EBC PRODUCT PROFILE: SUGAR FREE AT EBC – By Kim Peterson
A sweet tooth is a powerful motivator when it comes to picking out something to nibble on between meals. Sugary stuff isn’t the healthiest option though, and for a lot of people with diabetes or dietary restrictions, it’s altogether off the menu. Producers are increasingly taking this into consideration, and Edible BC has a fair selection of sugar-free gourmet goodies to satisfy the craving for sweet. Here are three:
Davison Orchards is a family farm near Kelowna open to visitors during the summer. It’s a veritable theme park, with tractor rides and farm animals; they also produce a whole line of jams and preserves for the visitor who wants to take some Okanagan home with them. EBC is now carrying four of their creations including no sugar added apple butter. It’s flavoured with Splenda, and has a creamy texture that works great as a substitute for jam or jelly.
Summerland Sweets long been producing sugar free alternatives to their delectable line of jams and syrups sweetened with white grape juice. We currently have apricot, strawberry and raspberry no sugar added syrups. Naturally they’re great on pancakes or waffles; you can also drizzle them over plain yogurt, or stir them into soda water.
Over the Moon Chocolates has sugar free bars as well. We carry milk and dark chocolate varieties, sweetened with maltitol. The flavour is incredibly similar to regular chocolate, and if you gave a chunk to someone without saying, chances are they won’t be able to tell the difference.
Come on down to our Granville Island Retail store or check our online retail store for these items.
PLAYHOUSE TRADE WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival has announced the winners of its seven trade competitions. Winners were honoured at the 6th Annual Awards Lunch on Friday, March 27. “The trade competitions give the Festival opportunity to honour and celebrate those professionals who have developed and enhanced the extraordinary wine and food culture of this region,” said Festival Executive Director Harry Hertscheg.
SPIRITED INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL (SIP) AWARD
The fourth annual Spirited Industry Professional Award went to John Schreiner, wine writer, Chair of the Festival’s Winery Selection Committee, and a leading expert on British Columbia wines. The SIP Award annually honours an individual who has made a significant contribution to the sales, service or promotion of wine in British Columbia. The prize is a Trade Super Pass to the 2010 Wine Festival.
SOMMELIER OF THE YEAR AWARD
The 10th annual Sommelier of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding wine knowledge and wine service, went to Andrea Vescovi, sommelier at Blue Water Café + Raw Bar. The Award is voted on by members of the industry, and in years where the vote is close – such as 2009 – the top three candidates are asked to send in a one-page brief on their wine program for a tie-breaking vote. “I am absolutely delighted with the choice of Andrea as the winner of the Sommelier of the Year for 2009,” says Mark Davidson, a member of the awards committee. “He has been going quietly about his business for many years and epitomises all the qualities of a true professional in our field.” The award is sponsored by the International Sommelier Guild of Canada.
WINE LIST AWARDS
Restaurants in Metro Vancouver, Whistler, Vancouver Island, the Interior and Alberta have been recognized for creating wine lists that complement their establishment’s unique menu and concept. Candidates submitted their wine lists and menus for consideration and judges visited the restaurants to review the programs. Recipients received Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze or Honourable Mention awards. The Wine List Awards are sponsored by Vancouver Magazine and the Playhouse Winefest. “This competition is not just about creating a great wine list, it’s about developing a thoughtful program that successfully marries food and wine and trains staff who can enthusiastically share with their customers what it means to eat and drink harmoniously, said Festival Awards Producer Sonia Fraser.
METRO VANCOUVER
Platinum
Blue Water Café + Raw Bar, Vancouver
West Restaurant, Vancouver
Gold
C Restaurant, Vancouver
Chambar Belgian Restaurant, Vancouver
CinCin, Vancouver
Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill + Enoteca, Vancouver
Fuel Restaurant, Vancouver
Salt Tasting Room, Vancouver
Vij’s, Vancouver
Silver
Cactus Club Café
The Fish House in Stanley Park, Vancouver
The Observatory at Grouse Mountain, North Vancouver
Pearl on the Rock, White Rock
Province Marinaside, Vancouver
La Quercia, Vancouver
Rangoli, Vancouver
Seymour Golf & Country Club, North Vancouver
YEW restaurant + bar, Vancouver
Bronze
The Beach House, West Vancouver
Bistrot Bistro, Vancouver
Bravo Restaurant & Lounge, Chilliwack
Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar, Vancouver
Diva at the Met, Vancouver
Earl’s Restaurants
The Flying Tiger, Vancouver
Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House, Vancouver
Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, Vancouver
Gramercy Grill, Vancouver
Gudrun, Richmond
Lift Bar Grill View, Vancouver
Nu Restaurant + Lounge, Vancouver
Onyx Steakhouse & Lounge, White Rock
Pair Bistro, Vancouver
The Salmon House, West Vancouver
La Terrazza, Vancouver
Zest Japanese Cuisine, Vancouver
Honourable Mention
Hart House Restaurant, Burnaby
Haus Uropa Restaurant, Gibsons
restaurant 62, Abbotsford
Tomato Fresh Food Café, Vancouver
The William Tell Restaurant, Vancouver
WHISTLER
Gold
Araxi Restaurant + Bar
Silver
Rimrock Café
The Wine Room at The Fairmont Chateau Whistler
VANCOUVER ISLAND
Platinum
Sooke Harbour House, Sooke
Silver
Atrevida Restaurant, Galiano
Il Terrazzo, Victoria
Bronze
The Landing West Coast Grill, Nanoose Bay
Nautical Nellies Steak & Seafood House, Victoria
Panache at Bear Mountain Resort, Victoria
The Pacific Restaurant, Victoria
Honourable Mention
Stage Wine Bar, Victoria
INTERIOR
Bronze
All Seasons Café, Nelson
Sal’s Prime Steakhouse, Kelwona
Honourable Mention
The Rotten Grape, Kelowna
ALBERTA
Platinum
Divino Wine & Cheese Bistro, Calgary
Gold
Catch Restaurant, Calgary
The Living Room, Calgary
Silver
River Café, Calgary
Bronze
Chef’s Table at Kensington Riverside Inn, Calgary
Raw Bae at the Arts, Calgary
Honourable Mention
La Ronde, Edmonton
SOMMELIER CHALLENGE
The winner of 2009 Puddifoot Award or Sommelier Challenge is Keith Nicholson from Le Crocodile. Keith received a Riedel carafe, a bottle of Vintage Port and the coveted Puddifoot Award, presented at the Riedel at the Restaurant seminar on Friday, March 27.
