by TRISH KELLY
 Eat Out
From nature walks with Andrew Weil to tasty feasts like a beachside oyster barbecue, a visit to Hollyhock, the educational retreat centre on Cortes Island, can be a life-changing experience. In the Hollyhock kitchen, a commitment to organic growing and using local ingredients whenever possible stacks the cooking philosophy with integrity. Moreka Jolar, former head chef at Hollyhock and co-author of Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Body, Mind and Soil, will host a five-day workshop called “The Passionate Cook” at the retreat this summer on meal planning, knife skills, and how to create a balanced vegetarian diet. The course is $455 (meals and accommodation extra), so start saving your pennies. And book early, because space is limited. hollyhock.ca
 Check Out
Like Santa’s elves getting ready for Christmas in late November, you can bet the folks at East Vancouver Farmers Market Society are clocking late nights in preparation for the Trout Lake market, opening May 17. And, like small children, Eastside foodies are counting the sleeps—even if they got their fix all winter long thanks to the very successful Winter Farmers Market every other Saturday at the WISE Hall. But Westside folks didn’t have it so easy. And unless they’re willing to cross that magic east-west divide and journey to Trout Lake, they’ll have to wait until June 1 for the Kitsilano market to open. By then, the Riley Park market will be mere sleeps away from its opening June 4, while West End market groupies will get their first fix June 7. eatlocal.org
 Eat In
Tea oil is the oil of choice in China and Japan for everything from stir-fries and tempura to setting the hair of sumo wrestlers. And now Treasure Green invites you to try its Camellia Tea Oil right here in Vancouver. High in antioxidants, tea oil also has a very high smoke point—240 C—which means it can withstand high-heat frying. It’s also believed that oils that go past their smoke point may contain more free radicals, so tea oil pulls double duty in both contributing to a smoke-free kitchen and possibly reducing your risk of cancer. So the next time you feel like cranking the blue flame for a quick stir-fry—or slicking back the hair of your favourite sumo—a bottle of Treasure Green should do the trick. Available at Whole Foods, Capers, Stong’s Market (4560 Dunbar St.), and treasuregreen.com.
Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes sumo fashion, arriving to market
fashionably early, and retreating with a good book. At her request, SharedVISION
donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This
month’s recipient is RainCity Housing and Support Society (raincityhousing.org).
Why biofuels are tough to swallow
by DON GENOVA
It seems like every politician in Canada is trying to hop on the environmental bandwagon these days, making big announcements about policies that will lead us to healthier and happier lives. But as the wagon gets set to roll, it’s worth looking at what it’s carrying (aside from a few heaps of manure) and what’s inside its gas tank.
As you’ve probably noticed, the cost of food is going up, and that can make it harder for people to feed themselves. Not being able to afford good food will not make people healthy and happy. Why is the price of food going up? Well, I can’t go into the entire economics of our wacky food system here, but there are a few key factors, most of which tie into our insatiable desire to fuel our vehicles. When the price of oil goes up, the price of food goes up, because we transport so much of our food over such long distances.
Because of that need for fuel, more and more farmers are growing crops slated to become biofuels. Substituting fossil fuels with biofuels has even been mandated by the U.S. government, and the Canadian government has passed a bill that will ensure gasoline in Canada contains five per cent ethanol by 2010, and two per cent renewable fuel in diesel and heating oil by 2012.
Don’t get me wrong: I think the government should be taking steps to address pollution. But growing grains, corn, or beans for fuel instead of food just doesn’t make sense to me. It’s replacing an environmental problem with social security problems. What would make sense is to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, a more fuel-efficient food distribution system, and better transit systems to get us out of our cars. (As an aside, I’ve always wanted to stand at a downtown Vancouver intersection and ask the drivers of the SUVs stopped at the red light just how often they’ve used the four-wheel drive/off-road capabilities of their gas guzzlers.)
While rising wheat prices may be good for our prairie farmers, it isn’t without problems. We have already seen a drastic rise in the cost of flour used in our local bakeries. My local organic bakery, Mix, has had no choice but to pass the cost onto its customers, and has even taped an explanatory chart by the cash register showing the price hikes. It’s not uncommon now to pay $5 or $6 for a healthy loaf of bread. Some of us will be able to afford the increases, but for those on a budget, the challenge of eating healthy will be hard to meet.
