Artisan Products

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.

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...

“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.”

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

Cosmo Knives is now making San Mai Stainless Damascus knives and Seth Cosmo Burton is one of few in the world custom making it at present. 

Vancouver contributor Julie Pegg tours rural Ontario for the local flavour.

The first in a two part series on how a new crop of coffee shops and tea rooms cements Victoria’s status as the West Coast’s caffeine capital. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

“It’s a bit like a marriage,” Cory Pelan explains, as he gently pushes his thirty-year old pasta maker into place. “I try to listen to what it’s telling me… sometimes I ignore it…” Chuckles go around the crowd watching the chef and owner of La Piola interact with his Italian-made Bottene Marano pasta machine.

For an eating adventure, nothing can beat the taste of heritage pigs raised with love and fed their own proper diet.  A heritage pig is a treasured heirloom – desirable and unique for its tender upbringing, as opposed to the industrial variety, commonly found in today’s supermarkets, which can often serve up a big fat disappointment.

When the bright pink cherry blossoms start to bud I know that Market Season is just around the corner.  Farmers all around the island are busy getting ready to share their array of produce with an anticipating public.  We are a lucky population here in Victoria, benefitting from a small but highly passionate and organized local organic farming community. 

Farmers, chefs, artisans and food lovers alike spent a gloomy rainy day celebrating island food, local farms and tantalizing flavors. 

Not that I needed another reason to visit the wild wet west coast of Vancouver Island.  My list is long. For me, like countless others, Tofino and Ucluelet are a special place.  The sheer ruggedness of the coastline, the supreme power of the waves, the majesty of the forest.  I will never tire of the echo of crashing surf, the scree of the eagle and the sound of silence – at times, all at once.

Staff from the Victoria-based BBQ joint headed south last month to attend the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, and came back with some stories. Grab some ribs and beer, and enjoy some armchair travel courtesy of Pig BBQ. 

For many islanders the concept of the picnic may seem like an elaborate activity of the past, one that sparks memories of childhood birthday parties, the egg toss, three-legged races, watermelons and water balloon fights.  But the picnic has unlimited romantic potential with its varied, secluded local location options: lakeside, ocean view, rooftop or shady tree setting.

On the eve of Sea Cider Farm’s third anniversary celebrations, the popular ciderhouse hosted a fundraiser for one of their partners; LifeCycles. With noble goals that include picking and redistributing thirty thousand pounds of fruit every year there is no wonder that the community came together in such an impressive way to show its support.

For me the ideal Father’s Day would be to be surrounded by family cooking up a storm while I kick back with a local brew. Barring that I wouldn’t mind seeing the mobile pig roaster guy pull up in front of my house with the spit turning and the waft of grilling filling the neighbourhood air. Barring that a mega chunk of grass fed beef—cut into what the French call Côte de Boeuf – a rib steak cut two and a half inches thick and weighing in at a cool three and half pounds. I’d grill this, first on high heat, then finish on low. Serve in thick slices. more...

If the World Cup has got you in the mood for some international flavours, check out one of this summer's cultural food fests. This past weekend saw both an Italian Fest and a Afro-Carribean Festival, but Victoria blogger Melody Wey tells us about two upcoming events. 

Readers, I may have taken a little break from my web duties, but never from my wining and dining. Here is a bit of what I've been up to. On May 17th and 18th, EAT Liquid Assets columnist Larry Arnold and I swirled, sniffed, spat and scored along with thirty-some other judges from across the country at the 29th All Canadian Wine Championships in Windsor Ontario. It was a tough job but somebody had to do it

EAT's new Vancouver Reporter, Anya Levykh, launches her weekly column. Check back every Wednesday to find out what's new and noteworthy in Vancouver's food scene.

One day shy of summer and a typically eclectic crowd converged in Fernwood Square to eat, drink and be merry. It was the first-ever Fernwood Bites– a fundraiser in support of the newly created Fernwood Neighbourhood Chest Fund. Armed with wine glasses and soon-to-be dishevelled napkins, ticket-holders to the sold-out event were greeted by an impressive array of sips and samples. 

On July 10th and 11th this year, I headed to Glendale Gardens for the 6th annual Organic Islands Festival and Sustainability Expo. Along with a throng of eco-conscious Victorians, I garnered solutions for how to "Live Green and Buy Local" from 150 vendors and visionaries while wandering between apricot trees and ornamental beds of grass.

It's not too late to enjoy Taste! Click here for the weekend's event listings and ticket information. To view EAT's complete Taste photo gallery, click here.

In 2003, The World’s Longest Barbecue was a national first. City folk, country folk, Canadians all, “gathered” together from all three coasts (That’s right. There are three) to celebrate Canadian beef. Anita Stewart, Food Day founder, had come up with a simple premise: at 6:00 PM “Your Time”, fire up the BBQ, invite some friends and celebrate Canada as a culinary nation.

This week has been an accidental continuation of last week’s sustainability theme. And it’s been interesting to find that theme creep into areas that I might not have necessarily considered, like macarons, gelato and pickled garlic stems, but such is life.

The air around us was specked black with bees as we stood in the lot behind Babe's Honey Farm and watched an apiarist lift honeycomb frames from a box hive. Each frame crawled and dripped with calm yet industrious honeybees, (while my inner child, who'd once been stung inside the mouth by a courageous bee, squirmed at the sight.)

This three day fundraising festival benefits the Victoria Film Festival, and celebrates the Art, Craft & Tradition of the Cocktail with participants from across North America.  

Websites, cooking tips

Nothing settles my grumpy side more than a foodie toodle from Vancouver. If up and out early, I’ll fuel up on gas, eggs and toast at a truck stop. A mid-morning start, and I’ll nose out a bakery for a warm savoury scone or buttery tart to nosh on over a locally roasted java. Hopefully that same bakery will have a loaf or two of hefty wholegrain or rye to take home. Late summer meanderings tend to follow farm stands brimming with the season’s bounty, or a family-run dairy offering rich milk and butter from their own cows.