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Tasteful Travel

Edible Vancouver

A knowledgeable escort and plenty of tasty morsels provide a peek into
Vancouver’s culinary scene.

Amid the bustle of the public market, I was trying to determine what the vine-like green, hardened spheres were when Eric Pateman, our tour guide and culinary expert, must have seen the perplexed look on my face.
“And these,” Pateman says to our group of six, “are fresh green peppercorns. They are excellent when paired with a good steak.”

The peppercorns weren’t the only exotic-looking food we discovered while at South China Seas Trading Co, a company within the Granville Island Public Market. The tiny shop is also a purveyor of spices, sauces, seaweeds, herbs, and vegetables that originate from Asia, India, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

But this was just the start of the delectable foods we were about to sample while on a tour with Pateman’s Vancouver-based company, Edible British Columbia.

Edible Assets

Pateman started Edible British Columbia in 2005, combining his extensive knowledge of the hospitality industry with his passion for food and wine. At about 3 hours each, the tours offer insights into Vancouver’s culinary scene, and emphasize personal service by keeping groups small.

Nowhere is the culinary scene more apparent than on Granville Island. Forty years ago, the island was an industrial area, but today it is an eclectic mix of colorful shops and craftsmakers. There are no chain stores here, only local businesses offering the pinnacle in British Columbia food and art.

The Public Market is definitely the hotbed of culinary activity on the island. Inside the market building, 50 or so different vendors are a mecca for all kinds of food-lovers. The market is a menagerie of scents—sweet flowers intermingle with subtle hints of meats and fresh-baked crusty breads.

“Chefs go here to get hard-to-find ingredients,” says Pateman. After my discovery of green peppercorns at South China Seas, I’m beginning to understand why.

A Tour of Granville’s Tastes

But there’s much more to see and taste on this tour. From South China Seas we cross the aisle to the Granville Island Tea Company. At the tea bar, we sample the masala chai, a very creamy selection. The top seller, I’m told by the tea barista, is rooibos, a delicate infusion that seduces the senses with fruity undertones. Tea is very popular in this city, explains Pateman, like fine wine. “You never know who you’ll sit next to at the tea bar; it might be actors or hockey players.”

Not to be outdone are the smoothies and drink blends at Nons Drinks To Go, our next stop on the tour. Nons Drinks are the newest craze in exotic concoctions - think drink sophistication in its highest form. Sharif, owner and operator, hails from Belgium, and slings these non-alcoholic cocktails like the seasoned veteran he is.

Story by Emily Kolkemo


South China Seas Trading Company
South China Seas Trading Company sells exotic foods and specialized cookware (above).Fresh flowers are an easy find on Granville Island (below).

Fresh Flowers

Sharif passes me a ginger hot chocolate. The melding of chocolate flavors rolls down my tongue with a light, explosive burst of ginger at the end. For a hot chocolate connoisseur like myself, it’s the best I’ve ever had.

But an exotic, truly unique drink is the sahleb, an African drink with dried coco, sesame seeds, and coconut. Seeds add a little crunch, and it’s a nice way to blend flavors and textures.

After a quick stop at the Stock Market, the place Pateman says locals come for soups, butters, sauces, and demi-glace, we amble over to the Oyama Sausage Company.

Granville Island at night. The classic-style meat case carries a plethora of sausages and cheeses. Many of the sausages are organic, and Pateman says that some of the hogs are fed organic hazelnuts to enhance the flavor. Selections include champagne truffle sausage, butter chicken sausage, and several types of terrines, a pressed meat like paté. My sausage samples are complex in flavors, with the first taste of sweetness of the meat smothered in savory herbs and spices, followed by a subtle nutty flavor.

We clean our palates and tempt more taste buds with fig and anise bread from Terra Breads, then exit the Public Market and head for the oldest French bakery in Vancouver.

Once inside the bustling La Baguette and L’Echalote, former general manager Marc Tilkin informs us that the secret to good bread is all-natural ingredients blended with old-world techniques. The bakery also features traditional French desserts and pastries. Tilkin hands me a chocolate-filled croissant, which with one bite makes me think we have slipped into a café in Paris for a quick treat.

Our tasting tour is capped with a visit to Rogers’ Chocolates, a decadent candy company that traces its beginnings back to 1885. The company is known for its Victoria Creams, confections that come in 18 flavors, all with velvety smooth centers and rich, dark chocolate exteriors. We each sample a few creams, and I notice that my tour mates are all smiling. Such is the power of chocolate.

This peppercorn recipe, compliments of Edible British Columbia, was originally prepared with ingredients from the Public Market’s Armando’s Finest Quality Meat, the Stock Market, and South China Seas Trading Co.

Pepper Steak

2 quality steaks (such as New York strip, filet mignon, or T-bone)
1 package fresh green peppercorn, de-stemmed
1/8 cup olive oil
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup demi-glace
Splash of red wine or brandy
1/2 cup heavy cream

Sauté minced garlic and shallots in a heavy saucepan with olive oil until translucent. Add the fresh green peppercorns and sauté for a couple minutes longer. Deglaze the pan with the wine or brandy, and then add the demi-glace. Turn the heat down, and simmer the sauce until reduced by one-quarter. Then add the heavy cream, and continue to reduce. Cook steaks as preferred, such as on a barbecue. Plate the steaks and pour the sauce over them just before serving.

The market is a menagerie of scents—sweet flowers intermingle with subtle hints of meats and fresh-baked breads.

The tour doesn’t stop with food though. For the final stop on the tour, we cross the square to Books to Cooks. The all-cookbook bookstore was started by Barbara-jo McIntosh, who was a chef before she started the business. The bookstore often hosts world-renowned chefs, such as Jaime Oliver, who come to the store and demonstrate recipes.

I peruse the shelves and find what I think is a great buy, a cookbook called Great Chefs Cook at Barbara-Jo’s. And lucky for me, within its pages is a stir fry recipe with peppercorns in it.
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When You Go:
Tours through Edible Vancouver are offered several times a day. Prices for tours range from about $45 to $70.

Besides Granville Island, Edible British Columbia’s other culinary tours include Vancouver’s Chinatown, Italian experiences on Commercial Drive, Richmond Night Market, gourmet kayaking weekends, chef for a day cooking classes, and customized culinary itineraries. (888-812-9660; www.edible-britishcolumbia.com)

Northwest Travel July/August 2007
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