sea to sky edible
Taste the Goodness, Discover the Roots
COVER: Country Sourdough from Bread Warehouse
PAGE: Dark Chocolate Brownie with Nut Butter, recipe page 9. Photography by Vairdy Frail
SEA
Edible Sea to Sky Autumn 2024
PUBLISHER
Terra Gaddes
EDITOR
Naomi Tomky
ART DIRECTOR
Vairdy Frail
COPY EDITOR
Susan Fitzgerald
DESIGNER
Vairdy Frail
WEB DESIGN
Assist-her
SOCIAL MEDIA / NEWSLETTER
Morgan Smith
CONTACT
hello@edibleseatosky.com
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Edible Sea to Sky is published quarterly and distributed throughout the region from Lions Bay to Lillooet.
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© 2024. All rights reserved.
Member of Edible Communities
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Food acts as a conduit to many actions, and while I, personally, tend towards eating my feelings, others use food in a much more impressive manner. One of the central tenets of Edible Sea to Sky is to transform the way our region shops for, cooks and eats the food grown and produced here. The primary way we encourage that to happen is by featuring on our pages the people making big changes in the culinary sphere.
In this issue, you’ll read about people baking a community, growing a climate-friendly future and changing minds through what’s on our plates, in our ovens or delivered to our doorsteps. Each story shows how small actions and grand ideas alike can help move our food world towards better practices and our communities towards better lives.
Flip through to learn about a Pemberton restaurant that wants to help everyone to eat more plant-based foods and a Whistler bakery that demonstrates how putting people first doesn’t have to be at odds with profit.
One change I’m particularly proud of in this issue is featuring Edible Sea to Sky’s own art director, Vairdy Frail, in her debut as a writer. It feels a bit meta, then, to explain that her story is about four women entrepreneurs who have found a way to translate their existing skills into new businesses — specifically meal delivery services that help make people’s lives easier.
As you take in these stories of forward movement, keep in mind that even tiny actions support the larger changes. By supporting the businesses featured here, you help them continue their missions. And by reading this magazine, recommending it to others and spending money with our advertisers, you help us to keep telling these important stories.
Thank you, Naomi Tomky
Community on the Rise
Jen Park’s Bread Warehouse is proof of a new beginning
By Lisa Richardson
Photography by Vairdy Frail
Jen Park shows off her country sourdough.
Opposite: The pastry case at Bread Warehouse goes beyond the loaf.
In Station Eleven, the apocalyptic post-pandemic novel by Canadian writer Emily St. John Mandel, one of the signs that survivors were starting to rebuild community was when they began baking bread again. When Jen Park opened the Bread Warehouse in the Pemberton Industrial Park, it, too, signalled a rising sense of optimism. “I don’t feel like this is a food business, to be honest,” says Park. “The bakery is for people to connect.”
Every day, the line of customers runs out the door of the former welding shop — one of the few locations in Pemberton with enough power for her ovens. They come for comfort, Park’s
“It was like the whole town came out to welcome us.”
specialty. After three years of individual lockdown sourdough experiments, customers happily queue for bread made by a pro. “More people understand how much goes into it now,” jokes Park. “Once you’ve made bread yourself, you understand it’s much easier to buy.” The loaves — a rotating selection of country, kamut, five grain and walnut cranberry — use only organic flours and take three days to make. Each begins with Park’s starter, derived from organic potatoes and heirloom red fife wheat, both from Pemberton. “It’s not a hundred-year-old starter,” she says, as some bakeries have. “But at least it’s from Pemberton.”
Pemberton’s local food movement has deep roots. This is a place where people have a relationship with growers and honour
quality ingredients. Park is a craftsperson; those who know their gluten, like regular Dr. Jim Fuller, willingly detour to the outof-the-way location for the staff of life. They make a beeline past industrial lots, storage units and chain-link fences to Park’s little sanctuary. “It’s always busy. There’s often a queue,” Fuller notes. It’s been that way since day one.
After almost a year of construction and supply-chain delays, Park announced the Bread Warehouse’s grand opening on her month-old social media account the minute her final permit came through. Twelve hours later, on November 25, 2023, she opened her doors, expecting an opening day quiet enough to train her barista. Instead, droves of people showed up, hungry for her freshly baked sourdough. “It was like the whole town came out to welcome us.” It was an overwhelming reception for the 44-year-old chef, who was now in her third act.
GRAIN REVELATIONS
Park grew up in Korea before moving to Japan to work in IT, where exploring Tokyo’s food scene felt like time-travelling 30 years into the future. Her mother had grown up in the shadow of the Korean War, in a generation focused on surviving and then rebuilding their country from the ashes. “I never experienced having a tablecloth growing up,” says Park of her country’s hyperpractical relationship with food. “We’d just put newspaper down and start eating.”