There is one program out there sponsored by the provincial government that helps those most in need of healthy food. A pilot program involving farmers’ markets and low-income residents in Vancouver, Coquitlam, Courtenay, Kelowna, and Prince George has recently received a two-year extension. The Farmers’ Market Nutrition and Coupon Project (FMNCP) is the first of its kind in Canada. Qualifying low-income families in each community are given food coupons that can only be redeemed at local farmers’ markets.
But the program doesn’t stop at just doling out coupons. Some of the families don’t know how to get to a farmers’ market, let alone know what to buy when they get there, or how to cook the ingredients available. The program provides assistance in these areas, so that learning about the food is just as important as getting the food.
Project manager Anna Kirbyson passed on some of the good news stories from last year.
“In Vancouver, residents of the Downtown Eastside went on field trips organized by the Downtown [Eastside] Neighbourhood House to the West End Farmers Market. They bought fresh, healthy farm products that otherwise would be out of reach for them because of their limited budget. Sometimes they found out buying produce in season [at the farmers’ market] was actually cheaper than the supermarket. A number of vendors provided additional support to these families through offering double the value on the coupons.”
Kirbyson related another success story of a refugee family from the Collingwood Neighbourhood House in Renfrew that now plans weekly outings to the farmers’ market, and even lets the children use the coupons to purchase vegetables and fruits for the family’s meals.
I’ll report at a later date on some of the people going through this year’s program. For now, it gives me hope that more policy-makers will recognize that those most in need of the “food” we grow are not the cars we drive, but people—who need it to live.
Don Genova lives at dongenova.com. When he gets out from behind his computer, he’s been known to grow a nice crop of weeds, which he occasionally puts in his salads.
April 2008
 Eat In
New World Provence: Modern French Cooking for Friends and Family by Alessandra and Jean-Francis Quaglia is a love story as much as a cookbook. The husband and wife team from Provence Mediterranean Grill and Provence Marinaside met in a kitchen in Nice, France, where they cultivated their love of Southern French cuisine—and each other. Now, after more than 10 years in the Vancouver restaurant scene, they mark their continued commitment to Provence-style cuisine with this gorgeous cookbook. A focus on seasonal, sustainable choices puts a West Coast spin on classic dishes. The book is also a tribute to their mothers, who bestowed their foodie passion on their children. In turn, Alessandra and Jean-Francis are passing it on to their two sons. arsenalpulp.com
 Check Out
The name of this Whistler company is a clever play on the French word for “tea” and a Sanskrit greeting. Namasthé Tea Co. features organic, whole-leaf teas with blends concocted by company founder Isabelle Ranger, a yoga enthusiast and registered herbalist who creates teas for her patients. While Starbucks-owned Tazo Tea’s slick branding suggests their teas are based on ancient recipes and modern-day savoir-faire, Isabelle’s teas really are steeped in herbal lore and an understanding of the times. Flavours including Fresh Tracks, a breakfast blend inspired by the crisp mountain air, the unique EchinaChai, and the calming herbal Savasana are helping Isabelle fulfill her dharma: to change the world one cup at a time. Available at Whole Foods. namasthe.ca
 Eat Out
Quick—get your bike out of storage and in for a spring tune-up, because if this event is half as cute as its poster, you won’t regret it. Slow Food Vancouver gets in the cherry blossom spirit April 19 and you and your two-wheeler are invited. Bike the Blossoms promises a self-guided bike tour of the pinkest streets, with neighbourhood pit stops at community centres and eateries where you can sample artisan foods from Fraser Valley farmers. For further assurance of the “darling” factor of this free event, check out their website for details of a treasure hunt, brought to you by the Slow Food Vancouver Scavenger Hunt Subcommittee. Pre-register on the website, and pick up your route map at VanDusen Garden on event day. slowfoodvancouver.com
Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She loves crème brulée, keeners, and safety-conscious escargots. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local foodfocused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is Quest Food Exchange (questoutreach.org), whose zero-waste policy redistributes donated food to 60,000 people a month.
