As a Victoria-based food writer and regional reporter for such local publications as Western Living, CityFood, Eat, and Vancouver Magazine, Shelora Sheldan is in the know when it comes to who is cooking where, and what's as hot as salsa on the Island food scene. Luckily for us, she's sharing many of these on her new (mostly cooking focused) blog called Cooking With A Broad. ... CONTINUE READING...
FARMERS MARKETS - (June 18, 2009) PLANS LAUNCHED FOR A "NEW CITY MARKET"BUILDING (Directly from the press release.)
At an annual policy briefing that drew over 60 Vancouver City and Parks Board commissioners, managers, urban planners and media, the Vancouver Farmers Markets announced record-breaking revenues for local producers in 2008, bringing the overall impact on the local economy to nearly $10 million last year ... CONTINUE READING ...
EVENTS/FARMERS MARKETS - (June 10, 2009) BARBARA-JO MCINTOSH ON MICHAEL POLLAN'S VISIT TO UBC FARM
Early Saturday morning, I picked up the author and food activist Michael Pollan from the Opus Hotel . I was taking him to a fundraiser for the farm at UBC where he was speaking to promote the paperback release of his critically-acclaimed In Defense of Food . While it was essentially Michael’s first visit to Vancouver, I instinctively felt he was the ideal person to support all the wonderful work done at UBC Farm. ... CONTINUE READING ...
TRENDS AND ISSUES - (June 5, 2009) DEAR HELLMANN'S. GET REAL!
The localvore movement is hot; social media is even hotter. So it comes as no surprise that many large commercial food manufacturers are trying to take advantage of both trends in order to roast the public. Yes, Hellmann's, we're so looking at you. ... CONTINUE READING...
MARKETS - (May 16, 2009) RICHMOND NIGHT MARKET OPENS FOR 2009 SEASON
The Summer Night Market in Richmond opened for the 2009 Season last night on a 10-acre site at 12631 Vulcan Way in Richmond, with over 250 vendors selling their enticing ethnic foods and quirky merchandise. ... CONTINUE READING FOR MORE DETAILS AND PHOTOS.
LOCAL PRODUCTS - (May 15, 2009) VERJUS FROM THE VINEGAR WORKS
Valentine Farm was officially announced today as the venue for the first Okanagan Feast of Fields (early bird tickets for the August 23rd event are now on sale). That’s good news indeed, because the lovely little working farm in Summerland is the home of an even lovelier couple, John Gordon and Kim Stainsfield, who are best known locally as the producers of a line of artisan quality condiments. ... CONTINUE READING ...
FARMERS MARKETS - (April 13, 2009) A NEW WEDNESDAY FARMERS MARKET FOR STATION STREET
After several months of consultation with the City, a Farmers Market has been approved for Station Street adjacent to Thornton Park (parallel to Main Street and intersecting Terminal Avenue to the south). ... CONTINUE READING.
TRENDS AND ISSUES - (March 15) DAN BARBER ON ETHICAL FOIE GRAS "Foie Gras so good that chefs don't deserve it." Filed in FOOD/Trends and Issues.
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FOOD TRENDS FOR 2009 - FOOD MAPPING (January 9, 2009)
Take a look at the photo on the left. Does it get you salivating? Does it make you want to run down to the restaurant that made it and order a plate full? Probably not, but it is a popular dish. It's the black spaghetti as created by Mario Batali for his Babbo restaurant in New York, and he sells a lot of it. Although he wouldn't if it were up to this picture to carry the dish from kitchen to cash register. Which points out the biggest potential flaw in a new form of internet marketing ... ...CONTINUE READING...
NEW PRODUCTS - (December 15, 2008) THE CURE HANDCRAFTED CHARCUTERIE (Directly from the press release.)
Shortly after Fuel Restaurant opened in January 2007, Robert Belcham began performing all of his butchery in house from whole animals, which allowed him to create incredible whole roast items and house made charcuterie. With a new charcuterie facility in the works (to be housed in the kitchens at Campagnolo), Robert will continue to supply Salt Tasting Room and other restaurant and wholesale accounts in Vancouver. ... CONTINUE READING...
PEAK OF THE SEASON - (November 18, 2008) WHAT A CUTIE
Are we getting to be a lazy consumer culture or what?