Her sourdough revelation came at a suburban Tokyo bakery: “It was a taste of grain I’d never had before.” Frustrated with the tech industry, which moved so fast that her projects quickly became obsolete, she followed her newfound food obsession to Vancouver, to study culinary arts. “I was new to the skill, new to
Park inspects a batch of croissants.
the language,” recalls Park, who was 28 at the time. “My teenage classmates were hyped up on Food Network chef culture and so full of attitude.” She made bread in her free time, which eventually landed her a role leading the new bread program at Whistler’s Bearfoot Bistro.
“I never experienced having a tablecloth growing up.”
RISING AGAIN
After six years working in-house, she set out on her own. Whistler’s 200 Degrees Bakery and its satellite café, the Bread Bunker, were her first babies, and she gave them her all. When she became a parent, the rivalry between her businesses and the demands of her human baby caught her off guard. Just as she was finding her feet in the great juggling act of working motherhood, COVID hit. The hotels and restaurants she supplied shut down. She couldn’t meet the health restrictions for traffic flow to pivot her storefront to offer more grab-and-go products. Her husband was an essential worker, which required her to stay home with their son. “I had to let my business die,” says Park. She was completely burnt-out. “I didn’t know how to rebuild from that.”
So she didn’t. She built something different, outside the tourism machine of Whistler. Something for locals. “I always wanted to be a village bakery,” says Park.
FEEDING COMMUNITY
“It’s the best bread I’ve ever had,” says customer Tina Buchan, of what brings her back for a loaf every three days. But it’s also
Park’s hands-on approach. One day, as she placed her order, Buchan realized she was missing her credit card. Park shrugged. “We’ll catch up next time,” she said as she packaged Buchan’s loaf. Park remembers counting coins in the thick of the pandemic collapse, having closed her business and lost her life savings. She tucks aside leftover cookies for a handful of vulnerable families. Food scraps are saved for “the piggies” at Pemberton Meat Company. She doesn’t keep a tip jar on the counter and hasn’t pre-programmed tips on the card reader. Asking people to tip for service before serving them breaks the connection, she explains. And she doesn’t want anything to get in the way of connection.
Despite starting work in the kitchen before six each morning, seven days a week, Park often takes orders behind the front counter with her staff, a flour-streaked cloth wrapped around her hair. People crave bread and Park wants to make it for them. Or even to help them make it themselves. Customers have tried to buy her starter, but it’s not for sale. It is the origin of culture, derived from the life swirling in the air and the seed of dough and community. She simply gives it away, with one request: “Just try not to kill it.”
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LISA RICHARDSON | WRITER
When Lisa first moved to Pemberton from the Australian suburbs, she thought radishes grow in bunches, because that’s how they come in the store. Meeting local farmers was one way that living on the unceded land of the Líl’wat Nation has helped re-educate her, making her a passionate advocate for local food, seasonal rhythms and reconciliation. She is a co-founder of Pemberton’s agritourism event the Slow Food Cycle Sunday and a prolific freelance writer. Her writing has been translated into multiple languages, has appeared in a wide range of lifestyle publications and has earned her the title of “Pemberton’s Favourite Writer” since 2007. Find more at lisarichardsonbylines.com.
DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIE WITH NUT BUTTER
The Bread Warehouse
Serves 12–15
Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
21/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (55% cacao)
1 cup unsalted butter
1¼ cups bittersweet dark chocolate (70% cacao)
5½ tablespoons nut butter (hazelnut or peanut)
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rye flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1¼ teaspoons salt
5 large eggs
21/8 cups granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Set up a double boiler by placing a heatproof glass bowl over about 2 inches of simmering water in a saucepan. Add chocolate chips, unsalted butter, dark chocolate and nut butter, and melt them together, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes. Check the temperature regularly, making sure mixture does not go above 112°F.
Sift together all-purpose flour, rye flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer, whip eggs and sugar together at high speed until they are fluffy and make stiff ribbons, about 15 minutes. Slowly add melted chocolate mixture to eggs and fold, gently stirring, to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and gently stir to combine.
Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 minutes, until the centre is cooked and a toothpick comes out clean.
ALMOND BISCOTTI
The Bread Warehouse
Makes 36 cookies
Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
1² 3 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole spelt flour
¼ cup almond flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1½ cups granulated sugar
5½ tablespoons unsalted butter
3 eggs
½ cup sliced almonds
1¼ cups whole nuts (hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts)
1¼ cups mixed dried fruits (chopped apricots, chopped figs, raisins, cranberries)
Sift together all-purpose flour, spelt flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Use a hand mixer to cream sugar and butter lightly until smooth but not too aerated, about 3 minutes. Continue mixing while slowly adding eggs one at a time. Add the sifted dry ingredients slowly, then the sliced almonds, whole nuts and dried fruit, stirring to combine.
Divide dough into 3 equal pieces and shape each into 4-inch wide, ½-inch thick rectangle. At this point you can cook or freeze for later. If freezing, wrap each log in parchment paper and freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to use, defrost in the fridge overnight or on the counter for approximately 2 hours.
