seaport Market plans) that is an inspiration for markets across the country.

If you’re heading Eastward, make sure to check out the Halifax Farmers’ Market (the new venue aims to be open by 2010); it is perhaps the best place to eat and meet in the city and it gives visitors an authentic taste of what Halifax has to offer.

The Fruits of His Labour

Wed, 2 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It has been a busy year for Michael Pollan. It is a year in which he broke fresh ground, planted new ideas, and watched previous plans come to fruition. About a year ago at this time, Pollan was one of the key speakers at San Francisco’s Slow Food Nation which, for many, marked the beginning of a collective movement towards sustainable food and the birth of a nation-wide attempt at creating a new food culture. Shortly after that event, in the final heated days before the American presidential election, Pollan published a bold and ambitious open letter to the “Farmer in Chief” that was printed in the October 12th, 2009 edition of the New York Times. In his letter, he asked no less of the president-elect than to plough under a portion of the White House lawn and turn it into a vegetable garden. In March 2009 it was done. An 1,100-square-foot plot is now home to a flourishing organic garden t ended by neighbouring schoolchildren as part of their academic curriculum. Soon after, Pollan’s most recent work, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, was published. More than just a follow-up to its best-selling predecessor, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan’s manifesto branched into unmapped territory, describing what a sustainable North American diet looks like, driving home the ills of the current Western diet, and putting in print the first plans of a foundation for a new national food culture. On a book tour for In Defense of Food, he swung by Vancouver for an interview with EAT so we could talk about the products of his fruitful year.

In Defense of Food famously begins, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Things get complicated when Pollan unpacks the specifics of these brief dictums. The seemingly simple word food, for example, must be defined by a series of rules-of-thumb such as ‘that which is capable of rotting’ or ‘that which your grandmother would easily recognize.’ Think about it; these two simple suggestions rule out packaged granola bars, McNuggets, low-fat yogurt, Gummi Bears, Gatorade, and all variety of packaged, processed, skillfully marketed foods that either claim to be health foods or admit unashamedly to being junk. Pollan calls these “the modern cornucopia of highly processed foodlike products” (14) and strips from them the distinction of food to be more accurately classified as industrial food or store food. If nothing else, Pollan asks the reader of In Defense to recognize the distinction between these two groups: edible foodlike substances versus real food. “We should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature,” (143) he writes, citing the idea of food researcher and writer Gyorgy Scrinis (and coiner of the word ‘nutritionism,’) who proposed that the only two food groups worth including in a food pyramid are whole foods and industrial foods.

‘Nutritionism,’ though it sounds like it may be a h ealthy thing, is anything but. It is the term for being unhealthily obsessed with being healthy, a preoccupation that characterizes the American public’s attitude toward eating, according to Pollan. Nutritionism is a way of looking at food that, as it was eloquently put by New York University nutritionist Marion Nestle, dissects a vegetable beyond recognition. “The problem with nutrient-by-nutrient nutrition science,” she is quoted in In Defense, “is that it takes the nutrient out of the context of food, the food out of the context of the diet, and the diet out of the context of the lifestyle” (62). The trouble is that when we choose what to eat in pursuit of, say Omega-3’s over conviviality, or fiber over pleasure, low fat over taste, eating becomes a laborious, almost mathematic task instead of a cultural connector and a meaningful element of our families and our lives. The inevitable result is a people who are content to gracelessly shovel down edible foodlike substances in solitude, in front of the television, while driving to work, or at the office desk. Though these may (or may not) sound to you like harmless acts on their own, what Pollan believes is that they have a hugely detrimental affect on a population, both physically and socially.

So why are we North Americans so lacking in food culture and what does that mean exactly? Food culture is the culmination of rules, traditions, and customs that shape a peoples’ way of eating. In France that may include the taboo on taking seconds, for the Jewish community it’s choosing kosher foods, in Japan it is customary to serve your table companions first, and so on. Both Canada and the U.S. are immense chunks of land that are populated, essentially, by a kaleidoscope of immigrant groups that have mingled and moved around since the (relatively recent) birth of both countries. Many of the well-established traditions and kernels of wisdom involving food were lost in the process and some, perhaps, have just not yet been formed. “It may very well be,” said Pollan in our interview, “that [North Americans] will look back in a hundred years and say this is the time when we began to develop our traditions around food.”

Though Pollan never says it outright, he skirts around the idea that the women’s liberation movement may have contributed to our current lack of gastronomic culture. When mothers doffed the role of housewife and pursued careers, families turned elsewhere for cues on what to eat and why. The idea of looking to a diet book or a scientist for such basic knowledge, says Pollan, is absurd. For most of human history we didn’t have to research the big question of what to eat; we learned it from “culture, which at least when it comes to food, is really just a fancy word for your mother.” (3)

Dovetailing with this dramatic change in the household landscape was the steady drumbeat of the industrial era, the rise of nutritionism, and a series of government policies that subsidized the cheapest grains to grow (and easiest to store): soy and corn. The attributes of these two grains, along with their ability to be morphed into a multitude of forms (corn alone can be made into corn syrup, corn starch, dextrose, and corn oil, to name a few) made them a sure bet for farmers. In fact, farms across the Midwest began producing them so copiously —egged on by generous government subsidies— that a corn and soy surplus ballooned out of control, ultimately resulting in overconsumption of these two ingredients. In his essay, “We Are What We Eat,” printed by the Center for Ecoliteracy, Pollan writes:

“Overproduction sooner or later leads to overconsumption, because we’re very

good at figuring out how to turn surpluses into inexpensive, portable new products.

Our cheap, value-added, portable corn commodity is corn sweetener, specifically

high-fructose corn syrup. But we also dispose of overproduction in corn-fed beef,

pork, and chicken. And now we're even teaching salmon to eat corn, because

there's so much of it to get rid of.”

None of these conditions —the fog of nutritionism, the overabundance of a mere few crops, or the lack of food rules— would be worrisome if they were benign. The problem is that our food policies and eating habits have created a continent with more than half the population suffering from obesity or overweight conditions. According to the Canadian Community of Health Surveys conducted by Statistics Canada, 65.2% of men and 52.4% of women were overweight or obese in 2004 , a number that was expected to rise. Even more alarming is the rate at which children are gaining weight. In Canada between 1981 and 2001 the rates of overweight (including obese) children ages 7 to 13 increased by 200 to 300%. Written in his book and echoed in his essay “Farmer in Chief,” Pollan reports: “Four of the top ten killers in America today are chronic diseases linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.” Furthermore, “The Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes. The public needs to know and see precisely what that sentence means: blindness; amputation; early death. All of which can be avoided by a change in diet and lifestyle” (“Farmer” 15).

It seems that without a strong culture around food, North Americans became susceptible to the often erroneous word of nutritionism, succumbed to persuasive advertising that was put in place to sell crop excess, and developed a diet high in sugar, low in moderation, and completely out of the context of traditional food customs. “We don’t have a national food culture that can withstand the onslaught of food marketing and scientific advice,” said Pollan in our interview. “If you don’t have one strong food culture that everybody subscribes to, you’re much more vulnerable when someone comes along and tells you how to eat. It’s very hard to resist that.”

“Food is about to demand your attention,” Pollan wrote to Obama in his letter “Farmer in Chief.” The eighteen-page-letter is the cherry on top of Pollan’s highly productive year. In our interview in Vancouver he told me, “I try to change minds through story-telling.” He said it rather modestly, but there is nothing demure about the public letter to the president. In it, Pollan drives home the details of how the current national food policies exacerbate climate change, are a major cause of the national obesity epidemic, and leave the country vulnerable to national security threats. The impressive thing about the letter is that, although the circumstances Pollan outlines are depressingly dire (the heavy pollution of industrialized farming, for example, or the devastating statistics on disease related to diet), his ideas for creating a solution are prolific, brilliant, and sound refreshingly do-able.

In our interview, Pollan and I talked a lot about how our two countries might go about forming a positive food culture to replace the poor habits that have led us so far into environmental ruin and physical infirmity. “There are no fixed, immutable rules,” Pollan told me. “Cultures can be creative.” Throughout his books and essays, there is an enduring sense of hope and a pervasive sense of humour that makes his story-telling all the more effective. But it’s the proliferation of genius proposals that compel me to read his work. His open letter is thick with them: “[C]reate tax and zoning incentives for developers to incorporate farmland (as they do now ‘open space’) in their subdivision plans; all those subdivisions now ringing golf courses could someday have diversified farms at their center” (“Farmer” 11) is one such idea. There are also the suggestions of buying CSA memberships for the elderly in retirement communities, government support for commodity farmers to grow as many different crops as possible (because the greater diversity of crops on a farm, the less fertilizers and pesticides are needed), the creation of mandatory municipal composting programs to cut down on landfill waste and the need for fossil-fuel fertilizers, incentives for hospitals and universities receiving federal funds to buy fresh local produce, and of course, the symbolic and illustrative action of planting a garden on the White House lawn.

The grandest design he outlines in the letter —Pollan actually refers to it as the ‘One Big Idea’— and a subject he talked at great length about at Slow Food Nation (where I was in attendance) is the idea of returning to sun-based agriculture. That is, quite simply put, depending on the good old system of photosynthesis to grow food rather than relying on chemicals and oil —a change that offers potential solutions to the energy crisis, climate change, and unemployment. “We can’t do this without tens of thousands of new farmers,” Pollan said at Slow Food Nation. In his letter to the President he acknowledges that some of those ‘farmers,’ may in fact be home gardeners, learning for the first time to plant carrots and tomatoes in their backyards. Pollan himself is a prolific backyard gardener who in a recent interview with Bill Moyers on PBS described having arrived at his career of food journalism on a path “through the garden.”

Our interview eventually came around to a d iscussion of our own personal kitchen gardens (as is apt to happen amongst people who love to putter in the dirt). Suspecting Pollan has largely been motivated to write in defense of food because of the relationship he has formed with it in his own backyard, I asked him if growing one’s own sustenance, at least some of it, is an essential part of the rehabilitation process for North Americans who want to mend their relationship with food. “I’m not saying that everyone needs to garden,” he replied, “But I’m saying that it does feed the process of reconnecting with food.” For kids it is especially helpful, he said, in demonstrating that nature feeds us, not industry.

Many of Pollan’s ideas seem to sprout from or return to the simple garden. It is quite easy to imagine some of the accomplishments of his bountiful year may have started out in his own backyard. “Plant some food,” he suggested simply at the end of his Slow Food Nation talk. “And a whole long trail of wonderful things will follow.”

The Low-hanging Fruit

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Last week plums were falling out of the sky. My backyard was littered with golden and purple orbs; italian, mirabelle and green gage. Today, jars of plum jam and chutney line my pantry walls, and my friends have been sent home with plums o’ plenty.

Backyard fruit trees are a summer and autumn joy. Though their yield can be slightly overwhelming, it means that I get the chance to experiment with recipes, share with my friends and add some fruity leftovers to my compost.

And while the move towards eating local has grown in popularity in recent years, my walks through newer neighbourhoods make me think that we’re not planting fruit trees like we used to. I’m sure many new homeowners don’t want the hassle of harvesting and canning a tree’s worth of plums, but I can’t help but think of the many uses the locally-grown fruit could be put to.

But, compared to some garden vegetables, fruit trees aren’t an easy route to backyard produce. They require pruning, fertilizing and insect and disease control. I spent last winter pouring over garden books, and ventured out in the January cold wielding my pruning saw to trim down the apple and peach trees.

You can’t expect instant gratification from a planting a tree either; most newly planted trees will not yield until two to four years after planting. But, fruit trees are one of the pillars of permaculture and an integral part to backyard food production. They provide a wind and sun break for garden plants, and can attract friendly insects and animals (Not to mention tree-ripened fruit just outside your door).

Homeowners with an apple, pear or plum tree who are unable to harvest and make use of their fruit have help close at hand too. Victoria’s LifeCycles Fruit Tree Project sends pickers out to collect fruit from local fruit tree owners each summer and fall. Through volunteering with LifeCycles last year, I got the chance to venture into backyards all over Victoria and return home with boxes of tasty apples. The fruit picked is divided equally between the tree owner, volunteer pickers, local food banks, and the organization for food processing (LifeCycles’ apple cider vinegar is delicious!).

Homeowners on the mainland and in the interior can share their fruit tree bounty with the Vancouver and Richmond Fruit Tree Projects, as well as the Nelson and Summerland projects.

So if you’re dreaming of picking an apple for lunch as you walk out the door, or spending an afternoon canning your backyard pears, think about planting a fruit tree. And if you don’t have the land to do so, speak with your local city council about planting fruit trees on city land. A fruit tree would be a fantastic contribution in a local park, or community garden. Many councils have recently passed urban agriculture policies, and planting fruit trees is a necessary and long term investment in our local food security.

As we’re looking for ways to reduce our food miles, fruit trees are the low hanging fruit.

(Vancouver) Fruit Tree Project
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/fruit/

Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project
Phone: 604-270-9874
http://www.richmondfruittree.com/

Victoria Fruit Tree Project
http://lifecyclesproject.ca/initiatives/fruit_tree/
Phone: 250-208-8308

Nelson Fruit Tree Project - Earth Matters
www.earthmatters.ca
Phone: (250) 352-2140Email: info@earthmatters.ca

Summerland Fruit Tree Project
http://www.sadi.ca/fruit-tree.aspx
Phone: (250) 494-9722

Adventures in Good Eating: Zingerman's, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

So this is what bread feels like, I thought, walking across the red-bricked streets of Ann Arbor, with red brick buildings on either side of me, on one of the most excruciatingly hot days of the summer. I had come from cool and breezy Vancouver Island to Ann Arbor, Michigan on a mission; to experience the nationally-famous, world class deli known as Zingerman’s. Born in 1982, it has grown beyond being Ann Arbor’s darling to an American institute of good eating with a personal mandate to source out the best of local and imported foods, to teach eaters about what they are tasting, where it comes from, the history behind say, peameal bacon, Darjeeling tea, or Costa Rican coffee.

It being too sticky for coffee and past the noon-hour rush, I expected a quiet house, but as I stepped inside the old corner building that is Zingerman’s I was hit with a crowd of surprisingly high-spirited, cool-tempered folks. Lines of hungry people zigzagged back from the deli counter and around the corner into the tiny pantry-like area of the shop that holds towering shelves of olive oils, preserves, mustards, crackers, dried goods, and cookbooks. Names were being called out from servers with paper bags in their hands, “John M!” someone yelled and paused to touch me on the shoulder. “How are you doing?” the server stopped to ask before responding to a raised arm and a “I’m John M!”

I stepped up to the cheese counter, looking for my favourite elusive mimolette. “Do you love cheese?” a worker behind the mountains of oozing, stinking, yellow and orange wedges asked after watching me peruse for a moment.

“Of course,” I replied, and told him about my penchant for mimolette. He proceeded to take me on a tour through the cheeses made in their own creamery that come closest to my favourite and a few others that, on a hunch, he thought I might enjoy. A good six samples later I found myself near the deli counter under a chalkboard menu crammed with mouth-watering sandwich selections. I realized I was in the middle of a gaggle of women who were having a hard time narrowing down the choices. “Come over here folks,” a deli server said to the group good-naturedly, “I’m going to help you decide.” Looking relieved, they followed and I picked a plump turkey sandwich, paid at the counter and headed into the courtyard where bright coloured umbrellas were keeping the beating sun off the happy snackers around the picnic tables.

While waiting for my order to come up, I wandered into the Café Next Door where Zingerman’s baristas and bakers have a cooler, quieter venue for mudslinging and scooping house-made gelato. I gratefully accepted an offer for a sample of moist dark chocolate cake with smooth —not cloyingly-sweet— frosting, ordered a perfectly bitter and creamy iced latte, and a side of crisp clean coleslaw to go with my sandwich. “Try anything you want,” the woman behind the counter encouraged me, “there’s no limit on samples.” At her behest, I nibbled a piece of mandelbread and rugelash and asked about the ‘dirty sheed’ listed on the menu under espresso drinks. (“Two shots of espresso, a shot of Mexican vanilla, ice, and cream.”) My favourite drink, hot cocoa, would have been murder on a day like this but it was good to know their mochas and hot chocolates were made with Scharffenberger’s chocolate and real whipped cream.

With iced latte and turkey sandwich —paired with the perkiest pickle I’ve ever set my teeth to— I sat at a table and took in all the information around me. The walls were papered with press stories on the Zingerman business, a story on how real hot chocolate is made (a coffee shop after my own heart), how they choose their coffee beans, and notes on nearby Calder farm where they source their dairy. Good reading material while chewing.

The food was exceptional, exceeding even the descriptions I had been given when I inquired my local friends about Zingermans. And their philosophy on educationg the public about food is exemplary, but what impressed me even more was how friendly and hospitable everyone was. It almost felt as though I had walked into a new friend’s kitchen, on the hottest day of the summer no less, and been given a place to sit, a glass of ice cold water and the best sandwich I’ve had in memory. Try some cake, try this ice cream we just made, let me tell me you where we got that turkey. The atmosphere was busy and full of that particular crazed energy of people who are hungry, hot, and in one of their favourite places, but I never felt ignored, rushed, or like a walking wallet. Rather several workers took time to ask how I was, if I wanted to taste anything, and how long was I in town for. They’ve got more than the food right there, they’ve got the attitude to go with it. Come in, sit down, enjoy a meal and let us tell you a story.

Cowichan Bay becomes the First Cittaslow Member in North America

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Cowichan Bay, August 6, 2009. Cowichan Bay, a small seaside village located one hour north of Victoria, British Columbia, will be the first Cittaslow member in North America. Cittaslow is an International network of towns committed to putting quality of life first. Cowichan Bay, a village of less than 3,000 inhabitants is rich with small and medium scale agricultural operations, wineries, a charactaristic waterfront center, acres of greenspace, traditional First Nations land. Visitors and residents alike are attracted to the area because it has managed to resist fast food and big-box type retailers.