The California Citrus Marketing Board is currently promoting the “Cutie”, a relatively new variety of mandarin orange that is touted for its extremely thin and easy to remove skin. (The logo shows the fruit zippered up into its peel like a little tracksuit.) ... CONTINUE READING...
It looks like a cross between a giant yellow sea anemone and some kind of exotic back scratcher, but how do you eat it? ... CONTINUE READING.
Filed in FOOD/New Products.
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SANDWICH SERIES - (October 17, 2008) The CitySandwich ... Who Makes the Best Ones?
by Jurgen Gothe Great sandwiches are best eaten in the car—where they present something of a hazard. To the sartorial self and quite likely other commuters, in other vehicles or on foot. Great sandwiches are also best eaten over the kitchen sink, for obvious reasons of splattery, the way Lawrence Sanders’ fine New York cop, Edward X. Delaney used to do. ... CONTINUE READING...
With holiday party season on the horizon, the people who brought us TrueBlue blueberry juice have come up with a stylish alternative for people who can’t or do not want to drink alcohol ... CONTINUE READING...
In their efforts to more fully utilize food animals, chefs have been bravely experimenting, if not frightening their customers, with the introduction of such novelties as tongues, ears, feet and other "less popular" cuts of meat onto their fine dining menus.
The seafood department is getting no exemption from these trendy ideas about waste reform either. The greater dining public may not be ready for fins and eyeballs, nevertheless, fish carcasses are being reexamined for overlooked tasty bits that hitherto may have been flung from the backs of fishboats as seagull buffet.
From this search has come the sableene (pronounced like Mabeline), and it's an item that's not turning out to be a hard sell at all. ... CONTINUE READING ...
NEW PRODUCT - (May 27, 2008) CAFE FEMENINO - COFFEE THAT COULD CHANGE A WOMAN'S LIFE
Canterbury Coffee has announced that they have just become a western Canadian distributor for Café Femenino -- a very special coffee imported from Peru by a small West Coast company called Organic Products Trading Company, or OPTCO.
OPTCO was founded in 1989 by Gay Smith and her husband Garth, with the express goal of developing and importing high quality certified organic and fair trade coffees. Today their company is a recognized industry authority on certified organic coffee, but they do far more than just sell better coffee. They are also one of the pioneers of the Café Femenino project. ... CONTINUE READING ....
NEW PRODUCT - (May 23, 2008) AMBER WAVES OF ... FISH?
Smoked rockfish is a specialty seafood product, that up till now, we’ve only seen processed and sold commercially out of Alaska, with the principle market being Japan. (We wouldn’t be surprised to hear however, that custom smokers in and around Tofino were making smoked rockfish to order for customers.)
Ocean Amber, however, is a new BC company that is attempting to make a go of marketing the product direct to consumers. Sisters Sheryl and Debbie Mann and their family are introducing the item to the public this weekend at the EAT! Vancouver: Everything Food + Cooking Festival, and if you are attending you'll have the opportunity to try a slice. . ... CONTINUE READING ...
NEW PRODUCT - (May 21, 2008) SOUP'S ON AT HAPPY PLANET
Happy Planet is a privately owned, community-minded, eco-aware and health conscious BC company known for selling fresh, organic juices.
Now they have extended their line to soups, and having sampled a few of them we think they are worthy of a recommendation.
The soups come in six versions: Berkeley Butternut Squash, Moroccan Chick Pea, Armenian Red Lentil, Louisiana Corn Chowder, Tuscan Tomato and Thai Coconut. “Like the juices their labels boast of many trendy virtues: low fat, low salt, vegetarian, gluten, stabilizer and preservative free, and in most cases also dairy free. Four of the six varieties have even earned the right to be labeled “organic.” ... CONTINUE READING...
Thanks to a local dairy, it’s now possible to drink your fish.
Well, maybe not the “fish” but the ingredient that has had many people increasing the amount of seafood in their diet despite concerns over mercury levels and declining species sustainability levels. That ingredient would be docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) Omega-3, an essential fatty acid believed to promote the healthy development of brain, heart, eyes and nerves. ... CONTINUE READING ...