Heat oven to 350°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Bake logs for 20 minutes, until centre of log feels firm and offers some resistance. Let cool for 15 minutes, then cut into slices just under half an inch thick. Lay slices down on the tray, turn oven down to 275°F, and bake slices for 30 to 35 minutes, until completely dry. Once they feel dry, take one piece from the tray and let it cool completely to room temperature. Check its final dryness to ensure there are no soft spots. If soft spots remain, return slices to the oven for another 10 minutes, then repeat. This step is crucial because moisture will affect biscotti’s shelf life. When they are fully dry, let all pieces cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
Climate Solutions From the Ground Up
Squamish Climate Action Network grows a new crop of farms — and farmers
By Jennifer Cole
courtesy
Photo
of Nina LaFlamme Photography
In 2008, Krystle tenBrink attended a series of community movie nights highlighting the effects of the climate crisis on issues such as food production. The documentaries and the discussions following them created a grassroots community determined to do something about climate change.
“We knew we could provide opportunities for community members to feel connected through local engagement and not feel overwhelmed,” says tenBrink. Other climate action groups were working locally and nationally to preserve natural spaces, but this group quickly recognized a void. “No one was doing specific climate action work around food systems, waste, energy and transportation.”
The group formed the Squamish Climate Action Network (CAN), with tenBrink becoming executive director in 2015. While other organizations might choose to focus on one or two aspects of the climate crisis, Squamish CAN views it through a wide lens. Its mission is to “empower [the] community with just and actionable solutions to the climate crisis through education, policy development and systems change.”
That wide view has inspired Squamish CAN to build diverse community partnerships that expand their reach throughout the community. They advocate for waste diversion strategies to keep unnecessary materials out of landfills and collaborate with the District of Squamish and GoByBike BC Society to encourage reduced car use. “From the beginning, we wanted everyone to feel welcome participating in climate action activities,” tenBrink says.
HARVESTING CLIMATE ACTION
One of the organization’s main goals is to develop a local food system resilient to the effects of climate change, and to do so, they want to teach a younger generation to farm and create a local food system designed with climate action in mind. Squamish CAN worked with vice-principal Tami Jazic and School District 48 to build a quarter-acre urban farm at Howe Sound Secondary (HSS), in the heart of downtown. The farm completed its first full season of growing at the end of 2023. The goal is for the farm to become financially self-sustaining; food grown on the farm is sold to the school, where it is incorporated into the school lunch program.
While mucking about in the mud and planting kale, students earn course credits. The Food and Community Leadership course teaches students the ins and outs of food accessibility and the leadership skills necessary to create a local food system. The semester-long Farm Studies course instructs them on the benefits of natural compost and how cover crops can provide the nutrients plants need to grow just as easily as fertilizers and pesticides can. When pests wipe out the hard work that went into growing tomatoes, it becomes time for a lesson in natural ways to restore equilibrium.
Last year, Squamish CAN, HSS and the Downtown Squamish School Farm received a Farm to School BC Pollinator Award, which recognizes schools that “pollinate” their communities to build healthy food systems and support youth who will hopefully, one day, return what they learned to the community — maybe even by becoming farmers.
But that brings up another problem that Squamish CAN saw a need to address: Will there be land available for those future agrarians? “Gone are the days to be able to afford land in Squamish and farm it,” says tenBrink.
Gabriela Lech, former Food Systems Manager at Squamish CAN, at the Howe Sound Secondary School Farm. Photo courtesy of Anita Bonnarens Photography.
CLEARING OBSTACLES
Common Acres Community Farm, opened in 2022, is Squamish CAN’s solution for farmers looking to establish their businesses but unable to afford land. It subleases quarter-acre plots to farmers beginning their careers.
“Common Acres has allowed us to put down roots,” says Rebecca Bolkowy of Local Roots Farm. Shared resources, including electricity and equipment, offset operating expenses for farmers like Bolkowy, making it easier to invest directly in building their businesses. The farms then help further Squamish CAN’s goals. Produce from local farms is often sold unpackaged, creating less landfill waste, and has a lower carbon footprint because it doesn’t have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to market in gas-emitting vehicles.
Though school and community farms are relatively new projects for Squamish CAN, they vitally fulfill the organization’s desire to develop a local food system
Get Involved
Lend a Hand
Volunteer at one of Squamish CAN’s school gardens at Mamquam Elementary School, Valleycliffe Elementary School or Don Ross Middle School. The organization hosts events throughout the year, such as Seedy Saturday in late winter, where volunteers greet attendees and help kids plant seeds.
Be Part of the Conversation
For a $20 annual fee, Squamish CAN members get access to exclusive plant sales and the opportunity to add a voice to the organization as it establishes priorities and initiatives at its annual general meetings.
Attend a Workshop
Each month Squamish CAN hosts garden experts who talk on topics ranging from pollinator gardening to leaf mulch.
Learn at Home
The Squamish CAN website contains a treasure trove of information. Dig around and learn how to audit your home garbage or make a DIY beeswax cover for leftovers.