 Check Out
If you’re heading north up Nanaimo Street in East Van, the hairpin turn will take you onto McGill, and soon you’ll spy McGill Grocery. The store, owned by the Mah family, is stocked with lots of nifty products, but the best find is the jars of Russell Godwin’s UrbanSweet Honey on the counter. Godwin, a local beekeeper, manages two beehives in the neighbourhood. Godwin is passionate about producing a honey that tastes like Vancouver, which he says is informed by the foods grown by the backyard gardeners in his multicultural neighbourhood. Each summer, only two “pulls” of honey are completed, the first in June and the second in August. Exact pull dates, Godwin says, depend upon “the vulgarities of weather.” Watch for the sandwich board at 2691 McGill St. announcing the 2008 crop’s arrival. urbansweethoney.com
 Eat In
If you secretly harbour Iron Chef fantasies, don’t miss the Serious Foodie Culinary Basics course at the Northwest Culinary Academy. The class is taught by the academy’s founder, Chef Tony Minichiello, who says the class is about learning to think like a chef, not follow a recipe. You’ll learn proper knife-handling skills, how to prepare classic stocks and sauces, moist and dry heat cooking methods, and how to shop for quality ingredients. Classes are very hands-on, and though you won’t get quick and easy meal solutions, you’ll gain a keener sense for flavour pairings and ingredient selection on your next trip to the farmers’ market. The next course starts May 5 and runs Monday evenings for eight weeks. nwcav.com
 Eat Out
Last month we introduced you to Raincity Grill’s newly imported chef, Aussie transplant Peter Robertson. And now West, another great restaurant serving regional cuisine, has brought in talent from abroad. Warren Geraghty, whose resumé includes several Michelin-starred restaurants in the U.K., has been appointed executive chef at West. We’re flattered our city’s homegrown restaurant scene has developed enough of an international reputation that high-calibre chefs are relocating here. But is anyone else feeling a bit protective? After all, the 100-Mile Diet only really took off two years ago, and we’ve had just one season of the Kits Farmers’ Market—yet already our regional cuisine is up for interpretation. What can we say? When you’re hot, you’re hot. westrestaurant.com
Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She loves “apiculture,” appetizers, and a good apple tart. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit. This month’s recipient is the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House (501 E. Hastings St.)
Why modern-day grub is hard to stomach
by DON GENOVA
I haven’t been watching commercial TV for about a year and a half now. But I started again recently and was horrified at some of the scenes that flickered across the screen.
No, they weren’t from the autopsy table of the latest Crime Scene Wherever, but from a commercial for a “tasty and convenient” meal. This meal—if you can even call it that—consists of various pouches of precooked veggies and sauces that you cut open and pour over the precooked meat in the handy tray the “food” is packaged in, before popping it into the microwave. Ugh. If this is what dinner is coming to then I don’t have much hope for the palates of our nation.
Premade meals are not the only kind of food that gives me the shivers. When I haven’t been watching TV, I’ve been reading a lot about what’s in our food. Or more importantly, what isn’t in our food. In Thomas F. Pawlick’s 2006 book The End of Food, the organic farmer and journalist writes about how the vitamin, mineral, and nutritional content of food is in shocking decline. Pawlick details how industrial food production systems are designed to maximize profit at the expense of our soil, water, and health.
He discovered that the tomatoes we buy in supermarkets today have lost nearly two-thirds of the calcium they contained in 1963. These “red tennis balls,” as Pawlick calls them, have gained 200 per cent in sodium, but have decreased levels of potassium, vitamins A and C, and iron, phosphorus, niacin, and thiamin.
A friend of mine who produces TV documentaries about food purchased the rights to the book in the hope of bringing the facts to a larger audience through a major Canadian broadcaster. Not one of them he approached was willing to finance the project. “Too serious,” they said. This is why people with TV have to watch Rachael Ray be cute with her food and Gordon Ramsay shout expletives at his underlings in Hell’s Kitchen.
This year has brought us Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Pollan is the bestselling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a book that, like Pawlick’s, seeks to tell us what’s happening in our world of food these days, like why farmers in the American Midwest only grow corn and soybeans, and why these ingredients are contained in nearly every processed food we eat.
In Defense of Food slams the science of food nutrition and demonstrates why so many products on the market have “good-for-you” nutrients added to them. Surely you’ve seen the labels by now. The hot ones are processed foods with omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fibre, and whatever substance has most recently been discovered to have high levels of antioxidants.