The effort to make Cowichan Bay a Cittaslow began two years ago, when Slow Food Vancouver Island and FarmFolk/CityFolks Feast of Fields sponsored a food map of the wild and cultivated foods found in the Cowichan Bay region, created and hand drawn by well known environmentalist Brioney Penn. After a lengthy application and assessment process and broad based consultation and promotion of the concept with residents of Cowichan Valley, a small working group, including local business owners Bruce Stewart of True Grain Bread and Mill, Mara Jernigan from Fairburn Farm, Hilary Abbott of Hilarys Fine Cheese and Vanessa White of Affinity B&B, and supported by Regional Director Lori Iannidinardo and Economic Development Officer Geoff Miller have come together to achieve the goal of membership for the rural village. To support the initiative, the group is now selling limited edition, high quality signed prints of the map in two sizes.*

To become a Cittaslow, member towns are assesed and certified under six potential areas of excellence with 52 assessment points. The qualifying features are in the areas of environmental policy, land use and infrastructure, quality of urban fabric, encouragement of local food and artisanal products and businesses, identity and hospitality and friendliness in towns under 50,000 inhabitants. In the final Cittaslow assessment, Cowichan Bay scored a total of just over 93%, one of the highest of all the towns to apply to the International network, with a particularily high score in the area of environment, which includes greenspace, infrastucture policies such as recycling and biodiversity of both wild and cultivated foods. We are very proud to have become the first Cittaslow in Canada and in North America. says Mara Jernigan. It shows a genuine committment towards the rural and environmental nature of the area and the local production of high quality artisanal and organic food. It will support the creation of policies that will ensure that vision for future generations who visit, live and work in Cowichan Bay.

Two other Canadian towns, Wolfville Nova Scotia and Naramata B.C., are currently working through the assessment process to become part of the Citta Slow network. In the United States, the town of Sonoma, long recogonized as one of Californias most lovely wine and food regions, is hoping to become part of the slow growing network.

To become a Cittaslow, explains Citta Slows director Pier Georgio Oliveti, means to enter in a big family of 120 towns in 16 countries, working to give ourself a future of quality, applying Slow Food philosophies with concrete policies of sustainable development in each town.

This fall, on September 18-19, Oliveti, based in Orvieto Italy and the President of Cittaslow International President, will visit the region to preside over an official ceremony marking Cowichan Bays membership in the wordwide Cittaslow network.

www.cittaslow.net

For information contact:

Mara Jernigan, communications coordinator 250 746-4637 mara@fairburnfarm.bc.ca

Bruce Stewart, President, Cttaslow Cowichan 250 746-7664 bruce@truegrain.ca

*To order limited edition prints contact Bruce at True Grain Bread and Mill

Adventures in Good Eating: the Harbour Street Brasserie

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Eating on the road is always an adventure. With my laptop always close by in my backpack, I’ve been fortunate to spend this summer traipsing around Ontario, Michigan, and Nova Scotia, visiting old friends and family —and as a matter of habit, looking for extraordinary food that I can taste and write about. Away from my favourite delis, markets, and cafes in Victoria, I have no choice but to try new foods. Some of my stops thus far —Guelph, Ontario, for example— have been abundant with the locally-minded, seasonal, and organic standards I’ve come to take for granted back in BC. Others, like where I write from now, a tiny lakeside village in central Michigan, are a bit sparser gastronomically speaking. It’s taken a few days of big-chain grocery shopping to finally sniff out a market source for juicy Michigan cherries and fresh fish (that source would be my nephew, who caught a decent-sized bass in the lake). The best local gem I’ve found thus far on my trip has been a small, sophisticated brasserie based in my hometown of Kincardine, Ontario. I hope you’ll enjoy following along on my journey of good eating as I make my way to the maritimes —starting with this first experience, the Harbour Street Brasserie.

Adventures in Good Eating Part I:
Harbour Street Brasserie, Kincardine, Ontario

Even before you take a bite, the Harbour Street Brasserie sweeps you off your feet. A beautiful garden and breezy front porch are the first sights, then upon entering the main room of the revamped 1856 cottage, the simple, elegant design and wide windows looking out over the West porch with a full view of the blood orange sunset could suffice for a perfect evening. But of course, I came for the food, and so we sit down on the porch and order our wine.

I’ve come with an interesting party —my best friend is a server here, but tonight she dines, and two other close friends who are farmers who supply greens and other vegetables to the restaurant. Anyone visiting from BC would feel right at home on this porch. With Lake Huron a deep navy blue against the ruby red sky and a menu that lists local suppliers on its first page, the Brasserie exudes beauty, sophistication, and good ethics.

The connection is partially explained by the owners’ background. Chef Derek Griffiths, a twinkly-eyed, amiable character, completed his culinary training in Ontario, but gives ample credit to his time as Head Chef at the Executive House Hotel in Victoria for shaping his philosophy as chef. I’m told by kitchen staff he is a market and farm hound, a real stickler for sourcing organic or naturally grown produce, and that he chooses only ethically-sourced fish and meat. After dinner, Chef Derek joined me on the porch and his enthusiasm for Victoria’s culinary scene was effervescent —he rattled off his old favourites and asked about any new developments, waxing poetic about the days he spent there before returning to Ontario to open the Brasserie.

His wife and partner, Dianne Chrysler, was the first to greet us at the door. She is responsible for the thoughtfully selected wine list and the ambiance. She too, partially cut her teeth in Victoria with stints at Café Brio and Brasserie L’ecole. My friend, the server, tells me even on hectic nights, Dianne sees to it that the staff pause to enjoy a brilliant sunset, a habit that speaks volumes about her appreciation of mise-en-scene.

Our meal begins with the popular Pommes Frites made with organic Yukon Golds and truffle essence. They’re perfect —a toothsome balance of salt, starch, and the subtle hints of truffle and parsley. For the main course, it’s “Roasted Lake Trout Filet Nicoise.” A fresh trout —caught in the lake we’re looking out over— arrives impeccably prepared with peppery, succulent greens from my farmer friends, tartly pickled asparagus, a garden tarragon and pommery mustard vinaigrette, and a simple, quartered, gently-boiled egg with a deep golden yolk. It’s sublime, beautifully presented, and a true taste of this agriculturally rich area. In other words, exactly what you hope for when you’re eating in a new place. The only thing that could possibly outshine the trout was the Chocolate Bouchon for dessert. “They’ve let the chocolate speak for itself,” one of my dining companions declared, after lingering over a forkful. She’s captured the essence of this little work of art precisely. The deep, hedonistic taste of excellent quality chocolate only needed a velvety, warm, and dense textured cake to complement it, and that is exactly what the Brasserie has achieved.

We finish the meal with sips of rich espresso, following the last fingers of the sunset slink over the edge of the horizon. It has been a truly great meal in many senses —the tastes, the influence of the owners in both design and preparation, and the setting itself. If you happen to find yourself in Southwestern, Ontario, don’t miss the chance to dine at Kincardine’s Harbour Street Brasserie.

Harbour Street Brasserie is located at 217 Harbour St., Kincardine, Ontario, n2z 2x9. Ph: 519.396.6000

Image by Katie Zdybel: one of the Brasserie's farmer-suppliers enjoys a meal out featuring her own organically grown greens.

The EdGe

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pictured above: Chef Edward Tuson

Photo by: Genevieve Laplante

“So, Edward, if you’re the chef, what is Gemma’s title?”

“We’re both owners. I am not “Chef.” Can we go with that?”

Umm. Sure, yeah, I guess. Except that he is Edward Tuson, who was Sooke Harbour House’s executive chef for twelve years. Edward Tuson, celebrated for his handmade charcuterie and sausages as well as for his inventive-obsessive talent and drive for delicious and meticulously crafted local cuisine.

Edward Tuson and longtime sweetheart Gemma Claridge opened The Edge Restaurant in Sooke mid-May. Gemma, prolific events and sales coordinator, actor and quintessential hostess with the mostess, describes how it came to be, “It was the right place, right time, one of those ‘just worked’ things,” she beams and sets down my lunch before greeting the onslaught of curious guests with her matchless grace and warmth.

The soup of the day is curried cauliflower soup with green olives and housemade pulled pork. The mild curry, gentle olive and rich pork were an unlikely but tasty and titillating threesome.

Next, I tried the housemade pork sausage with smoked paprika, garlic, onion, cumin, coriander seed, salt and pepper with sautéed peppers, mushrooms, onions and Dijon mayo in a crusty roll with hand-cut fries. I had the best intentions of packing half of the sausage home for my man, but the rich beauty of it siren-sang me.

“It’s great,” responds Edward when asked how is he finding co-owning his own restaurant so far. Should have done this a long time ago? “No, now I have a reputation, which is going to help the restaurant—this is good.”

Edge Restaurant is located on Sooke Road, the main drag, and it used to be a fish and chips shop. When asked why this large step away from the international high-end restaurant experience, Tuson replies, “I serve what I eat. That is what it is. I want to cater to the people who I live near. We have homey, yummy food that people can relate to.”

I forwent desserts, which included pear spring rolls with whipped cream cheese and apple syrup and the lemon tartlette with maple cream, house-made ice cream and caramel sauce. There were, however, couples to my left and right fighting over the last shared bites of each.

Instead, I went for another main: the Kitchen Sink Bowl. Housemade chicken sausage with herbes de Provence, local seafood, greens and cilantro in a sweet and sour Asian broth that came on sweet then mellowed to leave plenty of room to fully appreciate the fresh local seafood and succulent sausage.

The restaurant also boasts a well-researched kid menu that includes mac and cheese, egg-white-dipped panko-crusted fish and chips and grilled cheese. Housemade ice cream and chocolate sprinkles courtesy of Kealyn, Gemma Claridge’s five-year-old daughter.

Edge (Ed for Edward, Ge for Gemma) is open, roomy and Crayola colourful. The kitchen staff sport T-shirts. The atmosphere is relaxed, but there is an undercurrent of generous pride that whispers, “This is going to be good.” Lunches are all under $13 and the dinner menu, which includes braised pork shank with potato bacon jus and thyme oil and cornflake-crusted salmon with vegetable fried rice and housemade Chinese sausage with mains all under $23. The Edge Restaurant’s ethos is clear; everyone is genuinely welcome and the food is fantastic.

The next time I go for lunch I am trying the creamy linguine with braised lamb, peas, mushrooms, chives and parmesan and the Caesar salad with housemade bacon. Get ye to Sooke to check it out. Tuesday-Saturday 11:30-3:00 p.m. for lunch and 5:30-9:00 p.m. for dinner.

The EdGe | 6688 Sooke Rd. | 778.425.3343 | www.edgerestaurant.ca

Outstanding at North Arm Farm

Sun, 2 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The sun haloed the mountains. Just-cut flowers, fine glassware and cutlery adorned white-linened banquet tables. Plates (Guests were asked to bring their own), all beautifully mismatched added an enchanting touch. All around us hovered the aromas of earth, fruit and floral. The stage was set for The Outstanding in the Field dinner at Jordan Sturdy's North Arm Farm on Pemberton's lush valley floor.

The North Arm dinner was one of many Outstanding In The Field dinners headed up by artist and self-taught chef, Jim Denevan, who, since 1999, has been leading his group of foodie troubadours across North America, connecting field to folk. And no two fields are alike. Glasses of La Stella Vivace Pinot Gris in hand, Jordan Sturdy toured us about North Arm farm—pointing out it’s own charms, its geological history, what the soil delivers--from basil to blueberries, cauliflower to corn—and led us from the land to the table.

Araxi Executive Chef, James Walt and his team did right by Sturdy's produce--purple carrots, fresh peas and pea shoots, Jerusalem artichokes, crones (Nasty name, ugly little buggers but deliciously similar to water chestnuts in taste), pickled turnips and black raspberries. The five-course feast also featured BC's freshest halibut and salmon, and buttery beef, naturally raised by local fellow, Bob Mitchell.

As the sun set behind the mountains, the Outstanding crew cleared tables. Happy tummies and chatter dispersed. I stayed back awhile, reflected on the meal, drank in the air, the shadowy mountains, and mused on the farm’s unique “somewhereness” -what wine folk term "terroir”— That farm-to-table feast might be equaled, but never matched.

The World's Longest Barbecue

Sat, 1 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Why? No other such day exists. By grilling Canadian food you're helping to establish a real food day for Canada. It is a unique and ultimately Canadian grass roots celebration of Canada’s agricultural bounty and a wonderful way to share our food stories with each other across the nation.

Is it easy? There are no fees and no rules of any sort to participate other than that simple requirement to cook Canadian and share our pride-filled menus and stories.The results have been magnificent and, over the years, tens of thousands have joined the party

When is it? August 1, 2009

Where is it? Wherever you are on any continent - in your back yard or at the fairground...on your deck... or your balcony....by the lake or in a campground.

Can I join in? YES! Anyone, anywhere can join in as long as the food that's barbecued is from your home region of Canada. And don't forget the locally brewed frosty beverages and fabulous wines.

How? It's simple. Simply shop from your own region and create a party that celebrates the farmers and fishers of Canada. The post your menus here!

Anita Stewart's Flavours of Canada™

Veneto in the Rialto is a Hit

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Amble up to the gorgeous marble bar and slide into a high backed stool. Bartenders Josh and Holly will muddle you up a Sazerac, Pisco Sour or pour you a flight of three 2 oz wines for $10. With floor to ceiling windows, 20 ft ceilings and generous use of wood, conscious lighting, space and perpendicular lines in design, veneto is classy and hip (and yes, we are talking about Victoria.)

This new “urban lounge” is not only a funky and refreshing much needed addition to the evening options in Victoria, but the approach and delivery of the menu and professional and sincere service is irresistible.

The Tapa Style Entrées (prepared three ways) are listed by protein; beef, tuna, lamb, chicken, crab and shrimp. I went for the crab. The blue crab spring roll with fresh cilantro and smoked chipotle dressing was fresh, satisfying, and void of filler ingredients. The Creole crab cake with roasted corn salsa and chipotle tartar sauce was lovely. But it was the crab and ricotta stuffed pasta shell baked with Creole parmesan gratin that gave me pause with pleasure. It was sumptuous and well balanced and delicious. They arrived on three square white plated embedded in a beautiful narrow wooden platter. I often translate “tapa” as pretty and pretty small. This three-part tapa is the perfect light meal and at $14, I am keen to sample the lamb entrée soon, with the jumbo shrimp and goat cheese stuffed lamb chop with cranberry Texas red wine sauce. Tod Bosence, veneto’s chef has really done a beautiful job.

veneto is open Monday-Sunday 4pm-1am (Yes, Sundays and Mondays!)

1450 Douglas tel: 383-7310

www.hotelrialto.ca

Victoria TASTE Festival in review

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pictured above: Sips & Seafood at The Inn at Laurel Point

Photo by G. Hynes

The Main Event

What a treat it was to taste at TASTE. The Main Event was held in Crystal Gardens - a terrific, spacious venue for a tasting. Kudos to the organizers and numerous helpful volunteers for making for the smoothest tasting I’ve been to in a long time.

Here are some TASTE-ing highlights:

Getting my first taste of Muse Winery’s offerings for the first time - this North Saanich organically managed winery used to be named Chalet Estate Winery, changing to Muse earlier this year under new ownership. I thought their Viognier showed well.

Learning about MooBerry Winery, located on Parksville’s Morningstar Farm (also the home to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, hence the Moo). This fruit based winery also recently underwent a name change - from Morningstar Creek Winery to the much more memorable MooBerry. The farm’s abundant fruit crop are turned into off-dry and full-on sweet fruit wines, like gooseberry, cranberry, blackberry, blueberry and raspberry.

Meeting Salt Spring Island’s newest winery - open for one short month. Mistaken Identity Vineyards is on the Island’s North end, near Ganges Harbour. The Island’s only organic winery, their estate grown grapes are supplemented with organic grapes from Okanagan’s West Bank until they can produce enough on their own. Abbondante Bianco is light and refreshing blend of five white varietals, and their aromatic Gewurztraminer was quite nice. Reds will be ready in spring 2010.

Sipping Tugwell Creek’s meads - we’re so lucky to have them as part of our wine making culture. Their Wassail Gold Sparkling Sac Mead is a delish and unexpected effervescent treat - try it!

*While the lower level of the Gardens was all Islands wineries, the upper level featured wines from everywhere else in BC. Well thought out Taste organizers!

My first stop on the upper level was at Le Vieux Pin & LaStella Wineries - and if it wasn’t for the fact that time was running out, I easily could have just plopped myself down here for the rest of the event. The two sister wineries employ organic and biodynamic practices on their 50 acres scattered through the South Okanagan in small parcels. Wines are mostly named in musical terms - better to convey emotion. LaStella - Lastellina Merlot Rosato was my favourite - an elegant, balanced beauty of a rose - hard to spit this one.

Next on to Hillside Estate Winery, and the best Gew I tried that day - smooth, spice, wonderfully aromatic - delish.

At Gray Monk I was happy to break from still wines and enjoy a few sips (again - couldn’t spit!) of their Odyssey Brut. Full bodied, toasty and brioche-like and celebratory. I could get used to this.

Mt. Boucherie made me happy by having their Ehrenfelser Estate open - aromatic, perfumed, delicate and delish. A sure summer winner.

At Poplar Grove, I was able to taste their Cab Franc (one of my favourite BC grapes). This was an excellent Okanagan Franc - herbal and dusty and cherry.

Island Champions with John Schreiner and Island Vintners.

No one knows the BC vintners, winery owners and vineyards better than John, and hearing him share his personal stories and interviews with Island winemakers was priceless. We tasted his most notable reds, whites, bubbly and sweet wines from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, along with the vintner/owner from the winery. Together the group was able to learn the character of each wine, plus the character behind each wine. John noted that without exception, the winemakers on the Islands have all come from different and wide-ranging backgrounds (though there were a high percentage of ex-doctors in the room today!) - which makes sense when you consider that the industry is in its infancy here. John also predicted that Islands wines have the potential to be very long lived - due to the retention of their high acidity - a very promising prediction for the future of our wines here.

We started with Salt Spring Island Morning Star 2005 - a crisp bubbly, originally monikered Karma, and undergoing another name change with this fall’s vintage. New Salt Spring Winery owners the McIntyres were on hand to chat about this traditional champenoise method sparkling wine - crisp, refreshing and tart - grown completely from their estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Watch for a new silk screened bottle with cork and wire closure with their next vintage.

From then it was on to Blue Grouse Pinot Gris 2007 - a benchmark for Island white. Sandrina Saldanha (winemaker/owner Hans Kiltz’s daughter) grew up tending to the vineyard and working the fields. She explained how even in a very cool year like 2007, Blue Grouse worked hard to produce this beautiful wine - creamy pear, apple, lemon, mineral with no oak treatment. A lovely wine - hard to believe they achieved this in such a crappy vintage.

There is no larger character of Island wine than Giordano Venturi, of Venturi-Schulze. A very knowledgeable and skilled palate, Venturi presented his remarkable The Bad Boys 2007 - a blanc de noir (white wine of dark grapes) of Pinot Noir and Zweigelt. Very unique - a meaty, salty nose with toasty spice, tangy lemon and mineral and fresh finish. He experimented with fermenting in 100% new oak with this wine - and if you can find any of the few bottles left, it’s certainly worth it. Amazing.

