Japanese Soul Food

By Jennifer Moss

Photo by Philip Solman

In Vancouver, sushi joints compete with Starbucks for pretty much every corner within city limits. But sometimes in the raw months, tucking into a plate of raw fish just seems a bit, well, cold.

Thankfully, for fans of Japanese food, there are a few places in town where you can get okonomiyaki, the ultimate Japanese soul food.

The New Butchers

By Arlene Kroeker

Photo by Philip Solman

There is a new kind of rock star on the food scene: young butchers. As Kim Severson wrote in The New York Times (July 2009), “With their swinging scabbards, muscled forearms and constant proximity to flesh, butchers have the raw emotional appeal of an indie band. They turn death into life, in the form of a really good skirt steak.”

Are there young rock star butchers in Vancouver? Yes. Just follow West Vancouver’s Marine Drive into Dundarave Village and look for the black and white sign announcing Sebastian & Co. Fine Organic Meats. Walk between two restaurant patios and enter the sleek, small shop of an organic butcher.

Miracles Made by Artisan Bakers

By Debbra Mikaelsen

Photos by Leeanne Munn

On a brisk, blue-skied day, I hug a loaf of peasant bread to my heart, feeling its fresh-from-the-oven warmth radiate through the paper bag wrapping. I feel good about this bread; I have met the baker whose hands formed it, and I have seen the odd little wood-burning oven that baked it.

All food is a miracle, but few things amaze me as much as this transformation of flour, yeast, salt and water into a gift with a crispy crust and a soft, chewy interior. Bread is like a kiss: when it’s good, it’s a simple pleasure that makes the troubles of the world disappear. You want more. When it’s not good, there’s simply no point.

Tapping into BC's Maple Syrup Scene

By Sheena Starky

Photo by Leeanne Munn

By Michael Marrapese

By Jeff Nield (photo by Jenn Pentland)

Invariably, at this time of year, when the cold wet hand of winter begins to tighten its grip on southwest BC, I kick myself for not taking the time to preserve much of the harvest from the summer and autumn. I do have two whole salmon, three small Ziploc bags of blanched greens squeezed into little frozen balls, and one solid cube of veggie stock stashed in my deep freeze. But I have canned no tomatoes, no peaches, no plums, and no pears.