Pancake Breakfast - Cittaslow fundraiser in Cow Bay

A glorious autumn morning. The promise of breakfast pancakes and sausage. And a good cause. Three things that prompted us to drive 45 minutes from Victoria to Cowichan Bay.

A quick stop at True Grain for organic chocolate-studded French buns is always in order.


You are here.

The Italian cittaslow delegates joined us on this glorious morning.

For a menu of pancakes, made with Red Fife wheat grown in the area, and a side of chicken sausage from farmer Lyle Young's Island Poultry.  Coffee, juice and seconds if you wanted. Only $10.
 A little cheesecake.
Early, isn't it?

Hey, it's Angie Jabine (rhymes with wine) former editor at Northwest Palate and now freelance writer on assignment. Those pancakes were topped with organic huckleberries and maple syrup.
Let your snail flag fly.

Cowichan Bay becomes North America's 1st Cittaslow

Last Wednesday, Italian delegates arrived on Vancouver Island to unveil a road sign announcing Cowichan Bay as the very first Cittaslow town in North America to join their community.

International director Pier Georgio Oliveti and Gianluca Marconi were on hand to remove the veil after a few speeches by other dignitaries - including one that stressed the importance of slowing down and connecting with nature - and a spectacular dance and blessing from two members of the Cowichan First Nations band.

The seaside town of Cowichan Bay on Vancouver island is dedicated to the local landscape and was deemed a perfect fit to join the other 120 towns in 16 countries with this designation.
Located only 45 minutes from Victoria, and with less than 3,000 residents, Cowichan Bay boasts acres of greenspace giving way to small and medium-scale farms and wineries, all within First Nations land. Many renowned chefs, growers, winemakers and artisans make the area their home and the community is dedicated to the local producers and produce.

Also on hand (photo below) were Mara Jernigan, innkeeper at Fairburn Farm and president of SlowFood Canada (third from left), and Bruce Stewart, co-owner of True Grain Bakery in Cowichan Bay (on far right). Together with other Cowichan Bay business owners, they successfully entered "Cow Bay" for consideration. It was assessed and certified under six potential areas of excellence, including environmental policy, encouragement of local food and artisanal products and businesses, and hospitality and friendliness. The village scored a whopping 93 percent, one of the highest rankings of all towns to apply for the honour.

Yeah, baby! 

After many photo-ops the gentlemen were whisked away in an ancient Model T driven by Cowichan Bay Farm's champ Lyle Young. Where were they going? Why, for a powerhouse espresso at Drumroasters and then a tour of Cowichan Bay.
Ciao!!

Foo Asian Street Food - opening week

Foo Asian Street Food is off to a delicious start. The space was transformed from a former garage, then a beer and wine store, and now a sleek open area with lots of windows, stainless steel and bamboo seating. (Design headed up by Raubyn Rothschild).
Co-owner Sterling Grice - most recently seen waiting tables at Brasserie L'ecole - is ready to take your order.
Seats in front of the open kitchen provide the best action.
And is where co-owner and chef Patrick Lynch - formerly of Sanuk and Vancouver's Monsoon -plies his trade, concocting spice mixes and curries and juggling the pans for Foo's menu of South East Asian dishes, inspired in part by street food that both owners enjoyed while travelling in Asia.
The green papaya salad is one of my favourites. Crunchy papaya tossed together with cilantro, mint, spiced peanuts and a lime-chile dressing.

Next comes an order of freshly made pork potstickers. Pork and scallions dumplings drizzled with a pomegrante and black vinegar sauce that cuts through the crispy deep fried dumpling providing tangy, sweet counterbalance.

I spy Patrick's cache of squeeze bottles. Therein lie the secret flavourings that he has become renowned for, including a tart tamarind chutney dipping sauce for the crispy pakoras.

Say hello to a luscious laksa of halibut dumplings with market vegetables and Shanghai noodles with a yellow curry coconut broth and hit with fresh cilantro, thai basil and lime.