On to the reds - one of my favourite Island reds is definitely Averill Creek’s Pinot Noir - and winemaker Andy Johnston was on hand to introduce his 2006 vintage. A lovely, perfumed black cherry, raspberry and leather spice pinot, which the extremely modest Andy credits to his near perfect Cowichan Valley site - with slope, soil and drainage perfectly suited to the heartbreak grape. According to Andy, as his vines - and others - continue to mature, Pinot Noir will dominate in this marginal climate area - I can’t wait to see where this grape goes on the Islands!

Progressing in body, we next arrived at Garry Oaks Zeta 2006. Winemaker Elaine Kozak was there to chat about this very unique wine - made from the Austrian grape Zweigelt. Elaine admitted that they (her and husband/viticulturalist Marcel) planted this grape without actually ever tasting or talking to anyone who grew it (!), but after copious amounts of research into its suitability for their exact site on Salt Spring Island. And the gamble absolutely paid off! A lovely peppery spice nose, cherry and floral flavours and big tannins make this a memorable - and now very Islands tasting - red. As vintages progress, Elaine is experimenting with more oak treatment with Zeta - so stay tuned. Very special.

Starling Lane Winery has become Saanich Peninsula’s darling - with 3 local couples each contributing their vineyards - and individual talents - to the winery’s operation. We tasted their Marechal Foch 2007 along with winemaker John Wrinch. A lovely dark cherry hue, with cedar, black cherry, spice and toasty vanillan notes. On the palate were bright bramble/green flavours, balanced with black cherry and dusty cocoa. A big contender and an example of the delights of Foch - a grape that scares off many.

Next we sampled Roger Dosman’s Alderlea Clarinet 2006 - the biggest red of today’s bunch. Clarinet is also 100% Marechal Foch, and as with all of Schriener’s other Champions, 100% estate grown. Roger tents the vines on the slopes above Quamichan Lake in the Cowichan Valley, maximizing the heat, and therefore the ripening. This unfiltered and unfined full bodied red had a sweet and concentrated dark cherry and blackberry nose that carries through to a spicy palate. And they say you can’t grow big reds on the Island. Ha!

We finished on a very sweet note - with what is most likely the most iconic wine from the Islands. Venturi-Schulze’s 2007 Brandenburg No. 3 is one of those wines that wine lovers covet - and when you spy it on a restaurant’s dessert wine list you know you’re in a good place to be. This sweet, dark amber wine, named for the No.3 Brandenburg concerto, opens with a rich, almond, orange-oil, earthy caramel nose, and ultra smooth flavours of honeyed ripe orange, caramel and coffee. This wine is so smooth, and the finish so bright - absolutely no spitting. I drained my glass of this pretty quickly. After harvesting and pressing the grapes (predominantly Madeleine Sylvaner), Giordano Venturi simmered the juice gently over an open fire to concentrate the natural sugar, acid and flavours. He then fermented the wine with a special yeast isolated from their property. The fermentation lasts a full year before the wine is finished in new French oak. A small amount of the volume is kept as the starter for the next vintage. This really is a BC masterpiece.

Pig & Pinot on the Patio

The F&B folks at the Hotel Grand Pacific are always up to something unexpected – always with delish results. From their top tier international wine dinners to Asian-inspired high tea to sake pairing dinners to west coast dim sum, I always know to expect the unexpected. As was the case with Pig & Pinot. A well-hatched plan by Director of Operations Emory Haines to return to his Appalachian pig farming roots, Executive Chef Rick Choy and Restaurant Chef Michael Minshull roasted up a whole pig, lovingly raised by Sloping Hill. Pork was featured in many ways – from pulled pork sliders to – everyone’s clear favourite – cracklins! A gorgeous summer afternoon on the hotel’s tented patio, with Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris from across BC – and the succulent smell of roasting porcine on the barbie – a great event to add into this summer festival lineup.

Sips & Seafood

One of the most elegants events of the festival was held at the Inn at Laurel Point. Set on the broad outdoor patio overlooking the Inner Harbour guests sipped and supped on some of the finest wines and freshest seafood at the festival. Chef Brad Horen, of the Inn’s Aura Restaurant, did a magnificent job in presenting all the seafood – fresh whole crab, mussels, oysters nd more – in simple fashion letting their true flavours come across. Partners in this event were Finest at Sea and Phillips Brewery.

A Taste of Salt Spring Island

Held in the Thrifty Foods Cooking & Lifestyle Centre at Tuscany Village, coordinator Eva Cherneff led guests through a tutored tasting of Salt Spring Island cheeses and lamb. The menu included David Wood cheeses, Salt Spring lamb, Moonstruck cheese, local strawberries, collard greens and baby greens from local farms. Also included were wine pairings from Salt Spring Island Vineyard and Garry Oaks Winery.

A Two-Day Guide to Eating in Richmond, BC

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Friday. 5:00 PM

Once you’re in Richmond, kick things off by checking into one of the many hotels. This is your home away from home, and no matter what your budget is, you can find something to suit your needs and wants.

Whether you are looking for true 4-star luxury, casual and comfortable, or a cozy bed and breakfast a short walk from the water, you won’t have a problem finding a place to stay. In fact, you can’t miss the 26 brand-name hotels here.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

The Best Places to Eat Al Fresco in Victoria

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With patio season at its peak, don’t miss your chance to enjoy some of the Victoria area’s prettiest porches and greenest gardens for noshing out of doors. Here are a few favourites among the many.

The upper deck at Spinnaker’s is a mint spot to sip a beer with your burger overlooking the harbour. A stroll along the waterfront is the perfect dessert to their hearty fare. Canoe Brewpub is also a first-rate beer swigging spot with its sprawling waterfront patio. Around dinnertime the sun hits their patio full on so you can soak up some sunshine after a day’s work.

The Superior Café has a lovely, leafy garden for intimate summer dinners. Set in quiet James Bay, it almost feels like you’ve left the city. If you are downtown, one of the most enchanting hidden gems is the backyard garden of Sally Bun’s on Fort Street. Order your pastry then walk straight through to the back where wild roses grow and a canopy of leaves creates a verdant oasis. In Oak Bay, Ottavio’s porch is perched up high enough for prime people watching and close enough to the beach for a whiff of salty air. Lucy’s in the Square at Fernwood has a few bistro tables set up in the square for a dining-in-the-piazza experience. Olive Olio’s in Cadboro Bay has a sun-basked patio in the hub of Cadboro Village that seems to be always a-buzz on bright summer afternoons.

If picnics are more your idea of eating al fresco, fill your basket with local produce at Pomodori’s in Oak Bay before heading to Willow’s Beach, or Ambrosio’s in Cook Street Village for a spread in Beacon Hill Park. Willow’s Galley, at 2559 Estavan Avenue, is an ace place to grab a finger-licking good cone of fish and chips on the way down to Cadboro Bay beach.

Just out of town, Merridale Cidery’s outdoor pizza oven, apple orchard, and sprawling porch are one of the best ways to soak up a lovely summer evening. Sea Cider’s porch has a spectacular view of the ocean as well as their sea of apple trees, and one of the most charming porches by far in the area is at Vigneti Zanatta’s old farmhouse. You can’t beat their view of rolling hills, vineyards, wildflowers, and farmers’ fields. Paired with a sublime meal, you may never want to leave the porch.

Photo by K.Zdybel. View from the Vigneti Zanatta porch.

Tasting Chocolate

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On a warm, bright evening the doors of Victoria’s Plenty Epicurean Pantry were flung wide open late into the evening for a very special event: Plenty’s first chocolate tasting. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Plenty, it’s a tiny —but astonishingly full— food shop with an old-fashioned feel and a commitment to local, organic, and fair trade goods. On this particular evening, the old butcher block table that sits in the middle of the boutique was cleared off for trays of chocolate ranging from 55 to 83% . At the back of the shop, the wooden top of the cooler (an antique version that churns away in fortissimo and refuses to quit) was stacked high with bars of many origins, darknesses, and flavours.

Passersby were encourage to wander in and try as many samples as they liked. It was not long before a constant loop of curious customers were circling around the old butcher block. A few instructions were given before tasting; for example, to focus your attention on the task at hand, to take a moment to smell the chocolate first, to chew the chocolate into small pieces and then let it melt on your tongue, and to close your eyes while tasting, in order to help oneself concentrate on the experience.

According to John Scharffenberger, one of the founders of Scharffen Berger’s chocolate, it takes about six seconds to experience all the flavours and sensations in a single piece of chocolate. And something different —from the initital tartness to the following fruitiness to the smoothness and richness as the fat dissolves to the release of the tannins and the finish of sweetness— happens roughly each second. “If you can imagine these six seconds of tasting as a very short symphony,” writes Scharffenberger in the book The Essence of Chocolate, “you grasp what we’re trying to do when we blend various beans to make our chocolate.”

Chloe Doutre-Roussel, author of The Chocolate Connoisseur, offers helpful cues when tasting chocolate. “Close your eyes and ask yourself, ‘what does this chocolate remind me of?’” She includes in her book a wheel divided among aromatic families that offer some suggestions for the different flavours chocolate can provide: fruit notes may include dried plums, preserves, red berries, or tropical fruits; spicy notes could be cinnamon, vanilla, or licorice. Chocolates that lean on the side of vegetal may have a hint of hay, wood, moss, or mushrooms, while flowery varieties can smell and taste of jasmine, rose, or orange blossoms. But these are only suggestions and many chocolatiers, Doutre-Roussel among them, encourage tasters to develop their own palettes without worrying too much of what their peers may think.

At Plenty’s chocolate tasting, I took notes of my own perceptions as well as some of the customers’. It is interesting how similar some of the responses are to the same bar of chocolate, as well as how varied the experiences can be. For some, the almost pudding-like texture of the Blanxart bar from Spain is pinultimate, for others it can feel too rich. I taste an earthy, mineral start to Organic Fair’s 83% Forte bar with a berry wine finish, while a fellow taster pronounced hints of plum and caramel. Cocoa Camino’s 55% has a pronounced butterscotch and cream taste (in my opinion), while the Tazo stoneground 60% zings with a citrus fruit start and a spicy, coffee ending.

Whatever you may taste, the point is less about pinning down the exact nuances and more about discovering the art of tasting, of slowing down and appreciating the complexity of well-made chocolate. Like wine, chocolate has a story to tell of its roots and its terroir. And also as with wine, tasting within a group can be a lot fun and offer other perspectives, but should not distract you from your own personal experience.

All chocolate bars referenced here can be found at Plenty Epicurean Pantry.

Road Food

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

While in the city I adhere, for the most part, to a diet of refinement and good ethics. That is, I seek out good quality food that more or less honours the trifecta standard of organic, fair trade, and local. But when I’m on the road these rules can admittedly slacken a little —sometimes a lot— in the name of quick service, and finding something that’s easy to eat on the go and completely novel from my daily Victoria grind. While I love finding a hidden gem of culinary excellence by serendipitous accident, the exceptions to the rule are often my favourite part of the trip.

Heading up island from Victoria towards Tofino, there’s a mixed bag of quick stops you can be proud of and others that are sheer road trip indulgence. Before I split the city, I usually fill a bag with some fruit from the Market on Yates and my all star pick-me-up, a bar of dark chocolate, preferably Organic Fair from Cobble Hill. Once on the highway heading North, you can swerve off Highway 1 into the Drumroaster in Duncan at #24-1400 Cowichan Bay Road for a superb Americano to fuel you up for the drive ahead. Rolling along into Nanaimo, you may want to pull over for a quick bite at Mon Petit Choux Bakery at 101-120 Commercial Street. Take a break and sit down for their roasted chicken breast with rosemary aioli and cranberry compote sandwich or Halibut Blanquette en Croute; or keep on truckin’ and grab a house made baguette to go. A little further up, Parksville’s Real Food (152 Morrison St.) offers take-out meals like their Torta Rustica, fresh bread, and fresh salads featuring local ingredients. Grab a couple forks, jump back in the car, and you’re good to go.

When heading West toward Tofino, I usually pull into Coombs Old Country Market. It’s admittedly touristy and the pastries are piled obscenely high with multiple layers of sugar, but it’s an entertaining place to peruse and grab some candied salmon, coffee candies, or an ice cream cone (sugar in many forms is a real theme here). The big gimmick is the goats on the roof and several signs as you approach it make absolutely sure you know about them. I haven’t met the goats yet, but the service here is always friendly and helpful, the restrooms are always clean, and the coffee is always, well, hot.

Driving on through to Port Alberni, I must confess the J&L Drive-In pulls me in like a magnet. My parents used to seek out shiny fifties-era diners on our cross country road trips through the U.S. as a kid, and I hold a nostalgic soft spot for any place that refuses to glorify the classic burger and fries. The food is nothing to get too excited about here, but it’s a fun stop and hits the spot. And nothing says road trip like a root beer float and a greasy basket of onion rings.

When doing the trip in reverse, be sure to hit the Tofitian on the Pacific Rim Highway on your way out of Tofino. They serve impressive coffee and are sandwiched between the Wildside Grill, a fish and chip wagon that gets that classic just right, and Beaches Grocery, a tiny supermarket jam packed with excellent produce and semi-healthy snacks of the salty and crunchy variety for the long ride home.

Ocean’s Asparagus

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

pictured: sea asparagus, known as Salicornia virginica and samphire

“It’s beautiful, wild, good for you, and that taste? Oh my God!” Mirjana, of Mirjana’s in Dragon Alley, is describing sea asparagus with her characteristic charm, a mixture of glee and reference.

Salicornia virginica, or sea asparagus, looks like delicate miniature asparagus but belongs to the halophyte family, known for its ability to thrive in saline environments. Teeming with nutrients, and beloved for its crisp crunch, Salicornia is also unbearably salty unless soaked in cold water. The unmasked flavour Mirjana describes as a “mild lemongrass.” She never cooks sea asparagus but sautés it quickly in a hot dry pan (no oil) for mere seconds, often pairing it with roasted beet pasta.

Brad Carey of Westcoast Seaweed lauds sea asparagus as “natural, exciting and sustainable.” It is a provincially licensed plant, though families may gather it for their personal use. Brad hand-harvests and carries it pre-blanched frozen—or pickled year round. “The flavour is not affected (by the freezing process), but it does rob the sea asparagus of its crunch, which is a popular characteristic so it is mostly used as garnish for seafood dishes.”

Ground up, sea asparagus yields a high protein meal, and Carl Hodges, a Tucson-based atmospheric physicist, is even making biofuel from this green super-food. It seems there is nothing this tender stalk does not provide.

So where can you find sea asparagus? If you are keen to wildcraft (forage for wild food), Moody Bay on Salt Spring Island, the Sooke Basin and Towner Park are all solid bets during June and July. And if you just want to sample without the mission? Westcoast Seaweed Inc, Finest at Sea, and perhaps in a dish or two at Mirjana’s when sea asparagus is in season will do quite well.

Westcoast Seaweed Inc., 3140 Cook St., 250-812-6691

Mirjana’s, 532 Fisgard Unit 10, Dragon Alley, Lunch Mon-Sat 12-3

Finest at Sea, 27 Erie St., 250-383-7760

Kitchen Tools, Gadgets, and Accoutrements for Dad on Father’s Day

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It’s never easy picking a gift for dad. Some kind of fancy razor? One handmade car-washing ticket good for a year? Well, we’ve got a few suggestions for the food-loving fathers. Ante up their cooking toolboxes with these classic, cool, and very useful accoutrements and gadgets.

In Victoria, Muffet & Louisa’s has a very sharp (both literally and aesthetically) cream-handled Wusthof carving knife set at $365. And just in time for summer, their cast iron mussel pots made in France are in for $154. A good gift for the old-fashioned father is the wooden Peugot coffee mill, the kind that has the little drawer in it for catching the grinds for $130. To go with the grinder, Haute Cuisine (at 1210 Broad Street) sells Bodum french presses in all shapes and sizes including a single cup size for dads on-the-go from $26. A set of two mini bamboo steamers for $5.95 expands dad’s Asian cooking techniques —and puts nary a dent in the pocket. Their Peugot pepper grinder collection boasts a variety of colours and designs, but one particular beauty is the tall, blue lacquer version ($65). It’s practically a work of art. Design House on Yates carries the artistically designed Marimekko coffee cups. Hetkia Moments is a sophisticated cup with a cityscape etched onto its smooth white exterior for $19. Also at Design House, iittala highballs and tumblers ($32) that make any whiskey sour or gin on the rocks gleam. Dean and DeLuca Spice Rubs (Cajun, Asian, Poutry, Rib, and Cipotle Bayou) are at a special promo price of $10.95 for Father’s Day at the Tuscan Kitchen.

A wide array of cool tools can be found online. Collapsible Chopsticks made from recycled baseball bats from local teams in Japan make eating sushi on the go a lot more stylish. For other dishes-to-go there’s the Titanium Spork —super strong, corrosion-resistant, and lightweight which makes it perfect for tucking into a briefcase or backpack. Whiskey stones are the solution to the watered down drink that ensues after pa’s whiskey on the rocks becomes whiskey mixed with melted ice. These wonders created by soapstone workers in Vermont get cold in the freezer, but never melt. Once they’ve been used, you simple rinse them off and pop them back in the freezer. Very cool. Check them out at thinkgeek.com. A self-timer allows dad to program in his coffee and tea break times on the elegantly-designed kettle VERA by Bugatti. Take a look at livingtools. Handpresso makes an outdoor espresso set for pops on the move. A stylish bag comes equipped with four unbreakable cups, a 300ml thermos, the Handpresso Wild espresso machine and more. Click here to view the Handpresso boutique online.

In the Details

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A friend of mine recently returned from dinner at Chez Panisse in Berkeley with a grain of criticism spiking her otherwise sublime experience. “Dessert,” she informed me, “was a peach on a plate. A peach on a plate!” The juiciest, most succulent peach she’d ever tasted prettily perched on a simple and elegant plate, mind you, but she was grossly underwhelmed. When I expressed to her how much I thought I would appreciate such a graceful design, she protested, “but anyone can plunk a peach on a plate.”

True. We can all take the time to pluck the most carefully grown and perfectly ripe peach from the nearest, most nutritious orchard with its roots deep in the richest soil. We can then transport said fruit delicately to the kitchen, artfully choose just the right plate —one that serves as a canvas and not a distraction— and set it down on the table with an air of conviviality and artistry. But when was the last time any of us served and ate a peach in this manner when left to our own devices?

This interaction got me to thinking about coffee cups, forks, and waiters.