IN SEASON AT THE FARMERS MARKET - (April 24, 2008) KALE BUDS
Kale buds are now in season and the UBC Farm Market has them for sale. Market organizers provided the recipe below from restaurateur John Bishop’s latest cookbook. According to John, kale buds form after the kale plant has fully matured, when it ‘goes to seed. Frost brings out their sweetness, hence they are at their best after they have had a little winter frost. It is the yellow seed that provides all the goodness. Kale contains the highest levels of beta-carotene of any green vegetable. ... CONTINUE READING ...
TRENDS AND ISSUES - (April 14, 2008) LOCALVORE OR JUST LOCO?
Apparently in a bid to prove they are hip to the trends, we hear that Kraft Foods, of all people, are preparing a major ad campaign promoting themselves as localvores.
The other astounding part to this rumour is that Chef David Hawksworth has been signed to be their spokesperson.
We’re not sure what this portends. Does it mean that Hawksworth is going to have to say he stocks up on Kraft Dinner and Oreo Cakesters? Or will he merely be dreaming up recipe cards using local ingredients paired with Velveeta and Triscuits? ... CONTINUE READING.
PEAK OF THE SEASON - (March 19, 2008) HOLY, HOT CROSS BUNS!
What would Easter be without hot cross buns, the food item that is as traditionally associated with the holiday as chocolate bunnies and coloured eggs, but with more religious justification. At least the historic sweet bun. filled with currants and leavened with yeast, displays a characteristic cross on its top crust as a symbol of the crucifixion.
But considering the usual insiped samples available in supermarket bakeries this week, the challenge is where to find the best ones, without going to the trouble of baking them yourself, of course. ... CONTINUE READING ...
PEAK OF THE SEASON - (March 18, 2008) THOMAS HAAS CREATES CHOCOLATE TREATS FOR EASTER
Now, how cute is this?
The little chocolate car and driver, created by Chocolatier Thomas Haas, is just one of the many whimsical (and deliciously edible) designs on sale for Easter at Haas' workshop and retail store in North Vancouver. We think this one would be equally appropriate as a present for someone who has just passed their Drivers License test.
Check out some of the other designs here, two of which (35-lb. dinosaur-sized Easter eggs), were created specifically as fund-raisers for the North Shore Rescue.
FARMERS MARKETS - (March 10, 2008) RED-FLESHED APPLES - THE APPLE OF THE FUTURE?
By Harry Burton
Red-fleshed apples are truly the apple of the future.
We grow 23 varieties at Apple Luscious Organic Orchard on Salt Spring Island and they are great to eat. The excitement of biting into the apples, the great taste and the novelty is amazing. You never have to encourage a child to eat them. Kids love them.
Not only that, but the red colour is an indication that the fruit has extra antioxidants, in the form of anthocyanins, that are great health benefit. I predict that red-fleshed apples will become the apples of the future, in the same way that red grapefruit has displaced white grapefruit as the common type. They taste even better than they look. The first reaction to biting into the red flesh is always “WOW”. ... CONTINUE READING ...
COOKING - (July 28, 2009)
FARMERS MARKETS - (June 18, 2009)
EVENTS/FARMERS MARKETS - (June 10, 2009) 
TRENDS AND ISSUES - (June 5, 2009)
MARKETS - (May 16, 2009)
LOCAL PRODUCTS - (May 15, 2009)
FARMERS MARKETS - (April 13, 2009)
TRENDS AND ISSUES - (March 15)
FOOD TRENDS FOR 2009 - FOOD MAPPING 
NEW PRODUCTS - (December 15, 2008)
PEAK OF THE SEASON - (November 18, 2008)
NEW PRODUCTS - (NOVEMBER 17, 2008)
SANDWICH SERIES - (October 17, 2008)
NEW PRODUCT - (October 24, 2008)
CHEF'S NEW INGREDIENT - (MAY 31, 2008)
NEW PRODUCT - (May 27, 2008)
NEW PRODUCT - (May 23, 2008)
NEW PRODUCT - (May 21, 2008)
NEW PRODUCT- (May 20, 2008)
IN SEASON AT THE FARMERS MARKET - (April 24, 2008)
TRENDS AND ISSUES - (April 14, 2008)
PEAK OF THE SEASON - (March 19, 2008)
PEAK OF THE SEASON - (March 18, 2008)