Learn more at squamishcan.net
resilient to the effects of climate change, and tenBrink and the organization continue to expand them. A second Common Acres Community Farm site will soon take root on Raven Drive in the newly developed Loggers East Neighbourhood. Within ten years, the organization hopes to have five farms operating throughout the Squamish Valley — plenty of space for the many graduating classes of climate-savvy farmers.
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JENNIFER COLE | WRITER
Ever since she can remember, Jennifer Cole has been writing. Her current work focuses on the environment and the intersection between people and nature. Living in beautiful B.C., she is inspired every day by the natural beauty that surrounds us. She believes that when people come together to share locally sourced, healthy food, stronger relationships between the community and people transpire. When not writing, you can find Jennifer nurturing her small urban garden or deep into researching the next great story to write about.
Common Acres Community Farm in Brackendale, top. Siblings Rebecca and Nick Bolkowy in their Local Roots greenhouse on the farm, bottom. Photos courtesy of Rebecca Bolkowy.
Hungry For Help?
The women behind four local meal delivery services simplify busy lives and share their favourite recipes
Words & Recipe Photography by
Vairdy Frail
The Sea to Sky’s “work hard, play hard” lifestyle doesn’t leave much time for cooking a fresh, nutritious meal from scratch every day. Getting dinner on the table can be harder than shredding the Blackcomb Glacier in a whiteout.
But for four local women, that challenge served as an inspiration. Looking to bring more calm into their own lives, they stepped away from high-level culinary jobs and founded meal delivery services. Using their passion and skills in the kitchen, they bring nutritious, delicious meals to the region’s working parents, busy singles, and anyone who loves the convenience of a specially delivered home-cooked meal.
Catering to allergies and tailoring their meals to health goals, making everything from scratch and using local ingredients whenever possible, these services offer the customization and freshness missing from processed frozen food, as well as a personal connection you’ll never find in the bottom of a takeout box.
Photo courtesy of Grinning Weasel Photography
NOURISHMENT MEALS
Delivers to Squamish and North Shore Delivered frozen Menu updated every two weeks nourishmentmeals.ca
After the birth of her first child, Marcia Fordyce ’s brother showed up with warm, fresh homemade pancakes. It was the greatest gift for the new parents: nourishing home-cooked food. As a new mom, Fordyce already knew she needed a change from fast-paced restaurant life, and the pancakes highlighted a gap that needed filling. Nourishment Meals was born.
The Red Seal chef started her business by asking “How can I help?” A decade later, she still delivers scratch-made, nutritious meals like lentil and walnut bolognese and turkey, squash and corn chili with black beans to new parents, busy families and working professionals from Squamish to Deep Cove.
By partnering with local farms and focusing on seasonal ingredients as she changes her menu every two weeks, Fordyce keeps her food fresh and prices competitive. Dishes like the popular dairy- and gluten-free curry “butter” chicken cater to restricted diets with a creamy tomato and coconut milk base. “Food is my love language,” Fordyce says. “When I am cooking for my clients, I am also filling my own freezer.”
ROASTED CARROT AND GINGER
SOUP WITH COCONUT
MILK
Serves 6
Time: 50 minutes
Vegetarian, gluten-free
4 cups large-diced (1-inch) carrots (about 4 large carrots)
1 cup large-diced (1-inch) butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
½ teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon pepper, divided
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks (Granny Smith works well)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (or more, for extra ginger punch)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 can (398 ml) coconut milk
1 tablespoon honey, or more, to adjust seasoning depending on sweetness of carrots
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a tray with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, toss carrots and squash in 1 tablespoon olive oil with ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Spread on lined tray and roast for 20 minutes. Carrots and squash don’t need to be cooked through, just to bring out their natural flavours and sweetness.
In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion, celery and thyme until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Season lightly with ¼ teaspoon salt and
1/8 teaspoon pepper and cook until onion begins to lighten, about 5 minutes.
Add apples, garlic and ginger. Stir well and sauté another few minutes, until garlic and ginger become aromatic. Add roasted carrots and squash, then pour in vegetable stock until vegetables are just covered. Turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until carrots are easily pierced with a knife or squished with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add coconut milk and return to a simmer. Then take soup off the heat and let cool to room temperature.
Once cool, remove and discard thyme sprigs. Purée soup until smooth, either in batches in a countertop blender or using an immersion blender, adding additional vegetable stock if a thinner soup is preferred.
Reheat to serve. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and honey.
Photo courtesy of Grinning
MOLLY’S MEALS
Delivers to Whistler
Delivered fresh Menu updated monthly mollysmeals.ca
Erin Stone grew up on a farm in New Zealand, where family meals were an essential part of life. Her nana, Molly, always invited others into the kitchen for a fresh-baked scone and a cup of tea. After Stone left the hectic life of head chef at some of Whistler’s top restaurants like Stonesedge and Elements, she took inspiration from her nana and named her budding meal delivery business Molly’s Meals.