When I wander into an unfamilliar café for an Americano and it arrives in a well-designed cup that somehow, just by picking it up, extends its quiet, classic sophistication to me, I’m delighted. Correspondingly, there’s a fork that surfaces occasionally in my silverware drawer that I find impossible to eat well with. It was cheaply made, feels flimsy in the hand, and reminds me too much of bad cafeteria food (it having wound up in the drawer, no doubt, after someone pilched it from a bad cafeteria). The point is, for those of us attuned to the minutiae, a bad fork can ho-hum a real work-of-art meal.

Which leads me to waiters, the men and women who stand on their feet all day attending to the minutiae of flocks of eaters.

Just the other day I missed a connection from Quadra to Cortes Island by seconds and decided to wander up the hill to the Heriot Bay Inn patio for a bite. Bleary-eyed and road weary from a couple long days in transit, I dropped into a seat completely un-hungry, but desperately needing coffee. A waitress appeared to welcome me and spruce up the table. Hot, fresh coffee arrived promptly after that with a pretty little pitcher of cream and a lovely, heavy spoon. I hemmed and hawed about what to order longer than the acceptable amount of time, then feeling like this might annoy the service, explained that I wasn’t all that hungry and could take my coffee to go. The waitress was perfectly gracious about this; I was welcome to stay, to eat or not. Enjoy your coffee and the view, was all that was asked of me. Coffee was freshened, water was replenished. I sipped and listened as the waiters bobbed and weaved around the patio, replaced forks, recited specials, got pulled into conversation and laughter. They seemed perfectly pleased when I finally ordered a half-salad and when it arrived it was simple, but full of colour, freshness, and tasted exactly like the right thing at the right time.

“Excellent choice,” said the waitress when I picked the walnut honey dressing, as though I’d just chosen something special from the wine list. There were three servers circulating the deck that afternoon and each one of them had the details of their duties nicely polished. I was made to feel like I was welcome and being taken care of, rather than served or doted on, and their amiable helpfulness felt sincere, not pre-fabricated. Their attitudes made all the difference.

Sometimes we can become so focused on the extravagance of a meal out that we overlook appreciating the small details —a patient waiter, the gentle curve of the water pitcher, the way someone has angled the table so the light falls just so. Try ordering something unfanciful next time you go out —a plain pasta, the house greens, or a solitary peach, say— and see what other elements rise to your attention. You may find, even at your own kitchen table, you’ve been missing some of the beauty in the details.

Click here to visit the Heriot Bay Inn online.

Foxglove Farm Cultivates Culture

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We tend to think of the smaller islands as a sleepy refuge from the whir and hum of urban society. But tucked into a pocket of protected forest and lush fields on Salt Spring Island, Foxglove Farm is a buzzing agrarian hub for agriculture and the arts.Founded by Michael Ableman, a forerunner in community-oriented organic farming, the farm hosts a series of programs that serve as tonic for the wearied city soul or inspiration for the budding farmer in its Centre for Arts, Ecology & Agriculture.

The Centre aims to demonstrate and interpret the vital connections between farming, land stewardship, food, the arts, and community well-being. Specific courses range from the four-day Art of Wild Crafting which explores how native people fed, clothed, and sheltered themselves using wild materials to an evening class on growing food for your family in tight city spaces. August 4th to 7th you can dance to the Brazilian Samba with Brazilian performing artist Cida Veira and July 21st to 24th, Michael Ableman leads A New Way of Seeing: Photographing Farm, Garden & Forest for fans of his large body of photographic work.

Whatever your interests may be, the programs are an inspiring way to spend time on beautiful Foxglove Farm with the writers, artists, musicians, farmers, and ecologists that make this enclave a true hub of progressive activity. And if you’d rather just take it all in on your own terms, check out their quaint cabins and guest cottages. Their Log House looks like the perfect place to retreat for a quiet summer rejuvenator. With strawberries, raspberries, quince, a wide range of Mediterranean vegetables, farm fresh eggs, and grains grown on the farm you’ll eat divinely. In fact, it may become impossible to dislodge oneself from the fresh-from-the-ground diet, Salt Spring beauty, and cultural whirl of activity. ‘Sleepy’ Salt Spring just got a whole lot more stimulating.

Click here to read more about Foxglove Farm

BC SPOT PRAWN BOIL

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pictured: Spot Prawn Boil at Fuel by Tracey Kusiewicz, Foodie Photography

"Our first of the season BC Spot Prawn Boil was such a success we are continuing the event every Saturday until the end of the season. This is not a dinner where etiquette prevails. This is a traditional southern style boil, no cutlery necessary; just dig in until you can't dig in any longer. Seats are $85 each, includes 3 courses & R&B Brewing Co. Raven Cream Ale. Partial proceeds will be donated to the Spanish Banks Creek Restoration Project."

FUEL Spot Prawn Boil Details:

Saturday May 9th - Saturday June 13th

12 bar seats available @ $85 per person

One seating, 7pm sharp Saturday’s ONLY

To reserve your seat, call 604 288 7905

or email reservations@fuelrestaurant.ca

Want more spot prawns? Read the blogs here.

Mountain Ash Farm Passes the Torch

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Since 1967, Max and Elaine Steiger have owned and operated Mountain Ash Farm in the Kelly Creek area of Powell River, BC. With a philosophy of using natural farming practices and raising their five children on healthy food, they tended their small market garden and a handful of cows, pigs, lambs, goats, chickens, pheasants, and emus.

To the city folks, they are probably best known for their outstanding preserves which they sell in shops from Victoria to Vancouver (click here for a full list). Everything from onions to garlic tips to beets were brined with finesse —the first time I had a Mountain Ash Farm pickle I realized it was the first real pickle I’d ever had. The crunch is amazing, the flavour like summer captured. Throwbacks to condiments our grandparents can recall are winning over the younger generations. Their Chow chow, Sandwich Spread, and relishes are packed with vegetables, not sugar, and crunch with just the right amount of sweet and tart. On the sweeter side, their jams and jellies are potent with fruity, sticky goodness. Their Strawberry Fig jam is totally decadent —perfect on toast— while their Banana Blueberry Jam is an instant hit with kids and can be swirled into plain yogurt. The savoury wine-infused Garlic and Onion Jam is hands-down one of my favourite BC foods —especially when paired with a small slab of Natural Pastures Comox Brie and a Bonnie Bea’s oatcake.

The Steigers recently announced their retirement and have moved off the farm. But Strawberry Fig jam fans take heart; they’ve handed the reins over to Brooks Secondary School. A student-run enterprise will be carrying on Elaine’s preserveration arts as an educational program run by Chef Mike Austin and business teacher Anne Hutchings. It’s a win-win-win; a new generation learns the satisfactions and fruits of growing and preserving food, loyal customers get to keep their favourites, and the farm will continue to thrive and be enjoyed by kids.

More Food, Food Producers at Second Annual Defending Our Backyard

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

May 20, 2009: On May 31 Vancouver Island chefs, food and beverage producers and local food advocates will come together to demonstrate the importance – and the tasty benefits – of supporting local food producers. The second annual Island Chefs’ Collaborative Defending Our Backyard, held at Fort Rodd Hill will showcase the bounty available right on Vancouver Island and attendees will be able to see and taste the full range of what is available in their own backyard. The event combines learning with eating to show tangibly the importance of local food and supporting local food producers.

ICC member chefs will create a range of tasty bites from the land and the sea including mini albacore tuna burgers, Sooke trout tacos, hand spun pizzas, hazelnut gelato, barbecued pork, local sausages, fresh shucked oysters, Moonstruck Cheese with local fruit chutney and more. A “local bounty” bouillabaisse made of 100% Oceanwise certified sustainably harvested local seafood will be served. The full menu is posted at www.iccbc.ca .

Several demonstrations will be part of the day including oyster shucking, pizza spinning and baking in the ICC’s portable outdoor oven and cookies baked in the Colwood Cob oven. A demonstration farm market will be set up with representatives from many of the farm markets operating throughout the Capital Region. Speakers will address topics at regular intervals on issues such as grain production on Vancouver Island and sustainable seafood harvesting. Completing the circle, animals will also be onsite including piglets from Metchosin and chicks from Farm House Poultry. With an increased focus on sustainability, Energy Alternatives will provide solar power for the event’s stage and sound system. Reckless Cycles will be onsite providing free bicycle valet parking and tune ups.

Music through the day will be performed by Kings Without, Children of Celebrities and The Ecclestons.

Proceeds from Defending Our Backyard are distributed to local farmers to support farming initiatives. For five years the Island Chefs’ Collaborative has made grants available to farmers who wish to make substantial infrastructure improvements to their property such as adding a greenhouse, fencing, irrigation or farm equipment. I n 2008 the first Defending Our Backyard raised $10,000, which supported infrastructure improvements in particular that would help extend the growing season and provide a year-round income.

Defending Our Backyard will be held May 31 at Fort Rodd Hill Historic Site from noon to 4 p.m. rain or shine. Tickets for Defending Our Backyard are $45 for adults, $25 for youth (nine to 15 years) and $99 for a family of two adults and two youth. Children eight and under years old are free. Tickets are available at Spinnakers Spirit Merchants, Smoken Bones Cookshack, Cross Roads Bar & Grill, Cook Street Village Liquor Store, Ristorante La Piola and BC Wineguys Cadboro Bay. If tickets are available on the day of the event they will be sold at the gate.

Updates and information are posted at www.iccbc.ca. Info at 250-888-2047.

Might I Suggest?

Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It’s the nature of a pretty port town; we get a lot of tourists. And every so often you run into a traveler looking for someplace to eat that offers a genuine slice of the local terroir. Born into a family noted for its approachable faces (even when I’m the tourist I get stopped for directions), I’ve become accustomed to directing people to authentic watering holes. Summer’s around the corner and with it comes a tidal wave of tourism, so here it is, my own personal (and absolutely changeable and open to suggestion) quick list for the wandering Washingtonian, enraptured Ontarionian, or whoever it may be you find yourself hovering over a map with after they’ve stepped off the boat and asked, “so where should I go to eat?”

I always direct people Southeast from the Inner Harbour to Cook St. Village because ambling along Cook gives you a gorgeous view of the oceans, mountains, and at specific times of the year, a canopy of cherry blossoms. It gives the traveler a scenic starting point in the city. Caffe Fantastico is the perfect stop for a pick-me-up after a walk along the beach and up through Beacon Hill Park. If more serious replenishment is required I’d head to Pizzeria Primastrada for the Pizza al Funghi, a glass of wine, and for dessert, an affaghato (bold espresso poured over a tasteful scoop of vanilla gelato). For picnic fixings like fresh and local fruits and cheeses, stroll around the corner to Ambrosio’s where the staff is perpetually cheery (not chirpy) and passionate about their wares.

Hippy-types I point in the direction of Fernwood (Eastward and a touch North from the harbour for those relying on maps) where the worst graffiti you’ll come across reads “somebody loves you.” A pink and pretty cupcake can brighten a rainy afternoon at the Pink Sugar cupcakery, chased with an Americano sipped slowly in the warm, hip, and artistic atmosphere of the Cornerstone Café. Stage next door gives you an excuse to dress snazzy while smartly sipping a martini and for heartier fair it’s just a stone’s throw to the Fernwood Inn which has top-notch pub food.

Downtown is easy for visitors to manouevre around, using the harbour as a reference point, and has a lot to offer. Everybody has their favourites— but a few highlights I like to point out are Mo:le for their consistently scrumptious and creative breakfasts. Heck, you can while away the whole morning going door-to-door on lower Pandora (LoPa?) with the Mo:le, Café Bliss, Habit trifecta. If you’re on your own definitely make time for Habit where you can have a well-crafted cup of coffee, sure, but also choose from a whole wall of magazines to peruse while you sip (heaven for a those of us who love our mags). And even if you’re not into raw, still pop into Café Bliss for their Bliss Kiss -the chubby, heart-shaped chocolate that can bust any bad mood, and I’d gamble, even jetlag. Further down there’s Soltsice Cafe with the aforementioned (in a previous recipe box feature) soul-warming hot chocolate plus occasional acoustic gigs with an eclectic, cozy scene.

Red Fish Blue Fish has my vote for lunch al fresco on a balmy summer day, but if it’s drizzling I’d hike up the street to The Pink Bicycle for their juicy, messy, ridiculously good burgers. There is, of course, Brasserie L’ecole for a fancy night out (and, in my opinion, the best meal in town), as well as Café Brio and Camille’s —all superb and well worth their price. For something a bit cheaper, but still on the upscale side Ferris’ Oyster Bar upstairs is a steady bet (be sure to order a brownie for dessert).

Everything at Choux Choux Charcuterie tastes amazing and I love that they only have a couple tiny tables for the fortunate few lunchers. Just get whatever’s on the board even if you can’t pronounce it; trust them. Or if you’re on the go and they’ve got personal quiches in the deli, get one and savour its incredible rich and creaminess paired with a buttery, flaky crust. Further up Fort is Plenty where visiters can take their pick of edible souvenirs to return home with: Cobble Hill chocolate bars, Shawnigan Lake coffee beans, Victoria oatcakes, and Mountain Ash preserves all travel well. If it’s a Saturday morning you simply have to go to Moss St. Market and if it’s not head to Wildfire Bakery for a pain au chocolate, then take home a loaf of Apricot Anise, the likes of which you will never find anywhere else. The Lemon Meringue tart was declared by not one, but two, visitors I directed there as the best they’d ever tasted in their life. Last but not least I usually point tourists in the direction of The Superior Café if it’s a Friday or Saturday night because with their live music, art installations, and seasonal, locally-supportive tapas menu, it’s a true smorgasborg of Victorian culture.

Organic farming pioneer Gary King passes away

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo by Tracey Kusiewicz

KING Gary Allan March 20, 1944 - April 29, 2009

With great sadness it was announced that after a brave fight with cancer, Gary passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family. He is survived by his wife Naty, daughters Jamie, Cristina (Jonathan), Jennifer (Ian), and Theresa (Christopher), parents Mildred and Alfred, sister Linda (Michael), brother Wayne (Ann), newborn grandson Mason, nieces and nephews, and extended family and friends (including Kati).

Gary was a well known organic farmer, author and an expert in the field of organic food products. He had extensive experience in the science and practice of growing organic crops. His passion for producing the best in organic food helped make his Hazlemere Organic Farm in Surrey such a success, and lead him to collaborate with others in getting the message out about the high quality organic produce available. He was also responsible for providing a forum for like-minded organic business people - Organics for BC.

Gary lived his life passionately - creating community,telling tall stories, and promoting local, sustainable agriculture and food security in B.C. He is remembered as a dedicated organic farmer and environmentalist, but most of all as a kind man, devoted to his family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Farmer Gary Memorial Fund c/o the King family at 1859 - 184th St., Surrey, B.C. V3S 9V2. This fund will be used to promote Gary’s dream of saving farmland and feeding B.C. locally and sustainably.

The Whole Hog

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Peruse the latest selection of cookbooks and (providing their not of the raw or vegetarian persuasion), you’ll find more and more recipes dedicated to the visceral, primal pleasure of cooking and eating meat. What’s interesting is that these carnivorous recipes have a holistic theme —that is, the treatment of the animals from feed to care is largely discussed, as well as how they are used after the visit to the abattoir. It seems our collective palate is evolving beyond the common pork chop and steak, and many consumers, guided by contemporary artisan chefs and small farmers have refound lost recipes of generations past that used the whole animal —pigs’ feet, tongue, tail, and tripe, for example.

Hugh Fearnsley-Whittingsall’s River Cottage popular television show and cookbook series, for example, laud the raising of one’s very own flock of sheep or coop of chickens. His rustic, everyday recipe book includes a recipe for Headcheese, Tail and Tongue of Beef with Rich Red Wine Sauce, not to mention a diagram of lamb cuts and a whole section entitle “Killing a Chicken.” In our own backyard, Chef Mara Jernigan hosts classes at her culinary retreat, Fairburn Farm, on cooking with the whole lamb and the duck in its entirety. At Café Brio, cuts of meat your grandparents remember fondly are served up beautifully, and the deli counter at Choux Choux Charcuterie reaches from far and near to bring us Quebecois foie gras, Cobble Hill lamb, and Mill Bay rabbit. Clearly, there’s a demand for more than chicken breasts and sirloin steaks.

Shannon Hayes, author of Grassfed Gourmet and a spokesperson for the movement towards sustainably raised animals writes, “As a farmer I’m keenly aware that there’s a whole lot more of the animal attached to those parts [chicken breasts and lamb loin chops].” Hayes’ book provides a plethora of information on the benefits of eating grassfed meats. Nutritionally grassfed meats are lower in saturated fat and calories and higher in omega 3 fatty acids that are linked to blood pressure reduction, healthy brain function, and have been cited to slow the growth of many types of cancer. Her own story as a farmer is quite fascinating —after attending a dinner for chefs and farmers in the late nineties, she was discouraged to hear from the restaurant industry that most customers wanted the same banal cuts of meat. She challenged herself to cook with as many different cuts as possible —all from grassfed sources— and soon found that consuming meat on an almost daily basis led to noticeable improvements in her health. Her skin shone and hair gleamed, she had more energy and lost weight. While this is, of course, a personal account, it also sets a refreshing tone for her book devoted entirely to recipes that use all sorts of animal parts (and are provided by the farmers that raised the animals used in their recipes). And it turns the meat-producing industry—long criticized for its waste of animal parts and unsustainable farming methods—on its nose.

For me, an omnivore who over the years has been scared by atrocious feedlot stories and bacterial catastrophes into consuming less cow and more tofu, the attention to quality in raising meat and trying new cuts may go hand-in-hand with the movement towards sourcing locally. After all, if the consumers know their farmers and trust the source, they may be more inclined to try an unfamiliar cut of meat.

Local farmer and editor of Small Farm Canada, Tom Henry, raises lamb which he then supplies to local restaurants such as The Pink Bicycle on Blanshard Street (see our recipe box for a burger recipe featuring Henry’s Metchosin lamb). At the recent Food Matters Forum in Victoria, Tom Henry spoke on consumer trends of meat eating and encouraged attendees to educate fellow consumers about the seasonality of local meats and to understand that “high-value items are only part of the animal. We need to educate people to see the entire animal. It’s moving towards the more European style of using the whole hog,” says Henry. “It may be a couple generations down the road to develop these tastes, but we can start encouraging it now.”

For more information on grass-fed meats, visit this excellent online database, www.eatwild.com. Shannon Hayes’ Grassfed Gourmet is available at Plenty.