Grice and Lynch also like to riff on classic Chinese Western dishes. For example, their beef chow mein is a made with long braised beef short ribs, ginger black bean sauce and stir fried chow mein noodles. Not a grease fest, just some good eatin'.

Another hit is the prawn and pork lettuce cups. Crisp iceberg lettuce leaves hold spoonfuls of chopped prawns and pork that have been slowly cooked in coconut cream with lemongrass, kaffir lime, cilantro and basil.

A little messy to maneuver with just a take out box, but they've promised better containers - and hopefully, dishes - in the near future. Delicious none the less.
Foo. 

Go. Now.

769 Yates St., 250-383-3111. Open for lunch weekdays, 11:30 until 10 pm. Saturdays 5 - 10 pm and Sundays 5 - 9 pm.

Sticky chicken wings

I came across this treatment reading Nigel Slater's book The Kitchen Diaries.

Cracked pepper, lemon juice and sliced lemon, fresh bay leaves, olive oil and sea salt season the wings before a good roasting session that makes them sticky and luscious.
The fresh bay leaves became like chips, and the lemon peel, caramelized and chewy. The sticky bits on the pan became dessert. Oh, and the wings were good too! Eat with your fingers and have extra napkins around, cause it's gonna be messy.

Granola - Om.

I find making granola a form of meditation. I don't really even like granola but I like the process of adding ingredients, slowly toasting them in a low-heat oven, stirring occasionally and then tossing in dried fruits for the grand finale.
My recipe is freeform but starts with a base of six cups of oats tossed in a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice and 1/3 cup of maple syrup. Then I add whatever I have on hand - this batch became more elaborate than usual with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts and coconut.

Toast in a 250 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You'll need two sheets pans to evenly divide the mix.

When lovely and toasted, add chopped dried fruits - raisins, apricots, figs, cranberries, any combination will do - cinnamon and mix. Cool and store in a glass jar.

Crispy Pig's Ear Salad

Yes, you heard right. Driven by a desire for challenge, a way to shake up the same old culinary routine, I decided to wade into the shallow end of what U.K. chef Fergus Henderson has made famous - nose to tail eating. Realizing my bread box-sized kitchen could never handle a pig's head, or even half, I settled for pig's ears, and chef Henderson's recipe for crispy pig's ear salad with sorrel and chicory. 

I bought six ears at my local Chinatown butcher, Loy Sing, that had been pre-singed of any hair - something I hadn't considered but was grateful for.

To tenderize, a broth was constructed with a mirepoix, bouquet garni, a splash of red wine vinegar and water.
Two hours later, I had an exquisite broth for later use and tender ears.

Cooled and firmed, I cut them in various shapes and sizes, but the julienned version - as thinly as possible - would be the topping for the salad.
Now for the crispy part. The lack of photos here attests to the next two hours spent in crisis management. The understated directions in chef Henderson's recipe that no matter how dry the ears are, they are likely to spit when placed in hot oil, provided a challenge. (Right, I was asking for that).

The spitting came in the guise of hot oil shooting geyser-like onto the walls, cupboards, stove, floor and me. 

Sensing danger, I transferred the system to the great outdoors where my trusted bbq quickly produced a grease fire that showed no signs of settling down. I had at this point a mere handful of crispy ears.

The solution was to transfer a small amount of oil to a wok with a beat up lid I adore to handle the exploding "spit". I would throw a handful of sliced ears into the hot oil, cover and wait until the explosions settled down, stirred them around with the lid as my shield and let them fry some more until golden. 

Exhausted from swearing, I tried to compose myself and create the finished salad. (In retrospect, I would have been better off making the headcheese recipe).

Sorrel was not to be found, so I subbed in New Zealand spinach with the chicory, requested capers and parsley, dressed with Henderson's zingy vinaigrette, and topped with crispy ears.

Very chewy. But the salad was delightful with contrasting flavours - bitter, salty, crunchy, tangy - all playing around in the mouth.