Stone dishes up made-from-scratch, restaurant-quality meals like blueberry salad featuring Pemberton greens and her legendary barbecued chicken or tofu. She delivers them the same day, with simple instructions for serving.
Because she cooks each meal after it’s ordered, she can easily customize her recipes for special dietary requirements, even severe peanut allergies. “People in Whistler are working hard and playing hard,” says Stone. “They don’t have extra time to spend in the kitchen.”
MOROCCAN CHICKEN OR CHICKPEAS WITH MINT YOGURT
Serves 4
Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Vegan option, gluten-free
2½ cups potatoes, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1½ cups cauliflower, diced
¼ white onion, diced
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
7 teaspoons Moroccan seasoning, divided (recipe below)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper, divided
4 chicken thighs (about 450 grams total) with skin on, or 1 can (540 ml) chickpeas, drained, for vegan option
1 lemon, halved
6 dried apricots
Mint yogurt (recipe below)
2 tablespoons sliced almonds for garnish
Mint leaves for garnish (optional)
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, toss potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and onion with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
Pat the chicken skin dry with a paper towel to remove moisture and get a crispy skin. Season with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add remaining teaspoon vegetable oil to the pan and place the chicken in, skin side down. Cook until skin is brown and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Transfer chicken to a plate and sprinkle with one teaspoon of Moroccan seasoning. Don’t clean out the pan.
Add the bowl of seasoned vegetables and the lemon to the pan, then top with the chicken, skin side up. Roast 30 to 40 minutes, until chicken reaches 165°F. Remove chicken and set aside to rest. Add apricots to pan, stir the vegetables and place pan back in the oven for 15 minutes. Once done, use tongs to squeeze the lemon over top.
Place vegetables on a plate, then put chicken on top. Spoon mint yogurt on top and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Garnish with fresh mint, if desired.
VEGAN OPTION
To make this recipe vegan, prepare and roast the vegetables and lemon as described, omitting the chicken and its seasonings (the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and teaspoon of Moroccan seasoning). Remove roasted vegetables from oven, add the drained can of chickpeas and the apricots, and continue following the instructions.
Moroccan Seasoning
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
In a small jar, combine all ingredients and shake until well mixed. This makes more than needed for the main recipe. Store extra in the jar for future use.
Mint Yogurt
½ cup Greek yogurt (vegan, if making vegan option)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
In a bowl, stir together yogurt and mint. Season as preferred with salt and pepper.
Photo courtesy of Ali Nelson
FIERCE FUEL
Delivers to Squamish and Whistler Delivered frozen Menu updated quarterly fiercefuel.ca
Clare Stenham-Brown stared down a freshly caught pheasant, preparing to pluck, gut and cook it. For the young chef in the two-Michelin-star kitchen of celebrity chef Raymond Blanc, this was just another part of her training.
Working in the high-stress environment of world-famous restaurants eventually took its toll, and Stenham-Brown left the industry. After a decade travelling the world and exploring new cultures and flavours, she settled in Squamish and opened a food truck, the Turmeric Trailer, which evolved into her meal delivery service, Fierce Fuel.
Clare’s passion for health and fitness drives her business, and she partners with many local gyms, offering discounts to their members. Her customers appreciate that she goes beyond simply listing the ingredients and includes the macros for each meal, like the high-protein Mongolian “beef” and her new sticky lemongrass meetballs, made of tofu. “I think people get bored of their own cooking,” says Stenham-Brown. “This gives them a chance to try something new that is both healthy and convenient.”
Photo by Vairdy Frail
VEGETARIAN RAMEN
Serves 4
Time: 45 minutes
Vegan, gluten-free
For broth
3 tablespoons chili oil (ideally Ling Ling Canteen brand)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
10 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, minced
2 bunches green onions, chopped (6–8 medium bulbs)
6½ cups vegetable stock
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
3 tablespoons miso
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons tamari
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
For ramen
4 servings (about 225 grams total) rice ramen noodles (such as Lotus Foods, or any ramen noodle of your choice)
4 cups broccoli or packed bok choy
1 tablespoon chili oil (ideally Ling Ling Canteen brand)
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
Water to thin
1 350-gram block extra-firm tofu, sliced into 1-centimetre pieces
¼ cup corn starch
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds for garnish
For broth
In a large pot over medium-high heat, add chili oil and sesame oil and sauté garlic, ginger and green onions until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, coconut milk, miso, peanut butter and tahini; stir until the pastes are dissolved. Stir in tamari, turmeric, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.
For ramen
First, prepare marinade. In a medium saucepan over high heat, boil some water, then add noodles and turn off the heat. Leave for 5 minutes, then drain. If using another type of noodle, cook according to the package instructions. One minute before noodles are done cooking, add broccoli or bok choy. Strain noodles and vegetables and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together chili oil and peanut butter. Thin with water to the texture of a thick soup. Set aside.
