Green fig preserves
Green figs grow like mad in Vancouver, here’s a simple recipe for Persian style green fig preserves which are traditionally eaten for breakfast with bread, butter and nuts. When you cook figs the flavours really come out as the sugar caramelizes. I’m not one for eating them raw as they just taste like sugar at…
May 31, 2019
How to harvest bamboo shoots
There are hundreds of species of bamboo, all of which are edible. Some are better than others, many species only grow tough, bitter shoots, which must be cooked for a long time to be edible. Black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) grows well in our lower mainland (BC) climate and is very tasty, just make sure you…
May 23, 2019
Best Fish and Chips recipe
I’m be honest with you, I’m super picky about fish and chips. I only like thin batters and the best fish (not cod; halibut, john dory or snapper ONLY!). The chips must be fried in beef tallow or duck fat if you want to go really crazy, because I need them to have flavour. If…
April 5, 2019
Foraging for stinging nettles in BC
Stinging nettles are a nutritious and tasty forest snack, easily found in the forests and by waterways like ditches in BC. They taste a bit like spinach and are packed with the vitamins and minerals that are so good for a body. They grow plentifully and must be harvested in spring with gloves to protect…
April 3, 2019
Foraging for currants in BC
Learn how to safely forage for currants. There are many types of currant plants that common to BC that were eaten traditionally by many First Nations peoples. Black, golden, wax, sticky, red swamp and even stink currant are a few of the varieties. My favourite is Ribes sanguineum or red flowering currant. You don’t eat…
March 27, 2019
Fiddlehead foraging
Fiddleheads are the tasty edible part of a young fern shoot. All curled up in a tight green ball, you pick these delicacies in springtime. In our area (Vancouver), bracken fern and lady fern are the two that are found (ostrich fern is the commercial variety, you can find in Northern BC). Lady Fern fiddlehead…
March 22, 2019
How to make maple snow candy
Here is a very simple recipe for how to make maple snow a true Canadian tradition of drizzling hot maple candy on snow to harden it. It’s really fun for the kidlets. Pat a layer of snow onto a baking sheet and leave it in the fridge or outside to keep it from melting. Place…
February 11, 2019