Photo: Saanich pigs by Katie Zdybel

Mother’s Day Brunches in Vancouver and Victoria

Fri, 1 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pay homage to mom this year by taking her out for a decadent brunch –that way you can both sit back, relax, and get pampered a little. Starting in Vancouver, CRU Restaurant has planned an elegant menu of Brioche French toast with warm apple compote and candied pears, BC Albacore Tuna Nicoise Salad with baby greens, fingerling potatoes, and much more. Glowbal locations Satay, COAST, Italian Kitchen, and Trattoria Italian Kitchen, will be celebrating Mother’s Day with delectable brunch dishes from 10am to 3pm. All menus include warm-weather inspirations from Hawaii, Tuscany, and Casablanca. Click here for details. Toast mom at Trifalgar’s Bistro with mimosas and a cheese souffle. And save room for something sweet —partner patisserie Sweet Obsession Cakes and Pastries is providing the triple chocolate mousse and passion fruit flan. Choose between brunch in the Fleuri Restaurant or Versailles Ballroom at the Sutton Place Hotel and take home a special gift as well as a $30 voucher toward any Spa service to boot. The Hamilton Street Grill has free range eggs, organic house-cured meats, and fresh pastries to woo mom. Wedgewood Hotel and Spa is offering Mother’s Day Brunch as well as a classic afternoon tea —both go beautifully with their luxurious spa treatments.

In Victoria, Vista 18 is serving rosemary and garlic rubbed roast beef and maple glazed ham balanced with a bountiful salad bar, dessert table, and more. Call 250.382.9258 for reservations. Fresh scones, blueberry pancakes, smoked salmon egg benedicts, and seafood ceviche pepper Lure’s brilliant brunch menu for Mother’s Day. Have dinner, a massage, complimentary appetizers, and Mother’s Day Brunch the next morning as part of Abigail Hotel’s Mother’s Day package. Call 1.800.561.6565 to reserve. Bear Mountain Resort is setting out their finest to impress mom with a delectable brunch. Go all out in Sooke: Sooke Harbour House is offering a getaway that includes an overnight stay in one of their ocean view rooms, a fresh bouquet of Spring flowers, dinner and breakfast for two, and more. Click here for details. Spoil mom with an outdoor buffet on Hillside Estate Winery’s patio. Brunch sells out every year so call early, 250.493.6274. And if the weather's gorgeous, consider taking mom out for a picnic -Nanaimo's Carrot on the Run offers Getaway Picnics that would be perfect while enjoying a road trip up island, a walk along a beach, or kayaking in the beautiful bay. For the full menu please visit www.24carrotcatering.bc.ca

The Naramata Bench Spring Release

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Naramata Bench Spring Release events held in both Vancouver and Victoria last week were a smashing success. Sold out in both cities, I was thrilled the winemakers brought the Naramata Bench to Vancouver Island!

I attended the Victoria tasting overlooking the harbor at the Inn at Laurel Point. It’s a stunning spot and was a real treat to see the setting sun from the patio where Skyla and Oz from Greenlaw were performing their stylin’ tunes. I may have been on the patio in the queue for the crispy duck risotto more than once… Chef Brad Horen and team did a fabulous job of scallop and mango ceviche, mini lamb burgers, and a vast cheese table…but it was the crispy duck risotto that had me going back for more. I even made others who were awaiting their risotto with empty glasses replenish as it was a sin not to pair! Luckily D’Angelo Estate Winery was nearby and their Pinot Noir accompanied the risotto nicely. There was a great vibe in the room and people were really enjoying themselves.

I know the idea of a tasting is to make your way around the room, but I found myself stuck in front of many tables. First there was the 2007 Pink Elephant Methode Champenoise Sparkling from Elephant Island Orchard Wines. The dry, raspberry bubbles are divine. I also spent an inordinate amount of time at the Kettle Valley Winery table enjoying their Pinot Gris, the fabulous Gewurztraminer from Hillside Estate Winery and even longer sipping Riesling from Red Rooster Winery which paired well with the scallop and mango ceviche. Loved the Red Rooster Reserve Merlot as well. Everyone was talking about Laughing Stock Vineyards’ Portfolio, a Bordeaux blend aptly named by the former stockbroker vintner, but it was the classically blended Legacy from Poplar Grove Winery that stopped me in my tracks.

Perhaps I should have been doing more spitting… I couldn’t help myself in both the silent and live auction led by Terry David Mulligan. (If you’re a child of the 80’s as I am, you’ll know who Terry David Mulligan is…if not, there’s always Google!) There were some great wine collections as well as a whole line-up of magnums all signed by the vintners. I ended up with one of the five 3 litre magnums…don’t ask me how much that set me back! Just know I can hardly wait to savour the collaborative Bordeaux blend from Hillside Estate Winery, La Frenz Winery, Lake Breeze Vineyards, Laughing Stock Vineyards and Soaring Eagle Winery. The Naramata Bench certainly knows how to do it up right!

Visit the Naramata Bench website

Local Grain: Rip-off or Rebellion

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Earlier this April, Christopher Hergesheimer sat in a small room at Simon Fraser University defending his masters thesis and discussing what he has spent the past three years of his life researching: the local grain chain.

After a myriad of interesting questions, closed doors to the non-academic guests, and a re-welcoming, a much lighter, informal discussion took place starting with the question of cost, because in the end, everything is about money - or is it?

Who would pay $5 or $6 for a loaf of bread? Lots of people. At the Translyvania Bakery in Steveston a loaf of bread is $10. Urban Fare imports bread from France that sells for an average price of $30 per loaf. So is $6 a loaf made from freshly milled, locally grown grain a lot to pay?

"My question to Chris," Bonita Magee, FarmFolk's Project Manager was "during his research, did he figure out how much a loaf of white bread at the supermarket would be if wheat farmers didn't receive subsidies?" Good question. We don't know. Bonita adds, "We actually don't know much about our food like where it was grown, how and by whom. When we were children, our parents taught us not to take candy from strangers. Now we buy food from faceless corporations and consume it without question. Are we starting to rebel and simply grow our own? Buy from people who have faces, who we can talk to, ask questions and get answers. Real food from real people?"

Farmer Tom Henry grows about 30 acres of Hard Red Spring wheat every year at his Sea Bluff Farm in Metchosin, just outside of Victoria. For every acre he harvests, he is able to produce about one metric tonne of whole wheat flour. One hundred kilograms of this wheat was freshly milled and arrived at the office of FarmFolk/CityFolk the next day. This wheat along with recipe booklets was recently for sale at Weaving the Chains: Heritage Grains and CSAs, Friday April 17th at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver. Farmer Tom says the wheat is grown on sea side fields and he thinks there is a reflection of the environment in the taste of grain. The community in Metchosin are encouraging Tom to plant more wheat.

For more information on sourcing local wheat check out the FarmFolk/CityFolk website. You can find bread baked with Tom Henry's local wheat at Wildfire Bakery (1517 Quadra Street in Victoria). You can also find local flour at True Grain bakery in Cowichan Bay.

Wine Islands Tasting Notes

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If the massive turnout at the first ever Wine Islands Tasting is any indication (sold out ++!), this will become a very popular annual event. This tasting, organized by the Wine Islands Vintners Association (WIVA) assembled over 20 Wine Islands wineries, cideries & meaderies, with most pouring new releases.

It was fantastic to see so many winery owners and winemakers behind the tables, as most tastings are just staffed with reps. There were many familiar faces in attendance, along with newer names on the circuit (Deol Estate Winery, Dragonfly Hill Vineyard, Island Sprits Distillery...)

While I didn’t have time to play the trivia contest (included with the program was a Q&A for each producer present), I did make my rounds the Inn at Laurel Point Solarium - ok - three times. Here are some highlights:

• Finally meeting, face-to-face, Andy Johnston of Averill Creek Vineyard, after years of email correspondence. His Pinot Noir remains one of my favourite BC Pinots - Bright black cherry and raspberry aromas lead into cedar, tobacco, leather and delicate wafts of wild cherry. Ahh…

• Merridale Ciderworks’ fortified Pomme Oh (gorgeous apple) and Mure Oh (spicy blackberry).

• Prism - an aromatic and crisp estate grown Gew/Chard blend from Garry Oaks Winery , along with their perennially delish, creamy pear and fresh mineral kissed Pinot Gris.

• a led tasting by owner/winemaker Jim Moody of Zanatta Winery’s sparkling wines: Glenora Fantasia NV (Cayuga), Fatima Brut 2005 (Pinot Grigio), Allegria Brut Rose 2005 (Pinot Noir), Brut Tradizionale 2003 (Pinot Noir). Cayuga grape? Cool! I still can’t decide which is my favourite - I’ll need to taste them all again!

• Seeing the lovely folks at Starling Lane. While their new vintages aren’t yet released, I was reminded of my fondness for the intense Port Victoria Wild Blackberry.

• yum, yum Sea Cider! Their Pippins, sparkling Rumrummer and accidental Pomona were all very highly quaffable.

• The always lovely and elegant Brut Naturel from Venturi Schulze Vineyards - a stunning sparkler. Also on hand, the brand new Pinot Noir & Zweigelt blanc de noir, The Bad Boys. The labels for their Verjus always make me smile - art from owners Marilyn and Giordano’s daughter Giordana, at age three.

• Beaufort Vineyard Estate Winery’s Panacea - Pinot Gris/Schonburger blend.

• Being introduced to Island Spirits Distillery and their Phrog Vodka and Phrog Gin - painstakingly crafted on a still of their own creation (20 years in the making!) on Hornby Island. Their goal - purity - so much so that their ultra premium spirits are said to cause no hangovers or trigger allergens. Part science, part art, part skill and part patience. Great labels and name.

There were many others - and I wish I could have sipped longer, but the crush was really teeming through signaling my time to depart. A great event - proceeds benefit the Canadian Cancer Society. Snap up next year’s tickets as soon as you see them.

List of Participants. For contact details, visit the Wine Islands Website.

Alderlea Vineyards

Averill Creek Vineyards

Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery

Blue Grouse Estate Winery

Carbrea Vineyard and Winery

Chalet Estate Wines

Cherry Point Vineyards

Church and State Wines

Deol Estate Winery

Dragonfly Hill Vineyard

Garry Oaks Winery

Honeymoon Bay Winery

Island Spirits Distillery

Malahat Estate Vineyard

Morning Bay Vineyards

Merridale Ciderworks

Rocky Creek Winery

Silverside Farm & Winery

Salt Spring Vineyards

Saturna Island Family Estate Winery

Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse

Starling Lane Winery

Tugwell Creek Meadery

Venturi-Schulze Vineyards

Victoria Gin

Zanatta Winery

and Hilary’s Cheese

The Village Family Market

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

There’s a stretch of shops in Victoria, spanning between Blair Mart on Pandora and Wildfire Bakery on Quadra that looks —despite what its sandwiched between— a little worse for wear. The old Cranberry Cafe site sits unused, litter tumbles around the sidewalk, and a general air of dilapidation shades the corner. Enter chef Cosmo Meens and his new idea for a “Village Family Market” which will stock its shelves w ith local produce, gourmet soups, sauces, and preserves, and take-away lunches all chock full of locally-sourced, healthy ingredients. “I love the location,” Cosmo tells us. “That area of the city needs some attention and what better way to do it than to infuse some wonderful community-spirited business.”

‘A local organic food grocery store/deli,’ as Cosmo calls it, may be just the thing to enliven the neighbhourhood with local farm-supporting consumers and health-minded families looking for a take-home dinner, a coffee from their daily tea and coffee stand, or some fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. “Having healthy food and families around can be nothing but a positive influence on the area,” says Cosmo, “and that’s what I feel I have to offer: a positive influence.”

He speaks from experience; Cosmo is expanding on the success of Mo:Le, his restaurant further down Pandora, which has become a breakfast institution for hipsters and wholesome, innovative food-lovers in a few short years. The staff at Mo:Le not only sources most of their ingredients as locally as possible, they also support Victoria’s artists and musicans by including art installations and live music events. Although the Village Family Market will stand alone and is not an extension of Mo:Le, Cosmo says, “I love both places and I love food and I love to offer what people want. I want to be able to offer the best of all options for people when it comes to food.”

The Village Family Market won’t be the first of its kind to hit Victoria’s streets. Pomodori’s in Oak Bay is a small, independent grocer that offers a fine selection of BC produce, there’s Plenty on Fort Street with its all BC dairy selection and preserves, and of course, the four different locations of Ambrosio Markets around Victoria which have been supplying Victoria with local cheeses, meats, and produce for over thirty years. “The more the merrier,” says John de Medeiros, Ambrosio Markets' president on the opening of the Village Family Market. “There’s no such thing as competition when it comes to supporting local food. We’re all in this together.” He stresses the need to band together as advocates of a local food system as the venture, though “ethically easy,” as he puts it, “can be financially hard.”

Of course, it’s not just the business proprietors, chefs, and farmers that must band together, but the consumers too. If Cosmo’s hunch is correct, the Village Family Market is just what’s been missing from this part of Victoria. “I like to feel out what’s happening and find what is missing from our community, then do my best to create it,” he says. “If I were to choose three places to get food in Victoria for my family on a regular daily basis, they would be Mo:Le, Café Bliss, and the missing link: the Village Family Market.” The VFM will open its doors June 1st at 920 Pandora Avenue (right beside the old Cranberry Café), and then it will be up to the consumers to support the suppliers, and breathe a little life back into this neighbourhood by celebrating good and local food.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

By far the most expensive cured pig on the market

“It’s the best ham in the world. It’s the caviar of ham. I’m such a proponent of it,” says chef Terrance Brennan of the New York restaurants Picholine and Artisanal. “Once you have it, you can’t go back to proscuitto … For me, it’s sublime.”

Jamon Iberico could be the most sought after cured meat on the planet. Rich and nutty, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, a single slice of this meat can satiate the most critical of palates for hours. Made from Spain's rare black footed pigs, which during the last few months of their life feed solely on fallen acorns, this jamon carries flavors reminiscent of those pigs' diets and eating habits: intensely woodsy and nutty with a high degree of marbling (it turns out that feeding solely on acorns is quite a workout for the pata negra, resulting in a highly marbled meat). Only 8-9% of all Spanish jamon is Jamon Iberico and only a small percentage of all Iberico is designated bellota, meaning the highest, most acorn-fed pigs were used.

A limited supply is now available at Ottavio's in Oak Bay, Victoria and Oyama Sausage Co. in Vancouver.

Food Security Forum: What’s in our Regional Food Basket?

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Friday March 13th, the fourth annual Food Matters Forum addressed the issue of food security in the Capital Region District. Spearheaded by CR-FAIR and supported by VIHA, the forum titled “What’s in our Regional Food Basket?” welcomed local farmers, producers, consumers, activists, and teachers to discuss specific issues concerning food security. The three key issues hotly discussed were the possibility of a year-round farmers’ market in Victoria, increasing access to food for households living on low income, and creating partnerships between universities and communities on food issues.

Following the discussion, keynote speakers Diane “the Seaweed Lady” Bernard of Sooke and Tom Henry, Metchosin farmer and editor of Small Farms magazine addressed the group on the issues of sourcing regional foods and supporting local farmers. Bernard shed light on the significance of seaweed —one of the oldest and fastest growing plants in the world, as well as a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre— while Henry spoke eloquently on the ‘agricultural reformation’ currently abuzz. “Farmers and producers are trying new things and amalgamating,” Henry explained, “and with consumers we’re seeing a revitalization of the farmers’ market.” Both urged forum attendees to explore regional foods and support local producers as often as you can. For more information on the Seaweed Lady, visit sea-flora.com and to read more of Tom Henry’s ideas, visit smallfarmcanada.ca.

A handful of food security champions were honoured later in the evening during a sumptuous potluck feast for their contributions to the community. Congratulations to Dave and Natalie Chambers of Madrona Farm, Jennifer Hawes of ColdStar Freight Systems Inc, Sonya Chandler, Councillor of Victoria, Pia Carroll, Phoebe Dunbar, Mary Alice Johnson, Kathryn Kusyszyn, Ellen Lewers, Jordan Marr, and Sheila Wallace of Sooke CHI, Terry Michell of Michell Farms, Trevor Walker of Plenty Epicurean Pantry, Candace Thompson of Eagle Paw Organics, Nick Versteeg, producer of “Island on the Edge.” Hope Burns, Director of Planning of the District of Central Saanich, and special recognition went out to David Cubber, MLA, and former municipal councillor.

For more information on CR-FAIR visit www.communitycouncil.ca

Bringing Burgundy Wines to Canada. Canadians experience Burgundy wines with three wine trade events

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Jean-François Curie became a member of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin in 1987. A keen traveller, since 1990 he has occupied the function of Grand Consul and his many trips have enabled him to meet fellow professionals all over the world. During the “Chapitres du Clos Vougeot”, he became a writer and proved that witty expressions are always the perfect accompaniment to a nice bottle of wine!

It's all about terroir in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Burgundy's noble grape varieities. And were we aware that Chardonnay could be so steely? Or Pinot Noir pure velvet?

Indeed we were after last week's Burgundy Tasting at Terminal City Club

The Burgundy Wine Board brought the Burgundians to town March 19th. Gracious and informative exhibitors tasted us through the Chablis and the Cotes D'Or regions. There is little doubt few wines are as nuanced and as elegant as fine Burgundy--From delightful Cremant de Bourgogne bubble and rich,racy Domaine de VAROUX Vieilles Vignes Chablis '05 to silky Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru, Clos du Val and Faivley's classic monopole the handsome Mercurey 1erCru, "Clos de Mygland". One-on-one chats were offered to media folk and a training seminar for sommeliers and the hospitality industry. This grape bunch outdid themselves.

We thank the Burgundian Wine Board for a delightful and eye-opening event and look forward welcoming them back. Check out their website

EAT Magazine.

Spinnakers’ Cask Beer Festival

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pictured above: The assembled brewmasters take a break from the festivities and pose for the camera

Although to the uninitiated it may have looked like Spinnakers’ upstairs pub was hosting a massive keg party, with nearly 20 of the metal behemoths propped up on the bar, ping-pong tables and other makeshift serving stations, this was actually the Victoria brewpub’s first cask beer festival, held Saturday, March 14, from noon to 5 pm.

Cask beer, also known as “real ale,” is the freshest beer you can get, cask conditioned (i.e. dosed with yeast to create a second fermentation in the barrel) and poured with out added carbonation. Brewers from both Vancouver Island and the lower mainland brought casks of specially made beers—everything from Yaletown’s Belgian-inspired sour Mélange à Trois to Phillips’ crisp IPA that they innovatively drew through your choice of Cascade or Chinook hop-laden “filters”—to kick off this event. Only 100 tickets were made available, which sold out in a week—with minimal promotion—a strong indication that Victoria is thirsting for even more variety in its already burgeoning craft beer market.