In reality, Pollan says eating such foods can lead you down a road of nutritional ruin. He advocates getting back to eating “real” foods. “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food,” he advises, and “avoid food products that carry health claims.” My favourite bit of advice from Pollan is to avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number, and that include high-fructose corn syrup.
Pollan’s mantra to his readers is, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” It’s a diet for the future that comes from the past. It also sounds very simple, but start taking a look in your cupboards, fridge, and freezer, and see how many items you’re left with… if you dare.
The good news is we’re living in one of the best places in the world to follow Pollan’s advice. I now have a freezer full of grass-fed beef, lamb, and chicken raised on a farm not far from my place on Vancouver Island. I can’t wait for the farmers’ markets to start up again in the city so I can get my weekly dose of “real” food in the form of lettuces, peas, beans, and organically produced strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes.
No more red tennis balls for me, thank you, and I’m probably going to turn off the TV again—it’s not good for digestion.
Don Genova is gearing up to test his green thumb on a small patch of garden. By the end of the summer, he figures even the weeds might look good enough to eat. Follow his progress at dongenova.com.
by TRISH KELLY
 Eat In
When Raincity Grill’s newly appointed chef de cuisine, Peter Robertson, launched his first 100-mile tasting menu back in November, I was so looking forward to meeting him that I forgot I was vegetarian. It was a delicious oversight on my part that was rewarded by a dinner one cold and rainy night that included a hay-baked celeriac, four different types of locally raised animals—and the end of my meat-free era. Robertson, an Aussie import who was once junior sous chef to Tony Bilson, the godfather of Australia’s eat-local movement, landed in Vancouver via London, England. There, several Canadian chefs convinced him Vancouver’s dining scene was where he belonged. This growing season will mark the second year of Raincity’s 100-Mile Menu, and Robertson, who took over from Andrea Carlson during the height of the fall harvest, will no doubt whip up something even more tantalizing come spring. (We can start talking about spring now, can’t we?) raincitygrill.com.
 Eat Out
The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival kicks off Feb. 25. There are several trade-only events that focus on helping wineries lighten their eco-footprint, from how to go carbon-neutral to developing tree-free packaging. But if your interest lies in tasting the best of what our province has to offer, the Grazing Lunch at Goldfish Pacific Kitchen on March 1 is the hot ticket. Discover food-friendly B.C. VQA wines at a dedicated food and wine pairing station, while William Tse, Goldfish’s executive chef, creates an exciting, reception-style gourmet lunch of B.C.’s best cuisine. You definitely won’t leave hungry! Featured wineries include Burrowing Owl, Cherry Point, Gray Monk, Jackson-Triggs, Lake Breeze, Mission Hill, Prospect Winery, Quails’ Gate, Sandhill, See Ya Later Ranch, Sumac Ridge, Summerhill, and Tinhorn Creek. You can also meet the winemakers and proprietors who craft these intoxicating bevvies. Tickets went on sale Jan. 22, so get yours now. playhousewinefest.com.
 Check Out
Many women (myself included) have been “self-medicating” with chocolate for most of their adult lives. For us, Vancouver’s Zazubean gourmet chocolate seems like the natural evolution of the antioxidant-rich treat. With the addition of its two newest flavours, Hottie and Flirt, Zazubean takes you one step further in your chocolate prescription. Both bars have a blend of organic herbal extracts with aphrodisiacal properties, including the aptly named horny goat weed, maca, and damiana root to balance the endocrine system. Hottie also has capsicum (from chili pepper) to really heat things up. All Zazubean bars are made of high-quality dark chocolate, double certified as fair trade and organic. So when you pack your snacks for that chick flick matinee you’re planning to attend solo Feb. 14, don’t agonize over choosing between Flirt and Hottie—just grab one of each! Available at Capers and Famous Foods. zazubean.com.
Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She loves lunches too generous for a corset, herbal extracts with naughty names, and saying “yes” to new protein sources. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit. This month’s recipient Richmond’s Terra Nova Schoolyard Society (myterranova.ca), which connects elementary school children with the Earth, the community around them, and agriculture.
Why some Westsiders are suffering from malnutrition
by SPRING GILLARD
An old woman struggles to her feet on the No. 7 Dunbar bus. She reaches down to pick up the bags of groceries at her feet and nearly topples over. It’s not easy going shopping when you don’t have a car. But that’s not the only problem for seniors and low-income residents living on Vancouver’s Westside: in neighbourhoods famous for their trendy boutiques and cafés, some residents are suffering from malnutrition.
