Tasteful Travel

Salt Spring's Culinary Delights

Whether it’s raising lambs, growing vegetables, or producing wine, islanders do it in grand style.

There are few more breathtaking sights than the Gulf Islands sparkling in the early morning azure blue of Georgia Strait. Just a few minutes after lifting off from Vancouver International Airport, our trusty de Havilland Beaver dips its wings in a gentle turn as it prepares to land in Salt Spring Island's Ganges Harbour. As we coast to a stop, that tranquil feeling of urban escape sets in.

The most distant southern Gulf Island from Vancouver, Salt Spring, thrives on its own culinary culture. In part, it's an "island thing." Water-bound communities solve their problems without help from the outside, entertain themselves, and, by necessity, nourish their own with a fervor rarely seen on the mainland.

A short walk from the dock, Hastings House is a gracious, idyllic, West Coast salute to the English manor, its gardens and softly manicured lawns sloping to the water's edge. It's easy to see why the resort's founders purchased the property on a whim while visiting one Thanksgiving, some 25 years ago, and gradually developed it into a luxury resort and spa. Today the 22-acre property cossets with cozy but well-appointed rooms, many with fireplaces or views looking out over the harbor. And Hastings House celebrates local fare in its timber-beamed lounge and dining room.

In the kitchen, we meet long-reigning chef Marcel Kauer, who makes the most of everything local and seasonally fresh, be it tender lamb raised on a nearby meadow, Dungeness crab, or local halibut, all classically prepared with simple elegance that respects the ingredients freshness and purity of flavors.

Kauer remembers all too well the times when it wasn’t quite so easy, when everything had to be brought in. Today he works closely with several small producers and uses herbs from the manor's own gardens.

Islanders long ago learned to live by the mantra 'Think global, buy local,' turning to the thriving Saturday morning market (www.saltspringmarket.com) for many of their needs. One celebrated artisan, Heather Campbell, The Bread Lady, almost single-handedly supplies them with fresh loaves from her specially built, wood-fired masonry oven. Situated on a breathtakingly beautiful promontory overlooking the island's southern end, Salt Spring Island Bread Company (250-653-4809) is a popular stop on studio tours.

At least some of the credit for Salt Spring's food renaissance should go to artisan cheesemaker David Wood, who headed west from Toronto in the 1990s to establish his Salt Spring Island Cheese Company (250-653-2300). The cheeses, easily identified by their delightful, pressed miniature pansies or herbs with clear packaging, are a fixture on any serious Canadian cheese counter. Wood, who started with his own goat herd, has now encouraged others to farm, allowing him to devote his full energy to cheese making.