Spinnakers’ owner Paul Hadfield seemed to be enjoying the success of the event as much as the mixed crowd—men and women, old and young all well represented—as he mingled with the visiting brewers and guests alike.

Adem Tepedelen is a Victoria-based freelance writer and winner of the 2008 Michael Jackson Beer Journalism Award for his story, "Trouble Brewin g," on the worldwide hops shortage.  

What Is Slow Food?

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Recently I received a membership to Slow Food as a gift from an employer. Ecstatically, I ripped open the envelope, held out my little orange membership card and waved it giddily in the face of a friend who was with me. “Cool,” she said, rather coolly, “but, uh, what is Slow Food?”

This friend, who I have chattered at on numerous occasions about my visit to San Francisco last Fall to attend Slow Food Nation, who has seen me carting around books with titles like Slow Is Beautiful and Slow Food Revolution, and who has heard me say at least a few times, ‘I’m going to a Slow Food event on Saturday,” had finally piped up and broken the sound barrier. For those of you who are not a Slow Food member or even just a Slow Food nerd (as I called myself before I received my little orange card), but who keep hearing those two words in different contexts, never quite sure what it really means, this article is for you.

As the story goes, Slow Food began when Italian Carlo Petrini had had enough of McDonald’s encroachment on Italy’s traditionally gastronomically-rich culture. Petrini founded his eno-gastronomic (wine and food) association in the small Northern Italian town of Bra in 1986, dubbing it Slow Food to signify its stance against the unhealthy, frenzy-paced fast food culture that pervades so much of the modern world. As members joined and discussions ballooned, the members soon realized that celebrating and defending traditional foods enjoyed at a slower pace of life had profound repercussions. If we truly respect and celebrate the food on our table, it goes hand-in-hand that we respect and celebrate its route to our table. That is, we honour the labour that goes into creating food, we value sustainable farming and fishing techniques, and we support local beekeepers, shepherds, and brewers. Today Slow Food is often explained by describing its three pillars of good (food that is flavoursome, fresh, and brings pleasure), clean (food that is produced in balance with its ecosystem), and fair (food that is harvested or produced in a way that is respectful to the labourers).

Slow Food grew. Extending beyond Bra, Italy, like-minded individuals created their own sects, or convivia as they are technically called, across Italy, then across Europe, then across the world. There are now more than 85, 000 members in over 1,000 convivia in 132 countries worldwide. Not bad for what originally started out as one fed-up guy’s grassroots hare-brained idea.

So what does Slow Food do exactly? With thousands of tentacles reaching around the world, every community has its own flavour and unique projects. Did you know that right here on Vancouver Island, Cowichan Bay has begun the process of becoming a Slow Town? And did you know that The Slow Food Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands convivium regularly hosts events that educate people about local artisans and food traditions? Last Fall, for example, our local convivium organized a pit cook in the tradition of British Columbia’s Native Peoples under the tutelage of ethno-botanist, Dr. Nancy Turner. Just last month, they hosted an apple tree pruning workshop and tasting at Sea Cider in Saanich. The role of the individual convivia is to educate the public about regional tastes —camas bulb and oysters, say, for Vancouver Island— and celebrate and support the artisans, chefs, and activists who are working to promote these local foods.

On a larger scale, Slow Food International, with its governing headquarters in Bra, Italy, organizes events on an international scale and guides the individual actions of the convivia by frequently clarifying the evolving philosophy and aim of Slow Food. There is an international Board of Directors (of which Petrini is president) with three supporting vice presidents, an international secretary, and the presidents of the main national associations. Some of the events this board organizes include Terra Madre (a conference for chefs, activists, youths, and supporters from around the world to convene and discuss the philosophies and initiatives around honouring food and a slow pace of life); Taste Education (the name given to the myriad of school-based projects that support teaching children, youth s, and university students about growing and cooking their own food, often right on school property); and Salone del Gusto (a global smorgasbord of artisan foods for participants to learn about through tasting). One of my personal favourite Slow Food initiatives is the Ark of Taste, a project which seeks out and aims to preserve traditional foods in danger of extinction. Canada’s Red Fife Wheat, for example, is one of the foods included in the Ark of Taste.

Slow Food is not easy to define because it has deeper connotations and wider repercussions than just savouring food at a slow pace. There is a lot of reading material (see below for a recommended reading list) and research can be done by perusing the web (click on provided links throughout this article for more in-depth information). Better yet, join your local convivium at a Taste Workshop in your hometown —you don’t have to be a member. Membership gives you a discounted admission to events as well as signs you up for certain Slow Food publications, but you can also sign up for the local convivium’s newsletter or stay tuned to EAT’s bulletin for upcoming events.

Slow Food Connections
BC convivia: Slow Food Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands, Slow Food Vancouver, Slow Food Whistler, and more
BC contacts: Sinclair Philip, Mara Jernigan, Jim Pearce, more

Upcoming local and international events: Slow Food Vancouver Bike the Blossoms April 18, Slow Food Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands AGM tba, Slow Fish in Genoa, Austria April 17-20, more events.

Recommended reading: Slow Food Revolution by Carlo Petrini and Gigi Padovani, The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Micheal Pollan, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

EAT articles on Slow Food: Vancouver Island Slow Food Convivium Attends Terra Madre, Slow Food Nation's Come to the Table and Victoria's First Slow Food Filmfest

Rich with Coffee

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Economic hard times or not, I haven’t exactly been rolling in the dough since I graduated from university. One adventure after another called and by the time I’d completed my post-grad dabbles in photography school, farming internships, freelance writing, and more, I’d accumulated a wealth of life experience that left me light in the purse. With the financial crisis howling like a wolf at the door, my poor-as-a-church-mouse status has dropped to poor-as-a-church-mouse's -country-cousin; but now more than ever, I’ve fine-tuned that human necessity to eke out a few simple gastronomic luxuries no matter how barren my pockets.

And how exactly does one do this when one finds oneself living in Canada’s most expensive city in the depths of an economic downturn? One word: coffee.

Victoria is rich in many things —beauty, eateries, retirees, rain. But my hands-down favourite Victorian asset is its coffee. Not since I backpacked through Europe on a very short shoestring have I sipped espresso so sublimely. I recently corresponded with a friend visiting Rome and asked him where his best cup of coffee had been thus far. “Caffe Fantastico, Cook Street Village,” he responded in all seriousness. I dropped that letter and pedaled to my favourite haunt to bask in the sunshine of the backyard patio with a perfect little white cup in my hand, thanking the coffee gods I’d landed myself —after much wandering— in a Canadian city that gets coffee right, and how.

Two or three bucks for the scent of earthy, chocolatey beans recently roasted, paired perfectly with creamy, slightly sweet, local whole milk, and the warm, casual banter of the savvy, just-cool-enough baristas is a steal. I can really nurse a latte (and I skimp further by only ever ordering the compact six ounce), lingering over a cup for half an hour, maybe more, and that time is all mine. In a sip, I’m transported. I feel the thrill of that singularily grown-up pleasure of truly loving a potent and bitter taste. I smell a foreign land and remember travels to Central America. I find myself straightening my posture and readjusting my disheveled scarf as I recall studying sophisticated French women in their Parisien cafes (they always looked so flawless, mysterious, and astonishingly content as they sipped their cafés aux laits). I remember surviving on thick, dark coffee with a side of fried eggs and beans while exploring Costa Rica. How my traveling companion and I would make any excuse to stop for a coffee to perk us up in the heat. For a couple colones we were refreshed and given the opportunity to reflect, observe the locals, and taste our new surroundings.

These are hard times and if you were already penny-pinching they can feel even harder. But some of the best things in life truly are free; a good sun shower, the company of old friends, your favourite record. It’s good to know that for a mere two dollars and fifty cents more, one can be elevated to a mood of luxuriousness and indulgence. The taste of excellent coffee is, to me at least, the taste of an ancient tradition steeped in culture and that spicy, earthy aroma smacks of exotic corners of the globe I dream about exploring. It is these little luxuries that make us feel rich even when we’re not. As long as I can occasionally afford a good cup of coffee, I’ll consider myself well off.

Recommended local cafes:

Discovery Coffee is located at 664 Discovery St., Victoria, 250.477.2323

Caffe Fantastico has 3 Victoria locations: 965 Kings Rd in Quadra Village, 1109 McKenzie St in the Cook Street Village, and a new location adjacent to Cliff Leir's new Fol Epi bakery a t the Dockside Green. 250.3385.23326

Out in Shawnigan Lake, Miziro Cafe roasts a superior bean. 1761 B Shawnigan - Mill Bay Rd. 250.733.2245. You can by their beans by the bag at Plenty.

Image by Katie Zdybel

Farmers and Chefs Meet

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Last month over a hundred farmers and chefs met in the Crystal Ballroom at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC to network and discuss issues that affect both farms and restaurants. Sponsored by the Island Chefs Collaborative, the event began with welcome speeches from Ken Hueston (Past President and organizer of the Local Food Festival) and current President Cory Pelan. Then, David Mincey, the ICC Farm Liaison announced this year’s farm grants.

David and Paige Mincey led in the creation of the Farm Grant Program and have been instrumental in raising money to give back to the farm community. This year a total of $9,800.00 was raised. The grants went to:

Haliburton Farm – for improvements to their farm stand ($619.00).

Indigo Farm - for a huge rain barrel ($1,250.00)

West shore Teaching and Learning Centre Kid’s Garden – fencing ($1,800.00)

Silver Cloud Farm – a greenhouse ($3,100.00)

Holland Farm –micro-green operation start-up infrastructure ($2,050.00)

A less formal forum followed that saw all the chefs and farmers in attendance form a large circle around the perimeter of the room. Each person went in turn, saying who he or she was, what they did and what they had to offer. A chef might say he wanted more heirloom tomatoes and asked that if a farmer had some to come speak to him. Similarly, a farmer might be looking for a chef to take his winter salad greens. After the introductions had been made the group mingled, exchanged contact information and business cards and even made a few deals.

To the best of my knowledge this innovative solution to meeting the needs of both farmers and chefs on a local level has never been done on this large a scale before – anywhere. It’s a testament to their commitment to eating local that this progressive group came together to create a forum for food sourcing.

Defending our Backyard - ICC Local Food Festival will take place this year at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites from 12pm-4pm Sunday, 31st May 2009.

The Island Chefs Collaborative Bastion Square Farm Market will be held on Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 am in Bastion Square, Downtown Victoria. It opens on Thursday, June 12th.

Visit the Island Chefs Collaborative website

GOOD FOR YOU

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pictured above: Arbequina 1st DayHarvest

Mediterranean Super Foods

AVOCADOS High in fibre, potassium, magnesium, folate, vitamin E Terrific in salads, dips or summer soups

BARLEY Packed with beta glucan, which KO’s cholesterol Eat in soups, stews, risottos and for breakfast

BEANS A fantastic source of protein, fibre, iron, B vitamins, antioxidants Try some Mediterranean favourites like borlotti, fava, chickpeas

GARLIC A superior source of Vitamin C, potassium, polyphenols, selenium For its positive effect on the heart, experts recommend eating at least one clove a day

OLIVE OIL Filled with healthy monounsaturated fats and antioxidants Contains compounds that help fight breast cancer, inflammation, obesity

NUTS Packed with protein, fibre, antioxidants, vitamin E and healthy fats Walnuts, almonds, pistachios and pine nuts highlight many Mediterranean dishes

SARDINES (and other fatty fish) A potent source of heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids Aim for a minimum of two to three servings a week

TOMATOES Contain copious amounts of vitamin C and lycopene, a potent antioxidant Cooked tomatoes (as in pasta sauce) have the highest levels of lycopene

YOGURT Full of protein, calcium and beneficial bacteria for digestive health Use the thicker Balkan style for an authentic Mediterranean touch

Niche / Philips Brewery Dinner

Sun, 1 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

photo: Chef Jason Liezert of Niche set-up in the Phillips Brewery

Editor’s blog

When I mentioned (to whoever would listen) I would be going to a beer dinner, people were intrigued. “What is a beer dinner?” they asked. A beer, or brewer’s dinner, is similar to winemaker’s dinner. A brewery and a restaurant pair up to prepare a multi-course dinner with each dish matched to a different beer. In this case the collaborators were Victoria’s artisan craft brewery Phillips Brewing Company and Niche, a relatively new but lauded restaurant in James Bay.

The dinner was held on a frosty Monday night in the brewery itself, which is located at the wrong end of Government Street (which means nearly as far as Bay Street). A hearty group made up of foodies, beer pros and a few beery geeks assembled to learn, taste, discuss and enjoys themselves. Tables had been set up in the reception area and bottles of Blue Buck, a lightly hopped session beer were passed out and in true Canadian style, we drank straight from the bottle. In back, in the brewery proper amid the tall, stainless steel fermenting vats and the bottling line, Chef Jason Liezert of Niche and his crew were camped out cooking an assortment of beer-friendly foods. The aura was a bit guerrilla in feel and definitely at the far end of cool.

Dinner was a marvel of invention, some challenging match-ups and plenty of bonhomie. After a quick greeting from proprietor Matt Phillips a procession of seven courses began. The tight-lipped menu gave little hint of what was to come. A first course shot glass of hot soup made from raspberry wheat ale and old cheddar was written as soup, cheddar, beer, and the salad, herring, sunchokes turned out to be marinated herring and Jerusalem artichoke with a dressing of Phillips Slipstream—a reddish brown ale with a robust malty sweetness and a smooth earthy finish. Next up was single, large ravioli filled with Salt Spring goat cheese and topped with a crispy, fried nugget of sweetbread. Contrary to one guest’s opinion, sweetbreads do not come from between the legs of a male cow but rather the pituitary gland. Some say sweetbreads are the landlubber’s version of lobster. While the pairing with Phillips’ Surly Blonde was a good one, some felt a higher ratio of goat cheese would have upped the acidity and made the pairing a bit more synergistic. I loved this beer—made in the white Belgian style, which is strong at 9.1% alcohol but with a light colour—and soon become the house beer at Chateau Hynes.

The next beer pairing we tried was a big, dopple bock called the Instigator. Rich, toasty, complex and with huge biscuit nose, it was the first of the “red wine” beers and paired well with a Scotch egg and its delicious homemade ketchup. Chef’s nod to the unfashionable by serving this British picnic food shows that snobbery has no place at the beer drinker’s dinner table. By this point the beer was catching up and the remainder of dinner was a bit of a blur of by increasingly funny stories, stronger beers and more innovative food pairings.

If my experience is indicative of what a good beer dinner can achieve I hope that this sort of causal and unpretentious progressive dinner catches on.

Coming up are more beer and food events. Look for Ottavio Italian Bakery & Deli to bring the cheeses on February 19th and Ambrosia Markets & Deli to collaborate in the future. Contact the brewery for info and tickets.

Niche 225 Quebec Street. Victoria, BC, 250 388 4255 website

Phillips Brewing Company 2010 Government St. Victoria, BC, website

Victoria's Urban Agriculture Movement

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The pick-up truck is the tool of choice for many modern farmers. But lack of motor-based transportation is an important choice for permaculturist Geoff Johnson. Bicycle trailer in tow, Geoff has helped lead the urban agriculture movement in Victoria since 1999.

While organic farmers often migrate out of the city in search of affordable farmland, Geoff’s home in Victoria is a prime example of urban homesteading. The abundance of resources in the urban centre allows Geoff to run a small-scale permaculture services business without owning a vehicle, an unthinkable possibility for a farmer in Saanich or Methcosin.

“The challenge is not to escape the city,” says Geoff, “the challenge is to make the city livable and sustainable.”
A graduate of Linaea Farm’s ecological gardening programme on Cortes Island, Geoff embraces permaculture’s emphasis on perennial agriculture systems. Decade-old apple and plum trees provide shade in his backyard, while newly planted blueberry bushes will provide summer sweets for years to come. Permaculture, or permanent agriculture, focuses on creating agricultural ecosystems with multiple functions and energy savings for long term self-sufficiency.

Techniques like water conservation and natural heating make permaculture design an essential part of the sustainable living toolkit. A rain barrel washing machine pushes the frontier of home appliances, while rooftop copper pipes act as his simple natural hot water heating system. Next on Geoff’s list is to install a rainwater catchment system and take advantage of the City of Victoria’s urban poultry bylaw to raise chickens.

Geoff grows native plants like salal, but the perennial South American oca root has become one of his favourite vegetable crops (it tastes like a more flavourful potato). Rather than getting into the native non-native debate, he focuses on the usefulness of plants that are well adapted to our region. He stresses the ability of coastal communities to garden year-round while teaching vegetable gardening workshops and permaculture courses at the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre. It wasn’t until this winter’s sub-zero temperatures that Geoff lost almost all his winter brussel sprouts and parsnip crops. He was still able to salvage his daikon radishes and leeks however, and has been eating homemade kimchi since late December.

Geoff’s eyes light up as he speaks about the potential for fruits and vegetables to thrive in urban areas. “I’m trying to demonstrate the range of plants that we can grow both at home and in public places,” explains Geoff.” It’s amazing what will grow here.”

Victoria’s city council recently passed an urban agriculture bylaw supporting city-based small-scale farming. The bylaw props the door open for home-based agriculture projects like Geoff’s Cornucopia Permaculture Services, as well as permaculture projects in city parks. While community gardens allow a small group of citizens to grow food on private garden plots, all community members are able to harvest the apples, blackberries and mint of the new Bamfield Commons ‘urban food forest’ in Victoria-West.

Geoff cites long-term access to land as the major barrier to urban small-scale farming. The high cost of city lots is out of the reach of most aspiring urban farmers and may prevent them from planting slow growing, but high yielding, plants. Geoff knows how lucky he is to pick his own plums and grow tomatoes and squash steps away from downtown Victoria. But as a ten-year renter he’s familiar with the trials of short-term farming. Like many renters he’s faced opposition from landlords or put in hours building garden beds, improving soil condition and planting fruit trees just to move away from the property in the middle of the growing season.

He suggests that policy changes like Victoria’s urban agriculture bylaw are much-needed efforts to help urban permaculture flourish. “Urban farming helps make people more self sufficient and is the one of the most needed types of agriculture,” says Geoff. “The onus should be put on landowners to say why a space shouldn’t be used for food production.”

The growing number of permaculture and urban agriculture workshops offered in Victoria and Vancouver suggest a strong appetite for farming in urban centres. Even without long-term access to land, many urban dwellers are looking to learn how to grow their own produce. While new urban farmers may not be ready to install a rain barrel washing machine or plant salal bushes, Geoff's urban homestead and public food forest projects possibilities city farming. And if the fruits and vegetables of Geoff's garden are any indication, the benefits could be bountiful and delicious.