I think I'm okay with less on the challenge front for a while. Right after I hose down the kitchen.

Daidoco - One of my Top Five Faves for Lunch

Daidoco is tucked away in Nootka Court in downtown Victoria.

Owners Kaori and Naotatsu Ito cook and serve their version of Japanese food and have garnered a devoted following since their 2004 opening. You won't find sushi, chicken karaage or other cliches of most Japanese restaurants, just clean fresh flavours, created daily with fresh organic produce, wild fish and Island grown chicken. No pickled ginger. No all you can eat buffet.

Find a cozy wood and brick interior, whimsically decorated by the owners with handmade speakers, a bicycle hanging from the ceiling, nautical antiques and a few found objects from nature.

Step up the counter and peruse the daily specials made with organic ingredients from Metchosin's Umi Nami Farm and the Ito's new garden project in Saanich, each one a jewel of colour and texture.

Umi Nami Farm has also built a devoted following for their Japanese vegetables - Vancouver's Tojo is a fan - and the lineups for their produce every Saturday at the Moss Street Market is visual testament.

Nao-san buys fish exclusively from a fisherman friend and from the expertly sourced Satellite Seafoods in Sidney. Cowichan Bay Farm chicken is delivered by farmer Lyle every week and is used in their best selling teriyaki.

I always go for the poke-tuna, a dish the Itos fell in love with during a recent trip to Hawaii. Like the sign says, marinated Albacore is treated to a balanced dressing of sesame oil and soy sauce. It sits on some of their organic greens with onion, celery and nori seaweed. That's $4.00.

With a bowl of miso soup ($1.50), made here with filtered water, and an order of brown rice, you can build yourself a nutritious and value-packed meal, a style of eating known in Japan as sozai.

The wild salmon is excellent too. Part of Naosan's talent involves expert knife skills. Order the salmon and see what I mean, or observe the dried nori garnish, thin slivers, each one perfect. He also creates his own sauces and marinades, and is a fan of aonori, a seaweed delicacy that grows on rocks, dried and ground, and dried red shiso leaf, which adds another flavour and visual element to dishes here.

Hello there, Naosan!

Nao-san's culinary path began at age 20, cleaning and delivering fish to local restaurants in the Shizuoka prefecture between Osaka and Tokyo. Shortly after, he landed in a restaurant serving unagi (eel), a specialty of the area. There he was given the task of creating small dishes, called tsukidashi, little tastes given to customers before their meal, for free. He became a natural, using all parts of the fish, creating tasty dishes out of what the North American palate might normally discard.

He then took to the road, working throughout Japan, cutting sugar cane and working on organic farms before ending up in Canada working at Toronto's Yamasi, and finally to the kitchen of Victoria's Sen Zushi, under former owner/chef Kokichi Ijichi, who became his mentor.

Citing Yamasi as valuable experience, he reconnected with his Japanese roots under Ijichi.

"Ko-san is a very old-style sushi chef, very traditional," he recalls. "I learned by observation, never asking questions. Watching. Tasting. Remembering." His intense apprenticeship lasted six years, lunch and dinner, six days a week.

My lunch today consisted of organic brown rice and one of the daily salads, a mix of crispy and chunky garden vegetables in a sesame, miso dressing. Bright, verdant and oh so delicious.

Then a surprise dish of Ito's greens, lightly wilted and dressed, and topped with thin pieces of smoked salmon.
Whether it's a 14-pound ling cod or 40-octopus that arrives at his kitchen door, delicate greens or the first sprouts of butterbur (sweet coltsfoot), Nao-san applies time-honored Japanese techniques to create culinary magic out of the simplest of ingredients. Be forewarned, this wonderful spot is open only Monday to Friday, for lunch only. I arrive between 11 and 11:30 am, ensuring a good selection. Daidoco usually sells out of food by 1 pm, sometimes 2, sometimes 12:30.

You won't miss the pickled ginger, I promise.