In 2005, BC Stats reported that nearly 40 per cent of Westside residents put more than a third of their income toward rent. This leaves little money for other necessities—like fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Food is the first thing to go,” says Heather Pottery, co-author of a 2007 report titled Exploring Food Security in Vancouver’s Westside, which she and fellow University of Victoria nursing student Adrienne Jinkerson prepared for the Westside Food Security Collaborative (WFSC) last year. “A recurring comment we heard was: ‘What can I scrimp on in order to pay the rent?’”
Working in collaboration with Vancouver Coastal Health and WFSC, Pottery and Jinkerson conducted focus groups with five Westside social service agencies and 40 community members. They identified several categories “in need,” including single moms, people who had difficulty preparing meals either due to a disability or poor kitchen facilities, seniors, and low-income earners.
“Low incomes, health, the cost of food, and high rents are all factors that collide,” says Pottery.
The pair also found that focus group participants were reluctant to talk about their situations. “There’s a real social stigma to admitting you have needs on the Westside,” Pottery says. (Of course, several other areas in the city have been identified as “food insecure” as well—including Renfrew-Collingwood, Grandview-Woodland, and so-called higher income neighbourhoods like Oakridge. Even Kerrisdale has only one big supermarket.)
Another major issue for Westside residents is mobility. “Even if you have an accessible bus on your route, carrying groceries can still be problematic,” says Jinkerson. “HandyDART [TransLink’s shared-ride buses, specially equipped for passengers with disabilities] does provide service, but that’s $4.50 a round trip and comes right out of the food budget.”
Pottery says seniors who have difficulty walking are particularly vulnerable. “They may have walkers, scooters, or wheelchairs, and getting around is nearly impossible.” She says focus group participants complained about the narrow aisles in many food stores, and big marketing displays, which can be difficult to get around. And while there are several fresh produce stores in Kitsilano, residents say they can’t get their wheelchairs or scooters inside some of the cheaper grocers on West Broadway.
This has many residents opting to shop at convenience stores. But while they are often the easiest to get to, they’re also more expensive and may not offer fresh produce. As a result, people end up buying cheap, filling food such as pasta and rice.
“Food insecurity does not mean that people are going hungry,” the report explains. “Instead, it means that they are not accessing the best, or most nutritious, foods possible.”
Thankfully, there are now a number of innovative programs operating on the Westside. One subsidized housing residence has hot meal programs, a buying club (where more mobile residents do the shopping and buy in bulk for members), a weekly delivery of a “good food box” of fresh foods purchased through wholesalers, and an on-site, low-cost food store.
Other Westside agencies run community kitchens (where participants shop and prepare meals together), community garden programs, Meals on Wheels, and emergency food cupboards. One agency distributes roughly $11,000 in grocery store vouchers a month, but says their clients still need to “double-dip.”
“People are very resourceful,” explains Jinkerson, “but even if they are watching for sales, cutting coupons, and participating in meal programs, they still often have to supplement their groceries at the food bank.”
Participants had some excellent recommendations for addressing food access issues, including better shuttle service to stores; an affordable farmers’ market; referrals to Quest, a food recovery outlet that has low-cost stores; growing more fruit trees on boulevards; shopping by phone; and grocery delivery services.
Spring Gillard is the author of Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator, Edible Essays on City Farming (New Society, 2003). Exploring Food Security in Vancouver’s Westside is posted at vancouver.ca/foodpolicy under “Tools and Resources / Council Reports.”
by TRISH KELLY
 Act Out
When the Vancouver Food Policy Council hosted “Using the Vancouver Food Charter in your Neighbourhood” at Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House in November, school nutritionists, passionate gardeners, and even a man named Garlic converged to do some food brainstorming. The room buzzed with ideas: attendees germinated a community kitchen, garden, and a monthly tea party to engage aging gardeners in their area. Last year, Vancouver City Council passed the Vancouver Food Charter, as a sort of manifesto describing how we can create a just and sustainable food system. To learn more about how the charter can help your neighbourhood, attend one of the two Food Charter workshops hosted this month: Jan. 23 at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House (800 E. Broadway), or Jan. 30 at Kits Neighbourhood House (2325 W. Seventh Ave.) Details: shared-vision.com/events.