Toss tofu in corn starch. In a large frying pan over medium heat, add vegetable oil and sauté tofu, tossing in the pan each minute to loosen, until crispy on all sides, about 5 to 6 minutes total.
Transfer the cooked tofu into the peanut butter marinade and stir to combine.
Split the noodles, vegetables and tofu with marinade among the bowls, then ladle broth over top. Top with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Photo by Vairdy
A CHEF’S LIFE
Delivers to Pemberton and Whistler Delivered fresh Menu updated weekly achefslife.ca
Stephanie Christiansen once worked in the U.K., cooking for the Royal Family. Now the Brisbane, Australia, native cooks for locals and tourists alike in the Sea to Sky. Chef Steph, as she’s called, entered culinary school at the age of 15, earning a scholarship that sent her travelling and cooking around the world. After spending a few seasons in Haida Gwaii at world-renowned fishing lodges, the Red Seal chef moved south and now runs A Chef’s Life, a deli and readymade-meal delivery business serving Whistler and Pemberton.
Christiansen delivers her meals fresh, which allows her to show off her salad skills and scratch-made dressings. Her current menu offers eight salads, including Thai peanut noodle, mango quinoa and classics such as Caesar and Cobb. Many main dishes come vacuum sealed, so clients can order enough to last as long as needed, freezing portions themselves. “Everybody needs to be fed,” Christiansen says. Having a secret stash of her famous beef lasagna in the freezer just makes that so much easier.
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BEEF SHORT RIBS
Serves 4
Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
Gluten-free
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1½ kilograms beef short ribs
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 can (156 ml) tomato paste
1 cup red wine
6 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425°F.
VAIRDY FRAIL | WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER
Vairdy is a Squamish-based commercial and editorial photographer. Specializing in food and lifestyle photography, she is committed to supporting brands and businesses who are making
In an oven-proof frying pan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sear short ribs on all sides until a nice crust is formed, about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside, but keep pan over the heat.
Add onion, carrots, celery and leeks and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaves, thyme and tomato paste and sauté for 2 more minutes.
Deglaze the pan by adding red wine and gently scraping up the cooked-on flavour. Turn heat to low and simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
Add short ribs to the vegetable and wine mixture, and add beef stock. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil or lid and bake for 3 to 4 hours, until the internal temperature reaches 205°F to 210°F, the probe from the meat thermometer feels little resistance upon insertion and the meat recedes easily from the bone.
waves in their industry. Her friends describe her as adventurous, loyal and energetic, a requirement for keeping up with her husband and twin boys as they explore mountains and coastlines at home and abroad.
Frail
B (Corp) Is for BReD
A Whistler bakery goes from quietly vegan to proudly sustainable
By Carolyn B. Heller
When BReD Bakery first began selling sourdough cinnamon rolls, seeded rye loaves and brioche buns with poached fruit in Whistler’s Creekside neighbourhood, Natasha and Ed Tatton wanted their fledgling business to align with their morals. But they decided not to promote that they were a vegan bakery, says Natasha Tatton, because they “didn’t want to put anybody off.”
This created a new problem for them, though, as customers increasingly asked for vegan products. The Tattons came to understand that without any certification or promotion of their decision, they weren’t really trusted by the vegan community.
“We’re about so much more than not eating animals,” says Tatton. This pushed them to dig deeper than the narrow qualifications for vegan recognition. They looked at the business practices they’d
already established — using recyclable or compostable materials; donating money to animal and environmental causes; and setting policies, such as offering medical and wellness benefits and paying at least 10 percent above minimum wage, to retain good staff — and considered how to convey what their business stood for. They wanted not only to be profitable, explains Tatton, but also “to become a small business making a big impact.” In 2022, three years after opening, BReD became a certified B Corporation, a designation that measures businesses’ environmental and social impacts. “‘B’ means benefit,” says Tatton, and the certification process benefited them as well, by providing both a blueprint for managing their business and a support network to help them improve it. “It means that the world is a better place for your business being there than without it.”
Photo courtesy of BReD
MEASURING THE BENEFIT
B Lab Global launched the B Corp concept in 2006 and has now certified more than 6,000 B Corporations in more than 80 countries. To become a B Corp, BReD had to score at least 80 points on the organization’s 200-point scale, which evaluates factors such as how effectively they support their workers, their community and their environment. Their initial score was 87.1. By comparison, B Lab reports that the average score for ordinary businesses who complete the assessment is 50.9.
BReD uses organic Canadian grains and supports Pemberton farmers as much as possible, which factors into their environmental and community benefit scores. Often, when they can’t source products locally, Tatton says, they don’t look further afield. “If we can’t get carrots from Pemberton, we might change the menu to make something else.”
To meet their goals as a benefit corporation, BReD commits one percent of revenue to causes supporting animals or the environment. This year, for every two beverages BReD sells, the Tattons fund the planting of a tree through Trees for the Future, a non-profit organization that helps restore agricultural land damaged by deforestation.