For more information on Geoff's projects, send him an email at respectyouralders@yahoo.com.

Dine Around & Stay in Town

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dine Around and Stay in Town. From February 19th to March 8th, 2009, enjoy a three-course dinner at some of Victoria's hottest eateries for $20, $30, or $40 CDN per person. Meals feature VQA wine pairing suggestions (wine costs extra) and give you a taste of what Vancouver Island dining is all about: fresh seafood, pasture-raised meats, artisan cheeses, outstanding organic produce and wild foods from the forest prepared with an appreciation of the region's bounty.Dining Around Victoria is simple: Click on a restaurant on the website to see the Dine Around Menu, then ring the restaurant and book your dinner.

Food On Film

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

While winter shakes out its death rattle in Victoria, stay warm and catch a few films that feature local farmers, ponder the mysteries of the mushroom, and celebrate the joy of the small farm. Three shows in particular, The Islands Project, Know Your Mushrooms, and Tableland are creating a buzz among local chefs and eaters.

In The Islands Project, amiable and quirky chef Micheal Stadtlander rumbles across the country in his biodiesal/solar-powered kitchen bus, ‘The Liberator.’ Encountering oyster foragers, farmers, and artists as he journeys into British Columbia, Stadtlander whips up dinners al fresco made with delicious, local gems. Stadtlander appears to be having the time of his life, and enjoying the ride vicariously serves both to pique your appetite and inspire you to truly appreciate BC’s generous bounty of superb seafood, produce, wines, and the artisans who refine them. DVDs can be purchased for $50 by contacting (519) 922-3128 or wagen@bmts.com.

Know Your Mushrooms, directed by award-winning Ron Mann, sets a slightly science-fiction stage to discuss the miraculous attributes of the mushroom (did you know oyster mushrooms have been successfully used to detoxify oil-spill sites in San Francisco?). Beginning and ending with the highly-likable Larry Evans —a fungi-driven nomad who moves around the continent in search of mushrooms, teaching the tricks of his trade as he wanders— the film stuns you with the beauty of particular species, fills you with facts, and will have you laughing heartily at the psychedelic stories recanted by mushroom afficianado Gary Lincoff. If you count yourself a mushroom lover, don’t miss this ode to the fungi. Playing at Cinecenta (at the University of Victoria) March 25th and 26th at 7:15 and 9pm.

Vancouver filmmaker Craig Noble spent two years traveling and working on farms to produce Tableland, a documentary that celebrates slow food, small scale, grassroots food heroes. From Vermont to BC to Napa and Oregon, the film takes us out into the fields with vintners and farmers, behind the counter with cheesemakers and chefs and discusses a series of themes in the discussion of sustainability. Watch for some familiar island faces (Peter Zambri makes some memorable comments and Mara Jernigan of Fairburn Farm offers pearls of wisdom from her experiences as farmer and chef —among many more local heroes). Available on dvd at Plenty.

Foie Gras Poll Results

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We asked Tapas subscribers “I Would you eat foie gras?"

Here’s the tally.

75% Yes, it's one of the most delicious things on earth.

25% No, force-feeding ducks is unethical.

Congratulations to Sandra Robinson —The winner of The Genius of James Barber: His Best Recipes.

(Winner was randomly drawn from the entries.)

Some of the comments readers made:

“No, I would not eat foie gras — for human and health reasons. There are so many great foods I really love. Why bother?”

“I have no hesitation at all and truly wish it was available from France on a regular basis.”

“I would eat foie gras - it has distinctive flavour. My filet mignon steak is not the same without a little stuffing of foie gras.”

“I ate it for the first time a few days ago at Jean George's new Market restaurant in Vancouver and found it delicious, but had no idea what it was. I thought it was a kind of beef. Now that I know, I would not eat it again, no matter how good it tastes.”

“Gavage is practiced humanely, causing little disturbance to the animals and renders a delicious food steeped in tradition and culture. Modern plants, such as the ones I have visited in 2008, are hygienic and employ the most humane slaughtering techniques available, because if you stress the ducks and geese, the liver will taste bad.”

“Although foods can have important cultural impacts on a society, we also need to think about how what we eat reflects what we value as a society. I would like to be part of a society that values the ethical treatment of animals and therefore don't agree with the eating of foie gras.”

“Yes, I have and would again eat foie gras because it is tastes wonderful. And if chosen carefully, you can trace it back to reputable farms who treat their animals humanely.”

“There was a time the idea was disturbing to me until I learned from a documentary that, as with most things, there's a right way and a wrong way. Those who conduct themselves unethically in the practice of husbandry, no matter with what animal species, unfortunately attract the most negative press and hurt those whose industry meet, if not exceed requirements, standards and best practices. Phew...long sentence. In fact, in the doc I saw the geese actually seek out their meals with heads up and mouths wide open…anticipating the engorgement! It would be a sad world without the likes of foie gras, artisanal non-pasteurized cheeses and veal. Now there's another sensitive subject…maybe for another contest.”

“A great moral dilemma. I have been on foie gras farms in Quebec and have seen the whole process from raising the ducks through gavage and on to slaughter and processing. The gentleman who raised the ducks had a great love for the birds and treated them very well. When the gavage tube approaches the ducks they eagerly turn towards it and bob their heads towards it. I have lived on a duck and goose farm in Ontario (Mariposa Farm in Plantagenet just outside Ottawa.) When the feed truck for the geese would back up the driveway the geese would stream towards the barn and gorge themselves on the grain. Geese and ducks have a natural tendency to gorge and their throats are covered with a hard scale that allows them to digest gristle. So the gavage tube does not really harm them. I am more appalled by how milk cows or battery chickens are raised then foie gras fowl. I have switched over to organic milk and buy my eggs here on the Island now. I met James just before he passed at a charity dinner at Providence farm I was involved in, so his book would be a lovely memento.”

“This is a delicacy I can live without. I’m against the way ducks and geese are treated to produce such as luxury. Force-feeding ducks so their livers swell about 10 to 12 times their normal size. It’s not natural. It’s not ethical.”

Valentine's Day in British Columbia: the best chocolates, menus, and getaways

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

One of the stories explaining Valentine’s Day comes from Belarus which states that the holiday originates from the story of Saint Valentine, who upon rejection by his mistress was so heartbroken that he took a knife to his chest and sent her his still-beating heart as a token of his undying love for her. Fortunately, we’ve developed much less painful ways of celebrating our romances. Wherever you may be in BC there are heart-shaped chocolates, romantic dinners, and intimate getaways aplenty.

On the island, Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa has put together a two-night chocolate lovers package beginning with French champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, and a dozen roses laid out to greet you in your Ocean Suite. Follow up with their signature Two Hearts Couples’ Massage and toast to a romantic day with the chef’s five-course tasting menu in the SeaGrille. From $853/per couple. Call 1.888.544.2079 or email reservations@brentwoodbaylodge.com for reservations.

Go classic and bring home a box of sweets for your sweetheart; 24 Carrot Catering in Nanaimo has macaroons, chai almond shortbreads, sugar cookie hearts, chocolate almond and cranberry bark and more wrapped up in a pretty little package for $12.95. On Valentine’s Day you can take a trip out to Barking Dog Vineyards where Victoria Gin is distilled for a taste of their exquisite gin (made with roses and eight other ingredients), and a taste of gin-cured salmon and chocolate gin truffles. Lure is offering a five-course gourmet dinner with optional wine pairing on Feb. 13th and 14th. Call 250.360.5873 to reserve. Visit the new chocolate bar at Plenty featuring dark chocolate from the oldest chocolate-making company in Spain, handmade Pearl chocolates from Cowichan Station (which are, in this writer’s opinion, the best chocolates in the city bar none), and the whole assortment of Organic Fair's delectable dark chocolate bars, made in Cobble Hill.

In Vancouver, Chocolate Arts has created the Juliette, a limited edition chocolate for Valentine’s only, with oven roasted organic apricot, apricot ganache, and a dried organic apricot compote in a milk chocolate shell. Available at their shop as well as at Capers (Kitsilano, Robson, and Cambie locations), Whole Foods, and Edible BC. Raincity Grill is preparing a seven-course tasting menu and a four-course prix fixe menu with a farm-to-table theme for Valentine’s day. For more information or to make your reservation call 604.685.7337 or visit raincitygrill.com.

For the extremely luxurious crowd, Regional Tasting Lounge will provide the Valentine’s Day of a lifetime for $2500 -including a rare 1990 bottle of Cristal Rose Champagne, an elegant Gucci heart necklace and matching bracelet, and a chauffered limousine. If that’s a bit out of your ballpark, r.tl is also offering an aphrodisiac Valentine’s Day Menu for $75. Visit www.r.tl for more details. ZinRestaurant is poaching Kusshi oysters, the famous aphrodisiac, for Valentine’s Day. View the full menu at www.zin-restaurant.com

On the mainland, treat your special Valentine to a romantic getaway at the charming new Tuscan-styled Villa at Hester Creek Estate Winery. Sit fireside and toast the evening with a complimentary bottle of wine and a platter of cheeses while the sun sets over the spectacular view of the Okanagan Valley. $325 per couple, call 1.866.498.4435 to make your reservation. Or squeeze in one more ski at the Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler and dine at Jordan’s Crossing with stunning views of Nita Lake below and the mountains above. A perfectly romantic getaway. Visit www.nitalakelodge.com

Answer our poll for a chance to win The Genius of James Barber: His Best Recipes

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Answer our poll for a chance to win The Genius of James Barber: His Best Recipes

Would you eat foie gras?

Yes, it's one of the most delicious things on earth.

No, force-feeding ducks is unethical.

Some people think the practice of gavage, or force-feeding ducks for foie gras, is cruel because it may cause harm to the ducks to have enlarged livers and be fed an unnatural amount of food. Others believe gavage is practiced humanely, causing little disturbance to the animals and renders a delicious food steeped in tradition and culture.

Send your answer to feedback@eatmagazine.ca Put CONTEST in the subject line. Deadline for entries: Monday Feb 9. Winner will be randomly drawn from the entries. Look for the results to be published on the web.

The Good Food Box

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Grocery stores and local markets are a constant conversation topic with my friends. We discuss the availability of local produce, prices and location and it seems like we’re never fully satisfied with Victoria’s selection.

That is until I discovered the Good Food Box. The grass-roots program makes seasonal, local food accessible and affordable to communities throughout Greater Victoria.

The program buys in bulk from farmers and distributors throughout Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Interior BC and Washington State. The Good Food Box is just one form of community-supported agriculture that connects local producers directly with consumers.

The Fernwood Community Association is home base for the program, and every third Wednesday of the month is transformed into a distribution centre for local produce. Food boxes are then delivered from the Fernwood Neighbourhood Association to community centres throughout Greater Victoria.

But the Good Food Box isn't operated like a regular grocery enterprise. Volunteers make up the workforce except for the sole coordinator of the program, Sushil Saini. Whether it’s setting up paper bags and cardboard boxes, or portioning out fruits and vegetables, volunteers bring the Good Food Box program to life.

Sushil has recently taken over as Coordinator of the program, replacing long time Coordinator Jen Freeman. She's excited about how the Good Food Box not only supports local farmers and producers, but also how the program expands the role of community centres. The Good Food Box brings food closer to people, and through the community centre distribution network, can help to strengthen neighbourhoods through community building.

I spent a day in early December volunteering with the Good Food Box, chopping cabbage heads and counting out Vancouver Island kiwis into food boxes. I learned that three medium sized onions weigh about two pounds, and distributing food to people is a simple and natural pleasure.

While I grow my own food and often give it away to others, partaking in a more formalized food distribution network gave me a real sense of how food gets from the field to my plate.

I don’t know what’s going to be in my Good Food Box until I pick it up, and it’s usually more food than I expected. But I do know that the fruits and veggies are local and in-season; the contents of each food box are determined by location, price and availability.

With five, ten and fifteen dollar food box sizes, the program is able to service the needs of single seniors, as well as young families. There’s also a fifteen-dollar organic box, and a twelve-dollar fruit box.

The Good Food Box has been running for eleven years, and its ongoing success highlights Greater Victoria’s appetite for alternative food distribution systems. I may grumble about local grocery stores, but once a month I rejoice in the simple pleasure of picking up my Good Food Box from just down the street.

Check out the Good Food Box Program at www.fernwoodneighbourhood.ca/goodfoodbox.html

Kelsey Singbeil recently moved to Victoria, and spends her time exploring in her new garden.

The Magic of Hot Cocoa at the Bittersweet Chocolate Café

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

When I was 26, I moved to San Francisco with my friend to nanny her five-year-old daughter, Anna, and write freelance articles for a magazine back in Nova Scotia. The leap from upper-right corner of the continent to lower left was a major kick to the palate. The city is strongly influenced by Latin-American flavours, and it was more common to come across a Peruvian café in San Francisco than a British tearoom. Some ancient longing for the flavours of that southern continent was awakened in me. I found myself craving strong, earthy food. I would pick Anna up from kindergarten, and the two of us would explore the city on foot, hand in hand, me with a checkerboard in my backpack. On one sunny afternoon, our noses led us into a tiny café called Bittersweet, tucked into a cozy niche on Fillmore Street, an avenue beloved for its unique boutiques and eateries.

Right inside the doorway were two wooden tables and a row of shelves displaying neat stacks of more than 120 different kinds of artisanal chocolate bars. Chocolate from Spain, Hawaii and Mexico as well as closer to home in California—many of them organic and fair trade—were artfully wrapped and organized in stacks according to their contents. Some had little cards beside them describing their taste and the history of how they got here. Anna was drawn to the milk chocolate table; I lingered around the dark. On a wall painted in a warm and glowing shade of saffron yellow was a shelf of books about the history of chocolate and its roots in South America, vintage maps and chocolate posters. A few sturdy, square tables were arranged at the back of the café, including one at knee-height for chocolate connoisseurs-in-training. A wooden staircase led to a skinny balcony with a few more tables and a birds-eye-view that would become quite familiar to me over the months. Almost daily, I would set up my own nest there for an hour or two of writing and sipping hot cocoa. A potent, spicy fragrance permeated the air.

“Would you like a hot chocolate?” I asked Anna on that first day, hardly knowing what we were getting into.

Around the bar were plates of handmade ganache truffles with curious themes—grapefruit caramel, fleur de sel, chipotle, Scotch. Slices of hot cinnamon chocolate cake and a tray of pear chocolate ginger muffins were delicately arranged. But it was the barista’s chalkboard that held my eye. Seven kinds of hot chocolate were described in careful detail. Seven! I had found my church.

You must understand that even before moving to California and discovering the Bittersweet Café, I’d had a strong connection to cocoa. I had never been much of a drinker (though I’ve since come to love good wine) and couldn’t handle the jitters that coffee gave me. But chocolate—dark, bitter cocoa with a spoonful of honey and thick, organic milk was the elixir of choice that carried me through many chilled and gloomy Nova Scotia winters. Swirling this concoction around in a small pot on the stove is a very familiar gesture to my hand.

Anna, with her Brazilian roots and strong-coffee-loving parents, knew a thing or two about good chocolate too. She went for the Classic, an American-style cocoa made with milk and sugar, pairing it with one fresh and pillowy handmade marshmallow. I chose the Mexican-inspired Spicy infused with Casilla pepper, cinnamon and essence of rose.

This became our regular order—although I sometimes ventured to the Mocha or The Bittersweet (made in the traditional style without milk, it was rich and somewhat bitter). Most often, however, it was a small table for the two of us and a checkerboard with her Classic and my Spicy. We almost never left without taking home a new bar to sample. We learned about the Aztec emperor Montezuma who drank a thick chocolate concoction everyday and claimed it give him powers of strength and wisdom.

We became friends with the baristas who knew us by name. One of them once told me about a dream she had where they were all witches serving up magical potions to treat the ills of their friends. I didn’t think it sounded too far off from the truth. No matter what mood I was in when I entered the Bittersweet, I left with a buoyant, effervescent warmth. I wrote a letter to my friend while sitting at a table in the Bittersweet one afternoon that began, “Caffeine winds me up dangerously—it is the only time I feel nervous. Sugar plays tricks on my mind. But chocolate (only the very dark) infuses me with a joyfulness that I think is really always there, under the surface, sometimes fogged up by lack of sleep and excess thought.”

The Bittersweet is the only café I’ve been to that seems to understand this reverence for hot chocolate and devotes so much of its menu to this almost-medicinal drink. It is certainly the only café I’ve been to with texts on the South American practice of growing cacao for perusing. Several years have passed and neither Anna nor I live in San Francisco anymore, but the Bittersweet is still a thriving and cozy café, and my young friend still asks me about the ‘special hot chocolate at our checkers place.’

Click here to visit the Bittersweet Cafe online.

Photo credit: Katie Zdybel

Hotel Grand Pacific Hosts The Victoria Whisky Festival

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo - from top left: Richard Cmajdalka and Amy Suzukovich of Charton Hobbs, a bottle of Auchentoshan Three Wood, Jay Oddeifson of Shelter Point Distillery, and the festival logo.

Interesting dramming

No spirit achieves as much devotion and passion as whisky. So, it is no surprise that the 4th incarnation of The Victoria Whisky Festival attracted a sold out crowd of aficionados, dilettantes and the just plain curious.

Held at the Hotel Grand Pacific and sponsored in part by The Strath Spirit Merchants, this world class event ran three days and included Grand Tastings, a multi-course malt dinner, numerous master classes and visiting whisky experts such as Davin de Kergommeaux, Jim Murray, Mike Nicholson and Allan Shayne, president of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America. Many distillery principals were also in attendance including Andrew Gray (Bruichladdich), Euan Mitchell (Arran) and James Robertson (Tullibardine) along with others.

At the Grand Tasting over two hundred whiskies from Scotland, Ireland, Canada, France, New Zealand and the USA were poured. They represented wide range of styles from the boardroom-friendly, full and smooth 12-year old Dewar’s Blended to Auchentoshan Three Wood (matured in bourbon, Olorosso sherry and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks) to the ultimate in peatiness from Bruichladdich—simply called PEAT—and redolent of vanilla, pear, melon, cracked black pepper and smoke. Another outstanding whisky at the peaty end of the scale was the Finlaggan Old Reserve, an Islay single malt that displayed rich, yet smooth smokiness. For those who prefer their malts with less smoke, I was impressed by the fruity Gendronach 12-year at an affordable (for scotch) $69.96.

A trend that is gaining momentum due to the shortage of sherry casks for aging whisky (apparently there are fewer sherry consumers these days) is the use of fine wine casks for maturation. I noted whiskies that had been aged in Sauternes, Sassicaia, Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau Margeaux.