 Eat Out
As retailers limp through the dark days of post-holiday credit card burnout, Vancouver foodies are frantically securing reservations at the best restaurants in town to enjoy special three-course menus complemented by fabulous B.C. VQA (Vintner’s Quality Alliance) wines. Dine Out Vancouver 2008, which this year runs for three glorious weeks from Jan. 16 to Feb. 3, doesn’t release its official list of participating restaurants till after SharedVISION goes to press. However, I persuaded Tourism Vancouver to tell me which Ocean Wise restaurants will be taking part. In the $15 menu category, you’ll find Green Table member Rocky Mountain Flatbreads. False Creek’s Aqua Riva has whipped up a $25 menu, and Trafalgar’s Bistro menu is a steal at $35. Not only is this year’s DOV longer, there’s also a Facebook group you can sign up for, which gives you the latest news, plus an extensive network of other food enthusiasts to salivate with. Info: tourismvancouver.com .
 Eat In
I have to admit, I’ve never had a crush on a coffee company before. But I’ve fallen hard for Victoria’s Level Ground Trading. Not only does Level Ground sell exclusively fair trade beans, but they also hawk the best dried mango—also fair trade—this side of Manila. If you have a soft spot for stories about women overcoming adversity, you’ll love Level Ground even more. The mango, branded as “Frutos de los Andes,” is grown and dried in Colombia by marginalized women from the township of Cazucá. The majority of these women are the sole wage earners in their families, supporting both their children and aging parents. Level Ground ensures they get fair wages, health care benefits for their families, and school scholarships for their kids. Level Ground sees their Frutos program as a chance to help women get a leg up, and fully supports their future career aspirations, offering micro credit loans—among other benefits—to Frutos employees. Available at Whole Foods, 925 Main St. (West Vancouver); IGA, marketplaceiga.com; and Capers, capersmarkets.com. Info: levelground.com.
Trish Kelly eats and writes in Vancouver. She loves homemade perogies and fancy dinners in Kits, and will eat a stomachache’s worth of dried fruit on a dare. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit. This month’s recipient is A Loving Spoonful (alovingspoonful.org ), a volunteer-driven organization that delivers frozen meals and snack packs to people with AIDS who are housebound.
And other holiday, ahem, traditions
by DON GENOVA
I love holiday traditions. And I wouldn’t hesitate to say that between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, I can be sickeningly traditional. I hang up the few non-electronic Christmas cards we still receive in the windows, like my mom used to do. I bring out the festive, crocheted doorknob covers she sent to me years ago and put them on the bedroom and bathroom doors, and switch my dish towels to ones with a Christmas motif.
At the same time, I’m always trying to start new traditions—especially in the kitchen. Unfortunately, they don’t always have the desired results. For instance, ever since I read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, I’d wanted to try roasting a goose for Christmas. With much excitement and considerable expense, one year I ordered a goose from a local farmer. But instead of the giant breast and succulent thighs I was used to getting with a turkey, the goose was dry and so puny it barely managed to feed my family of five. Next!
Then there was the New Year’s Day duck. It kind of got away from me in the oven, and the skin on the breast was burnt black while the legs roasted away to tough strands of chewy flesh.
Only the cat had sharp enough teeth to make short work of it.
One Thanksgiving I made a very ingredient-pricey, dried-fruit-and-nut-stuffing, which I baked in a large casserole in the oven instead of inside the turkey. Great idea. Too bad that amid the to-do of getting all the other dishes to the table I completely forgot the stuffing. Luckily, the oven had been turned off, but it was sometime past the dessert, after-dinner drinks, and the dishes being put into the dishwasher that I remembered the casserole. It was dried out and—since it also had sausage in it—past the number of hours I would have considered it to still be “foodsafe.” Into the garbage it went.
Then there was the Christmas Eve I was determined to explore my Sicilian heritage and serve a dinner featuring all seafood, no meat. The raw oysters and smoked salmon went over well. But the salt cod I had spent days fussing over by soaking it in water and changing it religiously fell flat on my palate, and the special, marinated spicy whole oranges were so “special” I chucked them into the compost after the first taste.