FETZER presents GREAT BEGINNINGS – BEST NEW FLAVOURS OF THE CITY
Ryan Mah of Joe Fortes Seafood & Chophouse is the 2009 winner of Great Beginnings – Best New Flavours of the City. This annual competition presented by Fetzer asks chefs to put their food and wine pairing talents to the test with an appetizer matched to a Fetzer Vineyards wine of their choice. The restaurants showcased their creations at Great Beginnings – Best New Flavours of the City on Wednesday, March 25 at The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel where the final judgment was made.
QUADY DESSERT COMPETITION
Nadin Bueh of Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates & Patisserie won the 21st annual Quady Dessert Competition for the original dessert creation “Au Coeur du Saveur.” Entrants were judged by a panel of industry experts on how well their original creation paired with Quady Essensia, an orange Muscat dessert wine, as well as on presentation, technique and practicality. Chef Bueh’s prize is a trip for two to the Quady winery in California and a horseback camping trip to the High Sierra Mountains in California guided by proprietor Andrew Quady. Tomiko Mayede of the Terminal City Club placed second with “Chi” and Hitomi Syvertsen of the Pan Pacific Hotel was third with “Enjoué.” Kim Dennis of Northwest Culinary Academy was the top student in the competition. The competition is sponsored by Quady Winery and PlanitBC.com. For photos of the 10 finalists’ creations visit www.planitbc.com.
THE BC SEASONAL COOKBOOK – ASPARAGUS OMELETTE
Every Sunday we share a recipe from EBC president Eric Pateman’s cookbook – The British Columbia Seasonal Cookbook. The glorious sunshine today means local asparagus is right around the corner… hurrah!!
ASPARAGUS OMELETTE
A sure sign of spring is the arrival of local asparagus on the shelves at our many green grocers. This unique vegetable takes more than three years from its initial planting to actually start producing the tender shoots that are suitable for harvest. Some farms in BC also produce white asparagus, which is similar to the green variety, but instead of letting the shoots come out of the ground, the farmer keeps covering the stalks with more dirt as they grow, shielding them from the light. By doing this, the stalks never develop any colour and are then harvested as white asparagus.
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs, separated
- 2 Tbsp cream (10-18%)
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 6 thin asparagus stalks, or 3 thick, lightly steamed
- 2 Tbsp Salt Spring Island chevre
- 1 Tbsp fresh chopped chives
Method:
In a medium bowl, blend egg yolks and cream with a fork. In another bowl, beat the whites until solf peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the yolks. In a nonstick 10 inch pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Pour in eggs, swirling around pan to distribute evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Using a spatula, push the eggs gently around the allow the uncooked egg to flow underneath, running the spatula around the sides of the omelette to loosen. When the eggs are almost set, about 40 seconds, lay the asparagus and cheese in the middle of the omelette. Fold one-third of the omelette over the filling, then lift the pan and slide the opposite third onto your plate and fold the omelette onto itself, forming a neat tri-fold package. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.
Tip: when buying asparagus, choose firm, bright green stalks for the best flavour
DAY 5 AT PLAYHOUSE – 723 WINES(!) – by Eric Pateman
After having to miss days three and four of the Playhouse Wine Festival due to a busy “work” schedule with Edible BC, hosting our BC’s Best Market Dinner Dinner at Chow (click here for pics) on Wednesday, followed by an after-hours reception at Granville Island on Thursday evening, I was ready for a drink!