Of special note to British Columbians: representatives from the soon-to-be Shelter Point Distillery on Vancouver Island were in attendance. They had brought along maps of their 400-acre property just north of Comox and architect plans of the new distillery. Plans are to begin distilling within a year, putting down high quality single malt whisky for aging and planting barley for future use. Read more.

To visit The Victoria Whisky Festival website click here

The British Columbia Hospitality Foundation Founders Dinner II: BC’s culinary elite rally to support their own

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo: Wild Muskox Tenderloin, Veal Jus Ravioli,
Caramelized Chanterelle Mushroom & Bison Short Rib Risotto

2006 Sumac Ridge Black Sage Meritage

Vancouver, B.C. - The British Columbia Hospitality Foundation, along with hosting Chef Kevin Greehy and the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside, invite you to support the industry’s own at the 2nd annual Founders Dinner on Monday, January 26, 2009.

A culinary fundraising event celebrating the Best of BC: six guest chefs—Melbourne O’Brien (Olympic View Golf Club, Victoria), Rod Butters (Fresco Restaurant, Kelowna), Jeff van Geest (Diva at the Met), Kevin Greehy (Renaissance Vancouver) Bernard Casavant (Sonora Room at Burrowing Owl, Oliver) and Thierry Busset (CinCin Ristorante + Bar)—will prepare six courses featuring BC products, paired with BC wines.

With thanks to the generous support of the event’s founding sponsors, suppliers and attending industry leaders, the Foundation has successfully raised over $250,000 to assist individuals within the hospitality community coping with extraordinary costs arising from a critical medical need. By sponsoring or attending this very important event, you will help the Foundation reach its goal of a $1.5 million endowment fund by 2011.

DATE: Monday, January 26th at 6pm
TICKETS: Founding Sponsor $2500, Individual $400
RSVP and Ticket Purchase:
To purchase tickets, call 604.628.9547 or email dawn@bchospitalityfoundation.com.
For more info about the British Columbia Hospitality Foundation, visit http://www.bchospitalityfoundation.com/.

ABOUT THE BCHF

The British Columbia Hospitality Foundation is all about the industry coming to the aid of its own, helping people who have given so much of themselves over the years, who now find themselves in dire need—beyond the scope of the usual social safety nets.

The foundation was formed in 2006 to help wine agent Michael J. Willingham pay for a costly surgery and subsequent rehabilitation following a stroke. Michael’s situation highlighted the need to establish a trust fund that could be used as a last-resort safety net for other industry members in need – who may or may not have benefits, be covered by employment insurance, or require assistance beyond traditional medical benefits

The foundation benefits will cover people in the industry - food suppliers, hoteliers, media, publicists, retailers, vintners and wine sales representatives. It is managed by the board of trustees for the foundation. On the founding board of trustees are Richard Carras, Ken Cretney, Jeannie Crane, Geoffrey Howes, Tim Pawsey, Bing Smith, and Harry McWatters.

GET INVOLVED - HOW YOU CAN HELP?
Any one wishing to support or help the Foundation in any way is encouraged to Harry McWatters. Vancouver Island advisors are being sought.

Contact
Harry McWatters
Chair, BC Hospitality Foundation
250.493.1495
wine@harrymcwatters.com

Dim Sum and Then Some: Celebrating Vancouver's Chinese Cuisine Scene

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Restaurant critics from around the globe have recognized Vancouver as the best city in the world, outside of China, to eat Chinese food. Publications from the New York Times to Gourmet Magazine, in their acknowledgment of the Asian dining scene, are quoted as saying Vancouver rivals even New York and San Francisco and for the first time we can acknowledge and rate the cuisine of Lower Mainland Chinese restaurants in a way that recognizes that.

On Thursday, January 15th, 2009, Chinese restaurants will be invited to attend the first annual Chinese Restaurants Awards at the Edgewater Casino, Plaza of Nations, in Vancouver. There, in an afternoon ceremony, the Critics’ Choice for the best of 25 dishes, “Signature Dish” will be handed out for the first time to restaurants from throughout the Lower Mainland.

An esteemed panel of acknowledged experts in the cuisine of China were brought together to look at how best to judge the cuisine and it was decided that the awards would be given in the same way the Chinese community chooses a restaurant, by what to eat, rather than where to eat - The “Signature Dish.” Unlike other dining experiences, Chinese restaurants are rated on their cuisine, rather than décor and service. While these elements are important, it is the cuisine of a restaurant that drives their popularity, more specifically a particular dish, or signature dish. Asian diners choose a certain restaurant for their fresh King Crab, their noodles, method of preparing fish, or in a wider category, the Dim Sum.

In a break from traditional restaurant awards therefore, it was a list of top dishes that was chosen as the starting-off point, rather than a list of restaurants. Even this was a difficult choice, however, from the hundreds of famous dishes in the cuisine of China, twenty-five dishes were chosen and the search for a restaurant that best prepared this dish began.

Also included in the awards will be the Diners’ Choice Awards, a category that was open to the general public and was announced December 1st. The following awards will be presented:

Diner’s Choice Awards
Best Dim Sum Restaurant - Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant
Best Cantonese Restaurant - Mui Garden
Best Northern Chinese Restaurant - Shanghai River Restaurant
Best Hot Pot Restaurant - Chubby Lamb Hotpot Restaurant
Best Taiwanese Restaurant / Bubble Tea Café - Well Tea
Best HK Style Café - Gloucester Cafe
Best Noodle Soup Restaurant - Sha Lin Noodle House
Best Congee Restaurant - Hon's Wun Tun House
Best Chinese Bakery Shop - Anna's Cake House
Best BBQ Shop / Restaurant - BBQ Master

Image from Happy Homemaker.

A Meal To Die For

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Watch this video about the Heart Attack Grill

Cactus Club Cafe Launches New Menu Items

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Photo: Chef Rob Feenie delivers the goods at the Cactus Club Cafe in Victoria - g.hynes

Cactus Club Cafe Launches New Menu Items

Victoria, BC

Cactus Club Cafe president Richard Jaffray and new executive chef Rob Feenie visited Victoria to introduce fourteen new menu items developed by Iron Chef Feenie. Media were invited to a private tasting at the Government Street location where a sampling a new dishes, paired with wines, were presented in a 7-course tasting menu. Chef Feenie led the Victoria kitchen brigade and in fact, served the guests himself.

It’s clear that Cactus Club Cafe is leading the high stakes upscale/casual field by upping their game with these menu additions. It’s not hard to spot the leading chef’s pedigree with dishes such as perfect presented, fresh Albacore Tuna Tataki with a green papaya, mint and Thai basil salad, oranges, avocado and yuzu dressing. The presentation was artful and the flavour combinations elegant. Equally impressive is the over-sized plate with peppercorn-encrusted beef Tenderloin Carpaccio properly prepared with pickled shallots, fried capers, grainy Dijon and Parmesan and five-herb costini. A third dish, sure to please any foodie, are the six Butternut Squash Ravioli with its truffle butter sauce, fried sage, pine buts and amaretti cookies. Gorgeous.

As a finale, Feenie pulled out one of his own signature dishes from Lumiere—Roasted BC Sablefish that had been certified sustainable by Oceanwise sablefish marinated in a sake and soy and served in a deep bowl-like plate in a flavourful Japanese dashi broth. Superb.

Dessert was an appealing Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bar. To me nothing beats and two thousand Cactus Club customers each week would agree.

That these dishes are being served in a restaurant chain is commendable, doubly so, because of the numerous challenges facing the chef in sourcing quality ingredients in volume, training (and inspiring) all line cooks across BC and Alberta and ensuring consistent results - no matter which Cactus Club Cafe you are dining in.

For restaurant locations and menu prices visit Cactus Club Café by clicking here.

Meinhardt Introduces Ready to Eat Meals

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Meinhardt Introduces Ready to Eat Meals

Vancouver

For Meinhardt Fine Foods, Vancouver first gourmet grocery store, opening a second location was a big commitment. While the smaller Meinhardt on Granville St. is intimate and dependent on local walk-by customers, the new 15,000 square foot Meinhardt is a drive-to destination (with 150 parking spots) and takes the epicurean concept to a new level. The aisles are wide enough to easily maneuver a shopping cart, the deli has been expanded to include hot meals and each of the main departments have plenty of room to roam. Known for its high quality products and large assortment of international foods, the new Meinhardt has added its own private label foods (such as house espresso, natural potato chips and cheese palmiers) along with a just launched line of ready-to-eat meals.

Located in the old Ridge bowling centre, a heritage building at the corner of Arbutus and 16th, the new Meinhardt’s wide catchment area includes the neighbourhoods of Kerrisdale, Kitsilano and the Dunbar area. EAT took a tour of the new store recently with Michael Meinhardt, manager of business development for the company.

Eager and knowledgeable people staff each of the various food ‘stations’ such as fresh produce and seafood. Particularly impressive were the cheese, meat and deli departments. The cheese section features selections from Neal’s Yard Dairy, Quebec (such as Baluchon, an organic raw cow milk from Les Fromageries Jonathan in Charlevoix) and local BC farms (Salt Spring Island Cheese Co., Moonstruck Organic Cheese). In meats, each of the three on-site butchers will cut to order Pemberton Meadows Natural Beef that has been dry aged for 30 days or wrap up a free-range chicken from Maple Hill Farms. For convenience, customers can pick-up ready-to-cook kebabs or chicken stuffed with herb and truffle butter among others. The bustling deli bakes fresh breads and pastries daily and has a display case filled with charcuterie and cured meats. This is also the area where you pick-up the new Meinhardt line of convenience foods—eat in-store or to take home.

To develop the new line of Meinhardt gourmet-to-go foods, chef Neil Porter, who recently competed in the World Culinary Olympics in Germany, has been brought in to run the large kitchen facility. Thirty entrees have been tested and will be launched this January. Every day three specials: such as Spanish rice with chorizo sausage, turkey chili, meatballs Florentine (with spinach) or beef stew with mini-carrots and star anise will be offered. All the Indian-style dishes are great value and have been prepared by an in-house Indian chef with 30-years experience. We tried the traditional preparations of butter chicken (piquant, tender and with well-balanced flavours) and lamb vindaloo (spicy but not over the top, high quality lamb). Plenty of care has been taken to see that all the extraneous fat and gristle has been trimmed from the meats and the vegetables (sourced from the fresh produce department) are always in good condition and fresh.

Says Michael Meinhardt; “We are committed to providing our customers with not only the highest quality foods but with accessibility, convenience and reliability.” Call it affordable gourmet.

To visit the Meinhardt website click here

3131 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC, 604.732.4405

Directions

Vancouver Island Slow Food convivium attends Terra Madre

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Bakers Arata Tanaka, of Flour, Water, Salt and Eun Mi Yang of True Grain Bakery baking Red Fife bread at Slow Food's Terra Madre, October 2008.

Terra Madre

Slow Food Vancouver Island

True Grain Bakery

Flour, Water, Salt

Letters to the Editor

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"Your website is always so chock full of useful information."

Samantha Fyleris

"As of last evening, my wife & I have cooked 90% of every recipe in the last EAT issue--the sage quail w/walnut, blue cheese & apple tart, the cinnamon-baked apple w/hazelnut-fennel brittle, the cider-braised pork w/cauliflower-celery root puree...each was fantastic & received many happy accolades. EAT is a wonderful publication & we are grateful for your good stewardship of it."

Trevor Person

"The article on oatmeal stout was well researched and written. I congratulate you on having a balanced beer story on beer. Now, if people only knew how good stout is with food..."

Gerry Hieter

Street Level Espresso

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Street Level Espresso

by Gillie Easdon

Following seventeen years as an accomplished barista and barista trainer, the dynamic and engaging Ken Gordon has opened street level espresso on Fort, east of Douglas. Intimate, sleek and welcoming, the café showcases industry expert John Sanders’ coffee. Cappuccinos, macchiatos and espressos, served to stay only (Americanos etc. have a to-go option), are accompanied by in-house sparkling water. “The taste of the beverages changes dramatically in two minutes. It takes less than three to drink them,” Ken explains. street level espresso is perfect for dog owners; you can order from the sidewalk. Hand-crafted organic brioche and croissant from B-Red are a divine departure from standard café fare. Experience a barista championship; Ken presents a flight of coffees for you and friends to judge, by reservation only.

street level espresso is open 7:30am-3:00pm Monday-Friday, Saturday 9:00am-3:00pm and post-dinner or pre-fun, also 7pm-10pm Thurs-Saturday.

Journey of a Seed: Baking with Red Fife Wheat at Victoria’s Wildfire Bakery

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Anyone who has bitten into the perfectly moist, flavourful, and crusty breads of Wildfire Bakery in Victoria knows they have encountered a rare find. Few bakeries store their own grains to be milled on-site in their own stone mill, and baked in immense wood-fire ovens that must be tediously tended everyday for mint baking conditions. But before the bakers ever put their hands to the dough, a good grain must be found. Wildfire bakes many of their loaves with Red Fife wheat from the Loiselle Organic Family Farm in Saskatchewan, as well as some rye from up island. They are also beginning to experiment with Island Wheat, grown by farmer Tom Henry of Metchosin, a mere stone’s throw away.

Red Fife Wheat was first grown in the 1840s in the Otonabee region near Peterborough of what is now central Ontario. Named for its colour and the farmers that first grew it in Canada, Red Fife grains began their journey in Danzig, Poland where they were packed onto a boat and shipped to Glasgow, Scotland, then journeyed further to David and Jane Fife in 1842 who were building their homestead in Ontario. The Fifes planted the seeds and soon discovered the hardiness of Red Fife, its resistance to the plant diseases of the time, and its unique herby and spicy flavour with a subtle touch of anise and fennel.

Over the next few decades, Red Fife became the most commonly grown bread wheat across Canada and the northern United States. As Canada stretched its territory west, Red Fife traveled with the settlers to the prairies, where the rich earth of the vast, flat plains provided an ideal home for the grain. Known as a landrace (which means there is genetic variability in the wheat), Red Fife adapts easily to a diversity of growing conditions, making it a reliable seed for immigrants moving westward and starting new farms.

In the early 1900s, Canadian agronomist Charles E. Saunders, developed the hybrid Marquis Wheat, a cross between Red Fife and Hard Red Calcutta wheat that was believed to be superior in disease resistance to the original Red Fife. In the 1920s, a registration system for all wheat sold in Canada was put into place that favoured crops able to support high-input, chemically-driven agriculture. Subsidization from the Canadian Wheat Board pushed Marquis Wheat into high production and Red Fife was all but lost from Canada’s fields until the late 1980s.

In 1988, Sharon Rempel, Chief Interpreter of The Grist Mill historic site at Keremeos, British Columbia, had the idea to plant the varieties of wheat that might have been milled at the Grist Mill during the 1880s. She wrote to various Agriculture Canada stations asking for seeds and the history behind them. Leigh Crowle, a plant breeder from Saskatchewan sent her one pound each of the seven historic wheat varieties: Red Fife (1842), Ladoga (1880), Preston (1880), Stanley (1880), Hard Red Calcutta (1880), Marquis (1890) and Thatcher (1930). With help from Dr. Bert Brink of the University of British Columbia, Rempel (a city kid with no farming experience) planted and tended the seven historic seed varieties. Her experiment grew into what is now the "Living Museum of Wheat" at the Grist Mill. The one pound of Red Fife seeds she planted started a reconnaissance for the grain and in 2007, one million pounds of Red Fife were harvested in Canada.

One of the main growers of Red Fife in Canada today is Marc Loiselle, the farmer who supplies Wildfire Bakery. Certified organic for twenty-three years, several generations of the Loiselle family have farmed their land northeast of Saskatoon for 102 years. Marc’s great-grandparents grew Red Fife wheat on their homesteads in southwestern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. “Red Fife represents farmers’ rights to save and grow their own seed without the menace of plant breeders’ rights and patent infringement endangering this time-honoured tradition” states the Loiselle Farm website. Indeed, Red Fife has become increasingly popular as Canadians try to eat more locally and reconnect with their food. The wheat is, in fact, Canada’s first and only food in Slow Food International’s Presidia -an organization that works to preserve heritage and native foods from extinction.

Red Fife makes its way from the Loiselle farm to Wildfire in Victoria in grain form where it is stored in the bakery’s silo until it is ready to be milled on-site in Wildfire’s stone mill. It is then mixed into popular loaves such as their Apricot Anise, Whole Wheat, and Three Seed loaves, fired into their brick ovens and baked to a golden perfection. Its amazing journey through Canada’s history aside, the full-flavoured and nuanced taste of Red Fife flour expertly baked by Wildfire in its brick ovens is reason enough to resurrect this heritage grain.

Wildfire Bakery is located at 1517 Quadra Street, Victoria. 250.381.3473.
To learn more about the Loiselle Organic Family Farm click here.
To learn more about Slow Food International’s Presidia click here.

Photo by Katie Zdybel

Thirty Paris Chefs to Cook in Montreal

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Montreal, Quebec will be celebrating in style this winter season with its one–of-a-kind Montreal Highlights Food and Wine Festival being held from Thursday, February 19th to Sunday, March 1, 2009. For ten days the city will host one of North America’s premier gourmet events and to commemorate its 10th year Montreal has invited thirty of Paris, France’s top chefs to participate.

This year’s Honorary President is master chef Alain Passard, whose restaurant L’Arpege is considered one of the very best in Paris. “We have put together a group of young chefs that represent the Paris scene today,” said Passard from his restaurant in the 7th Arrondissement near the Eiffel Tower. “They represent the most talented, enthusiastic and creative of the Parisian chefs.”

“The two key factors in Paris cooking are creativity and research,” continues Passard. You will find this in all types of restaurants—from bistro to gastronomic. Chefs are incorporating cuisines from Morocco and Asia, highlighting simple yet premium quality ingredients and using their creativity to present their dishes in new ways. For example, a simple dish of beets are prepared in a salt crust to maximize their flavour.”

During the festival, the Paris chefs will join with Montreal chefs to share the stage and cook at their counterpart’s restaurants. Chef Passard will co-host the festival’s opening night dinner with Norman Laprise at Toqué!. Like Passard’s L’Arpege, Toqué! is known for sourcing sustainable products and giving credit to the producers on their menus. Says Passard. “In Paris, customers are demanding to know the provenance of their foods.” Passard expects to discover new products while in Quebec for the Toqué! dinner. “The menu will revisit some of the classic dishes from my restaurant but I expect to be influenced by spontaneity as I discover wonderful Quebec.”

Another highlight of the festival will be the Ten-star Event, which will be a rare opportunity to taste the cuisine of ten Michelin star chefs. —By Gary Hynes

Visit the Festival Web site at montrealhighlights.com