As a B Corporation, BReD is required to post impact reports and metrics demonstrating their
“It means that the world is a better place for your business being there than without it.”
actions and results. In the store and on the website, the Tattons report the number of trees they’ve planted, how they source ingredients from local suppliers wherever possible and other business practices, such as working toward zero food waste or donating to Whistler Animals Galore and other community organizations.
AVOIDING GREENBLUSHING
“A lot of ethical business owners are scared to make a profit. Profit is a dirty word. It implies that you’re exploiting people and being greedy,” says Tatton. “Greenwashing” refers to companies that act like they’re doing good while continuing harmful practices. “Greenblushing” describes
businesses that truly do good, but are embarrassed to tell people about it.
“Being a B Corp changes that,” Tatton asserts, “because the more money we make, the more we give back. The impact you’re making is out there, loud and proud. Consumers will get behind you.
“If we can’t get carrots from Pemberton, we might change the menu to make something else.”
It’s good for profitability. But it also inspires other businesses to make better decisions.”
The Tattons’ vegan lifestyle influences their business decisions and pushed them toward B Corp certification. Now it continues to move them forward, to do better and create a better world. “You can’t be perfect in an imperfect world,” says Tatton. “It’s about striving to be better than you were yesterday.”
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BReD
uses compostable bags for added sustainability.
CAROLYN HELLER | WRITER
Based in Vancouver, Carolyn writes about food and drink, cultural experiences and offbeat adventures from her travels to more than 50 countries on all seven continents. She’s authored three Canada guidebooks, and her articles have appeared in Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s Travel, Going and many other publications.
Photo courtesy of BReD.
Plant-Based in Pemberton
The Hwy. Café took the fast road from passion to purpose
By Johanna Molloy
Photography by Vairdy Frail
When the Hwy. Café brought its yellow-and-black trailer to pop up in Vancouver last fall, the line stretched down the block and around the corner, as excited customers waited for the vegan chick’n wraps that Pemberton residents have easy access to all the time. Guests at the café come from as far as Merritt and consider the four-hour drive worthwhile for the Big Crunch Burger, made from chickpea patties and dipped in smoky-sweet barbecue sauce. The Beyond Meat smash burgers, organic tofu bánh mì and hand-cut Greek fries overcome the stereotypes of plant-based meals so deftly that some customers learn only after multiple meals that everything on the menu is fully vegan.
As fear and unpredictability gripped the nation at the onset of the pandemic, Leonel Marques, a chef, and Laura Mooney, a social worker, envisioned a better future. Marques had worked at restaurants like Basalt in Whistler and Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek Winery in Oliver. They spent March of 2020 turning their passion for plant-based foods into a dream restaurant. Mooney and Marques saw the unique opportunity to transform a small industrial-park space in Pemberton — most recently an engineer’s office — into a casual vegan café. By April, they’d finished the business plan for their takeout-burger-and-sandwich joint and signed the lease on the space that would soon become the Hwy. Café.
The endeavour combined Mooney’s love of vegan cuisine with Marques’s innovative plant-based recipes, such as giant chicken-style soy curl wraps and a selection of house-made sauces. It catered to people who otherwise struggled to find casual-restaurant options with gluten-free buns and non-dairy milk for coffee.
Situated just off bike trails and en route to hiking paths, the café aimed to give people meals that sustained all kinds of adventures on the slopes or trails. “We wanted to cater to people in Pemberton and their lifestyles,” says Mooney. “People are on the go, working hard, physical, intensive jobs.” So they designed their menu to keep customers full, fuelled and, ultimately, wellfed with delicious plant-based meals.
“We wanted to cater to people in Pemberton and their lifestyles.”
In June 2020, two weeks after signing the lease and before they even opened their doors, Mooney and Marques learned they would be going on an adventure of another sort: Mooney was pregnant with their son. The duo became a trio, and with their now-three-year-old always close at hand, they built the business as takeout-only in 2020 and 2021.
The open-plan kitchen gave patrons a window into the whirlwind of running a restaurant, and the spectacle proved to be part of the café’s draw. The controlled chaos of walking both hungry vegans and enthusiastic omnivores through the
The Hwy. Café owners, Laura Mooney and Leonel Maquis. Opposite: Their popular Buffalo Chick'n Wrap, made with soy curls.
THE SECRET TO SOY CURLS
Customers line up down the block for the Hwy. Café’s chick’n wraps, and cofounder Laura Mooney spills the secrets on how they prepare the craveable soy curls.
They use a product called Butler Soy Curls, which they soak in warm water or broth for 10 to 15 minutes, then strain and squeeze out any excess liquid. “Squeezing the extra liquid out is key!” says Mooney.
They fry the curls in oil over high heat until they begin to brown. Only after the curls are cooked can they add their special sauces — otherwise, the sauce burns.
The final step? Enjoy!
menu, taking orders and crafting lunches in a small space turned their hustle and bustle into a charming staple of their brand.