On another New Year’s, an exuberant mussel farmer from Cortes Island really wanted me to try his mussels. I enlisted a couple of friends who were coming over for our New Year’s Eve party to meet the farmer’s partner in a dark church parking lot in Nanaimo to make the pickup. They drove around for ages before finding the church, and then felt like they were making some sort of drug deal when the “baggie” of mussels was handed over, all under the watchful eye of God. I won’t be asking them to make that a tradition.
But some of my traditions persist. This past Thanksgiving I helped my brother-in-law deep-fry our turkey. It was one of the most delicious turkeys I’ve ever had. That’s a keeper. And my commitment to local foods remains steadfast, with products like Fanny Bay oysters, B.C. smoked salmon, Pemberton potatoes, and turkeys from my favourite farm—that is if the farmer can still find a place to have her birds slaughtered under B.C.’s new meat-inspection regulations.
And there is one Sicilian dish that everyone enjoys: thinly sliced fennel bulb along with peeled, sliced oranges, a little chopped celery, black olives, a drizzling of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt, along with the juice of the oranges.
OK, oranges, black olives and olive oil wouldn’t get me points under the rules of the 100-Mile Diet, but I’ll claim the Marco Polo rule for this dish: you can use any ingredient a wanderer like Marco Polo would have packed in his bags during his trips. Hmm… I wonder what Marco Polo ate for his holiday meals? Maybe a Marco Polo dinner could become a yearly tradition….
Don Genova is a B.C.-based food journalist who recently acquired two kittens. He ís wondering what they’ll eat over the holidays that they shouldn’t—including the chocolate hedgehogs. His website is dongenova.com.
by TRISH KELLY
 EAT IN
I discovered Rhizome Café during the civic strike. My group’s usual meeting place was behind picket lines, and we were looking for alternative locations. Rhizome is as much a community-gathering place as it is a restaurant. The night I popped in, a craft collective was being seated in Rhizome’s all-glass meeting room just as a group of antiwar activists spilled out after strategizing over pints. The menu is organic and local whenever possible, and offers very strong vegetarian options, but enough meat to keep carnivores happy. The coffee is fair trade, and though you won’t find a high-profile chef in the kitchen, Rhizome just oozes goodness. Make sure you get your meal to stay—creative energy is nurtured in this space, and it’s bound to get your juices flowing. Whether you’re brainstorming about the end of global warming or just looking for a great rice bowl, eating at Rhizome will make you feel like you’re doing something worthwhile. At 317 E. Broadway, rhizomecafe.ca.
 CHECK OUT
Yves Potvin is a hometown hero, and Vancouver vegetarians have long built shrines to his culinary brilliance. His first company, Yves Veggie Cuisine, gave vegetarians back their space on the barbecue. With burgers and dogs close enough in texture to the real thing, YVC fooled cynical meat-eaters in a way the much-mocked Tofurky never could. Now Chef Potvin has a new line of meat alternatives called It’s All Good. The texture is dead on (if you’ll excuse the carnivorous metaphor), and the high-end flavours like Herb Dijon and Tuscan Tomato bring vegetarian wholesomeness to a new foodie high. First marketed to restaurants and food services, It’s All Good went retail in 2006, and this month launches two new flavours. Available at most grocery stores. More info: itsallgoodfoods.com.
 EAT OUT
Hectic shopping malls and huge family dinners do not make for good digestion. Nor does agonizing over which part of your diet can be ditched till January. But eating during the holidays doesn’t have to stress you out. To find out how to enjoy the culinary delights of the season without the anxiety, register for Victoria Pawlowski’s “Mindful Eating Through the Holidays” seminar. Somewhere between a meditation and an education on tasting, Mindful Eating can give you something to hang onto during the strain of the holiday season. With a little encouragement, you too can learn to slow down, tune in, and enjoy the moment. Pawlowski is a registered dietician and nutritional therapist with more than 20 years’ experience. Pre-register with Pawlowski for the Dec. 13th seminar at the Roundhouse Community Centre—just a hop, skip, and a jump from at least two hectic shopping districts. More info: capersmarkets.com.
Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes fooling meat eaters, meeting foodies, and changing the world one meal at a time. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is AIDS Vancouver’s Grocery Program (aidsvancouver.org), a dignity-based food program that addresses the dietary needs of people with low-incomes living with HIV and AIDS.
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