After a couple of days of hard work, I was anxiously anticipating getting back into the action on Friday at the cavernous Trade and Convention Center where I had the daunting task of choosing which of the 723 wines I wanted to try. With 5+ hours of tasting in front of me, I decided to focus on the host region of BC and see how many new and exciting wines I could find, as well as reconnecting with many of the winemakers and principals that I only usually get to see during my trips around the province. While the trade tasting on Friday afternoon offered a more relaxed and informative session, the public tasting on Friday night brought out the masses so it was shoulder to shoulder for most of night. Though with the after-work crowd out having a good time, and lots of Vancouver’s people dressed to impress, the people watching was almost as good as the wines.
Some of the highlights:
- I tried my first wines from Israel and I was pleasantly surprised. I did not realize that Israel produced more than 2 million cases of wine a year (and approximately 20% is exported).
- One of my favorite BC wineries, Pentage, is bringing back the wine in the box this year. Though their boxing machine was broken last year, it is now fixed and consumers can expect to be able to enjoy Pentage’s fabulous wine in their trademark stylish and very functional bag in a box. I wish more wineries would do this with the same quality of wine!
- Wines from 3 different growing regions in China were represented at the “Great Wall” booth and I have to say, they were alright. We all know that the Chinese make everything else, so why not wine?
- Hester Creek will be demolishing its old wine making building on the Easter Weekend and moving its operations into its new state of the art facility which will hopefully be open to the public by July 1st. The winery will set a new standard for wineries in the south Okanagan!
- Forbidden Fruit Winery in the Similkameen Valley has been growing steadily over the past few years and raking in the medals for the stunning fruit based wines. They have also planted some grapes on their organic property so look for some of their first estate grown wines in the next few years. In the meantime, pick up a bottle or two of the Pearsuassion – it is delish!
- The folks from Watermark Communications who produce Cornucopia in Whistler as well as the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival were taking in the festivities on Friday night as well and they told me that this November’s Cornucopia will be even bigger and better than last year’s with more focus again on the food with an “Iron Chef” style battle. They have even incorporated the chefs into the upcoming ski and snowboard festival which as usual will be one of the best party weeks of the year!
- If you are not on the mailing list for Black Hills Winery, sign up quickly here as they are going to be releasing their next batch of the cult classic Nota Bene very soon. Also, for the first time they will also be selling 2-bottle packs of their Carmenere which has never been released to the public before. If you are not on the list, chances are you will miss out…so sign up soon!
On Saturday, Edible BC actually took part in the festival as Chef Cari Reid (of EBC’s Chef for a Day) and I prepared 600 cherry tomatoes stuffed with Vij’s Garam Masala Crème Fraiche and Birch Syrup, and Sake Grilled Qualicum Bay scallops to serve to a hungry and thirsty crowd at the Ga Ga for Gewurztraminer event. A couple hundred people sipped, swirled and tasted their way around the room with bites from local companies such as Finest at Sea, Oyama, South China Seas, JN&Z Deli, etc. The event was a huge success and a lot of fun.
Saturday evening it was back to the tasting room for more and this time I spent most of the evening on the international side checking out BC’s worldwide competition. As usual, there were some fabulous wines to be found. This is one of the unique festivals where you can try wines that would otherwise be unavailable or unaffordable. I started off with German Rieslings and then worked through the whites before swapping glasses and getting into the Pinot Noirs – the theme varietal this year. As Pinot Noir is my favorite, I spent the bulk of the evening circling the room finding all that I could.
Unfortunately due to the Ga Ga event, I missed out on the “Our Land, Our Best” and the “Icons of BC’s” tastings, but I heard from colleagues that they were very well attended and had some outstanding wines that showcased BC at its best! Great timing on behalf of festival organizers – pumping up BC just prior to 2010.
Tomorrow brings not the close of the show, but also one of the best events. “Flavours of the Festival” has many of the top chefs from around the province converge to offer up an outstanding lunch, and you guessed it, more wine! :) I’ll report on the final day tomorrow.
DIMMING FOR DINNER – DINING BY CANDLELIGHT TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING
On Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 pm, one billion people are expected to switch their lights off for one hour in a global action in support of the fight against Global Warming.
One of the most obvious businesses operating in the public eye on a Saturday night are restaurants and with their presence are able to show the public the effort many others in the world are making and remind them of the impact they can make in their day to day lives.
Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007, during which more than 2 million businesses and residents turned off their lights for one hour, reducing Sydney’s energy consumption by 10% for that hour. This simple, yet powerful act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, in 2008 Earth Hour went global with the participation of over 50 million people in 35 countries worldwide.
According to the Earth Hour Website, for the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.
A number of local restaurants are taking place in Earth Hour 2009, including:
La Terrazza Restaurant - dimming for the entire night, in honour of the children of La Terrazza owners Giulio Miceli, Gennaro Iorio and Iqbal Grewal. Their low-impact menu is only $45 per person, and the kitchen will also be lit by candlelight only.
Nu, C Restaurant & Raincity Grill - Harry Kambolis’ three restaurants will all be flipping the switch in the back of house as well as the front of house.
Yew restaurant + bar & Fifty Two 80 - part of a group of 26 Four Seasons properties circling the globe that will be participating. Vancouver’s Yew features a special three course menu for $53, while Whistler’s Fifty Two 80 is putting on a special 6 course dinner for $90.
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