Another staple evolved out of Mooney’s background in social work, which is woven through the café’s DNA. From the beginning, the Hwy. Café looked to support the community, donating one day’s worth of tips to survivors of the Cottonwood house fires of 2020, using the sales of buffalo chick’n wraps from another particular day to aid a community member fighting cancer and assisting the family of a dedicated tribal police sergeant of the Líl’wat Nation who passed away suddenly. “Giving back has always been really important to us,” says Mooney. “We are very fortunate that we can, so we will.”
As the business grows, so too do their efforts. In 2021, Mooney and Marques bought the trailer, which mostly lives right next to the café, allowing them to manage the ever-expanding fan base and reduce wait times. But as shown by its trip to Vancouver last year, it also allows them to bring vegan goodness to new people and places.
Earlier this year, the trailer headed into Pemberton Village, where the Hwy. Café gave away 65 portions of sriracha-spiced french fries, loaded up with Beyond Meat chorizo crumbles, two kinds of peppers and the house-made hot sauce, to volunteers at the annual Wildfire and Emergency Preparedness Day. The aptly named Inferno Fries are now a staple on the menu, demonstrating how growing a business, a community, a family and awareness of plant-based cuisine all merge to become one highway.
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JOANNA MOLLOY | WRITER
Johanna is a writer, life coach and yoga teacher living in Pemberton. She specializes in the health and wellness industry and enjoys all of the outdoor pursuits that the Sea to Sky has to offer. She is currently self-publishing her first children’s book, called Wonder
The Inferno Fries, developed in support of Wildfire and Emergency Preparedness Day.
Pairing Pointers
How to pick the ideal Thanksgiving wine
By Michael Kompass
Thanksgiving bridges the gap between summer and winter, brings together family from near and far and celebrates the harvest. Choosing a wine that can live up to such a multi-faceted occasion can be challenging. But fear not — the right bottle to encapsulate the spirit and the season is within reach. Whether you’re serving a classic oven-roasted turkey with all the trimmings, smoking the bird for a more savoury and intense dish or laying out a meat-free feast for all, here are some thoughts on how to pick the perfect bottle of wine for the festivities.
Fort Berens Rosé Lillooet
SEASONALITY
As the turkeys get fat, farmers harvest the fruits and herbs, berries and root vegetables from their fields, and everyone celebrates with a feast. Seek out wines that reflect these seasonal ingredients as well as the food on the table does. Gewürztraminer has ripe fruit and hints of sage and ginger; white Bordeaux offers tangy acidity, citrus, sweetgrass and peppery herbaceousness.
5 BC Bottles to Try
FOOD FRIENDLINESS
Just as people like to enjoy the company of loved ones around the holiday table, the wine needs to get along with the dishes. They should complement each other. For a dinner that includes a roast, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, consider something with intensity and body, like a Viognier or Zinfandel. A more delicate dish, such as baked turkey breast with Brussels sprouts and green beans, calls for something lighter, like a Sauvignon Blanc or Alsatian-style blend.
VERSATILITY
Thanksgiving dinner includes a wide variety of flavours, so make sure your wine choices offer enough versatility. Ideally, have both a white and a red ready, and a dry rosé works well, too. It is best to serve wines that enhance, rather than overpower, the food. For reds, aim for one with a softer tannic structure, like Pinot Noir or Gamay. Riesling with a touch of sweetness provides a great counterbalance to salty or savoury richness in the meal.
Since cooler-climate wines naturally accentuate acidity, many British Columbia bottles match well with seasonal local foods. Here are some of the best Thanksgiving-friendly bottles for this year’s holiday table:
MICHAEL KOMPASS | WRITER
Michael has been a resident of Sea to Sky Country since 1997. A graduate of both the International Sommelier Guild and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, he is the co-owner/operator of the Blackcomb
Liquor Store and Fitzsimmons Pub in Whistler, as well as the creator and director of the Whistler and Squamish Wine Club, established in 2001. In addition to all things beverage related, Michael enjoys skiing, snowboarding, camping, rugby and good barbecue!
Blue Mountain Gamay Noir Okanagan Falls
Chaberton Sauvignon Blanc Fraser Valley
Synchromesh Thorny Vineyards Dry Riesling Naramata Bench
Lightning Rock Elysia Vineyard Pinot Noir Summerland
AUTUMN WHAT'S IN SEASON?
VEGETABLES
Artichokes
Beans
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Corn
Cucumbers
Fennel
Garlic
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce
Mustard greens
Onions
Parsnips
Peppers
Potatoes
Radishes
Rutabaga
Salad greens
Shallots
Spinach
Swiss chard
Tomatoes
Turnips
Winter squash
Zucchini
FRUIT
Apples
Blueberries
Grapes
Melons
Pears
Plums
Prunes
Quince
Strawberries
HERBS
Basil Bay leaves
Chives
Chervil
Cilantro
Dill
Epazote
Fennel leaves
Fennel seed
Lemongrass
Lemon verbena
Marjoram
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Summer savory
Tarragon
Thyme
Winter savory
