Summer BC Fruit Recipes
What to do with all that ripe BC Fruit from the Okanagan? I just bought $100 worth of peaches, cherries and sweet apricots after visiting my grandparents last week near Kelowna. They all looked so perfect that I went a bit overboard… it was a LOT of fruit. So, I went to battle! Here are…
Wild BC Berries
Red Current.. the blossoms are tasty too. The wild berries of BC are happening right now! If you are a hiker like I am then you’ll want to know how to identify a few of these tasty treats. Come on one of our wild edibles tours to learn how to identify and cook with BC…
Spot Prawn Season
It’s one of the mostly heavenly times of year to live in BC–spot prawn season! Usually running from early May until the end of June, spot prawns are one of the more sustainably fished species in BC’s waters. They’re very closely managed in terms of catch and fishing techniques, and are recognized by the David Suzuki…
Rhubarb Rites of Spring
Rhubarb is one of the first crops to poke out of the soil when spring hits where I grew up in Nova Scotia. I have very fond memories of sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table with a dish of warm stewed rhubarb topped with fresh cream or on top of her fresh baked bread. Rhubarb has been used for…
Flora for the Future
Many of us have heard about, and perhaps even live by, the Slow Food movement–the idea that we should strive to preserve traditional and regional cuisines and protect biodiversity in the plants and animals of local areas. The same people who created that movement have also instituted the Ark of Taste, a virtual Noah’s ark…
Spring Recipes for Wild Edible Plants
It’s definitely Spring! So here are some recipes for wild edible plants that are sprouting right now… Douglas fir tip tea, big leaf maple flowers, licorice fern roots, elderberry flowers, Oregon grapes; if you have never played with these as a chef living in BC you are missing out. It’s these flavours that potentially can…
Soups for Long Winter Nights
The days are getting noticeably longer, but there’s still a whole lot of winter left to go. After a long day at work, there’s no better way to unwind and nourish than with a hearty bowl of homemade soup. Many of us stick with the old chestnuts: a hearty vegetable soup, or chicken noodle…
How To Make Apple Cider
I confess. I’ve hopped on the bandwagon. I’d like to say I was doing this stuff before it was cool but that’s just not true… The Urban Homesteading thing has hooked me. Fermentation, urban bee keeping, wine making, foraging, and all types of DIY foodie projects…It’s fun stuff, it attracts the right kind of people,…
Oysters in Months that End in “Er”
The weather is officially cool here in BC and as they say, it’s best to eat oysters in months that end in “er.” (That’s an old myth, and now that we have refrigeration, it’s not so much of an issue.) So, at the end of October, oysters are on all our minds here at Swallow Tail. These sweet little bivalves are sustainably harvested here on BC’s coast and come in so many varieties, there’s bound to be something for everyone. Some of the oysters you’ll commonly see in restaurants (and at Swallow Tail) are Kusshi, Royal Miyagi, Kumamoto, and Summer Breeze. Any of these varieties, which vary in size and flavour, are absolutely delicious straight up on their own, but they can be dressed up with something as simple as a splash of lemon, a mignonette of shallots and red…
Yellow Tomato & Pernod Relish Recipe
I was craving flavours that tie the brightness of summer with deep cozy flavours of autumn. Fresh, bursting yellow tomatoes, Pernod, and fennel made up the summer portion, while a long slow cooking time developed some brown flavours to deliver a dose of autumn comfort. Add this stuff to sandwiches, stir it into pasta,…